Finally!!! 2013 in review - The Best

You can throw all the cliches you want at this one, but finally I am releasing my best of 2013. But hey, if James Halliday can release the Wine Companion in August with the following year's title on it with current release wines then, 'what the heckity heck bang chuck', as my five year old son Henry would say. Sorry James.

There is also a new moniker to add to the blog: The Paul Keating Wine, '...the recession we had to have' here becomes, 'the wine you have to have'. Yeah, what are you going to do hey.



So, 2013 hey. For me it was dominated by reds and a few steamy imports. So without further adieu and the blah blahs, here we have the best of 2013.

Mac Forbes Strathbogie Ranges RS16 Riesling 2013 - a most beautiful wine with the RS16 effectively telling the drinker that it has 16 grams per litre of residual sugar. But you wouldn't know. Sexy as nuts this one.

Man O' War Waiheke Island Dreadnought 2009 - pretty much the perfect Right bank blend you can have; from the Right bank or for anywhere for that matter. Stunning balance of fruit weight and minerality and an early club house leader.

BK Adelaide Hills Cult Syrah 2012 - the 2011 of this was my fave for 2012 and an example of certain wine experts going far to fucking early in writing off 2011 (Just today sampled a Geelong 2011 Pinot Noir that was simply singing!!!). Superb balance of cool climate Syrah - blackberry, soy sauce and black olive tapanade. Will not be the last time you see those tasting notes typed. Sorry no pic, must have deleted.

Sutton Grange Bendigo Fairbank Rose 2013 - Not only the best Rose's of last year but almost the top dog. A blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and a squirt of Merlot (yes Merlot you dilettantes), this wine got me with its classic onion skin colour and funky fermier cider mid palate. Oink oink!!!

Precipice Yarra Valley Syrah 2012 - Pipped at the post for wine in show at the Yarra Valley Wine Show. Not bad for a bloke making his first wine on his own. And the bloke is Marty Singh. Watch this name.

Cavallotto Piedmont Dolceto d'Alba 2011 - I love Dolcetto and so should you: tart, crunchy, little tickle of herbs, earth, sex and other wicked stuff. Just get it.

The Melbourne Gin Company - Save the World - drink Gin. This one. Go on. Nice one Marksy!!!

Il Borghetto Toscana Montigiano Sangiovese 2011 - This is the wine that stopped me dead in my tracks. Seriously. What a wine. Seriously (again), this wine could be confused with a rootin-tootin red Burgundy. It is that good.

Giovanni Almondo Piedmont Roero Arneis 2010 - A wine that delivers an uncanny balance of tart bitter lemon and grapefruit with beautiful ripe pear and quince. A stunner.

Vinea Marson Heathcote Syrah 2008 - Only the Bard can do this justice. A near perfect wine, but 100/100 really.

So there you have it. There were definitely some wines that are unlucky not to feature; Stoney Vineyard, Abbazia Di Novacella and Wickhams Road. But hey, 2014 is a big year, or 10 months to go anyway.

But the Paul Keating wine for 2013 - Il Borghetto Toscana Montigiano Sangiovese 2011. Twas the clubhouse leader back in September and kept the lead all the way to midnight December 31, 2013.

Special thanks and recognition to John, Paul, George and Ringo and the all time classic 'Revolver' playing throughout my banging of keys. xxooxx

Vinea Marson Heathcote Syrah 2008

As was in August 2011, only William Shakespeare can give it true justice:

My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth and disease;
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
Th' uncertain sickly appetite to please.
My reason, the physician to my Love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept, 
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did expect.
Past cure I am, now reason is past care,
And frantic mad with evermore unrest;
My thoughts and my discourse as mad men's are,
At random from the truth vainly express'd;
    For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,
    Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

Sonnets 147

Brooding. Dark. Blackberries. Black Olive tapanade. Soy Sauce. Balsamic. Lust. Love. Envy. Need. Want.

