Eastern Peake Ballarat Pinot Noir 2003

Was able to hog a glass of this at a recent Eastern Peake wine dinner at Gerald's Bar in Carlton. From what Norm said about the wine in its youth - green and harsh and absolutely no substance - to what it is now; pretty much the ugly duckling story ensued. The Eastern Peake Ballarat Pinot Noir 2003 is brooding with unashamed sexuality with toffee and fatty gaminess a plenty. A real pity that there is bugger all left.

Drank with grilled quail
Drink till 2018
98
Quality cork 13%v/v http://www.easternpeake.com.au/

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

Bindi obsession?

Yes. I. Love. Bindi wines. Just cannot help myself. And this was no let down either. The Bindi Chardonnay Pinot Noir Extended Lees Aged sparkling 2003. That's all I got really; simply superb!

Drink with butter fried marron
Drink till 2020
97
Diam cork under cage 12%v/v www.bindiwines.com.au

Domaine A Tasmanian Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

Dark and rich and sexy and dark. The Domaine A Tasmanian Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 sits almost black in the glass with heavy dark chocolate wafting up the olfactory. Clean soft tannins with every sip, with each subsequent sip better than the last – sort of reminded me of The Godfather part’s I and II, the long standing question of which is better. That’s what it was like, which sip is the best. Anyway, clean tannins and clean acid all wrapped around quite ripe dark fruit, something was a little bit surprising seeing it is only 13.5%v/v. But aside of all that waffle, I’ve said it before and that is I believe Domaine A is Australia’s best Cabernet Sauvignon producer. It’s that simple really.

Drink with lamb shanks
Drink till 2020
96
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $70 Rathdowne Cellars http://www.domaine-a.com.au/

Top of the Pop's in the Naughties - the best of wine for me 2000-2009

Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn’t it? Yesterday when I ended my Top 10 wines of 2009 saying that I would be posting my top 10 wine moments of the naughties (or noughties I have since been informed), the thought that it would be as big as it is was not as obvious as it is now.

The last 10 years has really been about me finding my place within the wine industry; from sommelier to retail wine sales to studying wine and viticulture at university to working vintage and finally finishing the decade working for a Champagne house in Brand development. Since arriving back from Europe in February 2000, I have immersed myself in all things wine, so coming up with a list of wine moments for the naughties has been tougher than first expected, but after much thought I have come up with the ten moments and events that have defined the past ten years with wine. So in no particular order, here they are.

1. Four amazing Champagnes; Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1959, Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1990, Krug 1998 and Krug NV.
2. Penfolds Grange robbery at Como Wine & Spirits, 2002.
3. Domaine de la Romanée Conti 2005 vertical tasting, 2008.
4. Vintage at Oakridge Wines, Yarra Valley 2008.
5. Working at Bindi Wine Growers, Macedon Ranges 2005-2009.
6. Sommelier work.
7. Viticulture/Wine Science degree 2003-2008.
8. Re-discovering Chardonnay.
9. Working for Vranken Pommery Monopole.
10. The rise of cool climate Shiraz.


Now it’s a big list with each one being a lengthy story, so like many other posts, this one will be a series over the next few weeks, with the first instalment on my Champagne moments with Dom Perignon and Krug.


Four amazing Champagnes – I have always loved champagne, with it all starting in Champagne while doing vintage with Jean-Marie Etienne in 1997. During my time there I was able to taste some amazing wine, and not just from Jean-Marie Etienne but from other producers in the Valle de Marne, yet it wasn’t until 2002 that Champagne really meant something to me.

The first was back in 2002 when the three assailants responsible for the Grange Robbery at Como Wine & Spirits were charged and sentenced to lengthy gaol time (I will get to the Grange incident in another post). It was a pretty big moment for me filled with relief, anger and pity for the three idiots who did it to pay off a heroin debt. With the help of a good mate, we polished off a bottle of Krug NV in quick time and were left with the common thought that we could never go back to boring old sparkling wine – a bit like flying first class the first time and knowing how tough it’s going to be in coach the next time!

