Houghton CW Ferguson Cabernet Malbec 2007 and other thoughts

Somewhere, at some point, I read something nice about a Houghton's wine, now part of the Accolade Wines stable.  That's the sort of rigorous analysis that can pop into the mind when faced with 100 bottles that look the same.  Although on this occasion, I in fact bought the wine because I was feeling grumpy about Bordeaux prices that never go down - even though the Australian dollar is at lifetime highs - and largely it boiled down to revenge on an inanimate object.  Normal.  The wine was a black as night.  It was in fact night when I consumed this wine, but I am fairly certain its blackness was in fact independent of this.  My haste to purchase also led me to miss the region hidden in the middle of the label in capitals, namely "Great Southern".  Which being south of Margaret River, is generally cooler.  And so no surprises, there was some mint on the nose of this cabernet blend.  And cedar.  Mint and I are friends, but not generally in wine.  On the palate, there was a healthy serving of vanilla oak.  By healthy, I mean really obvious.  Medium to "medium plus" acidity, medium tannins and quite good length were there.  But the wine was a touch raw, and maybe a touch unbalanced - the acidity was very pronounced.  But it had enough promise to give it 87 points, as it might "settle down".

Price: $44.90
Abv: 14%
Website: http://www.houghton-wines.com.au/

Chateau d'Armailhac 2006

They don't do a lot wrong chez Chateau d'Armailhac.  I didn't write down a lot of notes for this wine, in no small part because I was too busy drinking it.   What I did write was this: the definition of blackcurrant and cigar box.  On the palate, good length and medium acidity.  The sort of cabernet that I will return to, again, and again.  93 points.

Abv: 13%
Price: $86
Website: http://www.bpdr.com/

Lark Hill Riesling 2011

So, I am going to say nice things again about another Lark Hill wine.  This time their 2011 riesling.  It is a departure from the dominant Australian Clare Valley/Eden Valley riesling style, in that it has an almost outlandish vibrancy of citrus flavour.  The colour of their 2011 is somewhere between water and lemon green.   On the nose, a clean and lively fragrance of apples, pears, lemon zest and green stone fruits.  On the palate, high acidity, medium length, lime, a touch of petillance and spices.  What makes this wine different and worth tasting is that combination of spices with intensely flavoured lemon and lime notes.  87 points.

Abv: 11.5%
Price: $30

Source: sample

Website: http://www.larkhillwine.com.au

Petaluma Merlot 2005

Bright in terms of clarity, Petaluma's 2005 merlot from Coonawarra has an intense colour somewhere between purple and ruby.  On the nose, expect a clean aroma that is a pronounced expression of black cherries, spices, vanilla oak and an almost raisin like character.  On the palate, the wine is dry, with considerable length and tannins, dark fruits and raisins apparent.  A bit less oak, and slightly less over the top ripe fruit, and this wine would have been unstoppable.  As it is, the wine is still very good, and stood up well as a high quality example in a blind line-up.  90 points.

Abv: 14.5%
Price: $63
Website: http://www.petaluma.com.au/

Chateau Poitevin 2008

2008 seems to have been proclaimed a good to perhaps very good vintage in Bordeaux, rather an excellent one.  A few of the 2008s are now hitting the retail shelves in Australia.  Hopefully they are better than the generally overpriced and under-delivering 2007s.  Chateau Poitevin's 2008 vintage from the Medoc is a blend of 60% merlot, 35% cabernet sauvignon and 5% petit verdot and, I think, one of the first 2008s that I have tried.  And it was fairly good, in a literal, rather than an understated sense.  The wine is bright in terms of clarity, with a moderately intense purple colour, and evident tears around the rim of the glass.  On the nose, a varnishy, herbal aroma with developing blackcurrant notes.  On the palate, quite high acidity, drying tannins and fruit not particularly evident.  Perhaps slightly bitter too.  My summary: "it's ok I guess".  82 to 83 points.

Abv: 13%
Price: $45
Website: http://www.chateau-poitevin.com/property_vignobles_poitevin.aspx

Yering Station Shiraz Viognier 2005

Shiraz viognier blends move slowly chez nous, seemingly never warranting an occasion to drink. Yering Station's 2005 shiraz viognier from the Yarra Valley is a deeply saturated black in colour. On the nose, a medium intensity aroma of pepper, cedar, plums, tinned fruit and apricot kernels. On the palate, a viscous texture with an oily apricot kernel character is met by medium length, tannins, elevated acidity and pepper. The wine seemed pleasant but a little unbalanced or disjointed. 84 points.

