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David Jones’ flagship is sailing high in this enticingly complex, deep and alluring wine of mixed spice and exoticity. A fine thread of black pepper laces black cherry and plum fruit to signature, seamless, textural Eagle tannins. Dark choc oak supports a finish of profound length and style.

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The Champagne Guide 2012 is just weeks away, and the 2002 vintage is one of its darlings, set to be the greatest and longest-lived of the decade. L-P nailed it with this brilliantly delicate and poised wine of fresh lemon, white summer fruits and salty minerality. $80 at WineStar, $110 at Dan’s.

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Tom Carson is a rockstar of Victorian chardonnay, pinot and shiraz, and never have his wines shown more poise, oak restraint and delicacy of fragrance than they do now. Cherry blossom perfume, pristine red cherry fruits and a structure at once silky and firm. $48 at Kemeny’s, $50 at WineStar & Dan’s.

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Surrounded by some of Heathcote’s most famous vineyards, this site was in barrel before any of them were even harvested, giving this wine an elegance and a detailed expression of the black fruits, pepper, anise, sarsaparilla, acid profile and finely honed tannin structure of the region. $41 at Dan’s.

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Who would have imagined that one of Barolo’s most legendary red wine masters could craft Arneis of such textbook precision? Subtle grapefruit, quince and guava ride on a textural, mineral palate, enhanced through ageing on lees, without any hint of phenolic heaviness, bitterness or hardness.

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From one of Marlborough’s most consistently outstanding pinot producers, this wine balances beautifully fragrant red cherry fruit with well-gauged French oak. It’s primary, perfumed and structured and only needs time for fruit and wood to harmonise. $37 at Dan’s.

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The 2008 vintage was a washout for Hunter reds, so the 2009s have landed a year earlier to plug the gap, but don’t hurry with this one because it needs a decade for its black plum, leather and spice to uncoil. Its firm, poised, textural tannins set it off to be one of the longer-lived […]

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A blend of nebbiolo and friends from a vintage that produced a refined acid profile in Piedmont. Fresh, pure and restrained, with a bouquet of rose hip and a palate of lingering pomegranate, redcurrants and a hint of tomato skin. Mouthfilling texture and minerality elevate it to a higher plane.

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I was the first outside the McWilliams crew to taste this cracking new expression of taut, cool, southern Tasmanian riesling. Beautifully crafted, with mixed spice complexity lingering through baked apple and quince fruit. It’s due to land any day now, and at this price, you’d better be quick.

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Tight, taut and truly grigio, this is a nervy style defined by the cool heights of the King Valley. With a cut of fresh lemon, a whiff of lemon blossom and a note of flint, it’s got the searing structure to stand in for champagne as an aperitif, or to wait in the cellar to […]

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