Never has such finely-controlled oak precision graced Mike Press Shiraz. More approachable on opening than ever and yet possessing incredible, coiled up energy and longevity. Unashamedly cool, honed, pepper-laden. 95 points @ $12 – a first ever! Get in quick at www.myCellars.com.au or www.mikepresswines.com.au.
readWith flavours of blackcurrant, capsicum, leaf and even a note of dark chocolate lurking in the wings, there’s no mistaking that this is cab merlot – a mighty achievement for a wine that can be yours for the sum total of $4.75 at Dan Murphy’s this week. This may just be the cheapest wine worth […]
readSay what you will about biodynamics, but Cullen’s six most recent releases average an uncontested 95/100 on my score sheet. DM is the queen, and in 09 she has ascended to hitherto unknown heights of restraint. At just 12.5% alcohol she is no blockbuster, but more elegantly poised and yet impeccably ripe than ever. Crunchy […]
readNever have I tasted Cullen Chardonnay fruit as energetic, lively, vibrant and persistent as this. KJ is effortlessly calm, consummately complete and yet deceptively long-lived. Gorgeously restrained perfume permeates every crevice, while deep-set minerality and texture are at once arresting and caressing. This is the finest Australian chardonnay of the year to date. Big call, […]
readEnticingly refined winter champagne from an impeccable grower producer, this is a wine of real concentration, character and power, singing with red berries, fruit mince spice, orange zest and spicy old oak. It finishes controlled, dry and mineral.
readThere’s nothing second-grade about the finest vintage of Yalumba’s second label Coonawarra cab. The wine to drink while The Menzies sorts itself out for a decade in the cellar, it sports bright and vibrant red- and blackcurrant fruit, tobacco and, of course, cigar box. $20 at Kemeny’s, $22 at WineStar.
readWhen it’s on form, Coonawarra shiraz is blessed with enchanting restraint and legendary longevity. More chiselled and linear than ever, Balnaves 09 is a focused shard of blackberries, plums nutmeg and pepper. Pete Bissell has conjured the most refined oak balance this label has ever seen.
readAn ocean of gris passes by on the hunt for great examples these days, and, oh, the jubilation when a superstar lands! Infused with the cool minerality of 1980s vines high in the hilltops of Lenswood, with a textural depth reinforced by partial barrel fermentation, it’s built on restrained minerality.
readBalnaves’ quartet of 09 cabernets is set for a tremendous future and the cabernet merlot needs (just) a decade to show its stuff. The most perfumed of the set, lifted violet and blackcurrant perfume wafts over a palate of disciplined focus and exceedingly high quality oak carpentry.
readAt $16 at Dan’s, we can all afford to have a bottle of decent tawny open perpetually for late night dark chocolate decadence! There’s a comfortable balance of hazelnut, toast, plum and fig, with well-integrated spirit, subtle oak, nicely gauged sweetness and a lingering high cocoa dark chocolate finish.
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