Mitolo Serpico Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 McLaren Vale Australia

Mitolo Serpico Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 from McLaren Vale in South Australia contains 10% Syrah in the blend, with the rest being Cabernet Sauvignon, and was made in the 'Amarone method' from grapes picked at around 12.5% potential alcohol and then semi-dried slowly until 70% of their original weight, finishing at around 15% potential alcohol. They are  then fermented on their skins for 2 weeks.  It is made by  winemaker Ben Glaetzer and Frank Mitolo ( who is Italian hence the Amarone method). The grapes come from a grower in Woolunga and are from a single block  at the southern end of the McLaren Vale which were picked early and so avoided the excessive heat  in 2008.
It was matured for 9 months in 100% new barriques, 90% French and this produces a rich, concentrated complex wine with alot to offer.
It has a deep, deep ruby core and abundant concentrated aromas of black berries, mint, leather,  olive oil and sweet spices - very tempting. On tasting, it is vibrant on the palate, sweet black fruits overlaid with sweet spices, cedar box smokiness and minty olive oil, all this is intertwined with intense dried fruit flavours which are redolent of Christmas and all things spicey . The texture is rich and silky, the structural tannins which enrobe the wine, are ripe, savoury and powerful and add another dimension to its structure. The succulent fruit is concentrated and fresh with a vibrancy that suggests it is only just beginning its journey.
I am sure at this point you can tell - I liked this wine, it was one to sit by a warm fire on a rainy Sunday - or eat with a lovely meal - and you can buy it from Slurp at a price of £29.95 or from Paul Adams Wines at £25, good value for this quality - Enjoy!

Score : 94

McLaren Vale is one of South Australia's oldest and most picturesque regions, nestled between the Mount Lofty Ranges and the white, sandy beaches of the Gulf of St Vincent. It has rolling vineyards, a rugged coastline and a charming collective of villages including Willunga, Clarendon, Kangarilla, Sellicks, Port Willunga, McLaren Flat and the township of McLaren Vale.

 

There is substantial climatic variation throughout McLaren Vale, due to varying exposure to the cooling influence of the nearby ocean. There are also significant changes in altitude as the region merges with the Adelaide Hills to the East and the Fleurieu Peninsula to the South. Summer rainfall is low, and supplementary irrigation is considered essential. Site selection and the marriage of site to variety are all-important; Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay all do very well in the appropriate location and with the wide variety of soils - red-brown sandy loams, grey-brown loamy sands with yellow clay subsoils interspersed with lime, distinctly sandy soils and patches of red or black friable loams are all to be found and again the grape to soil mix is all important.

Brokenwood Semillon 2011 Hunter Valley Australia

Brokenwood Semillon 2011 is from the cool Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. It is a straw coloured with green tints - zesty, some would say pungent wine with grassy, lemon crisp aromas and a florality that I had not expected but did like.
On the palate there is an initial slight spritz which teases the tongue, not unpleasant but disguises the forthcoming pleasure. The grassy, zesty lemon and citric peel continue on the palate with a clean freshing, nervy acidity, it is clear cut and fruity, the finish is long with a lemon curd twist. The silky, waxy texture which develops in the mouth further increases the pleasure of this wine - a well structured, finely tuned wine with generous acidic backbone, satisfying finish and the fine boned etheral texture keeps it charming for longer ( on palate and memory). Great with food, but equally yummy without!
Score : 85 and available form Slurp at a cost of £12.50.

The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest producing wine region, with vines first planted in the 1820’s and is approximately two hours drive north of Sydney and to the northwest of Newcastle. It is based on the catchment of the Hunter Valley River & includes the Upper & Lower Hunter areas.

The Hunter Valley is warm / hot. However, temperature, within broad limits, has nothing to do with quality, but affects only the style. In addition to hot days, the Hunter Valley has relatively warm nights when the physiological processes that ripen fruit can continue. The days are also quite humid, reducing moisture stress and allowing the leaves to keep their pores open longer during hot weather. This allows photosynthesis and growth to continue when, in drier air, it would not. The Lower Hunter Valley around Pokolbin is a little wetter than Broke Fordwich and the Upper Hunter Valley but is closer to the coast and benefits more from cooling sea breezes.