The Vinea Marson Heathcote Syrah 2008  

Drink!!!
Drink till you have licked all residual flecks from the glass
100/100
Diam cork 14.5%v/v

The Met Macedon Ranges Shiraz 2008

It’s hot. It’s hot. It’s really hot. Hot. Hot. Hot. Hottest hot spell on record says the record books.

So to make everyone feel that little bit more hot, I introduce to you The Met Macedon Ranges Shiraz 2008. This wine is hot, and its cool climate hot to boot.. Not hot, ‘geez that’s big and juicy and hot’, but hot, ’geez, how cool is this hot wine?’ And yes, a Macedon Ranges Shiraz; who’d have thunk it!!!

Deep colour in the glass, the wine throws up a great whack of blackberries and black olive tapenade on the nose with more of the same on the primary palate with the mid palate washing everything up nicely with grainy minerality and tart acid. A seriously hot wine!!!

Drink with med-rare steak sanga with a chilli chutney

Drink till 2017

96

Wax seal and diam cork 13.6% v/v $29 Seddon Wine Store

Mt Moriac Geelong Estate Pinot Noir 2008

Delightful. Lovely texture. Good age. These are just few of descriptors that can be used for the Mt Moriac Geelong Estate Pinot Noir 2008. There are more but lets talk about Mt Moriac for starters.

Why do we not see this label in more places around Melbourne? Is it because too many people are in meetings to see David - Mr Mt Moriac - or is it because Geelong only gets a nod if it is Farr or Bannockburn. I don't know. The other two are great yes, but as I have mentioned plenty of times previous, Geelong is a ripping place for wine, not just for driving through to get to the surf coast; something I will be doing tomorrow actually.

So much for the soapbox. More wine. The colour in the glass shows a touch of age with a bronze hue. The nose is also aged affected with developed spice - cinnamon, cassia bark and dried garden herbs. There is also just a  touch of tart red fruit hanging in there, just. The palate once again shows sign of development with dry terracotta, more spice and once again lingering tart fruit with cranberry the obvious. A great wine highlighting Geelong and also a touch of bottle age in a time where wine is usually consumed 2-3 years after vintage.

Drink with pull pork taco's
Drink till 2015
94
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $30 Seddon Wine Store

Clonakilla Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2008

Its Australia Day. Happy Australia Day everyone, and to celebrate its going to be this real Aussie classic, not the formulaic Ben Folds wines; play on words if you know what I mean. The Clonakilla Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2008 will be opened when I get home tonight, but lets re-visit from about three months ago.

Deep red in the glass. The nose is full of soft tart red fruit, red licorice and subtle dried herbs. The palate is a kaleidoscope of ink, violets, faint spice, milk chocolate, game; just keeps going - the sip that never quits! Almost Burgundian in finish. Remarkable wine!

Drink with Haute Aussie BBQ while listening to Cold Chisel
Drink till 2020+
99
Screwcap 14%v/v $$$$

Austins Geelong Shiraz 2008

This wine reminded me of what simple good wine is all about. A Shiraz. From Geelong. A good year. It looks and sounds like a simple formula, and that's exactly what you get here. The Austins Geelong Shiraz 2008 label reads just that. In the bottle you get s great whack of cool climate shiraz, a lick of regionality and a touch of age which is something odd these days with wine producers often getting their wine out the same year as the vintage.

Black licorice and subtle spice - white pepper notably - come to the fore on the nose with white pepper being quite dominant in the primary palate. I did decant this after my first sip; very big acid early. After about 30 minutes the wine was still focused around the acid and white pepper but time in the decanter brings black licorice and half tart half ripe blackberries. Good to have you back Austins!

Drink till 2016
Drink with chilli con carne
93
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $30 Carlton Cellars 

Prunotto Ochetti Piedmont Nebbiolo d'Alba 2008

My lament is that only one glass gets washed around here these days; Erin only having wine a few days a week, which is cool though. Pitiful lament I know. But its the case so half bottle season it is! The Prunotto Occhetti Piedmont Nebbiolo d'Alba 2008 is all bells and whistles; its really everyhting you love about Nebbiolo, or Barolo for that matter, only its in a little bottle and perfect for one glass - 2 1/2 really. Chicken or the egg meets tomato/potato kind a thing if you get my drift.

