Lucien Muzard & Fils Bourgogne 2010

A very New World Old World this wine. The Lucien Muzard & Fils Bourgogne 2010 is one of the most generous Bourgogne's I have had ever I think with plenty of fruit forward red and black fruit aka Central Otago, and seamless earth and spice all held check by effortless acid balance. Geez, just got a bit glossy mag on you didn't I. In short (like me) a super impressive Pinot with all the bells and whistles for Burgundy's entry level tipple.

Drink with rare beef steak sanga
Drink till 2016
95
Screwcap - finally France, well done; 12.5%v/v $33 Seddon Wine Store

Forest Hill Mount Barker Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Just hear me out for a sec. Block 5. Block 5 wines are fast becoming a marketing tool to so many producers. Don't quote me on this, but I think the first Block 5 in Australia was from Bindi in 1997 - the Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir 1997 I recall was listed at $400 not so long ago at The Lincoln in Carlton; not bad for a vineyard that was planted in 1992!

Anyway, the Block 5 tag seems to have that marketing 'midas touch'. Here's just a few that I can recall of the top:

• Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges
• Yabby Lake Block 5 Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula
• Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir, Central Otago
• Chalice Bridge Chapman Series Block 5 Shiraz/Cabernet, Margaret River
• Saint Clair Pioneer Block 5 Pinot Noir, Marlborough
• Forrest Estate Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon, Marlborough 

Talk about doing your block!!

So it was about 2 weeks ago that I had a tasting of the new Forest Hill wines from Mount Barker with their very pregnant winemaker Clémence Haselgrove; for me the Springvale Estate Riesling is pound-for-pound one of the best in Australia, but thats for another post. The last wine in the bracket was, now wait for it, the Forest Hill Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. Block 5's aside, this is truly a cracking wine.

Deep ox blood colour in the glass, the nose throws up aroma's of whispy mint and eucalypt with the smallest hint of dusty tannins to come. The palate is all Left Bank with subtle blueberry notes woven together with pitch perfect acid, tannins and dry dusty cocoa powder. This wine has all the hallmarks of spending another 20 years in the bottle for plenty of reward.

Drink with shephards pie - I did last night
Drink till 2025+
96
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $60ish

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

Explorer Central Otago Pinot Noir 2008

A while ago now, Central Otago was anointed the New World's closest thing to Burgundy. Massive words. The closest to Burgundy I believe is the Northern Rhone - geographical and stylistically.

But lets talk about Central Otago. For a few years now this sipper has gone off CO because of what I think is too ripe fruit. For one of the southern most wine regions, discounting Tierra Del Fuego, CO more often than not delivers plummy and nose-bleeding levels of alcohol that would send Msr Parker in to a fit of extasy. I like my Pinot Noir tight, linear, tart, and after a few years or so singing as sexy as the King of Pop Dave Graney.

There are many that get frothy at the pioneer wines from CO - Carrick, Felton Road and Quartz Reef. But are they getting frothy about past glories rather than current releases? I get frothy on what I mentioned in the previous passage - the sexy sounds of Dave Graney. This is the category I put the Explorer Central Otago Pinot Noir 2008 in.

Explorer isn't the type of wine that runs with the popular kids, rather a loner who is more interested in finding their own way in life and not relying on the cool kids to give them an opinion. A typical colour in the glass of dirty transparent red. A burst of tight green capscicum acid hits the aroma first; this is not a bad thing as it shows some whole bunch press going on and also for me it sort of wakes up the olfactory. Also there is some tart rasbery with a hint of beetroot leaf. In the mouth the acid and tannins take centre stage, but with the gentlest of touches. It is both the acid and tannin that hold all in balnce - more tart fruit with raspberry and cranberry the noticeable elements.

For the money, this wine punches well above its weight and has the ability of showing its more well known and fated neighbours a thing or two about style and grace

Drink with rare lamb rump
Drink till 2015
94
Screwcap 13%v/v $25 at Albert Street Food & Wine

Burn Cottage Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009

Certainly the Burn Cottage Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009 fits into the Rita Hayworth category; fleshy, seductive and wanted by men (and women) from all over. The thing is though, when you get Rita Hayworth home you want the Rita Hayworth that you have seen on the big screen. This is where the illusion ceases. Plump fruit with spicy dark fruit, The Burn Cottage at the end of the day is a nice wine, but ceterius paribus, this Pinot Noir is very Central Otago and very expensive, and like the grainy photo, it sort of misses the mark.

