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For Your Pleasure
"For your pleasure
In our present state
Part false part true
Like anything
We present ourselvesThe words we use tumble
All over your shoulder
Gravel hard and looseThere all night lying
With your dark horse hiding
Abhorring such extremes" - Bryan FerryCategories
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Category Archives: McLaren Vale
2010 Kangarilla Road Terzetto
Another cracking red blend, this time hailing from McLaren Vale. It’s 45% Sangiovese, 35% Primitivo, 20% Nebbiolo and 100% Awesom-o. Regional, intelligent, interesting and highly drinkable. First time Kangarilla Road have made it, hopefully it won’t be the last. Juicy and generous … Continue reading
Posted in McLaren Vale, Nebbiolo et al, Other Reds, Sangiovese et al, Zinfandel/Primitivo et al
Tagged Wine Reviews
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2010 Wirra Wirra Catapult Shiraz
The new Wirra Wirra Scrubby Rise wines arrived on my doorstep this week, reminding me that I hadn’t tasted or reviewed this blend of 98% Shiraz and 2% Viognier. So I thought I best rectify that straight away. First of … Continue reading
2010 Chapel Hill The Chosen Gorge Block Cabernet Sauvignon
From the same block that produces McLaren Vale’s finest Chardonnay. I wanted to take a closer look last time I was in the region but a (necessarily) hectic itinerary took its toll. Special dirt I reckon. Oh well, next time. … Continue reading
2010 Dowie Doole Cabernet Sauvignon
These Dowie Doole wines are so unforced, unpretentious and honest. The fruit is allowed to speak and what it has to say is simply worth hearing. There’s little in the way of oak detectable here. It’s a bloody refreshing take … Continue reading
2010 Chapel Hill The Chosen House Block Shiraz
The House Block sits about fifty metres away from the Road Block but there’s a world of difference between these two wines. Structurally they feel as if they were from alternate dimensions. The detailed, nutty, lattice-work tannins of the House Block are … Continue reading
2010 Chapel Hill The Chosen Road Block Shiraz
I tasted a bracket of warm climate Shiraz blind last night, the main reason being that I have some firm ideas about Chapel Hill’s two Scarce Earth offerings and I didn’t want my preconceptions to get in the way of … Continue reading
2012 Dowie Doole Chenin Blanc
With McLaren Vale beginning to explore ‘alternative’ white grape varieties that are more suited to its warmer weather it’s germane to note that this wine is mostly sourced from near 80 year-old vines. Whoever planted these was way ahead of the … Continue reading
2011 Kangarilla Road The Veil
A small slice of Jura in McLaren Vale. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. If your Albariño turns out to be Savagnin then mature the juice in oak barrels under a thin veil of flor yeast. This was intensely nutty when I … Continue reading
Vale WWEI: Prepare to Meet Your Maker
Vale interloper Gods listen. Or at least that’s the conclusion I came to at the end of a three-day junket in McLaren Vale earlier in July. To begin with, I kind of muscled my way into the Queensland “Meet Your … Continue reading
Posted in Articles, Cabernet et al, Cabernet Sauvignon, Fiano, Grenache, Grenache et al, McLaren Vale, Mourvèdre/Mataró, Mourvèdre/Mataró et al, Other Whites, Roussanne, Sagrantino et al, Sangiovese, Shiraz, Shiraz et al, Vermentino, Viognier, White Blends, Wine Events, Wine Musings
Tagged Articles, Wine Events, Wine Musings, Wine Reviews
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2010 Esperanza Monastrell
So this is what the guys and girls at Wirra Wirra get up to in their ‘down-time’? The fruit is sourced from David Paxton’s Mataro block in McLaren Vale. Not much in the way of reduction here; it’s mostly about … Continue reading