The Classic August Dozen

ALLANDALE MATTHEW SHIRAZ 2003

Winemakers Bill Snedden and Rod Russell

Winemakers Notes

The Matthew Shiraz is made from an old, unirrigated Hunter Valley Vineyard. The grapes were picked fully ripened and hand plunged in open fermenters for seven days before pressing. The vanillin oak flavours from twelve months maturation in American oak hogsheads give support to this elegant medium weight wine, the typical regional flavours of leather and earth are balanced with fruit characteristics of rich blood-plum and berries. The palate is full with great length and soft tannins.

Cellar

“Recommended cellaring for five to seven years.”

Additional Notes

With all the hype over the last decade or so, we have all become familiar with the full-bodied Shiraz wines from the Barossa and McLaren Vale. But not so much is heard about their Hunter cousins. Over the years there haven’t been as many in the Dozens either: with Chateau Pato, Margan and Capercaillie to name just a few. Sydneysiders keen on wine would have at some stage enjoyed some of the original Lindeman Hunter River “Burgundy” wines in their glass. And some great ones were made by Karl Stockhausen. More ‘medium weight’ as stated in the Notes, the Matthew Shiraz is a good example of this once loved style. Allandale wines are new to the portfolio of Yarra Valley Wine Consultants, and this wine is the recommendation of Anne, their Melbourne based head of Sales. “This wine has a fabulous complexity of chocolate, coffee, spices, soy and cedar characters. The red nose is smoky and developed and palate is all vanillin oak and ripe fruit with plenty of acid.” Winestate July / August 2005.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 02 4990 4526

Fax: 02 4990 1714

Open: Daily 10 to 5.

Address: 132 Lovedale Road, Lovedale, NSW, 2321.

Web: www.allandalewinery.com.au

E-mail: wines@allandalewinery.com.au

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AMULET MERLOT CABERNET 2004

Winemakers Sue Thornton and Ben Clifton

Winemakers Notes

The colour is very deep crimson. The nose has rich blackberry fruit and herbaceous pepper undertones. The palate is generous with delicious sweet berry fruit and spices. Soft supple tannins in the front of the palate are complemented with good length and flavour on the finish.

Cellar

3 to 4 years.

Additional Notes

“Once again a 60:40 blend with the Merlot picked first. Both varieties came from low yielding vines with very small berries. There was a very low juice ratio to skin producing wines of intense colour and flavour. The vines were very slow to recover from the dry conditions of 2003 and the benefits of this are in the bottle. Merlot is the dominant variety in great wines from St-Emilion and Pomerol in Bordeaux. It is partnered with the more tannic and austere long living Cabernet Sauvignon. The two combined can produce a wine with elegant structure and full flavours.” Taken from Amulet Notes. You may remember the Amulet Pinot Grigio in February this year, described as ‘funky’ by Ian Hunt, the local Distributor. I thought it was a wine with tremendous personality which it showed totally unguarded for all to enjoy. I think these Amulet wines are not only good, but are also great fun.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 03 5727 0420

Fax: 03 5727 0421

Open: Friday to Monday 10 to 5

Address: Wangaratta Road, Beechworth, Victoria 3747.

Web: www.amuletvineyard.com.au

E-mail: amulet@dragnet.com.au

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BASS STRAIT PINOT NOIR 2005

Winemaker Guy Wagner

Winemakers Notes

The wine shows aromas of black cherry, raspberry and spice. The palate is mouth filling and rich with sweet fruit flavours and supportive, fine tannin.

Cellar

Five to seven years.

Additional Notes

“Pinot Noir was sourced from several Northern Tasmanian vineyards contracted to Bass Fine Wine. Yields were controlled to allow us to ripen fruit in the anticipated adverse weather conditions. Ferments were warm and various time frames employed to extract a range of flavours. Maturation took place in a combination of new (7%), two and three year old barrels, and tank. The wine was bottled with coarse filtration.” This wine is the follow up of the “Top Gold Medal” winner, the 2004, at this year’s Tasmanian Wine Show, and by the way of enthusiastic recommendation of Paul from Haviland Wine Merchants. Established in 1999, a winery was completed for the 2006 vintage.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone/Fax: 03 6331 0136

Open: Not open for tasting.

Address: Upper McEwans Road, Rosevears, Tasmania, 7270.

