Tag Archives: Rose

Chardonnay, Pinot and Rose

New Release

Reviewed: 15 February 2012

Is it just me or are wineries releasing their wines earlier and earlier? Many of the wines reviewed here need a year or two to show their best. If you are drinking them young, don’t serve them too cold and give them time in the glass to open up.

There were also a few good value pinot noirs.

Reviewed

Rose

Chene Bleu – Grenache/Shiraz – Rose – 2009 (16.5). Lovely pale salmon colour. Savoury, dry and refreshing, this has nice mouth-feel and texture. Good length and a touch of oiliness on the finish adds interest. This is a smart wine that will suit antipasto well.

Poudriere – Rose – Bastide Du Claux – 2010 (16.9). Very pale colour to what is a very pretty wine. Dry and refreshing, this has some lovely red berries on the palate with a savoury finish. Good mouth-feel and weight with a hint of oak influence perhaps?

Chardonnay

Howard Park – Chardonnay – 2009 (18+). Deeper colour here. Tight and lean on the nose, showing white peach, citrus and hints of honey and toast. The power and quality of the fruit really comes through on the palate. This is complex and very intense, with rich stonefruit notes over a textured, complex finish. The vanillin oak and buttery lees notes complement the fruit very well. A serious wine of real power, this will delight over the next 5 years. From the Great Southern.

Singlefile Estate – Chardonnay – Family Reserve – 2010 (17.9+). A tighter style that works really well. This is elegant and long, showing grapefruit, peach and nectarine on the palate. Quality oak adds complexity to the finish. Pineapple acid adds to the finish as does a touch of mineral and struck match. This got even better with a day on the tasting bench.

Deep Woods – Chardonnay – 2011 (17.5+). Subdued and tight, this is seamless and silky in the mouth. An unusual wine in that no features define the wine, but it is very enjoyable. An elegant wine with a touch of musk to close. Will take a couple of years to hit its straps and fill out.

Yering Station – Chardonnay – Village – 2010 (17.2). Compared to the Howard Park, this is delicate and refined. A precise wine with hints of citrus and nectarine over a creamy finish. Very well made, the gentle oak and lees contact really adds to the package. Good length too. One panellist noted that the wine was very well made, using the fruit to best effect.

Hill-Smith Estate – Chardonnay – Eden Valley – 2010 (17). Complex, creamy nose, with an appealing minerality on top. Powerful fruit on the palate that has been massaged with some skill in the winery. Quality oak is a bit obvious now, but should settle, as the wine integrates well with air.

Yering Station – Chardonnay – Little Yering – 2010 (16.9). Well made, if uncomplicated wine with varietally correct fruit characters and enough winemaking inputs to flesh out the palate. Easy drinking and enjoyable.

The Arm Chair Critic – Chardonnay – Over & Under – 2010 (16.5). This received good support with the panel appreciating the good length and pretty fruit that had grapefruit overtones. Will be better in another year or so and should represent good value.

Pinot Noir

St Huberts – Pinot Noir – 2010 (17 – 17.5). Delicate fruit on the nose. The palate hints at strawberry. This is very well made and quite silky, while the textural components add life to the mid palate. Very good length, this needs 5 years to show its best. Great to see a wine of this quality under this label.

Yering Station – Pinot Noir – Village – 2010 (17.3). Fresh, vibrant and appealing wine. There are hints of cherry and plenty of spice, with good length and a touch of complexity on the finish. This actually builds nicely in the mouth, suggesting that a few years would see it improve. Develops fleshy fruit of real appeal with air. Cherry and spice to close.

Mad Fish – Pinot Noir – Grand Stand – 2010 (17.2). A bigger style with immediate appeal. There is lovely cherry fruit with hints of plum and aniseed on the finish. In fact, there is a touch of fresh fennel and star anise. This is lush and velvety in the mouth and oh so easy to drink. Not that complex, but who cares.

Yering Station – Pinot Noir – Little Yering – 2010 (16.7). Some appeal here. This is a straightforward, slightly sappy wine that would suit food well. There is, perhaps, a touch of carbonic maceration that adds a hint of candy.

Chardonnay and Rose

 

New Release

Reviewed – 20 August 2011

I have mentioned before that Rose is a wine without a clear definition of style. This tasting has gone part way in changing my opinion. All three wines reviewed are worth a look at, but the Turkey Flat is a good drink in any context. I actually had a glass of this with a cassolet, and it went down a treat.

