Allies Mornington Peninsula Tuerong Pinot Noir 2013

I think I have developed a new flavour sensory in wine. For me anyway. Masterstock. Chinese Masterstock. Spice. Soy sauce. Fish sauce. Spice; cinnamon, cardamon, cassia bark. Smokin hot awesomeness really. Take me down to Chinatown baby!!!

The Allies Mornington Peninsula Tuerong Pinot Noir 2013 is one of the best wines I've seen this year. Everything mentioned above plus a herbal and raspy dry mid palate. This is a real Pinot Noir drinkers Pinot Noir.

Drink with five spiced duck -  a Susan for sure
Drink till 2020
97
Screwcap 13%v/v $38 Brunswick East Wine Store

Tscharke Barossa Valley Appellation Shiraz 2012

In another Fonzy moment, I was w-w-w-w-w-rong about JABS. The Tscharke Barossa Valley Appellation Shiraz 2012 may be soaking in 15.5%v/v but by golly, you don't see it, rather you see seamless fruit and oak integration with plenty of savoury black olive and blackberry compote all held together fine a fine line of acid and soft chewy tannins. Wow. Who'd have thunk it?

Drink with chargrilled beef, such as image below - a definite Susan
Drink till 2016
96
Screwcap 15.5%v/v $25 Seddon Wine Store

Gorgeous rib-eye over hot coals

Mount Monument Macedon Ranges 2011 Pinot Noir

Another reason how the experts got it wrong. The Mount Monument Macedon Ranges 2011 Pinot Noir is a belter. Yes, as I have said before, 2011 was a very tough year for growers, but it all comes down to vineyard management and how you protect your fruit. I do not know who is in charge at the Mount Monument gaff but they deserve a big pat on the back. And a beer. And a medal. And the week off for that matter.

A great colour in the glass, the wine throws up a great mix of spice, funk and supple tart red fruit. In the palate the wine is swimming with depth of flavour; toasted spice, burnt toffee, tart raspberry and cranberry and perfectly balanced oak.

Again, a super wine from a real tough vintage. Good onya Mount Monument.

Drink with jerk chicken and beetroot salad - a Susan
Drink till 2016
97
Diam cork 13.5%v/v $32 Seddon Wine Store

Giovanni Almondo Piedmont Roero Arneis 2010

Sometimes you can stick your nose in a glass and wonder and ponder on what you are smelling; citrus, honey, butterscotch, chocolate. Yep, the olfactory is a mysterious thing. But sometimes the aroma just goes bang. The Giovanni Almondo Piedmont Roero Arneis 2010 is such a wine with a wackity-wack-wack of spiced quince; quince baby, where's the cheese I say. But don't drink with cheese, its gotta be pork. That's whats on the menu tonight. Just get it.

Drink with pork - that's a Susan!!!
Drink till 2015
95
Quality cork 13%v/v $35 Seddon Wine Store

Yves Cuilleron à Chavanay Rhône Valley Les Vignes d'à Côté Roussanne 2011 and my French Onion Soup

Sometimes things just work together. Simple ideas that make it obvious. The Yves Cuilleron à Chavanay Rhône Valley Les Vignes d'à Côté Roussanne 2011 and French onion soup work together. Well. Simple. Not together and the Roussanne is just another aromatic wine and the French onion soup is just a viscous and winter warming soup. Together they shine with the wine full of rich honey suckle and soft candied peaches and pears on the nose, the palate continues on this way with touches of prickly stewed pineapple, ginger and plenty of finesse.

I think I have called the end of Summer at least a dozen times. I'm going to call it again because right now it is hailing and 13°C here in downtown Brunswickistan, so this wine and this soup need your attention people. Alone good, together stunning. Simple and delicious pleasures.

My French onion Soup

1 kg brown onions  - sliced

100 grams butter

1 tablespoon of flour

1 litre of water

200 grams Gruyere cheese

1 baguette

salt and pepper

Melt 150grams of butter in a big pot. Slice all onions and add to pot. This needs plenty of stirring and should take up to 20-30 minutes to colour. When you have a decent colour, add flour and continue to stir for a couple of minutes. Add water and 100 grams of Gruyere to melt in soup. Bring to the boil and and reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. Cut up baguette on an angle and lightly toast. Cover with grated Gruyere cheese and stick under grill and place on top off soup when cheese melted. Bon.

