A. Rodda Beechworth Cuvée De Chez 2011

Picture the scene if you will.

The camera pans in slowly with clouds lifting from the floor - (narrative)There is a chill in the air. Winter is here (narrative fades). there is a shadowy figure in the foreground with camera now focusing on its silhouette.

Camera pans right suddenly; the silhouette emerges from the cloud; there is a scream somewhere in the distance; the camera searchers for the scream but is drawn to the silhouette. A leg appears, but just the leg. It has a boot and a sock rolled down over the top. There is a ball, a soccer ball.The leg draws back and the camera is now firmly fixed on the leg. A scream enters the air again but the camera does not budge from the leg. The leg move but moves too quick and just like that the ball comes hurtling towards the camera and it smashes with furious force.

The camera is now filming with faint clarity while on its side laying on the ground. The cloud again appears. There is another scream but it is now drowned out by an evil laugh.
Camera fades .....

Thanks for humouring me. The A. Rodda Beechworth Cuvée De Chez 2011 is all dark and mysterious, is made for the cooler months and is made by a guy with a laser sight on his left leg that can find your head from any corner of the winery. Yes Adrian, my head remembers the ball very well ya mongrel!!!

Made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (58%), Petit Verdot (16%), Malbec (13%) and Merlot (12%) this wine is a ripping example of what a Left Bank wine looks like when it is made here, not Bordeaux. Cassis and bitter chocolate dominate the nose with a faint but ever present waft of dusty tannins lurking in the background. The palate is an instant hit of soft furry tannins and blue fruit that is quickly gobbled up by more cassis and bitter chocolate with acid holding everything in sway. An awesome wine and certainly one to look out for at the pointy end of winter. And watch out for his left leg too!!!

A. Rodda Beechworth Cuvée De Chez 2011, the quintesential Christopher Lee of the wine world. Exit stage right....

Drink with bloody lamb chops

Drink till 2019

97

Screwcap 13%v/v $34 Seddon Wine Store

Domaine A Stoney Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

In my endeavour as Business Development Manager for Vranken-Pommery-Monopole in Australia, one of my tasks is to go out there and source quality producers for our domestic (including NZ) wine portfolio. Real tough job that one! Over the past twelve months I am happy to say that I have managed to bring in Paradigm Hill, Ostler Vineyards, Blue Poles Vineyard and Vinea Marson. My task is simple; approach producers from each region, represent only one producer from each region, but most importantly approach a producer whom I really like and wine I reeeaaalllyy like. Keep it simple stupid!

So with a good chunk of the mainland and NZ sorted, my attention turned to the apple isle. For me there is one producer down there doing it spot on. All rather there is only one producer I could think of off the top my head whom I would like to represent. Domaine A. Simple. But not so simple. I also believe in not poaching producers from other wine businesses; if they wish to contact me all the good, but I like to think I have some sort of integrity.

Not long ago I posted Domaine A’s 2003 Cabernet, a wine which I believe is Australia’s best Left Bank version; a theory that has met with much guffaw I must say. Anyhoo, Matt from marketing down at Domaine A was kind enough to write me an email thanking me for the write-up. And for the write-up came a bottle of the Domaine A Stoney Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – with a little Cab Franc, merlot and Petit Verdot. What a Stirling chap!

The wine. Dark and lush in the glass with flowing aromas of chocolate, soy sauce and cherry with licorice coming the longer in the decanter. The palate followed the nose with more cherry and chocolate with coffee imparted at the end. An amazing balance also with the acid and fine and savoury tannins. A winner, no doubt about it!

It’s interesting; however, that Domaine A markets this wine to be drunk early and the flagship wines to be cellared. In an age of second and entry level wines, Domaine A is producing two distinct wine labels that can both be struck in the premium category. Again, simple!

Drink with lamb rack
Drink till 2020
96
Quality cork 13.9%v/v from http://www.domaine-a.com.au/

I have been corrected

Some amendments if I may; the wine is in fact a Left Bank blend with Merlot, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot. Thanks to anon in Tasmania I now have my facts straight; and I still stick to my comment that Domaine A is the best Cabernet Sauvignon producer.