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DYSON GRANDE PRIVILEGE RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2001

Winemaker Allan Dyson

Winemakers Notes

The Dyson ‘Clarice’ Cabernet Sauvignon shows rich varietal flavours with good depth of fruit on the palate. Fine grained tannins along with subtle oak characters and balanced acid make this wine a pleasure to drink. The subtle cabernet flavours of the wine are not over-ridden by heavy alcohol flavours but allow a more subtle fruit/oak/acid combination to emerge. These attributes combine superbly to create a wine that shows style and class.

Cellar

“Careful cellaring of the Dyson ‘Clarice’ Cabernets will bring many years of great drinking pleasure.”

Additional Notes

“Our traditional vineyard practices include hand-pruning, mulching and minimal use of 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 our open fermenters where the juice 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 Oak barriques to finish fermentation and mature. The pressing wine is treated similarly. Both are matured separately for 24 to 30 months. All barriques are then assessed for quality before both portions are blended together prior to bottling. We strongly believe 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 8327 0066

Open: Daily 10 to 5

Address: Sherriff Road, Maslin Beach, S.A. 5170

Web: www.dysonwines.com

E-mail: allan@dysonwines.com

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DYSON GRANDE PRIVILEGE RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2004

Winemaker Allan Dyson

Winemakers Notes

As with Dyson Chardonnays, this wine is subtle with rich, complex flavours that shows a fine varietal nose. Well developed palate with traces of honey rich marmalade and lime flavours integrated with the fine French oak to produce rich fine textures on the palate. The fine acid structure of the wine will allow it to mature and age gracefully.

Cellar

Five to seven years.

Additional Notes

“The fruit for the Dyson Chardonnay is grown on our Maslin Beach vineyard in the McLaren Vale Region 2.5 kms from the coast on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula. Our Chardonnay is dry grown; the vines rely totally on natural rainfall to grow their remarkable grapes for us. These conditions along with the unique maritime climate produce big, rich, robust Chardonnay, with strong green/gold colours synonymous with Dyson wines. Our Chardonnay grapes are hand picked at optimum sugar levels for richness and ripeness, then cooled over night to 10 degrees C before crushing and basket pressing to protect and enhance the unique flavours. The juice is cold settled and then fermented very slowly in French oak barriques. Whilst the young wines are maturing on yeast lees in the barrel, a malolactic fermentation is introduced and the wine undergoes fermentation during this period. This in turn creates rich, subtle complex flavours, which oak aged Chardonnays should feature. After the Chardonnay is matured in French oak barriques, it is bottled at the winery, and then bottle aged in cool temperature controlled cellars before release.” Taken from Allan’s notes.

Availability

Cellar Door or please contact me.

Winery Details

Phone: 08 8386 1092

Fax: 08 8327 0066

Open: Daily 10 to 5

Address: Sherriff Road, Maslin Beach, S.A. 5170

Web: www.dysonwines.com

E-mail: allan@dysonwines.com

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KILIKANOON PRODIGAL GRENACHE 2004

Winemaker Kevin Mitchell

Winemakers Notes

Intense cherry red to brick red in colour, with subtle youthful crimson tints. The nose shows perfumed aromas of cherries, chocolate and leather that combine well with the dusty, spicy oak flavours. On the palate, a big Grenache style with richly perfumed plum, cherry and chocolate fruit flavours. Although dry, the wine possesses a real ‘sweet fruit’ character that is reinforced by the warm alcohol finish. Subtle oak influence and firm tannins have produced a wine that is balanced with pronounced flavour persistence.

Cellar

Good cellaring potential of at least 8 – 10 years.

Additional Notes

“An excellent example of a personal favourite at Kilikanoon, the 2004 Prodigal Grenache displays all the powerful fruit charm and charisma that this old varietal stalwart is capable of. Low yielding, hand picked fruit from two of our ‘Home Block’ Leasingham Estate vineyards was allowed to fully ripen and mature before vinification took place.” And it was the ‘charm and charisma’ of the 2002 Prodigal savoured just a month ago that draws this new release into the lot.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone / Fax: 08 8843 4377

Open: Weekends & Public Holidays: 11 to 5

Address: Penna Lane, Penwortham, South Australia, 5453.

Web: www.kilikanoon.com.au

E-mail: info@kilikanoon.com.au

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LIEBICHWEIN LEVERET SHIRAZ 2004

Winemaker Ron Liebich

Winemakers Notes

Vibrant deep purple hues with aromas of mulberry and plum abound. Voluptuous fruit flavours with spice, mint and chocolate.

