The Trouble with George

on · Leave a Comment

 

The trouble starts with labels that feature George Wyndham’s head exploding in various colourful ways. Pernod Ricard Australia has built a huge marketing campaign around this new range, which celebrates the spirit of George Wyndham who left a childhood of privilege in England to explore the world.

‘With Meg, he braved the voyage to Australia,’ the story goes. ‘George battled frost, fire, storms, bushrangers, disease and more … George didn’t just create a wine. He created a legacy. He proved that with conviction and confidence, anyone can forge a new life for themselves.’

What the story neglects to tell us is that George established Dalwood (later called Wyndham Estate) near Branxton in the Hunter Valley, and planted Shiraz there in 1830 – years before the first plantings of Shiraz in South Australia.

Instead we’re treated to videos of George the Fixer, George the Wizard, George the Illustrious, George the Unbound and George the Lover, would you believe?  This is classic marketing mumbo jumbo, removed from reality, suspended in outer space by marketing minds with no connection to the real story.

There’s not a word about the recent sale of the historic Dalwood property, years after Pernod Ricard closed down the operation. Nor is there a word about shutting down another historic winery PR acquired some time back: Morris of Rutherglen, snapped up by Casella just before it was mothballed.

These days, Wyndham Estate is just another brand in the Pernod Ricard Collection that includes Jacob’s Creek, Chivas Regal, Wild Turkey, Beefeater, Glenlivet, Kahlua, Ballantine’s, Perrier-Jouet and Mumm. The stories are pure fantasy; you can watch them here https://www.iamgeorge.com.au/george-stories.html

With a treasure trove of real stories of the men and women pioneers in Australia’s wine industry, why do we need these fairy tales spun by adolescent minds? Why do big wine companies lose the essential connections with the vines, the people and the vineyards that produce their products? We asked the same question in our story on Lindemans – Death By a Thousand Cuts.

More >>

Best Wines Under $20 – Proof of Concept

on · Leave a Comment

 

The core concept of Best Wines Under $20 has always been to find wines of distinction at every day prices. In a business where high quality wines tend to sell for $100 and even $1000 a bottle, that’s not a trivial challenge. Yet it happens, and subscribers tell us when we get it right.

Sometimes such wines are new discoveries, new stars on the horizon that have not yet attracted attention; other times these are commercial wines that transcend their humble origins in a given vintage. The Topers Chardonnay 2013 was a great example of the former, Wynn’s black label Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 was a lovely example of the latter.

Known Unknowns and Known Knowns

I’m one of many who wish they’d bought more cases of the glorious Topers from a vineyard in Cowra, at the ludicrous price of $13 a bottle. I found it by accident: our webmaster asked if I’d like to see a sample from a client of hers who made wine. I said: sure. That’s easily said but it’s the hardest thing to assess a wine with no history, no show record, no reference points and no entry in Halliday’s Companion. You have to make your judgement and be prepared to back it.

The Wynns Black Label was the opposite: a racehorse from a famous blood line, and a family history spanning 6 decades. The trick here was that TWE decided to offer heavy discounts on the wine soon after its release. It would’ve been released in 2012/13, with an RRP between $35 and $40, and here it was on sale at Vintage Cellars for $19 a bottle. The reviews from the Winefront and Huon Hooke were positive but their scores were just 93 with a + added by Gary Walsh.

I thought it deserved 94 points at least, and 2 ++. James Halliday scored the wine 96 points, but we know his scores are inflated.  His review matched my impression though: ‘Deep colour; it spent 15 months in a mix of old and new French and American oak barriques, giving rise to a fragrant and expressive bouquet of black fruits, spice and cedar nuances. The palate really sings with dark berry fruit, oak and tannins the supporting orchestra. Right up there with the best Black Labels. 96 points.’

I ended up buying cases of the Wynns 2009, a typical black label to my mind. The best of these are Peter Pans, wines that retain their youthful vigour as they grow older. At nearly 10 years of age, the 2009 follows that blueprint; it will last for a long time.

