Tasting Notes - Drummonds Pinot Noir 1990 (Recommended)

Pale, dull blood red; probably looked like this 15 years ago knowing Phillip Jones' winemaking. Aged nose, musty, pongy, but good underlying intensity. Faded fruits in the mouth, some sour notes. Well structured, good acid retention. Clearly was built to last but the fruit was never going to shine after 15 years. Would be great to compare to any of the related Bass Phillip wines at the same age. A great example of how Oz pinot can look respectable after a decade and a half.

Tasting Notes - Ravensworth Shiraz 2004 (Recommended)

Medium blood red with a sliver of thining at the rim. Cool climate nose of plum and cherry, a touch tart, but faithful to the style. Bouquet has good depth. Well balanced, medium bodied, light berries are well matched with a nervy minerally, chalky note, indicating the wine is still very young. This would be relatively easy to pick blind as a Canberra shiraz.

Tasting Notes - Iron Bark Forest Jessie Stargazer Merlot 2000 (Recommended)

Plum – red in colour with light red starting to dull. Some secondary characters on the nose – tar and leather. Fruity notes are not overt but nice aromas nevertheless. Palate shows reasonable intensity and complexity; mixed berries, spice & nutmeg, very smooth. Feels nice. Lovely lingering aftertaste. Recommended.

Tasting Notes - Iron Bark Forest Merlot 2001 (Recommended)

Medium red, lighter than what I’d expect from the region. Nose is quite light, berries and a tiny touch of game. Much more lively in the palate. Plenty of aniseed early with some spice but this fruit drops off a touch. Well underpinned with appropriate tannins. Strictly medium bodied but does the job nicely.

Tasting Notes - Kanta Riesling 2005 (Recommended)

Sourced from the Balhannah vineyard in Adelaide Hills, what makes this wine of high interest to Riesling freaks is the wine maker – Germany’s esteemed Egon Muller. Light pale gold in the glass. Rich nose, ripe, citrus fruits at the tropical end, some musk, almost gris-like. Big mouthfeel for the variety, more ripe, viscous fruit notes, again a touch of musk, with some broad oily notes. Powerful wine, perhaps more Alsatian than Adelaide Hills, but full of interest. Best Oz Riesling tried from SA in 2005 thus far.

Tasting Notes - Scaffidi One Tree Hill Nebbiolo 2003 (Recommended)

Adelaide Plains based outfit, new us here at Cloudwine. Vibrant ruby red in the glass, ‘light’ looking. Quite varietal on the nose, savoury, dried herbs, subtle, yet has a intense edge. Power and weight steps up a notch in the palate driven by liquered berries with a dry savoury undertone. Tannins are quite pronounced, furry and mouthcoating. This wine shows great balance b/w old world Neb (serious structure) and new world fruitiness. Well worth a try, a fantastic Australian interpretation and a good entry point to real Neb.

Tasting Notes - Deviation Road Pinot Gris 2005

Classical appearance – faint pale gold with a subtle strawberry hue. Ripe nose, almost seems hot, musky floral notes. Again quite ripe to taste, broad mouthfeel (varietal), a touch of acid burn. Needs some time to soften the finish.

Tasting Notes - Deviation Road Pinot Noir 2004

Light crimson with some pale edges. Brightly fruited on the nose; cherry and strawberries with a hint of sour fruits. Similar palate, a bit one dimensional with more cherry, fruity notes but quite well built with a decent firmness from the acid. Flavours tail off a little at the finish. Needs another 6 months to settle. Plays ok at $18 - $19.

Tasting Notes - Deviation Road Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Very ripe full flavoured style. Powerful nose with some obvious ripeness. Big mouthful with ripe fruits, packing some heat, lacking a little finesse. Needs some chilling to take the ripeness edge off a touch. Certaintly not lacking outright flavour but lacks the necessary character to stand out at the price.

