September Reviews.

Welcome to the September 2012 review. Tied leaders here, a shiraz with some nice aged characteristics coming through, and a super-premium young shiraz that needs 20 more years to show its potential. Some good value bottles in here too, titles of these are in italics.

Brindabella Hills Shiraz 2005 – 95

This was the first bottle of wine my wife and I purchased together on a vineyard tour in 2008. After 7 years in the bottle, the wine had progressed well, with wonderful tannin integration, and some really rich, moreish aged characters of leather, chocolate and spice. The colour still had a crimson tint, and the wine coated the glass completely with each swirl. The oak had developed nicely, toasty and warm, and the fruit characters very much still evident.

My last bottle will be kept another few years yet, as this wine had plenty left in its legs.

August Drinking.

I have decided that I will use my monthly tasting notes post to provide a short review of each of the wines I have sampled in the month, and expand a bit more on the higher rated wines. Of this months top 4, 3 of the wines were consumed at my belated birthday celebrations with my family. 

Thomas Wines DJV Shiraz 2010 - 95 ($35 - online)

Beautiful aromas of berry, spice and meat. Before tasting, it is evident that this wine will drink beautifully young. The colour is crimson-red with fantastic clarity. The palate is elegant and smooth, no overt influence of tannin or oak, both integrated seamlessly. The wine is lifted by a 9% semillon verjuice component, which gives it a bright, acidic spine that allows the fruit to shine through. Red berries a-plenty. Perfect example of the progressive nature of modern Hunter shiraz.

Hammer Time.

Being a fairly new wine collector, it is hard to gain an appreciation for the characteristics of properly aged wine. I have no great cellar to draw from, the oldest current release wine I’ve purchased is from 2004, and retail outlets that do offer museum wines and ‘cellar releases’ are typically well over-priced and the bottle sit on the shop shelves for an undetermined amount of time, giving you no guarantees with regards to cellaring quality, temperature and light conditions.

There are a number of tenants to effective cellaring, and every connoisseur has the method they swear by. The most commonly accepted are that the temperature should remain constant (anywhere between 12 and 15 degrees is optimal), the exposure to UV light should be negligible, humidity must be in the medium to high range to prevent corks drying out and bottles should always be laid flat to ensure the corks remain wet. If you get these things right, you shouldn’t go far wrong. Contrary to commonly held belief, bottles should not be rotated in the cellar (bottles don’t like vibrations and movement). Home collectors have had success with cellaring in commercial climate controlled cellars, just as some have had success with terracotta pipes in their wardrobes.

July Top 4.

While I haven't posted in the last month or so, I thought I would maintain my reviews for my top 4 in the previous month. I am currently chipping away at posts about the wine auction process, enjoyment enhancing products and a few others that I will try and finish in the coming months. Uni comes first.

So July was a month of whites for me. Mainly owing to a thoroughly overly indulgent night in June that saw my wife and I need a break from red for a few weeks. 2 rieslings, one from the 2012 Canberra vintage, one a slightly off-dry style, one vintage champagne and, of course, a medium-term aged semillon.

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.

May Top 4.

I managed to try some cracking wines in May. I haven't included any from the Shiraz Expo at Dan Murphy's, because there were just too many good wines to review in any detail. You can read my thoughts on my favourites from the Shiraz Expo here.

This months top 4 represent some old favourites, and some solid proven performers. 3 wines from the Canberra District, and 1 from the Hunter Valley.

Wine Games.

Over the last few months I have been researching ways to make a wine tasting night with friends a memorable one. There are a number of ways this can be done, with varying degrees of interactivity, complexity and enjoyment. Below is a guide to a few of the types of wine nights you can host, and if you gather a group of like-minded friends large enough, you can try out all of these games to discover your favourite way to turn a simple wine tasting into a proper wine event.

April Top 4.

Each month from now I will be posting reviews of my top 4 for the previous month. Today, I will review my top 4 from April 2012.

Grange Expectations.

My wife and I leapt at the opportunity last year to sample the new release Penfolds Grange (2006) at our local Dan Murphy’s store as part of their Shiraz Expo. As very new wine drinkers, it was fascinating to sample wines in a variety of price ranges and ages to build up our understanding of Shiraz. The Grange itself was phenomenal, and newbies like us could easily see why it was afforded such cult status. Aside from some other fantastic wines (the Penfolds RWT 2008 and the Yalumba Octavius 2006 to name a few), our inexperienced palettes were struggling to differentiate the wines after a while, a disappointment with such quality on display.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

Rare and exceptional vintages can be difficult to find. Most wine shops will only have a limited selection of vintage wine. There are stores out there, but the selection can be very limited in some areas.

For those new to wine collecting and appreciation, it can be hard build a cellar of 'worthy' bottles, just as it can be hard to find wines to experience now in all their glory.

