A really interesting bunch, with many of the samples coming from Kemenys.
Barwang Chardonnay 2012
I’ve never understood Barwang Chardonnays, and this one didn’t help. It’s a flat kind of wine, the fruit dull and lifeless, lean and charmless. Structure is fine and long but structure and acid ain’t enough to make a decent Chardonnay. JH gives it 91. Trophy and 2 golds. Bad bottle? We can only go on what’s in the glass in front of us. 84 points. Avoid. $14 at Kemenys
Ninth Island Pinot Grigio 2012
A real surprise, this wine. Why? Because it’s from Tasmania but is choc full of exotic tropical fruit. Big and rich, one for drinking sooner rather than later – with pork dishes. 92 points. BUY. $15 at Wineonline.
The Hoddles Creek Chardy 2010 is no longer on the shelves, but proves the quality of the label. Lovely soft style, ready to drink any time in the next year or two.
The Greystone Pinot Noir 2011 is one of the best Pinot Noirs we’ve tasted in quite a while, but this sample given to us by a friend in the trade turns out to cost about $40, and I can’t find where you can buy it in Oz.
Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2012 – we haven’t always been a fan of this label but the 2012 delivers a convincing example of the Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc Semillon style. Some tropical fruit but plenty of citrus, herbaceous notes and fine mineral acidity. Good length and depth, very nice drinking. 93 points from us, 95 from JH and TS. BUY. $19 at Kemenys
Pizzini Pinot Grigio 2012 is from the King Valley in the Victorian Alps. It’s a clean, fresh, crisp wine with some varietal character. Easy drinking but not enough to it for the money . 88 points. Not Convinced. $17 at Kemenys
Laurance of Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2011
Lot of intensity, depth of flavour and good length, some good varietal character but there’s a hard line developing perhaps from the Semillon. May soften with time but comes across as a bit disjointed at the moment. We tried not to pay attention to the label while assessing the wine. 89 points, NOT CONVINCED. $18 at Kemenys
The Jacobs Creek Reserve Chardonnay 2012 from the Adelaide Hills is a strange concoction of flat fruit and oak, a strange cocktail that didn’t appeal to us at all. It lacks varietal character and is swamped by oak that’s clearly overdone, and it finishes abruptly like the edge of a cliff. Won a trophy and gold medal in Sydney 2013, no idea how. 84 points. AVOID. $13 at Kemenys
The Hardys HRB D650 Riesling 2011 is a blend of Clare Valley and Tasmanian fruit. This is a Jekyll and Hyde wine. The first night I thought it was restrained and austere, with shy fruit and a long acid backbone. A couple ofdays later, the two components seemed to have had a fight and greeted me separately. I suspect the two will makepeace given enough time in the bottle. Gets 95 points from Halliday, 91+ points and a question mark from us. $20 at Kemenys
Pewsey Vale Riesling 2013
This bottle seemed more forward than the last one we opened a month or two back. A lot of intense fruit here – flowers and limes and spices and that Eden Valley bath powder. Finishes long with fine minerals. Already a joy to drink, but will get better. 93 points. BUY. $14.70 at Kemenys
Jim Barry Watervale Riesling 2013
Jeremy Pringle nails it: ‘Lemons over lime with some orange zest, jasmine and hints of green papaya. The generosity is evident on the nose but the palate adds steely resolve, composure and drive. A terrific dry, slatey finish with a whisper of spice. A serious Riesling offered for a pittance.’ All I can add is that the wine had a touch of German Riesling to it, that soft spot in the mouth that’s hard to define. 94 points. BUY. $15 at Kemenys
Yangarra McLaren Vale Roussanne 2011
It’s interesting to taste these southern Rhone varieties, but they tend to work better together (with Marsanne and Viognier for example). On its own, this variety doesn’t offer much flavour, perhaps due to the winemaker opting to pick early (12%). The result is a well-made, simple, crisp white of no great impact. This wine gets 94 from Nick Stock and almost 94 from Gazza at the Winefront, so maybe I don’t get the style. 87 points. NOT CONVINCED. $20 at Kemenys.
Redbank Sunday Morning Pinot Gris 2012
These days the Redbank label belongs to The Hill-Smiths of Yalumba, and they’re using it to market some interesting new styles from King Valley and other places. This was another simple wine, restrained and somewhere between the dry Grigio and fruitier Gris style. Not a lot of fruit and spice here, not sure where the Sunday morning comes into play, lunch would be my preference since this is a crisp, elegant white. 88 points. NOT CONVINCED. $18 at Dan M’s
Rosemount Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon 2010. This was a pleasant surprise: an almost elegant red from McLaren Vale. Red and black fruits, classy oak, good depth and length, medium bodied (14%) but plenty of flavour. Trophies and golds. 95 from JH, 92 from us. BUY. $20 at Kemenys
The Credaro Cab Merlot was a beauty, one of those wines you wish you’d bought a case of. The vineyard is about the only place you can buy these wines. The Belgravia was Chardonnay was disappointing, showing more spicy oak than Chardonnay flavour. May come good.
The Angullong Sauvignon Blanc 2012 from Orange was a tour de force, a savvy that isn’t wishy-washy like so many cheap Kiwis but full-on. Nor is it subtle – intense flavour is the message here. Gooseberry, grapefruit, grass and tropical fruit, with plenty of depth and length. 92 points. BUY. Fabulous with tasty seafood, great value for $13 at Kemenys.
The Xanadu Estate Chardonnay 2010 from Margaret River came second in James Halliday’s 2013 Chardonnay Challenge with 97 points,so we recommended it. Then we got hold of a bottle and wondered how JH came up with that score. Digging a bit deeper, we found opinions divided on this wine along pretty hard lines. Bennie and Walsh at the Winefront see some issues and score the wine at 88-90. That’s a huge difference.
A score of 97 suggests a near perfect wine, and by 98 I expect to hear angels sing. My score for the Xanadu is 92+, which just makes it a BUY at the price. There’s a lot of slick, ripe fruit here, bordering on the pineapple/ lychee spectrum and touched up with vanillan oak. Pineapples and vanilla are not what I look for in Chardonnays, and this creature is short and round rather than fine and long. suspect malolactic fermentation would’ve added a bit more complexity. Check it out before you buy cases of it. $22 at Winelistaustralia,
Xanadu Next of Kin Chardonnay 2011 is the black label’s little brother. It’s very similar, full of life but just a bit tighter and a touch longer showing its relative youth perhaps. The fruit and polish are similar, so it gets 92+ points from us as well. GOOD BUY for $15 at Dan M’s.
Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling 2013 – made with the clinical precesion so typical of this label, and not as immediately appealing as the other two 2013 Rieslings in today’s line-up. More austere with less fruit and more acid grip, but there’s plenty of stuffing here as we used to say. Just needs time. 93 points. BUY. $24 at Dan M’s (they frequently knock it down to $20)
Brookland Valley Verse 1 Shiraz 2012 – frankly, I prefer the 2011 for its greater elegance. Like all the 2012 reds we’ve tasted from Margaret River, this wine oozes ripe fruit and will please your friends at the next Barbie. Easy to like. That’s about it. 89 points. BUY for $11.40 at 1st Choice.
Devils Ridge Block 27 Shiraz 2010. There are some real bargains in this $10 range from Kemenys, but this isn’t one of them. Typical big, blunt, inky McLaren Vale Shiraz, not our cup of tea. 85 points. Avoid. $10 at Kemenys.
Kim