Gioiello Upper Goulburn Merlot 2008

Merlot still gets a bad wrap unfortunately, from that stupid movie 'Sideways' to Neil and Bob on Youtube, Merlot is still the ugly duckling. But we all know what happened to the ugly duckling, it turned in to a majestical beast. Good Merlot too can be a majestical beast; look at the great Right Bank wines like Petrus, Le Pin and Cheval Blanc - all Merlot and all truly unforgettable.

With the soapbox put away, please welcome the Gioiello Upper Goulburn Merlot 2008. Pronounced 'Joy-ello', meaning 'jewell' in Italian, is a wine that came across my bow a few months ago and was penned in to the list when there was a spot. A great colour in the glass, the wine sings with pretty blue fruit with a hint of dusty tannins too come. The palate is a great example of what Merlot is; blueberries, ash, minerality, cedar and acid. And the producers of this wine have done the right thing and released the wine with a bit of bottle age, and not straight away where the real Merlot would not be seen. A ripping wine.

Drink with lamb back-strap
Drink till 2025
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Screwcap 13.6%v/v $25 Albert Street Food & Wine, Brunswick  

Dindi Murrindindi Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Quite frankly the best bargain I have seen in yonks and it’s been yonks since I’ve said yonks so there you go. The Dindi Murrindindi Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 was such a good wine that I had to phone up Psarakos Markets in Thornbury and ask them if they had made a mistake with the price. And the price, a crazy $8.99!!!

Now I pretty much do all of our fruit and veg shopping down at Psarakos because simply they have the best range and lowest prices, but they also have a very good bottle shop with cheap imported Stella and Heineken; not the crap brewed here in Australia but the real stuff from Holland and Belgium. But every-now-and-then you find a little bargain, something odd and something different that you cant pass up on; the Dindi was this little bargain.

Deep purpley and red in the glass, the nose instantly throws up soft pepper, red capsicum, raspberries, tobacco and mocca – very surprising. The palate was lean and cool – winter helps with that – with long clean acid and tight chewy tannins with more raspberries and mocca. Such a bloody good wine and a fantastic reason to head down to Thornbury for some fresh galangal and a botlle or two of something something.

Drink till 2013
Drink with lamb korma
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Screwcap 13%v/v $8.99 at Psarakos Markets, Thornbury

Melbourne Cup Carnival Champagne and Sparkling Wine

Tomorrow is the official start of the 2009 Melbourne Cup Carnival with the AJC Derby at Flemington. Tomorrow is also the start of my son Henry's sleep school - he still cannot sleep!! This will last for four days with Henry and me bunkered down in cosmopolitan Bundoora for four days. So seeing that this racing carnival is all about bubbles and fizz, here are four wines to spend your winning's - if there are any - on when you leave the track sober and head home to regale the days events.

Buxton Ridge 'Molly Jean' Upper Goulburn Valley Blanc de Noir NV - So nothing came home for you at the end of the day and you didn't think to put a 'place' bet on any of the seconds you got - doesn't matter! make sure you have about $50 left in the kitty so you can swing by Blackheart and Sparrows in Brunswick to pick up a couple of these; the 100% Pinot Noir in this wine gives it a great peach pink look to it with gorgeous savoury flavours flowing all the way through - lovely!

Croser Piccardilly Valley Sparkling 2006 - Nice work, you picked the winner in the jumps and got the office sweep and a voucher for $45 at Dan's. This will pick you up an easy Croser on the way home with change for a six pack of imported beer. Crisp, clean and to the point this one.

Krug NV, Reims Champagne - Getting the trifecta in any race is a big win, but when you have the winner in it that pays $101 and second paying $51, well you got a big payout. An NV will give you endless citrus and toast and nuts and deliciousness.Look for this at Vue de monde or Ezard for about $600.

Dom Perignon Œnoteque 1990, Epernay Champagne - So, you just got the running quadrella super whatchamacallit. A massive win like this justifies a massive Champagne and the Dom Perignon 1990 is all of that. This wine should be rich with real forest floor aromas and flavours of truffles yet still displaying the youthfullness of citrus and brioche. Expect to pay fork out at least $1,500 a bottle at Rockpool or Bistro Guilluame at Crown. Make sure you offer a glass to Bart Cummings if you see him, he probably trained the winner!

Boy, that was an expensive exercise! I do hope you have fun out there - good punting and wish Henry and me luck for our sleep school!!

Philip Lobley Upper Goulburn Reserve Pinot Noir 2007

When you see the moniker ‘Reserve’ on any product, the first thought is that you have something pretty good. Bass Phillip uses it, Paringa Estate use it, Moss Wood used to use it and more recently Luke Lambert uses it – very well I must say. So when I sore the Phillip Lobley Reserve Pinot Noir 2007 for $37 at Rathdowne Cellars a month ago I thought, ‘beauty’. Even Eddy, the owner of Rathdowne said he was very impressed with it; sweet as a nut then!

Expectations can be dangerous, and in this case expectations were high but unfortunately were not met. In the glass the wine looked a quite dirty red that was very translucent. Macerated sweet strawberries and a bit of earth were all I got on the nose with the mouth offering up very little – maybe a bit young. However, the next day the wine did not yield much in the way of development with the palate quite dry and flat with a little astringency at the back.

No real balance or length; maybe this wine will be better in a few years perhaps.

Drink till 2013
Drink with cold leftovers – seriously!
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Screwcap 12.8%v/v $37