Plonk Oz 2006 - Part 2

If you have not already read it, my Overview of Wine Australia can be found here.

Click here for Plonk Oz 2006 Chapter One

Plonk Oz 2006 Day Two – Sunday

On Saturday night, Marion asked me if I would like to get up early on Sunday morning and go with her to church. I pleaded religious conflict, despite having had pork trotters the night before, and asked her to try not to wake me, as I needed my beauty sleep.

I staggered out of bed at 8.45 feeling most refreshed and invigorated, and ready for another big day at Plonk Oz. Marion was kind enough to drop me off at Darling Harbour and I had agreed to meet Brian at the coffee shop at 10:40 a.m.. I got there are a few minutes early, and as I was in desperate need of a caffeine fix, or preferably two, I ordered a short black before he arrived. As it was my shout, when he arrived I ordered one for him and a second for myself, but Brian was also “in need” as he wanted two at the same time.

We pulled the same stunt as the day before and used our trade passes to get in just before 11 o'clock, which gave us a chance to have a quiet look around. Judging by the look of some of the exhibitors, they had also had a big night the night before. We headed over towards the Coonawarra stand and waited until the official starting time, so that we could beat the rush. Being Sunday, it seemed as though it took a bit longer for the participants to arrive and for it to get busy.

Punters Corner looked like a good bet so we decided to start there. For those that are not aware, Pete Bissell is their winemaker, and from what I have seen, their wines seem to be improving slowly all the time (vintage variation aside).

Punters Corner 2003 Shiraz sells for $20 at cellar door but can be regularly found for as low as $15. Fine, dusty tannins provide excellent support for this ample-weight, solid wine with an agreeable complexity and a firm but supple consistency. It's immensely drinkable with black plum, spices, pepper, chocolate and fresh, juicy-fruit being to the fore. Rated as Recommended with **** for value (at $20) if you can find it for $15, buy cases of the stuff.

Punters Corner 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $27.50 at cellar door. With a touch of VA, the nose was dusty, leafy and chocolaty. Tightly-grained, smooth tannins and distinct, obvious fruit combine to form a clean, well-balanced, solidly-constructed, tight, muscular-weight wine with a supple consistency. Juicy-fruit delivers blueberry, leafy/minty notes, chocolate and vanillin flavours and whilst it's okay now, it really does need three or four years to start showing its best. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine matures; it's worth buying.

Punters Corner 2004 Sovereign Reserve Cabernet will sell for $59.50 when it is released in August The wine is very similar to the barrel that reached a record price in the Coonawarra Barrel Auction; only 180 cases have been made, and no doubt there will be snapped up quickly. A delightfully perfumed nose with a little VA, it's also dusty and leafy. A wine of impeccable structure with loads of dusty tannins and pure, deeply-seated fruit; it's a top quality drop but the long tannins need time to fill out. It's full-bodied with a well-developed complexity showing red cherry and blue spectrum flavours, but it's as tight as a bank vault. Rated as Excellent with *** for value; try again in 2014.

Punters Corner 2003 Spartacus sells for $59.50 at cellar door. The bouquet is sweetly perfumed with dusty French oak over spicy notes. Loads of smooth tannins, unobtrusive acid and pure, deeply seated, juicy-fruit, combine to form a muscular-weight wine; it’s solid, tight, layered structure and sophisticated complexity shows some elegance. The fruit is just lovely, showing black cherry, white pepper and chocolate; a great result for the vintage, the wine needs time and is rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value and the rating should improve as the wine matures around 2012 and beyond.

What a great way to start the morning, but after those last two wines, the tannins were already starting to build up quickly. I actually preferred the Reserve Cabernet to the Spartacus. Whilst we were at the stand, we found out that 80% of Punters Corner’s Cabernet production is sold to Jacobs Creek and it normally goes into St Hugo; interesting! Clearly this is a winery to keep watching.

From Punters Corner we moved next-door to the Balnaves stand. Pete Bissell makes the wines for Balnaves too. This family owned winery does not make bad wine, just some that are better than others, and year upon year they are improving too, and now are one of my favourite top five Coonawarra producers.

When a winery does not produce their top wine because they feel it is not good enough, I have always respected and acknowledged that decision; it's a pity that more wineries are not as conscientious. Balnaves did not make The Tally in 1999, 2002 or 2003; clearly this is a winery that values its reputation by only making their top wine in top vintages. In reality, this attitude goes a lot deeper and they are to be highly commended for it. When they had a look at the red wine stocks that they had available for 2003, the family and winemaker came to a unanimous decision; none of the red wines were good enough to be released under their label, so they decommissioned and ditched the lot. Despite the incredible difficulties of the vintage, many other wineries in the region produced some credible wines in 2003 (although I have yet to taste a truly great one), and as you can see from the tasting notes above, the Punters Corner wines which utilise the same winemaker were very drinkable, so why were the Balnaves wines not up to scratch? According to Doug Balnaves, it must have been something that they either did, or didn't do in the vineyard, but whatever the reason, they were not prepared to put their name to those wines. Consumers should have enormous respect for a winery with this level of dedication and ethics; it's just a pity that most will never even realise the commitment that this winery has to producing quality wine at a reasonable price.

Balnaves 2004 Shiraz sells between $24 and $28. The bouquet is interesting with lots of activity and complexity. Abundant dusty tannins and deeply-seated fruit produce a clean, well-made, perfectly balanced wine that is firm, solid and has a well-developed complexity. There is nothing overripe about this wine despite its dark fruit flavours and spice, which finishes long and dry, but it is certainly not a drink now a proposition as the fruit is currently buried. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve as it matures around 2011.

Balnaves 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon will sell for around $30 when released later this year. One sniff of this wine and it screams Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. A well-crafted wine that has been perfectly judged, with loads of dusty tannins, unobtrusive acid and perfectly ripe, juicy-fruit. With a rock solid structure and very firm consistency, this tight, muscular-weight wine has been well-made and is worthy of cellar space. Needing time to show its best, it should be long-lived and don't even think about touching it until 2010 or beyond. It is savoury and off-sweet and is rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value.

Balnaves 2004 The Tally sells for $80 at cellar door. I was really interested to try this wine, as based on previous experience with this label both Brian and I purchased six-packs on faith. The bouquet was very reticent but showed attractive perfumed characters; the quality of the fruit was obvious, and as strange as it may sound, one could sense the creaminess of the tannins just by inhaling deeply. A top-quality, classy wine; it’s impeccably balanced by abundant, creamy, dusty tannins, unobtrusive acid and deeply-seated, pure fruit. Savoury on the uptake, it is layered with a sweet river of fruit running below the surface with flavours of the blackcurrant, chocolate and mint. Full-bodied, it's rock-solid, tight and at this stage whilst it comes across with captivating charm as a sumptuous big red, come back in 2013 and you will probably find it showing a lot more varietal characters. Rated as Excellent with *** for value, I am happy to have this in the cellar. At this point at Wine Australia, this was the best wine tasted.

We walked away from Balnaves feeling very content and satisfied; two wineries in a row and I would have been happy to drink any one of the wines tasted without question. Now that's a great start to the day. The crowds that had been continuously mobbing the Coonawarra stand yesterday had good taste!

