The Classic November Dozen

BRINI BLEWITT SPRINGS SHIRAZ 2002

Winemaker Brian Light

Winemakers Notes

The Brini family has been growing grapes on the picturesque hills to the north of Blewitt Springs since 1953. Our vines growing on sandy loam over clay soils, with vast ironstone outcrops, have consistently produce premium quality grapes – the quintessential element in producing wines with depth of colour, rich fruit flavours and complexity. The Blewitt Springs Shiraz is no exception, displaying a lifted ripe berry fruit nose, flavourful palate of mixed berries with subtle oak notes and soft integrated tannins. This wine was matured in American oak barrels for 15 months.

Cellar

“Enjoy now or will reward cellaring for five to seven years.” (From the back label).

Additional Notes

This wine really came around by word of mouth. Louise, whom I knew some time back as a rep and now part of the family owned Glebe Liquor Mart, said to me one day while dropping off, that I should have a look at the Brini wines. The Brinis, being long – term grape growers in McLaren Vale now have some of their material contract made. When I realized Brian Light is the maker it all became a bit more serious. I think the Light vineyards are all sold now, and they did have some very good ones from which Brian made excellent wines. I tried the 2000, a wine from a difficult wet year and saw a very good result. This 2002 was awarded 95/100 by Halliday.

Availability

Cellar Door or please contact me, or Glebe Liquor Mart.

Contact Details

Phone: 08 8383 0080

Fax: 08 8383 0104

Open: Not.

Address: RSD 600 Blewitt Springs Road, McLaren Vale, S.A.,5171. Postal.

Back To Top

BROOKFIELDS OHITI ESTATE PINOT GRIS 2005

Winemaker Peter Robertson

Winemakers Notes

On arrival at the winery, the fruit was pressed as soon as possible. The skin of Pinot Gris is coloured and will tint the wine. The free run juice was kept separate from the pressings during cold settling, and then blended with the free run. It was then inoculated with an aromatic yeast strain, and fermented at cool temperatures. Following completion of fermentation, the wine remained on its gross lees for texture and flavour enhancement. Minimal further handling resulted in the preservation of attractive, complex flavours. The wine has typical Pinot Gris hue. Generous in pear and peach, there is also a hint of Manuka honey. Mid palate richness and a firm alcohol will ensure continued development for a number of years. Pinot Gris challenges both the winemaker and the consumer, hence its appeal.

Cellar

“Five years plus.”

Additional Notes

Ohiti Estate lies in an inland heat trap on the bed of the old Ngaruroro River. Trained on classical VSP trellis system, on arid alluvial soils, the Pinot Gris ripens well, producing clean fruit with full flavours, good extract, and moderate acidity.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 06 834 4615

Fax: 03 834 4622

Open: Daily

Address: PO Box 7174, Taradale, Hawkes Bay N.Z

E-mail: brookfields.vineyards@xtra.co.nz

Web: www.brookfieldsvineyards.co.nz

Back To Top

CANONBAH BRIDGE SHIRAZ GRENACHE MOURVEDRE 2002:

Winemaker John Hordern

Winemakers Notes

Shiraz 65%, Grenache 25% and Mourvedre 10%, the wine is crimson red in colour. The nose displays rich spice with hints of stewed plum with slight cinnamon and pepper. The palate displays delightful cherry and blackcurrant fruit characters with soft tannins on the finish.

Cellar

Drink now, but will develop over the medium term 5 – 8 years.

Additional Notes

Many things sprung to mind when I saw this wine, the first being the terrific Wallington’s Rockdell, a ‘similar’ blend from Canowindra, that was in the February 2004 Dozen. Here we have a wine from Warren, on the Western Plains of NSW 700km North West of Sydney, classified as being the ‘edge of the outback.’ Then I saw the feature: “No chemicals are sprayed on the vines. Our isolation and dry climate enables us to continue to grow grapes in this manner. The McLaughlin family have been breeding award winning Merino sheep since the 1880s on their historic property Merryanbone, five miles (8km) from the old village of Canonbah. Fourth generation Shane (Vigneron) has turned the family’s pioneering spirit to wine.” You had to try it.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Contact Details

Phone: 02 6833 9966

E-mail: shane@canonbah.com.au

Web: www.canonbahbridge.com

Back To Top

CHALICE BRIDGE SAUVIGNON BLANC 2004

Winemaker Janice McDonald

Winemakers Notes

A bouquet of grapefruit and lime that leans towards the more passion fruit and pineapple characters on the palate. Sourced only from the estate, the fruit was picked as flavours of lime and grapefruit became evident in the berries. The longer growing season in Rosa Glen allows the development of the more tropical tones in our Sauvignon Blanc.

