86 points
Bannockburn, Otago, NZ. 13.5%
Nice sappy varietal Pinot. Otago really does fruit.
A little thin with alcohol flavours a bit too prominent. Drink now.
Desert Heart Pinot Noir 2006
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Monthly Archives: December 2009
Felton Road Elms Chardonnay 2009
83 points
Bannockburn, Otago, NZ. 14%.
A very young Chardonnay. Quite nicely savoury but without the intensity or acid to be great. May merit higher points in a year.
Felton Road Block 5 Pinot Noir 2008
90+ points
Bannockburn, Otago, NZ. 14%
Huge lifted pungent nose. A lot of dark cherry fruit and new oak in an elegant frame. The acid is curiosly malic like.
I wonder what this will be in 5 years. Worth cellaring.
Felton Road Pinot Noir 2008
88 points
Bannockburn, Otago, New Zealand. 14%
This is the estate, as opposed to single vineyard, wine. It’s astonishingly approachable with lovely rich fruit and some savoury tones – though it’s mainly sweet cherry and Xmas pudding flavours at the moment.
Drink now until 2012.
Domaine Saumdize-Michelin ‘les creches’ Saint-Veran 2004
88 Points
St-Veran, Burgundy, France. 13%
Surprisingly oaky (limey oak) and young. Very nice with oysters. Recommended. Drink over the next 5 years.
Thornberry Merlot 2007
82 (+?) points
Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. 14%
Dark, dense merlot plum nose. Palate is very ripe, but short, with hard acid (surely added acid) finish. This has had some rave reviews, and the price is very low, but I was disappointed – no charm, too extracted. I have 11 more bottles so we shall see as it gains a little age, perhaps I am wrong.
Akarua Pinot Noir 2003
85 points
Bannockburn, Otago, NZ. 13%
Nicely aged, but not thrilling. Do Kiwi Pinots age into something exciting? I don’t yet know.
Taittinger Comtes De Champage 1999
93 points
A gorgeous blanc de blanc with clear Chardonnay fruit surrounded by chalky minerality. Drink now and over the next 3 years.
Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz 2002
94 points
14.5%
Indulgent Xmas delight. Shows the value of aging sparkling Shiraz. Lovely leather, barnyard complexity with a core of shiny clear forceful Shiraz flavour.
Cape Mentelle Shiraz 2007
90++ points
Margaret River, Western Australia. 14%
A great wine in a great vintage. Much praised by Australian wine writers, who often make comparisons to the Rhone yet I find it very Australian. It certainly lacks the florality and acid of the Killerby 2001 tried recently. I expected more acid fullstop not that it’s really deficient. I’m buying a case or two because I have high hopes and the price is great.
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2006
90+ points
Martinborough, North Island. 13.5%
More elegant than expected. Not a cherry syrup bomb like some Otago wines nor the masculine style I associate with early top Martinborough Pinots. Quite mysterious complex wine. I wish I had some to cellar until 2013 when I’d try it again.
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Marlborough Pinot Noir 2007
87 points
Marlborough, South Island. 13.5%
Dark sappy slightly stalky yet ripe style. Good. Drink over 2010 or 2011.
Chateau Siaurac 2005
88+ points
Lalande De Pomerol. 13.5%
I was expecting more plummy ripeness. This is more minerally, more left bank than expected. It will be interesting to see if this changes over the next year or two. Drink until 2015.
Nice label.
Dominique Laurent vielles vignes Chambolle-Musigny 2004
90 points
Burgundy. 13%
I think this needs another year to open up a little more, though I could be wrong it’s certainly not raw. Vinous and nicely balanced, oak is completely in the background. Drink until 2014.
Martinborough Vineyard Te Tera Pinot Noir 2006
90 points
Martinborough, North Island, New Zealand. 13.5%
I was very impressed with this. Fresh juicy fruit with a savoury seam and smokey spicy oak (that for some reason I associate with Sth Africa). A touch sweet but not sickly and no obtrusive oak flavours. Very good for a well priced ‘2nd wine’ of this estate.
