2015 TERRA COSTANTINO DAETNA ETNA ROSSO - EARTH, WIND AND.......

As has been alluded previously on these pages, Mount Etna is the hottest piece of viticultural real estate on the planet. This Etna Rosso displays how serious the wines of Etna can be. A typical blend of Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, it is light in its feet, fresh and well poised.

It reminds one of a decent light Nebbiolo, albeit with slightly higher acidity and less pronounced tannins. It made a good match to aubergine and ricotta ravioli served with a tomato and basil sauce. Indeed, it is fair to say that this is a wine that needs to be served alongside food.

2015 TERRA COSTANTINO DAETNA ETNA ROSSO
Producer: Terra Costantino
Variety: Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio
Region: Sicily, Italy
ABV: 13.5%
Closure: Diam
Retail Price: $50.00
Date tasted: 20 April 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright garnet. Tilled earth, truffle and spice. Very dry and savoury, medium bodied, lively acidity. Light on its feet. Needs food. Very earthbound in feel. Will appeal to Nebbiolo lovers.
Score: 16/20

2015 CLYDE PARK CHARDONNAY - BONNIE AND.......

Dollar for dollar Australia is arguably produces the best quality Chardonnay on this planet. Yes, white Burgundy at its best is without peer, but it comes at a considerable expense. There are many exceptional examples of Australian Chardonnay to be found at under $50 per bottle. That’s less than you would pay for an entry level Bourgogne Blanc from a good domaine.

Clyde Park Chardonnay is yet another delicious Australia Chardonnay. The most impressive thing about this wine is the balance of fruit, acidity and oak. It is more heavily worked than some edgy Chardonnays, but is nevertheless fresh and complex.

It is a wine without pretension that simply says ‘Drink me!’ Amen to that.

2015 CLYDE PARK CHARDONNAY
Producer: Clyde Park
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Geelong, Victoria
ABV: 13.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $35.00
Date tasted: 21 April 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright greenish yellow. Attractive nose of green apple, William pear, white nectarine, grilled hazelnuts and subtle, spicy oak. Medium bodied, good fruit concentration. Nice balance of fruit and oak – well judged – a wine that its self assured and confident. Delicious drinking.
Score: 16.5/20

2003 DR LOOSEN GRAACHER HIMMELREICH RIESLING AUSLESE - STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Dr Loosen needs no introduction to lovers of Riesling worldwide. Ernst Loosen has worked tirelessly over the past couple of decades to sell the virtues of German Riesling.

From the heatwave 2003 vintage, Loosen’s Graacher Himmelreich Auslese was approached with some trepidation. Reviews of this wine have not been particularly positive. Although not particularly complex, it is far from shot as a 15 year old.

Approaching full maturity, the wine is medium sweet with apple and pear orchard to the fore. It doesn’t boast a huge amount of acidity, but is certainly not flat or flabby. It made a perfectly decent match to roast pork belly.

2003 DR LOOSEN GRAACHER HIMMELREICH RIESLING AUSLESE
Producer: Dr Loosen
Variety: Riesling
Region: Mosel, Germany
ABV: 8.5%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: N/a
Date tasted: 21 April 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright golden yellow. Evolved nose of red apples, Beaurre Bosc pear and honey. Medium sweet, round and soft, quite simple and linear, but not without interest. Pear and baked apple with the barest hint of citrus zest. Freshens up with aeration.
Score: 15.5/20

2014 LOUIS MICHEL CHABLIS 1ER CRU MONTEE DE TONNERRE - GHOST IN THE SHELL

2014 is widely acknowledged as an exceptional vintage for Chablis, delivering a near perfect balance of pristine fruit and laser-like acidity. It was also a relatively well priced vintage unlike the likes of 2016, which suffered from a very low crop thanks to a disastrous frost.

By the standards of some Chablis producers, Louis Michel is a very modern operation – temperature controlled fermentation in stainless steel vats, screw-cap closures – for a region that has suffered its share of issues with premature oxidation, this gives the consumer a degree of confidence.