Drink with my French onion soup

Drink till 2015

96

Diam cork 13%v/v $30 Seddon Wine Store

 

Domaine Anne Gros Bourgogne 2010

Tantilsing. Textuaul. Beautiful.

The Domaine Anne Gros Bourgogne 2010. Based in Vosne Romanee, Domaine Anne Gros consistantly producers exquisite wines from Flagey-Echezeaux, Chambolle-Musigny, Clos Vougeot and as mentioned Vosne Romanee where she produces about three wines. This wine was a treat and I could not wait to get it home.

Being a Bourgogne, I was expecting something very entry level; not top be. What we got was a wonderfully crafted wine with power and effeminate beauty. Dark ared in the glass, the nose was full of dark cherries, earth and succulaent bacon fat. The mouth had an instant hit of acid and tartness coming through as soft cranberries. The mid palate went to a new level with full dark cherries followed by more tart expressions of raspberry and cranberry. Great finish indeed. I loved it.

Drink with crispy skinned duck breast - a Susan
Drink till 2018
96
Quality cork 12.5%v/v

Bindi Macedon Ranges 1992 Chardonnay

It has come and gone just like that. Christmas 2012 is but a recent memory, and for some of us, a loosening of the belt. Like with most Xmas days I try and pull something schmick out of the cellar; didn't have to think too hard this year. The Bindi Macedon Ranges 1992 Chardonnay. It may not have a label, but when it is given to me by Michael Dhillon I just take his word for it.

The colour was turning orange with hints of straw yellow in the hue. The nose was a bomb of creme brulee, almonds and dried figs. The palate was just amazing with acid still prominent. There are not too many Australian Chardonnays that have the chutzpah to hang in there. Twenty years people, and a first vintage to boot!

Drink till 2015
Drink with my salmon gravlax - a Susan if ever there was one
99
Natural cork 12%v/v

Holyman Tamar River Pinot Noir 2010

It's funny how you go through stages. For a long time it was all about acid, tannins and a super dry style of Pinot Noir. I was a poo-pooer of big, bold and fruity Pinot's. Like I said, you go through stages. I'm a big boy now, so I take it all for what it is, not what I want it to be. Sometimes I like, sometimes I dislike. This one I really liked.

The Holyman Tamar River Pinot Noir 2010 is certainly not a wall flower. This is a wine that yells, 'I'm over here. Look at me'. And it is this bravado that sets it apart from other 'bigger' style Pinot's from across the ditch. Yes it has a wonderful mix of dark and masculine fruit, but it also has a very even balance of acid and soft mineral tannins that leave the palate clean and fresh and not heavy and hot. This a wine that demands food and is a definite Susan to the classic Peking Duck.

And speaking of stages, I'm currently listening to Phil Collins, 'Hello, I must be going...'. Now that's the funky shit.

Drink with Peking Duck
Drink till 2017
95
Screwcap 14%v/v mid $40's

Blue Poles Margaret River Teroldego 2011

If I loved continental tigers I'd write a blog on them. If I loved 16th Century Albanian poetry I'd write a blog about that too. The thing is I love wine. Lots of people love wine. Lots of people may also too love 16th Century Albanian poetry, but that may be a stretch I reckon. So when it seems I am almost Robinson Crusoe regarding the next wine, well I just don't get it. Maybe people are just too busy with peace crisis meetings to actually take the time to look at it.

The Blue Poles Margaret River Teroldego 2011 is a step up from its predecessor, the famous 'non vintage' wine from the same producers; well there are only two producers of this variety in Australia who share approximately 4 hectares between them. Very dark in the glass with no real hue to speak of. The nose is very heady and rustic with secondary notes of cedar, lead pencil with big, fat and juicy ripe cherries at the back; there's a lot to love in the nose itself. The palate is laced with a gorgeous line of lip smacking tannins and acid all combined with more secondary flavours such as dried herbs and bitter chocolate. Wonderful rustic goodness I say.

