June Top 4.

Welcome to the June top 4.


There were a few celebratory events in June, including my wife's birthday. June's top 4 is made up of some celebratory bottles and some nice bottles from my cellar. A bit of love for my old favourite, Tyrrell's as well - a young semillon, which has decades ahead of it, but drinks incredibly well now and a shiraz from the generous 2009 Hunter vintage. A classic Penfolds and a Rose Champagne round out the top 4.

Tyrrell's Johnno's Semillon 2011 ($45) - Available from the Tyrrell's cellar door

This is a real wow factor wine. Slightly unclarified and cloudy on first pour, settling after a few minutes in the glass. This wine has been basket pressed using traditional methods, and is slightly more rustic than Tyrrell's refined Vat 1 and single vineyard sems.

The nose is delicate with floral aromas, slate and a bag full of lemons. Some traditional Hunter Semillon aromas, but there is also a finesse and lightness that suggest a lighter bodied wine with a more delicate palate. How deceptive this is, as sweet and tangy lemon juice explodes on the tongue, which complements the pea pod and apple favours that follow. I nice minerality at the back, and a fairly intense spear of acidity that ties it all together nicely. It goes on and on and on... 96 points.

Tyrrell's Single Vineyard Stevens Shiraz 2009 ($30) - Available from Dan Murphy's, First Choice and other retailers

The Tyrrell's love continues this month, with a cracker of a shiraz. The 2009 vintage was very kind to the Hunter, especially the reds. This wine is a bit lighter and more elegant than a traditional Hunter Shiraz, excellent colour that is bright and crimson. A savoury nose that hints at red berrys, with some charred oak and cinnamon thrown in for good measure.

The palate is medium bodied, and gives no surprises with red fruit flavours dominating, but giving way to the creamy oak and spice that lingers on well after the wine is swallowed. A little hot with alcohol at the moment, but definitely one to put down for a few years to let the wine mellow and balance out nicely. 93 points.

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2006 ($30) - Dan Murphy's, First Choice Liquor

A bigger style of shiraz than the Stevens, showing some classic Penfolds vanilla oak and darker fruits. A good hit of mocha and cigar box as well on the nose. The colour of this one is reasonably dark, and it needed a decent decant to remove the sediment, and let the wine open up.

The palate is all blackberry, mocha and oak, enough time in the bottle for some balancing and integration of the oak, tannin and fruit, but it still has some years to go before it peaks. 92 points.

Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial Rose NV ($80) - All good wine merchants

So this was a bit of a celebratory bottle for my wife's birthday. Having no like of sparkling rose after trying the cheaper Australian versions, I was pleasantly surprised after trying a Billecart-Salmon NV Rose at a degustation at The Press Club in Melbourne. The Billecart was drier than most white sparklings, and yet it seemed to be a bit brighter and racier. So a bottle of Moet Rose being slightly more affordable than the Billecart ($130ish) seemed a decent bottle to celebrate with.

On first pour it was a deeper red than the Billecart, usually an indicator of sweetness, although the nose displayed some classic dry armoas. Biscuity and toasty, but with that rose undercurrent of strawberries. It would be easy to mistake the intense strawberry fruit on the palate for sweetness, however the wine was still incredibly dry (not a bad thing!). It is easy now to see why champagne aficionados will pay 25-50% more for a bottle of rose, as the added flavour dimension and complexity do not compromise the wines dry characteristics at all. 92 points.