Drink with juicy lamb chops
Drink till 2020
96
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $40ish Albert Street Food & Wine, Brunswick

Cascina Morassino Langhe Nebbiolo 2008 DOC

'O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, 
Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse 
Without all hope of day.'
John Milton - Samson Agonistes

Not quite the end of the world stuff, but dark nonetheless. The Cascina Morassino Langhe Nebbiolo 2008 DOC appears almost black in the glass with the hue seemingly black also. The nose is all true Nebbiolo with tar steaming off the surface. The palate, like the nose, is again all Nebbiolo with lip smacking tannins and acid all holding tart red fruit in check. No need to wait for the apocalypse to enjoy this.

Drink with osso bucco
Drink till 2020
94
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $50 Blackhearts & Sparrows, Fitzroy North

Forest Hill Mount Barker Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Just hear me out for a sec. Block 5. Block 5 wines are fast becoming a marketing tool to so many producers. Don't quote me on this, but I think the first Block 5 in Australia was from Bindi in 1997 - the Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir 1997 I recall was listed at $400 not so long ago at The Lincoln in Carlton; not bad for a vineyard that was planted in 1992!

Anyway, the Block 5 tag seems to have that marketing 'midas touch'. Here's just a few that I can recall of the top:

• Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges
• Yabby Lake Block 5 Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
• Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir, Central Otago
• Chalice Bridge Chapman Series Block 5 Shiraz/Cabernet, Margaret River
• Saint Clair Pioneer Block 5 Pinot Noir, Marlborough
• Forrest Estate Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon, Marlborough 

Talk about doing your block!!

So it was about 2 weeks ago that I had a tasting of the new Forest Hill wines from Mount Barker with their very pregnant winemaker Clémence Haselgrove; for me the Springvale Estate Riesling is pound-for-pound one of the best in Australia, but thats for another post. The last wine in the bracket was, now wait for it, the Forest Hill Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. Block 5's aside, this is truly a cracking wine.

Deep ox blood colour in the glass, the nose throws up aroma's of whispy mint and eucalypt with the smallest hint of dusty tannins to come. The palate is all Left Bank with subtle blueberry notes woven together with pitch perfect acid, tannins and dry dusty cocoa powder. This wine has all the hallmarks of spending another 20 years in the bottle for plenty of reward.

Drink with shephards pie - I did last night
Drink till 2025+
96
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $60ish

Gioiello Upper Goulburn Merlot 2008

Merlot still gets a bad wrap unfortunately, from that stupid movie 'Sideways' to Neil and Bob on Youtube, Merlot is still the ugly duckling. But we all know what happened to the ugly duckling, it turned in to a majestical beast. Good Merlot too can be a majestical beast; look at the great Right Bank wines like Petrus, Le Pin and Cheval Blanc - all Merlot and all truly unforgettable.

With the soapbox put away, please welcome the Gioiello Upper Goulburn Merlot 2008. Pronounced 'Joy-ello', meaning 'jewell' in Italian, is a wine that came across my bow a few months ago and was penned in to the list when there was a spot. A great colour in the glass, the wine sings with pretty blue fruit with a hint of dusty tannins too come. The palate is a great example of what Merlot is; blueberries, ash, minerality, cedar and acid. And the producers of this wine have done the right thing and released the wine with a bit of bottle age, and not straight away where the real Merlot would not be seen. A ripping wine.

Drink with lamb back-strap
Drink till 2025
95
Screwcap 13.6%v/v $25 Albert Street Food & Wine, Brunswick  

Bindi Bottling 2012 - Quartz, Original Vineyard and Block 5

It's the day after bottling and the body is a bit sore and the house is quiet. And the rain keeps coming down. It's also cold! Hemingway I aint?

