2015 MARC BREDIF VOUVRAY CLASSIC - SPIN, SPIN, SUGAR

The wines of Vouvray are legendary for their ability to age. Such is the case with Marc Bredif, a producer that boasts a remarkably library of aged wines going back decades. The key to the ageability of these wines is residual sugar and high natural acidity.

The current release of Bredif’s Vouvray Classic, from the 2015 vintage, carries plenty of residual sugar, held in check by lively acidity. At this point in time, it wants somewhat for complexity and is a touch one dimensional and sugary. It’s a pleasant enough and by no means cloying, but just wants for depth of fruit and genuine interest.

2015 MARC BREDIF VOUVRAY CLASSIC

Producer: Marc Bredif
Variety: Chenin Blanc
Region: Loire Valley, France
ABV: 12.5%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $33.00
Date tasted: 11 February 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright lemon yellow. Fresh, aromatic nose of pressed apple juice, apple blossom, honey. Off-dry, simple and straightforward. Sweetness is slightly assertive at this point in the wine’s evolution, sitting in front of the fruit. One dimensional baked apple fruit profile. Typical Chenin acidity on the finish. May take on more complexity with bottle age.
Score: 15/20

2017 STARGAZER TUPELO - MIXED UP

Field blends are all too infrequently seen in the Australian market today. Commercially, such wines can be high risk as they do not lend themselves to simple varietal labelling, which makes them harder to sell.

When done intelligently, blending compatible varieties makes real sense. Such is the sense with Stargazer Tupelo, a three-way blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. In this instance, the sum is very much greater than the individual component parts. There is a real sense of harmony, as well as aromatic and textural complexity to the wine.

Riesling provides the wines structure by way of acidity and fills out the mid-palate. It also lends aromatic complexity in the form of citrus and orchard fruit. Pinot Gris lends ballast and palate weight. Although it threatens to steal the show, the Gewurtraminer delivers exotic aromatic lift and spicy complexity.

Bottled with a touch of residual sugar, there is a lot to like about this wine. It is made for moderately spiced Asian cuisine of many types. It is utterly delicious and dangerously drinkable.

2017 STARGAZER TUPELO
Producer: Stargazer
Variety: Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer
Region: Coal River Valley + Derwent Valley, Tasmania
ABV: 12.9%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $30.00
Date tasted: 8 February 2018

Tasting Note:
Pale silvery yellow. Lifted aromatic nose of rose petal, lychee, green apple, nashi pear and spice. Just off-dry, excellent depth of flavour and structure. Gewurz spice and exotic fruit on the front palate, leading to crisp green apple and pear. Fine line of acidity carries the finish. A step up from the 2016 release. Made for judiciously spiced Asian cuisine.
Score: 16.5/20

2015 DOMAINE COLLOTTE MARSANNAY ROSE - LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN

Marsannay is one of the youngest appellations in Burgundy. It is also the only commune in Burgundy that has its own appellation for rose wines. If a producer made a rose wine from fruit grown in great vineyards such as Le Chambertin or Richebourg, they would only be entitled to Bourgogne Rose appellation status.

Marsannay has earned a good reputation in recent years as a source of good value red wine. On this evidence, its Marsannay Rose is also worth a look. Made from 100% Pinot Noir grown in the excellent 2015 vintage, Domaine Collotte Marsannay Rose has excellent palate weight and depth of flavour.

The fruit profile combines macerated strawberries and citrusy acidity. It’s not as complex as the outstanding Mac Forbes Woori Yallock Rose reviewed a week or two ago, but there’s a lot to like about this savoury, food friendly wine.

2015 DOMAINE COLLOTTE MARSANNAY ROSE
Producer: Domaine Collotte
Variety: Rose
Region: Burgundy, France
ABV: 12.5%
Closure: Diam
Retail Price: $30.00
Date tasted: 4 February 2018

Tasting Note:
Pale strawberry pink. Bright nose of strawberry pulp and macerated fresh raspberries, floral notes. Very bright and fresh. Good palate weight and depth. Savoury and textured, fresh strawberries, citrussy acidity carries the finish.
Score: 16/20

2011 BEST’S BIN 1 SHIRAZ - EVERYONE'S A WINNER

2011 was a much derided vintage in southern Australia. So derided was 2011 that many wrote it off completely before the wines had completed fermenting let alone bottled. 2011 was certainly a vintage of challenges. However, it produced exceptional fruit for sparkling wines. The best Chardonnays of 2011 are outstanding with great drive

At Best’s in Great Western, Viv Thomson and team took the decision not to make the super-premium Thomson’s Family Shiraz or the Bin 0 Shiraz. A strict selection was made, with all of the fruit being designated for Best’s Bin 1 Shiraz. So good was the wine that it picked up the Jimmy Watson Trophy, not bad for a $30 wine!

Several years on and Best’s Bin 1 Shiraz 2011 is drinking superbly, but with time up its sleeve. With notes of black pepper and game, there is an Australia meets the Rhone character to this delicious Shiraz.

