2014 Longhop Rosé

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageA far greater sense of sweetness than the pale hue might indicate. So much for generalisations.

Even straight out of the fridge it’s expressive. Redskins, pink flowers and icing sugar with counterpoints of bouquet garni. That sweetness on the front palate is somewhat cleansed by acid and then entwined with herbs at the end. Has a bit of chew. I can’t possibly know how you’d like it the most but the bottle suggests always serving it chilled – I concur. Any other way and it can become cloying. Worked pretty well with a Mediterranean sort of pork stew…and I’m sure you all enjoyed that little insight into how I eat when there are limited ingredients in the house. 87

Region: Mount Lofty
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $18
Tasted: June 2014

http://www.longhop.com

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2013 Mr Riggs Watervale Riesling

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageA collaboration of sorts between Ben Riggs and Kerri Thompson of KT wines using grapes from the Churinga Vineyard in the Clare Valley.

Pithy lemon, talc and citrus blossom. Good shape, intensity and clarity without any nail-biting acidity…in fact there’s a bit of give on the mid-palate. Grippy and dry to close. It could possibly cellar well, even it wouldn’t be the first dry Australian Riesling I would choose for that purpose. No harm in drinking it now. 91

Region: Clare Valley
Alcohol: 11.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $22
Tasted: June 2014

http://www.mrriggs.com.au

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2013 Precipice Willow Lake Chardonnay

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageDoes winemaker Marty Singh have a Precipice website yet? On the basis of this and the superb 2012 Hyde Park Syrah he’ll need one at some stage. This is the fourth expression of a Willow Lake Vineyard Chardonnay I’ve had the chance to taste. A.Rodda Wines, Oakridge and Bird on a Wire each offered differing interpretations from the 2012 vintage with only the latter opting for some malolactic fermentation.

Fairly typical and attractive white florals/honeysuckle and peach with orchard fruits (most significantly lemon and granular Nashi pear) and nuts. Displays the leesy aroma of freshly baked bread. Oak (all puncheons, one third new) offers more in the way of texture than flavour although there is some sweet cinnamon spice and a hint of vanilla. Upper Yarra Valley acidity runs through the body of the wine and the loud crunch and crackle of phenolics see it out. It has a good deal of the linear intensity I associate with the vineyard. Mother’s milk to me. 93

Region: Yarra Valley
Alcohol: 13.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $35
Tasted: June 2014

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2012 Chapel Hill McLaren Vale Shiraz

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageColour me confused. 2012 saw Chapel Hill makes their finest Sangiovese…and perhaps one of least distinguished Shiraz wines.

The flavour profile is as you’d expect. Mulberries, plums, salted Dutch licorice, milk chocolate and the like. But there’s a strange absence of depth. The oak actually feels very raw and the tannin lacks sophistication. I’m really not sold on this. 87

Region: McLaren Vale
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $30
Tasted: June 2014

http://chapelhillwine.com.au

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2012 Teusner Albert Shiraz

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageWarm climate South Australian Shiraz; if only I had a dollar for the number of winemakers who make it then lampoon the stuff. That’s cool. I often mock some of my paid work. The funny thing is I still put a lot of effort into it and as a craft it takes a certain kind of skill to pull it off. Kym Teusner pulls this Shiraz off, even if he is amusingly contemptuous of the variety when bottled by itself. I do understand. There’s a lot of crap out there and good vintages of the Joshua and the Avatar red blends will always be more heavily represented at my table. But I’ll keep this handy too.

Aromas and flavours which comfort and sell. Plums, black berries and cherries, Maltesers and Brazil nuts. Well-padded with rather corpulent tannin. Undeniably full-bodied. Yet here’s the rub – it’s not wobbly. Rather it displays definition within these confines. And it reaches through the back-palate like its hungry for more. This is the Albert that I fell in love with from the 2004 vintage. And this is the Albert I will go into bat for today, regardless of how unfashionable that may be. We had a great time together over three days. 94

Region: Barossa Valley
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $55
Tasted: June 2014

http://www.teusner.com.au

Posted in Barossa, Shiraz, Syrah | Tagged | 2 Comments

2013 Journey Wines Yarra Valley Pinot Noir

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageSourced from two Upper Yarra Valley vineyards; Tibooburra in Yellingbo and Lone Star Creek in Woori Yallock. 20% whole bunches. Winemaker Damian North continues to slot goals.