Soils : There are three main soil types in the Hunter Valley. The first is the red clay loam that appears on the hilltops and slopes. Red soils are well-drained and provide a good medium for vines; these are where the best Shiraz is grown. On some slopes you’ll also find chocolate brown podsols which are also good for red wines. You’ll find the third major soil type on the flats along the creek beds where grey sandy loams overlie white or yellow clays. Casuarinas are a good indicator for these soils and this is where whites grow best - mostly Semillon and Chardonnay.  In the Upper Hunter Valley, these soils tend to be a little deeper and grade into black loams. 

From A+ Australia about Hunter Valley Semillon: Is considered to be a world benchmark wine, it is the stellar white variety in the region. Semillon is at its delicate best when picked early to make a wine of ten to 11.5% alcohol and almost invariably has ripe flavours at low sugar concentrations. This is the style of wine that best responds to bottle age, during which it develops outstanding lemon curd and toasty complexity and becomes barely recognisable from its demure beginning. Most companies release their Semillons when only a few months old when they are crisp and lively with a light body and fresh, lemony and grassy fruit. A few keep some wines for bottle-maturation and release after five years or more when they have deepened in colour, become rounder and softer in the mouth and developed the most brilliantly complex flavours of vanilla and buttered toast.

mac forbes Chardonnay 2011 Yarra Valley Australia

mac forbes Chardonnay 2011 from the Yarra Valley in Victoria,  Australia is a cool vintage wine from a cool region, the restrained aromas of apples and zesty fruits with a hint of cheese is redeemed by the zesty acidity and citric appley flavours on the palate, the alcohol (11.8%) merely supports the structure which is streamlined and elegant, it has a minerality that could be described as wet stones.....  and has clarity - a style that has been aimed at and acheived! The finish is long and sharp fruits are present, slightly acidic - but for food - great.
'Chablis'esk' in style.
Score : 84 and is available from Slurp at a cost of £20.55.

Mac's 2011 Yarra Chardonnay is a blend of the declassified barrels, mainly from the Hoddles Creek and Woori Yallock sites in the cooler upper Yarra Valley. These sites are renowned for producing grapes with citrus flavours and high natural acidity at moderate sugar levels. The grapes for this wine were de-stemmed and crushed before pressing. The juice was cold settled overnight before being racked to barrel for fermentation. Post fermentation the lees were stirred every two weeks until spring. The final new oak component of the wine is roughly 14%. Mac has a Europhile approach to wine making: early harvesting, natural acidity, his search for cool sites, and a relative absence of new oak.

The Yarra Valley was Victoria's first wine growing district with a history stretching back 170 years. It is known as the birthplace of Victoria's wine industry. Vines were first planted in 1838 and viticulture spread rapidly through the 1860s and 1870s And is now recognised as one of Australia's foremost cool climate regions, capable of making classic styles from a wide range of varieties. It is located less than one hour's drive east of Melbourne and is currently home to more than 80 wineries and although grows many grapes successfully it is well known for its high quality for production of premium Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The Yarra Valley is one of Australia's coolest regions, with elevation varying from 50 metres to 400 metres. Rainfall is winter/spring dominant, with the summer relatively cool, dry and humid and there is limited maritime influence a small diurnal temperature range reflects the proximity of the sea. Frost is rarely a problem, but can affect the lower vineyards on the valley floor from time to time. A rainfall of 750-950 millimetres and restricted water holding capacity in some soils, irrigation is considered essential − although the extent of its use does vary significantly between producers. Another  point worth noting is that the Yarra Valley is Phyloxera free.

mac forbes - what people say!

