Ruggabellus Barossa Valley Fluus 2013

My favourite South Oz producer I reckon. The Ruggabellus Barossa Valley Fluus 2013 - Grenache, Mataro, Cinsault and Syrah - has brought sexy back for this style with such unassuming style and finesse all the while walking in to the room loaded with sweaty hairy armpits; its super-suave and bogan all in one package; Sort of like The Drones - band not spy object.

Anywhoo, the wine. Dusty graphite on the nose with concentrated black fruit and savoury black olive brininess too. The palate has a very clear line of savoury gaminess and black fruit all held together with precise fine graphite like tannins. Theres almost a hint of lip smacking fish sauce at the back. This is as close to Pinot Noir from the Barossa Valley I reckon. I just love it!!!




Drink with peppered rare steak
Drink till 2018
96 Screwcap
13.6%v/v $29-$32

Tscharke Barossa Valley Appellation Shiraz 2012

In another Fonzy moment, I was w-w-w-w-w-rong about JABS. The Tscharke Barossa Valley Appellation Shiraz 2012 may be soaking in 15.5%v/v but by golly, you don't see it, rather you see seamless fruit and oak integration with plenty of savoury black olive and blackberry compote all held together fine a fine line of acid and soft chewy tannins. Wow. Who'd have thunk it?

Drink with chargrilled beef, such as image below - a definite Susan
Drink till 2016
96
Screwcap 15.5%v/v $25 Seddon Wine Store

Gorgeous rib-eye over hot coals

Head Moppa/Barossa Valley The Brunette Syrah 2011

I dream weird dreams I do. I woke this morning having just left a dream where I was at the ear of Malcolm Turnball in the caucus room of a coalition party where I was trying to get him to run against the mad monk, with him just saying why run after him when he'll just trip up in time'. See, weird.

And yes, I digress. The Head Moppa/Barossa Valley The Brunette Syrah 2011 is no contender and has no signs of tripping up. A complex nose of earth, spice and savoury olive and blackberry notes precedes a similar palate combination with earth and olive tapanade the highlight of a complex and compelling flavour profile.

Maybe someone should give Malcolm a glass of this too light a spark.

Drink with Chateaubriand
Drink till 2020
96
Screwecap 13.5%v/v $55 Seddon Wine Store

Rusden Barossa Valley Driftsand GSM 2010

Its getting harder and harder to find a crappy wine these days; this is not one of them. The Rusden Barossa Valley Driftsand GSM 2010 is floating my boat in a big way right now cos its so hard to put a finger on what it is. From the get go this wine to me is put in the 'Pinot Noir drinkers GSM' with a lovely earthy and floral nose stemming from 42% Grenache, 41% Shiraz and 17% Mataro. The palate continues on that line with an almost wet terracotta feel in the mouth - I know, sounds pretty wankie - and prickly 5 spice , dates and currents. All in all a great wine and a bit of a demystification for me on GSM. A ripper a ripper a ripper.

Sorry about the crappy image though.

Drink with beef short ribs
Drink till 2017
96
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $23 Seddon Wine Store

Shobbrook Seppeltsfield Syrah 2010

There's steak on the menu tonight. Erin is off to one of her friends birthdays so steak makes an appearance tonight in my kitchen. The kids will probably have pasta or noodles but steak at about medium rare will suit me just fine.

The wine cellar is a bit skinny lately so I will get to what I'm drinking later, but if I had this gem still in there then it would be an easy option. The Shobbrook Seppeltsfield Syrah 2010. Like the 2008, this wine is very much a part of the new breed of Shiraz/Syrah coming from the Barossa. Yes, there are still wines that are all JABS, but then there are wines such as Shobbrook, Head Wines, and Vinteloper from MacVale who are all creating wines that hold more familiarity to Northern Rhone than South Australia.

So the 2010. Like the 2008 again, very dark in the glass with a faint purple hue. The nose throws up plenty of black olive and black licorice with a lick also of prickly plum. The palate has a super razor sharp acid length going on with tannins that are there, then not, then back. Strange that one. With the aid of a decanter the wine opened up wonderfully with a mix of savoury gaminess, grainy minerality and more prickly plum. Such a great wine.

Drink with porterhouse medium rare
Drink till 2020
95 
Quality cork and wax seal 13.5%v/v mid $40 range Blackhearts & Sparrows, Fitzroy North

Izway Barossa Valley Mates Mataro 2011

The photo is a bit grainy; think I was a bit grainy too when I took it. These are two things that I have fallen in love with again. 1) The Beastie Boys 'Licensed to Ill' - this is an original vinyl from 1987 when I was a wee lad surfin' and skateboardin' all over Perth, and 2) Mataro, Mourvedre or whatever you want to call it. To borrow from Julie Andrews from 'The Sound of Music' , ".... these are a few of my favourite things." Never thought I'd be quoting The Sound of Music!