There were also some very smart chardonnays. Interestingly, there was a cross-section of styles from the bigger, more obvious style of “The Pick” to the racy and nervous drive of the Vasse Felix. Both are excellent expressions of chardonnay, just different.

The star of the tasting was the Hardys. A wine of balance and refinement that while drinking a treat now, will live for several years to come.

Reviewed

Hardys – Chardonnay – HRB/D643 – 2008 (18). Fresher fruit nose here. This wine has immediate appeal. Quality fruit, judicious oak and skilled winemaking combine to make a wine of real length and elegance. The palate is long and refined, with stonefruit and citrus notes. The oak is a mere whisper in the background, adding texture and mouth-feel. A joy to drink!

Vasse Felix – Chardonnay – 2010 (17.8+). Refined and pristine nose with stonefruit characters. Has good quality fruit and quality oak handling. A long and textured palate, with lovely lemony acidity to close. Everything is in place to make this a star, it just needs a couple of years for the fruit, oak and acidity to come into balance.

Warner Glen Estate – Chardonnay – 2008 (17.8). Complex nose. Lovely minerality in the style of Chablis, with a touch of struck match, almond and cashew nut too. The palate is long and fine with a degree of viscosity. The finish is dominated by the medium toast but high quality oak, but hopefully this will settle in the bottle.

Warner Glen Estate – Chardonnay – The Pick – 2009 (17.5+). Bigger style with obvious malo-lactic fermentation, barrel ferment and lees stirring notes. Medium toast oak provides some toasty characters to the finish. Quality fruit, but this is a bigger wine. Although this is starting to develop, it took three days to show its best. In many ways, this is the opposite of the Vasse Felix.

d’Arenberg – Chardonnay – The Olive Grove – 2010 (17). Zesty citrus notes over ripe fruit. The palate is flooded with passionfruit and zippy acidity. Young, fresh and intense, there is refreshing bitter almond to close. This was a real surprise.

The Lane – Chardonnay – Block 3 – 2009 (17). Lovely nose. Peachy fruit, with creamy textural notes. The palate is restrained and tight, though there is skilled winemaking on show. There is creaminess to the finish with a gentle mealy finish. Develops butterscotch and lees/oak influences. Should score better in a year or two.

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Turkey Flat – Rose – 2010 (17). A bit more fruit weight here, with some sappy cabernet fruit with real length. I like this as a sunny afternoon drink and the drying finish adds appeal. Smart packaging helps to make this a “must try” this spring.

Stella Bella – Rose – Skuttlebutt – 2011 (16.7). Fresh, fragrant and vibrant with lovely cherry fruit. This has obvious appeal. Savoury and mouth-watering, this would take a light snack well. Well judged residual sugar leaves the palate quite dry.

Devils Lair – Rose – Fifth Leg – 2011 (16.4). Quite a neutral nose and palate. The finish is savoury and quite long. A good wine that is suited to savoury food.

Cabernet (and Rose)

Cabernet (and Rose)

New Release

Reviewed: 20 November 2011

I have been lucky enough to drink some superb wines of late which has had me questioning the scores I give. To that end, I have adjusted my points for the lower end of the range.

So what does the change mean?

For a wine to score 15.5 and thus gain a bronze medal, the wine must be better than drinkable. It must have a degree of typicality and be well made using good quality fruit. At the top end, a gold medal (18.5) has not changed, whilst wines in between will be more spaced out.

As always, if you are reading about it in these pages, then I thought the wines were either good value or of good quality. In effect, I would be happy to have a glass of these wines.

Reviewed

Cape Mentelle – Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Cabernet Franc – Wilyabrup – 2009 (17.8). In a different league to everything else in the tasting. Tight and refined, with excellent fruit quality coming through. Really fine, the oak handling is spot on. This is very well made, though it needs time to open up. Has cedar, spice and hints of blackcurrant to the palate. Has great appeal, though another year or two in bottle would serve it well.

Stella Bella – Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot – 2007 (17.3). Lovely wine in a cooler climate package. Supple, elegant, refined and classy. Again, dark fruits, but this is a very subtle wine that needs time. Opens to show rich and quite dense fruit.