Abv: 14.5%
Price: $21
Website: http://www.yering.com/

Marchese Alfieri La Tota Barbera d'Asti 2008

Looking back over nearly 2 years of wine reviews, I see that I have reviewed an impressive total of 2 barbera based wines, both local efforts from Victoria.  This is an omission on my part for reasons that will shortly become apparent.  Barbera has a reputation as being one of the lesser grapes of Piemonte, together with dolcetto, both overshadowed in interest and perhaps staying power by nebbiolo.  But then therein lies the rub.  If the barbera wines from the region normally taste like this one, I'll have to expand my cellar.  Today.  The 2008 Marchese Alfieri "La Tota" from Barbera d'Asti is bright in terms of clarity and somewhere between ruby and purple in colour.  It has a not particularly intense developing fragrance of red plums, herbs and cedar wood.  On the palate, it excels.  It has a good combination of quite considerable length, medium plus acidity and an intensity of plummy fruit flavours that fills the palate.  There is little not to like about this wine.  Try it.  89 to 90 points.

Abv: 14%
Price: $40
Website: http://www.marchesialfieri.it/site/en/vini_latota.htm

Descendientes de J Palacios Petalos Mencia 2008

Mencia is not a particularly well known grape variety here in Australia, at least not to me.  I'm not personally aware of it being grown here (a reader can hopefully enlighten), and in double checking the interesting Vinodiversity site, it's not listed as an alternative variety there either.  It is a grape widely grown in north western Spain, including in Bierzo, its stocks improving in recent times.

The 2008 Petalos from Descendientes de J Palacios is garnet in colour, and had some serious tears around the rim of the glass.  On the nose, a clean and intense fragrance of plums, dark cherries, plums, a touch of oak and spices.  Some alcohol too.  On the palate, quite elevated acidity, with pronounced tannins, some good persistence (around 10 seconds) and minerality.  Rustic is a word I would use to describe this wine.  I found the alcohol a little out of balance on the palate.  It improved with aeration.  82 points.

Abv: 14%
Price: $48
Website: From the importer

Westend Estate Hilltops Tempranillo 2008

This wine is quite good value for a $15 wine. With fruit sourced from the cool Hilltops region, the wine is purple in colour with evident tears around the rim of the glass. It opens strongly with an attractive nose of pepper, red plums, plum skins and raspberries. The palate is a return to the price point: shortish length, medium to medium plus acidity, light tannins and strawberry flavours. A pleasant wine to drink now. 84-85 points.

Abv: 14%
Price: $15
Source: sample
Website: http://www.westendestate.com/

Monmousseau Cuvee JM Brut 2003

This dry sparkling wine is from Touraine in the Loire Valley, made from 100% chenin blanc and elaborée en méthode traditionnelle.  It is golden in colour, with an aroma of yeast, biscuit, citrus, almond meal and, I thought, some alcohol.  On the palate, citrus, medium acidity and citrus fruit flavours.  The wine lost its bead after a fairly short time in the glass.  To be honest, this is a pleasant, but fairly average wine.  Its noticeable alcohol was perhaps a surprise given its modest 12%, but perhaps 2003 being a drought year in France, led to some loss of balance.  83 points.

Abv: 12%
Website: http://www.monmousseau.com

Vasse Felix Shiraz 2005

I am not perhaps the biggest fan of Margaret River shiraz - it is somewhat overshadowed at home and away. But it can be quite good, and I've had some well aged shiraz from Capel Vale that was stunning and has long kept me open minded. This 2005 release from Vasse Felix weighs in at 14.8abv and opened to a rather herbal and minty aroma which became curranty with time in the glass. The palate was soft with hints of plums, currants, evident acidity and medium length. Quite good but no more. Drink over the next couple of years. 85 points

Abv: 14.8%
Price: $31
Website: http://www.vassefelix.com.au/

World beating wine for $7 and other things I've read this week

The happy recent discoveries of the iPad and "Google Reader" (early adopter, I know ...) have resulted in me unexpectedly keeping up-to-date with the various wine blogs around the planet. Sometimes the issues raised or wines reviewed are a bit obscure, but mostly though, they are interesting. Here are a few issues that I thought about this week:

1. ASDA criticised Decanter's editor for suggesting it was almost impossible to produce a decent bottle of wine for under £5 (A$7.85). See this post from Steve Heimoff and this article in the Telegraph. ASDA's comment: “Our team is constantly on the look-out to source worldclass wines at fantastic prices, and our shoppers, as well as a host of winecompetition judges, know that world beating wines can give you plenty of sparechange from a fiver”. Er, my thought, is good luck.

