Pipoli Campania Aglianico Senza Solfiti 2011

Have you ever taken a sip of wine and have a wacky flavour hit your senses that makes you blurt out loud, 'Really!?!?!??! Shit, where did that come from?' The Pipoli Campania Aglianico Senza Solfiti 2011 is that wine.

A couple of weeks ago at work a customer purchased this wine wanting a wine with little or know added sulphur or preservatives. For me, this is the best wine in that bracket, but with each purchase of sulphur free wine there is a warning, or more to the point letting the punter know what they may get when they open the wine; a volatile spritzy wine due to the introduction of O2 which is the kickoff for any active yeast to metabolise. A few hours later they brought the wine back, asked me to have a look at it because they thought it had turned. I thought the wine was fine but let them get something else if they wanted.

I understand that some people have acute reactions to SO2, but there are a lot of people who think SO2 is an inorganic compound. Incorrect. SO2 is allowed in all organic wine making processes. Even if SO2 is not added in the wine making process, yeasts create SO2 as a bi-product in the ferment, so the likelihood of 100% SO2 free wine is invariably unlikely.

So back to the wine in question. As I said in the opening paragraph, 'Really!?!?!??! Shit, where did that come from?', and with every sip it was the same reaction. WOW. So the flavour profile in question? A Snickers bar. Truly. It tasted like a Snickers. It was awesome tell you. But the thing is I have had this wine on numerous occasions and the flavour has been different and wacky, and sometimes very volatile. But that's what you get when the wine has no added SO2. Its somewhat of a lottery I guess. But do not get me wrong. I love this wine.

Drink till 2016
Drink with char grilled lamb
94
Diam cork 13%v/v $25

Ashton Hills Adelaide Hills Cemetery Block Pinot Noir 2013

This is a shiraz drinkers Pinot. That's a blanket statement indeed. The Ashton Hills Adelaide Hills Cemetery Block Pinot Noir 2013 dark fruit and spice on the nose with a mix of tart blood plum and toasted brown spices. The palate is what its all about though with a thick a viscous line of toasted spice, earth - blood and bone sticks out like the proverbial, sublte soy sauce, more dark fruit and soft and fine chewy tannins. SexyAsNuts!!!

Drink with BBQ duck
Drink till 2017
96
Screwcap 14%v/v $35ish

Feral Brewing Company Smoked Porter

Smoking stuff is cool. Not the cigarette kind but the food kind. Last year my partner Erin gifted me a smoker and since then many sides of salmon and the lone trout have magically been transformed. And it is that smoked trout that was evident when Jeremy and I tasted this beer at work. I swear there was a smoked trout in this bottle. Maybe not everything was made to be smoked I'm tipping. But hey, whatever floats your boat I guess.

Eisacktaler Alto Adige Müller Thurgau 2011

Is Müller Thurgau:

A. A German Footballer
B. A 1930's burlesque performer
C. A manscaping technique
D. A little known grape variety

Well obviously its D, a grape variety, although A or B could easily pass at a bit of a stretch I reckon; never let the truth get in the way of a good story I say.

So, Müller Thurgau. A ripping aromatic originating from I have no idea but finding a ripping home in northern Italy. The Eisacktaler Alto Adige Müller Thurgau 2011 is sexyasnuts and delicious all at the same time (even if the label is a bit naff. A slight honeyed and viscous nose, the palate has layers of semi-sweet to savoury dry and back again; ginger, green spices, mandarin, honey all compete at various stages for your attention. Cracking stuff.

Drink with fatty pork chops
Drink till 2015
95
Diam cork 12.5%v/v $33 Seddon Wine Store

Rieslingfreak Eden Valley Reverence of Riesling No. 4 2013

The Breakfast Club. Ferris Buellers Day Off. Sixteen Candles. Rieslingfreak. Who knew John Hughes loved Riesling?

A new famous John Hughes, out of South Oz, is smitten with Rizza. And why not. The No. 4 in a series of five is talcy, limestony, lemony all with balanced acid(y). Its a ripper that will not punch a whole in the back of your throat courtesy of out of control acid. This is all checked. And balanced. And checked....

Drink with fish and chips
Drink now
94
Screwcap 11.5%v/v $22 Seddon Wine Store

La Bruja Averia Madrid Comando G Grenache 2012

Beautiful. A Pinot Noir drinkers Grenache, Tart. Raspy. Dirty. Sexyasnuts - that's the technical term by the way. Ethereal. This is quite a stunning wine if you haven't hooked on yet.

The La Bruja Averia Madrid Commando G Grenache 2012, or Comando G, is a caloboration of five younbg Spanish lads who share a passion for Grenache and Pinot Noir. It shows. Look out for it. Buy it. Drink it. Repeat.

Drink with charred lamb
Drink till 2017
98 - new clubhouse leader for 2014
Quality cork 14%v/v $39 Seddon Wine Store

Girabaldi Piedmont Nebbiolo 2011

Ripe and juicy and stuck in a room with what seems to be a low ceiling. The Girabaldi Piedmont Conca d'Oro Nebbiolo 2011 is a wine that needs some air; either a good decanting or double decanting. A good decanting will do. After all of this you get a youthful Nebbiolo soaking in slick layers of bitter chocolate, dried flowers and herbs, tar, and what was a warmer than usual winter, a lick of warming alcohol - 14%v/v. A great little Nebbiolo and only $26. Bargain!!!

Drink with lamb shanks
Drink till 2018
93
Quality cork 14%v/v $26 Seddon Wine Store