The Vinsomniac - Stuart Robinson

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Monday, 16 January 2012

Terra Felix Mourvédre 2006

  21:23    

$15 people, yes you read right - $15.  Mataro is not the cheapest variety on the shelves of your finest independent boozeatoriums, normally starting at around the $30 mark for anything of decent chop.  So to find this, well let's just say I was as happy as a P.I.G. in...

Cherry, damp wood and earthen notes.  A modicum of plum, and with some time in glass soft berry aromatics show themselves.  Good to see a touch of fruit still being thrown at 5-6 years of age.  

Medium bodied, a little short moving to the finish; drying tannins - a touch grainy.  A little ripe one suspects, a burning, focusing heat to the back of the throat (remember the price).  A drying wine.  What it lacks in finesse, or rather in Mataro's case - as I see it in good examples - refined depth.  Not quite sure where it hails from, I've opted for the Goulbourn Valley as that's where Mitchelton (where the wine's made) are based.

Don't get me wrong, this wine is very drinkable.  It disappeared in the one session around our way - and as always this is the ultimate accolade that can be paid to a wine.  Average-Good/ 87-88

Source: Retail
Price: $15
Alcohol:14.4%
Closure: Screwcap

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Sunday, 15 January 2012

O'Leary Walker Watervale Riesling 2011

  13:06    

Still yet to taste a dud from the 2011 Vintage.  I can only salute the winemakers so hellbent on quality that they've refused to release them.

To the wine in question: beautiful delicate citrus aromatics: there's hints of lemon sherbet, lemon meringue, lemon cream puff - sold and I haven't even tasted it as yet.  The palate shows more lemon, pithy as an introduction to the wine's mineral laden edge.  There's good palate weight and texture.  It's clean, fresh and the lemon is further supported by a faint nod to some kaffir lime.

On the finish, there's generous length - the fruit pristine - a vein of citrus courses through the wine to it's conclusion.  Wavered between 92/93, opting for the higher as the wine held itself over a few days, providing an indication as to cellaring potential. Very Good - 93

Source: Sample
Price: $20
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap

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Teusner Joshua GMS 2010

  12:56    

Interesting wine in that it sees no oak, well certainly nothing new, thus allowing the wine to be an expression of its fruit and constituent parts.

Suggest that there's a significant portion of whole berry on this wine, a further nod to its Southern Rhone origins.  Requisite raspbery and red fruit elements form the Grenache (58%) with the Mataro (32%) offering some depth and intrigue.  Tobacco leaf, more earth and a bit of meatiness; juice and pepper.

Overall there's a good flow of fruit with a light frame of tannin as you might expect from a Grenache dominant wine.  Balanced and as you'd expect from Kym Teusner, very well made.  Very Good - 92

Source: Retail
Price: $27
Alcohol:14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.teusner.com.au/

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Vollì Romandiola Vino Spumante Extra Dry

  12:45    

This wine was being shown by a rather attractive young lady at the Brisbane Good Food & Wine Show in November, and gifted to me by Kane of Landhaus wines at the end of the show.  They were effectively using the GFWS as a means of generating interest in their wines with a view to get them imported.

On the nose hints of sherbert lemon and grapefruit; an element of bread too with some with weight shown on the palate.  Extra dry it is indeed, with a generous whack of acid at the back end.

Simple, pleasant and refreshing.  Good - 89

Source: Gift
Price: Unknown, but about $15 ish I'd hazard
Alcohol:11%
Closure: Cork
Website:http://www.romandiola.net/

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Friday, 6 January 2012

Kaesler Alte Reben Mataro 2008

  13:37    

Alte Reben is German for Old Vine and this Mataro is sourced from the Kaesler Estate off of vines planted in the 1930s - I admire that sense of optimism at a time of the Great Depression.

This is the first straight Mataro that Kaesler has produced.  Their Mataro is normally reserved for the Avignon GSM.  However in 2008 it looked so good that a parcel was kept separately in one year old French oak for fifteen months.

The resultant wine bears the hallmarks of good old vine Mataro: damp earth, coffee grounds, cherry liquer and some chocolate-hazelnut oak.

In the mouth, it's a rather thick, dense, unctuous wine.  A sleek, glycerol mouth-feel with blackcurrant and dried fruit notes before a smooth wave carries through to a finish laden with licorice, black fruits and generous spice.  This needs to be served at the correct temperature, else that big 16% alcohol does assault the senses somewhat.  92 - Very Good

Source: A birthday gift from some most wonderful friends.
Price: $85
Alcohol:16%
Closure: Cork

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Nepenthe Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir

  07:43    

Really enjoyed this offering for what it offered at its price point - damn good Pinot character at an excellent introductory price.

Good cherry, gummy red fruit aromatics ahead of a soft, generous medium body.  Some good light tannin to carry through a fairly generous length.  

Balance - very good introductory wine - plenty of flavour, if a little simple.  Don't seek complexity, seek it out for enjoyment.  89 - Good




Source: Sample
Price: $20
Alcohol:14%
Closure: Screwcap

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La Vieille Ferme Cotes de Ventoux 2010

  07:30    

A Sam Smith import.  Good pink hue.  Floral notes with a hint of tangerine.  Boiled sweet, cherry; hint of cinnamon on the finish.  Nice and dry, generous length and good balance. Blend of Cinsault 50%, Grenache 40%, Syrah 10%. 88 - Good

Source: Gift
Price: $?
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.samsmith.com/

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