It should have been a quick day, but things don't always go to plan. What did go to plan however was the quality of the wine. The Bindi Quartz Chardonnay, Original Vineyard and Block 5 Pinot Noir's were all sitting in tank, all looking schmick as, but the mobile bottling truck got bogged at the top of block 4. It's a big truck, and big trucks do not get un-bogged easily.

It was also a slow start down here in Brunswick. All things being equal, I should have been in the winery at 7.30am, which is a 6.50am departure from home. Finishing work at midnight after a 15 hour day means that when the alarm goes off, a flurry a lewd expletives follows, the alarm gets tossed and sleep returns. So waking up at 8.45am, more expletives, a cold shower thanks to gas works and I'm off up the Calder. I pull up to the winery and the Quartz has all been bottled and some usuals, some newbie's, are milling around the winery enjoying cake and morning tea. I am greeted with a glass of Quartz Chardonnay, with Michael nodding, 'What do you think?'. Well, what do I think? I think this is a stunningly linear and focused wine that, the stuff I'm sipping anyway, didn't make it to bottle. Just imagine what it's going to be like in the bottle over the coming years - bit like a 1st year player winning the Brownlow.

It was the Original Vineyards turn next with the gremlins of earlier coming back. After a splutter the bottling line got rolling along nicely and the next thing you know there are 4 palates packed away and lunch is waiting in the winery. The Block 5 Pinot was next and like the Original Vineyard, some gremlins hindered the start but as soon as we knew it we had 2½ palates or so and things were motoring.

The last wine is one that Michael will be experimenting with over the next few years. When I say experimenting I mean that he is taking a sample of juice from the bottom and top of Block K, the highest altitude block on the vineyard, and holding it back for at least 3 years to then release to the thirsty public.

So another bottling done, my 14th, and like all bottling we pulled up seats in the winery and savoured some of Bindi's best wines. This year, like I said earlier, there were quite a few newbie's and they were duly treated to a recently disgorged Blanc de Blanc 1994 out of magnum. What a stunning wine with a beautifully tight bead and golden colour. this was followed with a 2007 Composition Pinot Noir which was pretty much drinking at its peak, a 2008 Block 5 Pinot Noir which is still quite young and not giving away too much and a specially made 2005 Vue de monde Pinot Noir that had all the hallmarks of an aged Bindi Pinot Noir - clean acidity with savoury earthy notes standing over a sun-setting tone of bright red fruit. So, another bottling done, with the end of February already booked in for the 2012 Composition's and Pyrette Shiraz. I will be heading up to Bindi before then for other bits-and-bobs, but it's always a little bit more gratifying coming home down the Calder with a booty of freshly bottled gems.

Explorer Central Otago Pinot Noir 2008

A while ago now, Central Otago was anointed the New World's closest thing to Burgundy. Massive words. The closest to Burgundy I believe is the Northern Rhone - geographical and stylistically.

But lets talk about Central Otago. For a few years now this sipper has gone off CO because of what I think is too ripe fruit. For one of the southern most wine regions, discounting Tierra Del Fuego, CO more often than not delivers plummy and nose-bleeding levels of alcohol that would send Msr Parker in to a fit of extasy. I like my Pinot Noir tight, linear, tart, and after a few years or so singing as sexy as the King of Pop Dave Graney.

There are many that get frothy at the pioneer wines from CO - Carrick, Felton Road and Quartz Reef. But are they getting frothy about past glories rather than current releases? I get frothy on what I mentioned in the previous passage - the sexy sounds of Dave Graney. This is the category I put the Explorer Central Otago Pinot Noir 2008 in.

Explorer isn't the type of wine that runs with the popular kids, rather a loner who is more interested in finding their own way in life and not relying on the cool kids to give them an opinion. A typical colour in the glass of dirty transparent red. A burst of tight green capscicum acid hits the aroma first; this is not a bad thing as it shows some whole bunch press going on and also for me it sort of wakes up the olfactory. Also there is some tart rasbery with a hint of beetroot leaf. In the mouth the acid and tannins take centre stage, but with the gentlest of touches. It is both the acid and tannin that hold all in balnce - more tart fruit with raspberry and cranberry the noticeable elements.

