Appellation Australia

Two Hands “Brilliant Disguise” 2006 - (Barossa Valley, South Australia):

The nose is bursting with lime, mango, floral notes and tropical fruit. The light fizz leads the wine into a dance across the palate. A delicate sweetness with a hint at depth of flavour. Delicious drinking and I wish I had more for summer! Previously reviewed here.

90/100

Eldridge Estate Chardonnay 2004 - (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria):

A pale yellow colour. Minerally nose, with macadamia nuts, browned butter, lemon and signs of beautifully judged oak use sitting in the background. The palate has good intensity of flavour and good length, it is also balanced and focussed except for a slight citrusy tang towards the finish. Really calls out to be paired with food in order to shine.

89/100

Kracher Muskat Ottonel Auslese 2003 - (Burgenland, Austria):

Musk, violets, citrus peel, apricot and marmalade on a rather off-beat nose. The palate is also slightly out of the ordinary, with just a hint of rich sweetness, an oily viscous mouth-feel, lacking any real depth of flavour and the finish dropping away suddenly. Something a bit different, although I doubt I would purchase again.

86/100

I started this event by looking at some varied set of six Pinot Noir with wine writer Peter Bourne and the winemakers from Willow Creek and Ten Minutes by Tractor on the opening Friday night.

Willow Creek “Tulum” Pinot Noir 2004 - (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria):
Ah, I’ve wandered into the Shiraz tutorial by mistake. No? Oh.

Hits you with a rich, ripe nose with boudin noir/black pudding, rhubarb, mint and spice aromas. The palate has masculine power and plenty of flavour but it lacks length and lacks class. Perhaps it is a Pinot Noir for those that don’t like Pinot Noir? I happen to like Pinot Noir.
85/100

10 Minutes by Tractor “Wallis Vineyard” Pinot Noir 2003 - (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria):
A light-mid red colour. A more reclusive nose than the Tulum, but also cleaner in nature with red cherry, a slight floral edge and some oak showing through. The palate is elegant and has good texture, but again the oak comes to the fore. It may be better in a couple of years if the fruit can hold up.
87/100

Pipers Brook Estate Pinot Noir 2004 - (Northern Tasmania):
Stalks and earth on the shy, weak nose. The palate also lacks intensity, depth and character. Very disappointing and I don’t think that it’ll get better.
83/100

Quartz Reef Pinot Noir 2004 - (Central Otago, New Zealand):
Dense purple in colour. The nose has aromas of beetroot, blue cheese, earth, black cherries and a touch of spice. The palate has good length, but it leans too far into the juicy, plummy, ripe spectrum and loses varietal typicity as a result. There is also some alcohol heat poking through.
85/100

Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanée 2002 - (Burgundy, France):
Has an elegant, spicy nose with plums and cherries. The palate is simple without a great deal of depth or intrigue but at least shows balance and elegance, something that was forgotten about in some of the previous wines. I don’t think it is going to get too much better, but it will be good to drink over the next couple of years.
88/100

Domaine Jean Grivot Nuits St. Georges “Les Pruliers” 1er Cru 2002 - (Burgundy, France):
Shows off a restrained, clean nose with spice, black cherries and floral scents. The palate is where the class of this wine shines through with lovely depth and complexity as well as an intensity of flavour that is refined rather than brutish. Super length, a genuine step up in quality, and it will deliver lots of enjoyment over the next 10 years.
92/100

Another recent purchase at a restaurant. It is around $30 - $35 AUD at retail.

Tasting Note: Deep coloured for a Pinot Noir. Fairly clean nose of black cherry, floral notes, strawberry, spice and some sweet caramel oak. The palate is weighty and masculine, with some good flavour and texture. On the mid-palate there is some sappiness and there is a brief moment of alcoholic heat on the finish.

When to Drink: I enjoyed it now, but it will probably open up and come together a bit with a few years age in bottle. 2007 - 2011

Verdict: It is a good wine at a reasonable price (for decent Pinot Noir anyway), but would probably be more satisfying for Pinot Noir aficionados if it exhibited a bit more structure, elegance and depth. 89 points.