Drink with medium rump steak
Drink till 2015
88
Cork 14%v/v $80+ City Wine Shop, Spring Street Melbourne

Surveyor Thomson Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007

This is the best Central Otago Pinot Noir I have had for years! The Surveyor Thomson Central Otago Pinot Noir 2007 has all the characteristics of a pinot noir that hasn't been made in CO; it's got finesse, thus lacking in CO; it's got super fine tannins holding up elegant and tart fruit, something CO pinot noir has lacked I believe due to the warm to hot growing conditions towards the end of vintage. But it's all objective right, and I'm just a blogger who hasn't any idea what they are talking about. So says the sommelier-come-wine maker (sic) in their email to me earlier this week; but I'm not going to air my dirty laundry in this medium.

Geez, where did that come from! Anyhoo, the wine. Dirty red in the glass with a wonderful and secondary waft of aroma's floating up; brown spice, toffee with a touch of tart cranberry; wonderful and long in the palate with the acid still holding everything together with ease. A super wine, but very rare in Melbourne.

Drink with BBQ quail
Drink till 2017+
97
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $50 Tony's Cellars, Ryde NSW www.surveyorthomson.co.nz

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

Ostler Vineyard Waitaki Valley Caroline’s Pinot Noir 2006

Every now and then you come across a wine that really grabs your attention. The Ostler Vineyard Waitaki Valley Caroline’s Pinot Noir 2006 is such a wine, and in the celebrated words of Victor Kiam, ‘I liked the shaver so much, I bought the company’ I went out and pursued Ostler. Unfortunately my finances won’t allow such an extravagance, so the next best thing was to get in touch with the owner and persuade him to let me distribute the wine in Australia. Done done and done!

Hailing from New Zealand’s newest sub-region, Waitaki Valley in North Otago, the Caroline’s Pinot Noir is a brooding ripper, but unlike it’s cousins within the ranges of Central Otago, this Pinot Noir does not suffer the rich ripeness, rather a savoury direction actually. Crimson in the glass, there is a very noticeable whack of mulberries, game and beetroot leaf on the nose. Quick bitey tannins greet the palate with layers of currants, morello cherries and brown spices which flow effortlessly alongside the still savoury acid hit. A great wine and the bonus is I distribute it – sweet as a nut hey bro!

Drink with pan roasted pigeon
Drink till 2016
97 and that’s not just because I distribute it, it is why I distribute it!
Screwcap 13.5%v/v about $50 at Blackhearts and Sparrows, North Fitzroy and Decanters by the Bay in Port Melbourne plus listing at Pearl, The Press Club, Rockpool Bar & Grill, The Point Albert Park and Grossi Florentino – sorry, selfless plug.

Lamont Bendigo Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006

It struck me some time back that Central Otago Pinot Noir’s were being written up as chest beating brutes with as much appeal as a Barossa Shiraz tipping the scales at 15.5%v/v. Last week I overheard a Melbourne sommelier lament the tragedy, yes that's right, tragedy, of the “.... poor, poor Central Otago Pinot Noir – where did you get it wrong.” Strong words from a twenty something person who has yet to do a vintage, but assures me that they are more than capable of making a cracking Pinot; true story.

Well may they lament, for I would suggest they have not come across this ripper, the Lamont Bendigo Central Otago Pinot Noir 2006. A great blend of fruit with a mineral hit on the nose, the wine drifts between plums, spice, loganberries and strawberries with no real let up the longer in the glass and mouth watering acid with fine chewy tannins to balance it all out . A fair dinkum cracker without a hint of chest beating bruteness!!!!

Drink with black bean slow cooked spare ribs
Drink till 2014
91
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $47 Blackheart and Sparrows North Fitzroy

Gluttony or Gourmand delight - a very busy week eating in Melbourne

“In general, mankind, since the improvement of cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires.” Benjamin Franklin.

It is, I think, the last day of a very long and large week of eating out across Melbourne; by Monday I will presume that I will be linking my belt one hole back! And it is on this day that I sit here in my study sipping a glass of sparkling wine (I was supposed to go to the gym!) while thousands of service professionals snake their way through tightly set tables serving the corporate professionals lunch on the busiest service of the year. Please do not think I am making light of their endeavour, but I do not miss it one bit!

For far too long now I have been the one who has been doing the serving of wine and food to the endless conga line of Christmas lunch and dinners. Now that I am on the other side of the bookings book, it has been my great pleasure this week to find myself pondering over wine lists and menus, and apologising to the wait staff for taking my sweet precious time.