Since the late 1980’s Petaluma Coonawarra has been one of my favourite Cabernets. On countless occasions I have stated that even in difficult years, Brian Croser was able to produce wines that defied vintage conditions, and that's the sign of a truly good winemaker. At 16 years of age, the 1990 is still but a pup and when I recently tried the first from a box of 1994’s, I decided to let them continue sleeping. This wine has been on my regular every year buy list longer than just about anything else, so as you can understand, I am partial to it.

Petaluma 2002 Coonawarra sells for between $44 and $60, and although the recommended price is at the top end of that bracket, the street price in case quantity tends to be at the lower end. The bouquet shows leafy notes but there is sweet fruit below. An ample-weight wine that is very firm and well backed by loads of dusty tannins that have a slight green tinge; it’s well balanced to the pure fruit. The wine is a little lighter than many previous vintages. The palate is leafy and shows blackcurrant and chocolate, and whilst I am possibly being supercritical, it doesn't seem to have quite enough fruit and finishes a little hard. Still, it is rated as a very respectable Highly Recommended with *** for value (based on the bottom end of the scale), and whilst it will soften and improve, I don't think it will be as good as most of its predecessors. (Brian’s Comment: This is the fourth time I’ve tried this wine and every time I get a slightly hard green finish to the tannins that lingers and turns me off the wine. This vintage is not one I will buy.)

Redman 2001 Cabernet Merlot sells for $35 at cellar door. The bouquet is interesting and inviting showing dusty, perfumed notes and plums. Commendable fruit on the uptake with flavours of blackcurrant, plum and violets are supported by abundant, well-balanced tannins that kick in and finish long and with good persistence. A medium-weight wine with a supple consistency, it is well-crafted and whilst it's enjoyable now it will improve and is rated as Recommended with ** for value, but the rating should improve around 2010 when the wine starts to peak.

Tasting a heap of Coonawarra Cabernet’s first thing on a Sunday morning leaves one looking for a razor blade to shave the tongue to remove the tannins, so whilst we were enjoying ourselves, and there was not a bad wine amongst them, it was time to head to some lighter style wines. Brian wanted to try Castagna, so we headed there next. This Beechworth winery has an awesome reputation for producing elegant, high-quality wines and I was looking forward to seeing what they had on offer. Biodynamic principles are employed and everything is done by hand with as little intervention as possible.

Castanga 2003 Sauvage is a blend of Shiraz and Sangiovese; the wine sells for $38 from cellar door and has been made from smoke affected and decommissioned Genesis fruit. The bouquet shows smoke over beautiful, sweet perfumed fruit. A sensational mouth-feel, this is a very well crafted wine utilising top-quality fruit and well backed by silky, smooth tannins; it's ample-weight with a supple consistency and has an almost seamless structure. The smoky taint runs right through the palate and people will either love it or hate it.

Castagna 2004 Genesis Shiraz sells for $60 at cellar door. A sensational bouquet with lovely aromatics, there is a hint of Viognier noticeable. A subtle, cerebral wine with loads going on, Brian described it as ethereal. Showing a superb balance and exceptional craftsmanship the dusty tannins are sneaky and are supremely balanced to the pure, deeply-seated persistent fruit. Medium-weight with a supple consistency and a tight, solid and elegant (and I use that term in the nicest possible way) structure, this wine is all class and one that I didn't want to spit. The blackberry, spice and chocolate flavours have terrific length and linger for ages. Rated as Excellent with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine matures. So far, potentially the best wine of the show.

Castagna 2004 La Chiave Sangiovese sells for $75 at cellar door. An unusual bouquet, it’s perfumed but reticent, and shows sweet musk. Silky, dusty tannins combined with almost delicate fruit that has loads of power, but needs time to flesh out; it forms a medium-weight, elegant wine with a refined and diverse complexity. Chocolate, black cherry, more milk chocolate and plum are a delightful combination and finish with excellent length. A well crafted wine, it's rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value and will probably hit straps around 2009 and beyond.

The second two wines are both beautifully focused, superb quality drops. Wines of this calibre of never cheap and I wouldn't hesitate purchasing the Genesis Shiraz and burying it in the cellar for a special occasion. So far the morning has been absolutely fantastic, so hoping we could keep batting 100, we headed over to the Moss Wood stand to try the recently released Cabernet.

Moss Wood 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for around $80. Having seen the incredible effort and cost that this winery goes to in order to produce the best fruit possible, especially in a poor vintage, I was looking forward to trying this wine. The bouquet was restrained and elegant. The first thing that struck me about it was the acid was unobtrusive, unlike many of the other 2003 Margaret River Cabernets that I had tried in February, which ranged from being lively to searing. The wine shows authoritative craftsmanship and despite its medium-weight, it is well backed by abundant, dusty tannins and perfectly-ripe, deep fruit. Blueberry, dried herbs and chocolate flavours are agreeable, but the wine needs time for the fruit to surface from below the tannins and gain further complexity. An elegant wine, at this point I thought it was just another well structured Cabernet, and rated it Highly Recommended with ** for value; it should peak around 2012 and beyond. Later in the day, I was able to taste the wine again in one of the The Cellar sessions and reassessed my conclusions. The second bottle was a much better sample and showed vibrant, bright and rich fruit. The blackcurrant, chocolate and minty flavours showed good length and loads of power for its weight, and whilst it may be rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value now, the rating should improve as the wine matures. The vagaries of cork and bottle variation! (The second bottle had been poured into large glasses for about 15 minutes or more before tasting, which could have helped too.)

In February, when we were in Margaret River, we went to Woodlands Winery, and when I walked out I was not happy and something was bugging me about the visit, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I don't know whether I was having a bad morning, whether I was reacting to the “very passionate sell” I was receiving or what the problem was, but I felt for some inexplicable reason, I may have been a little harsh on the assessment of their wines and so wanted to try them again at the first available opportunity, and this was it.

Woodlands 2005 Cabernet Merlot sells for $16.50 a bottle by the case direct from the winery. The wine had just been bottled so may not have been showing its best; 3,500 cases have been produced. The bouquet showed dusty oak characters over sweetly perfumed fruit. Well-backed by powdery tannins, it's a true varietal showing ripe, blackcurrant and blue berry spectrum fruit and violets. Medium-weight with a supple consistency and its harmonious nature makes this an easy-drinking good food wine that is rated as Agreeable with **** for value. It's a terrific everyday quaffer.

Woodlands 2004 Margaret Reserve Cabernet Merlot sells for $30 by the case from cellar door. The bountiful, dusty tannins combine with fresh acid and pure, persistent fruit to form a medium-weight, well-balanced and well-crafted wine, that is firm, solid and harmonious. A truly varietal Cabernet, the blackcurrant, chocolate, spicy characters, herbs and more dark chocolate finish clean and I liked the wine a lot better this time around (apparently when I tried it in February it had just been bottled). Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, it should peak around 2011 and beyond; it has just been released and is bound to sell out quickly, so don't delay. (By the time you read this, the wine has sold out – and I missed out too!)