The Izway Barossa Valley Mates Mataro 2011. It's part made by Brian Conway, the 'way' in Izway. Even though he follows Old East - will never understand why they changed to the Sharks - supporter; I'm a tragic South Fremantle Bulldogs supporter. Getting way off track here. This wine is brimming with black fruit and licorice on the nose. A near black colour in the glass, in the palate the wine flows with more licorice and hints of black olives and sweet black berries. Long and tight with acid and tannins cleaning all and sundry at the front and back. A cracker of a wine. RIP MCA.


Drink with beef short ribs
Drink till 2020
95
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $29

Ruggerbellus Barossa Valley Efferus 2010

It seems in an ever changing wine landscape, there are some things that are just what they propose to be - wine without the song and dance. Enter the Ruggerbellus Barossa Valley Efferus 2010 Mataro blend.

I reckon I had this about 2 years ago for the first time at Fix in Sydney and was simply drawn to it by it pure simplicity; gorgeous fruit, gorgeous acid and tannin structure and gorgeous length. Gorgeous.

Forward 2 years and it is now a fixture at Albert Street Food & Wine, but don't put it on the burner, there's not much left. So the wine. Deep colour in the glass with an almost black/purplish hue. Massive wafts of black fruit and black olives on the nose with a slight ashed finish, the wine powers in the palate with flavour that ascends ever so lightly and seems to go on for ever; I didn't do a Robert Parker Jnr and time the flavour length - I do have a life thankyou! But I digress. Plenty more black fruit with a slight tinge of green leaf in the acid working its way at the end. Cracking good wine.

Drink with Côte de boeuf with Béarnaise - like I did last night
Drink till 2025
96
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $42 Albert Street Food & Wine, Brunswick

Rockford Black Shiraz Barossa Valley, Disgorged 1998

Simple words need only apply....

‘I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laugh, your hands the colour of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.
I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body, the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes, and I pace around hungry,
sniffing the twilight, hunting for you, for your hot heart, like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

Love Sonnets XI – Pablo Neruda

A wine that took my breath away from the very first faint aroma to the last soft bead in the glass. An Australian masterpiece. Thats all I’ve got xxx

Spinifex Barossa Valley Lola 2011

Q: How many grape varieties does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They’re grapes!!

My point exactly. But it does raise the question of how many varieties can make up a wine before any of them deliver the ‘wow’ factor. Seems that it doesn’t matter, and that’s fine with me all in all – literally with this wine. The Spinifex Barossa Valley Lola 2011 is a blend of Ugni Blanc (or Trebbiano), Semillon, Marsanne and Viognier. Seriously, they must really have been thinking that day, ‘what the hell!’ Thing is though, they made a pretty schmick wine.

Very nectarine on the nose, the wine follows suit in the mouth with more stone fruit, this time in the guise of white peach and a tickle of glycerol. My only beef though is that it is rather quick, but on a hot day like today wines like this are not going to have a long life span once the seal is broken.

Drink till 2014
Drink with BBQ squid
92
Screwcap 11.5%v/v $26 Albert St Food & Wine

Head Brunette Moppa Syrah 2010

This wine is not built on sun but rather the minerality that is below the ground. The Head Brunette Moppa Syrah 2010 is still very young in the bottle, but speaks to as if it had been around for five or so years. Beautiful and dark in the glass; a perfect example of ox blood if there was one, the Brunette 2010 like the 2009 has a great hallmark of tart red and dark fruit, but none of the JABS characteristics of stewed fruit and blood curdling alcohol. As I said, this wine speaks with a very mineral accent that drives both luscious tannins and squeaky clean acid. Lucky there are 5 bottles left in the 6 pack; needed to see what the little fella looked like!

Drink with rare venison
Drink till 2020
96
Screwcap 13.8%v/v $40ish www.headwines.com.au

Shobbrook Wines Seppeltsfield/Barossa Valley Shiraz 2008

Its winter and I’m not in Vietnam anymore so its Shiraz time. Its Shobbrook Seppeltsfield/Barossa Valley Shiraz 2008. And yes, its cold; the weather, not the wine

Almost black in the glass, the wine lifts in the decanter with a distinct purple hue and black licorice nose. Initially the palate shows tiny grippy tannins that are there then gone before you know it. With the tannins gone a more mineral mouth feel flows with an almost charcoal feel along with more black licorice and a hint of raisin at the back. A real winter red without the JABS.