2. There was much discussion as to Robert Parker liking a particular Sonoma Coast pinot noir from Marcassin, ahead of a Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche on Dr Vino and the Wine Diarist. Perhaps being Australian I don't really get the need to either support or side against Robert Parker's opinions. As far as I can tell, he liked one wine more than another, and some others thought the opposite. In my experience with wine to date, this is largely normal. Neither can be wrong.

3. There has been, gasp, criticism of allocating points to wine. This is covered well on Fermentation. Here's my view: "Some people like scores. Some people don't. I don't have a strong view: scores can be useful and so can narratives. I provide both." Neither approach can be wrong if they are an expression of personal preferences: as wine tasting inevitably tends to be.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/grapeobserver

http://feeds.feedburner.com/grapeobserver

Maxime Graillot Equinoxe 2010

For the price, this is one of the best Crozes-Hermitages that I've tried.  Bright in clarity, with a deeply intense purple colour, this 100% syrah based wine opens to a clean nose with a light to moderate fragrance of white pepper and plums.  On the palate, balanced acidity and tannins, with flavours of plums and spices, and reasonable persistence on the finish.  For around $30, this is a bargain.  The peppery character reminded me ever so slightly of a Craiglee shiraz.  87 to 88 points

Abv: 13%
Price: $30
Website: http://rhone.vignobles.free.fr/pagesgb/graillot.htm

Luke Lambert Nebbiolo 2006

This wine from Luke Lambert from Heathcote fruit would rank as one of the better Australian nebbiolios that I have tried to date.  Hell, it could be the best one I've tried to date.  The wine was not fined or filtered, was fermented with wild yeast, and spent 42 days on skins.  The result?  A lightly saturated garnet coloured wine, with an aroma of spices, sour cherries and herbs.  On the palate, spices, acidity, cherries and very good length.  It is not a densely fruited wine, but instead expect elegance, balance and coiled power, all in a glass.  90 points.

Abv: 13.3%
Website: http://www.lukelambertwines.com.au/

Lark Hill Gruner Veltliner 2011

Lark Hill is one of a handful of wineries in Australia who fashion a wine from the Austrian grape, gruner veltliner.  Judging by the excellent 2010, the biodynamically managed Lark Hill are on to something with this variety in the cool Canberra District.  2011 is described by winemaker Chris Carpenter as a challenging year, with significant rains in Spring and a generous fruit set, a cool Summer and a mild Autumn.  The wine however does not disappoint - quite the opposite in fact - the vintage conditions allowing a pure, minerally version of the varietal to be expressed.  In short, this wine is very much recommended.  In slightly longer form, the 2011 is somewhere between clear and lemon-green in colour, with a clean, elegant aroma with a touch of peaches, attractive minerality and spice.  On the palate, there is firm but not too firm acidity, coupled with spices and nice length.  Balanced and enjoyable are words that come to mind, and at a low alcohol level too.  And frankly it's just nice to be drinking something a bit different that works.  89 points.

Abv: 12%
Price: $40
Source: sample
Website: http://www.larkhillwine.com.au

Shaw and Smith Shiraz 2009

Shaw and Smith produce a very good shiraz from the Adelaide Hills.  I've previously extolled their 2006, and liked their 2008.  Their 2009 vintage is different again.  A medium intensity colour of purple, with evident tears in the glass at 14.5abv.  A clean aroma of dark fruits and a touch of pepper with some intensity.  On the palate, rather high acid (perhaps a touch too elevated), red fruits (plums), medium length and some pepper.  This wine is very European in style, quite reminiscent of a Crozes-Hermitage.  It may merit a higher score yet, but I suspect I am slightly grumpy with the wine for not picking it blind - something which is clearly the wine's fault.  85 points.

