Bottle variation has been an unfortunate hallmark of the lesser Mount Pleasant wines, something the use of Stelvin closures may ameliorate. This 1999 Semillon, though, is bottled under old-fashioned cork, and my experience of it has been up and down. The last bottle, opened perhaps two weeks ago, was dumb and lifeless. I thought I'd try my luck again tonight, and I think this bottle is more representative of the wine's quality and character.
Lovely golden colour. The nose was initially a bit muted, with a little prickly sulfur. Closer to room temperature, and the wine is showing a range of elegant aromas, such as beeswax and a lightly herbal astringency, perhaps some buttery softness too. Still quite fresh at nearly ten years of age.
The palate shows remnants of the spritzy acidity often observed in young Semillon, but this soon gives way to a waxy, slippery mouthfeel that lovers of aged Hunter Semillon will no doubt adore. This wine's line is akin to a wedge that starts tight and widens progressively through to an expansive finish. On the way, classic notes of sweet honey and lanolin caress the tongue, along with some citrus-like reminders of youth. There are also hints of caramel and butter, and in some respects one could be forgiven for thinking this is a Chardonnay. Palate weight also accumulates towards the after palate, to the point where it's really quite mouthfilling and almost chewy. Good length.
This wine is just starting to show at its best and, although not the most complex or most intense, shows brilliant typicité. Bloody good value.
Mount Pleasant
Price: $A12
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: July 2008
Lovely golden colour. The nose was initially a bit muted, with a little prickly sulfur. Closer to room temperature, and the wine is showing a range of elegant aromas, such as beeswax and a lightly herbal astringency, perhaps some buttery softness too. Still quite fresh at nearly ten years of age.
The palate shows remnants of the spritzy acidity often observed in young Semillon, but this soon gives way to a waxy, slippery mouthfeel that lovers of aged Hunter Semillon will no doubt adore. This wine's line is akin to a wedge that starts tight and widens progressively through to an expansive finish. On the way, classic notes of sweet honey and lanolin caress the tongue, along with some citrus-like reminders of youth. There are also hints of caramel and butter, and in some respects one could be forgiven for thinking this is a Chardonnay. Palate weight also accumulates towards the after palate, to the point where it's really quite mouthfilling and almost chewy. Good length.
This wine is just starting to show at its best and, although not the most complex or most intense, shows brilliant typicité. Bloody good value.
Mount Pleasant
Price: $A12
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: July 2008
On release, I liked this wine more than its siblings, the St George and Limestone Ridge. I can't remember why, exactly, so this tasting is a good opportunity to find out whether it's as special as I remember.
The colour is garnet with some bricking at the edges. The nose is a classic mixture of tobacco, vanilla oak, dark fruit and a bloom of aged influences expressed as sweet leather and mushroom. Assertive, seductive and lush, despite the abundance of savoury notes.
The palate shows some surprises. Youthful red and black fruits register first on entry, followed by a series of more savoury elements, such as leaf and leathery notes. These add complexity to the core of sweet fruit, though never quite dominate it. A remarkably persistent intensity of flavour kicks in towards the mid-palate and dominates one's sense of the wine from that point onwards. This is a very assertive wine; fruit and delicately sweet aged characters attach themselves to the tongue aided by a blanket of fine tannins. These flavours stay attached through the after palate, and it's only towards the finish that other influences, such as sappy oak, start to displace them. Length is very impressive.
Interesting wine, this one. Initially, I was super impressed with its intensity and impact, but realised after a while that these qualities mask a certain one-dimensionality to the flavour profile. It's still a good wine, just not the most elegant style, or perhaps it's not at an ideal stage of development. I wonder, too, whether the fruit character hints at DMS. If you have some, wait a little longer. I suspect if the fruit recedes a further notch or two, it will be more rewarding to drink.
Lindemans
Price: $A50
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: July 2008
The colour is garnet with some bricking at the edges. The nose is a classic mixture of tobacco, vanilla oak, dark fruit and a bloom of aged influences expressed as sweet leather and mushroom. Assertive, seductive and lush, despite the abundance of savoury notes.