Unsung Heroes

Pewsey Vale Rieslings are the white foil to Wynns black label, a long line of wines going back to the sixties. I’ve enjoyed most of these wines since I came of drinking age, but lost touch with them after turning my back on a fine wine world gone nuts in the late 1990s. In 2011, with my interest in wine rekindled, I saw the 2006 at Dan Murphy’s in the form of a cellar release selling for $20. I bought a bottle, then a case. I’ve bought most vintages since.

More >>

Jacobs Creek Classic Riesling 2018 – Giant Killer or Giant Fake?

on · Leave a Comment

 

Last week, I put up a post headed $7 Wines Win Big Trophies at the Latest Shows. In a nutshell, I asked how the judges could get it so wrong: how could they give the lowliest wine made by Jacobs Creek a trophy and 96 points, while they scored the same company’s flagship Riesling, the $30 Steingarten Riesling 2017, a measly 83 points?

I thought that comparison was pretty compelling, but one subscriber came to the JC Classic Riesling’s defence in a well-researched email.

More >>

$7 Wines Win Big Trophies at the Latest Shows

on · Leave a Comment

 

The International Riesling Challenge 2018

It’s an annual event staged in Canberra, with local and overseas judges doing the tasting and the scoring. The maths always provide some overall clues. 567 Rieslings were judged in various categories, and 2 out of 3 won a medal.

  • 70 gold medals
  • 104 silver medals
  • 205 bronze

That’s a pretty high ratio, and not uncommon these days. Winemaking standards have improved out of sight, they tell us. To be fair, the majority of medals were bronze so the marking was reasonably tough.

Photo © Chris Holly

The Crème de La Crème

Let’s just look at one category: Elite Gold Medal winners, wines scoring 96 points or more.

Here we find a surprise entry in a Jacobs Creek Classic Riesling 2018, which we can buy for $7 at Liquorland. So how did a wine mass-produced to a price win an elite gold medal? This is the lowliest wine made by Jacobs Creek. The company’s flagship Riesling is the $30 Steingarten 2017, which scored a measly 83 points, just about off the bottom of the scale.

There are lots more weird scores: the 2017 Ottelia Mount Gambier Riesling that James Halliday gove 98 points to scored just 83 points. Jim Barry’s top-of-the-tree Florita Riesling 2017 scored just 84.

More >>

Super Secret 94-Point Chardonnay Deal – Under $10 a bottle

on · Leave a Comment

 

Fellow Wine Lovers,

Every now and then, one of the wine merchants we recommend comes up with an irresistible deal. This time, the team at Winedirect offers us a rich, creamy Chardonnay subscribers rave about, for close to $8 a bottle – $100 in an unbroken dozen, and that includes freight. This is almost one third of the normal price, so we can’t reveal the wine’s identity.

I gave the wine 94 points in my review, and here’s a sample of feedback from our subscribers:

Lovely buttery chardonnay, nice gentle oak in the background, sweet but not syrupy. Delicious and a terrific bargain. Lynda O

Nectarine and fig flavours with a slightly creamy texture. A much, much classier wine than you have any right to expect for less than $10 a bottle delivered. Anton D

A lovely surprise. It has all you want from a Chardy … some oak but light on its feet with lovely stone fruit complimented by a limey minerality. Soft with a generous mouth feel. True blue bargain. Nick H

 … creamy palate with pleasing natural stone fruit characters and balancing acidity. Medium rich with good mouthfeel and some stirred lees character giving extra complexity and a lingering finish. This is a good commercial White Burgundy style. 93 points … David D

Thanks for the recommendation for a top well-made wine with lovely fruit & texture. Bargain. Jim S

An outstanding Limestone Coast Chardonnay – luscious. Incredible value. John B

To order the wine, go here https://www.winedirect.com.au/secret-94pt-2016-chardonnay-dozen-oct-offer-11 or catch Darryl on 0417 843 547 or at darrylpratt@winedirect.com.au for more info or help.

Not familiar with Winedirect? Dr Bob sums up the experience of many subscribers this way: ‘I’ve bought wines from Darryl from WineDirect over many years and regard him more as a friend than a salesman – he has treated me well and is honest in his appraisals and recommendation’.’

I should add that all I get from Winedirect is regular samples of their wines, and co-operation on occasional promos.

