d'Arenberg Coppermine Road Cab Sauv 2004 (McLaren Vale)

A little bit of a disappointment this one.
I'd opened it about 2 hours before dinner, so that we could take it in to Giardenetto's in the valley for our 6th anniversary.
Thought it might be a little bit special, but it didn't ring any bells for me.
Once it had opened up, it had a quite strong stewed fruit taste that whilst not unpleasant, was not what I had expected. There was a lot of earth to it and it did have an almost creamy finish, but the big fruity mouthfeel kinda left me wanting something else.

In fact it was later that I finished the Norman's basket pressed shiraz and it completely blew this away.
Granted that I do prefer shiraz and especially from the McLaren Vale region... but the Norman's had that 'it' factor.

I do have a few bottle of the Dead Arm Shiraz laying in wait, so I'm hoping that they redeem the good name of D'Arenberg.
At least in my untrained eyes.

Price: not sure, was a gift
Rating: 83 (sorry, but I wouldn't buy this again)

Normans Basket Pressed Shiraz Bin C163 2008 (Greenock Barossa Valley)

This wine was once again outstanding. Especially the second day... It has a flavour all of it's own and I find it to be 'intoxicating' :)
I only have one bottle left of this, so it's going into storage. If there are any more out there, please let me know, but at $10 a bottle I'm going to assume that it's all gone.

Bugger.

PS. Did a bit of searching and Normans Wines have this, unfortunately it's $22.95 a bottle.
I am still tempted though as it's worth every cent. (all 2295 of them)

Price: $10 Get Wines Direct (if you were lucky)
Rating: 95

Cleanskin - Marananga Greenock Single Vineyard 100 Year Old Vines GSM 2005

This wine was a mouthful to type up and I have no idea if this clean skin is as good as GWD says (They have given a lot of ratings from a lot of wine nobs, so unless this wine is a big name brand then they may be full of it)
A $21 clean skin that my own research that pointed me toward being a Colonial Estate 'John Speke' GSM which is worth over $50 (up to $70) a bottle... so it is meant to be good, if you follow pricing as a guide to taste.

It's a nice wine. I left it for at least an hour to breathe and it opened up nicely. Very smooth with a big Jammy raspberry with sweet cherry and black current as well. It was not a big wine but it has a really nice subtle french ok to it, but not overpowering at all.
It has a predominantly Grenache leaning, but that just makes it different to what i normally drink. So that is a good thing.

I'm not entirely sure about paying $21 again. I did really enjoy the wine, but I have enjoyed others more for half the price... I bought 4 of them, so maybe I will reevaluate after the next bottle.

Rating: 88
Price: $21 (Get Wines Direct)

Gotham Langhorne Creek / McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004

Just for something different and to celebrate the umpteenth day of rain, I decided to crack open an old favourite.
I am lucky to still have a few bottles left of this and I remember how unique it was (especially when left to breath for a long time)
So that's what I did and Wow!! This wine was so good.
Smooth and full, there was a definite honey-like aroma and taste, but definitely not over the top.
It has developed over the last year or two since I bought them and this has inspired me to leave the rest alone for another few years.
Sorry that I can't provide better tasting notes, but I was in no state to be typing last night and there was not more than a whiff left in the decanter. Suffice to say that both Jean and I were more than impressed with how smooth and distinctive this wine had become.

Gotham wines would have to be Australia's best niche reds. I was lucky to stumble across this one (because of the label) and have enjoyed every vintage since.

Price - Not available anymore, but was under $10 at auction a few years back.
Rating - 90 (I would get this again in an instant if I could)

Tyrrell's Wines Rufus Stone Shiraz 2007 (Heathcote)

Mmmm.. this wine was a pressie and a welcome one at that.
I love Heathcote Shiraz and this was no disappointment. Really smooth and almost buttery.
Definitely a cut above some of the shiraz I have had lately and a wonderful accompaniment to the Lamb Madrasi I had from Sultans Kitchen at Clayfield. (normally I would be cooking the curry, but Sultans does this one particularly well... and it rained like something from the Old Testament today, so curry and a good red was just what the Doctor ordered.