The palate shows some surprises. Youthful red and black fruits register first on entry, followed by a series of more savoury elements, such as leaf and leathery notes. These add complexity to the core of sweet fruit, though never quite dominate it. A remarkably persistent intensity of flavour kicks in towards the mid-palate and dominates one's sense of the wine from that point onwards. This is a very assertive wine; fruit and delicately sweet aged characters attach themselves to the tongue aided by a blanket of fine tannins. These flavours stay attached through the after palate, and it's only towards the finish that other influences, such as sappy oak, start to displace them. Length is very impressive.
Interesting wine, this one. Initially, I was super impressed with its intensity and impact, but realised after a while that these qualities mask a certain one-dimensionality to the flavour profile. It's still a good wine, just not the most elegant style, or perhaps it's not at an ideal stage of development. I wonder, too, whether the fruit character hints at DMS. If you have some, wait a little longer. I suspect if the fruit recedes a further notch or two, it will be more rewarding to drink.
Lindemans
Price: $A50
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: July 2008
There's something about wines that are potentially great: when you get them in the glass, no matter of time spent sniffing and thinking seems to offer so much as a suggestion as to what exactly this wine is supposed to be. Most wines offer easy clues: raspberry motor oil? Congratulations, you've just bought a high octane Barossa shiraz? Your grandmother's toilet soap mixed in with Hawaiian Punch? Congratulation, you just bought a trendy Shiraz Viognier that someone hurried to market in the early 2000s.
And this wine? I'm stumped. Is that earth? Dried dates, perhaps? No. Something like nail varnish and vetiver? No, that's not it either. It's definitely old - as I poured it into the glass, its color was hesitant, shy, unwilling to assert itself. Cloves and camphor? That might be more correct... at any rate, there is still some kind of primary fruit hanging on for dear life here, combined with somewhat "off" (yet likeable!) notes of dirt and sharpness.
Surprisingly rich in the mouth, it still defies easy description; this isn't really like any wine I know. There's something here which reminds me of a discontinued chocolate sampler left over from last season's Valentine's Day shopping: the tiniest bit musty with a fruitiness of confectionarial trends long since past. There's almost a horehound medicinal aspect here too, but not really; menthol, perhaps, but more of a folk remedy than cheap chewing gum additives. There's absolutely lovely viscosity here as well; the feel is surprising and welcoming; there's also a curiously high-pitched tangential note that enter early on and remains for some time. Finally, there still seems to be some sweet, woody character here that still supports it all.
So: I'm not sure what the heck to say about this wine other than it is strange, strange in the best possible way. Everything they teach you in wine school turns out to be wrong in this one case: you can't grow grapes in such a terrible climate, you shouldn't age New World wines that long, you name it. But what we have here, ultimately, is (I think) terroir, plain and simple. Somehow, the local pioneers sussed that the Hunter Valley does in fact produce phenomenally good wines - wines that are in fact better than good as they're entirely sui generis. And that's no small achievement.
Mount Pleasant
Price: No idea (this was a present from Julian); Wine Searcher says about A$42 for the current release
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: July 2008
And this wine? I'm stumped. Is that earth? Dried dates, perhaps? No. Something like nail varnish and vetiver? No, that's not it either. It's definitely old - as I poured it into the glass, its color was hesitant, shy, unwilling to assert itself. Cloves and camphor? That might be more correct... at any rate, there is still some kind of primary fruit hanging on for dear life here, combined with somewhat "off" (yet likeable!) notes of dirt and sharpness.
Surprisingly rich in the mouth, it still defies easy description; this isn't really like any wine I know. There's something here which reminds me of a discontinued chocolate sampler left over from last season's Valentine's Day shopping: the tiniest bit musty with a fruitiness of confectionarial trends long since past. There's almost a horehound medicinal aspect here too, but not really; menthol, perhaps, but more of a folk remedy than cheap chewing gum additives. There's absolutely lovely viscosity here as well; the feel is surprising and welcoming; there's also a curiously high-pitched tangential note that enter early on and remains for some time. Finally, there still seems to be some sweet, woody character here that still supports it all.
