Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 (Coonawarra)

Took a bottle to our local Indian Restaurant as I know it's a light but tasty wine. Not disappointed at all, but it fell short of my previous impressions (as my palate grows and I am exposed to increasingly better wines I am finding that some old favourites do not stack as well as previously indicated)

It's definitely not a bad wine, but as you will see from the next review of the Dorrien Growers 2005 Shiraz, it didn't stand a chance of looking good tonight.

Drinkability 89

Price $15 (roughly)

Value 90

Black Wattle Shiraz 2005 (Coonawarra/Padthaway)

Got home tonight and felt like something a little special, but not on the expensive side.

So I immediately thought of the Black Wattle Shiraz.

I still have about 8 bottles left and I felt like this. Very earthy, but with definite berry character. It's rich and smoky, but not overpowering. Long finish and quite nice tannins. Overall, this is a nice wine.

Wine of the Year for Cellarmasters, meh... i don't know how they pick them, but it's good and that's all that counts. Certainly not as good as the Dorrien Growers, but deinitely as good as anything else they have... except maybe the Vaserelli Shiraz.

Anyway, a nice drop.

Drinkability 91

Value 92

Price $13 (on special Cellarmasters)

Cleanskin - Barossa Premium Old Vines Shiraz 2005

A nice surprise tonight with the opening of this particular cleanskin. It opened up nicely after half an hour and had a brilliant rasberry flavour that was quite appealing.

Not a particularly striking wine, but quite drinkable and the rasberries made it very enjoyable.

Drinkability 89
Value 93
Price $9.95 (Get Wines Direct)

Grant Burge Nebuchadnezzar Shiraz Cabernet 2003 (Barossa)

Got this as a special 6 pack with two other really cool named wines from Grant Burge (Balthazaar and the Holy Trinity) at a fairly good price and thought I should give them a chance... Grant Burge has a good name and these wines are 'Wines of Distinction' according to the website for Grant Burge.

It's a dry wine, not overly so, but enough to notice it above all else at first. Though I must admit that given a little more time the acidity dropped away and this wine became a nice lucious smoky rasberry, still dry, but a lot softer on the palate. On the nose it has a definite warm smokiness and really does have a great appeal.

A great mouthfeel and long finish.

It's about a half hour breathing before the real quality shows itself but when it does it has a taste of it's own (or at least one I haven't had before.

I'm not sure what this would cost outside of the deal I got from Cellarmasters, but it's worth a look. I am going to rate this higher than the 'Experts' like Mr Halliday who gave it a 90.

Drinkability 91
Value 90
Price $35 (apparently. though I got it in a six pack with two others for $130)

Wynn's Coonawarra Cab Sav Merlot 2005

Following on from the Chalk Hill tonight was this old favourite. This wine never lets me down. Tonight, allowed to breathe for about two hours in the bottle (under the air conditioner) it was strong and showed all of the power of a quality wine.

Vanilla coming to the fore (as usual) and a good blend of oak and fruit (though more oak should be noted)

I have to say it again, that for a sub $20 wine, this is a fantastic buy.

Thanks to Kev for introducing me to this and thanks to BWS for continually putting it on special at $13 a bottle.

Drinkability 91

Value 96

Price $13 (BWS)

Chalk Hill Shiraz 2003 (McLarenvale)

Not a bad drop at all. This was stored in my 'non-climate-controlled' fridge and I knew this wouldn't need a long time to breathe. Uncorked it and set off to our local Italian restaurant 'Cortina' and this wine served us well.

Very smooth and quite vanillan it went down a treat. Not so sure it would last a long time and from experience, I knew that this wine tastes best when first opened.

After a small amount of time it does tend to lose it's charm. However, in a group of four it would be a lovely drop.

Drinkability 89

Value 94

Price $9.95 Get Wines Direct (When Available)

Vasarelli Pallino McLarenvale Cab Sav Shiraz 2004

What's in a label? I don't know, but the fact you get a leather tie with two wooden balls appealed to me. This wine was reduced for me from $50 a bottle to $30 a bottle and I have waited til now to try it.

A Cellarmaster's label, but don't let that put you off. The Vasarelli's are well respected and deservedly so.

This is meant to be an icon wine and it is very good. Very oaky at first, but there is a nice berry fruit feel on the finish. It's a dry wine, but quite pleasing.

I wasn't as sold on it as I had expected to be, but that's wine. It's a matter of timing and taste.

I had tried the 2005 Pallino at the Cellarmaster's Barrel Tasting and that was better.

There are 5 more bottles in the cellar and I think that they will be there a long time yet. This should drink well until 2013, so there is plenty of time yet.

Drinkability 92

Value 86

Price $30 per bottle (Cellarmasters Wine Club)

Gotham Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Well, this wine came as a surprise and a good one at that. We had enjoyed the Gotham Shiraz for what it was worth and this Cab Sav came recommended (albeit by Get Wines Direct)

We let this wine sit in the bottle for an hour or so and it had opened up nicely. A good vanilla oak nose and a real sweet rasberry palate and a hint of mint. Fairly smooth with firm but fine tannins made this wine as good as any Cab Sav in recent memory.

I think this wine will last a few more years yet and develop into a real winner. Apparently it's an ex - Wynns winemaker at the helm and he has done a great job.

I'm going to order another half dozen right now. It is that good..

Drinkability: 89

Value: 96

Price: $9.95 (Get Wines Direct)