Drink now or wait a year or two. Should last another 5 years.
Norton Reserva Malbec 2006
86 points
Mendoza, Argentina. 14%
Dark, ripe, syrupy. Impressive winemaking the tannins of Malbec are certainly tamed. It’s very fruity and young. Cosmetic. I don’t like drinking this so young. Leave until 2012.
Low price.
Killerby Shiraz 2001
92 points
Margaret River, Western Australia. 13.5%
Forest floor aromas on a wine that is dark red. The Brett is surprising for this producer but it’s part of the character. Otherwise there is some sweet tomato leaf up- front flavour and tart acid on the finish but then some long flavours. The mid palate is abut missing it’s true but the total package is refreshing and complex. More Cornas than Australia.
This bottle was pretty impressive. Western Australia, like Hawkes Bay, could be the Cabernet, Chardonnay, Shiraz all rounder for fine interesting wines.
Yarra Burn cellar release Shiraz 2003
89+ points
Yarra Valley, Victoria. 13.5%
Very dark. The first thing that hits on the nose is the added acidity which isn’t a pleasant welcome, but there is more to the wine than this. It’s intense, tight, but with weight, even some alcohol burn on the finish. OK this doesn’t sound wonderful but I do expect this to mature into a pretty characterful quality Australian shiraz. It’s a big wine made in a cool climate area in a very hot dry year. Keep until 2014 or more.
Winter Creek Shiraz 2004
90 points
Barossa Valley, South Australia. 14%
An old favourite, French oak on fruit from a cooler part of Barossa. But I’ve been drinking Northern Rhone recently which makes this taste hot, a bit dull even. The added acid fortunately isn’t aggressive, it’s well made. Drink now and over the next 5 years.
Martinborough Vineyard Te Tera Pinot Noir 2006
86 points
Martinborough, NZ. 13.5%
A lot of fun. Really nice smokey savoury oak on top of fresh slightly sweet fruit, less sweet and more complex than many Australian Pinots.
Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett 2007
90+ points
Mosel. 8%
Pale Quite tight apple and mineral. But still gently sweet with lively 2007 texture. Good wine. Good future. Drink now and over the next 10 years.
Chateau Lanessan 2005
88 points
Haut- Medoc. 13%
2005 has given a really nice lift in richness to this good but minor claret. Good drinking now and over the next 5+ years.
Interesting to think how far this wine is though from its classed growth St. Julien neighbours.
Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett 2007
90 points
Mosel, Germany. 8%
Slight petrol aromas. This wine is more forward but less pretty than his generic Mosel. Nice but the generic wine is better value. Drink now.
Wine protects you from heart attacks
I previously reported on a large study that found that wine had a beneficial effect on mortality due to heart disease, cancer and all causes. That study was published in 2000, since then there has been further research including this meta-analysis of 26 studies that evaluated wine (and beer) consumption separately, i.e. not just total alcohol consumption.
It reports that the relative risk of vascular disease is 0.68 compared to non-drinkers, i.e. 68% of the risk that non-drinkers face. This relative risk (RR) estimate is from a meta analysis of studies that controlled for social class and other possible confounding factors.
Equally interesting was the attempt to model the dose response relationship, i.e. what is the recommended daily dose of wine. The resulting model actually comes out at 750 mls per day (a bottle a day) as representing the lowest risk of heart disease! Now a strong word of caution, the model is based on 7 studies (where a dose relationship could be worked out) and so could only achieve statistical significance for estimates up to 150 mls a day. So put simply, drinking 50 mls a day is better than zero, drinking 100 mls a day is better still, drinking 150 mls a day is even better still….and this trend probably goes on for a while, maybe ‘peaking’ at 750 mls but that’s a bit of a guess, albeit a mathematically guided guess informed by the current research. I highlight this not to recommend that everyone drinks a bottle a day but rather to highlight that many public health warnings are based on less well informed guesses plus a good deal of politics rather than the medical evidence. Something which I’ve written on previously.
