Ashton Hills Adelaide Hills Cemetery Block Pinot Noir 2013

This is a shiraz drinkers Pinot. That's a blanket statement indeed. The Ashton Hills Adelaide Hills Cemetery Block Pinot Noir 2013 dark fruit and spice on the nose with a mix of tart blood plum and toasted brown spices. The palate is what its all about though with a thick a viscous line of toasted spice, earth - blood and bone sticks out like the proverbial, sublte soy sauce, more dark fruit and soft and fine chewy tannins. SexyAsNuts!!!

Drink with BBQ duck
Drink till 2017
96
Screwcap 14%v/v $35ish

Express Winemakers Great Southern Shiraz 2012

'Its the end of the world as we know it...' REM, Document, 1987.
 

Its not the Armageddon but simply the edge of the world: Albany style deep in the SW of Western Australia. Its a great label represents exactly what the great south west is all about. Just a little bit of jingoistic pride.

The Express Winemakers Great Southern Shiraz 2012 is a new project (aren't they all these days) from two young bucks from out West, and if this is anything to go by, these two lads have a smokin hot future in front of them. So the wine...

Deep red in the glass, the wine takes a while in the glass to get going and when it does layers of slate, blackberry and black licorice waft up the nose. The palate is very chewy at first with fine grainy tannins with elements of black olive and soy/fish sauce at the back; that's a good flavour for me. Over all this wine was really singing in the glass on the second and third days. How that happened in my house is a serious head scratcher.

Drink with lasagne
Drink till 2017
93
Screwcap 14%v/v $26 Seddon Wine Store

Witness Point Yarra Valley Shiraz 2012

If you are in Melbourne today then yes, Melbourne weather sucks!!!

Now I've got that sorted, lets talk smokin hot wine. The Witness Point Yarra Valley Shiraz 2012. This is made from fruit declassified from the Thousand Candles project, but to be honest, and I said this to the rep when showed the wine - the Thousand Candles - that I much preferred the Witness Point Shiraz, and at a fraction of the cost too boot.

The nose shoots a quick whack of green edginess, but I like that, with tart and crisp blackberry following. The palate is all racey acid and tight fine tannins with bursts of peppercorn flowers, more tart blackberry and a hint of black licorice.

Cannot wait to see the fish John West rejects next year.

Drink with chilli beef snags
Drink till 2015
96
Screwcap 12.5%v/v $22 Seddon Wine Store

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

Bindi Heathcote Pyrette Shiraz 2009

Yes. Indulgences.
Full nose. Subtle blackberry conserve primary. Spice comes through. Savoury black olive tapenade. Smmoth fruit. Length. Length. Absolute indulgence. Super length. Not much left. Get it. But not mine.

Drink with char grilled beef - again I know
Drink till 2019
98
Diam cork 13.5%v/v 

Castelli Frankland River Shiraz 2010

Its lean and tight. It has savoury and ironstone notes with plenty of spice tones too. Its simply fantastic. Its one of the wines of the year for me. Simple. Castelli Frankland River Shiraz 2010. Just get it.

Drink with beef short ribs
Drink till 2018
97
Screwcap 14.3%v/v $28 Seddon Wine Store

Heathcote II Heathcote H.D. Shiraz 2009

An infant indeed. Dark and brooding and full of promise. Some wines are not meant for laying down. Some are. This one is. The Heathcote II Heathcote H.D. Shiraz 2009 (H.D. for hand de-stemmed - can you imagine that!!) is brute strength on the 1st day, controlled anger on the 2nd day, presumed beauty on day 3 with elegance and intrigue on dayb 4.  A wine not for these times you might say.

Drink with steal au poivre
Drink 2015-2025+
96
Quality cork 14.5%v/v $89 http://www.heathcote2.com/

Fighting Gully Road Beechworth Shiraz 2010

A good wine speaks for itself. I rather speak for great ones. The Fighting Gully Road Beechworth Shiraz 2010 is super sexy. Soft blackberry notes on the nose are followed with savoury black olive and peppery notes. The palate is a wash with more black fruit and subtle black licorice, but it was the spice and savoury undertones that made it all work; white pepper, cassia bark and earth are all present, but not just present, dominant and full. As Ray 'Rabb's' Warren would say, its all about 'lifting and extending'.

If you're going to drink a wine watching the NRL State of Origin, drink this.

Drink with soy and honey chicken wingettes
Drink till 2019
96
Screwcap 13.9%v/v $30 Seddon Wine Store

Clonakilla Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2009

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
― John Keats, Endymion: A Poetic Romance

Not knowing how long forever may be, the Clonakilla Murrumbateman Shiraz Viognier 2009 was, and will be no doubt, a thing of beauty. Opened and finished last Saturday night, all I could write was 'majestic'. You're a good egg Mr. Kirk. More beauty please.