Cellar

“Will handsomely reward 3 – 10 years bottle maturation.”

Additional Notes

This very welcome wine is literally an inclusion ‘out of the blue.’ I received a Newsletter from Janet Liebich just last week saying among other news that this Shiraz received the full five star treatment from James Halliday in his recently released 2007 Australian Wine Companion. It says: “dark but light purple red; a complex array of aromas and flavours, carrying the alcohol with ease, seemingly only medium bodied; spice, blackberry, licorice, plum and dark, chocolate; fine savoury tannins.” 94/100. In the same way as last August with their TeMpt, a Tempranillo blend, the Leveret comes via the Newsletter. With a big score from Halliday, it would not surprise me to see it sold out before the November Dozen has a chance at it.

Availability

Cellar Door or please contact me.

Winery Details

Phone: 08 8524 4543

Fax: 08 8524 4047

Open: Monday to Saturday 11 to 5

Address: Steingarten Road, Rowland Flat, S. A, 5352.

Web: www.liebichwein.com.au

E-mail: Liebichwein@iprimus.com.au

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LINDSAYS HILLTOPS SHIRAZ 2004

Winemaker Jill Lindsay

Winemakers Notes

Came off the vine, with what we would consider ideal parameters, on 23/04/04 at 13.2 Be 3.6 pH and inoculated with the French “Syrah” yeast. The wine was allowed to complete normal fermentation and Malolactic fermentation in tank before spending 12 months in new American oak hogsheads. Bottling was November 05 using the new “Diam” cork closure. After now 8 months this wine is developing more slowly than we expected, highlighting the consistency of the performance of this cork which has been technically modified.

Cellar

10 years+.

Additional Notes

“In 1986 the first customers to Woodonga Hill Winery, often commented on the visible lack of vineyards on the site. (In those days wineries were expected to have, on site, their own vineyard). It quickly became evident that, in the eyes of the true wine enthusiast it was important that a winery be situated amidst rows of vines if it was to be considered genuine. Even though we, onsite, had some 4 hectares of vines, their presence was obscured by the winery building. As in most times, money was short and the budget for planting was overrun. So off to provide some free pruning at Barwang who possessed some 18 year old McWilliams sourced Shiraz vines, from which selected cuttings were brought back to Woodonga Hill and directly planted into a freshly ploughed area, immediately adjacent the winery. This block remains our source of Shiraz for what has been a series of always exciting and sometimes frustrating wines over the past 15 years. The initial wines were made in a Soft Shiraz style and labeled as such. Although this style has been retained, some changes in technique and the realization that well made Shiraz from Hilltops tends to build with age, as its tannin structure develops. The label Soft Shiraz has been dropped.” As ‘promised’ in May, here is a terrific Shiraz.

Availability

Cellar Door or please contact me.

Winery Details

Phone/Fax: 02 6382 2972

Open: Daily 9 to 5

Address: Cowra Road, Young, NSW, 2594.

Web: www.lindsayswine.com.au

E-mail: lindsay5@bigpond.com

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MOUNT MAJURA DINNY’S BLOCK 2002

Winemaker Dr. Frank van de Loo

Winemakers Notes

63% Cabernet Franc, 25% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, the three varieties were picked and crushed together with an average sugar content of 13.2 Baume, and fermented in open pots with hand plunging. Extended maceration on skins post ferment resulted in softening and integration of tannin. The wine was matured in French oak for eighteen months prior to bottling. The cooler season has highlighted the fragrant raspberry / blackcurrant spectrum of the Cabernet Franc, and produced a lighter style that is based around juicy mid-palate fruit and extremely fine and integrated tannin.”

Cellar

Five to seven years.

Additional Notes

“Mount Majura Vineyard’s hand crafted wines benefit from the unique combination red volcanic limestone-containing soils, an easterly aspect and a cool climate. These features are consistently expressed in intense, elegant and complex wines. Grapes are sourced only from the Mount Majura vineyard in the Canberra District. 2002 was a brilliant vintage, with close to average temperatures. Dry conditions prior to veraison resulted in development of small berries and good vine balance. Heavy rain immediately after veraison ensured healthy canopies fro the remainder of the season which was dry and ideal for ripening. This wine was originally labelled “Merlot” (up to 1999), then Cabernet Franc Merlot, and has now been renamed after the founder of our vineyard, Mrs Dinny Killen.” And is another enthusiastic recommendation of Paul from Haviland Wine Merchants.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 02 6262 3070

Fax: 02 6262 4288

Open: Thursday to Monday 10 to 5.