For me it started on Monday with a lunch that turns into an all nighter. It was the annual Australian Sommeliers Association Christmas lunch at Mahjong in St. Kilda. On arrival I was greeted with a crisp and cold flute of Pommery Brut Royal (a little donation of six bottles for the thirsty sommeliers) and a catch up with thirty or so wine professionals from some of Melbourne’s best restaurants. David and Quentin from Vue de Monde, Sally from Cutler & Co, Lincoln and Penny from Taxi and a smattering of wine reps from JHL Wines, Yabby Lake and Russel Gehring Wines there for the usual trade talk – me included now. It was a set course of plates being dropped off at the tables with dumplings, spring rolls and sticky rice making up some of the delicacies. The highlight for me however was the Peking duck pancakes; melt in the mouth perfection!

After many more bottles of Champagne and other wine blow ins, we headed off down Fitzroy Street and over The Esplanade to The Stoke House bar downstairs. Here we drank more Champagne, wine and beer (and yes, a little bit of water too) and continued on our general stream of bullshit for the day. It was getting a little busy and crowded so the decision was made to head up to Circa, The Prince bar – so off we headed again. More beers and wine and also a good catch up with Travis from Coda, who I never got too play pool with downstairs even though I said I was going to, and Virginia from Cumulus Inc. After far too many beverages it was time to close my account and head home – at 11.30pm!!

With a sore head the next morning (very sore!) I headed in to work to regale Cameron with all the witty anecdotes and try and remember who I spoke with; it took a while let me just say that. With not much on the horizon but a few calls and emails, Cameron and I headed up Burke Road in Camberwell and settled at The Tea House on Burke, a little Chinese place that needs a bit of work on the interior but definitely not in t he kitchen. Another serve of Peking duck and even better selection of dumplings was washed down by some Pinot Noir from Geelong and Mornington Peninsula. Can you believe I had to go back to the office and do some work after the bill – sheesh!!

Wednesday saw the arrival of Jon from Sydney who is the NSW Sales Manager for Vranken-Pommery, and it was at Rockpool Bar & Grill where I joined up with Jon and Cameron. Along the way I had a little catch up with David and also bumped in to Michael Dhillon of Bindi Wine Growers. After a couple of beers at the bar we headed to our table in the wine bar where there is only one thing to order – the Wagyu Burger and onion rings; three all round of course. This burger has got to be one of the best in Melbourne I tell ya! Another glass of Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir – The Oceans 8, and we were back to the office to discuss strategy over some more Champagne.

We were now in a taxi and headed for Matteo’s on Brunswick Street Fitzroy (the clean end) where we sat down with three bottles of Champagne – The Cuvée Louise Rosé 1999, Pommery Blanc de Blanc and Pommery Blanc de Noir. There was a little more wagyu beef as an appetiser - bresola air dried; I know it is supposed to be oysters with Champagne, but it is summer and you should never order an oyster if the month has an ‘r’ in it! All wines were fantastic, but the Louise 1999 dropped away pretty fast unfortunately – we picked the wrong bottle with that one, I guess.

These guys get two hats for a reason. The food was absolutely fantastic. It was just the two courses for me – I’m not really a dessert person I must say – with the Japanese plate of smoked eel, confit salmon and sashimi King Fish. BRILLIANT!! This was hard to match, but the suckling pig was just as good if not better!!! I rolled out of my chair (full, not drunk) at about 11pm and headed home to a very jealous Erin who wanted to know all about it; I just wanted to know all about my pillow.

The next morning I picked up Jon from his Hotel in Carlton and headed in to the CBD to give him a walking tour of some of our better restaurants. We started at Vue de monde where we had a coffee at the cafe and headed down over to Syracuse, Gills Diner and through to the coffee precinct around Degraves Lane. After another stop we headed up Flinders Lane past Mo Vida, Coda and yet another coffee, this time at Cumulus Inc before walking past Verge, Becco, Gingerboy, Bottega and Grossi Florentino and hopping in to the car for the short ride to Cutler & Co for a hello with Adam Cash and a super glass of Felton Road Central Otago Dry Riesling 2008.

We were again in the car out to Camberwell and in the office just before the heavens opened up. Some more strategising and it was time for lunch – again. With our walk cleverly timed between two rain periods, we headed up to Gohan-Ya Japanese Bento Cafe on Camberwell Road. With about 12 seats, this place is always full and if it had a few more seats and maybe a liquor license would be jamming every day. I once again gave in to my smoked eel addiction and the obligatory serve of gyoza dumplings; I was once again truly full!