Drink with something stonkingly good
Drink till 2025+
100/100
Screwcap 14%v/v $105 Seddon Wine Store

Heathcote II Heathcote Shiraz 2010

There are some wines which come out of the blue and go whack to the senses. There are  wines that come out of the blue that are projected into cult status because they excite the masses. This is such a wine. The Heathcote II Heathcote Shiraz 2010. Stunning.

I'm going to call it. Heathcote II will enter cult status. Be it this wine or the premium shiraz or the Right Bank Blend Myola, Heathcote II's star is on the rise. I have no doubt. I also have no doubt that the two guys involved, Peder and Lionel, will be spoken of in the same light as Tim Kirk, Michael Dhillon and Rick Kinzbrunner for the immaculate way they treat the fruit from go to woe.

Anywhoo, enough back slapping for the time being. Broodingly dark in the glass, the wine has a lovely perfumed nose up front of soft white pepper and brown spices. The palate is lifted with instant juicy tart blackberry and firm tannins. I will admit here that it wasn't till the second day of this being opened that I tasted the wine for the first time. You see on the day Peder and Lionel came through to show me the wine I was just coming off a bout of food poisoning and my tummy was still quite grumbly, so no wine and a third consecutive AFD if you don't mind!! So more of the second day palate; marzipan, black olives and seamless acid complement the blackberries and tannins that were up front. Stunning length. Stunning.

Drink with medium rare chateaubriand
Drink till 2025+
99
Quality cork 13.5%v/v $42 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

The Met Macedon Ranges Shiraz 2008

It’s hot. It’s hot. It’s really hot. Hot. Hot. Hot. Hottest hot spell on record says the record books.

So to make everyone feel that little bit more hot, I introduce to you The Met Macedon Ranges Shiraz 2008. This wine is hot, and its cool climate hot to boot.. Not hot, ‘geez that’s big and juicy and hot’, but hot, ’geez, how cool is this hot wine?’ And yes, a Macedon Ranges Shiraz; who’d have thunk it!!!

Deep colour in the glass, the wine throws up a great whack of blackberries and black olive tapenade on the nose with more of the same on the primary palate with the mid palate washing everything up nicely with grainy minerality and tart acid. A seriously hot wine!!!

Drink with med-rare steak sanga with a chilli chutney

Drink till 2017

96

Wax seal and diam cork 13.6% v/v $29 Seddon Wine Store

Vintage 2013 Bindi diary; Day 4

The nets are all out!! Thank beejeesus is all I can say; it's all everyone can say really. The nets are out.

Day 2 was pretty much like day 1 except for the nest of course. What was really different was the lack of power, and when I say power I don't mean we were acting like wuss bags but the winery actually lost power - electricity power. Stuff pretty much stopped after then. Thanks anonymous power company that's starts with A, and finishes near  K & M.

Anywhoo, the power enabled us to get back out to the vineyard and put the final nets out; rows 58-70 in block 4 to be precise. So like I said, The nets are all out!! Thank beejeesus.

And it was out there putting nets out that I realised how far there is to go before we kick off vintage for the estate fruit. Just look at this Block K Pinot Noir fruit.

So the nets are out, we got that. But before all of that we had some pump overs that got stalled. Only in power not the other. The thing is though not all of them got started, only about 6 of them. The rest are still juicing it out - check these pics out!! Oh and note, the one that looks like a shiraz spa bath was just pumped over. And yes, I did want to jump in - like it was a spa. How awesome would that be, and just a little bit sticky; still just a lot of sugar and all.

And in between all of this Wendy and Michael put on another smashing lunch. But no 1er Cru today, just some delicious 2012 Pyrette barrel samples. Stay tuned, like Meeka is.

Vintage 2013 Bindi diary; Day 3

Day 3, but technically day 1 for me thanks to heat and a dumbarse motorbike rider. Anyway, I'm here and we're off and running for vintage 2013.

Quick re-cap; the Shiraz fruit arrived at the winery from Heathcote at about 6.30pm Saturday - about 14 tonne - where 15 wine bins with partial whole bunch were filled by about midnight. Sunday was all about keeping the pots covered and cool; do not want ferment to kick off just yet.

So here we are at Monday. A mini heat wave is what we are going through right now. Today was the seventh straight +30 degree day so keeping the winery cool, so that means crank up the air-con. But wait!! Before you cry out, 'wont someone please think of the planet', stop. Bindi is powered by solar panels and also has a wind turbine; both put power back into the grid. Oh it was so cool in the winery today.

