Scones and cream

Scones and cream. What else are you going to do when your plane is cancelled because of a volcano!

Best wine this year!

Just a brilliant wine and a smashing example of cool climate wine. The Eastern Peake Ballarat Walsh Block Syrah 2008; it’s got it all. Depth of colour, wonderful mix of fruit and black olive tapenade on the nose and seamless balance and weight of acid, tannins and red and black fruit. Like I said, this wine has it all, and drinks perfectly in the cooler months; the feel in the mouth was accentuated by how cold the bottle was.

And one more thing. This is the best wine I have had all year, so it’s no wonder it is one of Jeremy’s, from Seddon Wine Store, favourite wines right now.

Drink with lamb ragu and wet polenta
Drink till 2016
99
Screwcap 13%v/v $42 from Seddon Wine Store in Victoria Street Seddon

Cake and eat it! René Rostaing La Landonne Côte-Rôtie 2001

Just finished watching Masterchef on tellie and have taken this little gem away from George, ‘So guys, can you have your cake and eat it too?’ Maybe the three in the elimination test but me? Yes George, yes I can. The René Rostaing La Landonne Côte-Rôtie 2001. What a wine; tobacco leaf, violets, pepper – more white than black, figs, musky sweat then mint/chocolate all still evolving around taut acid with just a touch a sweet chewiness. Gorgeously gorgeous and awesomely awesome.

Yes George, I will have my cake and eat it too……


Drink with wagyu carpaccio
Drink till 2017
Drink listening to Dirty Three 'Horse Stories' - both are hauntingly beautiful
100/100
Quality cork 13%v/v $210 from auction in 2008

Pennyweight Beechworth Pinot Noir 2008

I don’t know why but I’m sort of in a retro/old school way today; listening to the ‘Big Chill’ soundtrack, making spinach and ricotta pie and drinking instant coffee. Something else that sort of falls in to that category is the Pennyweight Beechworth Pinot Noir 2008. All facets for me scream ‘back in the day’ about this wine, and its all good! First the label, stands out a bit doesn’t it. The colour is very much that dirty unfiltered red which is what the wine is and lastly the taste and aroma are just magic; musk sticks, roses petals, red licorice, brown spice and raspberries all melded in to one great wine.

They say retro is back. Where did it go?

Drink with Peking Duck
Drink till 2014
95
Quality cork 13%v/v $42 Gertrude Street Enoteca, Fitzroy

A nice wine - Luke Lambert Heathcote Nebbiolo 2008

I tried to love it. I wanted to love it. I was told I would love it. I was told I had to love it. I just liked it. The Luke Lambert Heathcote Nebbiolo 2008 is a good wine. It’s a good wine; a really good wine but it’s no Rocche, Conca or Conterni. There’s great tannin and acid structure. There’s pure roses and musk and there’s cherry. It’s a nice wine, but that’s it.


Drink with osso bucco
Drink till 2015
89
Bottle #1102/2918
Diam with wax seal 13.5%v/v $48 Rathdowne Cellars Carlton North

Domaine Lucci Adelaide Hills Merlot 2010

Been a strange day. Been a strange few days really. Head cold on Thursday. Sinus on Friday. OK Saturday – had dinner at Taxi, so I sort of had to of been. Mucho-Man Sunday – Erin’s birthday but I was still un-well. The thing with the ‘Mucho-Man’ thing is I tried too hard to make it the perfect day and by 3pm when I was about to put the lemon tart in the oven, Boom, I sort of got a bit dizzy and next thing you know I’m in bed not feeling well – again! And if you’re wondering the lemon tart was awesomely awesome!

It’s been a few weird days. But that was what the Domaine Lucci Adelaide Hills Merlot 2010 was like. Green and whacky day one; big and bold on day two; nice on day three and weird and funky on day four.

I really wanted to like this wine because the Pinot Noir version is so Billy Ocean! But here lies the rub, the Merlot is no Pinot Noir here. That’s it!

Drink with beef vindaloo leftovers
Drink not now, maybe in a few years perhaps
88
Diam cork 13.7%v/v $30 Blackheart & Sparrows Brunswick

Hardys Pemberton/Yarra Valley HRB|D643 Chardonnay 2008

Quote the label: “…continues the tradition of Hardys rich blending heritage” I think you are reading from the wrong manifest Jenkins!

The Hardys Pemberton/Yarra Valley HRB|D643 Chardonnay 2008 – maybe the license plate of the B-double that ferried the juice over the Nullarbor – barely scrapes in as a Jack Dyer wine and is unfortunately headed to the near-sub 80 category. On first glance the wine in the glass has all the hallmarks of a chardonnay; its bone/straw colour and tight and closed nose right away makes me think I have got a bargain from Uncle Dan’s at $28. Oh the fleeting glimpse of joy, with the palate displaying full, heavy and rich and chockers of all that was chardonnay back in 1994 – big and flabby; nuts and creaminess dominate the palate with the notable absence of lemon that is clearly printed on the label. Oh well, never thee mind.

Drink with fondue
Drink now or at a ‘Melrose Place’ party (thats a reference to the early 90’s if you didn’t pick it up)
Near-sub 80
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $28 Dan Murphy’s Coburg