Four years on from vintage, Michel’s Montee de Tonnerre 2014 is showing fairly well, but not quite delivering the goods as yet, wanting for a touch of complexity. Revisit in a couple of years.

2014 LOUIS MICHEL CHABLIS 1ER CRU MONTEE DE TONNERRE
Producer: Louis Michel
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Chablis, France
ABV: 13.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $75.00
Date tasted: 4 April 2018

Tasting Note:
Pale greenish yellow. Limpid nose of lemon sherbet and grapefruit pith, touch of apple blossom. Dry, medium bodied, starting to emerge from its shell. Green apple and lemon/grapefruit citrus. Not particularly complex at this juncture.
Score: 16/20

2017 UNICO ZELO SLATE FARM FIANO - LOVE ON THE ROCKS

There is little doubt in this little camper’s mind that Fiano is the best white grape variety grown on the Italian mainland south of Rome. When grown in the chalky hills in Campania, Fiano can display great texture and a wonderful interplay of stonefruit, citrus and saline minerality. It is a definitively Italian variety that is delicious to drink and improved when served alongside appropriate food.

The couple behind Gumeracha-based winery Unico Zelo have made Fiano their signature grape. On this evidence, they are succeeding in their goal. Clare Valley grown Slate Farm Fiano is one of three examples of Fiano in the current line up, the other two originating from the Riverland and Adelaide Hills.

Notwithstanding the modest 11.5% ABV of Slat Farm, it has excellent fruit weight and depth of flavour. From a varietal perspective, it is bang on the money, saline notes lending a sense of authenticity and complexity. This is a delicious wine that holds its own against better examples of Fiano from Campania.

2017 UNICO ZELO SLATE FARM FIANO
Producer: Unico Zelo
Variety: Fiano
Region: Clare Valley, South Australia
ABV: 11.5%
Closure: Diam
Retail Price: $35.00
Date tasted: 3 April 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright straw yellow. Toasted pine nut kernels, slightly oxidative, pink grapefruit, ozone/sea air. Dry, medium bodied, punches well above its 11.5% in terms of palate weight. Hay, toasted grains and stonefruit. Delicious and very true to the variety.
Score: 17+/20

2013 SC PANNELL ADELAIDE HILLS SYRAH - WINNER TAKES IT ALL

Steve Pannell’s CV is an impressive one – son of Bill Panell who founded Moss Wood in Margaret River, former Chief Winemaker for Hardy’s, multiple Jimmy Watson Trophy-winner – the list goes on.

Since establishing his own label, Pannell has focused on varieties that flourish in McLaren Vale’s warm Mediterranean climate. Traditional favourites Shiraz and Grenache have been supplemented by Tempranillo and Touriga Nacional.

Pannell has also extended his reach into the Adelaide Hills for Sauvigon Blanc, Nebbiolo and cool climate Shiraz. It was not surprising when Pannell, a master of the Shiraz grape, was awarded the Jimmy Watson Trophy for his Echunga-grown Adelaide Hills Syrah.

This is a classy, Australia meets the Rhone styled wine that will win over many Australian palates reared on traditional bold fruited warm climate Shiraz. There’s lots to like in this elegantly constructed modern Australian wine. It should reach its peak 10 years from vintage.

2013 SC PANNELL ADELAIDE HILLS SYRAH
Producer: SC Pannell
Variety: Syrah/Shiraz
Region: Adelaide Hills, South Australia
ABV: 14.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $35.00
Date tasted: 2 April 2018

Tasting Note:
Deep ruby red. Attractive nose – smoky, ground black pepper, black cherry and hung meat. Medium bodied, elegant and fine. Model of restraint. Black cherry and pepper. Light on its feet.
Score: 17/20

2011 SAMUEL’S GORGE MOURVEDRE - RAIN

The rain-tainted vintage of 2011 was written off by pretty much all and sundry before many wines had even completed fermenting, let alone spent a passage of tine in bottle. Several years on, some revisions have been made.