Drink with rare roast beef
Drink till 2015
93
Quality cork with wax seal 14.5%v/v $42 from Blackheart & Sparrows Brunswick

Tommy Ruff Barossa Valley Shiraz Mourvédre 2009 and a very, very long weekend

It’s almost over. The longest long weekend in living memory is as good as done. After what seemed an eternity in the car driving back from Aireys Inlet and a detour through Footscray thanks to some dopey cement truck driver on the Bolte Bridge lost his load and closed it both ways on one of the busiest ‘coming home’ days in, as I said, living memory.

Yes it was rough. So while sitting in traffic just out of Geelong I was thinking about wines that have been, well rough, and the wine that could double as a traffic snarl is the Tommy Ruff Barossa Valley Shiraz Mourvédre 2009. Now don’t get me wrong, this is a very good wine, but without decanting or food, this wine will be seen as nothing but mouth torture. Made by Tom Shobbrook – bit of a favourite for me right now – from fruit coming from Western Barossa, this wine is pure and simply a food wine. Deep crimson in the glass and a brooding mix of ash, dust and brambly fruit, it is in the palate that this bad boy hits its straps. Tonnes of tannin and acid with olive tapenade and licorice more than plentiful; it’s by no means a JABS, but it does need respect.

So there you go. A belter, but just keep it out of the right lane OK; needs plenty of time in the left side of the highway.

Happy Easter and of course, lest we forget.

Drink with bloody rib eye
Drink till 2014
93
Screwcap 14.5%v/v $30 Seddon Wine Store, Victoria St Seddon

Felton Road Central Otago Pinot Noir 2008

Sometimes your expectations are just way to high. This is such a time.

Felton Road Central Otago Pinot Noir – in this case the 2008 - is a wine that more often than not is regarded as one of NZ’s best wines; I am one of those people that share this view. But lately, not sure whether it is the style of the region (probably) or just the wine itself, I have come across Central Otago Pinot Noir’s to be pretty much pigeon-holed in a one dimensional style – big! (I must also state here that even though I have only a few Central Otago PN’s on my blog, I have made the decision not to blag, and no that’s not a typo, on wine that I don’t like.)

In the glass the wine is deep in colour without being deep, deep red. The nose displays a good whack of cranberry and raspberry, but not tart as I was expecting, rather a riper feel to it. The palate has quick acid straight up which disappears as fast as it arrives. After this is pretty much ripe red fruit of more cranberry and raspberry with very little tannin structure.

Going back to a previous life as a sommelier, this is a wine that I would have matched with red meat that was cooked medium to well-done. Reason is simple. When you have bloody or rare meat, be it at home or in a restaurant, the best match is a dry, tart red wine like a cool climate Shiraz or Pinot Noir. This is because the steak already has plenty of juice already, and wine and food pairing for me is all about countering the others overall mouth feel; dry with juicy and juicy with dry. So if you are having a well done piece of meat (not advised) go for an old school Barossa Shiraz which is all about juice, juice, alcohol and juice – or JABS! This is because the piece of meat has had all of the juice squeezed out of it by the chef and the JABS will simply put that juice back in to your mouth.

So next time you are at say Rockpool Bar & Grill or The Point Albert Park and you want to spend $65 on a well cooked piece of meat, go for a wine that will give back the juice that has been so mercilessly sucked out of the rib-eye or God forbid a wagyu.

PS – I am not describing this wine as a JABS, just a reference to wine-food matching, that’s all!

Drink with med-well rib-eye
Drink till 2013
88
Screwcap 14%v/v Rathdowne Cellars, Carlton North

Head Barossa Valley/Stonewell ‘The Blonde’ Shiraz Viognier 2009

Start the new year off on a good note I say. Head Barossa Valley/Stonewell ‘The Blonde’ Shiraz Viognier 2009. Loving all things Rhône, Alex Head brings together Côte-Rôtie staples shiraz and viognier and creates a gorgeous wine from a place where I didn’t think had the elegance to pull off this style. So with that I bought a dozenand hopefully get an allocation of another of his sexy wines, The Brunette. An almost ox blood colour in the glass, my tasting notes on the nose were a bit eligible so I am just going to go with sexy! As like the nose, sexy in the mouth with plenty of apricots, licorice and a touch of dried sage with xmas pud and prunes coming through after a couple of days - very much reminding me of the Shobbrook Nebbiolo. Other than that just a ripper wine, and that’s it really.

