Appellation Australia

2007 Two Hands Moscato Brilliant Disguise - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

500ml bottle, 7% alcohol, $18AUD from cellar door. From 80-100 year old White Frontignac/Muscat vines.

Palest straw green in colour. The nose is fresh with florals, guava and mango. Clean, crisp and ultra refreshing mouth-feel from the slight spritz character. Just a tinge of sweetness to compliment the crispness, finishing with decent length. As long as you don’t try to take it too seriously, I think it is immensely enjoyable and fun. I have adored this and the previous couple of vintages of this wine. Drink it from now until the release of the 2008. 90/100

Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis 1er Cru Les Lys 1998 - France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru
375ml bottle, 13% alcohol. From what I understand, Les Lys is one of the sections of the Vaillons vineyard, both entitled to the Premier Cru designation.

A lovely golden colour, before opening I was a little bit worried that it would be oxidised but it turns out that the bottle glass is just tinted brown! Honey, oats, hay and citrus aromas on the nose. Very rich flavour on the palate, leaning toward the new world in style, though there is some Chablis slate lingering in the background. Medium length, lacking a bit of complexity for the stage of development to be great. That said, I really enjoyed this, it is interesting, drinking at its peak now and is pretty good value at the $27AUD for the half bottle that I paid. 89/100

Krug Grand Cuvee MV (1988 disgorgement)
Earthy, citrus, honey, ginger and floral aromas. Initially it was a bit subdued on the palate, but with some time in the glass it took on extra weight and length. Has retained a core of cleansing acid. Not quite as complex or flawlessly balanced as Danny’s bottle from a similar date, but still brilliant.
96/100

2002 Gunderloch “Nackenheim Rothenberg” Spatlese Riesling
Nose is quite closed, but there is some citrus peel in the background. The palate is lovely - rich fruit, a touch of spice and teasing sweetness. Probably needs 10 years to show its full potential though.
91/100

2002 Shaw & Smith “M3 Vineyard” Chardonnay
White florals, citrus and some nutty, mealy aromas. Palate is nice with touch of roundness to the mouth-feel and finishing with a little bit of warmth but otherwise quite restrained. I thought that this was pretty good for drinking in the near future.
88/100

1997 Blain Gagnard Batard Montrachet Grand Cru
Very complex nose, toast, butterscotch, peach and citrus. The star is the palate though, weight and power without any sense of heaviness. Long, intense and with layers of complexity and flavour. Probably close to its peak now and will drink well over the next 5-7 years.
93/100

2005 Epis Chardonnay
Lime and orange peel on the nose with some floral and peach hints. The palate is driven by the acid structure, with good length and elegance to it. It seems to be of high quality, but also lacks individuality and real character.
88/100

1976 Waterwheel Claret (Shiraz)
Some fragrant violet elements to the nose along with some earth and boot polish. Medium bodied palate, medium length, seemed as though everything was resolved, but it was doing more than just hanging on as there was still some good fruit presence. Not challenging, but enjoyable.
88/100

1985 Giacomo Borgogno Barolo Riserva
Lots of violets, smoked meat, red berries and black tea leaves. The flavour on the palate is deep and persistent. Tannins are not overly aggressive, but really does need to be with food to show its very best. I didn’t quite like this one as much as the 1982 that I had earlier this year but I still thought it excellent.
91/100

1994 Tim Adams “Aberfeldy” Shiraz
Blackberry, lots of toasty vanilla oak as well as a large dose of peppermint and menthol. Palate is not as big as I expected after the nose, there is restraint evident. Seems reasonably well made and without anything to take offense at, but lacking in magic and personality. Will go another 5-10 years.
88/100

2005 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro
Blackberry, spice, cherry, milk chocolate and vanilla. Palate is medium bodied but with great depth of fruit and a lovely velvet mouth-feel. Really approachable now but should age well over 10 years as well. To me, just the slightest touch better than the excellent 2004 Shiraz Mataro tried a few months ago.
91/100

1974 Baileys “Vintage Port”
Corked.
NR/100

2004 Domaine Chandon “ZD” Blancs de Blanc
Apple and citrusy nose, very clean. Palate is also crisp, clean and fault free but they may as well have named it ZD for Zero Depth rather than Zero Dosage. Very much lacking in interest.
85/100

Warraroong - Hunter Valley - http://www.warraroongestate.com.au

Semillon 2006 - Honey and toast aromas already at this young age. Very nice palate with good balance. Would probably drink over the short to medium term. 88/100
Semillon 2005 - Lemon, lime, floral - much more primary as expected. Palate is even better on this, good depth of fruit and very good structure. 90/100
Verdelho 2005 - Bright fruit that veers away from the usual tropical spectrum of Verdelho. Nice mouth-feel and importantly, has some great acid. Definitely the most impressive Verdelho I tried on the day. 88/100
Chardonnay 2005 - Clean nose with a touch of oak. Nice fruit sweetness to the palate without being broad. Good length. Drink over the next few years. 88/100
Chardonnay 2004 - Butter and toast. Rich palate that finishes cleanly. Very different style to the 2005. 86/100
Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc Chenin Blanc Blend 2006 - Grass and melon fruits on the nose. Easy drinking on the palate. 86/100
Shiraz 2002 - Spice, earth and cherry aromas. Palate is simple but easy and ready to drink without too much thought. 87/100

Virgin Hills - Macedon Ranges - http://www.virginhills.com.au

Really liked this booth for the mini-vertical of their only wine.