The epidemiological evidence is clear that some alcohol consumption, especially wine, reduces your risk of dying (particularly from heart disease). This is especially true if you are middle aged, and don’t drink and drive. There’s clear evidence that a bit more wine (possibly due more to regularity of consumption rather than drinking more at one sitting) is better for you. At the other end of the spectrum very high alcohol consumption is associated with greater risk of dying. So there has to be a point where the level of alcohol consumption stop lowering your risk and it starts increasing, and a consumption level where the risk of death is higher than non-drinkers but there is not sufficient evidence to pinpoint this ‘recommended daily dose’. Not surprisingly the health warning indsutry errs on the conservative side, they probably fear that if they tell people “no more than 4 drinks a day” then many people will actually have quite a few more.
Again then, public health guidelines should be taken by intelligent people as guidelines only. The medical evidence continues to be rather positive about non-binge wine consumption.
References:
Claret tasting at Narelle and Frank’s
Chateau Puygueraud (Cotes De Francs) 2004
Serafino (McLaren Vale) CabSav 2006
Chateau Haut-Madrac (Haut-Medoc) 2006
Chateau Beau-Site (St.Estephe) 2005
Grand Vin de Bernadotte (Haut Medoc) 2005
Brooklands Valley Verse 1 Cab Merlot (Margaret River) 2007
Clos Floridene (Graves) 2005
Chateau Les Trois Croix (Fronsac) 2005
Distell Merlot (South Africa) 2002
Chateau Les Trois Croix (Fronsac) 2004
Grosset Gaia (Clare Valley) 2004
Te Mata Estate Awatea (Hawkes Bay) 2005
Chateau Cos Labory (St.Estephe) 2003
Some were better than others but all were good (which is unusual for a tasting). Read on if your interested in some personal notes…
Chateau Puygueraud (Cotes De Francs) 2004
– simple fresh somewhat tannic Bordeaux, savoury but surprisingly closed, unexpressive and lacking florality for the vintage and unusual for Puygueraud.
Serafino (McLaren Vale) CabSav 2006
– sweet mint toffee oak, sweet alcoholic, young disjointed and a quite a bit dolled up with oak and acid.
Chateau Haut-Madrac (Haut-Medoc) 2006
– classic cabernet blackcurrent flavours, very fresh with clear acid spine. A modern minor Bordeaux. Nice wine for drinking over the next few years. Better than I’d have expected for the vintage and price level. Good discovery.
Chateau Beau-Site (St.Estephe) 2005
– dense 4-square claret, savoury and tannic, plenty of extract, but muted flavour and nose (cork influence ?)
Grand Vin de Bernadotte (Haut Medoc) 2005
– another dense young claret, good structure but rather closed, hard to assess.
Brooklands Valley Verse 1 Cab Merlot (Margaret River) 2007
– expressive aromas including some tobacco, quite attactive and appetizing. Palate is a slight disappointment in comparison – sweetish, well balanced, but not complex. Halliday likes this sort of thing, he’s too impressed by winemaking over terroir and character.
Clos Floridene (Graves) 2005
– polarised the audience, depending on tolerance of reductive (sulphide) characters. Lovely gentle but rich open wine. Good flavour and balance, sensual rather than intellectual. Perfect cafe wine, good drinking for 5 years, no need to cellar.
Chateau Les Trois Croix (Fronsac) 2005
– big dense, plummy fruitcake, very much a right-bank Merlot from a good vintage. Ripe soft tannins. Attractive now with the capacity to gain complexity for 5 years and last for 10+.
“Good full ruby. Sexy dark fruits, leather, smoked meat and earth on the nose. Silky and suave in the mouth, with good chewy depth of fruit. Layered, sweet and interesting. Finishes with sweet tannins and very good length. An excellent showing for this Fronsac property owned by the family of ex-Mouton Rothschild winemaker Patrick Leon.” 87-90 points
Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, May/June 2006
Distell Merlot (South Africa) 2002
– an interesting comparison, commercial New World merlot, aromas of tomato leaf, flavours of cherry tomatoes. Out of its class here.