Cheerio

Tim

Top 10 Wines for 2009

Yes, it is the end of yet another year with 2009 over in a little over 48 hours; I think there is a definite correlation between how fast a year travels and how old you are. Anyway, with the end of my first year as a wine blogger, I thought it apt that I compile my ‘Top 10’ wines for this year. The judging of this is based on the ‘Decanter Top 100’ wines where it is not always the highest ranked wines that make No. 1 but the wines that have had the greatest impact. So without anymore dilly-dallying, here we have my Top 10 for 2009.

10. Pierro Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot ltCF 2005 – never been a big fan of this blend from Australia but this wine really stood up and slapped me bang on the nose; am now a convert and a fan. 96

9. M. Chapoutier ‘Deschants’ 1997 Saint-Joseph Marsanne – this was a wine that sort of got forgotten about in my cellar but turned out to be an absolute cracker. 95
8. Punt Road Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2006 – a surprise winner at The Bledisloe of Wine at The Point Albert Park this year during the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. And to think, the Kiwi winemakers thought it was one of theirs - silly buggers. 93
7. Oakridge Yarra Valley 864 Chardonney 2006 – probably one of the best Chardonnays I have had from the Valley and I got it for $30 a bottle when I did vintage there in 2008. 98

6. Merricks Creek Mornington Close Planted Pinot Noir 2006 - the best Pinot Noir ever from the Peninsula and proof that when you believe in something, you give it plenty of time to become something special. 95
5. Ngeringa Adelaide Hills Syrah 2006 – a relative new comer to me but by no means a wall flower wine; the only wine that I have not blogged on so here are my concise findings. Heavy and dense colour with a little touch of leather coming through early but definitely not hiding the licorice all-sorts. More licorice in the palate with mouth smacking tannins that would be lovingly soaked up by a juicy rare rum steak purchased from North Carlton Butchers on Nicholson St Carlton; I scored this 97.


4. By Farr Geelong Shiraz 2007 – I still standby my comment that this is the best Shiraz in Australia, simple! 98
3. Pio Cesare Piedmonte Barolo 1997 – The reason I fell in love with Nebbiolo and the reason why wines like this need plenty of time in the bottle. 99
2. Felton Road Central Otago Block 3 Pinot Noir 2006 – one of the most perfect New World Pinot Noirs I have ever had. If you see one out there, grab it! 99


1. M. Sorrel ‘La Grael’ Hermitage 2001 – an absolute pleasure to drink this one with real elegance and how a wine made with shiraz grapes should taste like. 96

So there you have it, my 2009 retrospective. Tomorrow night I will compile my Top 10 Naughty wines, or more general, Top 10 wine moments for the past 10 years.

Toodaloo!

Pierro Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot L.T.Cf 2005

‘Lucky is he who has been able to understand the causes of things.’ Virgil 70-19BC.

Lucky indeed are the people who are able to blend wonderful wines. The Bordelaise have been doing it for quite some time, with their wines constructed based on geography; left bank based on Cabernet Sauvignon with flavours dominated by blackcurrant and the right bank based on Merlot with a more fruitcakey flavour and more aromatic in character.

If this Pierro Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot L.T.Cf 2005 were to be imported from Bordeaux rather than Margaret River (the L.T.Cf standing for little touch of Cabernet Franc), it would definitely be a first or second growth from the left bank. Decanted for a while, this wine shows visible SO2 dissolving through the dark deep garnet colour. The nose is absolutely dripping in cassis and other red fruit – totally seductive. More cassis in the palate but it is not the dominating presence however; spine tingling acid and firm grippy tannins drive this wine. An dead-set food wine this one; definitely not a quaffer and definitely not a wine that belies it's massive 14.5%v/v.


Seamless balance and complexity and a bargain at $35!

Drink with roasted shoulder of lamb
Drink till 2025
96
Quality cork 14.5%v/v $35 Dan Murphy’s Parkdale

Fraser Gallop Estate Margaret River Cabernet Merlot 2007

I was having coffee this morning with a friend at a local cafe, with the conversation being about this and that; kids and kindy, the weather and whether the celebrity ‘Master Chef’ will work? As per usual, the conversation turned to wine, where my friend noted that I am far too generous with my ratings, especially the mucho fantasticos, and he has a point, I am far too generous.

So, as of today, I will now rate wine out of 100 with the mucho fantastico going to wine 97+. Here we go then.

