Lamont Bendigo Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006

It struck me some time back that Central Otago Pinot Noir’s were being written up as chest beating brutes with as much appeal as a Barossa Shiraz tipping the scales at 15.5%v/v. Last week I overheard a Melbourne sommelier lament the tragedy, yes that's right, tragedy, of the “.... poor, poor Central Otago Pinot Noir – where did you get it wrong.” Strong words from a twenty something person who has yet to do a vintage, but assures me that they are more than capable of making a cracking Pinot; true story.

Well may they lament, for I would suggest they have not come across this ripper, the Lamont Bendigo Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006. A great blend of fruit with a mineral hit on the nose, the wine drifts between plums, spice, loganberries and strawberries with no real let up the longer in the glass and mouth watering acid with fine chewy tannins to balance it all out . A fair dinkum cracker without a hint of chest beating bruteness!!!!

Drink with black bean slow cooked spare ribs
Drink till 2014
91
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $47 Blackheart and Sparrows North Fitzroy

Shobbrook Macclesfield Nebbiolo 2008

“Thanks for the times that you've given me
The memories are all in my mind
And now that we've come to the end of our rainbow
There's something I must say out loud

You're once, twice, three times a lady
And I love you
Yes, you're once, twice, three times a lady
And I love you
I love you”

The Commodores

Can’t you just see those big lips of Lionel tremble as he burst this timeless ballad out. But we are not here to reminisce about Lionel and his rev-head mates are we.

Today I am blogging about a wine that at first sight I thought was an amazing wine; The Shobbrook Macclesfield (Barossa Valley) Nebbiolo 2008. On visiting this wine a second time, I thought, ‘hey, is this the same wine?’. The third time I was really confused. Visiting the website, the wine maker announces that only 150 bottles of this wine were made (maybe that is 150 dozen – I dunno’). This is a really small amount to have such massive bottle variation – I reckon anyway!

So here are my three tasting notes for the Shobbrook Nebbiolo:

1. Ink purple in the glass, the nose throws lots of chocolate and rose petals – very fragrant. Complex licorice and oak with tar coming after a while with also heaps of black licorice; absolutely gorgeous.
2. Same colour as #1. Very obvious prunes on the nose with hints of rose petals. Overriding whack of chocolate and prunes with plenty of juicy acid; a good wine.
3. Ditto 1 and 2. Prunes again with a very hot smell the whole way through the bottle. Black olive tapenade with licorice allsorts. This is the only time that I left some wine in the bottle overnight, with the two glasses the next day being the best wine of all three bottles; roses and tar and black licorice on the nose with juicy acid woven in with more licorice, chocolate and olive tapenade.

So, Lionel and Co, you may need to head back to the studio and add another line to your song – the fourth time was the charm!

Drink with beef pot roast and Portobello mushrooms
Drink till 2017
94 – average score
Quality cork with wax seal 14%v/v $50 @ The City Wine Shop, Spring St Melbourne.

Keller Rheinhessen Trocken Riesling 2008

“We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard.” -Voltaire

It seems that I somehow stirred the hornet’s nest with my last post on Australian Rieslings. At the end of the day though, the words that you read on my blog are put there by me to share with the ‘you’s’ out there in cyberwine land. That is why on any given day, thousands of people around the globe sit down in front of their Dells and plug out whittascims on all matters of wine speak; some may have weight while others may just be the ramblings of just a very drunk scribe – what will be will be.

So, while we are on the subject of Rieslings, may I present the Keller Rheinhessen Trocken Riesling 2008 from Germany. Brimming with a full nose of flint – river bed pebble, honeysuckle and candle wax, this wine really hits its straps with perfectly balanced acidity which effortlessly integrates with the minerality. I must add that the glass that was left for the following day was even better than the first with the candle wax on the nose and flinty river bed pebbles really standing up tall. A super wine and well within reach of someone who does not want to go nuts on a bottle of Riesling.

Drink with kingfish sashimi
Drink now for minerality, drink in 2018 for kero and stewed pineapple
94
Quality cork 12%v/v $29 @ Blackhearts & Sparrows

Larry Cherubino Ad Hoc Mt Barker Wallflower Riesling 2009

If you haven't noticed, pretty much all of the Riesling in Australia tastes exactly the same, and thats not me being uber generalist; tight harsh lemon/lime acid with acid and more acid. From Clare Valley to Geelong to the Great Southern and the Derwent Valley, Riesling has been produced in a way where it should be labeled 'Australian citrus wine'. Its a harsh call, but its all I have seen in a bottle for quite some time now.