A murmur of cologne like musk. Red jelly, dark cherries and cola. A little plum but all the generosity is balanced by baked rhubarb, beetroot and pine. Very silken with delicate porcelain acidity and a nudge of smudged tannin which exerts more force than you at first think. Herbs, twigs and mixed spice offer themselves as a delayed coda. I think this may well pay dividends if cellared over the medium-term. 92+

Region: Yarra Valley
Alcohol: 13.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $34
Tasted: June 2014

http://www.journeywines.com.au

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2013 Rymill The Dark Horse Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageSometimes the length of a tasting note reveals more than a score ever could.

Young, slightly cordial-like and simple. Ribena, blueberry and mint. Juicy with just a brief glimpse of something more stern in the short burst of tannin right at the end. Prep-school pleasures. 86

Region: Coonawarra
Alcohol: 14.0%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $23.95
Tasted: June 2014

http://www.rymill.com.au

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2011 Schmitges Seit Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageA friend of mine spent time working vintage in the Mosel last year and came back with manifold insights and an ever-increasing love of the Rieslings made there. Given his generosity of spirit, I’ve shared significantly in the spoils. Imported by Eurocentric.

A warmer year yet the spritz and shaft of mineral acidity provide a sense of vibrancy which enables both fruit and sweetness to operate with great effectiveness. Aromas of pressed flowers and honeysuckle with some of that dried fruit that you find in muesli mixes beginning on entry and balling up on the mid-palate. The transition from there is a touch startling as fruit flavour narrows onto lime and pith before the persistence is almost entirely accounted for by cleansing minerality. Given that my personal preference would be for slightly higher levels of acidity I don’t mind the contrast. The wine isn’t short, it just has non-fruit driven length, and it’s all the more refreshing and moreish for it. Delicious. 91

Region: Mosel, Germany
Alcohol: 8%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $43
Tasted: June 2014

http://www.schmitges-weine.de

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2012 Terre à Terre Cabernet Sauvignon

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageThe third release of Terre à Terre’s Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon and the wine has never looked better. Talk about hitting the ground running. I’m aware that the word minerality carries a lot of baggage and is amorphous – for me, poetic slippage between shape, texture and flavour with an overwhelmingly positive loading – but quite simply it’s what I believe this wine possesses in spades.

Form and composition are the first aspects to excite. Said mineral definition and lucidity. Finessed tannins are tight, assertive and long. Cedar, cigar leaf, black and red currants, eucalypt and lavender mouth perfume. Very subtle clove spice and a hint of shaving foam. The acidity imparts freshness and light without distancing itself from the flavour. The alcohol shows a bit too keenly on the finish which is otherwise long and gratifying. Quite a number of years off what I believe will be its peak drinking window. I’d be going long on this myself. 93+

Region: Wrattonbully
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $40
Tasted: June 2014

http://terreaterre.com.au

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2012 Brand’s Laira Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Jeremy Pringle

imageCoonawarra hasn’t been producing a hell of a lot of wines that have done much for me recently. I grew up listening to people talk about the region’s reds possessing finesse and the definitive stamp of the famous terra rossa soil but all I could often taste was alcohol, awkward acidity and oak. Brand’s Laira have been a repeat offender in the past. This effort doesn’t revive the region for me but it’s not guilty of these issues which have plagued more expensive releases over the past few years. Perhaps things are moving in the right direction.

The fruit is sweet, fleshy and cuddly, and even if the alcohol reading still looks high the perception of it within the overall framework isn’t really a factor. Far from angular, this offers itself up to you without much ceremony but with a surprising sense of balance. Supple and soft black and purple berries over plums and mint. High cocoa chocolate oak adds a dimension of rich, malty pleasure. Chewed pencil tannin with an olive tapenade aftertaste. Full-bodied. A bit washy and languid on entry but at the price point (usually discounted I might add) I don’t see that as a drawback. Ready to decant and drink now. 88

Region: Coonawarra
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $24
Tasted: June 2014

http://www.brandslaira.com.au

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