2011 was unquestionably an excellent vintage for sparkling wine. Chardonnay also prospered, the best examples have great structure and need more time in bottle. On this evidence, Mourvedre in McLaren Vale also did pretty well in 2011.

At 15% ABV, it is not a shy and retiring customer. This is a full-bodied wine that hits all of the Mourvedre keys. Earthy complexity is starting to emerge, but one feels there is more to come with this wine. In another 4-5 years it should look very good indeed, cork closure permitting.

2011 SAMUEL’S GORGE MOURVEDRE
Producer: Samuel’s Gorge
Variety: Mourvedre
Region: McLaren Vale, South Australia
ABV: 15.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $40.00
Date tasted: 17 February 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright ruby red. Powerful nose of dark cocoa powder, earth and saturated purple fruits. Dry, fuyll bodied, rich and powerful, savoury maturity starting to emerge. Cocoa, black fruit, slightly earthy. Powdery tannins still evident. Needs more time.
Score: 16.5/20

2015 COMANDO G ROZAS 1ER CRU GARNACHA - REVIVAL

It’s time for yours truly to ‘fess up as a fan of Grenache in all its forms. As a Grenache lover, there has never been a better time for the variety. In its southern French stronghold, there seems to have been a step back from the excess that marked the peak of Robert Parker’s reign.

Here in Australia, old vine Grenache from the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale has never been treated with more respect. The best examples of single varietal Grenache set new standards for the variety and are world class wines in their own right.

Garnacha has also witnessed a major revival in Spain, most particularly in the Gredos mountains to the north of Madrid. In this part of world, elevation and old vines is producing wines of almost Pinot Noir-like elegance, with the added spicy exoticism we associate with Grenache.

Commando G has been one of the major forces behind the rejuvenation of Garnacha in Spain. Rozas 1er Cru is one of four Garnacha’s made by the Comando G team. It is Garnacha at its most fine and stylish, pale in colour, but loaded with flavour, whole-bunch fermentation lending complex earthy, undergrowth characters. On the evidence of this bottle, the 2015 will need another 3-4 years in bottle to reach its plateau of maturity.

2015 COMANDO G ROZAS 1ER CRU GARNACHA
Producer: Comando G
Variety: Grenache et al
Region: Mentrida, Spain
ABV: 14.5%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $75.00
Date tasted: 10 March 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright garnet. Lifted nose of kirsch, strawberry, undergrowth, mulch, licorice and star anise. Medium bodied, dry and savoury, noticeable lick of tannin. ‘Twiggy’ – not the singer! Forest floor, undergrowth. Quite Pinot-like. Needs a few more years in bottle to shed the cloak of tannin.
Score: 17+/20

2016 CA’ DEI ZAGO PROSECCO COL FONDO - HIGH AND DRY

Rather like Collingwood president and media personality Eeddie McGuire, Prosecco is pretty much everywhere these days. Drinkers have been charged by light, frothy sweetness of Prosecco, a judicious dash of Aperol giving one a taste of Venetian life for a few passing moments.

Thanks to its commercial success, Prosecco has been compromised to a degree, many producers satisfied to make mainstream semi-sweet, crowd-pleasing examples. The downside is that such wines struggle to maintain one’s interest beyond a single glass.

‘Col Fondo’ comes from a different angle. It isn’t disgorged, leaving a yeast sediment in the bottle, and is fermented fully dry. The result is a wine that retains the floral apple blossom character one associates with Prosecco, but is more digestible and food friendly. One could happily enjoy this particular with wine Venetia seafood dishes, but would definitely think twice before adding a dash of Aperol!