This is a wine that is not predictable in the slightest, and in that may just challenge your local neighbourhood wine expert along the way. Ships ahoy!

Drink with parmigiarna di melanzane - a definite Susan
Drink till 2020
96
Screwcap 13.8%v/v $30ish

Vinea Marson Heathcote Viognier 2011

Remember about 7 or 8 years ago how Viognier was going to tackle Chardonnay's dominance in the white wine market here in Australia. This was of course before Savvy B went boom, and with it so too did Viogniers rise. Since then there have been few producers that have been able to deliver consistent wines that demand an audience. One of them is Mario Marson of Vinea Marson and the 2011 is another great example of Viogniers class with this version full of candied apricot and coconut balanced neatly with the right amount of acid with a hint of crisp white phenolics. I also should mention that this is a product of probably the toughest vintage Heathcote had faced in many a year with disease pressure not seen in Heathcote for as many as some can recall.

Drink with sticky pork sliders - an easy Susan
Drink till 2015
92
Diam cork 13.5%v/v $30ish

Sébastien Brunet Vouvray Arpent Sec 2010

So it's been, what, a week and a bit(stupid cookies disabled my blog posting) since the mighty Melbourne Storm beat the Canterbury Bulldogs. It was a great game. Beautiful weather. Great crowd. Beautiful break foot. I have just one more thing to say. SUFFER IN YA JOCKS GUS GOULD YA MISERABLE TWAT!!!!

There you go then. Where was I? Yes, the Sébastien Brunet Vouvray Arpent Sec 2010 is right now my favourite wine. This wine first came across my bow about 6 weeks ago when i had a tasting at Albert Street Food & Wine. it was a tasting I requested because I love Vouvray and needed a new one on the list (didn't get around to it I'm afraid). It was great. Still is.

Plenty going on in the nose with ripe locuts and creamy lees with a lick of mandarin peel. In the mouth there is more ripe locut dominant as well as more citrus at the end with mandarin and tangerine waxing the back palate. I love it.

It hasn't been mentioned for a while on this blog, but this wine gets a definite Susan with pork cutlets - fat on - with the Vouvray cutting through the fat and lifting and extending as well as Billy Slater did through the Bulldogs defence. In your face Gould you sucker of the sourest grapes; Chenin not one of those.

Drink with pork cutlets
Drink till 2018
98
Diam cork 12.33% v/v to be precise and $36 Blackheart & Sparrows, Brunswick

Best's Great Western Young Vines Pinot Meunier 2010

This was a real head turner! The Best's Great Western Young Vines Pinot Meunier 2010 is one of the best wines tasted this week and a no-brainer for the new winelist at Albert Street Food & Wine. Gorgeous tart red fruit on the nose and also in the palate, with biting acidity and tame and polite tannins makes this wine a wonderful summer red as well as sticking away for a couple of years I reckon.

Drink with slow cooked kaiserfleisch
Drink till 2015
94
Screwcap 12%v/v about $25

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

Kidnapper Cliffs Hawkes Bay Syrah 2009 Bottle #1049

Glee is on so here I am.

This is the one. This is the one. This is the one. This is the one.

There’s no stutter, just that this is the best bottle of wine this year and also the best example of a syrah/shiraz coming out of the “land of the long white cloud”, and that’s big considering up the road there sits Bilancia’s La Colina. No, everyone this is the one. The Kidnapper Cliffs Hawkes Bay Syrah 2009.

A collaboration between Dry River and Te Awa, this first time release to Australia is beyond peer. Sitting almost black in the glass, the wine takes on a whole different guise on the nose with an even mix of white and black pepper with soft and sexy plum and blackcurrant fruit wafting through almost like as if they were strolling past you and saying a polite ”hello”. The longer in the decanter the nose has a very pronounced herbal feel to it which is odd, yet great, but odd. But it was great! The palate delivers super fine tannins with acidity keeping everything in check; the wine sits so soft and gentle in the mouth that all the fruit, tannins, acid and oak are almost seemingly singing the perfect aria. That’s the funky shit!

Just remarkable!