Woodlands 2003 Ivy Kathleen will sell for $80 at cellar door when it is released in December to mailing list clients. The lifted nose shows noticeable spices, floral characters, and gravely, flinty notes. An impressively crafted wine with an auspicious mouth feel; it has muscular-weight with a firm but supple consistency, a solid structure, and a diverse complexity. Generous, drying, smooth fine-grained tannins frame and back the pure fruit ensuring that this will be a long term wine. Blackcurrant, liquorice, flint, chocolate and blackberry flavours complete the package. This is a very good wine but needs time, and lots of it. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value now, it has with significant potential for improvement.

Although my ratings didn't improve significantly when I re-tasted the Margaret and Ivy Kathleen, I certainly felt more positive towards them the second time round. The Margaret has got over its bottle shock and is all the better for it. My notes on the Ivy Kathleen are very similar and whilst they may not be glowing, the wine does have very significant potential and it'll be interesting to see how well it develops.

So far this morning, we had been hitting known labels where there was a high chance of tasting very good wine, so it was time for potluck and we headed back to the South Australian section. St Johns Road is another new one on me and it's another one that is not in 2006 Halliday Companion. The winery is located in the Barossa Valley.

St Johns Road 2004 Julia Greenock Shiraz sells for $28 at cellar door. Spicy oak over dark perfumed fruit, the bouquet also showed some reductive characters. Silky tannins provide a supple mouth feel and almost seamless, harmonious structure. There is a slight reductive bitterness on the palate but it is not objectionable and the wine shows good depth of flavour with a dark fruit profile that’s savoury with some sweetness below; but there is not a lot on the back palate. An easy drinking, soft, crowd pleaser it is rated as Recommended with ** for value.

St Johns Road 2004 The Dog Walker Cabernet sells for $24 at the winery. A soft, fruit driven bouquet; it didn't show much complexity. Unobtrusive, smooth tannins and distinct fruit produce a medium-weight wine with a supple consistency and simple complexity. Dark chocolate, raspberry/strawberry spectrum fruit with milk chocolate to finish makes this a very-easy drinking wine that will go well with food. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value.

Unfortunately the wines at St Johns Road were not exactly awe-inspiring or good value; if they are to survive, improvement is required.

It was around this time we had lunch. I ordered the sushi pack which was edible but completely uninspiring. Brian ordered a meat pie that I don't think I would feed to my dog but then they would probably be considered fussy eaters when it came to pies, unlike a couple of my red wine drinking mates. (Brian’s Comment: The chunky meat pie was OK and probably a better choice than the sushi!)

After lunch we headed over to the Lake Breeze stand. This Langhorne Creek winery continues to do good things in a quiet way and produces a number of credible, good value, honest wines. When I was last at the winery I tried many upcoming releases, so I had tried almost everything on the stand, but thought that Brian might enjoy a few of them.

Lake Breeze 2003 Bernoota sells for $20 at cellar door. The bouquet is black with some sweet and contrasting spicy characters as well as cedar notes. A very interesting flavour combination is delivered by the deep, strong fruit; blackberry, mint, chocolate, herbs, a touch of pepper and more chocolate finishes with good persistence. Although it's only medium-weight, it is well-balanced with dusty tannins and youthful acid. It's a solid drop with a supple consistency, almost seamless structure, and its harmonious nature means that it can be enjoyed any time over the next five years, with the added bonus of being a food friendly wine. Rated as Recommended with **** for value.

We then moved over to the Knappstein stand to see what they have on offer.

Knappstein Sparkling Shiraz sells for $22 at cellar door and this is the follow-on to the wine that used to be known as the Chainsaw Sparkling Shiraz. It's very hard to find a good Sparkling Shiraz under $25, especially ones that are not sickly sweet and confected. It is a great summer drink; I am always on the lookout for them. This wine spent two and a half years on lees. It's an attractive style and will suit food. It contains very little sweetness and finishes dry with chocolate, spices and plum flavours. It's a medium-weight and rated as Recommended with **** for value, so it well and truly passes the economy test. Brian found someone for $16.75 a bottle in Canberra and naturally, we grabbed it and split the case. That makes it ***** value.

Knappstein 2003 Enterprise Cabernet sells for $38 at cellar door. The bouquet was reticent and the palate was savoury showing red cherry, chocolate, mint, and more chocolate but unfortunately it finished hard. A medium-weight, very firm wine, and whilst the complexity is well developed, there are far better wines around for the price. Rated as Recommended with ** for value.

Thorn-Clarke makes some interesting wines that are normally reasonably priced so we headed their next. I had a ready tried a number of their current releases, so only tried two new ones on this occasion.

Thorn-Clarke 2004 Morrello is a hundred percent Nebbiolo and sells for $15 at the winery. The spicy, brooding bouquet delivers red cherry, spices and chocolate to the palate and finishes with very long, abundant tannins. It's medium-weight with deep, strong fruit and a very interesting wine for the price. Rated as Recommended with **** for value; drink over the next five years.

Thorn-Clarke 2004 William Randall Shiraz sells for between $40 and $45 on the street. The bouquet shows noticeable vanillin oak and menthol which translates to a palate of black cherry, plum, dark chocolate, a touch of spices, vanilla and mint flavours that finish with congenial length and persistence. A wine of class, it has an attractive mouth-feel and a lavish level of powdery tannins that frame the pure, deeply-seated fruit to form a muscular-weight, supple wine of some elegance, and a sophisticated and well-developed complexity. A very credible wine, it's rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value now (at $40) but the rating will improve as the wine reaches its optimal drinking window around 2011 and beyond.

Brian’s turn to pick next and he chose the Murray Street Vineyard stand. Judging by the number of people fighting their way to the front, this winery must be doing some extraordinarily good things. With that many people queuing up to try the wine, if it was me, I would have kept walking and tried something else, but Brian was determined, a man on a mission. He took my glass, donned a crash helmet, (his well polished chrome dome does resemble one) crouched down low, and went flying into the crowd, knee-capping people who were careless enough to get in his way. Needless to say, he got to the front of the queue very quickly.

Whilst this was going on, I noticed of the exhibitors stand next door was basically vacant. There was a table with nothing on it except for a tablecloth, a chair, and posters on the walls advertising James Halliday's new Wine Atlas of Australia. Why the stand wasn't manned was beyond me, and the folk that owned the stand must be very trusting because there were boxes of his new atlas under the table. Surprisingly, Brian didn't even try to steal one , but he did seriously think about selling some and taking a small commission. I decided the spot was a perfect place to sit and write my tasting notes in comfort as the main passageway was like a crowded city street at lunchtime (except for the area in front of the Kosher Wine stand which was strangely quiet).

By some fortunate coincidence, Murray Street vineyards are located in Murray Street at Greenock. The winery is owned by Andrew and Vanessa Seppelt and Andrew is a direct descendant of Benno and Sophia Seppelt whose winery bears his paternal name. They have two vineyards, one at Greenock and the other at Gomersal; most of their grapes are sold to other producers but a few years ago they started making their own wine.

