Decanterberry Tales - A Willamette Valley Wine Blog - australia tag

Devil's Corner, Tasmania, Pinot Noir, 2007

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 05:29:07 GMT

So here we are at a dinner, and we're having a "Pinots of the World" tasting. California: yep. Burgundy: of course. Oregon: definitely. New Zealand: sure. But Australia? I didn't know they were in the running. Technically: sure. But really, it's Tasmania. And what else are you going to call your wine from such a place: the devil, of course.

The nose on this was cola, strawberry, grass, and ... chicken!? Yep Madeleine was onvinced of the chicken. Denise found oak and vanilla and rose. The taste was red cherry, citrus, and strawberry. It was smooth, and light in body. Later on, the taste and finish moved from red cherry to strawberry.

Sort of interesting, but much less complex than the Burgundy that preceeded this. This was the second bottle that had any wine remaining the next day (ie, it wasn't the favorite); but again, Andrew reported that this (and the New Zealand Pinot) improved greatly by the second night.

Cost:

Rating: 6.5

Rosemount, 'GSM', 2001

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:06:26 GMT

This is an old favorite of mine. I just had ended a French wine kick for awhile, and was starting an Australian kick. So this was a great bottle bridging those two worlds. GSM stands for Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre -- which is a standard Rhone blend of grapes (though most of the time the Aussies call it "Shiraz" instead of "Syrah" as they do in France ... same difference). All the bottles I've had of this have been good going back to 1999, with one of exception of a bottle (2003) I got from the airport in Narita -- probably not cared for as it should have been.

The nose was raisin, plum, nutmeg, cinnamon, green bean, bark and wheat cracker (seriously, that's what I smelled). The taste was raisin again, black cherry, vanilla (subtle), and pepper. On the finish, the vanilla remained, along with cayenne and plum. Others tasted nasturtium at the end.

Cost:

Rating: 8.0

(Grenache 48%, Syrah 45%, Mourvedre 7%)

Shingleback, McLaren Vale, Shiraz, 2004

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:41:01 GMT

The nose is bark and wet saw dust. Like wet soil. Smells like rain. Rained on wood chips. The taste is oak, plum, raisin, and dried cherries. The finish is definitely prune and vanilla. It's like a vanilla cream soda ... seriously!

It's very smooth and quiet in your mouth; the oak makes it that way. It has none of that mineral -- terroir -- we've been having lately with old world wines. It's very drinkable, yet it's just not as interesting as similar wines from France or Italy. Despite all this, it was very far from horrible, just not memorable.

Cost:

Rating: 7.0

Penfolds, 'Koonunga Hill', Shiraz Cabernet, 2006

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:33:55 GMT

Penfolds has been around a long time, and they make wines in a broad range of prices. Some, like the 'Grange' can be very expensive, while others are just table wine level (we reviewed a 1997 'St. Henry' Shiraz earlier). I've been a long-time fan of Penfolds. I have to admit that one of those bottles that started me into wine was a 1996 Penfolds, Bin 389.

But this is not that. This is one of the cheap Penfolds. This bottle is a surprising $10, especially considering that the store sign advertised that some place-of-repute gave it a score of 91! We're always looking for that unobtainable holy grail: great wine at a cheap price. So it was hard not to buy it (which I of course did).

The nose is very floral: hyacinth and lavender. There also some subtle vegetable matter, probably eggplant.Tastes of moss and floral. The fruit is predominantly jammy boysenberry. But also red cherry, and pomegranate. The finish is sort of a bad perfume. Pomegranate pucker and cedar.

The conclusion: Denise liked it, and I didn't. For me, it was too sweet. It's not really sweet as wines go, but it's that sweet Shiraz (if you've had it, you know what I mean). Denise gave it a 6; and me, it was a 5. Hence the compromise at 5.5.

Cost:

Rating: 5.5