Drink with calf’s liver - a Susan if ever there was one!
Drink till 2025
99
Quality cork 13%v/v $62 at Europa Cellars East Melbourne

Season of Stout - Monteiths Black Beer, NZ

So, we find ourselves yet again in the middle of a long cold winter. And in this winter I have had two constents; Masterchef on Network 10 and Monteiths Black Beer; my daughter calls it the Masterchef beer - bless!

Now this is my first 'Season of Stout' post this winter, and I don't quite think it is a stout, but it's black. So the reason for it taking this long is simply I have not been drinking anything else; quite easy the pick of winter.

It reads on the back label that the good boys from the West Coast (NZ, not the Perth boys) use five premium malts. I'm not all over brewing, but that sounds like a lot to me. What would I know it turns out a friend recently told me; what would I know indeed. What i do n]know however, is that this beer is jam packed with gorgeous chocolate and coffee aroma's with more of this in the palte along with burnt toffee and licorice make this beer a fair dinkum cracker! Too easy!

Drink now
Drink with roast beef leftovers or freshly shucked oysters - now thats a Susan if there ever was one!
About $18 a six-pack 5.2%v/v

Terradavino Piedmont La Casa In Collina Barbaresco DOCG 2005

If you are living in Melbourne right now and not in a coma, you will have noticed how bloody cold it has been this month. Before I rant anymore I must add that I am a winter person with no real affection for anything north of about 28°C, but this current cold spell has me longing for Calypso cricket and my boardshorts. But this cold spell has had me in the kitchen cooking my world famous ‘Old Lady Stew’s’ (Thanks Pam). And when you have an ‘OLS’, you need a hearty wine; by gollies’ you do! The Terradavino Piedmont La Casa In Collina Barbaresco DOCG 2005 is just that wine.

First the stew. Now stew’s can pretty much take any veg and meat that you have hiding in the fridge and pantry. What makes the stew though, for me anyway, are the stock and the one or two additions that are not so garden variety. for this stew I used mushroom stock and some saffron.
Recipe:
1 tsp saffron threads
2 cloves
10 black peppercorns
5 cloves garlic
½ cup of chopped parsley
Sea salt
Olive oil
1 cinnamon stick
1½ kgs chuck steak
2 red capsicums, deseeded
2 onions, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
5 potatoes, cut into chunks
440gms of tinned tomatoes
½ bottle of red cooking wine

In a pestle, pound saffron, peppercorns, cloves, garlic, cinnamon stick and sea salt into a paste and transfer to a bowl with warm water. Heat oil in a large oven proof pot and fry off meat until browned then set aside. In same pot fry off cap, onions and carrots until soft. Return the meat to pot and add spice mix, wine and tomatoes and bring to boil them simmer for two and half hours. Sweet as a nut!


Now the wine. The Terradavino Piedmont La Casa In Collina Barbaresco DOCG 2005 is a 100% Nebbiolo from Piedmont and is quite often confused as a hoity-toity Barbera; not so. The Barbaresco area is strikingly similar to that of Barolo with soil, altitude, weather and grape all pretty much the same. It is in fact a very small zone, the production of which is about one third of its more famous neighbour on the other side of Alba.

In the glass this wine has a very deep garnet colour with an aroma packed with spice, red cherries and bacon. It is balanced beautifully in the mouth with elegant firm tannins, lively acidity and bright fruits ranging from currants to tart cranberry the longer in the glass. An absolute cracking wine and a fair dinkum Susan for this stew.

Drink with my saffron stew
Drink till 2017
93
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $28 from Mediterranean Wholesalers in Brunswick

Blue Poles Margaret River Allouran 2007

“We were drinking. We decided to paint something together. I wanted to get him out of himself and into colour again. We spread out a large piece of Belgian linen. It must have taken an hour, because it was wrapped in a canvas sack, and inside, it was wrapped in a kind of wax paper.” Tony Smith, friend of Jackson Pollack, on the creation of ‘Blue Poles: number 11, 1952’

It all starts over a drink.

