Michel Niéllon Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru Burgundy at Albert St

It would be very easy of me to waffle on about these wines, but I won’t. All I’ll say is that they were both exquisite, with the 1982 coming in just that little more perfect. And to think, Michel Niéllon has only .22 hectares; thats about 2000 vines. Thats Sweet FA!

Michel Niéllon Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 1982 – still holding its colour and acidity, this wine has soft crème brulee and licorice powder flowing the whole way through the glass. A pleasure to drink. 100/100

Michel Niéllon Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru 1983 – colour had turned a slight orange with an abundant mix of truffles and crème brulee. 99/100

Serrat Yarra Valley Close Planted Pinot Noir 2010

It’s good. It’s nice. I did like it. I didn’t love it though. While on a constitutional a couple of weeks ago down Lygon Street, I popped in to Blackheart & Sparrows to see Adam behind the counter. We got chatting about vintage and wine, something I wanted to purchase, and Adam said I gotta try the Serrat Yarra Valley Close Planted Pinot Noir 2010, Tom Carson’s side project in the Valley. So I did.

Like I said, I didn’t love it, but I do like it. Piny-purple in the glass, the aroma throws up some crushed strawberries followed by tart cranberry. The palate again has a big whack of tart red fruit and a great finish of soy – really big; not big alcohol but big flavour. All in all, I’d have it again.

Drink with braised pork shoulder
Drink till 2015
90
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $40ish from Blackheart & Sparrows, Brunswick

Foster Mendoza IQUE Malbec 2010 - Half Bottle

This is just a great wine and a no-brainer when it comes to value for money. The Foster Mendoza IQUE Malbec 2010 from Argentina hits this market when Argentine Malbec is still a rising force. Dense black fruit on the nose with a strong hint of dustiness, the palate weaves around structured tannins, tort acidity and bright blueberries. In the half bottle format, this wine is a fair-dinkum no-brainer and an easy mucho fantastic! Drink with rare sirloin Drink till 2015 95 Screwcap 13.5%v/v $14 for a half bottle at the wine store in Albert Street Food and Wine, Brunswick

Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Les Vaucrains 2009

Lets paint the scene. Its Monday afternoon in Melbourne and the Indian summer we enjoyed paints a beautiful day. I am sitting at The City Wine Shop on Spring Street and enjoy the side walk banter of wine reps coming and going and sipping lattes at the bar. My lunch partner is the affable Sam Davies, head sommelier at the new Zuma in downtown Bangkok. He is in town for a few days to cool down from the 120% humidity that has become his life for the past 9 months. We lunch. We wine. We laugh. And we finish with the super sexy Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Vaucrains 2009. Perfect. Exit stage right! Drink with The City Wine Shops chicken snitz Drink till 2023 100/100 Quality cork 13%v/v $160ish The City Wine Shop

Paradise IV Geelong Bates' Ford Shiraz 2010

Ok. Geez. Its been a while. Right, where was I? Quite often I bandy around the term, ‘Shiraz drinkers Pinot’. This refers to big and sultry Pinots that show ripe fruit and high alcohol; think Paringa Estate and most Central Otago Pinot’s. Lately I have turned that around to, ‘Pinot drinkers Shiraz’, and that wine that fits that is the Paradise IV Geelong Bates' Ford Shiraz 2010. This is a wine that definitely has the Dave Graney spell about it – the Soft and Sexy Sounds spell that is. A very delicate and quite feminant aroma wafts up the olfactory with tight raspberry and plums dominating at this point. This I have to say is very similar to a sort of close neighbour in Ballarat, Eastern Peake’s Walshs Block Shiraz, where it sits almost cool in the mouth, and dare I say it, has a quite cooling affect. With the tiniest of tannins and a razor sharp note of tannin, this wine is more reflective to something from Côte-Rôtie rather than the generalist shiraz that Australia is known for. But hey, this Geelong, a lot cooler than people give credit to. A Cracking Wine! Drink with mushroom pizza Drink till 2016 95 Screwcap 13.5%v/v $35 Albert Street Food & Wine, Brunswick