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Two Hands Brave Faces 2006 Shiraz/Grenache

October 24, 2008 By Shea Leave a Comment

A Barossa wine from the well-known Australian ‘negocient’ Two Hands. This is another big american-style bruiser at 15.5% alcohol, although I thought it did a decent job with that percentage. The nose was very much classic Barossa shiraz with chocolate cherry and a touch of gameyness. This was very potent, but had excellent flavour concentration. Ultimately this is a big fruit blast without an exaggerated sense of extraction. The big complaint at this price point is that the wine is somewhat thin in the complexity (not the intensity) of its flavours.

Very Good
$40 ($28 on sale) at BCLDB
Filed Under: $40-$60, Australian Wine, Grenache, Shiraz, Very Good

Henschke ‘Abbotts Prayer’ Vineyard Merlot 2001

October 13, 2008 By Shea Leave a Comment

A relatively young-vine Merlot from the legendary Australian producer. A Lenswood wine, this merlot was Brownish-red in the glass. A HUGE nose of plum, cherry and cassis developed into a less big but very juicy palate with similar flavours. A smooth palate coupled with integrated fruit developed into a long finish brought on by a great combination of up front fruit, softness and a solid acidic structure with secondary flavours of wood and earth. A very nicely made new world merlot.

Very Good+
$60 at BCLDB
Filed Under: $60+, Australian Wine, Merlot, Very Good

Plantagenet Shiraz Great Southern 2003

October 10, 2008 By Shea Leave a Comment

I drank this wine a while ago. Now, however, I can’t help but feel that my wine habbits will go more towards sale items such as this with the crashing markets and depreciating Canadian currency. My once exciting 5 month exchange to UC Berkeley is shaping up to cost considerably more than I expected. With mounting student debt levels, it’s time for some serious budget wine. I suppose luckily I have some stock to go through before needing to buy anything more.

On to the wine. I found this shiraz to have a pretty unique flavour profile for Australia, with a nose of meaty dark fruits. The palate was quite layered, and I detected plum, chocolate, cinnamon, pepper, and indian spices. My big complaint, however, is that the alcohol was too hot and unbalanced with the rest of the wine. This makes me feel this particular vintage was unpolished, which is a shame because I think there is great potential here. Definitely something to look for and an indication of the quality to be had from Western Australia (the Great Southern region to be exact).

Very Good
$28 on sale ($40 regular)
Filed Under: $30-$40, Australian Wine, Shiraz, Very Good

Mollydooker ‘The Boxer’ Shiraz 2006

September 20, 2008 By Shea 5 Comments

Here we have what I would call, extending the metaphor from the last post, a Cyclops of a wine. Brute, stupid, singular, one dimensional and easily fooled. Mollydooker is a sensation in the US wine market, largely created by massive ratings by Robert Parker and the Wine Spectator. I do not feel as much vitriol against these reviewers as others, but I have found that I very much disagree with Parker’s ratings in Australian wine. The wine advocate gave this bottle 94 points.

While equivalent in power to the Gigondas below, this is essentially the opposite wine. Big chocolate, cassisn, vanilla and a touch of Eucalyptus belie the creamy, artificial, cough syrup texture of this highly manipulated wine. Very fruit forward, and somewhat alcoholic (at 16% abv), this is too sweet and over the top. It is, in a sense, the coca-cola of wine. I think if you like this approach to wine making, this is archetypical of the very sweet approach to wine making and a lot of people will certainly enjoy this. For me, however, this type of wine is exactly why I got out of Australian wines years ago (only to return later to discover all the other wonderful offerings from that region of the globe). I hate to say it, but: yellow-tail on crack. This is like returning to the orphanage you ran away from all those years ago, only to find that sister Molly is still beating you over the head with a stick – wine for the masochist.

Good+
$35 at BCLDB
Filed Under: $30-$40, Australian Wine, Good, Shiraz

Massena Barbera 2006

August 31, 2008 By Shea Leave a Comment

One usually does not associate Barbera with Australia, but they seem to manage to grow pretty much any grape down under. I thought this one would be worth a try since I tend to like Massena’s efforts with other varieties. I found this very rich and fruity, but also quite bright and open with black cherry and blackberry flavours. There was also a strawberry-like component to the fruit that suggested pinot. I might classify this as a combination of Pinot-like fruit with Shiraz like intensity. Not a typical Barbera, but quite a good one. And, it will pair well with high acid dishes like tomato pasta.

Very Good+
~$35 at Marquis
Filed Under: $30-$40, Australian Wine, Barbera, Very Good

Spinifex Esprit 2005

June 18, 2008 By Shea Leave a Comment

Another stab at the Aussie Rhone-style wines. This, as I’ve mentioned before, is made in the Barossa valley and carries its characteristically intense fruit. This is basically a GSM blend with a couple other grape varieties thrown in the mix (Cinsault and Carignan). The nose is very confection heavy, with the palate becoming tart cherry, plum skin and chocolate. The wine smooths out with air but still seems unbalanced and, honestly, a little pedantic.