Drink with ox tail ravioli
Drink till 2021
97
Screwcap 14.5%v/v $30 mailing list http://www.headwines.com.au/

Massena Barossa Valley Barbera 2009

Lately I have been rediscovering the joys of the Barossa Valley. No more is it a place where you go for high alcohol jars of jam, instead there are a group of new and young producers making, dare I say, exciting styles of Shiraz/Syrah in the guise of Northern Rhône wines.

But this is where it sort of goes off track a little. I like Barbera, always have. So when I tried the Massena Barossa Valley Barbera 2009, I was instantly wowed, but had to have a double take cos' this was for me not what Barbera is about. To me Barbera is flavors and aromas of fresh fruit and dried fruits and herbs.

Don't get me wrong this wine is great, and I am happy to see Barbera planted in ther Barossa, for the acidity of Barbera makes it ideal for planting in the warm to hot climate Barossa where acidification is usually needed.

So, about the wine then. Really dark in ther glass with no real hint of a ruby hue. ripe blueberries and mulberries come through on the nose with the palate very smooth with acid very much in the background. After about 45 minutes in the decanter the wine delivers red licorice at the end of the mouthful.

A good wine in the end and something that isn't what I would call garden variety.

Drink with slow braised lamd
Drink till 2013
90Screwcap 14.5%v/v $22 Blackheart and Sparrows, Brunswick

Spinifex Barossa Valley Papillon 2009

“Make the best of what we offer you, and you will suffer less than you deserve.” Camp Commandant from Papillon

I remember watching this for the first time on a wet and wintery Fremantle day when I was about 11. It let me with one lesson; no matter how much you try, you’ll always be trapped. This was pretty heavy for me at the time, but never the less apt – I had two older sisters and was always the whipping boy with no escape. But enough about my traumatic childhood.

So far this is my second favourite wine of the year. The Spinifex Barossa Papillon Barossa Valley 2009. A blend of Cinsault, Grenache and Mataro, this wine started as mistaken identity; I meant to grab the Bête Noir, but in my haste one evening I grabbed this (have since grabbed it about five times!).

This wine caught me off guard. Quite opaque and dirty in the glass, the nose offers a wonderful mix of dried herbs and tart red fruit. The palate is very true to the nose with more tart red fruit, cranberry being the dominant for me, with tight and clean acid certainly making its presence known throughout the whole bottle. This is also the type of wine that needs food, not just a lazy Friday night quoffer.

Drink with rump steak and béarnaise sauce
Drink till 2014
96
Screwcap 13.8%v/v $27 from Blackhearts & Sparrows, North Fitzroy

Spinifex Bête Noir Barossa Shiraz 2008

There are times in everyone’s life when they have to admit they were wrong; Lady Di got it wrong with Charles, Richard Nixon got it wrong with Watergate, JVC got it wrong by betting on Beta and even the great Arthur Fonzarelli occasionally got it w-w-w-w-w-w-wrong. And I got it wrong with Barossa Shiraz! There you have it; I admit that not all Barossa Shiraz wine is merely a Christmas cake in a bottle. And the wine that did it for me, the Spinifex Bête Noir Barossa Shiraz 2008.

Midnight purple in the glass, this wine is very intriguing on the nose with lovely wafts of chocolate and pepper and a just a faint lick of licorice. The palate is jammed (sic) with raspberry and blackberry fruit; tart raspberry and ripe blackberry, spice and more juicy chocolate.

I just guess that today’s Barossa shiraz is not what it was five odd years ago. Just like I guess the same for chardonnay today compared to what it was 10 years ago – all buttery and oak! I look forward now to opening up to more delights from what used to be the ‘Heart of Darkness’,

“They were dying slowly – it was very clear. They were not enemies, they were not criminals, they were nothing earthly now – nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation, lying confusedly in the greenish gloom.” Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

Drink with seared lamb and black pudding
Drink till 2016
94
Screwcap 14.5%v/v $42 at Blackhearts and Sparrows, North Fitzroy

Shobbrook Macclesfield Nebbiolo 2008

“Thanks for the times that you've given me
The memories are all in my mind
And now that we've come to the end of our rainbow
There's something I must say out loud

You're once, twice, three times a lady
And I love you
Yes, you're once, twice, three times a lady
And I love you
I love you”

The Commodores

Can’t you just see those big lips of Lionel tremble as he burst this timeless ballad out. But we are not here to reminisce about Lionel and his rev-head mates are we.

Today I am blogging about a wine that at first sight I thought was an amazing wine; The Shobbrook Macclesfield (Barossa Valley) Nebbiolo 2008. On visiting this wine a second time, I thought, ‘hey, is this the same wine?’. The third time I was really confused. Visiting the website, the wine maker announces that only 150 bottles of this wine were made (maybe that is 150 dozen – I dunno’). This is a really small amount to have such massive bottle variation – I reckon anyway!

