Capel Vale "Howecoft' Merlot 1998 (Margaret River)

Damn.

This wine is magnificent. Showing all the class of the Margaret River and the benefits of a bit of age.

Had this bottle with my good friend Ben over in Perth. He was saving this for a special occasion and I'm so glad that he did. It's been a while since I've seen him and he was my tour guide on my recent pilgrimage to the Margaret River. But I'll talk about that later...

Unfortunately we didn't make it to the Capel Vale winery, but while I was over there we drank only wines from the region. That wasn't difficult.  :)

This merlot was quite simply brilliant. It reeked class in a way that I didn't expect from a merlot. I don't mean to sound wanky about Merlot, but it's never really my favourite style.

This had an almost honey and citrus nose, with a very smooth and almost smoky rich mouthfeel.

I'm going to have to try and find more of this. For special occasions.

Rating: 9.6

Price:   not sure yet, but will find out.

Heritage Estate Reserve Chardonnay 2007 (Granite Belt)

My goodness.

This wine has gained a lot of attention following it's win in the blind tasting 'WineState Magazine Wine of the Year' 2008.

For a Queensland wine (and a white at that) to win this is a HUGE surprise. But a great one. 

Lucky for the winery, since they put the price up from about $20 to $55 to cash in. Now you can only buy 2 bottles of it.

But that's ok, they deserve their day in the sun. On to the wine...

Good friends A and N brought round the bottle and we were all quite excited. We drank a couple of other whites first, but this one just blew them all away. It was simply brilliant. 

Beautiful balance of oak and fruit. Quite complex and very easy to drink. Unfortunately I couldn't tell you what flavours came up, since we ended up drinking 7 bottles between the 3 of us that were drinking :)

But the feeling that what we were consuming was somehow 'magical' was quite overwhelming.

Yes, it's a white wine and yes, it was good. Damn good. I ordered another two bottles at $55 straightaway and hope to somehow get another few. 

This is the second wine from Heritage that I have liked, so it's looking good for the rest of the Granite Belt into the future. Go Queensland  :)

Price $55

Rating   9.8/10  ( yes. )

Ballandean Estate Wines Sylvaner 2005 (Granite Belt)

An Historic posting for my wine blog... my very first white wine. (So you know this has to be special)

After spending an awesome day at the Brisbane Good Food and Wine Show I am amazed that I didn't fall asleep on the train on the way home and end up in Caboolture... So glad I went.

Which is where I discovered this little beauty of a dessert wine from Queensland's own Ballandean Estate.

Now if you have read anything on this blog before you know that I am partial to my big reds. That hasn't changed, but since our trip to the Yarra Valley, I have learnt to like a few whites.

This is one of them. Definitely sweet and quite marmaladey in the mouth, this wine is still crisp and doesn't have an overly syrupy feel. It is very easy to drink and I am wishing I still had some cheese left as I finish off this bottle.

I have to say that I was impressed with the full range of Ballandean Whites, in particular the SSB and the Chardonnay. I'm so glad to see that our Queensland wineries can mix it with the southern states and I look forward to trying a lot more whites during the summer months.

Rating: 8.8/10 (hey, it's still a white wine) :)

Price: about $16 for the 375ml bottle from the cellar door at Ballandean Estate.

Grant Burge Echidna Crossing CabSav Shiraz Barossa 2006

Time for me to get back in the saddle and write up a few of these great little quaffers that I have been indulging in over the last few months of University Poordom.

One of the better ones that I have been stocking up on is the Grant Burge 'Echidna Crossing' ... WTF?? Stupid Name, good wine.

I'm finishing off a bottle now and am really impressed with this wine.

Can't really give it more than a reasonable rating, since i drank a bottle of the Tapestry 'The Vincent' last night and it reminded me just what a quality wine tasted like. (thank god I have a cellar)

This Grant Burge wine is a cab/shiraz and definitely easy to drink. Fruity with a long full finish.

Rating: 8.2 and that's good as far as i'm concerned for the price.