So: I'm not sure what the heck to say about this wine other than it is strange, strange in the best possible way. Everything they teach you in wine school turns out to be wrong in this one case: you can't grow grapes in such a terrible climate, you shouldn't age New World wines that long, you name it. But what we have here, ultimately, is (I think) terroir, plain and simple. Somehow, the local pioneers sussed that the Hunter Valley does in fact produce phenomenally good wines - wines that are in fact better than good as they're entirely sui generis. And that's no small achievement.
Mount Pleasant
Price: No idea (this was a present from Julian); Wine Searcher says about A$42 for the current release
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: July 2008
A fascinating counterpoint to its Watervale sibling, this wine would be a great education for those drinkers who think of Australian wine as a terroir-free zone. I'm not sure it would turn any drinkers on to Riesling, though. That sounds like a put-down, but it's reflective merely of style, not quality. For those converts among us, it's pure pleasure.
A delicate, wispy nose that presents a riot of high toned aromas. There are florals, minerality, slate, etc. The tiniest hint of toast also registers and it's the only element that indicates the six years that have passed between vintage and this tasting. Compared to the Watervale, this is a much more restrained wine, no less complex, but different nonetheless. With some time in glass, rounder fruit notes also emerge, yet the overall profile remains lithe and chiselled.
On entry, bright, ultra-fine acidity freshens the palate and ushers beautifully delineated flavours onto the mid-palate. There's more slate and mineral, hints of powdery lime blossom, and some edges of honey too, all showing excellent intensity despite the ultra-light palate weight. It's elusive in a way, both structured and ephemeral, like a puff of smoke that shows unexpected geometry before spiralling into the sky. Fruit gains weight on the after palate, and the finish sings with mineral and honey in equal measure. So, so elegant.
It's a wine that screams quality, but is considerably more intellectual an experience than the Watervale. Reading Chris's earlier note, I concur with his description minus the petrol, which I'm not getting from this bottle. This is just starting to age, and I'm going to leave my next tasting for another two to three years.
Grosset
Price: $A40
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: July 2008
A delicate, wispy nose that presents a riot of high toned aromas. There are florals, minerality, slate, etc. The tiniest hint of toast also registers and it's the only element that indicates the six years that have passed between vintage and this tasting. Compared to the Watervale, this is a much more restrained wine, no less complex, but different nonetheless. With some time in glass, rounder fruit notes also emerge, yet the overall profile remains lithe and chiselled.
On entry, bright, ultra-fine acidity freshens the palate and ushers beautifully delineated flavours onto the mid-palate. There's more slate and mineral, hints of powdery lime blossom, and some edges of honey too, all showing excellent intensity despite the ultra-light palate weight. It's elusive in a way, both structured and ephemeral, like a puff of smoke that shows unexpected geometry before spiralling into the sky. Fruit gains weight on the after palate, and the finish sings with mineral and honey in equal measure. So, so elegant.
It's a wine that screams quality, but is considerably more intellectual an experience than the Watervale. Reading Chris's earlier note, I concur with his description minus the petrol, which I'm not getting from this bottle. This is just starting to age, and I'm going to leave my next tasting for another two to three years.
Grosset
Price: $A40
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: July 2008
There are a lot of reasons why Riesling deserves a bit of love. It's refreshing, tasty and is generally excellent value. I like it most, though, for its transparency. When made in the usual Australian dry style, there's nowhere to hide, with vintage conditions shining through clearly. This makes Riesling the most tantalising of grapes; a great year, when it happens, promises so much. Tasting a Riesling from such a vintage is like tasting the potential of wine fully expressed. Such a Riesling with bottle age, then, simply multiplies the anticipation.
Perhaps I should start this note with my conclusion: that this wine is extraordinary and beautiful. Now that I've set the scene, I can try to describe it adequately. On the nose, delicate aromas of white stonefruit, a hint of honey, flint, etc. As with the best wines, the aromas are in a sense indistinguishable from each other, because they fit together so elegantly. There are some influences from bottle age here, but I suggest they are limited to a sense of honey and softness that may not have been present in the youthful wine. It's certainly not a full-blown aged style, which makes sense considering the vintage and closure (Stelvin).
