Gilles Dumangin is the hardest worker in all of Champagne and his 2002 brims with all the freshness, restraint and determination of what will likely be the greatest vintage of the decade. It sings with youthful lemon and white peach, with layers of toast, nuts and honey. $64 at Vintage Cellars.
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Felton Road is my favourite producer in all of New Zealand right now and this wine is a large part of the reason. 2010 is as vintage you must not miss, more exuberant than ever in its violets, black cherries, exotic spice and pot pourri. It’s rich with mulberry fruit and laced with perfume from […]
readMagnificent concentration and fruit power, all the while honed, tight, mineral, linear. Wonderfully complex, crafted and characterful; brilliant nuances of lees-derived complexity of charcuterie and bacon fat, without losing its taut line of lemon zest and honed white peach. $40 at Kemeny’s & Dan’s.
readPerbacco is declassified barrels of Barolo from one of Piedmont’s great estates. Treated the same as the real thing, just released a year earlier. A tremendous and classic vintage of focused perfume and gravelly tannin presence with signature anise, tar and blueberries. $46 at cellardor.com.au.
readAt just 12% alcohol, Yabby characterises the cool season of 2009, completely belying the heatwave and bushfires. Pristine, focused, understated white peach, grapefruit, fig, lemon blossom and subtle almond oak. Exactingly poised, with articulate, expressive, chalky minerality. $37 at Dan’s.
readThe fastest rising star in Margaret River has maintained a breathtaking trajectory in what may be the vintage of the decade. Brilliant purity of blackcurrant, graphite, dark chocolate, cocoa and coffee bean with sensational fruit presence, perfectly framed in firm, fine tannins. Huge potential.
readHeggies trumps my beloved Pewsey this year! A taut and restrained vintage with shy green apple, lime zest and lemon fruit, nuances of white pepper. Hold off and give it time for steely minerality to uncoil. What’s with the discounting? Just $15 at Kemeny’s and $17 at WineStar and Dan’s right now!
readPink claw is so new that it hasn’t even fronted for its mug shot yet (you won’t miss the new pink screw cap!).Purposefully and painstakingly made from whole bunch, foot stomped pinot with five days of maceration. Beautifully expressive rose petal and strawberry; bone dry and layered with texture.
readLove Abby. She’s a little more extroverted this year, with her apricot pie lusciousness clear to everyone in the room. A pure fruit expression with notes of custard apple and mixed spice, structured by excellent acid presence and finishing beautifully textured, with quince-like grip.
readPour this blind and fool any wine snob! This is no plush, jubey cheap and cheerful; it’s cabernet proper, so expect violet perfume, leaf and capsicum, edgy redcurrants and an undercurrent of fine tannins. It’ll open up in the glass and improve with a few years in the cellar, too. Remarkable @ $7.60 at Dan’s.
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