“Mac Forbes is one of the young guns of the Yarra Valley; he was winemaker at Mount Mary for several years before heading to Europe, returning in time for the ’05 vintage.” James Halliday, The Australian

“[Mac Forbes] is a young leader of the movement toward bright, fresh Yarra wines from cool sites.” ‘2010 Wineries to Watch’, Wine & Spirits Magazine

“Mac Forbes, good dude and modern day Bourke and Wills for the ‘elusive sites’, has done much for sexing up the Yarra Valley region’s ability to do great things with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. He fiddles, he fossicks, he sources, he has nice hair. Who doesn’t like nice hair? Meanwhile, the wine itself is notable for finding that tenuous balance between herbal/cool climate influence and the pure, ripe, expressive fruit component.” Mike Bennie, The Wine Front, March 2011

Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2011 Australia

Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2011 from Hilltops in New South Wales in Australia, Clonakilla literally means ‘meadow of the church’ and is the name of the founder’s grandfather’s farm in County Clare, Ireland. Dr John Kirk founded Clonakilla vineyard at Murrumbateman, 40 kilometres north of Canberra. In 1997 Tim Kirk, the fourth of John's six sons, took over the responsibility for winemaking.

The grapes for this Shiraz were selected from three vineyards in the Hilltops district around Young in New South Wales, the Canberra District .s closest neighbouring wine region. Soils are deep red loam over light clay, giving distinctive blackberry and blackcurrant notes to the wine.

The grapes were destemmed and fermented warm together with no bunches. The wine was matured for 11 months in French oak, 15% new. The wine was racked once during its maturation in oak and bottled in late February 2012.

This wine is a medium ruby core with wide ruby rim and with slow legs. The 2011 was a cool vintage and produced elegant fine structured wines ( and not as deep as the norm for this wine). The wine has black and red berry aromas on top of floral notes (violets), followed by a black pepper edge and a certain meatiness. On the palate, savoury ripe tannins enrobe the black berry and red currant flavours, there is fresh acidity  and the alcohol feels low and structural (12%). There once more is a fine floral note and a herbal sandalwood edge, this feels elegant, multilayered and complex on the mouth and the length is long with finely etched flavours. There is a perfumed quality to this wine that hints at a Viognier content - Shiraz Viognier a common mix - but this could be from the cool vintage.

This is available to purchase from Slurp at a cost of £16.95.
Score : 86

Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2011 Clare Valley South Australia

Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling 2011 from the Clare Valley in South Australia.

Mount Horrocks Wines is run by proprietor/winemaker Stephanie Toole who restricts production to approximately 4,500 cases per annum so as to achieve her aims of quality and single vineyard expression. She describes her wines as .essentially hand made food wines with an emphasis on structure as well as generous fruit flavours.. All grapes are 100% estate grown from three separate vineyard sites totalling nearly 10 hectares in the Clare Valley and the 26-year-old low yielding unirrigated Watervale vineyards are east facing, with a mixture of red loam, loamy/clay and marl soils.

The Clare Valley is less than a two-hour drive from Adelaide and is considered one of the most picturesque wine regions in South Australia.  James Halliday ( Wine Companion ) described the Clare Valley as one of Australia’s most beautiful wine-producing regions where Hills fold in on themselves, streamlets meander and lines of gumtrees are forever twisting through pockets of vineyards and around old stone houses.

Situated in the northern Mt Lofty Ranges, South Australia’s Clare Valley was settled in the late 1830s, with the first vineyards planted and wines produced in the early 1840s. The same features that make the Clare Valley inherently beautiful are also the foundation of Clare’s famed vineyards. The climate features a warm to hot summer where cool afternoon breezes are the key and play a major role in slowing down the ripening process, but cooling afternoon breezes play a major role in slowing down the ripening process. altitude and position within the Valley, as well as aspect, lead to considerable variations in individual site climate. The climate is moderately Continental, with cool to cold nights and warm to hot summer days. The rainfall is winter-spring dominant, while relatively low humidity (and summer rainfall) means a low incidence of fungal disease.  Hence some of Australia's finest Riesling is grown in the Clare Valley, and the region also produces many other wine styles, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz.  

