2015 STARGAZER ‘TUPELO’ - TUPELO

Stargazer is the brainchild of former Wirra Wirra winemaker Samantha Connew. Having done vintage in Oregon making Pinot Noir in her early years, she has neat turned full circle and is now making very fine Pinot Noir in Tasmania’s Huon Valley.

In addition to the highly rated Pinot Noir, three white wines fill out the Stargazer range – a Chardonnay, Riesling and ‘Tupelo’. ‘Tupelo’ is a three way blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewurztraminer.

The 2015 vintage incarnation of ‘Tupelo’ sees the exotic tendencies of the Gewurztraminer very much reined in. Steely Riesling carries these wine, with its brisk acidity and core of citrusy, apple orchard fruit. This is a wine made for raw and lightly cured fish dishes – sushi, sashimi, ceviche – take your pick, all would work well.

2015 STARGAZER ‘TUPELO’
Producer: Stargazer
Variety: Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewurztraminer
Region: Huon Valley, Tasmania
ABV: 12.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $30.00
Date tasted: 25 June 2016

Tasting Note:
Very pale silvery white. Lifted aromatic nose of grapefruit pith, nashi pear, green apple/apple blossom, kaffir lime leaf and whitecurrant. Dry, steely and racy. Lime/grapefruit and crab apple. Lots of fine acidity. Good length.
Score: 16.5/20

2011 CAKE WINES YWMS SHIRAZ - YOUNG TURKS

Hunter Valley Shiraz doesn’t get the best airtime south of the border for one reason or another. Much is the pity, because when it is good, it is very good. Such is the case with Cake Wines YWMS Shiraz 2011.

In case you weren’t aware, YWMS stands for Young Winemakers Series. Each year, Cake Wines invite a young winemaker to oversee the production of a wine to be released under the Cake label. This release, from the 2011 vintage, was the first in the series.

Organic, preservative free (no sulphur dioxide at all here) and sealed under DIAM, there are leanings toward the natural wine movement with this wine. For those of a conventional disposition, fear not, as the wine is clean and bright, delivering a lovely mixture of elegant fruit, suggestions of earth and undergrowth. More please!

2011 CAKE WINES YWMS SHIRAZ
Producer: Cake Wines
Variety: Syrah/Shiraz
Region: Hunter Valley, New Sourth Wales
ABV: 14.0%
Closure: Diam
Retail Price: $30.00
Date tasted: 24 June 2016

Tasting Note:
Bright ruby. Attractive and interesting nose – initially very earthbound. Peppery, meaty and gamey with notes of dried foliage. On the palate, medium in body, elegant and suave, almost Pinot Noir-like in texture. Polished, fine and quite delicious – lots to like here.
Score: 17/20

2009 MASSENA ‘MOONLIGHT RUN’ - MOON SHADOW

Massena has been around for approaching 15 years now. The partnership of Dan Standish and Jayson Collins has produced some very solid wines over the journey, all boldly flavoured expressions of traditional Barossa Valley grape varieties, as well as more recent interlopers such as Saperavi.

‘Moonlight Run’ is a southern-Rhone styled blend. In the 2009 vintage, the blend was Mourvedre heavy. As one would expect from the variety, the wine has benefited from a few years cellaring, allowing the wine to shed some of its precocious sweet fruit of youth, in favour of savoury, earthy complexity.

All in all, there’s good mid-winter drinking here, and upside for further bottle development as well.

2009 MASSENA ‘MOONLIGHT RUN’
Producer: Massena
Variety: Grenache at al
Region: Barossa Valley, South Australia
ABV: 15.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $30.00
Date tasted: 18 June 2016

Tasting Note:
Deep ruby. Bold nose of cocoa, plum, kirsch, rich dark chocolate, slightly earthy. Full bodied and moutfilling. Primary fruit has receded somewhat, allowing earthy/savoury notes to come through. Hints of kirsch and plum. Dark spices. Good length. Has benefited from a stint in the cellar.
Score: 17/20