Esk Valley Hawkes Bay Merlot Cabernet 1997 (review)

82 points
This wine was much better 5 years ago. It was still a sound wine with earthy-tobacco like aromas and taste. The tannins were about gone, and no fruit left. This is another wine that states on the label that it will last longer than it did. The alcohol and acid are well balanced and the finish was quite long, given the state of the wine.

Schild Estate Barossa Shiraz 2002 (review)

89 points

from Barossa Valley, South Australia 14.5%

It's not often that you see a wine of this quality at this price.

Dark, sweet but balanced by some complex liquorice characters. Concentrated.

A new star - best buy.

PS this review, like all on this site is based on consuming the wine with food. Many reviews are based on multiple tastings.

Wirra wirra r.s.w. shriraz 2002 (review)

90 points

From Mclaren Vale, South Australia 14.5%

Drak black/red and shiny. This is a winemakers wine. Super clean. Well balanced, well perhaps a little too much acid, some added. Pristine and powerful fruit, a controlled but still obvious oak. The 2002 vintage is quite obvious here, as is the quality winemaking.

James Halliday gave this a huge score something like 97 points. It's his sort of winemakers wine. Clean and powerful.

It's the sort of wine that wins medals, but partly because it can't be faulted. But I find a tad boring, by the numbers - even if it is so impressive.

I think it is very good. And fairly priced. But I'm damining it with faint praise really for a top wine.

De Bortoli Yarra Cabernet 1997 (review)

De Bortoli seems to be a bit of secret in spite of its top 10 status among Australia's wineries. Empirically I know that lots of people drink De Bortoli, but very few people I talk to ever mention them. This Cabernet walks a straightl ine between the cool climate style Cab and a warm and ripe one (as 1997 was in the Yarra). It burst into my mouth with slightly hot and overripe Cab flavours, but followed with a slightly gritty tannin that did add a bit of length. At the same time the substantial and I think natural acid balanced this slightly rough wine. I found the wine on my shelf and think someone must have brought it and then left it. There are 2 gold medals, one from the Southern VIctorian Wine Show and the other from the Cowra Wine Show. My guess is that 8 years ago this French oaked and macerated Cabernet burst into their mouths too. The label says ' classic aging prospect over 8-10 years'. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer.

Tatachilla Foundation Shiraz 1999 (review)

88 points - v.good but without a distinctive style.

From McLaren Vale, South Australia. 14%

In 2002 this wine won the "great Australian Shiraz challenge" and James Halliday rated it 96 points!

So it is amazing that I can still buy it and under A$40 (ie no price rise). This winery has a reputation of preducing black/purple wines, super charged, and super clean - wine makers' wines that scoop awards. Six years after vintage, which is a near perfect time to start drinking quality Australian shiraz, this is a dark red, well balanced though with just noticeable addded acidity.

The interesting thing is that the promise of youth hasn't really paid off. Flavour has not built with (a small amount of) time. It is a good but restrained/balanced wine. Without great complexity, a very good quality version of commercial wine.

Peter Lehmann Eight Songs Shiraz 2000 (review)

91 points

from Barossa Valley, South Australia

OK, maybe I'm being generous with points but this wine is super opulent. There is a Peter Lehmann style of up front sweet Barossa fruit and noticeable oak. It's very commerical, but few do it better. And here it is applied in a way to make a premium wine. And 5 years old and at a good price.

Obviously it's in the 'chocolate milkshake' style of Barossa shiraz. But with french oak which really does have an impact.

The mouth-weight is extraordinary - really like cream - no other wine in the world can do this other than Barossa shiraz.

Savoury, sweet with great presence. Not complex, but very distinctive and so deserves a good rating. Terribly hard for anyone to dislike.