Abv: 14.5%
Price: $30s
Website: http://www.shawandsmith.com/

Westend Calabria Aglianico 2009

Here's a wine called Calabria, varietally labelled as aglianico, yet it comes from the Riverina in Australia, not Italy.  Got it?  It's a challenging grape variety, is aglianico.  Max Allen praises the variety heavily in The Future Makers (2010, Hardie Grant) saying "I am very excited by the potential of this southern Italian red grape in Australia ...  Early Australian examples are encouragingly earthy, tannic and robust".  I think the grape's abundant acidity is a fair addition to this roll-call.  I like the idea that producers in the hot inland regions of Australia such as the Riverina are looking at some of the more interesting Italian varietals that may be well suited to their climates, and capable of producing premium table wines while retaining their acidity.  The proof as always though is in the tasting.

Which then leads me to the wine.  On the one hand, we have a wine that displays the varietal charms of aglianico well, and is sold at $15 too, so it's hard to be too fussy.  It is a deeply saturated colour somewhere between purple and ruby.  On the nose, there are plums, pulp from plums, baked fruit, spices, stones, grape skins, raw meat and grass.  So quite interesting at this price point.  On the other hand, the elevated acidity that runs through the palate and envelopes the fruit, and is typical of the variety, will not be for everyone, and I found it personally challenging.   An interesting wine for the price.  84 points.

Price: $15

Source: sample
Website: http://www.westendestate.com/

Chapoutier Petite Ruche Crozes Hermitage 2008

This wine from Chapoutier is sourced from Crozes-Hermitage, made from syrah and vinified in cement vats.  It is not an expensive wine, and it doesn't show new world style depth of fruit, but displays good typicity and drinks well.  A lightly saturated garnet colour in appearance, on the nose, this wine exhibits cherries, spices, plum skins and crunched up herbs.  Lowish acid on the palate is met with medium length, plum skins and herbes de provence.  A wine for drinking, and drinking now.  I drank this over a lunch, and it disappeared quite quickly.  85 to 86 points.

Abv: 12.5%

Price: $27

Website: http://www.chapoutier.com

Jackson Triggs Proprietors' Reserve Niagara Estate Vidal Icewine 2007

Vidal is perhaps not the most well known of grape varieties.  Somewhere between auxerrois and posip perhaps.  Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine reveals it to be a hybrid grape variety, whose parentage consists of Ugni Blanc (aka Trebbiano, aka the stuff they distill to create brandy) and one of the non vitis vinifera Seibel parents of Seyval Blanc.  So, mainly a grape to be observed, then pulled out.  But this time, there is a "but".  This wine was delicious.  A Canadian ice wine made using naturally frozen grapes and pressed at -10c.  On the nose, a lovely lemon, citrus and orange rind fragrance.  On the palate, lemon, lime and refreshing length and acidity.  This is glorious stuff, with er, ah hem, only 248g/l of residual sugar.  87 points.

Abv: 10.5%
Website: http://www.jacksontriggswinery.com/en/

Westend Estate 3 Bridges Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Westend Estate is a producer situated in Griffiths in New South Wales, and sourced the fruit for this cabernet sauvignon from the hot inland Riverina wine region.  The Riverina is perhaps best known for its bulk wine rather than its premium labels, and cabernet perhaps is more suited to cooler regions, but this wine proves the exception.  It presented itself near black in colour, with an aroma of dark olives, spices, black fruits, blackcurrants - aromas which improved with time in the glass.  On the palate, it had a medium level of persistence, with black fruits and pleasant acidity.  This wine was really quite good.  Moreover, it seemed to have that level of stuffing and fruit quality to suggest it might age for 5 years or so too, possibly longer.  At $20, it is extremely good value.  88-89 points.

Abv: 14.5%
Price: $20
Source: sample
Website: http://www.westendestate.com.au

Toolangi Chardonnay 2008

In short, this is an excellent chardonnay for its price.  Try it.  We might stop at that, but if you like, you can read on.  Lemon in colour with a light intensity.  A clean nose, with a moderately intense aroma of citrus, lemons, stone fruits, and some well-handled oak too, and a finish with medium length.  This is a good example of a Melbourne dress circle chardonnay that is balanced and enjoyable and will reward your senses and your pocket.  89 points.

Abv: 13%
Price: $20
Website: http://www.toolangi.com/