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04 August 2008
Those who were at the Mornington reunion in March 2005 may have purchased these wines at one of the wineries we visited. Both wines are by T'Gallant winery of Main Ridge VIC. I bought two bottles of two wines, on my own judgement; Vintage 2004 'Imogen' Pinot Gris 14.6% alch., for $20 and vintage 2002 'Our Romeo' a fusion of Muscat, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris 11% alch., for $14.
I opened both this week. The four year old 'Imogen' was the best wine, a white that was still fresh, clean and smooth with good 'legs' of glycerol on the glass and a pleasant nose and mild acid finish - which accompanied chicken well. The six year old 'Romeo' was just short of a desert wine (maybe a Frontingnac) - most unusual, but pleasant. The colour of honey appeared to show ageing of a white but was probably due to the Muscat content as the wine was fresh and smooth with a hint of 'honey' but no 'off' taste. If you have some I would recommend committing them to the palette soon! - Bill Arden
23 August 2006
With the glut of grapes in Australia one can acquire a good drop at a relatively low cost and I assure you that I have been making use of the situation. As a rule I'm rather parochial and usually only buy Australian wines, however, if I buy others it would be wines from the Nappa Valley where I visited a number of times. I avoid French and NZ wines and look only at others just in case and sometimes get seduced by a bottle. However, recently some ten minutes drive from home 1st Choice opened this you beaut wine outlet. They claim to stock over 3000 different varieties of wines and more than 1500 kinds of spirits. Well, during my inspection of the stock I came across wines from South Africa, namely OBiKWA, what caught my attention was the price. Normally sold at between $9.00 - $10.00, but wait, this particular day 1st Choice had a promotion of OBiKWA. $99.00 for a dozen and you got another dozen free.They sell a variety of whites and reds so I tried my favourite Merlot, it is quite palatable 14% alc/vol. OBiKWA is a Cape wine with a long history of wine making. It is ideal with all types of food and better still the price is great. Bill, try the red I quite like it, I'm enjoying the glut.
Peter A
29 January 2006
A recent wedding anniversary motivated me to try to find a gift for ‘the Woman that has everything’ in my life, the one the anniversary was about.
Called at a plonk shop nearby and was delighted to find some Hawke’s Bay Riesling by Kim Crawford. This is a bit unusual, Kim’s wines aren’t all that easily obtained outside New Zealand. For that matter, decent Rieslings are hard to find anyway.
So I thought for a Fortieth, at least two nice Rieslings would be a pleasure but I glanced at a Stonier Chardy from Mornington and thought, “that’s a bit Daffodil” and so I walked out with two bottles and a wallet just a wee bit thinner.
Well the Kim Crawford travelled well with some Cajun style chicken wings, assisted by the odd ‘Crowny’ just to preserve the throat and pallet, and the Stonier was held over for the next evening and complimented a plateful of smoked salmon, capers and Italian bread sliced thick with a little cream cheese chucked on.
All in all, not a bad way to celebrate Australia day weekend, an ex-appy reunion in Brisbane and a Fortieth Wedding Anniversary, with the same woman, on the same weekend.
For any one who is interested, Kim Crawford wines may find the Riesling. Hawke’s Bay Rieslings were being written about in 1824! Most classy bottlo’s keep Stonier; their Pinot is a cracker too!
Octane (little old wine drinker) Henson and the gorgeous Beverley.
09 January 2006
"Calls for Talks on Wine Glut - Sydney Daily Telegraph 7 Jan 2006
Plummeting prices as a result of a vast oversupply of wine grapes has prompted calls for a national summit to address the problem.
South Australian Agriculture Minister Rory McEwen said the Federal Government should convene a national summit, with most SA wine growing regions oversupplied by about 25%.
'It is essential that key federal ministers, wine grape industry boards and bankers meet urgently to discuss the present oversupply.' "
What about the consumers? There are some great drinking wines going cheap right now, especially from WA. Daffies - take the advantage NOW!
Bill Arden.
31 December 2005
Just to give you some interesting reading until we can catch up with all the great new cheap wines becoming available, here are some links to the ABC Science Pages about wine, and it's effects/benefits! - Happy New Year - Bill Arden
Binge drinking damages your DNA for good
Tutankhamen's tomb was awash with red wine
Christmas brandy fights free radicals
Now red wine can help the lungs
Another justification for red wine lovers
13 December 2005
Casella Wines - Yellow Tail
All you wine buffs. Have you tried Yellow tail?
Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz
Yellow Tail comes from Yenda, on the outskirts of Griffith and was established in 1969. Initially it was sold off the back of the truck until 1990 (this sounds dodgy). Then all of a sudden, when the next generation took over the winery, most of the sales went overseas. In 2001 some 500,000 cases were sold to the USA with Merlot being the best seller while No 1 in Canada was Shiraz. In 2004, 97% or 10 million of Yellow Tail was sold as export to North America and Europe. In 2005 Yellow Tail commenced selling in Australia. I prefer Merlot and Chardonnay.