For the money, this wine punches well above its weight and has the ability of showing its more well known and fated neighbours a thing or two about style and grace

Drink with rare lamb rump
Drink till 2015
94
Screwcap 13%v/v $25 at Albert Street Food & Wine

Mitchell Harris Macedon Ranges/Pyrenees Sabre Chardonnay/Pinot Noir 2008

To say that the Mitchell Harris star is on the rise is quite frankly beyond obvious! The Mitchell Harris Macedon Ranges/Pyrenees Sabre Chardonnay/Pinot Noir 2008 is a spankingly good wine that just kept giving. The colour certainly belies its three years on lees with a lovely off gold/bronze tinge and constant fine bead. The nose dance’s between brioche and tort grapefruit and then really comes alive in the palate with a combination of subtle red fruit followed by a great finish of gingerbread. With a pedigree from Chandon, Jonno Harris producers a wine that ticks all the right boxes with the first sparkling release under the Mitchell Harris label. And like the piggy, I just want more - cracking job mate!!

Drink with salmon gravlax
Drink till 2016
97
Diam cork 12.5%v/v www.mitchellharris.com.au

Giaconda Beechworth Chardonnay 2008 bottle # 01438

Start the new year with a bang I say. Quite simply our best chardonnay producer, the Giaconda Beechworth Chardonnay 2008 was simply stunning. Tight green hue in the glass, the aroma is full of grapefruit and peach with burnt match stick and licorice powder. The palate is full of melon and a creamy nuttiness that manoeuvres in to a stonefruit tail. Just brilliant!

Drink with grilled marron
Drink till 2018
98
Screwcap 13%v/v $88 mailing list 3 years ago www.giaconda.com.au

Xanadu Margaret River Reserve Chardonnay 2008

On a recent trip to Perth, I popped in to Steve’s Fine Wine and Food – a bit of a favourite – to have a chat with the guys. With no real urgency to leave I purchased an enomatic card to sample some of the wines, but it was the wine that was sitting on the tasting table really had me salivating. The Xanadu Margaret River Reserve Chardonnay 2008.

After a little cosmetic work with the label, The Xanadu brand has more of a sophisticated look about it after what seemed like years in bargain basement wilderness, and this wine certainly lends to that. Straw colour in the glass, the aroma offers the soft and sexy wafts of bees wax and citrus blossom. The palate delivers wonderfully integrated oak; you wouldn’t know it but it’s got 100% barrel ferment – with seamless minerality and acidity held up by more citrus, but no over powering, peach and licorice powder. A great wine.

Drink with pork and prawn Hue pancakes
Drink till 2014
96
Bottle was opened and did not notice closure, but get it at Steve’s Fine Wine & Foods, Nedlands
http://www.steves.com.au

By Farr Geelong Tout Pres Pinot Noir 2008

An Australian Pinot Noir that masquerades as Burgundy - no shit! The By Farr Geelong Tout Pres Pinot Noir 2008 is as close to pure seduction as I have come across this year; blindingly seductive! Dirty red in the glass, the aroma makes its way to the olfactory in a teasing fashion to wash you over with savoury and earthy notes with a real sense that this is really something from Pommard or Volnay. The palate is all class with just the right balance of soft tannins and acid with dark cherry the bright spot. A truely great wine.

Drink with grilled calves livers
drink till 2017
98
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $110 from Blackhearts Brunswick

Vinea Marson Heathcote Syrah 2008

Words fail me, so I’ll let someone else say it for me. The Vinea Marson Heathcote Syrah 2008…

To the onlie Begetter of these insuing Sonnets. Mr. W.H. All Happinesse. And that eternitie promised by our ever-living poet wisheth the well-living adventurer in setting forth.
T.T.