Cellar

Drink now.

Additional Notes

I have been delivering quite a lot of Chalice Bridge wines to outlets who you would expect to know their stuff! Known however, is winemaker Janice McDonald, well regarded for her Stella Bella wines, and the local Sydney Distributor certainly does know her wine, all in all a good equation. And it’s summer, the perfect time of year for this refreshing wine style. I would also like to add the food recommendation the Notes Sheet offers, obviously using some regional alternatives. “Try Rottnest Scallops and Bickley Valley Asparagus Risotto, the sweet scallops, nuttiness of the asparagus with the creaminess of the risotto lends itself perfectly to the lifted lime and passionfruit flavours of this wine.” Sounds good to me.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 08 9388 608

Fax: 08 9382 1887

Open: By appointment.

Address: Rosa Glen Road, Margaret River, W.A., 6285

E-mail: greatwine@chalicebridge.com.au

Web: www.chalicebridge.com.au

Back To Top

DYSON CLARICE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2000

Winemaker Allan Dyson

Winemakers Notes

The Dyson Cabernet Sauvignon show rich varietal flavours with a good depth of fruit on the palate. Fine grained tannins along with subtle oak characters and balanced acid make this wine a pleasure to enjoy. The subtle varietal cabernet flavours of the Dyson Cabernets are not over-ridden by hot alcohol flavours but more a subtle fruit / oak / acid combination. These attributes combine together superbly to create wines which show style and class.

Cellar

“With careful cellaring Dyson wines will bring you many years of great drinking pleasure.”

Additional Notes

“The grapes for the Dyson Clarice are grown on our Maslin Beach vineyard (McLaren Vale Region). Our traditional vineyard practices include hand-pruning, mulching and using minimal sprays, combined with good canopy management, all of which ensure that top quality fruit is produced for our ‘Clarice’ Cabernet. The grapes are hand-picked at optimum ripeness at the end of March each vintage, chilled overnight in our cool room, and then crushed into out open fermenters where the juiced and skins are fermented and cooled for 6 to 7 days. The juice is then run off, the grape skins are pressed, and the free run juice is put into French barriques to finish fermentation and mature. The pressing wine is similarly put into American barriques. Both portions of this wine are matured from 24 to 30 months in oak. All barriques are assessed for quality, before blended together prior to bottling. Dyson’s believe strongly that minimal handling combined with minimal filtration creates a superior wine.”

Availability

Cellar Door or please contact me.

Winery Details

Phone: 08 8386 1092

Fax: 08 9327 0066

Open: Daily 10 to 5.

Address: Sherriff Road, Maslin Beach, S.A., 5171.

E-mail: dysonwines@bettanet.net.au

Back To Top

GALLAGHER WINES RIESLING 2005

Winemaker Greg Gallagher

Winemakers Notes

Crushed and pressed immediately then cold settled for 48 hours. The clean juice was fermented at 11degrees C for six weeks period to help maintain the fresh fruit aromas and flavours. The colour is pale straw and the nose is fragrant fruit with lemon and citrus flower aromas. The palate is clean and attractively flavoured with a crisp lingering finish. The citrus flower and fruit flavours are ‘up front’ and the light and pleasant body is balanced and clean.

Cellar

“Enjoy this wine as a fresh young wine.”

Additional Notes

I was curious a soon as I saw the recommendation to drink this as a young wine, so I went to Halliday’s 2006 Wine Companion to see ‘how long’ he suggests to cellar this wine. Unfortunately, as is the nature of yearly publications, his review is of the 2004 wine, but his “Drink” recommendation of up to 2012, or eight years for a Canberra Region Riesling, shouldn’t surprise anyone. We are hardly very far down the track in terms of having full and broad knowledge of how our wines will develop under screw cap. There seem to be plenty of positives, the most publicised and obvious one being there is no cork taint. It is a time game with all sorts of trials ongoing, but there seems to be general agreement that with screw cap closures there is more of a ‘moment in time’ captured unlike the more understood course under cork. I recently heard a winemaker of the opinion that wine under screw cap, no matter what variety, is a drink now proposition. The wine closure beast is alive and breathing with some types better at different things. I will make a note to ask Greg about this fascinating point, in time.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 02 6227 0555

Fax: 02 6227 0666

Open: No Cellar Door.