Best Regards
Kim Brebach
Wine Sleuth
kim@bestwinesunder20.com.au

The Penfolds Collection – Gouging the Gullible

on · Leave a Comment

 

The wines may not take your breath away, but the prices sure will

TWE has shown no shame when it comes to squeezing money out of its Grange brand. Peter Gago has been  a great ambassador for the prestigious label, while his masters screwed the price up higher and higher. It’s been easy lately, with the Chinese willing to hand over big money for prestige bottles. The RRP for the new Grange is $100 off $1000.

Most of the Grange bottles made are never opened. Collectors show them to friends at dinner parties, investors buy and sell them, but very few people drink them. If you actually want to buy some Grange to drink, I have wonderful news: the average auction price for older Granges runs around $400 to $500 a bottle, half the cost of the current wine. Plus the auctioneer’s take and freight, of course.

I’m talking about every vintage going back to the 1976, which can fetch up to $800. I shared a bottle with good friends a few years ago, and on that day it was the perfect red: a genuine 100 points. There are lots of good Granges made in the 40 vintages since, and the older ones are mature, ready to enjoy now.

The Burning Question  

Tyson Stelzer’s piece on the 2018 release says: ‘Penfolds Collection 2018 – An outstanding release… but there’s a twist: The pertinent question this year is whether these wines can sustain such ever-spiralling domestic inflation.

More >>

Thorn-Clarke – The Barossa’s Quiet Achievers

on · Leave a Comment

 

The first time I heard of this winery was when it won some major award with its 2005 Shotfire Shiraz. That wine flew off retailers’ shelves in a matter of days, and I was too slow off the mark. My next encounter was with the 2008 Shotfire Quartage, a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. It was a pretty plush wine, Bordeaux with a sunny Barossa smile.

The 2009 was just as seductive, and for some reason 1st Choice Liquor decided to run a special on the wine at $14. I only bought one case at that price, thinking the wine’s fruit was so plush that it wouldn’t keep for long. We drank the last bottle a few years later, and it was delicious. Ever since, the Quartage has been one of our favourite reds.

Mount Crawford vineyard, Eden Valley

More >>

What’s the Real Score?

on · Leave a Comment

Are you over the exaggerated ratings that help retailers sell wine? Do you want to know the real score, from the ugly truth about a gold-medal wine to the unsung gem at a bargain price? We’ve built a dedicated following of wine lovers who want straight talk, and our Best Buys Weekly mailer has become essential reading for them. This is what they say:

You tell it like it is, Kim. Honesty, there is no one else in Australia I really I trust … I’m so tired of all those the 90+ scores that are meaningless. Brett B.

Your wine site is my bible and I love it, and your mailer telling me the best places to get good wines saves me a heck of a lot of time. Merryn O.

I’ve built my cellar on your recommendations, Kim, and so far haven’t struck a bad bottle. Len T.

Best Buys Weekly is the only wine mailer I take notice of these days. Jeffrey D

I’m a wine novice but I can now take a bottle to dinner with serious wine friends, and raise compliments on my selections.  Safe to say you can a lot of the credit for that. Phil G.

Please remove me from your mailing list … my husband is a paid subscriber to your fantastic newsletter and forwards it to me every week  🙂 Lee G.

I was blown away by the quality available for this kind of money. Carl S.

Weekly updates. Huge devotion. Great result. A really useful consumer service. Warren M.

Keep up your no-nonsense, honest , reviews and comments ,they’re very much appreciated. John McL

Listen to Kim talking about exaggerated scores on Fran Kelly’s ABC RN Breakfast Show

More >>

WINERY IN FOCUS: Richard Hamilton / Leconfield

on · Leave a Comment

 

The oldest Wine Family in Australia


The Hamiltons have been making wine in South Australia for 180 years. The original Richard Hamilton is said to have planted the first vines down there just south of Adelaide. In the 1930s, Sydney Hamilton was the first Australian winemaker to realise that temperature controlled fermentation was the key to making fresh aromatic white table wine. His crowning achievement was Hamilton’s Ewell Moselle, which became a commercial success.