And what a drink this one was; the Blue Poles Margaret River Allouran 2007. I picked this up yesterday at Carlton Cellars after bottling up at Bindi, and I must say what an impressive wine it turned out to be. But before I get on about the wine, where the hell has this little gem been hiding. I know we are very Victorian centric about what we drink here, but geez, something like this should not be hidden away in cosy Carlton.

A blend of Merlot (66%) and Cabernet Franc (33%)- 1% of fairy dust obviously - this classic right bank blend, a blend that is all to ignored by the greater wine producing regions, is everything I was expecting, and I mean every word I say! Beautifully dark in the glass, the nose is soft and subtle with blackcurrant and tobacco, with a little bit of leafy green towards the end which tells me the Cab Franc has not been mauled by the Merlot. In the mouth there is perfect harmony between oak, acid and fruit, with the acid holding it all together without being too punctuated. I must add also that this went perfect with the ‘old person’ casserole I made when I got home.

A great wine and absolutely worth the trip to Carlton.

Drink with old person casserole – an easy Susan!
Drink till 2018
97
Screwcap 14%v/v $27 at Carlton Cellars

Kientzler Ribeauville Alsace Gewürztraminer 2007

Gewürztraminer; just merely saying the word sends many people to their wine reference books to make sure they get the right spelling (take a bow Tim). It is the wine that you take with you to Victoria Street Richmond to have with the wonderful array of Vietnamese restaurants. And it is also a grape that people can quite easily spot in a glass of wine; sherbet and the obvious lycee. This, however, can sometimes be its downfall, for more often than not the gewürztraminer will be all too predictable and half way through the bottle the thought turns to what the next bottle will be.

For all of that I have just said, the Kientzler Ribeauville Alsace Gewürztraminer 2007 is all of that. Lovely and golden in the glass, before I put my nose to the glass my olfactory is already engulfed with the rich viscous aroma of lycee. A quick hit of spicy acid up front is followed by a long lick of sweet sherbet then once again followed by a whack of subtle spice. A really nice wine, but I knew before I opened it what it was to deliver, but sometimes you want that, and that is what gewürztraminer does – no surprises!

Drink with gunpowder chicken - an easy Susan
Drink till 2012
88
Cork 13%v/v $29 Blackhearts and Sparrows Brunswick

Head Barossa Valley The Brunette Syrah 2008

‘Head, paper, kitchen – NOW!!!’ – Stuart Mackenzie played by Mike Myers in, 'So, I married an axe murderer'

This was the first thing to pop in to my mind when I came across this label at Europa Cellars in East Melbourne a month or so back.

Even though it is from the Barossa Valley, I was persuaded to give it a go by the wine store manager, Nick who I studied Viticulture with. He knew I sort of have an aversion to anything that comes from the Barossa, but he insisted that the Head Barossa Valley The Brunette Syrah 2008 was more than worth having a look at, and he was spot on.

No JABS here! Hailing from Moppa in the Barossa Valley, it is deep red in colour, with the nose throwing a whack of black olive tapenade with savoury licorice and dark fruit not far behind. More olive tapenade in the mouth with red licorice, firm tannins and a gorgeous amount of acid makes this wine very memorable indeed.

Made in minute amounts, this wine will sure reward with cellaring, but given it is this good, there is not much hope of that happening when I head back to Europa Cellars next week to pick me up some more.

Drink with Sichuan chilli beef - a monty of a Susan!
Drink till 2016
96
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $43 Europa Cellars East Melbourne

Hidden Bird Martinborough Pinot Noir 2008

A newcomer from Martinborough, the Hidden Bird Pinot Noir 2008 turns out to be a very smart wine. Full of savoury tannins and black fruit, this wine delivers a lot more than the poultry $23 I paid for it in Hawthorn last week. Very Pinot in colour with a light translucency in the glass. Red licorice, spice and black fruit full the nose. There is plenty going on in the mouth also with sharp, clean acid mingled with brown spice, tart cranberry all woven together nicely with even oak integration.

A really good wine, and at the price a dead-set no-brainer for an easy drink with food or just for the hell of it!

Drink with charcuteire plate an easy Susan
Drink till 2012
91
Screwcap 13%v/v $23 at Red White and Amber, Glenferrie Rd Hawthorn