The palate is a wonderful mixture of freshness and rich flavour. Tingly, steely acid hits the tongue immediately on entry, and is somewhat deceptive in terms of the wine's flavour development. Although the structure remains youthful, the mid palate reveals definite aged influences, as yet subtle, but indicative of a promising development path. Honey, round stonefruit and lime juice are well balanced between each other, without the awkwardness of some Rieslings in the middle of their development period. I don't know whether it's a question of quality or simply fortunate timing, but some Rieslings just seem to taste awesome at each stage of their development, whereas others hit their straps at a certain point and, outside of this window, can seem gangly and unbalanced. This Grosset is definitely the former type; it's a wine that seems to glide effortlessly into the moment, composed and confident. Beautifully structured acid that mellows somewhat with time in glass carries flavour through the after palate and onto a finish that clings to the tongue like a determined celebrity stalker.
Just excellent. What more to say?
Grosset
Price: $A35
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: June 2008
Perhaps I should start this note with my conclusion: that this wine is extraordinary and beautiful. Now that I've set the scene, I can try to describe it adequately. On the nose, delicate aromas of white stonefruit, a hint of honey, flint, etc. As with the best wines, the aromas are in a sense indistinguishable from each other, because they fit together so elegantly. There are some influences from bottle age here, but I suggest they are limited to a sense of honey and softness that may not have been present in the youthful wine. It's certainly not a full-blown aged style, which makes sense considering the vintage and closure (Stelvin).
The palate is a wonderful mixture of freshness and rich flavour. Tingly, steely acid hits the tongue immediately on entry, and is somewhat deceptive in terms of the wine's flavour development. Although the structure remains youthful, the mid palate reveals definite aged influences, as yet subtle, but indicative of a promising development path. Honey, round stonefruit and lime juice are well balanced between each other, without the awkwardness of some Rieslings in the middle of their development period. I don't know whether it's a question of quality or simply fortunate timing, but some Rieslings just seem to taste awesome at each stage of their development, whereas others hit their straps at a certain point and, outside of this window, can seem gangly and unbalanced. This Grosset is definitely the former type; it's a wine that seems to glide effortlessly into the moment, composed and confident. Beautifully structured acid that mellows somewhat with time in glass carries flavour through the after palate and onto a finish that clings to the tongue like a determined celebrity stalker.
Just excellent. What more to say?
Grosset
Price: $A35
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: June 2008
Out of the bottle, this wine shows as a dark, heavy Australian shiraz with distinct aromas of hazelnuts and burnt sugar. However, it doesn't come across as overly complex; it's a bit dumb, strangely enough; with some more time and air, it didn't seem to progress much beyond an agreeable but slightly generic "warm climate Syrah" note.
Drinking the wine is an exercise in the texture of luxury; this is as plush as Beverly Hills plastic surgery, round and full at the edges, but (surprisingly) not overdone: this is not a humongous Barossa Valley fruit bomb in the mold of a Parker 95, but something far more difficult and rare: a balanced, well proportioned wine that is absolutely lovely on its own terms - and thankfully without a face-numbing hit of alcohol to back it up.
The finish turns out to be the most amazing thing here: if it weren't for the finish, you wouldn't think this wine's as expensive as it is. It lasts. Minutes later, you still have the impression of savoriness; it's umami beyond belief and reminds me of ketjap manis and dark chocolate ganache. Long after you've swallowed, it's still there... and there seems to be just a hint of minty eucalyptus that sneaks up after a minute or two. Delicious.
Penfolds
Price: US $40
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: June 2008
Drinking the wine is an exercise in the texture of luxury; this is as plush as Beverly Hills plastic surgery, round and full at the edges, but (surprisingly) not overdone: this is not a humongous Barossa Valley fruit bomb in the mold of a Parker 95, but something far more difficult and rare: a balanced, well proportioned wine that is absolutely lovely on its own terms - and thankfully without a face-numbing hit of alcohol to back it up.