This wines grapes were crushed and de-stemmed and the must fermented in stainless steel tanks at 14-16°C over a two to three week period. The juice was inoculated with a mixture of champagne yeasts plus other neutral yeasts and fermented to dryness. No malolactic fermentation occurred.

This wine has a low aroma of apples, peaches and more than a smattering of minerality, there is also a slightly tropical note that develops as it warms to room temperature. On the mouth, the dry wine is fresh with concentrated, elegant acidity, flavours of key limes, green apples and the texture is silky and slightly waxy in the mouth. The length is good with a true lime end - a lovely crafted wine with lots to offer. Available from Slurp at a cost of £15.95.

Score : 86

 

Jansz Premium Cuvee Brut NV Tasmania

Jansz Premium Cuvee Brut NV is a wine made with grapes from the Tamar  Valley in the heart of the Pipers River region in north eastern Tasmania.  Red basalt soils and a cool climate moderated by the proximity of Bass Strait, means the vineyards are ideal for allowing grapes to ripen slowly and develop the lingering acidity essential to produce a premium sparkling wine.
Jansz was Tasmania’s first sparkling wine to be made according to the traditional méthod champenoise, the winemaker since 2001 is Natalie Fryar, and the blend of grapes used  is 53% Chardonnay and 47% Pinot Noir. The grapes come from various vineyard plots and are vinified separately until the wines go through secondary fermentation in bottles and are aged on yeast lees for as long as possible; the average tirage of the final blend is 2 years.
This sparkling wine had fine swift bubbles which prickled in the mouth and had persistence. Aromas of white flowers, biscuit and apple are followed by apricot, lemon, apple and generally fresh well balanced acidity, a hint of nutty biscuit generally adds another dimension to this wine, it has an elegance not often found in New World sparklers maybe due to its time on the lees or the 100% Malolactic Fermentation and the final assemblage! The length is fresh, appley and has a minerality that was not apparent initially on the palate. At £12.95 from Slurp - a bargain!
Score : 87

Tasmania
Tasmania is the most southerly point in the world involved with grape growing and wine making - and the thing that is most surprising is the many microclimates that exist on this island with its maritime climate. The west coast is wet, cold and has rainforest scenery with mountainous terrain, the east coast is very dry ( due to the rainshadow from the mountains) and the north coast also has a good climate for grapes, the soil is good for grape production - overall a great place for cool climate grapes! Pinot Noir is the most planted grape, with Chardonnay following in second place with half its weight per annum. The land is being snapped up by many Australian producers as well as international big producers - so watch this space.

The wine surplus much talked about in Australias mainland does not esist here - they can sell everything they produce ( the level of production is about 3% of the Australian production) and the quality is high, little gets exported .

Brown Brothers Brut NV King Valley, Victoria

Brown Brothers Brut NV Sparkling wine from the Malawa vineyard in the  King Valley, Victoria. It has aromas reminiscant of apricot, grapefruit and shortbread biscuits, it has fresh zesty acidity and quite a silky texture though the bubbles were large and fierce, flavours of apricot and apple come through on the palate, the length is quite short with a biscuity finish which is pleasant.
It is available from Slurp at a cost of £14.85.
Score : 79

Domaine la Suffrène Bandol Rouge 2008 Provence, France

Domaine la Suffrène Bandol Rouge 2008 is a blend of Mouvedre, Cinsault and Carignan made by Cedric Gravier on the 45 hectares in Bandol ( across the communes of La Cadière d'Azur and Castellet) which is in the south of Provence. The vines are trained traditionally Gobolet style, green harvesting is used to limit the yield and ensure high quality grapes. The deep, deep ruby core and narrow purple rim,  smack of a quality wine which has been carefully made, abundant concentrated aromas of black juicy fruits including Black Cherries and a smattering of sweet spice with maybe a hint of Provencal Herbs ( or is this just my romantic imagination) tempt you in, and once tasted all that it promised comes true. It is dry and savoury but has a well structured array of fruits and tannins to support them and acidity to keep this well balanced palate fresh and alive. The dark fruits have spice intermingled with them, as well as leather and a savoury edge, the tannins grippy and tasty lead you to a long finish of dark fruits, leather and spice, alot to do with the prescence of Mourvedre!
The vineyards in the Bandol region are steep and hot - allowing the Mourvedre to ripen producing deep complex wines.
Supplied by Slurp at a cost of £16.55.
Score : 94

