Oh my gosh oh my gosh my favourite wine

This is my favorite Saltram wine. A taste of this stuff is inevitably followed by a "OOooooooH!!!" from the customers at the cellar door.

Most people have heard of, tried, or are converted to Pepperjack Shiraz. It's an easy-drinking classic made by Richard Mattner. This, my friends, is the grown-up big brother.

Full-bodied, fruity, and with enough tannic backbone to deal with Porterhouse steak, this Langhorne Creek sourced shiraz will tickle your fancy. Oooh yes.

Pepperjack (Saltram) Barossa
2012 Shiraz (Porterhouse Matched)
Langhorne Creek

14.5%

Colour:
Clear
Deep ruby

Nose:
Clean
Medium-pronounced intensity
Cinnamon
Blackberry
Raspberry
Tobacco
Cherry brandy
Toasty (American oak)

Palate:
Dry
High acid
Low-med tannin
Full body
Sour cherries
Blackberries
Slight star anise on finish
Black tea on finish
Jammy fruit
Medium length finish

We tasted this wine after two days of opening, an indication of its' long cellaring potential; the juicy fruit and acidity were still there. I love the fruit, mouthfeel and density of this wine. It's powerful yet still not overpowering. Seriously, this stuff sells itself! Nic finds it too "in yer face", however this is my blog and I'll rave if I want to. Hahaha.

G

Saltram Assorted

http://instagram.com/p/jEHtIrBwrB/

Saltram Estate is a major wine producer of the Barossa Valley, South Australia. It is part of the global Treasury Wine Estates group (formerly Fosters), along with such labels as Wolf Blass, Penfolds and Rosemount. They have three winemakers who produce quality sparkling pinot noir, riesling, chardonnays, fiano, semillon, grenache, sangiovese, shiraz blends, shirazes, cabernet sauvignon, tawny, moscato and a beer. *phew. Depending on which wine you are sampling, the grapes generally come from the Barossa Valley, as well as Eden Valley (whites, cooler climate), Adelaide Hills (pinot), and McLarenVale (fancy).

I had the opportunity to try some of the abovementioned wines, notes as follows:)

Saltram Mamre Brook Chardonnay
2011, 12% alcohol

Colour:
Clear pale lemon

Nose:
Clean, pronounced oak (vanilla)
Lemon
Orange blossom
White peach

Palate:
Off-dry with medium acidity
Medium to full-bodied
Stone fruit (peach)
Lemon
Tropical fruit (melon, banana)
Vanilla/toasty oak characters

If you like oaked chardonnays, but without the cloying thick sickly taste that seems to come with them, you might like this one. The acidity isn't too high, but it is still refreshing. Personally I get disturbed by waking up the next day with the aftertaste of heavy oak in my mouth, but that's only because I have had it too much in the past. Some people really like American oak; for me, though, it masks some of the other flavours. To each their own!

Had it with Greek baked beans and bread, it was a nice match.

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Saltram
Mamre Brook Eden Valley Riesling 2013
11% alch

Colour:
clear pale lemon

Nose:
Medium intensity
lemon & lime
grapefruit
almond
pear
apple
lemon blossom

Palate:
Dry
High acid
Light-medium body
lemon
lime
lemon barley water
bath salts/soap
zippy medium length finish

This is an interesting riesling, and if you like 'em young, without the petrolly characteristics, you'll probably like this. The aromas of lime and lemon blossom are very nice, though not so pronounced (you have to stick your nose in a fair way). The acid is high but that is to be expected in a young wine. It would be oh so fine with oysters, or any seafood or fish. It has some guts and a good finish. Will develop into something quite nice over time.
Be sure to serve COLD; it is 40 degrees here at the moment and mine has gone warm :S

Happy drinking!!!!

Thorn-Clarke Malbec 2009

Whoah, hey, what? People make Malbec by itself? I've only ever seen it blended. But hey, anything's possible.

Nic and I just moved to the Barossa (oh well, Hi Maggie Beer, will you be my friend?) and the other day we visited the cellar door at Thorn-Clarke to do a tasting. I was pretty impressed by the Shotfire shiraz, however when we tasted this one we decided it was just a little bit spesh and we'd better get a bottle.

Thorn-Clarke
Malbec on Truro Volcanic Soil 2009
St Kitts Vineyard, North Barossa
14.5%
Cellar door price $35

Nice clear, deep ruby colour.

On the nose:
cedar
black plum
cherry jam
perfume-y violets
tobacco (cigar box)
and, I insisted but he didn't agree- mint.

The palate was complex and well balanced, dry and full-bodied, with medium acid, and medium-high tannins. We tasted:
cherry jam
sour cherry
cedar
black olives
cigar box
plum

The finish was medium in length and quite smooth.

I have to say I really liked this wine, we decanted it for about 20 mins and drank it with pizza. Probably not the best possible match, but you know me by now, I have funny little tastebuds. We managed to finish the bottle, which is a good sign.

G

Wolfblass 2012 Eaglehawk Chardonnay Barossa Valley

Kicking off Easter long-weekend with some cucumber, hummus, and Home & Away. :)

Wolfblass 2012 Eaglehawk Chardonnay

I've been interviewing for a job at Wolfblass (fingers and toes!), and thought it would be a good idea to sample one. Plus, it's $9. :) They do do more premium ranges; this is one of  the 'cheap and cheerful' ranges.

Pale straw in colour

At first it smells like a Sauv Blanc (cats pee)
Grassy
Nutty
Apples and pears
lemon

Fruity, medium to high acid
Slight oak
Sharp citrus balances ok with the oak
Apples
Bitter grapefruit
Nuts (walnuts?)

Easy drinking. Good for a bbq or similar when you want to quaff something cheap. It does taste like they've sweetened it. Nice change from heavily oaked Hunter style Chardonnay, but not great. Fine for a $9 wine (liquorland).

g