There are options for those who wish to start collecting wine, or at least diversify their experiences with aged examples and hard to find bottles.

Music. Wine.

Another of my passions is music, and more specifically making playlists to suit occasions. I have read a few posts on other sites about wine and music matching. A good deal of the time, it is people finding wines to match to particular songs. I think it should be approached the other way around. The concept of wine and music matching isn't new, but it is not common. Music stimulates the sense of hearing much in the same way that food stimulates taste and smell. The wine itself already stimulates smell and taste, and bringing music into the equation provides a more complete sensory experience.

So, I present my basic guide to the types of music that I believe match certain wines, and some examples of songs/albums/artists that work well with some specific wines in each variety.

Sweetest Thing.

It was during a winery tour with my wife's work colleagues in 2008 that she bought a bottle of Botrytis Semillon at Shaw Vineyard Estate in Canberra. I was always of the opinion that the only acceptable type of wine was bone dry, and dessert wines just seemed sickly and sugary.

During the tasting, I had joked that it would be good if it was poured over ice-cream. Rather than being offended, the man conducting the tasting suggested that it wasn't a bad idea.

Canberra Harvest Festivus.

So the Canberra Harvest Festival is on 14 and 15 April 2012. Each year some of the biggest and best wineries from the Canberra District host events and get into the festival spirit. This year, some 24 wineries will be participating.

You can't really go wrong with your selection of events, because the quality of the Canberra District has increased significantly in the last few years.

A Riesling Tide.

In my first post, I encouraged everyone to experience new varieties, and new styles. A friend of mine recently encouraged me to follow my own advice on a tasting in Canberra, and much to my surprise, I fell in love.

My wife and I recently went to breakfast with some friends to celebrate a birthday. After a fantastic breakfast at Podfood in Pialligo, we all decided to head to Mount Majura Vineyard as it was only 10 minutes drive away. The idea was that we would find something that each of us would enjoy with some cheese and crackers in the afternoon.

A Matter of Taste.

Len Evans book, ‘How to Taste Wine’ is the ultimate guide for a newcomer to wine appreciation. The take home point for me was that people should not struggle to find descriptive words for aromas and tastes when they aren’t there. Sometimes a good Shiraz tastes like a good Shiraz. Evan’s described the various aspects of wine tasting from colour, nose, palate, line and length, and how to identify good and bad qualities with each.

On our last morning in the vineyards, my wife had arranged for one final surprise. This time we went to the Hunter Resort for a session of 'Wine School'. Here they lead participants through a tasting of local varieties and showcased some of the smaller producers.

Le Tour.

A great cellar door experience can go a long way. Some wineries will offer services beyond the standard. Structured tastings and winery tours can greatly increase your enjoyment of the experience of tasting, and even of the wine itself. On the second day of our anniversary trip, we had one of these experiences.

We woke up reasonably early, because my wife said she had another surprise for me. She drove me away from our accommodation at Billabong Moon, and back towards the vineyards. We eventually arrived at Tyrrell's, for what I thought was going to be another cellar door tasting.

The Gift of Receiving.

From time to time you might receive a special bottle of wine as a gift. Wine can be special to people for a number of different reasons from vintages that celebrate your year of birth or anniversary, brands that have special significance, bottles that are iconic and symbolic in their own right. My wife and I have a few different bottles that we are keeping for special occasions, collected from various places for various purposes.


For our first anniversary, my wife gave me a gift that redefines the term 'special'.

Hit and Miss.

“Why would anyone spend that much on a bottle of wine? You can’t even taste the difference!”

An argument I often hear when people question the amount I may have spent on any particular bottle. I am not saying this argument is wrong, just that it is fundamentally redundant.

First of all, I think this perception comes from a lack of exposure to ‘good wine’, not necessarily that cheaper wines are all of the same quality as more expensive ones.

Not All Great Wine is Expensive.

Enjoying wine can be an expensive hobby. While it is true that price isn't always an indication of quality, it can be a good indication of the processes winemakers follow in order to produce their wine. Whatever the quality of the wine in the bottle, you can be sure that the more expensive bottles are subject to scrutinies that enhance the final product. If you ever find yourself in a bottle shop, unsure of what to buy, it can help to know some of these processes and the benefits they provide.

The Bottle That Changed Everything.

Every wine critic, journalist, blogger or home enthusiast tells a similar story about the origins of their passion. To some, that story could begin with a simple Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc. Others could trace it back to the moment they uncorked a 1971 Domaine de la Romanee Conti La Tache. The story that each of us tells about 'The Bottle That Changed Everything' is so unique, and so intensely personal that it is impossible to pinpoint the precise elements required to achieve the epiphany; the moment of clarity that converts us from indifferent, apathetic wine drinkers into true enthusiasts. It is rare that you will find it if you are looking for it, because it will never quite be what you expect.