Murray Street 2004 Shiraz sells for $20 at cellar door. The bouquet shows liquorice, vanilla and blackcurrant which is replicated on the palate. Smooth, unobtrusive powdery tannins and intense, extremely ripe fruit produce a muscular-weight wine with a supple consistency and agreeable complexity. An easy-drinking wine with loads of fruit power for the dollar it's rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Murray Street 2004 Gomersal Shiraz sells for $40 and is sealed under Stelvin. The bouquet was slightly reductive and brambly. It's a very ripe on the uptake with sweet fruit that is contrasted by sharp acid and finishes with almost puckering tannins. It seems a little disjointed and is rated as Agreeable with ** for value.

Murray Street 2004 Greenock Shiraz sells for $40 at cellar door. The bouquet shows dark brambly fruit with vanillin oak and spices. On the palate, the fruit is very ripe and concentrated but within acceptable limits; it's brambly, vanillin and chocolate characters finish dry. With better balance and construction than the previous wine, it is muscular-weight with some suppleness and has a well-developed complexity, and whilst it's approachable now it should improve in the short term. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value.

Murray Street 2003 Benno sells for $45 at cellar door and is a blend of 55% Mataro and 45% Shiraz. The bouquet exudes coffee oak, blackberry, chocolate and charcuterie characters. Powdery tannins, lively acid, and deep fruit combine to form a muscular-weight, very-firm, solid wine that needs time to soften further. Chocolate, coffee, blackberry, cold meats and a hint of green herbs have a slightly sour finish. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value, the wine should mature around 2011.

Murray Street 2003 Sophia Shiraz sells for $45 at cellar door. The bouquet showed a balance of sweet vanillin oak and sweet blueberry spectrum fruit. Liberal amounts of fine, drying tannins are well matched to the distinct fruit and produce a full-bodied, very-firm, solid wine that was the best of the line-up. Coffee/mocha and vanilla, the wine has loads of oak character but there is also savoury blackcurrant and the whole package finishes with a touch of herb. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, the wine should peak around 2011 and beyond.

This is a fairly new operation, the wines show promise and this is a winery that is worth watching.

As an aside, the Benno is meant to be a masculine expression of the wineries output and the Sophia, the feminine; so is interesting that the Benno, which is a Mataro Shiraz blend was served before the Sophia Shiraz. Normally, wineries serve wines from the lightest to heaviest, or from feminine to masculine, so I asked the staff why the Benno was lighter than the Sofia, especially given Mataro is normally a bold, meaty wine.

The answer was enlightening! Apparently Sophia wore the pants in the family, and if you have ever seen a picture of her, she was a fairly scary looking woman. Ironically, when I was using my voice recognition software to dictate the story, when ever I got to the word “Sophia” the software typed one of two things – “sow fear” or “so fear” – judging by her photo, either one have some element of truth.

Whilst we are having a chuckle: the table and chair that I shanghaied in the vacant exhibitors stand next door enabled me to relax whilst making these tasting notes; but what was really funny was that every time we needed to sample the next wine, Brian would stick his head around the stand divider and ask for the wine to be poured. And every time the obliging staff wanted to talk to us or pass on information, a head would come around the stand divider. It reminded me of the way things must have been like in the old days when people were standing outside the back of a “sly grog shop” having an illegal Sunday drink.

It was time to head for something lighter so we headed back to Victoria and spotted an almost familiar face; almost familiar as I had met Franco D’Anna’s two brothers who work in the family’s wine shop, Boccaccio Cellars in Melbourne. The family resemblance, including an aversion to using a razor more than once every few days, was remarkable. Hoddles Creek Winery in the Yarra Valley is well known by smart wine buyers as a producer that is capable of turning out a very dependable and drinkable Pinot for only $20!

Hoddles Creek 2005 Pinot sells for $20. The bouquet shows good “pinosity” which leads to a palate showing forest floor, gamey notes and chocolate flavours that linger beautifully. It’s a lean, supple wine that’s well backed by dusty tannins and has a well developed complexity. Bloody drinkable for the price, even for a red bigot; rated as Recommended with **** for value.

Hoddles Creek 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $20. A typical varietal Cabernet that’s pleasantly perfumed; it’s clean, fruit-driven, well-made, medium-weight wine that’s damn near seamless; has elegance, and whilst the its harmonious, its an uncomplicated easy-drinking, food friendly wine. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.

Brian wandered over to a stand that was not particularly familiar to me to try their wines, but I needed a short break so I just hung back and watched for a while. After I got bored watching Brian gasbag, I decided to take potluck and headed over to Star Lane winery which is apparently located in Beechworth. I knew nothing about this winery and had no idea what to expect.

Star Lane 2004 Shiraz sells for $45 at cellar door. The bouquet shows black char/aniseed and black pepper and comes across the palate as intense pepper, liquorice and dark chocolate that finishes with good intensity and reasonable persistence. Slightly powdery, drying tannins combine with fresh/crisp acid and distinct fruit to form a medium-weight wine with an agreeable complexity that finishes so firm it is on the point of being hard. I took my sample over to Brian and asked him what he thought it was worth; $25 was the answer which completely confirmed my rating of Recommended with ** for value.

As Brian was still gasbagging at Killibinbin, I decided to try one of their wines.

Killibinbin 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (Langhorne Creek) sells for $20 at cellar door and was matured in French oak. A varietal nose; it shows dusty, leafy characters and ripe fruit. A clean, well-made, medium-weight wine with a rock solid structure thanks to the liberal dusty tannins; the agreeable complexity is further enhanced by a pleasant mouth-feel. Blackberry, chocolate and black coffee flavours complete the package and it should age well. Certainly worth the price, it's rated as Recommended with **** for value and the rating may improve as the wine matures.

Now I know why Brian was hanging around this stand. The next one was my choice and although I've tried most of their current releases, I wanted to say hello to Simon Clayfield, who is one of the genuinely nice guys in the industry, as well as being a talented winemaker. As it happened, we got lucky because there were a couple of unreleased wines that we could try.

Clayfield 2004 Shiraz will be released in November and will sell for $42 direct from cellar door. The bouquet was reticent but the fruit purity was obvious. A muscular-weight, superbly structured, clean wine; it's still tight, and is solidly backed by dusty tannins which frame a long, intense and drying finish. Its savoury, with spices, black cherry and chocolate flavours; just delightful; a quality wine with some class and elegance, it's rated as Excellent with *** for value and one that you would be crazy not to contemplate. (The second unreleased wine was only available for tasting the next day.)

It was Brian's turn again and he wanted to check out a couple of wines made by Pizzini. I don't know what it is, but I have never been able to get overly enthusiastic about their wines have found the value to be uninspiring.

Pizzini 2005 Sangiovese sells for $22. The bouquet exhibited perfumed floral characters over chips and tomato sauce, the latter possibly coming from someone standing fairly close to me. I found this wine to be a lean, slightly hard, the acid sharp, and the package a little aggressive with chocolate and red berry fruit. Rated as Acceptable with * for value, maybe I got this one or wrong or don't understand what it's all about. (There were no detectable faults.)

Pizzini 2001 Nebbiolo sells for $45 at cellar door. Browning at the rim, it showing signs of age. A lean-wine with a firm consistency that is well backed by abundant tannins, the flavour profile is savoury, spicy and finishes with reasonable persistence but the complexity is simple. Perhaps I don't understand this wine; rated as Agreeable with * for value.