My next Champagne moment came in 2005 with the birth of Imogen. Having the kind of taste for wine that I do, Erin and me were never going to toast the arrival of Imogen with a mere bottle of Aussie sparkling, or even something like a Bollinger or Veuve Clicquot NV; we needed something grand, and that was the Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1990 – an amazing moment celebrated with an amazing wine.

I did not have to wait too long for my next Champagne moment, with this one still being the most amazing wine I have ever tasted – the Dom Pérignon Œnothèque 1959. This happened when I was a sommelier at Vue de monde in 2005 when David, the head sommelier, and I enjoyed a half a glass each of this wine that was left by a customer who BYO’d it. I can fair dinkum still smell the truffle and earthy notes of this wine.

Finally, there is the Krug 1998, another wine that Erin and I had to welcome our second child, Henry, in to the world. Having only had it 11 months ago, this wine displayed everything good about a young vintage Champagne with mouth watering citrus and brioche, and also the lament of finishing the bottle just knowing how good this wine will taste in 20 years. Still, the wine lived up to the occasion.

There you have it, four wines that meant, and still do, quite a bit to me; relief, amazement and wonderment.

Paesi Tuoi Piedmont Barolo DOCG 2003

Do me a favour; just humour me for a sec. You know the song they play at baseball games where it ends with, ‘Charrrrrge!!!’ When I first had this wine, all I that was happening in my head was the baseball Charge song, with ‘yum yum yum yum yum.....’ – It was a Kodak moment I guess. Anyway, that wine was the Paesi Tuoi Piedmont Barolo 2003, and it was fantastic!

Yet another find from Mediterranean Wholesalers on Sydney Road, this wine gave me everything I wanted for a very good price, for Barolo anyway. There is plenty of SO2 in this wine so give it a good decanting before drinking. The colour of this wine had a real deep red garnet to it, yet still had a subtle translucency with the onset of an orange hue. As I said, give it plenty of time in the decanter – it needs it, and after a while the nose shows plenty of dried apricot and tar. The palate is puckery dry with a very distinct cranberry tart flavour about it; lovely and long and very Nebbiolo. Mucho Fantastico!!

Drink with Corsican slow braised beef with papadelle
Drink till 2035
97
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $45 at Mediterranean Wholesalers.

Sergio Bi-O Cardinia Ranges Pinot Noir 2003

This wine is still quite racy for something that has been sitting around for a while. Very translucent in the glass with layers of mashed strawberry and oak. The palate is very Burgundy, with a great mix of spice, tomato leaf, beetroot and rhubarb – a lot going on I’d say. I had this wine in a decanter for about three hours and it didn’t miss a beat with the acid still shining through right to the last drop. Really enjoyed this one. Oh yeah, it’s a Serge Carlei wine - the biodynamic pioneer in Victoria - so it's bio-organic, which is effectively biodynamic, so everyone can enjoy this one, even those odd people at ‘Le Cru’ in Albert Park.

Drink till 2012
Drink with duck pie bought from La Parisienne Pates in Carlton
91

Cork 13%v/v $30

Oakridge '864' Yarra Valley Shiraz 2003

Giddy up I say. It’s the horse’s birthday today and this blog has absolutely nothing to do with our equine friends.

What this entry is about is the wonderful winemaking skills of Oakridge’s David Bicknall. Since 2002 he has been plying his trade at Oakridge, which he now a paid up stakeholder in. In 2008 I worked the vintage there (some of us used another word to describe the vintage but it is a bit blue for this forum) where we crushed just under 100 tonne of fruit in 8 weeks, turning the winery over four times. Now if you really want to shed some kg’s, work a vintage; I dropped 11 kilo’s in 8 weeks!!

Anyhoo, Oakridge and in particular David, are putting out some serious cool climate wine. The premium range 864, address on Maroondah Hwy, is probably the truest form of Yarra Valley premium wine; Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Merlot. These wines year in and year out display what Yarra Valley wine can are – elegant, heaps of finesse, structure and massive cellar potential.