Chateau Les Trois Croix (Fronsac) 2004
– less weighty and ripe than the 2005, without deep fruitcake characters, but nice freshness, and it will gain complexity. Nicely shows the difference between the 2004 and 2005 vintage, both good but 2005 can produce exceptional ripeness.
Grosset Gaia (Clare Valley) 2004
– pristine wine making, clear as a bell fruit. Lovely elegance but for the price it lacks stuffing and complexity, the fruit is simple showing a good deal of New World Merlot cherry tomato flavours. Maybe this wine will develops complexity age but I don’t have a lot of faith in it. I like elegant wines but I’m not in sync with James Halliday here. I feel he overrates clinical winemaker wines and he rates it highly (same score as the Brooklands above)
From the first vintage, in 1989, Grosset Gaia has stood apart from mainstream Clare Valley style thanks to its extra degree of finesse. This has been achieved without any diminution in flavour or varietal typicity; if this were not enough, it has also been a model of consistency in quality terms. (No surprise here, as it applies to all of Grosset’s wines.) Bright and clear purple-red, the 2004 Gaia (94 Points, $53) is on the light end of medium-bodied. It is very fresh (only 13.5 per cent alcohol and, given Grosset’s disdain of cork, sealed with a screwcap) and harmonious with fruit, oak and tannins precisely fashioned and balanced. It will live far longer than one may imagine, most probably showing no hint of tiredness before 2030, which is no reason not to open a bottle tonight.
Te Mata Estate Awatea (Hawkes Bay) 2005
– ripe but surprisingly closed, except on the finish where it shows class, an elegant wine in a ripe vintage, very Bordeaux-like.
This is quite possibly the best Awatea this stalwart has released to date. Classic Bordeaux-like style with regional Hawkes Bay gravel and ripe cassis fruits, some floral notes too. Terrific density and glide through the palate, savoury liquorice, really intense ripe berry fruits and a polished trail of fine tannins through the finish. Superb! 94/100″
– Nick Stock, Wine Business Magazine, June 2008
Chateau Cos Labory (St.Estephe) 2003
– odd jumble of aromas, with stewed ripe fruit overlying the more classic herbal berry Cabernet characters. A wine that shows the character of the super hot 2003 vintage in Bordeaux. Dry chocolate tannins. Like a dry, non-syrupy, version of a modern souped up Napa Valley cabernet. But it’s still characterful, lots of flavour, it just lacks the refreshing quality that Bordeaux should have. Drink now, or age it into a leathery wine.
Clos Floridene 2005
90 points
Graves. 13%
Delicious fruit, merlot dominant (I think a mistake was made on the back label which says 70% merlot 30% cab which is a complete reversal from prior years). A perfect touch of new sweet oak.
Clean open wine. No sign of reductive characters that were on the bottle we had in a recent claret tasting.
Drink now and until 2015.
Roger Sabon Chapelle De Maillac 2007
85 points
Lirac, Rhone. 14.5%
Sweet very approachable. 2007 is a very good very friendly up- front vintage in Southern Rhone. Drink now until 2013.
Chateau Cote Montpezat 2005 cuvee compostelle
84 points
Cotes De Castillon. 13.5%
A bit disappointing especially given how enjoayable their white was. Green and hard at present.
Craggy Range kidnappers vineyard Chardonnay 2007
88++ points
Hawkes Bay, 14%
Too young. Tight fruit and oak. I expect thus will blossum over 2010-2011.
Bernard Faurie Saint Joseph 2005
89+ points
Gosh this is still a baby. Very fresh almost floral. This is a wine of pristine fruit not oak flavour or influence. I don’t like the really overt florality it shows at the moment (Viogner?) best left until 2013 at the earliest.
2012 April UPDATE – medium bodied but tannic, with youthful acid still. Quite serious stuff.
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