The finish turns out to be the most amazing thing here: if it weren't for the finish, you wouldn't think this wine's as expensive as it is. It lasts. Minutes later, you still have the impression of savoriness; it's umami beyond belief and reminds me of ketjap manis and dark chocolate ganache. Long after you've swallowed, it's still there... and there seems to be just a hint of minty eucalyptus that sneaks up after a minute or two. Delicious.
Penfolds
Price: US $40
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: June 2008
Canberra churns out its share of good Rieslings, and is home to the International Riesling Challenge, amongst other vinous highlights. Ken Helm of Helm Wines has been a key advocate for this variety in the district, and I will be tasting his Premium Riesling soon. For now, though, another regional benchmark -- the Clonakilla Riesling. On release, this was right up there (to my taste) with celebrated Clare and Eden wines from this vintage, so I'm interested to find out how it's tracking.
People talk about letting red wines breathe, but white wines can be equally lumpy on opening, and often benefit from a bit of swirling and loving care. Case in point: this wine was a bit all over the place at first. Spritzy, acidic, some aged characters but overwhelmingly dry and austere. Not a great mix of elements. An hour later, things are settling in well.
An interesting nose of nuts and baked goods mixed with a distinctive, savoury fruit note. I'm not sure it's quite coherent, but it's certainly characterful and perhaps even slightly provocative. Even after settling a bit, entry is still pretty lively, with full-on acid that collides with dry lemon fruit flavour. There are also some aged characters, but they are not straightforward honey/toast. Rather, they are more savoury and perhaps buttery, very much in alignment with the nose and more than a bit of fun. The whole, though, feels underdeveloped to me, and the wine's still-prominent primary character is very much dominant. That's not bad, it's merely indicative of a certain stage of development, and does not mask the intrinsic qualities present, such as complexity and elegance. You realise on the mid palate that flavour intensity is impressively high, and the acid has shown itself well architected, if a little coarse. The after palate becomes quite savoury, and suggests to me this wine would be a brilliant aperitif, perhaps served with strongly flavoured canapes. Decent, fresh finish.
I'm not at all disappointed with this tasting, and believe this wine has its best days still ahead. It's developing really interesting aged characters that are out of step with the Clare/Eden norm and are all the better for it.
Clonakilla
Price: $A25
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: June 2008
People talk about letting red wines breathe, but white wines can be equally lumpy on opening, and often benefit from a bit of swirling and loving care. Case in point: this wine was a bit all over the place at first. Spritzy, acidic, some aged characters but overwhelmingly dry and austere. Not a great mix of elements. An hour later, things are settling in well.
An interesting nose of nuts and baked goods mixed with a distinctive, savoury fruit note. I'm not sure it's quite coherent, but it's certainly characterful and perhaps even slightly provocative. Even after settling a bit, entry is still pretty lively, with full-on acid that collides with dry lemon fruit flavour. There are also some aged characters, but they are not straightforward honey/toast. Rather, they are more savoury and perhaps buttery, very much in alignment with the nose and more than a bit of fun. The whole, though, feels underdeveloped to me, and the wine's still-prominent primary character is very much dominant. That's not bad, it's merely indicative of a certain stage of development, and does not mask the intrinsic qualities present, such as complexity and elegance. You realise on the mid palate that flavour intensity is impressively high, and the acid has shown itself well architected, if a little coarse. The after palate becomes quite savoury, and suggests to me this wine would be a brilliant aperitif, perhaps served with strongly flavoured canapes. Decent, fresh finish.
I'm not at all disappointed with this tasting, and believe this wine has its best days still ahead. It's developing really interesting aged characters that are out of step with the Clare/Eden norm and are all the better for it.
Clonakilla
Price: $A25
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: June 2008
I just moved the final 11 cases of wine from a storage space in downtown San Diego to our garage. Ouch. Remind me to never, ever move again - it's been one year since I moved here, and I still have no idea where half of my wine is. That bottle of Ch. Musar Dad gave me? I dunno, maybe under the guest bed?
