Thursday, August 25, 2011

Skimstone 2011 Sangiovese Rosé


Josh Clementsen handcrafts some very good estate-grown wines in tiny quantities using fruit from the Skimstone vineyard at Apple Tree Flat, just outside Mudgee. He has a definite bias towards Italian varieties and this sangiovese rosé is outstanding. Very much made in the new-wave style, it is bright pink and bone dry with with impressive savoury notes along with some assertive cranberry, strawberry and red cherry characters and impressive linear acidity. This outshone several bigger name rosés in a reecent tasting. A terrific food wine and great value for $22. www.skimstone.com.au.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Mount Langi Ghiran 2008 Billi Billi Shiraz


This is the budget shiraz from renowned Grampians winery Mount Langi Ghiran and it gets a capital V for value from me even if the fruit is drawn from three different regions; home soil, Bendigo and Swan Hill. The whole cool-climate shiraz thing is going on here with plenty of pepper and spice on the medium-weight palate with some fine tannin action, but there's also plenty of sweet dark fruit flavours (and 14.5% alcohol). A terrific wine for affordable everyday drinking pleasure.$18. www.langi.com.au.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Dopff au Moulin 2008 Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg


The aromatic white wines of Alsace are often sadly overlooked but when they shine, like one, they are absolutely outstanding. Mind you, Dopff au Moulin has been making wines in the fairytale village of Riquewihr since 1574 and is still a family business, so they've had a fair bit of practice. Made from fruit grown on a grand cru hillside site, this is a pleasant enough wine on its own, but it blossoms with food (in our case a Thai green chicken curry). It has a lovely floral bouquet and the palate is dry, flinty and minerally with beautiful balance and structure. And the good news is it is bottled under screw cap for the Australian market. Available at Dan Murphy's stores. $30.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Tyrrell's 2011 Fordwich Verdelho


The Portuguese grape verdelho has found a home away from home in the warmth of the Hunter Valley, where it produces wines that are undoubted crowd-pleasers if not much loved by aficionados. Made from fruit grown in the Broke-Fordwich sub-region, this is an early-release, early-drinking style of wine that is unashamedly fruit driven with hints of pineapple, guava and tropical lime on the palate. It's a lifted, uncomplicated quaffer with lashings of sweet fruit but it finishes quite dry with some nice zingy acid. Unoaked, it is a crisp, clean wine designed for serving well chilled. Pair it with Thai stir-fries, or perhaps crab with avocado. $17.