Stringy Brae 2001 Clare Valley Shiraz (review)

88+ points

This wine burst onto our palates when first opened. Unbridled fruit flavours with great intensity. Not much oak and soft but persistent tannins. I liked the very subtle oak and almost imperceptable added acidity. This is a powerful, but amzingly not over the top tasting Shiraz with powerful dark fruits and a bit of chocolate. Very persistent length bodes well for some aging. Too easy to drink.

La Croix Chaptal Siegneurie de Cambous 2001

92 points

This is the winery partially owed by JP Couderc from Agro- Montpellier. The vineyard is mainly old vines planted near the town of Cambous about 45 minutes west of Montpellier. It is mainly Carignan with a bit of Grenache and Syrah. The nose was still closed, but had a bit of cinnamon spice and licorice. The same tones were in the wine along with a almost thick structure of fine tannins. No fruit sweetness, but still a bit dark red fruits and spicy overtones. The wine was made to "express the unique terroir of Cambous as it must have been in the 10th century when owned by the monks of gellone Abbey". This is one of the best Languedoc wines I have tasted.

Rockford 2000 Semillon

90 points
Well developed Semillon with some barrel fermentation. Still lemony and tart, but with a very round smooth palate. A hint of stony earthy characters.

Houghton 1995 Riesling

95 points

Simply a great example of an aged Riesling (bought from the cellar door last month). Beautiful fruit on the nose with some kero notes, but not too developed yet. The palate is smooth and round with lime and tart acidity. A bargain at $25.

Coudoulet de Beaucastel 1999 (review)

85 points

Cotes-Du-Rhone, France. 13.5%

Good vintage. Made by Beaucastel from the vineyard across the road from their Chateauneuf-du-Pape vineyard, supposedly in just the same way.

So I'm surprised that this is fairly straightforward. It's nice, the obvious Mouvedre giving the house style, but certainly less weighty and concentrated than expected.

I was hoping for a bargain. But as that the first bottle was corked it turned out to be rather expensive :-(

Kilikanoon blocks road Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

88+ points.

Clare Valley, South Australia. 14.5%

This is lovely for a warm climate cabernet. It's big and quite deeply fruited, yet not chocolatey. The oak is just right for this sort of fruit, not sweet, like freshly sawn timber, no esters of vanilla etc.

Approachable.

Worth buying. $22

Cascabel Tempranillo/Graciano 2002

88 points.

McLaren Vale, South Australia. 13.5%

Dark red. Probably the first decent Australian tempranillo I've tried. Yet I'm sure I had this wine when younger and it was hard and undrinkable. Now it is quite impressive, with black olive characters.

My only complaint is that the wine is a bit flat on its feet. In spite of the screwcap and cool 2002 vintage the acid is a somewhat dull.

Nyetimber chardonnnay blanc de blancs 1995

88 points.

West Chiltington, West Sussex, United Kingdom. 12%

The back label says that vines have been grown on this estate since the 12th century.

This is proof that the UK can make fine sparkling wine. Not entirely surprising given the cool climate, but it has been some while coming. Most English wine is far from exciting.

This is medium full-bodied with pronounced chardonnay fruit, and fine cool climate acidity. More 'New World' than I'd expected, with the weight to handle light food. Nicely developed for its age and best to drink now.

Chambers Rutherglen Blue Imperial 1998 (review)

80 points

Rutherglen, North East Victoria, Australia. 13.3%

Cinsault, a variety still widely used in regional French blends. I think this is the first time I've ever seen it in Australia.

Quite fresh fruit on the front palate, remarkable given its 8 years. Quite a lot of harsh limey tartaric acid, needless to say the wine is starting to through an acid crust.

I won't buy this again but it wasn't a bad wine with food. Simple, unpretentious, and refreshingly relatively light in alcohol by modern standards.

Faiveley Montagny 'les jones' 2000 review

85 points

Burgundy, France. 13%

A reasonably priced white burgundy, especially given that it was bought off retail shelves at nearly 6 years of age.

Quite strongly flavoured in a dry austere style with a surprising amount of French oak. I think with time this will fatten a tad, and the oak will subside. Like a minor claret, this is an interesting savoury wine that will age but doesn't have tightly concentrated flavours that will build complexity with age.

An interesting contrast to New World chardonnay.

Annies Lane Copper Trail Shiraz 2001 (review)

88 points.

Clare Valley, South Australia. 15%

Unfiltered sort of crimson deep red. Some trapped CO2 (not uncommon nowadays). This is a surprisingly young wine for 5 years of age - perhaps partly due to the screwcap enclosure (and maybe recent bottling).

Very polished winemaking. A big ripe wine yet with some elegance due to perfect balance of (added) acidity, and deft though sweet & cosmetic oak.

Yes, a show pony wine. But a good quality one. Though this is reflected in the price: $40 if you buy right, $55 if you don't.

Personally I find this boring for the price (even if you buy right). Yet I admire the pristine nature and the screwcap - with time it may be substantially better than many of its current peers.

PS recent winner of the "Great Australian Shiraz Challenge".

Knappstein Lenswood 1999 Palantine (review)

85 points

This version of Tim Knappsteins Bordeaux style red is a Merlot Malbec Cabernet blend from the Adelaide Hills. Very disappointing when opened, as the nose was tight and the palate mainly tannin and a bit of that was green. After slow drinking for about 90 minutes, the wine opened as much as it could. It never developed much of a nose beyond a bit of spice and deep red fruits, the palate softened and a range of flavours emerged, but all the while blanketed in tannin. At this time it started to look like a very good Bordeaux upon opening, but never developed much finesse afterwards.