Anyhow, I tried and somewhat succeeded to jam it all in a cheesy DIY "500 bottle" stand-alone wine cooling unit: it didn't quite work, so I decided to just pull all of the stuff in Stelvin out and keep it in the one cool spot in the garage. I figure I'll try to drink it this summer or serve it to wedding guests in August, what the heck.
This brings us to this lovely bottle of Chehalem pinot noir. Oddly enough, this is the first red wine I've ever drunk from Chehalem: I love their rieslings and their pinot gris is pretty darned good too. They are of course from Oregon, however, so I'm obviously way behind on the Pacific Northwest boosterism/logrolling schedule, so here we go.
First off, there's a soothing, transfixing cola nut and Rainier cherry note that springs up the moment you unscrew the cap. It's the kind of smell that instantly puts you at ease: whew, I just blew twenty bucks on a bottle of pinot and is thankfully not crap. It's just a little bit sappy, so it doesn't really strike me as a truly high end pinot, but the quality to price ratio? I can work with that just fine. There could also be just a hint of spicy barrel in there as well, and there's even something like fresh roasted chestnuts (without the roasting). Go figure!
Color is lovely: a milky light red that's miles away from the overdone dark of some New World pinot. The flavor comes as a bit of a (welcome) surprise: fairly acidic and bright, no obvious sweetness, good body, with a bit of wood (?) supporting full, vibrant cherry and other red fruits. This is a fine example of standard quality Oregon pinot noir, and it's very good value for money.
NB: there seems to a very slight spritziness here that dissipates quickly; you might want to decant this one.
Chehalem
Price: US $32
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: June 2008
Anyhow, I tried and somewhat succeeded to jam it all in a cheesy DIY "500 bottle" stand-alone wine cooling unit: it didn't quite work, so I decided to just pull all of the stuff in Stelvin out and keep it in the one cool spot in the garage. I figure I'll try to drink it this summer or serve it to wedding guests in August, what the heck.
This brings us to this lovely bottle of Chehalem pinot noir. Oddly enough, this is the first red wine I've ever drunk from Chehalem: I love their rieslings and their pinot gris is pretty darned good too. They are of course from Oregon, however, so I'm obviously way behind on the Pacific Northwest boosterism/logrolling schedule, so here we go.
First off, there's a soothing, transfixing cola nut and Rainier cherry note that springs up the moment you unscrew the cap. It's the kind of smell that instantly puts you at ease: whew, I just blew twenty bucks on a bottle of pinot and is thankfully not crap. It's just a little bit sappy, so it doesn't really strike me as a truly high end pinot, but the quality to price ratio? I can work with that just fine. There could also be just a hint of spicy barrel in there as well, and there's even something like fresh roasted chestnuts (without the roasting). Go figure!
Color is lovely: a milky light red that's miles away from the overdone dark of some New World pinot. The flavor comes as a bit of a (welcome) surprise: fairly acidic and bright, no obvious sweetness, good body, with a bit of wood (?) supporting full, vibrant cherry and other red fruits. This is a fine example of standard quality Oregon pinot noir, and it's very good value for money.
NB: there seems to a very slight spritziness here that dissipates quickly; you might want to decant this one.
Chehalem
Price: US $32
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: June 2008
It has taken a while to get a German wine up at Full Pour, which is odd because I'm a bit of a fan, and Chris is a Germanophile and fluent speaker of the language (I'm sure he will forgive me for spilling a few of his secrets). I guess I don't buy as many as I should; the story of all Riesling perhaps, not just the German variety. In any case, here we have a slightly older release from the 2005 vintage, by all accounts a rather good one in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (or simply Mosel, as the region is now known).
A colour that shows no signs of age as yet -- still pale and fresh with a slightly greenish tint. The nose really is impressive at first sniff. Well defined aromas of slate, talc, citrus flowers and fuller, more tropical fruit all emerge from the glass. It's an instant "wow" wine, not through an excess of impact, rather because of its intrinsic complexity and attractiveness. The nose faded a little through the evening.