Tasting Notes - D'Angelo Pinot Grigio 2004

Cardinia Ranges is a low profile area that can perhaps also be described as the south eastern edge of the Yarra Valley or the western border of Gippsland. Big nose, rich, with some musk and broad fruit. Quite European in style and more in the Gris camp. Palate is quite lifted and fresh, with a hint of spritz, but the flavours promised on the bouquet translate poorly. Some musk and a little heat but the fruit seems almost tired. A shame, because the nose really promised something special.

Mount Majura Pinot Gris 2005 (Recommended)

A good return to form following the ripe, bold, hot 2004. Youthful pale gold in the glass. Broad musky nose, quite text book for a Gris. More broad musky notes to taste, shows elegance (soft, friendly) but does step on the gas a little in the back palate, finishing just a touch hard but nevertheless quite impressive. VG QPR at $17.

Tasting Notes - Hackersley Sauvignon Blanc 2005

Remains true to the house style. Rich, ripe nose with an array of fruits. Gives a ‘hot’ sensation. Fairly big mouthful in the front and middle palate although the heat I was expecting didn’t really eventuate, and in fact finishes quite balanced with clasy drying touches and a broad mouthfeel. A little simple but well structured for a $16 wine, but couldn’t recommend outright ex. the value equation.

Phillips Brook Estate Cabernet Merlot 2004 (Recommended)

We were very impressed with the 2004 riesling from this Great Southern winery and this cab merlot demonstrates a capacity to make decent reds as well. Beautiful nose, almost pretty, with fragrant, lifted berries, ripena and a touch of elegant leaf. Palate is less overt, remains elegance but lesser doses of varietal fruit than what the nose suggested. Soft early but firms up somewhat in the middle palate with a faint touch of astringency and some acid. Drinks quite well now but could do with a year’s rest. Nose drives the reco but still a very decent wine. Softened in the glass considerably after an hour….not quite sure I’d keep cellared longer than 2007-8?

Tasting Note - Cape Barren Wild Goose Shiraz 2004

Ripe nose of berries and ever so slightly stewed plum fruits. Some heat evident on the bouquet. More abrasive and ‘blocky’ in the mouth, more heat, sour fruits, some tannin. The alcohol seems dominant and does dislodge the balance, and almost shortens the flavour profile. Better options in this style at the moment.

Tasting Note - Cape Barren GSM 2004

Fragrant, lifted nose of confectionary Grenache fruits. Quite nice. Broad mouthful, some mildly sour fruits yet they are very approachable and almost fragrant, a fraction over-ripe? Plenty of heat at the finish but fruit does finish short.

Tasting Notes - Margan Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (Recommended)

Black currents combines nicely with some pongy, dirty notes; shows some complexity. Interesting palate; starts out with more black current notes but transitions quite quickly to liquored blackberries and then a now familiar tannic, firmly built palate. Dries out a touch a little too much for my liking on the finish but bouquet gets it over the line.

Tastings Notes - Tuckers Vineyard Classic Dry White 2004 (Value Reco)

This wine is actually a 100% tank fermented sauvignon blanc, sourced from an East Gippsland vineyard that changed hands a few years ago. By our reckoning it’s one of the few Gippy Sav Blanc vineyards to have shown promise over the years. Looks a touched developed in the glass – medium gold – something akin to a 3 to 4 year old chardonnay. Interesting nose; clearly ripe with some power, but also has a smoky red wine feel. I reckon I may have picked this as a red if tasted truly blend!

More simple profile in the mouth; ripe notes pop up again but the varietal notes don’t really push through, and drinks more like generic white. Has some decent palate weight. Perhaps the ‘classic dry white’ tag has some genuine claims? No world beater but at $12ish this wine deserves to be tried. A great example of how ultra small makers can deliver real value.

Tasting Notes - Fermoy Estate Semillon 2003

Another good (but not great) example of what I think is Australia’s great unsung white / region combination. Ripe, full bodied, almost thick in the palate, the latter perhaps to a fault. Some regional herbal notes and tangy character, and a slightly dusty finish. A good wine, just needs to tone back the palate weight.