Ross Estate Lynedoch 2002 (review)

87 points

14%. From Barossa Valley, South Australia

I bought this wine after hearing about a Parker review. I first tried the 2001 which was nice but not great but I still held out hope. After all Robert Parker wrote:

I was blown away by the 2002 Cabernet Blend Lynedoch. It represents a great value in a Bordeaux-styled red of considerable complexity and elegance. A blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc, and 20% Merlot aged in neutral French and American wood (15% new) for 15 months, importer Ken Onish calls it the “Château Palmer of the Barossa.” Its deep blue/purple color is accompanied by sweet aromas of violets, créme de cassis, lavender, and spice box. Gorgeously textured, classy, and noble, with precise flavors, terrific definition, and a long, concentrated finish, this beauty is a steal in terms of pricing. It should drink well for a decade. It would be interesting to insert this Cabernet blend as a ringer in a blind tasting of top classified growth Bordeaux.

What is Parker talking about !

I consumed this after more time in the bottle, but without the wine having to travel to the USA (instead it travelled down the road).

It's a dark young red with a flash of purple (not deep blue/purple). Warm aromas with very nicely restrained oak and hints of tomato & herb pizza - quite enticing, though they don't leap out of the glass (which is a good thing). On the palate there is immediate sweet fresh and spicy fruit, not deeply rich and savoury like top bordeaux. Nor obviously varietal cabernet as say a top Margaret River or NZ cabernet.

The finish is abrupt because of acid, which gives a sudden tamarillo type flavour in the mouth. I think this is due to added acidity. This subsides and oak and fruit come back to linger a while.

It's a nicer wine than the 2001, but I'm not blown away. With food I expect this wine to be easily smothered, and that's not to say that it is particularly elegant - just that it is soft and not terribly concentrated in flavour. It's very good for a Barossa Cabernet, but this variety does not do terribly well in this region. Barossa produces cabernet sauvignon that is soft and a bit dull; often hot and clumsy (though not this wine in this spectacular cool vintage).

Actually when consumed with food the sweetness is confectionary like. The Cabernet Franc flavours are also very obvious after a glass or two. My wife refused to drink it half way into the meal.

Good wine (for a Cabernet Franc dominant blend) but not serious wine. Such a pity. I hoped that Parker had led me to a bargain (he scored it 93!). It's about A$20 here with little market presence. It would have been a wonderful find, I could have scooped the market.

Chateau Rollan de By 2001 (review)

90 points

From Bordeaux, France.

Dark with considerable glycerol. Very dense small barrel French oaky nose. Follows through on the palate - this demands some aging. Quite burly.

For a plain Medoc this is pretty intense, and perhaps even classy. Worth revisiting to see if the points score I gave is really warranted.

Chateau Branaire (Duluc - Ducru) 2001 (review)

86 points

From St. Julian, Bordeaux, France.

Mineral metal flavours in a classic savoury claret style. Not weighty, needs to fill out with age. Good but not grand, and not a lot of fun drinking young. NEEDS TIME.

Clos du Marquis 2001 (review)

86 points

From St. Julian, Bordeaux, France.

2nd wine of Leoville Las Cases, and perhaps a bit over-rated as a bargain. It's textbook quality claret with quite reasonable mid palate richness given its age. Good but no wow factor. It has a touch of mineral steel flavour which I'm not sure if is a characteristic of St Julien or just in this vintage. Ch Branaire 2001 also had this (more so).

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon 1991 (review)

86 points

From Margaret River, Western Australia 13.9%

Bought from a cooled cabinet in Perth (though I don't know how long the wine had been in this nice cellar).

Dark brick red. Aromas of shellfish (mussels) and dried herbs, not entirely pleasant. Some leather and tiny touch of vinegar - all to be expected on a wine of this age, which appeared well cellared. Nice drinking but a bit flat, the last few years have not improved this wine, I'm sure it was better drinking in the 1990s.

I'm a big fan of Leeuwin Estate cabernet (though a bit concerned by the high alcohol levels of recent vintages). It is a serious savoury wine. I had high hopes for this 91, which were not fulfilled. Perhaps Australian cabernet should not be kept for more than ten years ?