Directly across the corridor was another winery that I'd never heard of, and incidentally, Flynns Wine is not listed in Halliday's 2006 Companion either, however they do have their own web site. The winery is located in Heathcote not far from Jasper's Hill. They have five acres of vines that are approximately seven years old.

Flynns 2004 Cabernet Merlot sells for $25 at cellar door. Pleasantly perfumed fruit delivers cherry, chocolate, blackcurrant and mint flavours that finishes with good persistence. An ample-weight, firm, and solid wine; tight dusty tannins and fresh acid underpins its sound structure. An attractive wine for the price, it is certainly worthy of consideration and is rated as Recommended with *** for value; the rating may improve as the wine matures around 2009 and beyond.

Flynns 2004 M. C. Shiraz sells for $29.90 at cellar door; the M. C. stands for multiple clones. Dusty French oak, cherry, chocolate and mint are found on the bouquet. The palate is restrained but manages to show intense cherry, milk chocolate and aniseed in layers of flavours. Well-balanced by abundant, dusty tannins and deeply-seated fruit, it's just ample-weight and shows some elegance to its solid structure and well-developed complexity. It finishes clean and crisp and is still very tight, and whilst it should cellar well, it needs time to soften. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, it should peak around 2011 and beyond.

This family owned winery are doing good things and could be a label that is worth watching.

We had to beat a hasty retreat from Flynns as we had an education session booked in The Cellar at 4:30 p.m. The 45 minute session cost $70 and from what I understand, the Australian wines used in the sessions were generously donated by the producers, so these sessions would be very profitable for the organisers. I noticed in one of the handouts given to us that the “sponsors and supporters of the education theatres” included the Wolf Blass Foundation. The Foundation was kicked off with a million dollar donation by Wolf Blass in 1994 to help assist the wine industry achieve excellence in winemaking, viticulture and marketing. I found was quite ironic, given that Blass/Fosters were not represented at the show.

The session was billed as:-

“INTERNATIONAL BENCHMARKING: CABERNET

You may be familiar with some of Australia’s best cabernet sauvignon, but how do these wines stack up against their overseas counterparts? We explore cabernet from its best Australian growing regions in Coonawarra, Margaret River and the Yarra Valley alongside examples from its most renowned

region of origin, Bordeaux. What makes a superb cabernet sauvignon? We’ll taste some of the best.”

The session was well run by a panel of three, Darrin Jahn (President, Wine Press Club of NSW), Gerald Boyd (founding managing editor of Wine Spectator) and Robert Mann (senior winemaker at Cape Mentelle). The session started a few minutes late; nothing new there. The Saturday session had apparently been fully booked, but our session was a quarter empty, yet wine had been poured at all places. The 45 minutes allocated to the sessions don't really allow enough time to look at the wines properly, do them justice, or promote discussion with the person sitting next to you at the end, because they needed to kick us out as soon as it was finished so that they could set up for the next session. I only made extremely brief notations on the wines.

Chateau du Tertre 2000 is a 5^th growth from the Medoc and a blend of 85% Cabernet, 15% Merlot and 5% Petite Verdot. There was some reasonably good fruit below the surface but it had been killed by heavily toasted, charry oak. God knows if this wine will ever absorb it. It might be a great vintage, but certainly wasn't a great wine. ($100 approx.)

Mount Mary 2004 Quintet - my first glass of this was mildly corked and it was quickly replaced with a perfect sample. Apparently two out of the five bottles in the previous day’s session had been corked as well, so let's hope there is not a cork batch problem with this wine. It was a delightful, elegant wine that was driven by terrific, rich fruit that maintained great power for its weight and was backed by a superb structure. Rated as Excellent with ** for value, without a second thought, and no doubt the rating will improve as the wine matures; given the negative comments by Robert Parker about Mount Mary, I cannot help but wonder if that was why it was in the line-up. I would be happy to drink this any day.

Chateau Meyney 2000 is a 5^th growth (Cru Bourgois, St Estephe) is a Cabernet Sauvignon dominant (70%) Bordeaux blend. This wine did absolutely nothing for me; it was medium-weight, solidly structured, but I found the fruit to be a bit lacking. ($80-$85)

Wine four was the Petaluma 2002 Coonawarra, wine five was the Balnaves 2004 The Tally and wine six was the Moss Wood 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, and as I have a ready-made tasting notes on these wines, won't elaborate further. Wine seven was the Cape Mentelle 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, and as I had a ready tried it in February, I didn't make any notes on it either.

Vasse Felix 2003 Heytesbury was the final wine of this tasting. I was looking forward to trying this wine as the 2002, in my opinion, probably shouldn't have been released and I was wondering what they would be able to do with the 2003 vintage. The bouquet was brooding and showed a little VA and a touch of black pepper. This is a good wine! Dusty tannins and deeply-seated persistent fruit combine to form a very solid, full-bodied structure. Rich and sweet on the uptake with savoury undertones, flavours of blackcurrant, black cherry, rich chocolate and mint complete the package. Rated as Excellent with *** for value, this is a welcome return to form.

This tasting certainly showed the huge diversity of style available in Cabernet Sauvignon from the various regions across Australia. From the elegant Mount Mary (Yarra Valley) at one extreme to The Tally (Coonawarra) and the Vasse Felix (Margaret River) at the other, with everything possible in between.

I am not sure what the intent of throwing the two French wines in was all about; if it was intended to prove that Australian Cabernet Sauvignon was great value by comparison to Bordeaux, it certainly achieved that objective. However, I would think that most Australian wine lovers at an event like this would already realise that fact, but if the intent was to prove that Australian Cabernet is better than Bordeaux, and I'm not sure the comparison would be a valid one.

As far as my favourite wines in this tasting were concerned, without doubt I loved the elegance and style of the Mount Mary but equally loved the brute force of The Tally. So much for having a one-dimensional, blockbuster palate!

These classes are a great idea; I only wish they would allow an hour instead of forty-five minutes.

By this stage, the sun had set and it was time to depart. We had arranged to meet at Marion's around 6.30 p.m. so that we could have dinner at her place. This dinner was only planned the previous evening and was meant to be a get-together of friends, rather than a five-star gourmet dinner (like Andrea always cooks), as Marion was skedaddling off overseas for a month a couple of days later, and still had lots of things that had to be completed, so she didn't have all day to spend in the kitchen.

Marion does have some good wine in the cellar, because she does what she is told, and buys what I tell her to get, but unfortunately there is not a single bottle of Sparkling Shiraz, let alone a good one in her cellar. (Of late she is starting to finally develop a taste for it, so hopefully that may change in the near future.) I knew what we were having for dinner and wanted to get a really good bottle of thought the likelihood of that was not overly great. Luckily there is a very good bottle shop (Castlecrag Cellars) just up the road from Marion's house and I called in there on the way home. The wine gods were smiling on me again; although they didn't have any quality bottles cold, they did have a B.V.E. 1996 Black Pepper Sparkling Shiraz for $60 on the shelf, so I grabbed one together with a bag of ice.