The week duly finished today with a lovely impromptu lunch with my lovely Erin and the boy Henry as well at Gertrude Street Enoteca in Fitzroy. A serve of pork and duck terrine for me and a goat’s cheese and sorrel tart for Erin and all was well - they even struck a deal in Copenhagen I over-heard someone say there.

With all this done all I could do was to go and pick Imogen up from her very last day ever of daycare and whip down to get her favourite dinner – Fish and Chips! It’s always good.

With the children now asleep and Erin and me down here relaxing in the kitchen area, it was time to open something nice up to celebrate not only Imogen’s last ever day of daycare before she starts prep next month but also the fact that Erin secured some more consultancy work. So to wind up a massive week we sit here sipping the Pommery Cuvée Louise 1998 Grand Marque Champagne – absolutely gorgeous. Have I told you that I don’t miss the restaurant floor?

Felton Road Central Otago Block 3 Pinot Noir 2006

This is as close to Grand Cru Burgundy New Zealand have ever got. The Felton Road Central Otago Block 3 Pinot Noir 2006 is an elite wine that can definitely be excused for the price tag. Very little translucency in the glass gives me the impression that this was left on skins for at least 17 days and maybe more. Bitter chocolate and spicy plum are very forward on the nose yet it is the palate that is the absolute star; thick red fruit of tart cranberry and cherry are followed by seamless acid holding together spices of cinnamon and dried tea with a gorgeous hit of game and funk – bacon fat meets forest floor if I may say. it all sounds terribly wanky but this is why Pinot Noir drinkers are labelled fanatics! Sensual and elegant in every way. Mucho Fantastico!!

Drink with five spiced duck – a fair dinkum Susan!
Drink till 2018
99
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $90 Barrons Cellars Perth

Carrick Central Otago Pinot Noir 2005

Yes, I am a Mucho Fantastico slut, yeah but what are you going to do! We have all read the quote about life being too short to drink bad wine*. This is true, and I guess I have followed that mantra with most of my posts so far.

So, we know that I am a Mucho Fantastico slut, and the next wine to gain this moniker is the Carrick Central Otago 2005 Pinot Noir. While working at Vue de monde I reckon I suggested this wine, the 2002 and 2003 vintages, probably every second service. This is always a very well made wine.

To look at it you would not pick it as a Pinot Noir. Very dense red, almost blood red. The nose is very busy with game and funk with a little bit of red fruit, not ripe, but just there tingling the nose. The longer in the decanter a more bacon fat itch comes through. Like the nose, there is a lot happening in the mouth with more secondary flavours coming through. The length is long with firm tannins still hanging around, and those secondary flavours being spice – cassia bark and cinnamon noticeable.

Just a great wine with huge complexity and length. Mucho fantastico again!

Drink with BBQ quail
Drink till 2015
18.9/20
Quality cork $40 (mailing list 2007) 13.5% a/v

*I was having a think about this comment, and have decided to rephrase down here; there is no such thing as a bad wine, but only wine that you like, anyone who says such and such wine is bad, is either too caught up in their lofty opinion or has far too much time on their hands (or drinks Barossa Pinot Noir!).

Cheerio

Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir 2007 Central Otago

This is an absolute belter!

Felton Road is one of my favourite wines easy. Year in and year out these guys from Central Otago in NZ produce some fantastic wine, and not just Pinot Noir – Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and a wonderfully dry Riesling.

Central Otago has unfortunately got a reputation of producing over-ripe berryie Pinot Noir wines. I believe this is unfounded or it is a generalist view held by people who have far too much spare time on their hands.

For me, the wine is near perfect – very Burgundy like I would have to say. The 2007 Block 5 Pinot Noir is fantastic baby, or mucho fantastico for our latin friends!!! This wine shares its name with another one of my favourites, Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir and, like the shared name, this wine is all elegance and lust rolled into one fine vessel.

Onto the wine then. The Felton Road Block 5 2007 Pinot Noir has got a deep red going on which sort of tells me that there was plenty of time on skins to extract both wonderful colour and flavour. The nose is complex with musk stick, rose petal, prickly spice with a little bit of cassia bark and plum after a while. In the mouth there is more musk stick with a little bit of green leaf rhubarb thrown in. The longer in the glass, the wine delivers an elegance that I am used to with this producer; soft spicy acid with a wonderful grainy mouth feel which makes it perfect with food such as spiced duck or rare beef for all of that acid to soak up the blood.

Beautiful balance, plenty of length, wonderfully complex and as said before, great weight to go up against strong flavours on the plate.

Drink till 2020
Drink with roast duckling with Asian spices.
19/20