Very Good
$45 at Liberty ($35 at Marquis)
Filed Under: $40-$60, Australian Wine, Rhone Blends, Very Good

A Petite Sirah Tasting in Honour of My 100th Post

June 12, 2008 By Shea 4 Comments

Astonishingly I have managed to post 100 notes on this site since its inception. I created this site with the same simply desire as many to just provide a space for my personal notes that a few others might also enjoy reading and debating. I wasn’t sure if it would last, but the fact I’ve made it to 100 in only a few months is good assurance that I will continue!

So I had this tasting a couple weeks ago in support of summer and BBQ’s. I pulled together a couple friends to taste one wine from Napa, one from Sonoma, and one from Barossa. Given my feelings that this varietal is undersung, this was a good chance to share the love and see if I still liked petite sirah as much as I used to. Ultimately, I have yet to had an expression of this varietal that fully blows me away; yet, there are also many very strong examples that work very well when paired with the right food. We had beef ribs, lamb and beef souvlaki to pair with these wines.
Wine #1: Foppiano Petite Sirah 2004
This wine is made from grapes sourced in the Russian River Valley. Foppiano also helped to champion Petite Sirah as a worthy single varietal wine. This had large fruit flavours like raspberry and red berries. A bit rough around the edges, but very big and a very authentic expression of fruit.
Very Good+
$20 in USD
Wine #2: Elyse Petite Sirah 2005
The Napa selection: chcolate, blackberry, cherry and blueberry. This was thick and full-bodied. A touch manipulated, but done well.
Excellent
$40 at Marquis
Wine #3: Massena Howling Dog Durif 2004
Not typical for Petite Sirah, at least none of the ones I’ve tasted. Perhaps this is the unique terroir of Barossa. This was much tarter and more acidic than petite sirah normally is. A high-boned structure well poised for the proper food pairing. Blackberry tartness and a long finish.
Excellent
$55 ($35 on sale) at Marquis
Filed Under: $40-$60, Australian Wine, Californian Wine, Excellent, Petite Sirah, Tastings, Very Good

Penfolds Bin 389 2005

June 3, 2008 By Shea 5 Comments

I picked up this wine on a high recommendation that this was Penfold’s return to form on 389 – the wine also known as the ‘mini-grange’. I am glad I followed up on the suggestion.

This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz and as such the nose combines smooth cassis and moderated, but very pretty Eucalyptus. The nose exploded upwards from the rim with one of the most powerful yet elegant bouquets I’ve nosed in a long while. The palate was long and complex with a full mouthfeel and lots of vegetable, rich black fruit, tar and licorice. I also sensed some earth and minerals here, but in a distinctly Aussie style.

This wine elevated itself above typicity of style while bringing in tons of flavour, terroir, and a truly unique style. One of the best wine’s I’ve tasted, and at an excellent price right now in BC.

Excellent+
$50 at BCLDB
Filed Under: $40-$60, Australian Wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, Excellent, Shiraz

The Colonial Estate Explorateur Old Vine Shiraz 2005

June 1, 2008 By Shea Leave a Comment

A highly rated Parker wine from Aussie-land. This generally makes me think twice since I find he and I rarely agree on Australia. This, however, was a quality example of excellent Barossa shiraz that questioned the acuity of my perceptions of Parker’s Aussie ratings.

Jammy blackberry and plush dark fruits like fig and plum filled both the nose and the palate. A little air also exposed some excellent chocolatey richness in the mid-palate. This was big but balanced, and with a long-ish finish that left you wanting more. Another classic well made Barossa shiraz.

Excellent
$44 at BCLDB
Filed Under: $40-$60, Australian Wine, Excellent, Shiraz

Peter Lehmann "The Mentor" 2002

May 4, 2008 By Shea 2 Comments

The more and more I approach wine with greater ‘objectivity’, the more I become confident that I simply and authentically love the lush New World style of wine making. This is not to say that I don’t also love subdued and elegant wine-making, but I certainly don’t agree with what appears to be a trend towards deriding overly lush and fruity approaches. Recently I’ve been rediscovering the beauty and power of Australian wine, and this particular Bordeaux style blend continued to reinforce my positive image of modern Aussie wine making.

The nose on this beautiful Cab based blend had intense chocolate and dark berry aromas. The palate had a huge body of oak, eucalyptus, and dark berries. But, none of this was out of place or unintegrated. This was also complex, but not boring, over-oaked nor did it have heavy cassis flavours. This was long and elegant, with a full bodied palate-coating mouthfeel and beautifully integrated and smooth tannins. A truly great blend.

Excellent
$45 at BCLDB
Filed Under: $40-$60, Australian Wine, Bordeaux Blends, Excellent
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