Today was also the day I met the new family member up at Bindi - Meeka. I'm not good on dog breeds so I'm just going to take a stab and say she's an 8 week old kelpy-something-cross. One word - wooshie-wooshie-wooshie-woo (just be grateful I didn't spell the hyphen's!).

As I entered the winery this morning I was instantly hit with a massive whack of mulberry fruit and brown bread. Mulberry fruit is pretty obvious, but the brown bread was all due to the wild yeast; a wild yeast that hasn't kick off yet, but just introducing itself I guess. But brown bread, and it smelt awesome.

Now pump-overs are exactly what it sounds like. And its gotta be done. The cap hadn't risen so we had no ferment kickoff. That's exactly what we wanted. And that's it. One more pump over at 4.30, some fixing up of nets and that was the day. That and a swim in the pool and a steak lunch with a bottle of 2010 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cr. Civilised wouldn't you say.

Clonakilla Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2008

Its Australia Day. Happy Australia Day everyone, and to celebrate its going to be this real Aussie classic, not the formulaic Ben Folds wines; play on words if you know what I mean. The Clonakilla Canberra District Shiraz Viognier 2008 will be opened when I get home tonight, but lets re-visit from about three months ago.

Deep red in the glass. The nose is full of soft tart red fruit, red licorice and subtle dried herbs. The palate is a kaleidoscope of ink, violets, faint spice, milk chocolate, game; just keeps going - the sip that never quits! Almost Burgundian in finish. Remarkable wine!

Drink with Haute Aussie BBQ while listening to Cold Chisel
Drink till 2020+
99
Screwcap 14%v/v $$$$

Austins Geelong Shiraz 2008

This wine reminded me of what simple good wine is all about. A Shiraz. From Geelong. A good year. It looks and sounds like a simple formula, and that's exactly what you get here. The Austins Geelong Shiraz 2008 label reads just that. In the bottle you get s great whack of cool climate shiraz, a lick of regionality and a touch of age which is something odd these days with wine producers often getting their wine out the same year as the vintage.

Black licorice and subtle spice - white pepper notably - come to the fore on the nose with white pepper being quite dominant in the primary palate. I did decant this after my first sip; very big acid early. After about 30 minutes the wine was still focused around the acid and white pepper but time in the decanter brings black licorice and half tart half ripe blackberries. Good to have you back Austins!

Drink till 2016
Drink with chilli con carne
93
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $30 Carlton Cellars 

Paradigm Hill Mornington Peninsula Col's Block Shiraz 2007

A truly captivating wine this one. The Paradigm Hill Mornington Peninsula Col's Block Shiraz 2007 is one of those new world wines that would fit very neatly alongside Northern Rhône gems; Ghislaine Fumat and Allemand Reynard from Cornas were two producers that spring to mind straight away.

One thing that always jumps out in this wine is the long and intense mineral line, once again drawing comparisons to Cornas with its ever present Massif granite that lies just below the top soil. The nose in this wine has certainly developed with a soft coffee note coming through as well as retrained black olive tapanade. The palate sits very cool in the mouth with the acid still holding court along with soft grainy tannins that are followed by even notes of black licorice and black olives. A wine that has got better with age and will again benefit with more cellaring to follow.

Seriously, this wine is so good, if Thom Yorke wanted to make wine he'd want to make this.

Drink with crusted slow roasted lamb
Drink till 2022
97
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $50ish if you can still find it

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

Laffers Lane Heathcote Shiraz 2010

A new offering from a staffer at Blackheart & Sparrows - Laffer Lane Heathcote Shiraz 2010.

From looking at the label I was imagining a wine that was made in the 'natural' way; go out and hug a vine and play it 'John Butler trio' bleeding heart music and all that palaver - so this is what I take from it; house on the bottom of a hill on a cold winters night with a million and 1 stars in the sky and a roaring open fire inside!What, me being cynical? Anyhoo, I was expecting something that was singing with tart fruit and achingly sharp acidity. What I got however was a beautifully crafted wine from what I would suggest would be very well grown shiraz fruit; Tim the anti-cynic in that sentence.

Deep crimson red in the glass, the wine had a great mix of black fruit and black pepper with an equal amount of dust to boot. Tart fruit on the front palate with acid and tannins holding perfect sway. The wine really went to another level at the back palate with beautiful black olives and black fruit fighting for dominance - olive won this time.

A great debut from someone who knows what they are doing, whoever they are!

Drink till 2017
Drink with roast beef
95
Diam under wax seal 13.5%v/v $32 Blackheart & Sparrows, 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