2011 BEST’S BIN 1 SHIRAZ
Variety: Syrah/Shiraz
Region: Screw cap
ABV: 14.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $30.00
Date tasted: 26 January 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright plum red. Alluring nose of freshly cracked black pepper, confit cherries and hung game. Medium bodied, fine and well composed. Sweet black fruits interwoven with pepper, hints of charcuterie starting to emerge. Delicious – lives up to its billing.
Score: 17.5/20

2016 MOLINO A VENTO GRILLO - MEDITERRANEAN LADY

A few months back, we looked at the Nerello Mascalese from Molino a Vento. The white in the stable is made from Grillo. Simple and straightforward, this is a wine that wears its Sicilian heart on its sleeve.

Complex it may not be, but with its candied preserved lemon accented fruit, it is the perfect cantina wine for dishes such as freshly grilled swordfish steak with capers, salt and pepper calamari or chicken tagine.

2016 MOLINO A VENTO GRILLO
Variety: Grillo
Region: Sicily, Italy
ABV: 12.5%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $20.00
Date tasted: 25 January 2018

Tasting Note:
Intense lemon yellow. Direct nose of lemon pith and candied preserved lemon. Dry, medium bodied, simple and straightforward. Slightly mouth-puckering (in a good way) candied lemon. Lively acidity carries the finish. Holding up well.
Score: 15.5/20

2015 CALABRIA PRIVATE BIN PINOT BIANCO - APPLE OF MY EYE

We have long commended the wines under Calabria’s Private Bin label on these pages. The Aglianico has long been a staple of this household. The Pinot Bianco is one of two white wines in the range, the other being a Vermentino. The 2015 vintage garnered a trophy at the Victorian Wine Awards.

The 2016 is a good wine, with up front notes of green apple, guava, nashi pear and lemon zest. There is a slight hint of confection that detracts ever so slightly. However, given the $15 price tag, who is to complain?!

2015 CALABRIA PRIVATE BIN PINOT BIANCO
Variety: Pinot Bianco
Region: Riverina, New South Wales
ABV: 13.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $15.00
Date tasted: 26 January 2018

Tasting Note:
Greenish yellow in appearance. Direct nose of green apple, nashi pear and lemon zest. Medium bodied, fresh and bright, candied green apple, with citrusy acidity on the finish. Clean, fresh, vibrant and good value.
Score: 15/20

2015 ATHLETE’S OF WINE VINERO ROMSEY CHARDONNAY - RUN

Here in Melbourne, it is a well-trodden road from sommelier to winemaker. With an intimate understanding of what works on the dinner table and a network of colleagues to sell their wines to, sommelier cum winemaker would seem to be a business model that can’t fail.

Athlete’s of Wine is the brainchild of two local sommeliers turned vignerons. Stylishly packaged, Athlete’s of Wine Vinero Romsey Chardonnay is good quality modern Australian Chardonnay.

The Macedon Ranges are the source of some of Australia’s best Chardonnays, Bindi and Curly Flat being the region’s two superstars. With access to good raw materials, the chaps at Athelete’s of Wine have produced a classy Chardonnay that delivers depth of flavour, freshness and oak-driven complexity in one.

Indeed, there is sufficient fruit intensity and structure by way of acidity to suggest that it might benefit with a year or two in bottle to come together.

2015 ATHLETE’S OF WINE VINERO ROMSEY CHARDONNAY
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Macedon Ranges, Victoria
ABV: 12.7%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $45.00
Date tasted: 27 January 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright lemon yellow. Textbook nose of honeydew melon, white nectarine, grapefruit pith and subtle spicy oak. Dry, medium bodied, nice interplay of melon and grapefruit citrus cossetted in high quality, deftly handled oak. Crisp acidity carries the finish.
Score: 16.5/20

2016 MAC FORBES WOORI YALLOCK ROSE - PINK CADILLAC

Rose is witnessing a remarkable revival of fortune at present, with Provence leading the way. Australian wine producers have been rather slow to act, which is surprising given our warm climate and outdoors lifestyle. There are, of course, exceptions, most notably Charles Melton’s Rose of Virginia (though it verges toward dry red in style).

So how does a $50 Australian rose stack up? Australian Riesling has long struggled to break through the $50 ceiling. What then of Johnny-come-lately rose?! $50 is certainly getting up there for a rose, but if the wine is good enough, why not?

The wine in question is Mac Forbes Woori Yallock Rose, a single vineyard wine based on Pinot Noir from the trump card site in Mac’s portfolio of Yarra Valley vineyards. Only 1,080 bottles were made.

It is a beautifully perfumed and wonderfully textured wine that ranks alongside some of the best examples from France. High on drinkability, the wine looks great in the glass (Riedel Vinum Burgundy in this instance) and delivers a delicious, savoury accented palate of macerated strawberries and subtle spice. This wine is proof positive that rose can be a fine wine in its own right. Chapeau Mac Forbes!

2016 MAC FORBES WOORI YALLOCK ROSE
Variety: Rose
Region: Yarra Valley, Victoria
ABV: 13.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $50.00
Date tasted: 28 January 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright orangey pink in appearance. Attractive nose of apricot blossom and macerated strawberries. Dry, medium bodied, lovely texture and mouthfeel. Excellent depth of flavour. Strawberry pulp and a touch of spice. Classy stuff that stands up to the best roses from France.
17.5/20