Mothers Day 2011

Mothers Day 2011. The pancakes have been eaten, the tea has been drunk and the hand-made Mothers Day cards have been read – quite impressive I must say from child #1. So with some semblance being restored in down-town Brunswick we come to the important question that has yet to be answered; what champagne/sparkling to open today.

Now I am going to be controversial here and generalise sparkling wine as the drink du jour for Mothers Day. Generally speaking I would suggest that Shiraz, or Crown Lager – depends I guess, as the chosen tipple for Father’s Day, so sparkling to me is a no-brainer for today (you can drink Marlborough Savvy B any day of the week so let’s just not go there today OK!).

In being diplomatic and all, I have chosen one champagne and one Australian sparkling wine. Firstly champagne: the Heidsieck & Co Monopole NV Blue Top. Hailing from Eperenay, this wine is an assemblage of 70% pinot noir, 20% chardonnay and 20% pinot meunier, this champagne takes a different path than the clean and linear chardonnay dominant wines. Sitting in the glass, the colour is ever so slightly soft salmon pink. The aroma strays between subtle pink grapefruit with the slightest hint of cranberry – I reckon anyway. In the palate this wine becomes a bit larger or heavier in the mouth, but not sweeter; 9g/L residual sugar still puts it in the Brut category by some margin. The fullness or richness for me stems from the abundance of red fruit which impasses a greater impression of red fruit, but subtle all the same.

The second wine is the Bindi Macedon Ranges Chardonnay Pinot Noir Extended Lees Aged 2003 sparkling wine. Yes I can almost hear the exasperated sighs, ‘of you are such a Bindi slut Tim’. Well yes, I am, we know this so get over it ok! This wine is quite simply one of the best Australian sparkling wines you will see. Big call I know, and possibly slightly impartial, but by golly this wine is fantastic. A wonderful mix of brioche, preserved lemon and cashews with pitch-perfect acid, this wine is great now but definitely worth a look at over the next 10 years I’d say.

There you have it. Two wines worthy of any Mothers Day breakfast or lunch. Happy Mother’s Day ladies.

Heidsieck & Co Monopole NV
Drink with blueberry pancakes
Drink now
92
Cork 12%v/v $54 Vintage Cellars Richmond

Bindi Macedon Ranges Chardonnay Pinot Noir Extended Lees Aged 2003
Drink with seared scallops and marron
Drink till 2013
95
Diam cork 12%v/v $46 Rathdowne Cellars in Carlton and Steve’s Fine Wine and Foods in Nedlands

Blue Poles Margaret River Teroldego 2009

Once in a while you get a wine that raises eye brows. It could be because it’s biodynamic, or because it’s a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris or because the winemaker is blind – true story; Mountford in Canterbury NZ. However, this eye brow raise is because when I mentioned this grape to a few wine industry professional, the common response was, ‘Terol-what’.

That’s right, Teroldego. Native to Alto-Adige in Trentino NE Italy, Teroldego has a little over 4 acres –just under 2 hectares – under vine in Australia. Three of these acres are planted in Osmington, Margaret River in the Blue Poles vineyard. So here it is, the Blue Poles Margaret River Teroldego 2009.

Where to start. Because of its eye brow raising attributes, I will let Nicholas Belfage introduce the variety:

“Teroldego is called the “prince” of Trentino red wines, prized for its elegance, complexity and harmony. Overcropped, as it often is, it can be very ordinary, at best a pleasant wine for drinking early. But in the hands of a quality producer it can reach impressive heights of breeding and concentration.... These days the undisputed top producer of Teroldego is Elisabetta Foradori of Mezzolombardo.”

The last sentence is where the Australian connection starts. It is from Elisabetta Foradori where the cuttings came from to propagate the Margaret River Teroldego plantings; pretty good lineage if you ask me. But we are here for the wine right?

One of the deepest ‘red’ colours in a glass of wine I have ever seen, sort of like ‘blood in the moonlight’ in colour; yeah, I know that’s the funky shit. The nose is a real head turner with obvious characteristics of Nebbiolo and Sangiovese – ripe plum, mulberry, dust, leather, tobacco, violets and tar just to name a few. Tight and fine grippy tannins greet the palate with some tart raspberry thrown in. The longer in the glass the tart raspberry fades in to a sweet mulberry feel with the acid and tannins still pulling all of the strings. This is a real special wine.

This is produced in small quantities; tiny really. So if you see it give it a go because it will not sit around on the shelf for too long.

Drink with lamb ragu on wet polenta
Drink till 2020
96
Screwcap 14%v/v $32 at The City Wine Shop or by the glass at Grossi Florentino’s Cellar Bar

Saturday bliss

Marintaed white anchovies from Gervasi on Sydney Rd. From the pen of Jon Bon Jovi, they are slippery when wet and washed down with a beer too boot! Just bliss.