Address: 2770 Dog Trap Road, Murrumbateman, NSW, 2582

E-mail: info@gallagherwines.com.au

Web: www.gallagherwines.com.au

Back To Top

PANKHURST CABERNET MERLOT 2002

Winemaker Dr. Roger Harris

Winemakers Notes

The 2002 Cabernet Merlot has luscious berry fruit characters and a depth of complexity enhanced by a good tannin and acid structure. Inclusion of 34% Merlot provides a smooth mouth feel for early drinking. Maturation has been in American oak for one year.

Cellar

“It will drink well at an early age and will be excellent after cellaring a few years.” (From the back label).

Additional Notes

“Traditional winemaking methods were used in the making of this wine. Hand-picked fruit was crushed into open fermenters, and regular plunging of the cap was carried out through fermentation to extract colour and flavour.” That said, I was talking to Allan about this wine a month or so ago, just after trying another ‘local’ wine of similar blending. I have seen a number of vintages of the other wine and while it always shows plenty of flavours to please, there doesn’t seem to be the fullness you’d expect. I noticed there is slightly more than twice the Merlot in this wine than the 2001 (November 2004), which will definitely play a role. I had a couple of glasses and left it at that the first night, but the next day it had opened up beautifully, very good, and with ‘fullness’ which is nice in this style. Maybe it is in the winemaking.

Availability

Cellar Door or please contact me.

Winery Details

Phone / Fax: 02 6230 2592

Open: Weekends P/H 11 to 5

Address: Old Woodgrove, Woodgrove Road, Hall, ACT, 2618.

E-mail: allanandchristine@pankhurstwines.com.au

Back To Top

ROSS ESTATE BAROSSA VALLEY TG 2003/2004

Winemaker Rod Chapman

Winemakers Notes

The wine is a lighter bodied red compared to other Barossa wines, with aromas of spice and fresh tobacco. The palate has strawberry red fruits flavours and soft velvety tannins.

Cellar

“From 2004 to 2007.”

Additional Notes

I have been keen to try this for a long time. To the story: The wine is a 50:50 blend of Tempranillo and Graciano from two years 2003 and 2004. The 2003 component was stored for twelve months in aged French and American oak. When the Ross family purchased their Barossa Valley vineyard near Lyndoch in 1993, they were unaware of the presence of these two Spanish varieties, only a couple of rows of each. Eventually realizing the need they engaged an ampelographer to identify the vines, and when done Rod Chapman set this wine on course. The Oxford Companion introduces Graciano: “a richly coloured perfumed black grape variety once widely grown in Rioja. It has fallen from favour because of its inconveniently low yields, thereby depriving modern Rioja of an important flavour ingredient.” What a good thing Rod has done here. You can’t trust these winemakers, they’re best left un-supervised!

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 08 8524 4033

Fax: 08 8524 4533

Open: Monday to Saturday. 10 to 5.

Address: Barossa Valley Way, Lyndoch, S.A., 5351.

E-mail: rossestate@rossestate.com.au

Web: www.rossestate.com.au

Back To Top

STAETE LANDT MARLBOROUGH CHARDONNAY 2003:

Winemaker Ruud Maasdam

Winemakers Notes

This wine was aged in 100% French oak barrels the majority of which were older, about 20% new. This has produced a complex subtle wine that has intense citrus, nectarine like characters overlaying a creamy, hazelnut and slightly spicy character. The wine is full bodied and finishes with a long delicate, tightly structured acidity.

Cellar

This wine is showing good complexity now, and will develop nicely over the next three to five years.

Additional Notes

“Ruud Maasdam and Dorien Vermaas emigrated from Holland with their two children with the specific intention of establishing a vineyard and winery in New Zealand. In 1998 they purchased a fruit orchard on Rapaura Road, pulled out the trees, and two years later had their first crop from the 20 hectares. The principal varieties planted are Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with a tiny amount of Pinot Gris.”

“For the Chardonnay, only hand picked grapes were used. They were whole bunch pressed to produce the finest most delicate juice. This juice was settled briefly before being racked straight to barrels to undergo fermentation. A proportion of the wine was allowed an indigenous yeast fermentation adding complexity and extra mouth feel to the wine. Barrels were stirred during malo-lactic fermentation, and then aged on lees. The different components were blended, lightly fined and returned to barrel to clarify and homogenize.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 03 572 9886

Fax: 03 572 9887

Open: Daily.

Address: 48 Jeffries Road, RD2, Rapaura, Marlborough N.Z.