So here are my three tasting notes for the Shobbrook Nebbiolo:

1. Ink purple in the glass, the nose throws lots of chocolate and rose petals – very fragrant. Complex licorice and oak with tar coming after a while with also heaps of black licorice; absolutely gorgeous.
2. Same colour as #1. Very obvious prunes on the nose with hints of rose petals. Overriding whack of chocolate and prunes with plenty of juicy acid; a good wine.
3. Ditto 1 and 2. Prunes again with a very hot smell the whole way through the bottle. Black olive tapenade with licorice allsorts. This is the only time that I left some wine in the bottle overnight, with the two glasses the next day being the best wine of all three bottles; roses and tar and black licorice on the nose with juicy acid woven in with more licorice, chocolate and olive tapenade.

So, Lionel and Co, you may need to head back to the studio and add another line to your song – the fourth time was the charm!

Drink with beef pot roast and Portobello mushrooms
Drink till 2017
94 – average score
Quality cork with wax seal 14%v/v $50 @ The City Wine Shop, Spring St Melbourne.

Rockford Barossa Valley Basket Press Shiraz 1998

Boy, two Barossa Shiraz’s in one week, I fair dinkum don’t think I can do it! I know it’s the Rockford Basket Press and I know it comes from one of the best vintages from the last 50 years, but hey, it’s the Barossa!

So for just this one time, I am going to pass the keys over to my very good friend Archibald Hinkletroffer, who just as it happens is a third generation Barossavite whose family hails from Dusseldorf can you believe it (put it in the boot you dunkoff!!). So because of my avoision (see George Costanza) to the Barossa, here’s Archibald.

One more thing, the wine is from my birthday dinner. Thanks Archibald (in photo)

No, thank you Tim,

First may I say that the greedy bastard Tim did not give me any of the wine, and that he is making me translate from his notes – wanker! Now, what can I say, the super excellent super gorgeous Rockford Barossa Valley Basket Press Shiraz 1998. Apparently the colour in the glass was quite red, hmfff, I could have told you that. He also goes on to say that the hue had a tinge of orange; does he think I am a moron; of course it had a tinge of orange – blah blah blahhhh!

He goes on and on! The aroma exuded eucalypt and cherries which apparently then turns in to licorice allsorts, cedar and leather – wow, magic cherries these ones hey! Here we go; the mouth was like Dave Graney ‘n’ The Coral Snakes, ‘Scorched earth love affair’, and it goes a little something like this....

‘...it’s a scorched earth love affair,
They were going at it like a couple of minks,
And they aint thinkun about the wider community.....’

Very good, now I get it (he told me to write that!).

Thank you Archibald. Really, I thought this was going to be an easier gig for Archibald. Just because I am not the biggest fan of Barossa Valley shiraz, and just because he didn’t get any does not excuse the tome he just used. Fuck it, the wine was amazing and Rocky Callaghan was right to write on the back label, ‘Cellaring for 10 years will reward’, and definitely no JABS!!!!

So thank you again Archibald and sucked in that you missed out.

Drink till 2015
Drink with people you love; that’s you Erin. Also try my Corsican braise
100/100
Quality cork 14%v/v plenty if you get it at an auction site; Erin won it back in 2001 at a work team bonding exercise. God bless that woman hey!

Head Barossa Valley The Brunette Syrah 2008

‘Head, paper, kitchen – NOW!!!’ – Stuart Mackenzie played by Mike Myers in, 'So, I married an axe murderer'

This was the first thing to pop in to my mind when I came across this label at Europa Cellars in East Melbourne a month or so back.

Even though it is from the Barossa Valley, I was persuaded to give it a go by the wine store manager, Nick who I studied Viticulture with. He knew I sort of have an aversion to anything that comes from the Barossa, but he insisted that the Head Barossa Valley The Brunette Syrah 2008 was more than worth having a look at, and he was spot on.

No JABS here! Hailing from Moppa in the Barossa Valley, it is deep red in colour, with the nose throwing a whack of black olive tapenade with savoury licorice and dark fruit not far behind. More olive tapenade in the mouth with red licorice, firm tannins and a gorgeous amount of acid makes this wine very memorable indeed.

Made in minute amounts, this wine will sure reward with cellaring, but given it is this good, there is not much hope of that happening when I head back to Europa Cellars next week to pick me up some more.

Drink with Sichuan chilli beef - a monty of a Susan!
Drink till 2016
96
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $43 Europa Cellars East Melbourne