On entry, initially a very tight, coiled experience, with chalky acidity serving to attenuate the wine's line quite prematurely. This resolved itself quickly, though, and the wine struck its true balance within about half an hour. There is rich, primary fruit on the mid palate, rather honeysuckle-like but with a prominent slatey, mineral dimension too. Complexity isn't quite at the same level as shown on the nose, but the fruit character is multi-dimensional and jumps between richness, slate and lighter, powdery florals. For its part, the acidity never quite integrates as seamlessly as one would like. It continues to jut out a bit, being both a little rough and a little isolated at the same time. Imagine someone singing a song by yelping once, loudly, as opposed to maintaining a melodic line through the whole piece. This acid character prevents the wine from achieving a truly sophisticated balance, and the fruit ends up cloying ever so slightly. Despite this, there's an undeniably impressive, long finish to the wine.
Not entirely satisfying, then, but still a lot to enjoy. I wonder if the acidity will play off against the fruit better with a little more bottle age. I'll leave one or two in the cellar to find out.
Dr Loosen
Price: $A35
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: June 2008
I've been on the Bonny Doon mailing list for coming up on a decade at this point, and I still feel my heart sink whenever I open up my every-two-months club shipment and see... something Italianate. Try as I might, I just can't bring myself to wholeheartedly embrace Italian wines and winemaking styles, and that goes double when it's an American or other winery who have just issued a press release saying that the second the American consumer market discovers Walla Walla sangiovese, they are absolutely sure that a massive new (and profitable!) wine market will appear out of nowhere.
Yes, I've had ecstatic experiences with Italian wines before - Amarone is by far one of my favorite wines - but when I see something like this, I get all sad panda, very quickly. So, it was with some trepidation that I opened this bottle tonight.
There's an indefinable, high-tech-ness to the nose here; it smells massively fruity, and there's an odd designer yeast-y (or something) note here was well. It's kind of like aerosolized white pepper intruding into a basket of overripe raspberries set somewhere in a dilapadated garden of tea roses; there's also a sour muskiness that smells of dry cleaning sent out after a long night at Studio 54 - all floral aldehydes, sweat, and "clean." Finally, there's a damascone peachiness sneaking in at the end. It's all very confusing and kind of remarkable - this is wine? is it supposed to smell like this?
Just a little bit sweet in the mouth, there's a wonderful dark cherry note with tannins hiding in the background (but they don't really seem to do much; was this microoxygenated?). Acidity is reasonable, it's actually kind of delicious, and then there's a very soft finish of damask rose with the tannin lingering around just a bit as well.
So, yeah, this is a total Frankenwine, but hey. It's delicious, it's a welcome experiment, and it would (presumably) be a hell of a lot of fun to serve this to a connisseur of European wines and see if they can guess what it is. I know I couldn't.
Bonny Doon Vineyard
Price: US $25
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: June 2008
Yes, I've had ecstatic experiences with Italian wines before - Amarone is by far one of my favorite wines - but when I see something like this, I get all sad panda, very quickly. So, it was with some trepidation that I opened this bottle tonight.
There's an indefinable, high-tech-ness to the nose here; it smells massively fruity, and there's an odd designer yeast-y (or something) note here was well. It's kind of like aerosolized white pepper intruding into a basket of overripe raspberries set somewhere in a dilapadated garden of tea roses; there's also a sour muskiness that smells of dry cleaning sent out after a long night at Studio 54 - all floral aldehydes, sweat, and "clean." Finally, there's a damascone peachiness sneaking in at the end. It's all very confusing and kind of remarkable - this is wine? is it supposed to smell like this?
Just a little bit sweet in the mouth, there's a wonderful dark cherry note with tannins hiding in the background (but they don't really seem to do much; was this microoxygenated?). Acidity is reasonable, it's actually kind of delicious, and then there's a very soft finish of damask rose with the tannin lingering around just a bit as well.
So, yeah, this is a total Frankenwine, but hey. It's delicious, it's a welcome experiment, and it would (presumably) be a hell of a lot of fun to serve this to a connisseur of European wines and see if they can guess what it is. I know I couldn't.
Bonny Doon Vineyard
Price: US $25
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: June 2008