Orlando St Helga Riesling 2003 (review)

This Eden Valley Riesling is always a solid performer. The taste is towards the citrus-lime end of the spectrum, not overdone or extracted, maybe a bit light in the finish, but again this is not an expensive wine. The label claims an improved form of Stelvin with a foam seal as well as the standard foil seal, which is suppoed to last 3 decades. It is certainly worth buying a case of this and opening one every year or so, especially when the price can be as low as $13-$14 a bottle.

Mitchelton Print Shiraz 1995 (Review)

The 2000 version of this wine was recently reviewed by Byron and my comments are similar. I got two bottles of this as part of a small consulting assignment and I am glad I didn't pay full retail. The winery said this was a great wine and would last- the back label claims up to 20 years. I found the wine sound, but tired. The fruit was just about gone. The tannins were nice and soft, but not a tremendous amount of complexity for a wine costing $45 in 1998. It certainly was pleasant, but not rewarding.

Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz 1999 (review)

Victoria RRP ~$16

This wine goes on sale periodically and is a great buy for those who like more of the white pepper spice Shiraz from cooler areas than the Barossa. The tannins are quite serious and a little rough, but for the price, the complexity, the length, and style are excellent. This wine had already thrown a crust, so some of the tannins had already dropped out. It improved with both age and aeration. We found it tasting better after decanting and sipping for an hour. The fruit is good, with more of the raspberry end of the Shiraz flavours, than the plum end. Worth buying 6 or 12 when on sale.

Church Road Reserve Merlot Cabernet 2000 (review)

79 points

From Hawkes Bay, New Zealand 13%

Interesting mixture of aromas, spicy smoke, some ripe fruit and some green. Like a light or very minor bordeaux. Well made but minor site or poor vintage. Yet in NZ I expect it sells for around NZ$25, not good value.

Mitchelton Print Shiraz 2000 (review)

86 points

From central Victoria, Australia 14%

Very nice label - 'woo's wood'.

Marred by some mercaptan aromas, plenty of sweet fruit flavours, svelte. Good drinking, but over priced.

Chateau Puygueraud 2000 & 2001 (Review)

89 points (for both vintages)

Appellation Bordeaux Cotes de Francs 13%

Presumably a largely merlot based wine the 2000 has some of the fruitcake flavour of a St. Emilion but without quite the palate weight. Some bitterness which many would find confronting.

The 2001 is fresher, lighter, brighter acids, more a modern cabernet, just a touch New World.

Both are very good wines for what they are. Real bargains. I'm giving them equal points, though the 2000 has more depth, because the wine making on the 2001 is particularly fine.

Both drink well now but should continue to do so, indeed even improve, over the next four years. The 2001 being more attractive early for its age, though should age just as well.

Fiddler's Green Riesling 2001 (review)

84 points - very good

From Waipara, North Canterbury, New Zealand. 12%

Very pale gold. Minerals and lime (not juice the whole lime) aromas. The first flavour that hits the tongue suggests a medium sweet wine, and then whoosh it finishes dry. An ephemeral wine.

Given blind it would be awfully hard to guess where this wine came from. So light, not as concentrated (as good German rieslings) yet very good. Delicate but not dilute.

Not a food wine. Difficult to say if it will benefit with more age, I'd say no.

If they could build on this style they could produce something really very distinctive and top class.

Margaret John Pinot Noir 2001 (review)

80 points - good

From Ettrick, Central Otago, New Zealand. 13.5%

A bit sweet, soft and alcoholic. But cool climate with varietal flavours and a bit of acidity. Pleasant drinking by itself. Certainly not vin de garde - drink now.

Majella Coonawarra Shiraz 2001 (review)

79 points

From Coonawarra South Australia 13.5%

Coonawarra shiraz is often overlooked with cabernet getting all the attention. And yet there are a number of top shiraz from Coonawarra. Len Evans & James Halliday's old book talks about how the shiraz is (was ?) more like claret and the cabernet like burgundy. While today the cabernet certainly isn't like burgundy the shiraz can make a wide variety of styles including some elegant claret-like cool climate shiraz.

In 2001 Majella produced a multi trophy winning cabernet.