Yabby Lake (Mornington Peninsula) -

Chardonnay 2004 - A confronting style. Oak is predominant, as well as funky and leesy on the full-on intense nose. The palate has good texture but lacks focus. There is complexity in spades here, and it may well fare better with food, but it’s just too over the top for my taste. 87/100

Willow Creek Vineyard (Mornington Peninsula) -

“Tulum” Chardonnay 2003 - An intense, powerful, challenging wine. The nose is slightly funky, leesy and has some oak and malolactic characters. Palate is full bodied. Would probably show better with some food as a foil. 88/100

“WCV” Chardonnay 2004 - In contrast to the “Tulum”, this is a fresh, fruity and lively Chardonnay that shows some zip on the palate. Easy to drink, but I would have liked it to have a bit more of interest. 86/100

Turramurra (Mornington Peninsula) -

Chardonnay 2003 - Seems like the fruit can’t hold up against the oak. Aromas of oak and buttery malolactic ferment characters. Texture on the palate is alright, but the wine is too broad for my liking. 83/100

“Fumé Blanc” Sauvignon Blanc 2003 - An interesting nose that is sadly dominated by onion skins. Palate is intense. Something different and I hope that it shows better in future vintages. 78/100

Ten Minutes By Tractor (Mornington Peninsula) -

“Reserve” Pinot Noir 2003 - Shows slightly more stalk and earth than the 10X Pinot, also has notes of sour cherry as well as some oak that comes in over the top. Palate has good structure and length, but the oak needs to back off and let the other characters come to the fore in the next 3 to 4 years for this to reach its potential. 88/100

“10X” Sauvignon Blanc 2005 - Passionfruit and herbs on the fresh, lively nose. Good intensity and reasonable length. One of the better Sauvignon Blanc wines that I tried at this event, but still lacking in anything special about it to create more than brief interest. 87/100

“10X” Pinot Noir 2003 - Some stalks, but mostly cherry and plum on the nose. The palate lacks real mouth-feel or complexity. It has decent balance but it would be best to drink this in the next couple of years. 87/100

“10X” Pinot Gris 2005 - Floral, lemon and lime nose. The body has good intensity initially but fades towards the mid to back palate. 86/100

“10X” Chardonnay 2003 - Oak shows strongly on the nose as well as subdued peaches and nectarines. Palate is creamy and has a good mouth-feel to it but it finishes short. 84/100

Scorpo (Mornington Peninsula) -

Rosé 2005 - Light in colour but body has a touch more weight to it. Pinot Noir influence is evident on the nose with cherries and some nice violet floral characters. Easy to drink, but there is a bit more weight to it to be passed off as nothing more than that. 87/100

Chardonnay 2003 - Touch of oak and some flint. Palate is fairly focused and the length is alright but just seems to lack much that makes it interesting. 86/100

Pinot Gris 2005 - Watery, weak, thin and bland. No intensity or character. 80/100

Paringa Estate (Mornington Peninsula) - The Paringa ‘04 “Estate” Pinot Noir was my favourite wine at the Pinot Master-class, so I was looking forward to trying the rest of the wines. I was disappointed to miss trying the “Reserve” wines, but all the same, there are some good wines coming out from this maker at the medium level of their range.

“Estate” Shiraz 2003 - Fairly intense cool climate style. Plums, herbs, spice and oak that only appears in the background. The wine needs a bit of time for the palate to develop some complexity. 88/100

“Estate” Pinot Noir 2003 - Stalks, cherry and some sappiness. It doesn’t have the class or length of the 2004 version of this wine. 87/100

“Peninsula” Pinot Noir 2005 - Cherry, stalks, some undergrowth. No great persistence of flavours, but a decent effort for the price-point. 87/100

“Peninsula” Shiraz 2004 - Stalky, peppery and some green herby aromas. Palate was lacklustre. 85/100

Paradigm Hill (Mornington Peninsula) - I also try “The Oracle” Pinot Noir from this maker in the posted notes on the Pinot master-class.

Riesling 2005 - A tight, closed nose of lime and minerals. Palate could do with some extra acid and focus. 86/100

Pinot Gris 2005 - Not quite sure about this. It’s reasonably tight as well, but I doubt I’d want to give it too much bottle age. It is probably worth taking another look in six months time. At the moment the palate has good balance but the nose is mute. 86/100