Tommy Ruff Barossa Valley Shiraz Mourvédre 2009 and a very, very long weekend

It’s almost over. The longest long weekend in living memory is as good as done. After what seemed an eternity in the car driving back from Aireys Inlet and a detour through Footscray thanks to some dopey cement truck driver on the Bolte Bridge lost his load and closed it both ways on one of the busiest ‘coming home’ days in, as I said, living memory.

Yes it was rough. So while sitting in traffic just out of Geelong I was thinking about wines that have been, well rough, and the wine that could double as a traffic snarl is the Tommy Ruff Barossa Valley Shiraz Mourvédre 2009. Now don’t get me wrong, this is a very good wine, but without decanting or food, this wine will be seen as nothing but mouth torture. Made by Tom Shobbrook – bit of a favourite for me right now – from fruit coming from Western Barossa, this wine is pure and simply a food wine. Deep crimson in the glass and a brooding mix of ash, dust and brambly fruit, it is in the palate that this bad boy hits its straps. Tonnes of tannin and acid with olive tapenade and licorice more than plentiful; it’s by no means a JABS, but it does need respect.

So there you go. A belter, but just keep it out of the right lane OK; needs plenty of time in the left side of the highway.

Happy Easter and of course, lest we forget.

Drink with bloody rib eye
Drink till 2014
93
Screwcap 14.5%v/v $30 Seddon Wine Store, Victoria St Seddon

For Nick - Scorpo Mornington Peninsula Noirien Pinot Noir 2010

In my last post I had a request for more dirty laundry and sub 80 wine scores. The dirty laundry bit I guess is something that needn't be aired; I'm trying to build a wine business, not torpedo it. The sub 80 wines; for me it’s, "if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all." But what I can do Nick is 'near sub 80' scores. And with that we have another tag line. Hooray!

So Nick, you’re in luck. In going through my ‘wine photos’ file this morning I have come across quite a few wines that fit in to the 'near sub 80', and here is where we kick it off. The Scorpo Mornington Peninsula Noirien Pinot Noir 2010. I reckon I have bypassed this wine at Dan’s a good dozen times; don’t know why, just never reached out for it I guess. So on the occasion I do grab it the realisation of why I didn’t grab it is there in spades.

In the glass the wine is almost rosé in appearance and the nose has an instant hit of strawberry. And that’s it. The palate mimics the nose with primary strawberry and what I believe is a relatively high residual sugar dose – very sweet. Once again I look at the wine and ask myself whether it’s supposed to be a rosé; dunno is all I’ve got.

There you have it Nick, one for you.

Drink with minute steak
Drink now
near sub 80
Screwcap (I think) 13.5%v/v $25 Dan Murphy’s Coburg

Surveyor Thomson Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007

This is the best Central Otago Pinot Noir I have had for years! The Surveyor Thomson Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007 has all the characteristics of a pinot noir that hasn't been made in CO; it's got finesse, thus lacking in CO; it's got super fine tannins holding up elegant and tart fruit, something CO pinot noir has lacked I believe due to the warm to hot growing conditions towards the end of vintage. But it's all objective right, and I'm just a blogger who hasn't any idea what they are talking about. So says the sommelier-come-wine maker (sic) in their email to me earlier this week; but I'm not going to air my dirty laundry in this medium.

Geez, where did that come from! Anyhoo, the wine. Dirty red in the glass with a wonderful and secondary waft of aroma's floating up; brown spice, toffee with a touch of tart cranberry; wonderful and long in the palate with the acid still holding everything together with ease. A super wine, but very rare in Melbourne.

Drink with BBQ quail
Drink till 2017+
97
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $50 Tony's Cellars, Ryde NSW www.surveyorthomson.co.nz

Canella Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore and Justin Bieber

I just cannot believe the hype. Didn't really want to in the first instance (I am a champagne lush didn't you know). Prosecco. All the rock stars are doing it right now. I just can't subscribe unfortunately. The Canella Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG is almost off-bone in clarity, almost translucent actually. The bead is quite effervescent with an almost violent rush from bottom to top - bit like a Justin Bieber crowd sighting their idol. Wow, a Justin Bieber reference! Anyway, the wine in the mouth is dull - just like Justin Bieber's music! Ha Ha.

We will try again. The palate is clean and simple and lifeless; quite briny actually. And that is what remains. Dull briny fizzy stuff - no Justin Bieber references sorry.

Just to prove that I am not a Justin Bieber fan I'm listening to Radiohead's new album, 'The King of Limbs', with 'Morning Mr Magpie' now playing.

Drink with popcorn
Drink now
80
Cork 11%v/v $25 Blackheart and Sparrows Brunswick

One last thing. Thats not Justin Bieber in the background, thats my son Henry. He to does not suffer from the 'Bieber Fever' also.

Cheerio