This shiraz is surprisingly bland. Weakly flavoured cool climate shiraz. Some blackberry flavours, mostly up front with a flat mid palate and limey flavours on the finish. Presumably this explains why it is still on the shelves while their cabernet sold out long ago.

Kirrihill Estates Clare Valley Shiraz 2002 (review)

75 points - OK-ish

From Clare Valley, South Australia

15% Stelvin screwcap

Dark concentrated wine. But simple, sweet with clumsy commercial oaking. No hint of terrior - is this Clare ? Could be riverland. Even as a BBQ wine this was not enjoyable.

This is a very good example of how concentration - though usually a hallmark of top wines - is not enough by itself.

Pewsey Vale Riesling: 1998 vs 2004 (review)

I will start by stating that I am a fan of Pewsey Vale Rieslings. They offer a little more fruit up front than typical Clare Valley versions, and I have found that they are a little rounder and full. They are always reasonably priced, available almost everywhere, consistent in quality, and provide a great example of a limey, minerally or “wet slate” (borrowed from a colleague of mine) Riesling from this premier region.

On opening the Contours, the aged, brown, toast, smell filled the immediate space. On warning from an experienced colleague, I checked the cap for failure- a stain was present in the base of the cap. The brown toast and thick butter smell had collected in the cap. This did not seem affect the wine in a bad way.
In the glass, the wine held an attractive light gold with green hues. Its clarity was less than expected- I cannot put his down to either one of being not as clean in fermentation as a Riesling intended to be drunk on release, or the imperfect seal.
The nose was slick- brown toast and thick butter promised it would taste more like Allen’s Butterscotch than anything else I can recall. On the palate, the wine was very delicate- like it had got to the end of its developing years. Up front acidity was absent- a reminder is present on the crisp finish. Just holding together, the mouth feel was oily. Flavours of toast and honey, for me, dominated, and the finish was slick, softly warm and lengthy.
Overall, a middle weight aged wine, but great value for the asking price of around $25 retail(AUD). It is a great opportunity for those people who do not have the ability or desire to enjoy the fruits (or in this case toast, butter and honey) of cellaring wine.
The characters in this wine may be more suited to a male palate- I say this in that most of the large group of females who tried them along side each other thought there to be something wrong with the wine. My partner said that it reminded her of an aged Semillon- which she also finds undesirable.

The current vintage wine had the taste of a warm season- the acidity of previous vintages was down on my recollections, with a pleasant surprise. The bouquet was tight giving an abundance of soft lavender and rose perfume. There was also a hint of crunchy green apple. The robe showed mineral clarity with straw green/yellow hues.
The palate was crisp and tight, with a slightly course acidity that matched the floral nose, and slightly pungent (almost Gewurtztraminer-like) with medium length. The mineral nature of this wine was lower than I expected of the region. The lime flavours synonymous with the region were more evident in the mouth than on the palate (lime, and some lemon). For those that dislike overt Mineral/Petroleum characters of young Riesling, this wine may suit.
The female reaction to this wine in the group was far more positive than that of the aged version. My take is on this is the floral lift, and almost pungent finish that takes it closer to the currently in vogue- Sauvignon Blanc. It is reliable year to year. Its reasonable length, and user-friendly acidity will ensure that most of the group you are drinking with will enjoy. Priced at around $17(AUD)- it is a great buy when on discount, and high on my list when entertaining wine drinkers without a huge repertoire of experience.
-1998 Contours Museum Release 4/5
-2004 Eden Valley Riesling 4.5/5

Review F & D Clair Santenay 'Clos Genet' 2002

87 points

Santenay, Burgundy, France

In spite of the name this is just a village burgundy. But a pretty good one. Juicy light strawberry jam fruit is well balanced by some savoury stalkiness. This pinot noir should develop weight given a couple more years and should be good drinking over the next 4 years or so.

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2001 (review)

82 points

From Barossa and other South Australian areas. 14%

Very dark with flashes of purple. Fairly closed nose, there is American oak but it is not sweet and vanillin. Very dense palate for a commercial wine. The balance between grape fruit sweetness and vinosity skews to the latter. This sort of concentration would stand out in commercial classes of wine shows, which probably accounts for its medal success.

