Appellation Ballarat Pinot Noir 2010

I reckon I've had this wine about 20 times. I thought I had blogged about it before but you know what, nothing. Sorry Owen. The Appellation Ballarat Pinot Noir 2010 comes from one of the nicest blokes in the wine industry - Owen Latta - and is just so bloody good. Plenty of spice on the nose with toasted cardamon dominant. The palate is similar with once again toasted cardamon at the fore with further layers of master stock, soy sauce all held together with delicate supple tannins and funky pan juices. A ripping drop.

Drink with medium rare rib eye
Drink till 2017
96
Screwcap 13%v/v $32

Byrne Ballarat Chardonnay 2011

How could you not love the label? More importantly, how could you not love the wine. The Byrne Ballarat Chardonnay 2011 is a work of art both outside and inside the bottle. Having just this week arrived at Seddon Wine Store after a quick taste with Alex and Jeremy earlier in the week, this chardonnay is a great weapon to take to the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) crowd. But seriously, this is a great example of old and new; old being toasty oak and bold fruit, and new being steely citrus and gun powder flintiness.

So, the wine. Pale yellow in the glass, the nose is a mix of vibrant grapefruit pith, licorice powder, toasty oak and subtle leesy goodness. The palate also follows the grapefruit line up front thanks to mouth watering acid in the way of its 12.5% alcohol, but then tails away with mealy almonds and soft fig notes with lingering briney minerality at the end. A cracking wine from a tough vintage. And another great label Alex.

Drink with green papaya salad
Drink till 2016
96
Screwcap 12.5% v/v $32 Seddon Wine Store

Eastern Peake Ballarat Intrinsic Pinot Noir 2009

So when its hot, drink dry whites. When its not, drink something else. Yesterday was hot. Last night was really hot. Today; not-so-hot. That's right, I live in Melbourne. This means I can have a wide selection of wine to choose from cos the weather here lives in a permanent state of bi-polar flux.

So my wine for a cooler day today is the Eastern Peake Ballarat Intrinsic Pinot Noir 2009. Deep red in the glass, the aroma has an instant waft of dark fruit with prickly plum to the fore. But it is after about two hours open that the wine develops in to a beautiful beast of game and forest floor;serious and sensual stuff. Very Pommard if I have to say. I have to say!! The palate follows a similar path of the nose with supple dark fruit beautifully held together with mouth watering acid and perfectly tuned silky tannins. Nice work Norman.

Drink with sticky pork ribs
Drink till 2022
95
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $46 Seddon Wine Store

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/

Byrne Ballarat Pinot Noir 2010

The second I laid eyes on this wine I was instantly back in my Grandmothers house where she had a crazy felt like wallpaper in the toilet that I was completely mesmerised with. I'm happy to say this wine did not have any similarities with the humble crapper. But the label....

The Byrne Ballarat Pinot Noir 2010 is a really good wine, with all the hallmarks of a gamey prickly Pinot that I have come to love; plenty of juicy red fruit woven with a gamey pong of sappy whole bunch and bacon fat - thats the funky shit. In the mouth the wine follows the palate with abundent prickly plums without being ripe, and more gamey goodness blended in with fine tannins and bolt acidity. Cracking drop.

Drink with beer braised beef short ribs
Drink till 2016
94
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $30-40 Blackheart & Sparrows, Brunswick

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

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