As I arrived at Marion's place, so were Brian and Andrea, so the timing was perfect. Brian had brought a bottle of Pol Roger 1996 which was most enjoyable (but seemed a little advanced) and went well with the starter; avocado and prawns.

By the time the Champagne was finished, the FRS was cold; it went really well with the main course and the still red, a Saltram 1996 Mamre Brook Cabernet (from Marion’s cellar) was also drinking magnificently. I bought three dozen bottles of the MB and drank a dozen when they were young, a dozen slowly over the intervening years and now I'm slowly working my way through the final dozen which is just starting to develop aged characteristics. I'm glad I talked Marion into getting a dozen as well. In 1998, they cost $16 a bottle, what outstanding value and it's a pity that in today's world of instant gratification there are not more wines available at a modest price that will age and improve for over a decade. Marion roasted a turkey roll and a ton of vegetables, which was very filling and tasty.

For dessert the girls had Portuguese tarts and Brian and I had a half a small plum pudding (each) with brandy custard and Brian being a little piggy, had ice cream too. (Talk about being full to the point of not being able to move!) Naturally we had a (half) bottle of Seppelts DP 63 Muscat with dessert and although this wine is not as fresh as it was upon release, its still a damn fine wine with excellent rancio characters.

Although we sat down for dinner at around 7.30, it was close to 11 o'clock by the time we finished dinner. Brian and Andrea hopped into a cab and that was the end of another magnificent day at Wine Australia., sx

Plonk Oz 2006 Day Three – Monday

Marion is normally as much an early starter as I am (meaning we kicked the sparrows out of bed on most mornings) but as I didn't have to be in town until 10 o'clock I asked her not to wake me before she left. After 25 years a friendship, Marion is used to my eccentricities and must have tiptoed around the house as I'm a very light sleeper, and she managed not to wake me. The amount of wine I had consumed the night before, and a sleeping pill, of course had nothing to do with it.

It was a mini holiday so I decided to treat myself to bacon and eggs for breakfast at a little coffee shop in Castlecrag. The food was good but the coffee even better! Feeling well and truly fortified, it didn't take long for me to I drive across the Harbour Bridge and travel short distance to the Darling Harbour. I parked under the Exhibition Centre and if you are going to park there for any length of time, it will cost you $26. The reason I took my car into town was that I wanted to make a quick getaway at 2 p.m. to beat the traffic.

Brian and I met a few minutes before 10, and once again used the trade passes to get us in so that we could work out a broad plan of attack. Today was going to be a lot quieter as it was trade only.

On the previous two days, the busiest stand in the entire exhibition must have been Torbreck, from start to finish; you couldn't get near the place, so we decided to hit them first before they got busy.

Torbreck 2003 The Steading sells for between $33 and $40 on the street. The wine is a GMS blend. Although the wine seems to be driven by pure, ripe fruit, it is well backed by powdery tannins. The bouquet is interesting with loads of black pepper, liquorice and chocolate flavours that finish with good persistence; it's a good food wine. It's an ample-weight wine with a supple consistency, a solid structure and whilst it is a very pleasant now, it should soften further around 2009 and beyond. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.

Torbreck 2004 Descendant sells for $125 and cellar door. In theory, the wine contains eight percent Viognier, but that's not all juice, it’s mostly skins, so whilst the percentage is high the effect is a significantly less than you would expect when you see eight percent. The brooding, earthy bouquet of pleasant floral aromatics and has mint below; this wine needs many hours in a decanter. The construction is empowered with a liberal level of powdery tannins which are finely counterbalanced to the pure, deeply-seated fruit. An impressive muscular-weight package with a diverse complexity delivering excellent power for weight to the palate; the Viognier is hardly noticeable but rich chocolate, blackberry/blackcurrant, mint and apricots are there. Rated as Excellent with ** for value I wouldn't touch this until at least 2012.

Torbreck 2004 The Factor sells for $125 at cellar door. The bouquet had a touch of VA, brambly characters and mint. As solid as the rock of Gibraltar and as tight as a bank fault, this noteworthy wine needs time and is not as approachable as previous vintages. Bountiful powdery tannins combine with unobtrusive acid and deep, strong fruit to form a muscular-weight wine with brambly fruit, dried herbs, meaty characters, lots of chocolate, blackcurrant and mint. Rated as Excellent with ** for value, come back and have another look in about 2012.

Torbreck 2003 Run Rig sells for $250 at the winery. Although the bouquet was both reluctant and reticent, the quality of this wine was obvious from the first sniff. This is a deceptive little beast; at first it seemed mid-weight, but then the abundant, dusty, firm tannins kick in and buttress the deeply-seated, strong fruit which delivers multiple berry flavours including mulberry and spice, intertwined and supporting the movement across the palate like a surfer shooting a long pipeline. A quality wine that needs time to gain further complexity, it is rated as Excellent with * for value and the rating may improve as the wine matures around 2011.

Torbreck 2004 The Pict sells for $187.50 at cellar door and is a 100% Mataro. This is the latest new wine from Torbreck. The bouquet was really meaty with pleasant aromatics, the sort of wine you want to keep sniffing for ever; it's addictive. At this stage, the wine is all about structure; it has abundant, dusty tannins, fresh acid, and the fruit appears delicate. It's (just) medium-weight and seems almost lean, but the meaty, red and blue berry fruit flavours finished clean and linger well. I don't quite know what to make of this wine or how to judge it. (Brian’s Comment: An attractive and elegant wine with good structure, but the price is outrageous in my opinion; I’d much prefer a 6-pack of the more robust but no less attractive d’Arenberg Twenty-Eight Rd Mourvedre 2004.)

Torbreck 2004 Les Amis sells for $187.50 at cellar door. From vines planted in 1901, it was matured in a hundred percent new oak. The structure is a brilliant and comprises loads of drying, dusty tannins, unobtrusive acid and pure, deep persistent fruit. Only just muscular in weight, it's a classy wine that shows some elegance. It has about as much in common with most Grenache as Big Brother (TV) has to a BBC documentary. Spices, black cherry and chocolate flavours are delivered by the deceptive tannins that creep slowly across the palate. Rated as Highly Recommended with * for value, the rating may improve as the wine matures around 2012 and beyond.

There is a very noticeable change in the Torbreck style over the last couple of vintages. In earlier times, the wines were fatter and had a silky mouth-feel. They now seem to be more focused, almost linear and whilst the tannin structure is more noticeable, they will probably age better as a result. The wines are hugely popular and have an awesome reputation, and whilst I have some of their top end wines in my own cellar, I'm really starting to question the value of some of these offerings when there are so many wines that are almost as good, or as good, for substantially less. From the winery's perspective, as long as they can keep selling them for the prices they sell them; my thoughts on this subject will be immaterial.

Another winery that appeared to be hugely popular over the last few days was O'Leary Walker, you couldn't get near it. David O'Leary is one of the nicest people you could wish to meet, but the guy is a bloody comedian who is always trying to get me to drink c-through, and I always resist. When David offered me a glass of his Pinot, although I normally avoid trying them, I relented because the last one he gave me was actually quite drinkable.

