The reason this benchmark value-for-money Margaret River cabernet has such unusual levels of regional and varietal integrity for its miniscule price is that the philosophy is very much the same as that of its big brothers. 55% estate grown Wallcliffe fruit spends fourteen months in French oak, one-third of which is new. The selection here […]
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Unrelenting diligence in The Menzies estate vineyard has enabled the Yalumba wizards to pull a wine of astonishingly delicate refinement from a warm, early and ripe vintage. This is a beautifully fragrant cabernet of lifted violet perfume and accurate red- and blackcurrants, with nuances of cedar and tobacco, underlined by subtle dark chocolate oak. It […]
readKen Bray’s Hunter vineyard is one of the finest sites for single vineyard semillon in the world today. Period. While it has supplied many of the great winemakers of the Hunter, it’s taken the genius of Andrew Thomas to unveil its true pedigree. His Cellar Release Semillon has long been revered, but when the 2007 […]
readIf fruit, alcohol, oak and tannin could fade to reveal nothing but the pure essence of Margaret River cabernet at its most distinctive, what remains would be characterised in both texture and flavour by gravel, wet slate, graphite and high cocoa dark chocolate. In this ideal, Xanadu’s new single vineyard cabernet is more articulate than […]
readThe question of precisely how the great vineyards of the world are able to translate their mineral personality directly into the texture and structure of their wines is one that eludes even the most clever of winemakers. Yet there is an unmistakable chalky seasalt minerality to this wine, a character that I noted before I […]
readA brand new wine is about to be unleashed from the House of Arras, marrying the high-tensile acidity of southern Tasmania with the buttery smoothness of almost a decade on lees. It upholds a beautifully pale straw hue considering its considerable age, promising the freshness of primary, zesty lemon fruit and taut lemon acidity amidst […]
readIf Stevens represents Xanadu’s most refined expression of cabernet, Reserve is its most concentrated style, a wine of intense blackcurrants and black pastilles, yet maintaining impressive structural poise and stamina. Hints of mint and menthol are likely a reflection of the eucalypt trees surrounding the Timber Creek single vineyard in Wilyabrup. Considerable structural presence of […]
readThe new era of Xanadu chardonnay is one of restrained, tightly coiled focus, driven by taut natural acidity rather than malolactic fermentation, with less oak and greater mineral texture. Reserve manages to exemplify all of this, while upholding the power of the Gin Gin chardonnay clone in Margaret River. Grapefruit and white peach flavours meet […]
readChâteau Coutet’s Aline Baly characterises the house style by its cut of clean, crisp acidity (‘Coutet’ means ‘knife’). Acidity always defines the finest sweet wines, and in 2007 it has crafted a particularly refined example, bringing consummate freshness and definition to a wine of profound concentration. There is a primary grapey focus here, with all […]
readEJ Carr 2001 is one of the most refined sparkling wines ever made in this country. Southern Tasmania has proven just what heights it can achieve in elegant subtlety of yellow plum, lemon zest and white peach fruit. A touch over ten years on lees has built great complexity of dried fruits, butter biscuits, mixed […]
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