Price $5-10 per bottle (grays online)

(please note: I couldn't be f&%ked with any fancy ratings anymore... out of 10 is good enough)

News - October 2008

It's been a while since I have posted, mainly due to the fact that I have been drinking pretty much the same quaffers all winter... being a full time Uni student has made me cut back on drinking the 'good' wines lately, but it also means they all get a lot more cellar time, so that's one positive.

For those interested, my staple quaffers have been:

* Sandalford 'Elements' Cab Sav 2005 (WA) - Grays Online $8 a bottle approx.
* Gotham 'Langhorne Creak/McLaren Vale Shiraz' 2006 (SA) - Get Wines Direct $10 a bottle.
* Grant Burge 'Echidnas Crossing Shiraz' 2006 (SA) - Grays Online $7/8 a bottle approx.

and a few more in that sort of range.

All of these wines are great value and if you can get them for $6-$9 a bottle, it's well worth it.

In other news, I have just got back from Melbourne and a great little tour of the Yarra Valley. Will write that up seperately soon. It was well worth it.

Also took part in a Tasting for the Bendigo wine region that was held at Federation Square last week. Some very nice wines on show and I may mention a few of those when i find my tasting notes...

We also found an excellent 'All you can Eat' curry house for $10 per person, just after we did the tasting.
Bloody good curry. Bloody good price.

Brokenwood Red Dirt Regional Blend 2003

Something I bought on a whim from Grays Online at about $6 a bottle.
Best whim I have had in a long time of having whims... I took a punt on the blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Pinot Noir being OK and it really comes up well.

Smooth on the finish with a good amount of oak vs. fruit. (Quite a nice chocolatey/Vanilla feel, which as you may know... I love!!)
You can taste the Pinot, but it's really a good full blend of all three varieties that make this a unique drop. Tart but not acidic.

I'm really impressed with this and glad I bought the full dozen when I had the chance. Am happy to hear from anyone else that has tried it to get their impressions...

Drinkability 90
Value 95
Price $6 per bottle plus postage (Grays Online)

Vasarelli Vineyards Family Reserve Shiraz 2005 (McLarenvale)

First off.. this is not the proper label, but we left the bottle at the restaurant. (Sultan's Kitchen Clayfield - Brilliant Indian!!!)

This wine is marketed as ready to drink, but it still needed an hour or so in the decanter to really show it's love. A beautiful blend of French and American oak has given this wine a great chocolaty nose. Well I see it as chocolate, it's smoky without being dry.

In the mouth it's velvety and full flavoured. Not dry at all, but a nice rich fruity taste, which combined with the oak makes for a very pleasant drop.

I am a fan of the Vasarelli line of Shiraz and am hoping that Cellarmasters still have a case of the 2006 there. I'm still not sure as to how the wines rank, but this 'Family Reserve' seems to be quite good, especially if it is at the lower end of their quality ladder.

The Vasarelli super premiums are great, but for me, these low end drops are worth looking at more often. Not sure what these would be worth now, but at <$20 they are brilliant value.

Drinkability 91

Value 91

Price <$20 Cellarmasters wine club

Gotham McLarenvale Shiraz 2007

Holy Sh*t Batman. This wine straight out of Gotham has just blown away anything in it's way!!

Now I'm a cynical person by nature, so if Get Wines Direct tell me something is the BEST WINE EVER, then I pretty much think that they could be trying to sell you a dud. But in this case... they were right.

In the under $10 price range there is nothing that comes close and to be honest, this wine is better than wines up to at least $25....

This Shiraz has the Gotham cigar box chocolate that I love so dearly, but it also has the ripest rasberry and smoothest finish. It is all class.

As soon as I had finished the first glass I ordered another dozen. My wife concurs and although she is one that ' likes what they like' she too was blown away by this wine. In fact I may even order another dozen by the time I finish this bottle.

$9.95 is as good as it gets and I hope that if you are reading this you get the opportunity to pick up some. Of course, this is a personal taste thing... I happen to adore the McLarenvale shiraz and this 2007 is simply wonderful.

Ok that's enough. Try it for your self...

Price $9.95 (Get Wines Direct)

Drinkability 91/92

Value 98