Address: RMB 314 Majura Road, Majura, ACT, 2609.

Web: www.mountmajura.com.au

E-mail: info@mountmajura.com.au

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PAULETT POLISH HILL RIVER RIESLING 2006

Winemaker Neil Paulett

Winemakers Notes

The wine has a youthful colour of pale straw with green tinges. The nose shoes crisp green apple, clean citrus with a floral lift. On the palate flavours of lime and citrus dominate with some underlying tropical characters evident. There is a delightful freshness of acid through the middle palate and into the finish.

Cellar

“Drink now or cellar for ten plus years for those rewarding aged characters.”

Additional Notes

The Riesling lovers are making themselves known more readily nowadays. Perhaps it is something to do with a comment made in the May Dozen. I was asked in February if there was a Riesling in the mix. There wasn’t, but I took it on board as a thing to do for future ones. Of the four whites I’ve always made sure that the Chardonnay, still, probably our most popular white wine, is a stand out in small winemaking terms. A quick add for Alasdair Sutherland in his “Outstanding” rating for Capercaillie ‘The Cuillin’ Chardonnay 2005 in the August Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, where Capercaillie also won Best Exhibitor. This wine was in the May Dozen. Back to Rieslings, where there were a few to choose from and I went with a true classic in the Paulett wine.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 08 8843 4328

Fax: 08 8843 4202

Open: Daily 10 to 5.

Address: Polish Hill Road, Polish Hill S.A., 5453.

Web: www.paulettwines.com.au

E-mail: info@paulettwines.com.au

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SILVERWOOD ESTATE PINOT NOIR 2005

Winemakers Paul Dennis and Phillip Kittle

Winemakers Notes

The wine has a brilliant ruby colour in the glass. Its aroma is bursting with red fruits of the forest underpinned by savoury dried herb and a hint of cedar. A palate of medium weight with good supporting oak treatment is evident. The palate reflects the nose with primary red fruit and cherry supported by savoury, dark chocolate and tarry notes that persist at the back of the palate. The wine finishes with a lovely combination of silky tannins and fruit.

Cellar

“This wine is drinking well on release and we are confident it will improve with careful cellaring for up to 5 years from vintage.”

Additional Notes

“The Silverwood hallmarks are all here: The wine making has given the fruit front-stage in a complete expression of our vineyard terroir. The Silverwood pinots are typified by powerful fruit flavours especially raspberries and morello cherries with fine tannins and long persistence. Traditional winemaking including open vat fermentation and use of 30% new oak from the best Burgundy cooperages including Taransaud and Francois Freres.” This wine carried the “Highly Recommended” tag at the recent Winewise Small Vignerons Awards, detailed in the August Winewise. It was also a recommendation of Nicholas Gibson who makes a welcome return to the Dozens with a couple of wines.

Availability

Available to Retail.

Winery Details

Phone: 0419 890 317

Fax: 03 8317 6642

Open: Not open for tasting.

Address: Bittern – Dromana Road, Balnarring, Victoria, 3926.

Web: www.silverwoodwines.com.au

E-mail: sales@silverwoodwines.com.au

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TRENTHAM ESTATE La Famiglia PINOT GRIGIO 2006:

Winemakers Anthony Murphy and Shane Kerr

Winemakers Notes

Harvested on the 7th February in the cool early morning, the grapes were crushed, chilled and gently pressed. After settling the clarified juice was cold fermented until dry. The young wine was allowed to settle for four months before bottling in mid May. The wine has been simply made to highlight the fruit’s natural characters. A light aromatic white wine with delicate perfumed fruits and talc overtones; the taste is fine but rounded with pear and minerally acidity. A dry captivating style.

Cellar

Drink young and fresh.

Additional Notes

“The variety is a mutation of Pinot Noir and is known as Pinot Grigio in Italy, where it generally makes lighter and finer wines, and is called Pinot Gris in France where it is made into riper and fuller styles. The grapes ripen mid-season with pink to light purple coloured berries. The 2006 season was initially very warm then mild, with little rain, enabling excellent fruit maturity and flavours. This wine is great with or without food, but it try with antipasto, seafood or light chicken dishes. Also goes well with many Asian flavours.”

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.

Web: www.trenthamestate.com.au

E-mail: cellardoor@trenthamestate.com.au

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