Fraser Gallop Estate Margaret River Cabernet Merlot 2007. A good year out west, with wind during flowering the biggest issue during the growing season I have been told. The colour is very dense with a purplish inky hue. On the nose is a very distinctive cough drop aroma – the old cherry style one. In the mouth there clean acid and good firm tannins up front with cherry and that cough drop flavour coming through at the end. If you have a decanter, use it with this wine cos’ it really does show a hell of lot more after about an hour with a more brambly fruit driven hit.

A good honest wine as Jack Dyer would say. Good balance, nice length and nice complexity

Drink till 2013
Drink with lamb burger
84/100
Screwcap $14 14.5% a/v

Chateau Montrose Ste-Estephe 1996

What a wine. What a wine!
Bordeaux wines in Australia a quite often regarded as mythical beasts that are generally out of most people’s price range, mine included. But then there are wines such as Chateau Montrose (pronounced Monrose) which, even still a second growth wine, is quite affordable. This one was a paltry $130 – and this is very cheap for Bordeaux let me tell you.
The colour of this wine is gorgeous; deep garnet red with absolutely no translucency whatever. On the nose there are black cherries, leather and tobacco; this tells me that the wine is certainly in its secondary flavour profile. In the mouth there is a chalky fine clean tannin grip with a long powerful spectrum of black fruit and savoury chocolate. Just brilliant I say!
Drink with Chateaubriand medium rare
Till 2026
18/20

Batard-Montrachet, Chateau Margaux and the BYO debate

The one thing I love about my job is the array of wines I get to look at and, of course, taste. Over the years I have seen some absolute crackers, with the 1959 Dom Perignon still being the highlight.
Most of these gems I must admit are from people who bring them as BYO, which was the case of the Dom Perignon. Now BYO is a touchy subject in Melbourne; to allow or not to allow? I say BYO is cool only if the wine in question is good enough to get a gig in the restaurants wine list. When diner's bring in their Eaglehawk Merlot which they just purchased 10 minutes before entering the restaurant for $10, I gently let them down and explain to them that I have worked very hard to get the wine list where it is and that their wine wouldn't even get a gig as the base for a red wine reduction - geez I'm harsh.
Yesterday one of my favourite customers gave me a call at about 10.20am and asked if he could bring in a couple of BYO bottles. Now this customer in question will usually order a half bottle of white Burgundy and a half bottle of Bordeaux with his meal - generally a 4 course dego.
This particular day, he was dining with a friend, so the wines of choice were a Batard-Montrachet Blain Gagnard 2000 white Burgundy (chardonnay) and a half bottle of Chateau Margaux 1995 (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cab franc, petit verdot). Did I accept - you bet I did. Now this guest trusts me implicitly to open and test his wines, so it was the Batard I had a look at first and it was gorgeous. To look at it, the colour had developed quite a lot to a cheese-cake yellow. On the nose, masses of custard coming through, which is what you should expect from this wine after 8 years in bottle, and a bit a honey dew melon. In the mouth the acid was still very relevant with grapefruit still hanging around - just for the hell of it it seemed. The wine just kept giving in the mouth, very long with licorice powder dancing around (geez that sounds a bit of a wank doesn't it) and then custard again; what a wine!!!
Next was the Margaux. I don't know what to write now. The mongrel was corked!! I was gutted. The owner of the wine however was shattered, absolutely shattered. He had just spent $1200 on this wine and it was screwed, and there was no chance of getting your money back because it was bought at auction - no refunds.
I guess a consolation of this was that he purchased a bottle of Bollinger NV Champagne to drown his sorrows.
One thing I haven't yet mentioned is that this guest doesn't see it necessary to drink the whole bottle of wine, so he gave me the instructions to decant half for himself and his guest and said that I could keep the wine for myself - I love this bloke. I then managed to draw the remaining half of the Batard for a few hours, tasting it at different temperatures and just really loving every mouth full; I have said this was a stunning wine right?
Now the dishes that went out with this wine were not what I would generally recommend, but I was limited with the menu at present. The meals I would have would be on the line of a crayfish bisque or a blitzed crab sauce tossed through angel hair pasta; flavours that are rich and gelatinous.


Batard-Montrachet; what a wine
drink till 2012
19.4/20

Chateau Margaux
drink till 2025
no rating on account of wine being knackered