Virgin Hills 1998 - Tobacco, spice and dusty earth. Palate is of real interest, lots of layers, structure and depth. Great length. Hope to see this wine again sometime. 91/100
Virgin Hills 1999 - Sweaty sock nose. Palate is a bit disjointed and short. 81/100
Virgin Hills 2000 - Spearmint and red berries. The palate is clean, although a bit underwhelming. 86/100
Virgin Hills 2001 - Earth driven with meaty elements and blackcurrant. Strong tobacco influence on the palate. Pretty good I thought. 88/100
Virgin Hills 2002 - Cherry, blackcurrant and candied aromas. Individual palate of medium length and some long and intricate layers of flavour. Very good, although I hope the new owners can bring a bit more consistency to the vintages while retaining the interest factor. 90/100

Tulloch - Hunter Valley - http://www.tulloch.com.au/

Sparkling NV - Apple, cherry, lemon and yeasy. Clean palate with good acid. Nice. 86/100
Chardonnay 2006 - Light nose with hints of oak and citrus. Palate is round but not overly rich. 86/100
Verdelho 2006 - Citrus and pineapple. Palate is crisp and clean. Well made but not my thing. 85/100
Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 - Very earthy. Good balance on the palate. Tannins are unobtrusive. 87/100
“Pokolbin Dry Red” 2005 - Nose is pretty tight but there is some earth and leather. Palate is medium bodied and there is some depth to the fruit. Has the structure for medium term aging. 88/100

Tower Estate - Hunter Valley - http://www.towerestatewines.com.au

Semillon 2005 - Very mealy on the nose. Good acid, but no depth to the fruit. Not impressed. 85/100
Verdelho 2006 - Tropical fruits. Soft, sweet palate. Fine, but I struggle to find much to like about this variety. 85/100
Chardonnay 2004 - Buttered toast nose. Rich, mouth-filling palate. A bit too over the top for me. 86/100
Shiraz 2004 - Dirty and metallic on both the nose and palate. Something has gone seriously wrong here. Avoid. 76/100

Thomas - Hunter Valley - http://www.thomaswines.com.au

“O.C” Semillon 2007 - Nice vibrancy to the nose with peach and other ripe stonefruit. Palate has a touch of grass to it, with good length. 88/100
“Braemore” Semillon 2007 - Lemon, lime, hay and slate. Palate has excellent focus and real drive along the line. Excellent length and the structure indicates this has loads of potential over the next 10 years. One of the best, if not the best Semillon from the show. 91/100
“Kiss” Shiraz 2005 - Earth, cherry, kirsch and spice notes to the nose. Palate has excellent savoury character with lots of layered spice. Excellent structure. A very classy wine that I was most impressed by. 91/100

St Hallett - Barossa Valley - http://www.sthallett.com.au

Eden Valley Riesling 2006 - Citrus nose. Medium body with enough acid to carry across the length. 87/100
“Poachers Blend” 2006 - Pineapple and other tropical fruit. Fresh, crisp palate but a bit too short. 85/100
Semillon 2003 - Grapefruit and oak characters. Creamy palate with medium body flavour. An interesting style of Semillon. 87/100
“Gamekeepers” Red Blend 2005 - Spice and meat on the nose. Palate is spicy and savoury. Drying tannins. 86/100
“GST” 2006 - Violets and red currangs. Smooth mouth-feel with a soft finish. 85/100
“Faith” Shiraz 2005 - Spice and blackberry nose. Palate seems to be lacking fruit vibrancy and depth. 85/100
“Blackwell” Shiraz 2005 - Coconut, blackberry, quite intense nose. Palate has similar strong intensity of flavour but it manages to stay in balance. Very good. 89/100

Seppelt Shiraz Masterclass - Grampians

“Victoria” Shiraz 2005 - Pepper, spice and a bit of blueberry. Palate is a bit less soft than the 2004 tried at the Seppelt stand, with some more spice, but still no depth or weight. 85/100
“Chalambar” Shiraz 2005 - Similar to the above, some more red fruit and oak emerging in the bigger glassware. Palate is the same. A very elegant style of Shiraz. 88/100
“Silverband” Shiraz 2005 - Pepper, smoked meat and some oak. Palate is spicy and has fine tannins. Nice length. 89/100
“Benno” Shiraz 2005 - Lots of oak, some black fruits and plums. Bold palate flavour, lots of tannin at this stage. Similar style to the ‘03 and ‘04 Bennos that I didn’t really like either. 87/100
“Mount Ida” Shiraz 2004 - Blood, chocolate, iodine and intense raspberry. Palate is intensely flavoured but there is balance between the rich fruit and the structure from oak, tannin and acid. Approachable now, but sure to get better over the medium term. 89/100
“St. Peters” 2004 - Savoury nose and palate. Spice, chocolate, violets and cedar. Very elegant palate, restrained and balanced with lovely length. Impeccably classy wine. 93/100