I remember Ray Kidd, the MD of Lindemans from the sixties to the eighties, telling me that Ben Ean Moselle’s biggest rival and market leader in the fifties and sixties was Hamilton’s Ewell Moselle. Our early white wines were on the sweet side, but built a bridge to the more serious wines that followed.

Hamilton’s Ewell Vineyards Pty Ltd was sold to Mildara in 1979, since that was the only way members of the now very large Hamilton clan could get their hands on their share of the money in the privately held firm.  A few years earlier (1972), fifth generation Richard Hamilton – a cosmetic surgeon by trade – had established  Richard Hamilton Wines at McLaren Vale at the age of 25, assisted by his father Burton and uncle Syd.

Sydney Hamilton retired not long after that but got bored and decided to buy a patch of terra rossa soil at Coonawarra in 1974 at the age of 76, and plant a vineyard from scratch. Apparently he had long had the ambition to make great cool climate Cabernets. I remember his wines from that era, which always had the comment on the back label that the grapes were handpicked by experienced women.

Sydney retired again in 1981 and sold Leconfield to his nephew Richard who eventually made it the centre of winemaking for the group under Paul Gordon. Paul had worked for Southcorp and made Rouge Homme wines for a decade until he joined Richard Hamilton in 2001.

Split personalities

I’ve followed Leconfield wines from the beginning, and often felt they’d grown too big under Paul Gordon’s direction. Don’t get me wrong, they were good wines but on the muscly side of the spectrum.

By contrast, the McLaren Vale reds were often lighter and more elegant, a reversal of what you’d expect. I also felt that the wines under the Richard Hamilton label weren’t as good as they should have been.

The exception has been the Leconfield McLaren Vale Shiraz, which began life years ago as a Coonawarra / McLaren Vale blend. Recent vintages of this wine have been outstanding.

Both Coonawarra and McLaren Vale make better reds than whites, so the winemaker s are sourcing white grapes from the Adelaide Hills and the Clare Valley. That makes a lot of sense. I haven’t seen the Leconfield winery, but the Richard Hamilton complex at McLaren Vale is an impressive place, right across the road from the Salopian Inn.


Let’s take a look at some of the current wines:

Richard Hamilton Watervale Riesling 2018 – $20 at the winery. A few samples didn’t reach me in time for this mailer, but a 2016 I opened a couple of weeks ago was a lovely elegant Riesling with years in front of it.

Richard Hamilton Adelaide Hills Pinot Gris 2018 – $20 at the winery. The same goes for this wine. These 2018s have just been released and aren’t in the shops yet.

2017 ‘The Hills’ Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc – $16 at Winedirect. There’s pretty good varietal definition here, with same cat’s wee and lantana notes spicing up the tropical fruits.

Richard Hamilton Almond Grove Chardonnay 2016 – $18 at the winery. This is a perfect drinking chardy with no rough edges. Again, not a lot of ego here but it’s modern, elegant chardy with classic nuances of stonefruit and cashews. 92 points.

Richard Hamilton Signature Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2015 – $25 at Winedirect. A slinky, delicate chardy that reminded me of fine bone china. The polish makes the wine easy to drink, the creamy texture makes you think, and the white peaches and almonds are subtle nuances. Newish French oak and malolactic fermentation have added class and a soft finish. 94 points.

Richard Hamilton Gida’s Rose 2017 – $15 at Winedirect. Gida was a grande dame of the Hamilton family, and this Rosé is said to reflect her sparkling persona. I really liked the 2016, which served up generous flavours of ripe cherries and berries, with a rich mid palate and a dry finish. I gave it 93 points for perfect pitch. I can’t imagine the 2017 being all that different, and the price is right.

Richard Hamilton Lot 148 Merlot 2016 – $21 at the winery. This Merlot slips down the hatch with great ease, because it’s silky soft and not too heavy on the plum compote. Nice restraint here, good length and medium weight. 91 points. Pretty good going but the Leconfield Merlot is a better wine (see below).

Richard Hamilton Little Road Shiraz 2017 – $21 at the winery. I asked the good people at the winery why they’re releasing 2017 reds already, and they tell me because some of the 2016s are all sold out. Nice to know, but this red took a couple of days to open up and show its vibrant nature, bright fruit, pepper and spice. Needs more time in a dark place. 92+ points.

