Domaine Maurice et Anne-Marie Chapuis Corton-Charlemagne 2004

in•dul•gence    [in-duhl-juhns] Show IPA noun, verb, in•dul•genced, in•dul•genc•ing. noun

1. the act or practice of indulging; gratification of desire.
2. the state of being indulgent.
3. indulgent allowance or tolerance.
4. a catering to someone's mood or whim; humoring: The sick man demanded indulgence as his due.
5. something indulged in: Her favourite indulgence was candy.

Courtesy of http://dictionary.reference.com/

Tick. Tick. Tick. A stunning wine. The Domaine Maurice et Anne-Marie Chapuis Corton-Charlemagne 2004. Hazelnut meal, citrus, white peach, lean minerality. Sexy as a nut. That's it really.

Blue Poles Margaret River Teroldego 2011

If I loved continental tigers I'd write a blog on them. If I loved 16th Century Albanian poetry I'd write a blog about that too. The thing is I love wine. Lots of people love wine. Lots of people may also too love 16th Century Albanian poetry, but that may be a stretch I reckon. So when it seems I am almost Robinson Crusoe regarding the next wine, well I just don't get it. Maybe people are just too busy with peace crisis meetings to actually take the time to look at it.

The Blue Poles Margaret River Teroldego 2011 is a step up from its predecessor, the famous 'non vintage' wine from the same producers; well there are only two producers of this variety in Australia who share approximately 4 hectares between them. Very dark in the glass with no real hue to speak of. The nose is very heady and rustic with secondary notes of cedar, lead pencil with big, fat and juicy ripe cherries at the back; there's a lot to love in the nose itself. The palate is laced with a gorgeous line of lip smacking tannins and acid all combined with more secondary flavours such as dried herbs and bitter chocolate. Wonderful rustic goodness I say.

This is a wine that is not predictable in the slightest, and in that may just challenge your local neighbourhood wine expert along the way. Ships ahoy!

Drink with parmigiarna di melanzane - a definite Susan
Drink till 2020
96
Screwcap 13.8%v/v $30ish

Jamsheed Beechworth Syrah 2011

My body hurts. You see I've just spent the past few days up in vineyard at Bindi; lifting wires, dropping wires, snipping watershoots and leaving watershoots. My body hurts. That was hard work.

Now I could have come home and opened one of the many wines from Bindi I got for being a top bloke, but that would have been a little predictable don't you think! But I wanted something grand. Something schmick. The Jamsheed Beechworth Syrah 2011.

Its only a young wine but by goodness, what a young wine. Blackish purple in the glass, the nose opens up with blackfruit, black licorice and slight olive - black - tapanade. It's the new black you might say. Plenty of minerality up front with acid and silky smooth tannins riding shotgun. The wine is just super. I love it. My body still hurts.

Drink with rare roast beef and horseradish rolls
Drink till 2020
97
Diam cork with wax seal 13%v/v $44 Blackhearts & Sparrows, Brunswick

De Iuliis Hunter Valley Aged Release Semillon 2005

If you are in Melbourne this morning, look out the window, it's a stunning day. And on a day like today when all is said and done, when the garden has been sorted, when the washing has dried - from the close line not the drier, and when the kids have exhausted themselves from 4 hours of trampolining, drink this.

The De Iuliis Hunter Valley Aged Release Semillon 2005 is a Melbourne spring day in a bottle. Straw colour in the glass, the nose offers soft hints of honey, white flowers and waxy lanolin. The palate is driven with a mix of lemon and lime citrus sting with an almost whizz-fizz grainy finish. And like a Melbourne spring day, after a while it all changes. On looking at this wine the following day a real toastiness flows through the wine. Just beautiful, like today.

Drink with grilled prawns
Drink till 2015+
92
Screwcap 11.5%v/v $30ish at Albert Street Food & Wine, Brunswick

Paradigm Hill Mornington Peninsula Les Cinq Pinot Noir 2010

So it's over for another 12 months. The Melbourne Cup has been run-and-won and I can once again forget about a career as a professional punter after my worthless box trifecta I spent 2 hours on this morning; seems being smart at maths doesn't work here.

Green Moon. It was written off by the experts after the Caulfield Cup I think. Since a little after 3pm I have been humming a host of songs in my head with 'Green' in the title; 'Green Eyes' by Coldplay, 'Devil with the green eyes' and 'Evergreen' by Matthew Sweet, 'Everything's gone green' by New Order and most of the 'Green Album' by Weezer. But it has been 'Devil with the green eyes' by Matthew Sweet that has stuck. And this stuck too. The Paradigm Hill Mornington Peninsula Les Cinq Pinot Noir 2010 is not green, but it's a wine that if you didn't get any, you'd be green with envy.

This has got to be one of the best ever Pinot Noirs to come from the Peninsula. And I'm not just saying that because George Mihaly is like a defacto dad to me. Not at all. The nose is all seduction with a woven mix of brown spice, tart cranberry and gamey goodness. The palate is a class above anything I have had this year I'd say. Supple and generous acid and stunning tight tannins combine up front that open the way to brambly red fruit, earthy sweetness all flushed along by mouth watering minerality.

My notes got a bit blurred so I'll just leave you with this. Buy it. Drink it. But try sharing it.

Drink with as few people as possible

Drink till 2030

100/100

Screwcap 13.5%v/v $85-$90

PS. Good luck with the $100 million jackpot tonight

BK Wines Adelaide Hills Skin n' Bones Pinot Noir 2011

Q. What are the two things you take home with you when you leave a wine store - assuming you have just purchased a bottle of wine?
A. The wine of course, and the receipt. When its natural cork, the receipt is what stands between you and undrinkable wine.

Okidokey then. The BK Wines Adelaide Hills Skin n' Bones Pinot Noir 2011 - second bottle - was a pretty as a picture. Ruby red in the glass, the aroma was a mix of soft strawberries and tart cranberry and raspberry. The palate was brimming with more tart red fruit, little bit of spice, but tart red fruit; that's what the notes say anyway. And the 250 days? Dunno. Maybe on skins. A goodin' for the dollars.

Drink with spicey taco's
Drink till 2015
89
Natural cork 13.5%v/v $32 Seddon Wine Shop

PS: BK Wines, diam is the new black.

Wedgetail Yarra Valley Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010

A very pretty wine. The Wedgetail Yarra Valley Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010 is everything you want from a Pinot coming from a great vintage; perfume, tart red fruit - think raspberry and cranberry, spice and plenty of acid. It should really be a crowd pleaser, but coming in the high $40's, its not everyone's cup of marmite when it delivers, but just doesn't deliver. All things being equal, a nice wine.

Drink with BBQ quail
Drink till 2016  
91
Screwcap 13.5%v/v $40+ Albert Street Food & Wine, Brunswick