O'Leary Walker 2005 Pinot sells for $22.50 at cellar door and only 700 cases have been made. The bouquet was brooding with dark chocolate and hints of a game noticeable, and the palate follows the nose with loads of flavour intensity and it finishes with excellent persistence. With enough dusty tannins to back the wine solidly, it just falls into the medium-weight category. The complexity whilst agreeable is simple, but it is a tremendously drinkable drop for the price; rated as Recommended with **** for value.

O'Leary Walker 2004 Shiraz sells for $22.50 at cellar door that can be found on the street for as low as $18. The bouquet is clean, and driven by dark fruit, with chocolate and liquorice. There is some clever winemaking at play and this is well crafted. Although it seems to be driven by perfectly ripe, deeply-seated fruit, it is actually solidly backed by smooth, powdery tannins. Chocolate, liquorice, cherry flavours complete the package. It is ample-weight with a firm yet somehow soft consistency which makes it very approachable now but it should improve in the short term. Rated as Recommended with **** for value (list price) you would be off your head not to buy it at $18 and the rating may improve as well.

O'Leary Walker 2002 Reserve Shiraz sold out long ago but David had a bottle under the counter to show selected people what he was capable of producing. A few years ago, when I first went to the winery and David told me that a Reserve that was going to sell for about $80, I shook my head and said "another new winery with no track record trying to flog an $80 (overpriced) wine just because it has a Reserve label on it." Then I tasted the sample and immediately asked when it was going to be released, so I could get my order in straight away.

The wine is sealed under Stelvin and as a result is incredibly youthful. Smoky oak, with pristine fruit, musk and violets; this is a strikingly profound bouquet that started to jump out of the glass as it opened up. A muscular-weight wine it is well backed by fine, dusty tannins that manages to present a beautiful mouth feel; the structure is solid, layered, tight and the complexity both sophisticated and already harmonious. Black cherry, liquorice, a little pepper, aniseed, and chocolate flavours finish with championship persistence. Sensational already and with “wow factor” almost guaranteed, it’s rated as Excellent, but that rating is bound to improve as the wine matures. I wouldn’t think of opening one until 2012.

From their least expensive, exceptional value wines to their flagship, these two well-seasoned winemakers know what they doing, and are doing it exceedingly well. The good news is that there will be a 2004 Reserve released, and I can't wait to try that one.

Back to the Coonawarra stand to try a few that we didn't get a chance to try yesterday.

Katnook Estate 2003 Shiraz sells on the street for between $24 and $27. A clean, medium-weight, well-made wine with enough dusty, unobtrusive tannins to support a solid structure and an almost supple consistency; the palate is very savoury, showing blackcurrant, chocolate and vanilla flavours. A pretty good effort from a tough vintage, it is rated as Agreeable with ** for value, it's ready to drink now.

Katnook Estate 2001 Odyssey Cabernet Sauvignon sells for between $80 and $100 a bottle. The wine is feminine and a good balance is provided by the juicy-fruit and the tannins that tend to sneak up on you; it's a medium-weight with a supple consistency, a solid and elegant structure and a harmonious complexity. Red berry, cassis, chocolate, herbs and cigar box characters finished with excellent persistence for the wines weight. A quality wine and that is drinking well now, it is rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value.

Katnook Estate 2002 Prodigy Shiraz sells for between $80 and $100 a bottle. The bouquet is dominated by chocolaty oak so it is no surprise that are a lot of oak flavours on the palate too; chocolate, vanilla, blackcurrant and mint flavours have an agreeable level of complexity but the finish on the bottle we tried was a bit short. Ample-weight, the wine is well backed by pure fruit and dusty tannins; it's a very nice wine, but not up to the standard expected of the $100 price tag; rated as Highly Recommended with * for value, it should enter its peak drinking window around 2010.

Majella 2003 The Malleea will sell for about $70 when it is released in August. The bouquet showed dusty oak over leafy notes and subtle, sweet fruit. 2003 was a tough vintage and it shows in many of the wines, and to some extent this one is not exempt. The fruit is good quality, but it is currently well and truly buried by the abundant, dusty tannins. The structure shows some elegance, it's medium-weight but the consistency is firm, almost on the point of touching hard. Sweet on the uptake, it is off- sweet and savoury on the mid-palate, and finishes with a touch of green. This wine needs a serious amount of time for the tannins to soften and fall out, the fruit to surface and the wine to gain complexity. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value, it should enter its peak drinking window about 2012.

By this stage, we had pretty well completed tasting all the Coonawarra that were of interest so it was time to move on. On the previous days, we had passed the Houghton’s stand to see if they had their premiums available for tasting, which was something they had done over the past couple of Wine Australia events, but unfortunately, when we went past, they only had the basics on offer. Trade day was different and few of them were there.

Houghton 2003 Gladstone Cabernet Sauvignon has a recommended retail price of approximately $65. The bouquet was typically varietal; it was dusty, had sweet fruit and was leafy. Fine-grained, smooth tannins and unobtrusive acid combine with the pure fruit to form a respectable balance. Medium-weight with a supple consistency, the structure is solid and shows some elegance. Blackcurrant, green bean, and rich dark chocolate flavours are harmonious and finish with excellent persistence and power for its weight however it does have a mid-palate hole. A good result for a poor vintage, it’s rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value.

For quite some time I have been very critical about the value aspect (or more accurately the lack of value) for the top end wines in the Hardy's portfolio. These include the likes of Eileen, Jack Mann, Thomas, Gladstone, Classic Clare etc. In theory, when they were purchased by Constellation, with ready-made access to the lucrative US market and all the export opportunities that came with it, selling their top labels should not have been a problem. It looks like the US market is no more gullible than the Australian market. At the show, we were told that there were three-packs available of the Gladstone Cabernet which included the 2001, 2002 and 2003 vintage wines. In addition, the reason I didn't try the 2000 Jack Mann was because it was the same vintage I tried two years ago.

If you are not going to show your $50-$65 wine to the paying public at an event such as this, then when are you going to show them? Not showing them is very short-sighted, and this comment is even more poignant given the slow rate of sales of many of these wines. Will the marketing geniuses or bean-counters at Hardy’s that are responsible for this decision ever learn? The days of telling people, “Our wine is too special to taste; but buy it anyway because it’s great” are over. Most people who buy cases of premium wine want to taste it first; single bottle sales are a different story, but it’s much faster to sell out when selling six packs or dozens.

From there we moved back to Clayfield because Simon had told me that on trade day he would have another unreleased wine to taste.

Clayfield 2004 Pyrenees Blue Label Shiraz will sell for approximately $48 when it is released in November. The story behind how Simon obtained the fruit for this wine is an interesting one and involves two good mates helping each other out and looking after one another, without thinking about their own self interests first. The fruit came from a low yielding vineyard and only 90 dozen bottles have been produced. A well-crafted wine with unobtrusive acid; the deeply-seated fruit is currently buried by fine, dusty tannins that creep up and finish with excellent length and terrific persistence. A stylish, medium-bodied wine that is tight, solid, elegant and has layers of fruit; it will go well with food and the only thing it needs is time. Blackcurrant, liquorice, spicy with hints of clove and pepper; it is rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value and should heed its straps around 2011 and beyond.