Richard Hamilton Colton’s GSM 2016 – $16 at winedirect. This is a lighter GSM than you’d expect from McLaren Vale, but I don’t mind that. Plenty of bright fruit in a smooth wrapper; will improve for a few years. 90+ points.

Richard Hamilton Hut Block Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 – $16 at Kemenys, where you get a free bottle of Leconfield Cabernet 2016 if you order a dozen. This is the best Hut Block I’ve seen in years, in line with other SA reds from 2016. This vintage seems to have bestowed more finesse than usual on the reds, and good line and length. It’s a rich and ripe Cabernet with well-integrated oak. 92 points. Good value.

Leconfield Coonawarra Chardonnay 2017 – $20 at Winedirect. They team has made some good chardies from their Coonawarra fruit but this one didn’t grab me. Much like the Yalumba Eden Valley chardy, there’s just not enough to get your teeth into. It dances across the tongue and you think: what was that? You have another sip, but nothing more is revealed. Maybe 2017 wasn’t a great year for chardies in SA. 91 points.

Leconfield Coonawarra Old Vines Riesling 2017 – $20 at Winedirect. Some of the wines under this label have been drier than the Simpson Desert and leaner than a weight watchers diet. The 2017 is a different kind of wine, almost as aromatic as the 2017s from the Clare, and choc-full of ripe limes and perfumed flowers. Great drinking already. 94 points.

Hidden Label Coonawarra Merlot 2015 – $14 at Kemenys. Huon Hooke describes this wine as one of the best Merlots in Australia, and I can only agree. It’s a steal at the regular $20+ price, but a gift at this price if you don’t mind the plain wrapper. 94 points.

Hidden Label Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 – $15 at Kemenys. Leconfield Cabernet at half price. These are serious reds, and among the better Cabernets to come out of Coonawarra. A bit more robust than I like them but at this price it’s another gift. 94++ points.

Leconfield Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 – $27 at Nicks, with original label. Check the reviews at the link.

Leconfield Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot 2016 – $22 at Winedirect. I haven’t seen this vintage yet, but earlier vintages have been pretty smooth going, the Merlot adding richness and softness.

Leconfield McLaren Vale Shiraz 2017 – $22 at Winedirect. Oh, so young! It’s less forbidding than I expected, so perhaps 2017 made softer reds than 2016. Still, it opened up a lot over a couple of days. The fruit is intense and seductive as usual, the French oak seamless, the tannins are ripe and fine-grained. It’ll be another good red given more time. 94++ points.

Leconfield Coonawarra Cabernet Franc 2017 – $29 at the winery. A remarkable wine. On the second open day it literally burst into bloom, showing flowery aromas and sweet fruit characters that reminded me of the fruity, elegant reds of Chinon and Bourgueil on the Loire (which are made from the same variety). Charming and pretty, not complex. 93 points. It’s worth trying a bottle if you’re curious, but it’s overpriced for what it is. They don’t make much of it.

More reading [and video watching] about the fascinating history of Richard Hamilton Wines
Wine Lines: How a family vineyard changed the course of Australian winemaking
http://hamiltonewell.com.au/pdfs/Final_Our_Heritage2.pdf
http://www.leconfieldwines.com/about-us/hamilton-history-gallery?category=124644
http://www.leconfieldwines.com/video-gallery

 

 

FORTIFIED WINES – Our Best-Kept Secrets

on · Leave a Comment

 

TREASURE ISLAND

Our wonderful dessert wines are unique in the world, yet almost unheard of overseas and pretty much unknown at home. That’s astonishing given that we’ve been making these extraordinary wines for over 160 years. The good news is that we can enjoy these rare treats at bargain prices.

Ned Kelly country makes most of our great fortified wines, with the Barossa lending a hand via the treasure trove that is Seppeltsfield. If you haven’t sat by a warm fireplace on a cold winter’s night with a glass of Tokay or Muscat and a bowl of nuts, dried fruits, dark chocolate or blue cheese, you haven’t lived. If you have and didn’t like the experience, you must’ve bought the wrong Tokay and some really old nuts.

More >>