The third wine in the Yelland & Papps Second Take range (after the Roussanne and Shiraz). Sees a fair use of whole bunch, 20% and a slightly extended period on skins of 14 days. Oak use is 17% new French and 83% 1-2 year old American.
Pristine fruit shines through here, red fruits primarily, but they do not have a monopoly. It's fresh, florals add an extra dimension and just when you think it's all soft, pretty fruit there's a licorice twist with a touch of peppered steak. Beautiful Grenache.
Spice on entry gives way to fruit; there's a good acidic framework, gives the wine a drive and velvety wash. Tannin is ultra-fine adding to that. Final word is from morello cherry meeting raspberry coulis on a generous length. A stayer. 92 - Very Good
Tasted on: Saturday 4th May, a Flower Day
Source: Sample
Price: $40
Alcohol: 14%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.yellandandpapps.com
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The story goes that in the 80's Murray Tyrrell persuaded the vineyard owner to pull out some Shiraz in the Belford vineyard, a variety that didn't fair so well in the sandy soils in a wet year. The trade-off was some plantings of Chardonnay from the renowned HVD vineyard.
So, 420 dozen made, sees no malolactic fermentation and a fair bit of new oak, mainly barriques. Opens with a hint of cashew, toasty and biscuity oak is fairly prominent too.
Fairly loose and open palate structure, toasty oak supports here and a bit of lively acid still shows. Oak presence is not obtrusive, and there's a balance between the oak, acid and fruit. Finishes toasty with melon and stonefruit, fairly classy - good quality components - nicely straddles a line between the Chardonnay of our past and the modern Australian way. 91 - Very Good
Tasted on: Saturday 18th May, a Leaf Day
Source: Gift
Price: $34 RRP
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.tyrrells.com.au/
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Opens beefy and meaty, a hint of sun baked earth and old leather. So far, so good.
Tastes tart, excessively so. Not good. Bottle meet sink, sink meet bottle. End of. Life's too short to drink this. Poor
Tasted on: Saturday 4th May, a Flower Day
Source: Retail, XO Cellars
Price: $25
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.telmorodriguez.com/
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The Yalumba Y series range represent extraordinary value. It's fair to say the reds from 2011 struggled a little. Still, I found this example to speak of its variety.
Opens with hints of plum, fruitcake and a touch of herb and tar. The palate lacks somewhat with spiky acidity an issue. There are hints of coffee and mocha, tannin a little stalky.
I was happily consuming this with a midweek dish of fresh pasta with a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce, the acid and tannin working well with the sauce. 85 - Average
Tasted on: Wednesday 1st May, a Fruit Day
Source: Sample
Price: $14.95
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://yalumba.com
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The name stems from the sedimentary rock containing iron, freshly cleaved it is grey in appearance, but oxidises with exposure, giving it a red-brown colour. You can see it in use as a building material at d'Arenberg.
Opens with a dense concoction of red and black fruit jam; the weight of fruit is a significant presence, pressing down - dense, dark and chocolately.
The palate shows a sweet mass of fruit co-mingled with some sensible oak; tannin is a little chewy and rubbery, a core component of the wine's structure. Segues nicely to a little warmth and black pepper; blueberry hints are noticeable too. A concentrated wine, generous, layered and long. 92 - Very Good
Tasted on: Saturday 27th April, a Flower Day
Source: Sample
Price: $70
Alcohol:14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.darenberg.com.au
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From a vineyard planted in 1975, the second oldest in the Coal River area. The Glenayr site contains a nice link for students of trade unions, collective bargaining, (and of course transportation), for the building that now serves as the administration office was the former home of George Loveless, the leader of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. It's not all tasting notes and shoehorning in obscure fruits here.
Honeyed, signs of a little toasty complexity developing; background hint of preserved lemon. Palate structure is open and embracing, abounds with a little bath salts, citrus and fleshy tropical fruit. Balance and restraint here.
The finish is quite modest, staying and persistent, yet the flavour profile on the finish is not as marked as displayed on the palate. 90 - Good
Tasted on: Saturday 27th April, a Flower Day
Source: Gift
Price: $20
Alcohol: 11.4%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.glenayrwines.com.au
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Tasted alongside it's 'Icon' stablemate that Blackbutt, and in many ways, as a drink, I preferred the more forward nature of this wine.
Cassis dominant, black fruit supporting; slight dusty character present here too, cedar and hints of coffee-oak. A little tarry with hints of dark chocolate in the mix too.
More of the same on the palate, cassis here with a slight hint of eucalypt and choc-mint character. Tannin is a little more obvious, a little coarser, touch more intrusive. Still, very drinkable now. 90 - Good
Tasted on: Sunday 14th April, a Fruit Day
Source: Sample
Price: $22
Alcohol: 14.1%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://alkoomiwines.com.au
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