But I found it a rather boring drink. Structure good, flavour simple. Nothing faulty about the wine, just solid and a bit dull.

When is a cellar not a cellar ?

Restuarant Cibo North Adelaide is a great restaurant that reinvented cafe (ie not silver service) Italian in super competitive Adelaide. Great professionalism. No part-time waiters - career people. A fabulous in-house patisserrre, great gelato, and a serious pizza chef. The only mistake they made was to fit the restaurant out in a way that sound/talk bounced everywhere and destroyed their good intentions of buying decent sound system speakers.

Their only mistake until now that is. Cibo have recently installed a pretentious walk-in cellar of approx. 4 metres square. All for show. It holds a pathetic amount of wine under super cool conditions. The signal to customers is supposed to be that Cibo cares about wine, and that these bottles are special/precious. But anyone who gives a second of thought (or observation) will realise that these wines are very young, and most have come from the wholesaler within a few weeks/months.

Hey that's the same as 99% of restaurants - but it is sad that a really professional place like Cibo would pretend. The local Chinese takeaway has more authenticity and honesty when it comes to wine.

Review Pasanau Finca la Planeta 2001

89+ points

from Priorat, Spain, 14%

Cabernet from Spain in a good vintage, serious winemaking.

Big wine, with dense aromas, rather neutral oak but plenty of it, and chocolaty tannins, and shiny acids. Needs food. Very very impressive.

Hard to pin down but seems like the sort of wine that will have an exciting future. But I'm not sure, it's so "all over the place" and at the same time enjoyable now (albeit with strong flavoured food - like serious margarita pizza) so I'd hedge my bets. Keep trying over the next 10 years.

Review Henriques & Henriques Madeira Malmsey

91 points

Madeira, from Madeira 15 years old

Solid, dependable good class Madeira. Malmsey (what a wonderful word - conjuring images of pirates as in Victorian boys' novels - yo ho ho and a bottle of decent Madeira) pretty sweet, or rather rich (but then all good Madeira is rich even if boen dry).

Oh what a wine. Madeira is hard to describe - like Port crossed with Sherry, but not. Actually I don't want to describe it well. I don't want Maderia to ever be fashionable. Leave it all for me.

Thankfully there is plenty of rubbish Madeira that will put most people off.

Review Craggy Range Merlot 2001

88 points

From Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

This is a show pony (Paris Hilton in modern parlance) wine. Likely to storm serious tastings. At its best after some breathing (which bodes well for the future) throwing off a bit of that extremely modern bright shiny acid style. Dark, with fruit cake aromas, rich fruit and yet smoke flavours on the finish. All top class stuff, but it suffers from being too obvious (like an art school rock band).

Don't let me sound too critical, this is very impressive wine for a new label - very much so. But I suspect that pitched against a similar (including similarly priced) old world precocious new star it wouldn't fair so well. eg I'd like to try this again Ch Potensac.

Review Torbreck Woodcutter’s Red (Barossa Shiraz) 2002

nb The name changed in 2003 to Torbreck Barossa Shiraz

89 points

This is the bottom of the range Torbreck, around $18 to go with the Woodcutter’s White (Barossa Semillon around $16). The vines are mainly young vines grown from cuttings by Dave Powell from vineyards used in his top ranges like Factor and Runrig. There is some old material here too and all the vineyards are low yielding even if young. The wine has that bright fresh flavour of young vines and no oak, but its also savory, high in the umami ferments miso-like flavour. At first the wine is a bit strange, fruity, a bit of tannin, but not so sweet and sappy stave-in-tank oak flavour of other $15-$20 Barossa Shiraz. Think not Peter Lehman, nor Richmond Grove, Jacob’s Creek Reserve, even more towards the savory than d’Arenberg Original or Footbolt. After 30 minutes or so the Torbreck is still gaining intensity, a bit more complexity and losing some of the overt savoury character. This wine reminds me of the mid-lower Rhone, Gigondas, Vacqueras, Carianne.

