De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2006 & 1996, Riverina NSW

Q. what’s brown and sticky?
A. De Bortoli Noble One 1996
Q. what’s pale gold and sticky?
A. De Bortoli Noble One 2006

I really do love Botrytis wine, and De Bortoli knows how to get it right. The 2006 example is the best one I have tasted since the 1996 (still have two bottles left). A seamless example of this style with stewed peach and marmalade primary to the nose and palate. The longer in the mouth comes that glycerol feeling which warms up at the end with honey and a lick of spice for good measure.

The 1996 from my notes from about two months show the nose being a massive hit of honey and molasses with mouth following suit plus a very generous lick of Asian spice

Great balances, wonderful length with heaps of complexity – super stuff these two.

2006
Drink till 2022
Drink with caramelised pear tart
90
Screwcap $56 (750mL) 10% a/v

1996
Drink now
Drink with warm pecan pie – a Susan no-brainer!
95
Quality cork $? 11.5% a/v

Desert Island Wines on a rainy Brunswick Saturday morning....

At about 6.40am this morning, I was abruptly pulled away from my game of beach cricket with Sanath Jayasuria and Ian Healy; I do not know why these two cricketers were there, but I do know that Jayasuria is a bad sport, and for about $150 an hour someone will be able to explain the meaning of this dream. For now though, I will have to just let this one go through to the keeper you might say.

And it is now while I sitting in the kitchen looking out the back window and listening to the hum of the heater that my mind wanders back to the game of beach cricket. Not just content with the outcome of said game, I try to imagine what refreshments were available in the blurry distance, and it is here my mind again wanders further down the beach and tries to envisage what would comprise my desert island wine cellar.

Now like all good desert island wish lists, this one has a limit. I stopped it at four wines; aperitif, white, red and dessert. But four may not do the trick with the island menu changing with the seasons, so island management have allowed two of each.

So to kick it off we have two aperitifs:

Ruinart Rosé NV, Reims Champagne. Rosé is my favourite style of Champagne. There is so much to like about this wine with its big flavour, simultaneously showing restraint and elegance. The longer in the glass this wine offers subtle roundness with a lick of spice at the end. Enjoy this with oysters freshly shucked in a chilli and ginger dressing (all produce available on the island of course).
Romate Don José Oloroso, Jerez Spain. A sherry that can be either consumed sitting on the beach waiting to be rescued or with the fish stew that is bubbling away in your Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Lovely warmth and alcohol with a gamey end and the famous Oloroso mid palate disappearing trick.

I was a bit torn with my decision here. Yes I do love Chardonnay, but surely there is something else out there in white world that is befitting my island cellar. There wasn’t, so it is two Chardonnay’s, one new world, one old world.

Domaine Ramonet Montrachet, Burgundy France. You may be wondering, ‘why not the DRC Tim?’, and this is a good question, but the DRC to me is too tight and takes far too long to open up. Yes I know there isn’t much to do on the island, but the fresh whiting that is sizzling on the hot plate needs that citrus and liquorice powder straight away.
Giaconda Chardonnay, Beechworth Victoria. Australia’s King of Chardonnay – simple. To be enjoyed with braised Rockling in the cooler months when the Celsius gets down to as low as 28!!

The reds for me were a no brainer; one Pinot Noir and one Barolo.

Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir, Macedon Ranges Victoria. It was inconceivable of me not to have any Bindi in the beach cellar, and Block 5 I think is the obvious choice. This wine consistently brings finesse and perfume to the glass with longevity one of its strong suits. Drink with pheasant or duck from the north side of the island (hey, it’s my island dream OK).
Vietti Rocche Barolo, Piemontese Italy. This wine is going to take a while to open up, so it is lucky I have plenty of Block 5. An exquisite wine with achingly gorgeous violet and tar held up with intense acid and savoury appeal. Have with the wild boar hunted from the islands interior.

To complete the cellar I have chose one fortified sherry and one Botrytis.

McWilliams Botrytis Semillon, Riverina NSW. A wine that has graced this blog already. A gorgeous wine to sip in front of the fire on the beach while enjoying orange and coconut crumble.
Romate Pedro Ximenez Sacrista Sherry, Jerez Spain. If it all gets too much being on your own and you just want to have a good cry, have a sip of this belter and you will quickly realise this is far too good to share. Super stuff!!

So there you have it. It is now raining harder in my backyard and Henry is in need of a nappy change. I think it only fitting that I put ‘Weezer’ on my iPod and listen to ‘Island in the Sun’

‘on an island in the sun, we’ll be playing and having fun,
and it makes me feel so fine I can’t control my brain...’


Cue end credits.

McWilliams Riverina Botrytis Semillon 2003

‘The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light.... he who works for sweetness and light united, works to make reason and the will of God prevail.’
Matthew Arnold 1822-88

Now just for the record, I am not a religious person, though with the surname Cohen I have been known to cast myself as a very orthodox ‘Catholic Jew’.

The inclusion of this poem from Matthew Arnold is not so much about God, but ‘The pursuit of perfection, then, is the pursuit of sweetness and light...’, and with this we have today the wonderful and amazing McWilliams Riverina Botrytis Semillon 2003. To me, this is the most perfect wine I have tasted this year – absolute pure joy!!

In Australia, the most famous or well known Botrytis wine is De Bortoli’s Noble One from Griffith NSW. But it has been McWilliams Winery since the 50’s who have been toying with this wonderful wine style, with the first real wine being the 1958 Pedro Sauternes made from Pedro Ximinez grapes which accidently botrytised.

Botrytis wine comes about when the fungus Botrytis cinera infects the grape when it has been split by the elements. From this a mould is produced, and with the help of the weather and certain vectors, entire rows become infected with this wonderful stuff. The most famous producer of Botrytis wine is Chateau d’Yquem from Sauternes in Bordeaux, with wines fetching thousands of dollars in the best of vintages. What it producers is a heightened sugar content, with a huge feel of ripeness.

Botrytis does not infect all grapes the same, with it having prejudice of those varieties that form tight bunches; Semillon, Savvy B, Chardonnay being the most common, with Shiraz sometimes coming under its spell (get some Wirra Wirra Botrytis Shiraz 1997 if you see it out there).

So, onto our wine. The colour is a gorgeous orange/brown which just screams drink me!!! The nose is quite restrained early with saffron and marmalade; yet the longer in the glass it shows its true intent being more marmalade and burnt orange. In the mouth the wine is warm with treacle, toffee, dried apricot and pure bliss – the length just seemed to go on forever.

This is truly a great Australian wine that should rank with the more famous Granges and Hill of Graces.

Drink with foie gras
Drink till 2016
19.8/20!!!!!!