Domaine d'Ott Clos Mireille Blanc de Blanc 2010 Côtes de Provence

Domaine d'Ott Clos Mireille Blanc de Blanc 2010 from the east of the Côtes de Provence in Southern France. The Domaine was started by Marcel Ott but purchased by Champagne Roederer 5 years ago. This white wine is made from a blend of 80% Sémillon and 20% Rolle ( Vermentino ). It is a pale lemon with a green tint to the rim and on the nose it has a floral note above the white stone fruit aromas and a green vegetal nuance, but it has a youthful fresh aura.
On the palate there is fresh brisk acidity and a silky texture with warming but well integrated acidity, it has great structure and flavours of white stone fruits, flowers and a long finish with apricot through to the end. It is an elegant well structured wine in a very trendy bottle. Slurp supply this wine at a cost of £23+.
Score : 88 but is it good value? 

Domaines Schlumberger Grand Cru Kessler Gewurztraminer 2005 in Alsace France

Domaines Schlumberger Grand Cru Kessler Gewurztraminer 2005 is from a single Grand Cru vineyard in Guebwiller in Alsace which is in Eastern France near the border of Germany. This wine came from Slurp and cost £18.35 and as is more common in Alsace due to its weather ( warm autumns and low rainfall due to the vosges mountains) the vineyard is run biodynamically and Domaines Schlumberger is one of the largest vineayard owners  in Alsace. This wine has won awards and indeed in Decanter November 2009  it was a 5star Decanter Award Winner and also a silver award in the 100+ Alsace Grand Cru wines tested.

This wine has a characteristic deepish gold colour - the grape Gewurztraminer often has quite a deep gold colour. Floral, deeply perfumed aromas of elderflower and roses promise what is to come, aromatics  also include grape and lychee. Once tasted the aromas are carried through to the palate with additional white stone fruits, the acidity is no higher than medium, again normal for this grape variety, the alcohol is warming but balanced. The wine feels silky in the mouth and the length is good, spicy to the end with roses, citric waves and stone fruits layered and complex with a lovely bitter, dry finish.
This is a wine is full and lush with amazing vivacity considering its age - but the pedigree says it all.

Grand Cru Brand Pinot Gris Cave de Turkheim Alsace France 2008

Grand Cru Brand Pinot Gris 2008 is a wine made by Cave de Turkheim using the Pinot Gris grape which as expected is situated in Turkheim, a lovely village with some great restaurants and friendly people. We visited the Turkheim in October 2009 when they were just finishing the harvest and the smell of fermentation filled the air in many of the villages of the region.
Michel Lihrmann has been their senior winemaker for over 25 years and produces some high quality wines which are exported all over the world and have a good reputation. Grand Cru defines the vineyard (by local regualtion and is strictly defined and registered by law allied to production methods of the highest standards ) as having a very special “terroir” and the resulting wine should reflect the finest attributes of the grape variety Brand is such a vineyard.
The wine is pale gold and with quite intense aromas of cooked pears, caramel and honey with  overriding floral notes - it invites you to sip!
There is some sweetness to the wine, residual fruit sugar which implies honey but overall it is off dry, good acidic backbone balancing the alcohol which is well integrated ( 13.5%) and flavours of pear, cooked apple, tropical fruits with some sweet spice mixed in. The length is good, with a dry, clean finish.  Overall my thoughts on this wine are that it is a well made rich, crisp wine with a silky texture that works with many dishes from Thai, chicken and fruit puddings - Enjoy!
Supplied by Slurp at a price of £16.60, not bad value for such a beautiful wine.