Usually my favourite wine in the Chapel Hill stable.
Sweet raspberry, dark cherry and plum fruits. Plenty of spice and red strap licorice. Savoury trodden leaf balance. Hints of charred meat. Chocolatey, grainy tannin needs time to unwind but I like its presence in the wine. 92
Region: McLaren Vale
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $30
Tasted: July 2014
Incorporates fruit from both the Margaret River and Porongurup areas of Western Australia. Perhaps slightly more generous than the previous vintage.
Light funk on the nose. Nectarine, lime and spiced pears are supported by a restrained veneer of oak. Hints of wheat germ and nuts. Pristine and long on the palate. Flows evenly and swiftly with integrated acidity and satisfying friction providing form and interest. Linear but not at all underdone. Polished yet not buffed to a shine. I’m tempted to just call it modern. Excellent value to boot. 91
Region: Margaret River, Great Southern
Alcohol: 13.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $23
Tasted: July 2014
The Pinot G Style Spectrum™ on the back label has it three-quarters of the way to luscious. It’s certainly more Gris than Grigio.
Both sweet and tart apples mix with brown pears. Any residual sugar isn’t overt. Indeed it’s rather snappy and crisp with a nod to texture and significant if not over-bearing palate weight. Not too bad for the dollars. 88
Region: Wrattonbully
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $19
Tasted: July 2014
One of the region’s better performed Shiraz wines. Surprisingly I preferred it to the Cabernet.
Red fruits and mulberry, gum leaf and sage. Notable for its lithe shape and the finesse and length of its graphite tannin. Savoury dimensions and a fair clip of oak. A less frivolous and more structured expressions of Shiraz from the Margaret River GI. Will need a few more years under its belt. 92+
Region: Margaret River
Alcohol: 14.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $45.50
Tasted: July 2014
All American oak, 22% new. There’s a splash of Shiraz in here as well.
Smells and tastes of custard coated plums, blackberries, kirsch and sweet coconut. A hint of blood orange. Creamy, liqueurous and more open-weave but the requisite strike of ferrous, chocolatey tannin draws out the finish. It’s hearty fare but not at all over-the-top. Dudley Brown also made a killer Zinfandel Vintage Port in 2011 but that was sent to me for reasons other than reviewing. Worth getting your hands on. 91
Region: McLaren Vale
Alcohol: 14.4%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $30
Tasted: July 2012
The blend is 85%/15% respectively. Wild ferment as is the case with each of these Inkwell releases. Twenty-one months in French and American hogsheads.
Purple fruits, plum pudding, Old Jamaican chocolate and vanilla with baking spice. The acidity feels slightly heightened here with the tannins very tightly-knit and working their way into the picture as the wine progresses. Impressive dynamics and a real sense of synergy between the grapes. 92
Region: McLaren Vale
Alcohol: 14.6%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $25
Tasted: July 2014
References to a Bob Dylan song, Rastafarianism and Dudley Brown’s marriage to Irina Santiago last year. I tasted this with the happy couple over dinner when in McLaren Vale earlier in the year but no notes were made. A magnificent cheesecake and an extended viewing of Scorsese’s “The Last Waltz” took both us and our conversation long into the night.
Black and blue fruits, licorice, chocolate and tar. Unashamedly full-bodied but the weave of tannin provides very good form and refreshment. Sweet brown spice. Deliciously pitched, controlled oak input and even pacing. All velvet and muscles. 93+
Region: McLaren Vale
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $40
Tasted: July 2014
Very good Margaret River Cabernet if more steeply priced than I would like to see given a slight lack of depth and softness of fruit.
Redcurrants, roasted capsicum, peanuts and plums. Gum leaf, pressed flowers and chocolate. Cuddly on entry but compressed tannin guides the flavours and gives the wine form. Flows well but somehow leaves me wanting more… 92
Region: Margaret River
Alcohol: 14.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $45.50
Tasted: June 2014
Purchased on release and cellared at Wine Ark, then brought to my humble abode and shared by a friend. Quite simply this is what wine is all about. I would have been grateful had it turned out to be a curio but that wasn’t to be the case.
At nine years of age the most delightful developed characters sit alongside primary fruit that retains exemplary freshness. Perhaps the first surprise though are the honeysuckle florals that still waft from the glass. Scotch Finger oak has integrated leaving a certain sweetness to accompany peaches and plantains. Beeswax and buttered toast present in tasteful proportions and the extension of lime citrus though a lanolin edged palate is enough to give the impression that some Hunter Semillon has made its way into the wine. Chris Tyrrell kindly informs me that isn’t the case when I ask. A fantail finish with hints of wildness and earthy cumin offers a fitting conclusion to a bottle that reinforces my faith in aged Australian Chardonnay. Such a joy to drink and I imagine it has many years of pleasure still to offer. 95
Region: Hunter Valley
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Tasted: July 2014
Humble Côte de Nuits from the secondary village of Fixin.
Smells of lucerne pellets and red fruits. Quite feral and untamed. The palate contributes sour plum skins and beetroot with dusty, dried spice and herbs. Prominent cranberry acidity and stoney minerality. Tight-knit tannins play a huge role in navigating the flavours. And they kick in early. Structure over flavour without any real sense of harmony. 89
Region: Burgundy
Alcohol: 13%
Closure: Cork
Price: $59
Tasted: July 2014
