In the Run-Up to Easter, cheap wines are as scarce as cheap petrol.
Dan Murphy has Lanson Champagne on special - $37 for the black label and $50 for the 2002 vintage brut (the one champagne ace Stelzer raves about). If you’re looking for something more modest to drink with your Easter eggs, Hardy’s OOMOO Shiraz 2010 is an online special at $10. There a couple of sub-$10 Kiwi SBs on offer as well (not ones I can recommend, sadly) http://danmurphys.com.au/dm/home.jsp
Vintage Cellars offers Cloudy Bay SB at $60 for two, hardly worth sobering up for, plus Vasse Felix Classic Dry White for $12 (online only). This is a pretty ordinary drop, despite the name on the label. https://www.vintagecellars.com.au/vce2e/Pages/default.aspx
1st Choice isn’t doing much either. The best deal there is the Long Flat Destinations Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 for $9 in a mixed half dozen. This is a typical, well-made Coonawarra red from a good year, 4 years old and mellowing. Not flashy but everyday red drinking doesn’t get any better.
Now to a few wines we’ve tasted recently.
BUY
Montes Classic Chardonnay 2011 - $8.50 at Dan M’s
A decent Chardonnay under $10? In the immortal words of John McEnroe: ‘You cannot be serious.' I’m the umpire here, and I’m deadly serious: this wine from Chile gives Chardonnays twice its price a run for their money. This is not a cheap fruity or lemony number but a savoury, complex Chardonnay with a hint of nuts, a touch of oak, good depth of flavour and good length.
Printhie Chardonnay 2010 - $14 at Kemenys
This is an $20 wine Kemenys is selling for $13.75. There’s a touch of apricot and peach on the nose, more apricot on the palate, quite intense really until the finish loosens things up. Orange tends to add interesting nuances to our wines and, for the money, this is worth the trip. It’s a little different, but has good depth, length and balance. Might even improve with another year or two.
Pewsey Vale Riesling 2011 - $12-13 at various places at various times
This vintage of Pewsey Vale departs from the norm of lime juice fruit balanced on a long, fine acid knife edge. The 2011 is much softer all round, a water colour compared to the usual oil painting. 12.5% alcohol, and depth of flavour is good. So is length but the fruit is already quite open and the finish is soft enough to think in terms of 2 - 4 years to maturity rather than 10-15. It’s great to drink now with roast chicken and similar things. This has been around for $12-13 off and on, which makes it great value.
Smith and Hooper Cab Merlot 2008 – $14.50 at 1st Choice
This is one of those lovely, gentle, harmonious wines the Limestone Coast just north of Coonawarra does so well. Like most Aussie Cabernet Merlots, it’s more about soft seduction than serious substance, but it’s well done and has length and good balance. It’s also terrific value for money, and it’s ready to enjoy over the next year or two.
Kemenys Hidden Label Coonawarra Merlot 2010 - $15
Same tall bottle as the Leconfield Merlot but not the same wine. More developed colour, dense red rather than purple, the nose suggests restrained mulberry fruit - no stewed plums for a change. Interesting layers of flavour here, already developed with savoury touches in the Italian spectrum. Elegant, medium bodied, excellent length. 14%. Reminded me of Pomerol, not of Petrus but of more modest examples. Good food wine with light red meat dishes, or Italian. Drink over the next year or two.
HOLD
Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2011
I bought some of this for close to $10 before Christmas and, while it has pulled itself together a little in the last few months, it’s a typical fruit concoction in the style I railed against in my piece ‘The Marlborough Men and the death of Sauvignon Blanc’ http://briard.typepad.com/get_the_picture/2012/03/marlborough-men-and-the-death-of-sauvignon-blanc-.html . If you like the style, and you can find the wine discounted down to $10, it’s a fair deal - otherwise I’d go with the Clifford Bay savvy at $13 (in my top 25).
Stoneleigh SB 2011
This is a little better than the Oyster Bay but only by degrees – it’s mostly in the tropical fruit spectrum with only faint hints of grass or gooseberry. It was still a bit uneven when last tasted but it's improving - even these concoctions improve with a year or so in bottle. Same comments apply as above.
Kemenys Hidden Label Margaret River Semillion Sauvignon Blanc 2010 - $12
Fruit salad and herbs with a touch of gooseberry. This is a strange mix, not exactly a well-focussed SSB but not unpleasant as a drink while you’re working in the kitchen. There are some good wines hiding under K’s white labels but this one falls a bit short.
Kalleske Clarry’s 2010 - $16 at My Cellars or 1st Choice or MyCellars
Barossa Valley, 50-year-old vines. Shiraz, Grenache, Mourvèdre. Impenetrable deep red but warm, open nose promising sweet fruit and spice. There’s lots of both, courtesy of the Grenache, but I expected more depth of flavour on mid-palate. Seems like the other two partners are letting the show down, and the batting order starts to fall apart too soon as it leads to an exit that is too swift to linger. It’s a pleasant soft red, and it did improve with a couple of days in the bottle, but I expected more form the Kalleske boys.
Paxton AAA McLaren Vale Shiraz Grenache 2010 - $17 at MyCellars
‘... this is where modern McLaren Vale should be,’ says JH, ‘gloriously fresh and inviting, with controlled alcohol and subtle oak. The varieties are so seamlessly joined all you register is a cascade of red berry fruits and fine-grained tannins. Outstanding value.’ I don’t agree but I don’t like McLaren Vale reds much. This one also has that slightly hard, blunt edge to the fruit that puts me off, but the wine is more polished and more elegant than usual for this area. Good length as well.
DON’T BUY
Robinson Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2011 – often discounted to $10 at VC
The 2010 was drinkable but this one struggles to make that small leap. Not easily recognisable as a Sauvignon Blanc. Marlborough lollywater plain and simple.
Domaine Chandon Chardonnay 2010 - $19 at Winestar
This one is a letdown, at twice the price of the Montes. Too much oak for the elegant Yarra Valley fruit and 12.5% alcohol. There’s a delicate Chardonnay trying to get out here, but it may never get the chance. Yes, the oak is of good quality – there’s just too much of it. Bert Werden at Winestar named this his best white of 2011, that’s why I bought some. Bert, what were you smoking?
Guigal Cote-du-Rhone 2007 - $19 at Dan M’s
Frankly I expected more after reading Parker’s rave review – the best Guigal CDR ever, from a great year, 90 points etc. My notes say: past its best already, losing energy, flattening out on the palate, lacking concentration. There’s a touch of earthy character but not enough flavour concentration. Not sure where the wine’s been but it’s not going anywhere from here. I’ve had better Guigals – this might’ve been better a couple of years ago.
Question: What do we do with the wines we don't like?
We use them in classic dishes like coq-au-vin or Boeuf Bourgignon, but that only accounts for some of the leftovers. Sometimes I blend two wines together for fun, and I did I did this with the Clarry's and the Paxton (both are Shiraz/Grenache blends). The Clarry was short but soft, the Paxton was long but blunt, so the blend struck a much better balance.
:-)
Happy Easter
Kim
Comments