Angas Plains PJs Special Shiraz 2006

I've been a member of Angas Plains "PJs Connections" wine club for a while now, and I'm only a member of 2 clubs that send me wine on a 'subscription' basis. Generally I'd rather taste the wine first, but Angas Plains have not sent me a bad wine yet, I get good variety including some nice museum stock, hence I trust them and look forward to these packs.

Normally the six-packs (wines not abs, much to my wife's disappointment) are sent half yearly, but for reasons known only to family run type wine businesses, this one was slightly delayed from April. I expect if I enquired there would be mutterings about vineyards needing pruning and weather and stuff like that.

I was quite pleased to find a bottle of the 2006 Special Shiraz in the pack. This is an export only label and us members have been joyfully telling our mates, "yes I know, it is good, but no, you can't have any more". Thing is, with our Aussie dollar being sexy to those who have an economy that may go the way of Greece, export sales seem to have fallen off. Rejoice Aussies, because yes Oliver, you can have some more.

It's a very nice wine, some distinctive Larncrk character as Monsieur P White would say, and I reckon they should rename the area that.

Intense flavours and aromas, blackberry, morello cherries, graphite with a mineral finish. It's probably got more than that if you can let it have time in the glass. My wife couldn't. Superfine tannins and lovely mouth watering acid.  Possibly could do with more meat on the bones as the 14% seems hotter, but I don't mind it, then again some more air might fix that. Given that it's Diam sealed and it's age I'd drink in the shorter term, the bottle says 6 years but 10 easily. Highly Recommended.

Will be a short term special, but you can get it here whilst stocks last.
 

Purple Hands 2012 Mataro Grenache Shiraz

First thing I noticed on decanting is the wine smells like a winery at vintage, and that's a pretty complex and very pleasant combination of aromatics. Old barrels, fresh fruit, grape skins and seeds, and the angels share of aging wines wafting around the place.

Note how I didn't mention the aromatics provided by the winemakers and cellar hands, it's probably not good to be downwind of guys working 15 hour days.

Tasting it after the decant and I wasn't so excited, it was a bit flat and almost tart. The label said it was Purple Hands and predominantly Mataro and 2012, plus the aforementioned waftings, clearly something was missing. Air, I think to myself. A few more double decant and some serious sloshing followed by a bit of a rest, for me, not the wine. Yup, I was right, a huge improvement, it just needed waking up. I wish that's all it took for me on a Monday morning.

Medium to full body. Red fruit dominant but this is good ripe picked-fresh-from-the-bush raspberry, a bit of fresh from the tree mulberry too, which is the other way to get purple hands. A bit of meaty savoury character before the peppery finish, supported by firm and very fine tannins, and a dash of mouth watering acid to encourage the next sip.

A very good blend this, and by accounts some tinkering and thinkering went into giving this wine the complexity it has. Best of all it's pretty seamless between the three varieties. Actually that's not the best part, the best part is this continues to improve the longer it's in the glass. The only problem being it's not actually spending all that long in the glass.

Highly Recommended++ and maybe even +.

Chris Ringland 2007 CR Shiraz

This is long sold out, so this is just an opinion on how it's travelling at 6 years old.

Lighter than most CRs, it's only 15.5%, and in theory from a tough vintage but the tannins are lovely despite this and in fact I reckon they're mostly from the oak which is unusual of 07, especially in the BV.

A bit of secondary development showing, but the fruit and oak still in your face. Acid is mouth watering.

Pretty sure this is a Dan Murphy only label, so unlikely I will buy any in the future as I see the duopoly being to my detriment in the longer term, plus exclusive labels tend to disrespect the consumer. Still, Mr. Ringland made 'em nice back then.

No hurry to drink it, but then no great reason not to. I'll open another in a year since I bought a case of this quite cheap a few years back, and not from Mr. Murphy either.

Turkey Flat Butchers Block 2012

A couple of summers ago I became a serious fan of the Rhone blend, typically Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. A bit lighter weight than most Shiraz and they often drink well with a slight chill, which is nice for the warmer days. The 2010 of this was pretty damned good and I've been looking forward to the 2012.

The nose is somewhat Grenache red fruit dominant, but that's often the nature of Grenache isn't it? Some pencil shavings, allspice and a dollop of Mulberry jam.

Lovely fine powdery tannin backbone and pretty good acidity, if slightly tart.

The thing is though, the hallmark of a good GSM, or in this case SGM, is that it should be seamless with no one variety being too obvious. Unfortunately, unlike the 2010, the 2012 is unbalanced, with the Grenache completely dominating the Shiraz despite the latter being the bulk of this wine, and the Mataro is hiding away in the corner scared of the guy with the intense red eyes.

It's a well made wine, and if you're a Grenache fan perhaps this is your cup of tea.


Rating: Agreeable (remember, I'm a hard marker).