Casella Wines are situated:
Wakley Rd, Yenda NSW
Telephone 02 6961 3000
FAX 02 6961 3099
www.casellawines.com
Peter A
[In keeping with the ‘standards' of this WEB page the Webmaster felt it necessary to test the product before display! I tried the [yellow tail] Chardonnay 2005 and must give Peter full marks for his recommendations – an excellent choice and value – try it at $10 a single buy (in Coogee)!]
10 September 2005
Here’s a find! Have you heard of Moppity Vineyards? They are 12 km SE of Young NSW on the slopes of the Black Range. The winemaker Jason Brown told me it is viticulturaly equivalent to the Clare Valley of SA. I bumped him at a wine tasting (sampling) of some of his wines in the Coogee Bay Hotel. We were heading for a good Chinese meal. We tried the Chardonnay, the Rose, and the Riesling. The Whickam’s Block Riesling is the pick (he agreed). Only in the bottle two months it is true to label – “This is a zesty style, with vibrant, pure Riesling fruit character of lemon and lime and some slatey mineral notes. The palate is fine, crisp and well balanced, making for an elegant wine with good persistence. Excellent drinking now or cellar 8-10 years for complex developed honey and toast characters – Jason Brown”.
Barb and I really enjoyed this with the Chinese meal. Though the acid was dominant before the meal, it cut through the food flavours beautifully, and held its own fruit flavour. Rather pale in colour, and with a slight bouquet, it even exhibited a touch of astringency on the palate after the meal. The only drawback was a slight headache we both experienced later that evening – could be the youth of the wine, or the preservative 220. I have added six bottles to my ‘cellar’ - in the suitcase! I look forward to the opinion of others, and to trying it again in a few months. At $16 a bottle it's good value
I don’t know where you would get this around the country but the winery address is Moppity Rd Young NSW 2594 e-mail. - Bill A
08 September 2005
Preparatory to establishing a ‘gourmet’ wine page I thought I should do some experimenting! Barb and I decided to raid her wine cellar. Now this cellar is a typical ‘pleb’ cellar – holding wines given as gifts and cheapies recommended by ‘expert’ friends put down to turn into great wines (yeah, okay). After many years of ‘appreciating’ wines, good and bad, I have come to the conclusion that you should try each end of the spectrum to really get an idea of what you are talking about. This sample tasting involves four wines of the aforementioned category. They range in age from 1997 back to 1984. Let’s begin at the latest and go back in time. Please remember, these comments are from memory – I will make notes in future.
The well known McGuigan Black Label (red) is a 1997 vintage, making it 8 years old when opened in 2005. The grape variety is unstated. The label says “will reach its peak in 2000” – they were right! The wine was still in good condition but showing strong Muscat character (browning and sweet), sweetness that shouldn’t be in these reds. There were no obvious odours in the bouquet. Though still drinkable for a desperate, it is a commercial wine that should have been drunk off the shelf. Interestingly, the alcohol content was quite mild – no tears of alcohol in the glass, and no hangover!
The Brentwood Bin 86 Claret (an Australian pseudonym for ‘anything left over’) from Berri estates was pencilled on the label 22-5-91. The vintage and grape variety are not mentioned on the label. It could be anywhere from 15 to 19 years old when opened in 2005. This was a very thin wine to look at but had a surprisingly high alcohol ‘boot’. Again, lightly brown tinged with age, but sound. No deposits in the bottle and no bad smell (bouquet). Very slight ‘mud’ in the bottom of the bottle. We finished the bottle – with a curried sausage meal!
The Lindemans Premier Selection Shiraz Cabernet, vintage 1987, now 18 years old when opened in 2005. Again, there was slight Muscat browning and the nose did not show anything much. We managed to get this one down too! There was a light body to the wine and no after affects.
There was some gritty residue in the bottle.
The Orlando Jacob’s Creek Claret (!) Shiraz, Cabernet, Malbec, vintage 1984 won a gold medal in Class 19 at the 1985 Perth Wine Show. It was 21 years old when opened in 2005. The cork collapsed on pulling but the wine was in good condition. Again, the Muscat browning was evident and the nose did not show anything much. There was a lot of residue cast in the bottle. Light bodied and quite drinkable, with a dry, woody finish (made the lips ‘pucker’), better with food.
Conclusion:
You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. If you want good wine – buy good wine. Usually, you only get what you pay for. If it tastes good when you buy it – drink it; none of us can be confident about waiting 20 years for today’s wines to appreciate!
If you have some interesting wine to tell us about we are all ears (and eyes, noses and tongues). -
Bill Arden (tasting, comment, photography and photo manipulation - blame me. If you want some better photos of empty bottles, I've got them too!)
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![[yellow tail] Chardonnay](Graphics/ytailchard.gif)
