Victoria 13.0% Screwcap $14
I reviewed a bottle of this earlier in the month. Upon reading my description of the wine, Leanne De Bortoli and Steve Webber suggested that I may have received a bad bottle and kindly offered to send me another one to re-taste (something I am more than happy to do when it comes to any wine I review). I’m thankful they did as this time the wine lived up to my expectations.
Vibrant cherries and strawberries, spice, cola and sap with stemmy, forest like characters, a hint of earth and a little tang. Light, bright, vital and varietal with more complexity than one would normally expect at this price point…I’d actually say it’s a shade better than the widely heralded 2008 release. Not a bad feat.
As to the question of what exactly was wrong with the first wine…I can only be honest and say I am not qualified to give a definitive answer. I will mention that I’ve consumed quite a few bottles of De Borts Pinot over the years, from the Windy Peak right through to the Reserve label, and none of them have been dull or monochromatic. On that basis alone I am confident that this review is of a more representative bottle.
Winery website- http://www.debortoli.com.au/
Good to hear JP. The search is back on…
i must admit i was a little surprised at the initial review JP, I had a bottle of the '09 at Christmas and thought it a lovely little drink. I actually went back and checked my review, then realised it was the early vintage, and just thought maybe De Borts had got it wrong this release. Could well be a dud bottle/ing..
I'd be guessing this is made in batches, so some batches are probably a touch better than others (Chalambar is notorious for different bottles tasting wildly different). That plus other factors (heat?) might have led to the problem. Who knows?
MichaelC
Windy Peak is multiple bottlings from different batches isn't it? Blended to be 'similar', but they would not be the same.
GW
Yes, made in different batches with the winemaker tasting each batch for consistency's sake….so they would not be the same.
I'm pretty sure, given the very large difference between bottle one and bottle two, that this was a case of a bad bottle as opposed to a bad batch…thus my confidence that this review is of a more representative bottle.
Admittedly, it's hard for me to be definitive in this circumstance.