Shingleback McLaren Vale Shiraz 2001 (review)

88 points

3 gold medals on the front and 1 silver.
Few people would remove their glasses and examine each of the medals. They are printed in about 1.5 font, which means the height of each letter is about the length of a large black ant’s leg (dark but small). So by squinting, I read the medal on the right (?) which a silver from the 2003 Royal Sydney Wine Show Class 32; The next to left a gold medal from the 2003 Royal Brisbane Wine Show Class 53; next a gold medal from the 2003 Royal Hobart Wine Show Class 58; and last on the left (which some people might read first, but I started on the right having come from Shabbat Friday night services) a gold medal from the Winestate Magazine Wine of the Year Top 5 Shiraz - which sounds very impressive.

When a friend brought the bottle over I glanced and saw the medals and didn’t think too much of them one way or another. Two days later I decided to try the wine and recalled I had tasted a Shiraz from them a few months ago at a McLaren Vale grape grower meeting and was surprised by the flavour the first time. When I opened the wine tonight, I poured, sniffed and fairly quickly tasted, because it was already 7:30 PM, the phone wasn’t working because the guy who came to fix the phone, which was broken earlier in the day by other guys from his company…. I just wanted to taste and swallow. I wasn’t impressed, given all those medals. A little later after making some BBQ’d salmon and Sephardic rice for dinner and calming down, I noticed the wine again. My wife Janet calls it ‘easy wine’, because it’s easy to enjoy. “It’s everything I like about Shiraz, big and beefy, easy to like, not too oaking…” There are a lot of wines out there with Shiraz on the label that don’t taste like this one! I’m sorry I didn’t ask the price, but I would guess about $25-$30. It would be a bargain for $18-$20.

There is a lot of up front fruit burst into the mouth. The nose is very bland and grapey with simple but strong -in the alcoholic sense- aromas. The taste is surprisingly different. That burst of fresh fruit, not cooked at all, in the blueberry spectrum, and then a long lightly grainy finish, smooth but noticeably thick. I am trying to dissect the parts of the flavour, but Janet is just drinking, reading and enjoying it. Who is having more fun? I like these kind of wines. There is perceptible oak (which is probably preferred to imperceptible oak), but even though the label touts American oak (of which I am not a big fan anymore), it isn’t that sappy vanilla, but more texture, which I and other tanninaphilics enjoy. Some people may feel this kind of wine is too coarse, but maybe they haven’t tasted Tannat, or then again why would they? I would guess acid has been added to this wine judging from too bright finish, but it is not too unnatural tasting. It doesn’t detract from the overall experience.

Review Greenock Creek Apricot Block Shiraz 1999

93 points

I wondered before opening this wine, whether it would be too young, but the vineyard is fairly young and I figured maybe it wouldn’t age as well. The wine did not disappoint. It was still very youthful, with a whiff of deep red fruits and a bit of tar on the nose and still quite drying tannins at the end of a medium long complex palate. The only flaw I felt was the slight overabundance of American oak, but Janet really liked the oak and the extra complexity it added. I certainly am not criticizing, because the length and depth of fruit could handle it, but my preference would be for a little less.

Greenock Creek is a true estate winery with all their vineyards within eyesight of the winery. Their style is definitely one for age worthy wines, with high alcohol, big fruit, well-balanced tannins in typical Barossa style. The wine is not over the top as some other Barossa wines are. The tannins seem more complex and the fruit still fresh and not cooked tasting. I have a few more bottles and I think I’ll wait at least 2 more years before trying the next one.

Review Chateau Senechaux Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2001

90+ points

Southern Rhone, France (14%)

This was one of the most satisfying wines I had last (English) summer. Really pure fruit, which I saw one reviewer comparing with Flagey-Echezaux. Yes, it might be (predominantly) grenache, but there is nothing stewed, fruit-cakey or confected. Tannin is low but acidity surprisingly good.

This is not a wine that is about complexity but screams about the great fruit and balance in
the Rhone in 2001.

