Tasting Notes - Mezzanine Trade Tasting (brief)

Very brief notes from a small showing of selected wines from the Mezzanine portfolio......

Moorooduc Estate 'Devil Bend Creek' Chardonnay 2006 (Recommended)
Mornington Penisula. Lighter, elegant style but really quite classy. Good value at $24.

Moorooduc Estate Chardonnay 2005 (Recommended)
Mornington Peninsula. Again a classy wine, but stacks of class here. Seriously dry and good spicy from the oak. Good length and presence. About $30.

Moorooduc Estate 'The Moorooduc' Chardonnay 2005
Mornington Peninsula. Lots of work right through the palate and plenty of oak on the nose. Some sweetness from high powered fruit. Full palate weight. Sourced from 25yr old vines but more than fully priced at $54.

Moorooduc Estate 'Devil Bend Creek' Pinot Noir 2005
Mornington Peninsula. Light, fragrant with a spicy sour finish. A little boring and perhaps dilutive?

Nanny Goat Pinot Noir 2006
Central Otago. Classic regional style but quite light in terms of fruit depth. Nice tangy finish but overall lacks intensity. Not in the league of previous vintages.

Tar & Roses Pinot Grigio 2007 (Recommended)
Strathbogie Ranges. Very fresh aromatic style. Class / text book nose and good palate weight. Looks the goods at $21.

Tar & Roses Heathcote Shiraz 2006 (Recommended)
Perfumed nose of fresh plums. Lighter weight, very dry, but done nicely. Might be setting a new benchmark for $20 Heathcote shiraz.

Tar & Roses Tempranillo 2006
Heathcote. Nearly gave this one the tick of approval. Dry structure, some tannin, quite firm. Not enough obvious fruit to provide character.

Tar & Roses Sangiovese 2006 (Recommended)
Heathcote. Really good wine. Dry, raspy fruits, serious. Very good length and very good value at $22.

Tar & Roses Nebbiolo 2006
Heathcote. Picked up Gold at the recent Alternative Varieties show. Forward fruit early was a slight turn-off but the structure ramped up in the second half with furry tannins and tar. Might be worth a look but fully priced at $40.

Tar & Roses Priorate DO 'Miro' 2004 (Recommended)
Wine is bottled on site in Spain. Nose is full of sweet tar, almost bordering on porty. Very friendly, soft mouth; tar, ripe, broad. Big drying tannins to finish.

Tar & Roses Priorate DO 'Miro' 2006 (Recommended)
Same again, mostly, although clearly a fresher style that needs time. Plenty of tannin, and will certainly be long lived.

Katnook Merlot 2005 (Recommended)
Huge, beautifully perfumed nose of plum and rose petals. Lighter palate but shows a lot in a floral friendly style. Really good....best merlot I've had in a while.