Enter Larry Cherubino with his Ad Hoc Mt Barker Wallflower Riesling 2009. He has pretty much taken to this sterotype with a crossbow and gone whack; not that you would whack something with a crossbow of course. Yes, there still is the citrus about the wine, but it is not the dominant character, with the minerality of a German Trocken the most appealing character here.

Brimming with soft floral notes, this wine is a lot more feminant than the garden variety Riesling I was talking about at the start, with gentle white oliander prominant on the nose. There is no harsh ascerbic acid up front, instead a lovely and clean addition of river bed pebble - yes, minerals, but I like to describe it as river bed pebble! As with the nose, there is a little citrus, but it does not strip the palate like so many other Rieslings. A seriously good wine.

Drink with pickled octopus
drink till 2014
92
Screwcap 12.1%v/v $22 @ Blackhearts & Sparrows Brunswick

Mountford Estate Waipara Pinot Noir 2007

A truly great wine, but alas no longer available. Made in small quantities, I first had this wine last September at a New Zealand wine event I Melbourne and instantly fell in love with it. The Mountford Estate Waipara Pinot Noir 2007 displays bright red ink in the glass, this wine has gorgeous notes of red fruit laced together with dried tea and roasted beetroot. In the mouth a wave of sweet plum hangs around for a while but in time a very savoury stewed cheery dominates; much like a young Nebbiolo after about three hours in a decanter.

If you see Mountford Estate in a wine shop, buy it!!

Drink with BBQ five spiced quail
Drink till 2013
95
Quality cork 13.5%v/v /www.mountfordvineyard.co.nz/

Watershed Margaret River Shiraz Cabernet 2005

“Although Woundwort had shown himself at the last to be a creature virtually mad, nevertheless what he did proved not altogether futile. There can be little doubt that if he had not done it, more rabbits would have been killed that morning on Watership Down. So swiftly and silently had the dog come up the hill behind Dandelion and Blackberry that one of Campion’s sentries, half asleep under a tussock after the long night, was pulled down and killed in the instant that he turned to bolt” Watership Down, Richard Adams

For those of you who know me, I am a sport tragic. Every now and then you can hear “Tim from Brunswick” on talk-back radio SEN 1116 AM, be it a quiz or singing the praises of my favourite ever footballer, Stephen Michael, the great South Fremantle ruckmen who decided to stay home instead of pursuing a VFL career; I love you Stephen if you ever read this.

So, it was a month or so ago that SEN were discussing books that made the transition to the big screen (not exactly what you would call sport talk-back). It must be said, before I go on, that a good proportion of SEN listeners are your quintessential Aussie Bogans; very myopic in their beliefs about pretty much everything. So anyway, SEN were asking listeners to phone in with what they would consider good book/movie transitions; Star Wars (true), The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, The Godfather, The Club (David Williamson) and plenty more were announced. Me? I phoned in with Richard Adams ‘Watership Down’. You know the one; rabbits.

I was quite surprised with the ‘guffaws’ I was getting from not only other listeners but also from David Schwarz, one of the presenters. Fortunately the worldly Francis Leach was there to explain what the book/movie is about (I am not going to explain the pretext of the book now – I will be here for sometime).

It was time to announce the best call, and it was me!!!!! My prize? Not the round of golf at Devil Bend (which I had won on a previous call), not the Adidas pack, but two bottles of Watershed wines from Margaret River. Geez I thought, I won some wine on a sport talk-back radio station discussing a book about rabbits – funky shit that one!

So, the wine in question today is the aforementioned Watershed Margaret River Shiraz Cabernet Shades 2005. Off the bat I must say that I am not a big fan of the ‘Aussie Blend’ of Shiraz and Cabernet. To me the combination strips away the primary characters of each varietal. But hey, who am I to complain – the wine was free.

Well, to my surprise, this was actually quite good. Wonderfully dark in the glass, the nose threw up cassis, saddle leather, tobacco and a real waft of Margaret River green; think dried herbs. The palate was a bit restrained early but then produced some really good licorice and black fruit. A really good wine and a nice surprise.

So next time you tune in to SEN 1116AM, don’t be surprised if “Tim from Brunswick” is rambling on a bout South Fremantle and Stephen Michael , because he really is the best player I have ever seen, even if he did not play in Victoria.

Drink with a cheese burger and onion rings
Drink till 2011
90
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $19 or there about’s at The City Wine Shop, Spring Street Melbourne

Prawn Crackers

What a simple pleasure prawn crackers are. Stick em in the microwave, press start and 60 seconds later you got a snack that will shut the kids up quicker than you can say Hong Kong Fui!