From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die,
But as the riper should time decrease,
His tender heir might bear his memory;
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed’st thy lights flame with self substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content,
And, tender churl, mak’st waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.


William Shakespeare; The Sonnets: 1


Drink with steak tartar
Drink till 2024
99
Diam cork 14.5%v/v $46 Purvis Cellars Balwyn and Bistro d’Orsay Collins Street

Ravensworth Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2008 and Marco van Basten

Pedigree. In all aspects of life, pedigree is a major factor to getting it right! Pedigree is raw talent that is moulded from something into something!! But pedigree comes from somewhere; as stated in The Concise Macquarie Dictionary – pedigree /’pɛdəgri/, an ancestral line, or line of descent, esp as recorded: lineage.

Pedigree. It’s where you come from. Just like the Ravensworth Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2008 with Bryan Martin at the helm. And where did Bryan Martin come from (and still works with)? Clonakilla and Tim Kirk. It is safe to say that Tim Kirk is Australia’s main man when it comes to the Côte-Rôtie blend and Bryan Martin has obviously been watching Tim over the years to with his 2008 wine one of the best local Shiraz Viognier’s I have drunk. A lovely mix of fruit and savoury aromas and flavours define this wine with chalky tannins holding it altogether; there’s also a hint of green in the form of eucalyptus, but it is the dark and brooding flavours of olive tapenade and subtle brown spice that keeps me heading back to Dan’s for this gem.

Now if the Ravensworth Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2008 was a footballer, I would suggest that it would come in the form of Holland’s Marco van Basten. Discovered by the Godfather of Dutch football, Johan Cryuff, van Basten was thrust into AFC Ajax Amsterdam as a 19 year old and dominated the centre forward position there until his departure to the powerhouse AC Milan in 1987. It was the following year in the 1988 European Championship where is flower blossomed by not only being the top scorer in the completion, but also being a member of the winning nation and scoring quite possibly the best volley ever. EVER!

Bryan Martin/Tim Kirk:Marco van Basten/Johan Cryuff. Its kismet baby!

Drink with calves livers
Drink till 2015
94
Screwcap 14%v/v $30 Dan Murphy’s Coburg

François Chidaine Les Argiles Vouvray 2008

Such a sexy wine. In an almost Mills & Boon way this wine grabbed me around the waist and drew me to its plump bosom in a fit of ecstasy! The François Chidaine Les Argiles Vouvray 2008 is quite easily my favourite white for 2011 for the simple reason that it has everything. Pale straw to look at, the wine offers up a hint of tropical fruit on the nose, but that was it. In to the decanter for you then my pretty! After a while a real whack of flint was followed by ripe pineapple and papaya – funky shit right. The palate was where it was for me with a great mix of minerality and sweetness, but it wasn’t like one followed the other. This dance ebbed and flowed between the both, sort of like dancing to The Chemical Brothers and Anne Murray both at the same time; told you it was the funky shit!

All in all, a brilliant Chenin Blanc!

Drink with crumbed lambs brains - an easy Susan!
Drink till 2015
97
Quality cork 13.5%v/v; didn’t put $$ on wine notes sorry, but got it from Blackheart & Sparrows in Brunswick

Shobbrook Wines Seppeltsfield/Barossa Valley Shiraz 2008

Its winter and I’m not in Vietnam anymore so its Shiraz time. Its Shobbrook Seppeltsfield/Barossa Valley Shiraz 2008. And yes, its cold; the weather, not the wine

Almost black in the glass, the wine lifts in the decanter with a distinct purple hue and black licorice nose. Initially the palate shows tiny grippy tannins that are there then gone before you know it. With the tannins gone a more mineral mouth feel flows with an almost charcoal feel along with more black licorice and a hint of raisin at the back. A real winter red without the JABS.

Drink with rare roast beef
Drink till 2015
93
Quality cork with wax seal 14.5%v/v $42 from Blackheart & Sparrows Brunswick