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

Abbazia Di Novacella Alto Adige Sylvaner DOC 2010

Thinking about this last night reading Christopher Hitchins 'Arguably', I went to school with three Sylvaner's. There, that's today's segue for the wine; short and succinct. Kinda how Christopher would have liked it.

The Abbazia Di Novacella Alto Adige Sylvaner 2010 for more than 4 weeks now has been staring at me while working at Seddon Wine Store, all the while sending telepathic messages to for me to grab my wine knife, remove the foil and pry the cork out - think 'The Shining'. I did this on Thursday night, minus the Jack Nicholson "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", and was like, "Wow. This Good". Again, think Korg in '20,000 Years BC'. So many quotes today.

Anyway, the wine. Golden yellow in the glass with a slight greenish hue. The nose was full of ripe rock melon with the slightest lick of dried green herbs. The palate was just super, with a fine mix of more full rock melon, gentle grapefruit acid and then all of the sudden there was this sudden STOP of flavour. What was next was a great wave of dried green herbs and an almost phenolic impact that pretty much cleaned up all the residual flavour from the primary palate. Just great. End Quote.

Drink with crab mornay
Drink till 2015
94
Quality cork 13%v/v $34 Seddon Wine Store

Top Six in 2011

It’s that time of the year again when we make resolutions and spend money on gym memberships that rarely get used. 2011 came and tomorrow its 2012’s time to shine. But 2011 year has been pretty huge for me, starting off still working in champagne and as agent for eight Australian and New Zealand producers to be now heavily involved in one of Melbourne’s newest, and biggest I think, restaurant – Albert Street Food & Wine. Yes, it has been positively Heaps Bunta (South Australian Oxford Dictionary meaning HUGE!).

This year has also been a great year for new and not so new wine, which I have come across. Even though there has only been just shy of 90 posts this calendar year, it’s been a year when so much has been awesome, and so little being crap; that a good thing! So here are my Top 6 (5 just couldn’t justify) wines of the year in no particular order. You will notice that there is a leaning towards whites. This is by no means a ‘White Power’ salute to white supremacy, just worked out that way I guess.

Mitchell Harris Pyrenees Fumé Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – a recent post on Cooked and Bottled, and a truly great wine. What I loved about this wine is the wonderful nose of dried white herbs of coriander, fennel seed and white pepper. Just love it.


A.Rodda Beechworth Chardonnay 2010 – the first wine produced by Adrian Rodda under his own label. I met and worked with Adrian in 2008 doing vintage at Oakridge in the Yarra Valley and hit off pretty quick with a shared passion for The World Game; I think he still follows Melbourne Victory, me Melbourne Heart. Anyhoo, I smashing debut up in Beechworth.


Bindi Macedon Ranges Original Vineyard Pinot Noir 2006 – What more can I say about Bindi that i haven’t already. This is Australia’s answer to Burgundy. That’s all I’ve got!


Vinteloper Clare Valley Watervale Riesling 2011 – made by possibly the tallest wine maker in Australia, David Bowley producers a beautiful wine loaded with never ending flint and river stone minerality without the predictable lime acid that is known from this part of SA.


Marcel Deiss Alsace Pinot D’Alsace 2010 – a blend of Pinot Gris, Blanc and Auxerre, this wine has beautiful floral notes on the nose and a seductive fullness in the palate that just makes me want more, more and more....


EKK Weissburgunder Südtiroler Pinot Bianco Alto Adige 2010 – a real wine out of left field when I first came across it. Rich and viscous with orange blossom and a tickle of honey, this wine has a real residual feel to it, but this is more from lees stirring that left over sugar. But eat it with rich fatty pork like i did last night. Delicious!!!!


There you have it. If there was a real favourite I think it would be the Mitchell Harris Sauvignon just because it made me fall in love with this much maligned variety all over again. So leave your preconceptions behind and do yourself a flavour favour and get some.

Blue Poles Margaret River Teroldego 2009

Once in a while you get a wine that raises eye brows. It could be because it’s biodynamic, or because it’s a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris or because the winemaker is blind – true story; Mountford in Canterbury NZ. However, this eye brow raise is because when I mentioned this grape to a few wine industry professional, the common response was, ‘Terol-what’.

That’s right, Teroldego. Native to Alto-Adige in Trentino NE Italy, Teroldego has a little over 4 acres –just under 2 hectares – under vine in Australia. Three of these acres are planted in Osmington, Margaret River in the Blue Poles vineyard. So here it is, the Blue Poles Margaret River Teroldego 2009.

Where to start. Because of its eye brow raising attributes, I will let Nicholas Belfage introduce the variety:

“Teroldego is called the “prince” of Trentino red wines, prized for its elegance, complexity and harmony. Overcropped, as it often is, it can be very ordinary, at best a pleasant wine for drinking early. But in the hands of a quality producer it can reach impressive heights of breeding and concentration.... These days the undisputed top producer of Teroldego is Elisabetta Foradori of Mezzolombardo.”

The last sentence is where the Australian connection starts. It is from Elisabetta Foradori where the cuttings came from to propagate the Margaret River Teroldego plantings; pretty good lineage if you ask me. But we are here for the wine right?

One of the deepest ‘red’ colours in a glass of wine I have ever seen, sort of like ‘blood in the moonlight’ in colour; yeah, I know that’s the funky shit. The nose is a real head turner with obvious characteristics of Nebbiolo and Sangiovese – ripe plum, mulberry, dust, leather, tobacco, violets and tar just to name a few. Tight and fine grippy tannins greet the palate with some tart raspberry thrown in. The longer in the glass the tart raspberry fades in to a sweet mulberry feel with the acid and tannins still pulling all of the strings. This is a real special wine.

This is produced in small quantities; tiny really. So if you see it give it a go because it will not sit around on the shelf for too long.

Drink with lamb ragu on wet polenta
Drink till 2020
96
Screwcap 14%v/v $32 at The City Wine Shop or by the glass at Grossi Florentino’s Cellar Bar