Whilst the Blue Label was very good, I preferred the regular bottling from the Grampians.

Time to try another unknown, and as we headed past Wills Domain Vineyard (Margaret River) we were politely shanghaied; according to Halliday's tome, they were established in 2000 and have a little over 10 hectares of mixed vines.

Wills Domain 2004 Shiraz sells for $23 at cellar door. A soft, medium-weight, smooth, easy-drinking wine with unobtrusive tannins and acid; the complexity is harmonious but the palate is slightly reductive. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value, in today's tough environment as this comes across “as just another wine” they will have to do better if they are to survive in the long term.

Time for a quick spot of lunch because Brian had to depart early, so that he could drop off a boot load of wine at Langton's (and pick up a lesser amount), and then try to beat the traffic out of Sydney. I think they should rename the cafeteria in the Exhibition Hall, “The Oh Dear Eatery.” I ordered a warm half baguette with tandoori chicken. Humm…. if there wasn't a label on the food, I wouldn't have known what I was eating.

Straight after lunch, Brian took off and headed for home. I didn't want the “food” (sic) that I had eaten for lunch to conflict with the wine, so I headed back over to the Adelaide Hills stand for a good mouthwash of Sauvignon Blanc. It didn't matter which one, so I just went to the nearest vacant stand and asked for a sample. Well - it was like old home week; I finally met Honi Dolling, we had been exchanging e-mails with each other for years but have never met face-to-face. Honi is one of the owners of Chain of Ponds, so whilst I was there I tried one of their wines which I had tried prior to release, to see how it was progressing.

Chain of Ponds 2003 Nebbiolo sells for $23.50 at cellar door. Pure fruit is doing the talking but the wine is well backed by fine, powdery tannins and unobtrusive acid. It's intensely savoury and peppery with chocolate and mint and all sorts of other interesting nuances (charcuterie and spices) on the palate, and whilst it's a good food wine with a harmonious complexity and layered structure there is not a huge amount on the back palate. Rated as Recommended with **** for value.

As I plan to go to d'Arenberg later this year, there were only a few of their wines I wanted to try on this occasion.

d'Arenberg 2004 The Twentyeight Road Mourvedre sells for $35 at cellar door but can be found for about $28 if you are lucky. I loved the 2002 vintage of this wine, so I was looking forward to trying this one, (there was no 2003 made). Lifted aromatics, with floral musky notes, cold meats and cedar oak leads to a palate that is intensely spicy, with chocolate, meaty characters and redcurrant fruit flavours that finished with excellent intensity; the fruit is well supported by loads of dusty tannins that are linear across the palate. A full-bodied wine with a very firm consistency and solid structure, it finishes long and a tad too firm, but nevertheless it's a bloody nice wine. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value (based on the recommended price); I would rather have five of these than one Torbreck The Pict. It should enter its drinking window around 2012 and is on my “must get around to getting some” list.

d'Arenberg 2003 The Ironstone Pressings sells for about $50 on the street. The bouquet exudes smoky oak over dark fruit which leads to a palate profile that is completely black with tar, liquorice and blackcurrant. A full-bodied wine, and like all d'Arenberg's top end drops is well backed by loads of dusty tannins, and in this case, fresh acid. The complexity is well developed and whilst it is a good wine, others will prefer the flavour profile more than I do. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value.

d'Arenberg 2003 The Dead Arm Shiraz sells for between $50 and $70 on the street. I first tried this wine very hurriedly, just after bottling and prior to release and could not get a good feel for it at that time. The bouquet is still brooding and shows some lifted oak characters. A full-bodied firm wine with an agreeable complexity, it is well backed by abundant, drying, puckering tannins, fresh acid and deeply-seated fruit. Blackberry, liquorice, dark chocolate, and lots of mint/eucalyptus flavours complete the package. All the components are there, but it needs a load of time to come together. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, come back another look in 2013.

By this stage, I had tried almost everything that was on my mental list so with the little time I had left, it was time to do some exploring; the first was Knots Wines which is located in Heathcote. The wines are made by Lindsay Ross (who was at one stage Balgownie's senior winemaker) and his wife Noeline, from fruit sourced from "passionate growers".

Knots 2003 Lark’s Head Cabernet Merlot sells for $25 at cellar door but has a RRP of $28 and is made from fruit sourced in Bendigo. The bouquet shows smoky oak, spices and blue spectrum fruits. Loads of dusty tannins, balanced acid and obvious fruit combine to form a well-balanced, ample-weight wine with a supple consistency that is easy-drinking; it’s clean and may improve in the short term. The palate is intensely spicy showing chocolate and mint that finishes with reasonable intensity but all the flavour appears to be on the front of the palate. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, drink over the next five years.

Knots 2003 Sheepshank Shiraz sells for $25 at cellar door but has a RRP of $28 and is made from fruit sourced in Bendigo. When I first sniffed this wine, I was reasonably sure it was mildly corked. I asked the lady on the stand to check it and while she thought it was okay, she got hold of someone senior; who I presume was Noeline Ross and asked her to check the wine. Noeline insisted that it was sound, and when I reiterated that I thought it was mildly corked, and that I have a nose like a bloodhound when it comes to TCA; she stated that so did she, the wine was fine, and we would have to agreed to disagree; so this is what I found. The bouquet exhibited spices with a slight musty undertone. Fine, dusty tannins and pure fruit produce a medium-weight wine with an agreeable complexity that finished with nothing on the back palate. Flavours of spices, black cherry, aniseed and chocolate complete the package. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value.

Time for another unknown winery; this time Stefani Estate which is located in Heathcote but also make wines from the Yarra Valley; they own vineyards in both regions. The wines are made by Mario Marson who used to be at Mount Mary.

Stefani Estate 2004 The Gate is a Yarra Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot that sells for $30 at cellar door. (As a matter of interest, Shingleback also has a brand called The Gate, but it is a Shiraz.) The bouquet is sedate and shows touches of floral characters. The tannins are beautiful; although powdery they have a creamy texture and are well matched to the pure, juicy-fruit. A clean, well-balanced, well-made wine with a supple consistency and elegant structure; it is medium-weight and good quality. Blueberry, chocolate, a touch of aniseed, plum, and more chocolate; the flavours are layered with savoury elements on the top level which is supported by some sweetness below. Rated as Recommended with ** for value, the wine may improve in the short term but it is very drinkable now.

Stefani Estate 2002 Heathcote Shiraz sells for $29 at cellar door. The bouquet shows coffee, smoky oak and is earthy which leads to a palate of charred oak over good quality red and blue fruit flavours. The fruit is pure and is well backed by smooth tannins which produce a supple consistency and a harmonious structure. A solid, medium-weight wine that should become seamless in time, it should be good once the char is absorbed by the fruit. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, it should hit its straps about 2009 and beyond.

It was two o'clock and after two and a half days of tasting over a hundred wines, far too much good food (I am trying to forget the food that was served in the Exhibition Hall), a smashing time, and above all the great company of three very good friends, it was time to head for home.

I am already looking forward to the next one in two years time, but between now and then, hopefully there will be many Tour Diaries to look forward to as well. My delayed May trip has now been rescheduled for early September. Yippeee and until next time

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