Re-tried on a winter evening it was just as satisfying and fairly much into full balance with an extra 6 mths. This is still available at BBR in London for £15. With several other 2001 Rhones still available I would encourage people to snap them up before paying more for the (possibly) not as good 2003's.

Post by Roger Palmer

Review Doom Bar cask conditioned ale

from Sharp's, Rock, Wadebridge, in Cornwall and consumed in Stockton, Wiltshire. 4.8%abv.

This is what I think the best of UK ale is all about. The colour is amber, though the nose is floral and lifted like the much lighter summer ales. A really fresh, hoppy nose with fruity notes as well. Firm and refreshing palate.

I always think with the classic English ales that it is really a fine balance between being clean and sharp on the finish (which makes them excellent with food) and going over the top and twisting one's tongue into knots. The Doom Bar, which I've never seen before (not even in Cornwall) hits the mark precisely. I am not one of those who can vouch that every location or keg will be subtley different, but I can say it made me go back for seconds.

post by Roger Palmer

Review Koonowla Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

87 points

Clare Valley, South Australia

Almost black. Warm to hot nose, but crisp and varietal. Smoky warm cabernet flavours, with tight (a touch noticeably added) acid. Carries its 15% alcohol reasonably well. A good food wine, interesting. Great for Mediterranean dining; informal restaurant wine doesn't get much better than this - and it is priced in this range.

Lots to like (including that it is bottled with screwcap). Drink over the 5-8 years or so.

Review Ross Estate Lynedoch 2001

85 points

Barossa Valley, South Australia

A cabernet, merlot, cabernet franc blend. Has been receiving rave reviews in the USA. A spicy soft wine, without the attack and power of a top cabernet. And without the depth of serious claret. A pleasant wine.

Review Ross Estate Shiraz 2001

81 points

Barossa Valley, South Australia

A nicely structured shiraz, with a fair degree of concentration, but marred by vegetal (mercaptan probably) flavours.

Review Campbells Bobbie Burns Shiraz 2002

70 points

from Rutherglen, Victoria, Australia

From an area that has produced some occasional outstanding wines. A hot region but one of the coolest vintages on record (outstanding throughout much of Australia). So reasons for high hopes perhaps. But this is simple, jammy, dilute, and alcoholic.

Review Petaluma (Hanlin Hill) Riesling 2004

86 points

Not anywhere near the quality of the sublime 2002 vintage, indeed I don't think this is up to par with the normal Petaluma standard. A lack of mid palate intensity and depth of riesling flavour.

Review Elian da Ros Clos Baquey 2000

72 points

From Cotes du Marmandias, France (outside of bordeaux), a blend of cabernet (presumably mostly), Merlot, Syrah and Abouriou.

A strongly flavoured dark coloured wine, quite an oddity, minty and tomato-leaf like an Australian Coonawarra cabernet. It's a reminder of just how different Coonawarra cabernets are from bordeaux. The oak is odd tastes like sawdust. I have had a number of bottles of this wine, mainly consumed in the UK. This last one brought back to Australia is near undrinkable, the levels of VA (volatile acidity) are awful. Perhaps a bad bottle but I think more likely it is the wine style. While you'd expect it to age, the VA just builds.

Review Chateau Citran 2000 & 2001

2000 - 89+ points
2001 - 85 points

from Haut Medoc Bordeaux France

This chateau had quite a bit of investment and upgrading of vineyards, winemaking back in the late 1980s (I think). And now often appears as a powerful claret with a substantial amount of new oak (far too much in 1998 I thought).

But a bottle of the 2001 tried recently was savoury, with somewhat metallic/blood-like flavours and little evidence of new oak. A solid somewhat old-fashioned bordeaux.

Then the 2000, bought from the same shop, is a much bigger more powerful wine. Sniff deeply and there are kirsch almond marzipan aromas -due to fruit intensity and toasty new oak.

I'm quite a fan of the 2001 vintage but Chateau Citran seems to have 'dropped the ball' this year. Either that or I simply got a bad bottle. I think the best bet is to buy the 2000 though, it will be drinking well over the next 5 years or more. Quality wine well priced.