Lazy Ballerina Shiraz, McLaren Vale 2005

Ooh what a treat. Nic's boss at Small Gully Wines gave us 3/4 of a bottle of this to taste and it was lovely.

With 15% alcohol one might misjudge this as one of those big boring shirazzes. However, the fruit was smooth, and the tannins as supple as the ballerina on the bottle (ha ha ha).

Garnet in colour

On the nose were cherries, anise, violets, and a woody, minty, forest floor type of aroma.

The palate featured well-balanced medium acid and tannin (smooth, smooth smooth but still there and enough to stand up against some meat), a sweet spice like nutmeg, and on sitting, prunes and slight oaky vanilla.

Lucky us! We had with some pizza with a little spice, went ok. Recommended and drinking well now.

Quilty Patchwork 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon Petit Verdot: MUDGEE

My goodness it has been a while! I've been drinking without thinking!

Last weekend we went to Mudgee ( 20 hour drive :S ) for a wedding, and made time to squeeze in a teeny weeny tasting at the Mudgee Small Winemakers' centre. Going down the sandstone steps into the cool cellar was refreshing, and as it turns out the nice Brazilian lady working cellar door once studied at the English school I used to teach at. Small world!

However, the range was rather confusing. I was unimpressed by the heavy sale of 'Rolling' wines (a gross mass produced wine in my opinion since I once had some on a plane once and felt ill), and they seemed to have these strange cocktail mixers and what looked like Henshke knock-offs. However, hubby tasted something he liked and bought it. Being on my Ps I only get to taste it now, so here goes!

Quilty Patchwork 2011 Cab Sauv Petit Verdot
Mudgee NSW
$25 at cellar door
14.5%

Ruby/garnet

Clean

Ripe red fruit
Something perfumey? Could be the violets
Meaty: Salami or something from the delicatessen

Full bodied
Medium acid
Medium tannin

Fruity
Minty
Bitterness: salty, black olives
Dark berries
Spicy herbal bitterness, pepperiness, from the petit verdot?
A little bit chocolatey
Black cherries on the finish which is long.

Warming and light but still full-bodied, this wine is ok. There's not a whole lot of fruit, but there are a lot of things going on in there that aren't fruit, which is kind of nice for a change. There is sweetness, balanced by bitterness rather than acidity. The petit verdot adds weight and I think without it this wouldn't be as smooth. We have been drinking a lot of Barossa shiraz for obvious reasons and it's good to bring the balance back to our palates! Heaven forbid we become those wine wankers who drink the same wine from the same region forever! NOOO!


Here is a picture of the clock tower/roundabout we got lost around. I'd like to go back to Mudgee and go to some real cellar doors!

An interesting read

Check this out:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/mar/24/lawrence-osborne-drinkers-journey-review

Someone wants to be Hemingway much?

G

Freezing cold in the Barossa, Riesling from a mountain spring

BRRRRRR!! 10 degrees celsius!
Whatever possessed me to drink a nice cold glass of Riesling on a day like this? Well, it was given to me by a lovely elderly couple who are completely beautiful, and it's local. So I had to try it.


Dandelion Vineyards- Eden Valley
Riesling 2012
12%

Clear pale lemon

Nose:

Mineral, stone, metallic
Green apple
Lemon
Honeydew melon
Almond

Palate:

Light to medium body
High acid
Low tannin
Lemon
Boy choy (Nic reckons there's bok choy in everything that tastes slightly bitter, I think it might be more like grapefruit)
Mineral- water from a mountain spring (granite)

Like a cool refreshing zippy nude swim in a mountain pool. A bit crazy on a winter's day but nice with some Barossa Valley Cheese Company cheese (the Princessa), some mushroom risotto, and a rug.

xo G

2009 Domaine Cavailes Covee Coralie (Carignan/Grenache/Shiraz) AOC Minervois

Appelation Minervois. The vines sit along a valley, near the town of Minerve, which is a pretty special place. It looks kind of like this:

The town is on a big rocky outcrop, and hardly anyone lives up there. Worth visiting though, and the wine was surprisingly good. A little high in alcohol but an interesting blend. They have quite a few different percentage blends, some more Grenachey, some Shirazzy etc.

2009 Domaine Cavailes
Covee Coralie (Carignan/Grenache and Shiraz)
AOC Minervois 15.5%
4.50 euros

Took a while to open up, but has complexity. Initial bitter nutmeg finish was taken over by raspberry and cassis. It was great to identify the three varietals moving in and out like a dance. It lingers well.

Deep ruby

Nose:

Clean
Nutmeg
Black pepper
Raspberry
Blackberries
Cassis
Red cherries

Palate:
Dry
Low acid, high tannin, full body
Black pepper
Nutmeg
Red cherries
Cassis
Raspberry
Dark chocolate

G

2009 Caveau Lerac AOC Vouvray (demi-sec)

Now I've got some time I'm going back through ye olde notes to the wines we had in France while driving around, listening to Nostalgie (though obviously not driving whilst drinking, that would be silly).
haha http://www.nostalgie.fr/

Anyway, Vouvray is a lovely wine, made from Chenin Blanc grapes, from the Loire region where we started our mad old road trip.

2009 Caveau Lerac AOC Vouvray (Demi Sec)

Pale lemon in colour
Long finish, very satisfying wine. I thought it was beautiful and a welcome change from drinking the whites we usually get at home in Oz and Nz. We had some ashed chevre with it, and boy. Mmm.

Nose:
Clean
Pear & citrus

Palate:
Semi-dry
High acid, medium to full body
Lychees
Pineapple
Honey
Lemon rind.

Chenin blanc is naturally high in acid but it keeps longer because of this. I guess it tasted similar to an aged Semillon; you get more of the richer flavours which come with an aged Semillon. Yum yum yummmmm.


g

Sequel (Long Shadows) Columbia Valley Syrah 2007

This was a nice little package from an apparently brilliant winemaker.

Sequel (Long Shadows) 2007 Columbia Valley Syrah

This had great complexity when we first opened it, heaps of spices with a nice undertone of fruit, Nic said it was meaty like deli meat but I wouldn't really be the best on judging that one (as a vego). Mushroomy, leafy tones developed later but weren't overwhelming, as the fruit began to come out more. It hasn't hit its peak yet and could do with another year. Subtle, long lingering finish.

Colour:
Deep ruby
Clear

Nose:
Cedar (lots)
Mushroom
Smoked salami
Dusty
Leafy forest floor

Palate:
Dry, full-bodied, with low-medium tannin
Medium Acid
White pepper
Nutmeg
Black cherry
Black olives
Anise
Redcurrant
Meaty
Vine leaves

Yum with spinach, potato and tomato stew. The only thing left to note is that it had a moderate amount of sediment towards the end of the bottle.

g