Ahem. I digress...

Find this wine. I assume Tyrrells is available anywhere. It has a strong and tasty berry palate. Easy to drink, but not like lolly water. A hint of chocolate???
Nice french oak but not over powering - quite restrained alongside the rich berries.
I would love to get more of this and will suss it out once i finish this spiel.
Not imagining it's under $20. Let me know your thoughts if you have any...

Price: a gift (will take a look online later) (investigations show that it is indeed under $20... it's definitely a winner then)

NB. My investigations show that this wine sells for $14.99 at most online retailers, yet Get Wines Direct are stating that it's $24.95... shop around.

Rating: 92 (will get some more for sure!!)

Cedar Creek Estate Revelation Red 2009 (Granite Belt)

This may seem like I have crossed over to the Light side... but I really enjoy this wine.
So do many others that visit the Cedar Creek Estate Cellar door. The Revelation Red is a huge seller in the cellar (no, it's not really meant to be funny)
So, yes, the wine... well it's definitely a summer wine. Cab Sav and Muscat. Very easy to drink and only 9.5% Alcohol.
Very sweet and jammy, but extremely smooth on the palate. It's almost a 'fun' wine. (I can't believe I said that)
Let's just say that it went perfectly with the Chicken Saag I cooked today. mmm...

Better than most of the summer wines I have tried (moscato etc) but since it's really only available at the cellar door, it's not comparable price wise.
Unfortunately.
However, if you do find yourself at Tamborine mountain, then grab a bottle or two and head down into the Glow Worm caves.
They are pretty amazing.

Now I don't have a picture to go with this review, since I can't get a decent shot on the iPhone but when i do, I'll whack it on here. Apologies to those that need to see a label. (Umm.. I have obviously remedied my laziness and a photo appears)

Another extremely drinkable QLD summer wine. We seem to do summer quite well up here.
Give it a try and let me know what you think. I would love to buy more but the $18 price tag is a little prohibitive.

I realise that my tastes have run to the sweet of late, but the weather dictates it.

Rating 88
Price $18 at the Cellar Door

Cleanskin - Barossa Greenock Basket Pressed Shiraz 2008

Fark.
Sorry bout the simulated profanity, but I just tried to order another dozen of this wine, only to find that it has sold out.
Shit shit shit.

Easily the best cleanskin I have ever tasted and I should have bought more last week, but I made a stupid new years resolution to only buy once a month. I thought I'd wait, but after trying this tonight I was going to make this my monthly purchase.
It's THAT good.

Thanks to Stephen and Chris I had tried the Norman's Basket Pressed Shiraz and loved it. Only to find it had sold out when i wanted more. So I swooped on this cleanskin from the same region and was not disappointed.

A pleasant nose and mouth full of Strawberry Jam (in my opinion) (in fact it is very much a strawberry jam flavour... despite the tasting notes)
There is a generous amount of wood too. Plus plum.
On the whole it's brilliant for the price.
Damn my stupid resolution. This is worth more.

Rating: 9.3 (would have bought 2 dozen if i could)
Price $10 a bottle (Get Wines Direct)

Ratings System at The Red Pool for 2010

Basically I am going to make things easy on myself and just give a rating of whole numbers.

(with decimals, but they are not as important they will just help me remember just how special it was within that rating)

A rating of 9 will mean that I finished the bottle and either went straight to the computer and ordered more of the same, or straight to the cellar and opened one.

A rating of 8 will be given if it was a damn nice wine, but didn't leave me wanting more immediately.

A rating of 7 would mean that I liked it, but didn't really care either way

A rating of 6 would mean that I didn't really like it but was happy to drink it for the price.

A rating of 5 would mean I just didn't like it and would remember to stay away from that name in future.

Anything less than that would mean that I have probably tasted better wine coming back up toward the porcelain :)

So these rating will be used from the last few posts onwards and may mean nothing to anyone reading, but will help me know what I really thought of a wine, rather than just slap a number from 1 - 100 on it.

If you are reading this, then Cheers !!