For fans of GSMs I'd highly recommend the 2012 Teusner Avatar as a great example of what a perfect blend of the three can be.

2012 Teusner Independent Shiraz Mataro

I was fortunate enough to first taste this with Kym Teusner, along with pretty much his full range of wines. It is staggering to see that he and his team has put together such an impressive range of truly great wines in a little over 10 years.

Before I talk about this wine, I also tasted the flagship 2011 Righteous Mataro. Kym was advised not to release it, with the 2011 bad vintage hoohah, and most wineries not releasing their flagships from that year. He felt that regardless of the overall vintage, the quality of fruit for that wine still deserved it's status as a flagship. It seems this wine is a bit polarising, I think it is one of the best wines I have ever had, but perhaps that's my bias to Mataro and great oak...time will tell though.

Short story, Kym is bloody talented - and humble enough to mention the other winemakers that helped him through the very tough vintage.

So, to the Independent, a wine specifically made for the independent retailers and not sold to the large chains, thus trying to help the small guys avoid a price war against the big boys with deep pockets.

Shiraz and Mataro in equal parts if memory serves correct. Black and brooding when dormant, but poke the beast and maroon blood stains the sides of the glass. Balsamic glazed plums accompanying a thick steak seared black on the barbie, sprinkled with fresh roasted ground star anise, nutmeg and brown cardamon seeds. That's the wine, and probably not a bad meal to have with it.

Better after a day's breathing - the wine, not the steak - lovely tannins, balanced acid and a just a delight to drink, especially with food. I liked this better than the 2012 Riebke, then again I bought both.

At $25 RRP this is a high VFM wine, especially this stellar vintage. Drink now or drink in 10 years.

Rating: Highly Recommended++

Note: not sure the 2012 is released yet, I have not tried the 2011.

Marius 2006 Symposium

You can't buy this, so it's more of a progress report than a review. Possibly it's a taunt even.

I've had this a few times now, I've got a small, and thus inadequate, personal stock and it's been on tasting at the Marius harvest at least once. Unfortunately I never tasted it when it was newly released, and the only reason that is unfortunate is that I cannot compare it to the current excellent 2010 release.

What I can say is that, right now, tonight, I think this may be the most enjoyable wine I have ever had. Many years to go.

That's a personal opinion of course, and I have certainly had wines with more wow factor, but there is something immensely satisfying to me in this one. Complexity, intensity, depth, breadth, length, balance, all of the boxes are not only ticked but the words are also circled and underlined.

I had a bottle of the 2010 recently, because I can't leave it alone - and it's likely still available because I am ahead of the curve, so I feel safe-ish that I can restock. Who knows if the 2010 will end up as good as the 06 at the same age, but I reckon it's an even safer bet than Black Caviar.

Crabtree 2010s, well mostly

2010 Shiraz "Hilltops vineyard"
I wish they'd label this a bit clearer because of course it also says 'Watervale' on the label. Very nice wine from a great vintage showing regional Clare characters and skilled winemaking. Plenty of fruit oomph and will go 5+ years I reckon. ***** VFM and HRec+ ~$17

2010 Shiraz "Watervale"
This one does at least have a small red circle telling you it's hand picked that allows easy identification between the 2 Shirazii, then again the Hilltops is hand picked too! There is more structure to this wine and the fruit is darker in nature, designed to age a bit longer I'd guess and probably for 10 years or so. Right now the Hilltops drinks better but I can see a lot to come here. ***** VFM and HRec++ ~$20

2010 "Hilltops" Cabernet Sauvignon
First release! The Windmill 2010 is long gone, this is the new baby brother, and what a very interesting wine this is. I put it out blind to the gang last night and got back guesses of Cab Franc, Sangiovese, and even Shiraz plus descriptors of lychees and mulberry. It's a fairly muscular wine if not quite full bodied and quite slurpable. Not sure it's in for the long haul but I reckon I'll stick one away for 3-5 years. ***** VFM and Recommended ~$16

Crabtree 2011 Tempranillo - the full monty tasting

This wine intrigued me, not the least because it was 2011 and I was ready to write it off. This is pretty big for a Tempr, and big for a 2011 wine. Apparently it was harvested before the big wet. The nose is very powerful, and savoury. I've no doubt there is a fair wack of new oak in this but I don't find it sticking out in taste or bouquet, but the tannin is a different story, not unpleasant but does give you the feeling it needs to integrate over the next 2-3 years, then again I like oak. There's a little dried herb bitterness right at the end, but the pleasant kind and adds to the savoury character.

After 2 glasses I am convinced, this is a very good 2011 wine, and one of the better Temps I've had for a while (though I don't have many). Went perfectly with roast pork. I wouldn't buy a case but will pick up a few more if I see them again. Recommended+ and **** ~$17

The prices quoted were specials at Melbourne St Cellars who often do a buck or 2 off for the wines on tasting, and another buck per bottle in (mixed) dozens.