This entry is on the Oakridge 864 Shiraz from 2003. The colour is showing a little bit of translucency, but it is not the pale red pinkie style that Pinot Noir gives, more the reddy chocolate sort. The nose is very Rhone like with Cornas coming to mind – herby bay leaves feel about it. The longer in the glass a bit of liquorice comes in the form of the black savoury kind. The mouth follows the nose with a Cornas sting, great acid length that holds up more savoury touches of olive tapenade with a touch of red liquorice at the back – very long.

Great balance, plenty of length and incredible complexity that is not overwhelmed by weight – only 13.5% a/v; no JABS here.

Drink till 2018
Drink with herb crusted lamb
18.5/20

Oh yeah, for the punters out there; Caulfield, race 3 number 4 ‘With Apologies’ – giddy up.

McWilliams Riverina Botrytis Semillon 2003

‘The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light.... he who works for sweetness and light united, works to make reason and the will of God prevail.’
Matthew Arnold 1822-88

Now just for the record, I am not a religious person, though with the surname Cohen I have been known to cast myself as a very orthodox ‘Catholic Jew’.

The inclusion of this poem from Matthew Arnold is not so much about God, but ‘The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light...’, and with this we have today the wonderful and amazing McWilliams Riverina Botrytis Semillon 2003. To me, this is the most perfect wine I have tasted this year – absolute pure joy!!

In Australia, the most famous or well known Botrytis wine is De Bortoli’s Noble One from Griffith NSW. But it has been McWilliams Winery since the 50’s who have been toying with this wonderful wine style, with the first real wine being the 1958 Pedro Sauternes made from Pedro Ximinez grapes which accidently botrytised.

Botrytis wine comes about when the fungus Botrytis cinera infects the grape when it has been split by the elements. From this a mould is produced, and with the help of the weather and certain vectors, entire rows become infected with this wonderful stuff. The most famous producer of Botrytis wine is Chateau d’Yquem from Sauternes in Bordeaux, with wines fetching thousands of dollars in the best of vintages. What it producers is a heightened sugar content, with a huge feel of ripeness.

Botrytis does not infect all grapes the same, with it having prejudice of those varieties that form tight bunches; Semillon, Savvy B, Chardonnay being the most common, with Shiraz sometimes coming under its spell (get some Wirra Wirra Botrytis Shiraz 1997 if you see it out there).

So, onto our wine. The colour is a gorgeous orange/brown which just screams drink me!!! The nose is quite restrained early with saffron and marmalade; yet the longer in the glass it shows its true intent being more marmalade and burnt orange. In the mouth the wine is warm with treacle, toffee, dried apricot and pure bliss – the length just seemed to go on forever.

This is truly a great Australian wine that should rank with the more famous Granges and Hill of Graces.

Drink with foie gras
Drink till 2016
19.8/20!!!!!!

Mount Gisborne Pinot Noir 2003

You see, it’s not all Bindi Bindi Bindi OK!!
Just down the road from Bindi is Mount Gisborne wines, as previously mentioned in ‘Stuart Anderson’s’ blog.
This little winery is the product of hard work from expat yank David Ell. I have drunk several of David’s wines over the years, with the 1997 and 2001 Pinot Noirs the standouts in my mind.
What Mount Gisborne wines try to do is get a bit of bottle age in them before being released on to the market. Now I think the 2003 Pinot was released in 2007, but don’t quote me on that; this is a long time to wait before being released.
What David is trying to achieve is to highlight the terroir of the area and let the wine define what it is after time in hibernation. I reckon this works most of the time with his wines, and this one is a great example of leaving it sit for a bit longer I think – it still needs time.
The colour seems to be rose red, with the hue showing signs of fading. The nose was a massive whack of red fruit, plum and raspberries; yet after about 10 minutes it was more like game and spice. In the mouth it was yet another surprise with massive amounts of acid pulling the seamless fruit in to line – strawberries and rhubarb the obvious. Like the nose, it all changed after a while in to a savoury, spice mix of cinnamon and the like – lovely stuff.
Drink with roast lamb or lamb shanks.
Now till 2015
17/20