E-mail: wine@staetelandt.co.nz

Web: www.staetelandt.co.nz

Back To Top

TRAFFORD HILL MONIQUE FAMILY RESERVE 2002:

Winemaker John Sanderson

Winemakers Notes

This wine is the seventh in line made with a little variation to the traditional components and methodology. Slightly less Grenache was used in the makeup, and the Cabernet Sauvignon component was marginally increased, which is an 80% Shiraz, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Grenache co-fermentation. The wine was again basket pressed and after racking off, put into French and American barriques for 24 months, two months longer than the norm. The bouquet immediately provides floral Grenache aromas then strong overtones of cassis, chocolate mint and vanilla appear as the wine opens up. The flavours on the palate show all the hallmarks of the premium grapes in the make up: spice, pepper, blackcurrants and soft forest fruits.

Cellar

“This wine can be enjoyed immediately with a little breathing or cellared confidently for a minimum of five years.”

Additional Notes

The first Monique (the sixth in line), the 2001, was in the Dozens in February last year. Then in August last year the Sandersons released the Special Reserve 2001, which was the same wine, but for its time in oak, three years. I thought it was the most impressive wine of that year. A couple of weekends ago the Sanderson had a Sunday lunch where their current Cellar Door wines were on show with glorious food. Late last year John had shown me a barrel sample of the 2002, and I knew it was to be ‘on’ on the day, and you couldn’t be disappointed . The good news continues, as John said he has put away a few barrels in the same manner as the 2001 Reserve. Needless to say I will keep in touch.

Availability

Cellar Door or please contact me.

Winery Details

Phone: 08 8558 3595

Open: Thursday – Monday P/H 10.30 to 5

Address: Lot 1 Bower Road, Normanville, S.A., 5204.

E-mail: traffordhill@ozemail.com.au

Web: www.traffordhillwines.com.au

Back To Top

TRENTHAM ESTATE La Famiglia NEBBIOLO 2003

Winemaker Tony Murphy

Winemakers Notes

Harvested on the 3rd March, which is fairly early for this variety, the grapes were crushed and pumped into tanks for fermentation. Yeast was added to the must and our traditional fermentation techniques of pumping over to extract colour and flavour were followed before the skins were pressed and the new wine transferred to older French and American oak for 18 months maturation. After this period the wine was revatted, given a light egg-white fining, and then bottled. Fairly lightly coloured, the wine shows a complex nose of leather, berry fruits and light oak while the taste is medium weight with fine grained tannins and a long savoury finish.

Cellar

Drink now and over the next few years.

Additional Notes

“Nebbiolo is the king of north western Italian red varieties notably in the regions of Piedmont and Lombardy. In the vineyard the variety looks unimpressive with variable crops, fruit colour ranging from light to deeply coloured red, and an almost wild canopy growth. The fruit matures late in the season with low sugar and high acid levels. The 2003 vintage is considered one of the best even after the cool 2002 year. The 2003 season was mild to warm producing many reds with great colour and flavour. This is only our third release of this variety and we think one of our best yet.” Fair enough, the 2001 Nebbiolo was in the August 2002 Dozen and caused quite a bit of reaction with a few people ordering up, which is not surprising, particularly this time of year.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 03 5024 8888

Fax: 03 5024 8800

Open: Daily 9.30 to 5.

Address: Sturt Highway, Trentham Cliffs, NSW, 2738.

E-mail: cellardoor@trenthamestate.com.au

Web: www.trenthamestate.com.au

Back To Top

WEHL’S MOUNT BENSON CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2003:

Winemaker Paul Gordon (Leconfield)

Winemakers Notes

Low tonnages of fruit in the 2003 vintage resulted in fruit and wine with very intense flavour and deep red to purple in colour. Perfumed floral aromas on the nose, cassis and full rich blackberry characters on the palate combined with careful oak maturation have resulted in a wine that meets our high standards.

Cellar

“This wine will be fantastic for cellaring, put away and forget, but if you are like me, drink now or in the next six months.”

Additional Notes

A couple of weeks ago while looking through a few local small distributors portfolios I came across this Cabernet Sauvignon from the Limestone Coast, sort of west of Coonawarra. There doesn’t seem to be as much press about this region of late. All a bit cyclic I guess, but the 2000 version was in the February 2003 Dozen. I hadn’t seen a lot of wines from there of late, and with this Cabernet being contract made by Leconfield in Coonawarra, it was all little too hard to resist. I think this is a very good Cabernet Sauvignon, although how those young Cabernet characters develop under screw cap is locked in time. With this sort of wine, you have an idea how it will travel under cork, and I have to admit to being a fan of that outcome.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone / Fax: 08 8768 6251

Open: Daily 10 to 4.

Address: Wrights Bay Road, Mount Benson, S.A., 5275.

E-mail: wehls.mountbenson@bigpond.com

Back To Top