2016 CA’ DEI ZAGO PROSECCO COL FONDO
Producer: Ca’ dei Zago
Variety: Glera
Region: Veneto, Italy
ABV: 11.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $35.00
Date tasted: 17 March 2018

Tasting Note:
Pale silvery yellow. Touch of yeast sediment. Subtle nose of green apple and apple blossom. Slightly funky. Gentle mousse. Dry, funky edge flows through to the palate. Crisp and fresh. Under-ripe green apples, twist of citrus. Good food style – would be great with seafood.
Score: 16/20

2016 STADT KREMS GRUNER VELTLINER - OH YEAH!

Gruner Veltliner is a variety that defines Austrian wine. Riesling-like in structure, its trademark notes of white pepper, grapefruit and dill make it a perfect match for lightly spiced foods of all types.

This entry example from the historic Stadt Krems winery in the city of Krems is on the money for varietal character and refreshment. While not particularly complex, it delivers plenty of easy-drinking pleasure for a very modest price. It is the wine you want for a mid-week supper of sushi and sashimi.

2016 STADT KREMS GRUNER VELTLINER
Producer: Stadt Krems
Variety: Gruner Veltliner
Region: Kremstal, Austria
ABV: 12.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $20.00
Date tasted: 9 March 2018

Tasting Note:
Greenish yellow. Direct nose of grapefruit, touch of white pepper. Lighter side of medium bodied. Soft and easy. Grapefruit and lime. Straightforward and easy drinking.
Score: 15.5/20

2014 INCOGNITO CHARDONNAY - HE AIN'T HEAVY....

Incognito is a label developed by the team at Shaw & Smith to make use of young vine and bought in fruit. Both the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir under the Incognito label are well priced, coming in at just $20 per bottle.

Made from Adelaide Hills fruit, the 2014 Incognito Chardonnay is a straightforward wine that is very much ‘on trend’ in terms of contemporary Australian Chardonnay styles. Oak and winemaker influence are very much downplayed, allowing the fruit to take centre stage.

It is a gentle and easy drinking wine that would work very well as a crowd pleaser and for cocktail functions.

2014 INCOGNITO CHARDONNAY
Producer: Shaw & Smith
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Adelaide Hills, South Australia
ABV: 12.0%
Closure: Screw cap
Retail Price: $20.00
Date tasted: 11 March 2018

Tasting Note:
Silvery yellow in appearance. Clean nose of pear, apple and grapefruit. Dry, medium bodied, very fresh and easy. Uncomplicated. Pear and apple. Negligible oak influence. Does what it says on the label.
Score: 15/20

2015 TERRA COSTANTINO ETNA BIANCO - RUNNING UP THAT HILL

If there is a wine region on the planet that is ‘hotter’ than Etna, I’d love to know what it is. To say that there is major interest in the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna would be an understatement. Angelo Gaja is the latest Italian vigneron of note to join the party.

What is the draw of Mount Etna? It seems to be a combination of its rich history, elevation, volcanic soils and endemic grape varieties – Carricante and Catarratto for white and Nerello (Macasalese and Cappuccio) for red.

Somewhat counter-intuitively, the wines of Etna are not bold and rich, but edgy and elegant. Etna Rosso is often likened to red Burgundy. On the evidence of this Etna Bianco from Terra Costantino, Etna Bianco is a ready-made alternative for Chablis.

There is real weight and depth to this wine, cut by a line of edgy acidity. Citrus fruit is to the fore of grapefruit pith and lemon zest. A saline twang on the finish lends further interest. This is a wine that is made for simply prepared seafood dishes – vongole tossed through linguine would be perfect!

2015 TERRA COSTANTINO ETNA BIANCO
Producer: Terra Costantino
Variety: Carricante, Catarratto
Region: Sicily, Italy
ABV: 13.0%
Closure: Natural cork
Retail Price: $50.00
Date tasted: 18 March 2018

Tasting Note:
Bright lemon yellow. Attractive nose of lemon citrus, grapefruit pith and bath salts. Dry, medium bodied, good palate weight. Nice ‘cut and drive’. Citrus pith. Slightly saline. Good drive and intensity. Excellent wine for seafood.
Score: 17/20