Frankland Estate – Cabernet Sauvignon – Isolation Ridge – 2009 (17). The fruit starts off very closed, but opens with lots of air. Lovely ripe redcurrant and hints of fresh plum. I like the finish on this wine, with cedary oak and very fine tannins. The length is impressive and the fruit really builds.

Capel Vale – Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot – Debut – 2009 (16.8). Quite deep smelling and a touch masculine. Smart wine here, with hints of chocolate over dark fruits. Excellent structure for a relatively cheap wine and the tannins have been nicely managed. A good drink.

Angove – Rose – Nine Vines – 2011 (16.4). Outrageous colour. Deeper pink and more wine like than a lot of roses. Nice combination of fruit and acid, with nice structure. This is a dry style that would be great served chilled with a plate of antipasto.

West Cape Howe – Rose – 2011 (16). Actually has some structure, body and character. Not overly sweet, with a mouth-watering finish. Good wine that will take food.

Tyrell’s – Rose – Old Winery – 2011 (15.8). Sweet fresh fruit on the nose and palate. Not a bad drink as there is enough fruit to flesh out the palate.

New Release Cabernet (and Rose)

21 October 2009

I would like to start this review with a question. How many wines can one man make and for how many wineries? The man of the moment in Western Australian wines is undoubtedly Larry Cherubino. Having made a reputation for himself at Houghton Winery in the late 1990’s, Larry has since branched out with his own winery and as a contract/consultant winemaker for numerous local operations from the Great Southern and Margaret River.

Larry produces his own wines under the Cherubino/The Yard/Ad Hoc labels and is a consultant to many others. In this tasting, apparently the Pedestal and the Capel Vale both claim his input.

Of the wines tried, the Capel vale was a standout. This is not going to be cheap (think $70+), but it was very good. From a value point of view, the Higher Planes will make good drinking over the next few years and is a relative bargain at $20. It is not surprising to note that both these wines came from the stellar 2007 vintage.

We are steadily working our way through the backlog of Roses. I am pleased to report that we are down to a dozen or so bottles. What I now realise is that there is no “textbook” style for these wines. They vary significantly from fruit driven and sugary sweet to the dry and oxidised styles (See Shemerdine).

Reviewed

Capel Vale – The Scholar – Cabernet – 2007 (18.5). Dense and concentrated nose with cool fruit. There is a touch of mortein (good) and mint (also good). Some herbal notes too. The palate is ripe, fresh, long and supple. Really builds in the mouth. The fine tannins close down the fruit now, but the finish is silky. Developed ripe blackcurrant and mulberry fruit with air.

Houghton – C W Ferguson – Cabernet Malbec – 2007 (17.5). Clean and fresh, opens with some menthol and eucalypt fruit, but the fruit is ripe. The palate starts austere and dry, as the fruit and oak tannins hide the fruit. Could have a bit more flesh, but should develop nicely with a few years in the cellar.

Higher Plane – South by South West – Cabernet Merlot– 2007 (17.3). Seamless, fine and elegant. Very closed at the moment. A pretty wine.

Castelli – Cabernet Sauvignon – 2008 (17.2). Dense and ripe fruit here with a touch of licorice and spice. The palate is dominated by black currant, spice and cedary oak, with a touch of vanilla on a drying finish. Medium bodied, the fine tannins close down finish. Classy.

Pedestal – Cabernet Merlot – 2008 (17). Complex nose with dense cabernet fruit and a touch of cherries. The palate is chewy, rich and textured. Not sophisticated but good drinking. A big man’s wine.

Pepperjack – Cabernet Sauvignon – 2008 (17). Opens with eucalyptus and menthol fruit. This is a big wine. Round sturdy fruit in the black spectrum. Eye watering. A cabernet for shiraz drinkers?

Amberley – Secret Lane – Cabernet Merlot – 2008 (16.5). Dumb to start with and very closed. The palate has some spice oak and red currant and it builds some chocolate texture with air. Not as concentrated as the best here.

Kiss Chasey – Rose – 2009 (16.3). Sweet smelling with some floral overtones. A touch of savoury characters too. The palate is savoury, spicy, long and interesting. There is gentile cherry fruit with a drying finish.

Shelmerdine – Rose – 2008 (16). This was a very pale brown in colour, attesting to the oxidised wine making style. The nose is clean and bright, but lacks any strong fruit character. This is an unusual style that should suit food.