Kilikanoon Covenant Shiraz 2002

90 points (perhaps)

Clare Valley, South Australia. 14.5%

I'm giving this high points because of the deep varied aromas. It's a powerful and concentrated wine without being flat on its feet. That said it is hard to call it as fine and balanced when the mint toffee sweet oak is so apparent. I'm betting this will fade and at around 6-8 years of age will be a more palatable, and still impressive, wine.

Though, given the risk that I might be wrong, and given the price of around $35 I think I'd advise seeking out other Clare and indeed Kilakanoon wines rather than buying this. Unless of course that you really like confectionary oak.

Tim Smith WInes Shiraz 2002 (review)

85 points

Barossa Valley, South Australia. 14.5%

Dark unfiltered sort of colour (looks like there are fine particles in it). Old fashioned sort of nose - hot with tartaric acid giving greasepaint and (more as it gets older) leather aromas.

Big, strong, old fashioned sort of wine in spite of the French oak (new and used), groovy modern minimalist label, and (red) screwcap enclosure.

I was tipped off by Melbourne Street Wine Cellars to this wine, one of the early 2002 releases. They said this was a new winery, well priced, that was going to be cult, ie higher prices later. And all the packaging and french oak (unusual for Barossa shiraz) concurs. But I found the wine hard impenetrable when it was released. Now maybe 2 years later it is more accessible, and comes across like a good but unfashioned wine. There are many old established premium brands that deliver this sort of wine, like Penfolds.

Not really in the company of the new wave of Barossa wines as I previously thought.

To be blunt there is simply too much added acid in this wine, not that it is out of balance, the need for the acid was created in the vineyard.

Gembrook Hill Mayer Vineyard Pinot Noir 2004 (review)

85 points.

Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia. 13.2%

Considered an exciting new producer, this is a small project (only 16 barrels made) of the winemaker.

For such a young wine it is very approachable. Light red in colour, warm but not super concentrated aromas, sweetish fruit somewhat light strawberry jam-ish though largely managing to veer away from this.

Quite attractive but not exciting. Drink now or over the next 2-3 years. $27

Montnousseau Vouvray 'Blanc de Blancs' 2001 (review)

85 points.

Loire, France. 12%

Gorgeous nose, older Chenin Blanc with beeswax, young pear and tiny touch of sulpher. A drink now forward Vouvray with nice residual sweetness. Drink by itself or with savoury nibbles. Good value.

Warramate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (review)

86 points

Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia. screwcap

Outstanding young colour, deep black purple with crimson flashes.

Surprising then that this wine is silky and approachable. It is quite opulent. Dry grown (completely non irrigated) fruit with considerable concentration. Exotic, blackcurrant fruit. But in a warm climate style. I might pick this for a cool vintage wine from McLaren Vale, or another warm Australian region, but not the Yarra Valley.

Interesting certainly. But not profound, lacks balance, not food friendly at all. Hard to drink, rather than taste, and that isn't due to its age. Nevertheless good value. And I'd sure it would upstage many more well known and more expensive Australian cabernets in a tasting. $19

Wine Auctions

I agree that wine auctions are perhaps the clearest indication of a wine's financial worth. Of course they are driven by rarity rather than objective quality, but nonetheless they represent a wide view of a wine's worth. However, auction indices, like any indices are sensitive to what is in the 'basket' to be indexed. Bordeaux in general has gone downwards in terms of price, while the top growths have gone upwards. So the index value depends on what is included. The Bordelais are about to pull out over 25% of their hectarage, so it is not surprising that overall the index is down.

John Loxton Regional Selection 2004 Barbera King Valley

85+
Left over from a party, this wine is an obvious attempt at an Australian version of Italian wines for the lower end drinker. Initially the nose was a fruity cherry and old oak and the palate sweet with a lingering acidity. After airing for an hour (while 3/4 of the bottle disappeared), the nose and palate have lessened in fruitiness and picked up some savory and leathery notes, almost a bit of saddle soapiness. The acidity is still high, but it tastes natural (As Barbera has high normal acidity). The alcohol is not noticably high (13%), so this is really a food wine with a bit too much overt fruitiness. The label says the range is bottled by Vinpac, which makes it a Fosters or perhaps a Cellarmasters selection. Someone pencilled in 2007 on the label, which is perhaps when it should be drunk, but it's too late for that.

Auction prices

Decanter magazine publishes an auction index for Bordeaux. Currently the index, set in December 1996, is at 117.6 (ie up only 17%) that's below the inflation rate over the same 9 year period. Very odd, unbelievable actually, unfortunately they do not explain fully how they calculate their index.

Langton's the Australian auction house maintains an index set at 1000 in 1991 it is now slightly over 2000. If it had only risen with inflation it should be at 1400 now. Oddly though the index reached 2500 in 1999 after which it dropped and has been flat for 5 years now.

Wine auction indices are somewhat odd in that a single vintage typically rises in price then stalls and even can decline, eventually vintages have to be removed and new ones added. Wine auction indices seem really only useful for comparing changes over a few years.

Koonowla Shiraz 2000 (review)

80 points.

Clare Valley, 14.5%

At near 6 years of age this shows age on the nose (touch of leather and mustiness), but strong colour.

But so SWEET and simple. Not much point in cellaring this, there are plenty of current vintage wines that can deliver the same foreceful sweet flavour. Disappointing.

Chateau Pato 'old Pokolbin vineyard' shiraz 2003 (review)

87 points

Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. 14.5% screwcap.

Lots of different flavours, all over the place, so let me sum up the wine first... a sleek soft fat alcoholic sweet wine with savoury tones - some 2000 Chateaunef-du-Pape wines come (somewhat) close in style. Very approachable.

Sweet but saved by smokey oak. And the slightly cowshed finish is attractive - really.

Something of a show pony wine yet not in the commercial show style, sort of show pony for the cognoscenti. $27