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Aussie Reds Aussie Whites New Zealand Reds New Zealand Whites Australian Reds Chocolate Box Dark Chocolate Shiraz, Barossa Valley, 2009 ($17.75) - Wine Enthusiast: Editor's Choice, Cellar Selection, and 90 points "Lush and appealing, this is one of the more appropriately named of the Chocolate Box wines. Slightly jammy raspberry fruit is coated in chocolate; even the tannins come across as softly dusty, even vaguely cocoa-like. Drink over the next year or two." Try it with chocolate on Valentine's Day (or any other day). Bleasdale Shiraz "Bremerview," Langhorne Creek, 2008 ($17.99) - This fine Australian wine hasn't been reviewed yet, but the Wine Advocate review of the 2007 is apt here: 90 "$20 The purple-colored 2007 Bremerview was aged in oak for 12 months. The nose exhibits spice box, cedar, game, blueberry, and a hint of mint. Layered, savory, intense, and well-balanced, this lengthy effort will be fun to drink through 2013. It is a super value in Shiraz." Yangarra Shiraz, McLaren Vale, 2005 ($19.99) and Yangarra Cadenzia GSM, McLaren Vale, 2004 ($26.99) - Australia offers some amazing values like these. Both spent 18 months in French oak. The Shiraz tastes like a more expensive wine with its rich, generous, and spicy fruit. The Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre blend (50%, 40%, and 10% respectively) is soft, slightly oaky, complex, voluptuous, and beautifully textured. And the Wine Spectator listed it in their top 100 wines of 2006. Bleasdale Frank Potts Proprietary Red, 2004 ($24.99) - What a delicious, full-flavored, and nicely balanced Australian wine! Robert Parker: 90 “The 2004 Frank Potts is a blend of 67% Cab Sauvignon, 18% Malbec, and 15% Petit Verdot. This cuvee spent 18 months in French and American wood, which is evident in the noticeable wood component. Nevertheless, it is an outstanding effort displaying notions of soy, vanillin, black currants, mint, and blackberries in its rich, full-bodied, tannic personality. It should last 10-12 years at a minimum. Drink 2006-18.” Craneford Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley, 2002 ($27.99) - Australian wineries are known for Shiraz, but they also make some exceptionally good Cabernets. Parker: 91 “Run by Don Zilm, this impressive winery fashions textbook Barossa cuvées, meaning power, thickness, and intensity as well as surprising balance. Prices are shockingly low for such quality. The 2002 Cabernet reveals the vintage’s opaque purple color along with glorious aromas of blackberries, minerals, toast, creosote, and spice box. Dense and chewy with abundant quantities of fat and glycerin concealing the wine’s tannin, it is a voluptuous Cabernet that may be even better than its current score indicates. Anticipated maturity: now-2015.” Two Hands Shiraz “Bella's Garden, 2006 ($58.50) and Shiraz “Lilly's Garden,” 2006 ($58.50) - This Australian winery consistently gets scores well into the 90s from Parker and the Wine Spectator. The “two hands” are Michael Twelftree and Richard Mintz who formed the company in 1999. Michael Twelftree spent a number of years exporting Australian wine to the U.S. and Asia. Richard Mintz, an accountant, was formerly CEO of one of Australia’s leading cooperages in the Barossa Valley, South Australia. With Twelftree’s contacts and wine savvy approach and Mintz’s management skills and business acumen, the two old friends started making wine together. They purchased 17 tons of fruit from the McLaren Vale and Padthaway wine regions. From the beginning the wines were very well received at home and abroad culminating in 2004 with Robert M. Parker pronouncing Two Hands as “the finest negoçiant operation south of the equator.” Very limited! (www.twohandswines.com) Yalumba "Signature," 2002 ($44.95) - Robert Parker 96! "The 2002 The Signature (56% Cabernet Sauvignon and 44% Shiraz) was given the same upbringing as its young sibling [the 2003], but 2002 is a better vintage for Yalumba. The 2002 exhibits smoky, blackberry, incense, charcoal, and floral characteristics along with tremendous glycerin, richness, purity, and teeth-staining levels of extract. Remarkably, there are no hard edges, and the acidity, tannin, and alcohol are beautifully integrated. This cuvee should drink well for 15 years." Clarendon
Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Hickinbotham Vineyard, 2002 ($62.50)
- This Australian winery produces mouth-filling, concentrated, world-class
wines. Parker:
92-94
“This blockbuster exhibits tremendous color
saturation to the rim along with scents of melted licorice intermixed with new
saddle leather, creme de cassis, and spice box. Dense and full-bodied,
it is the finest Cabernet Sauvignon Hickenbotham I have tasted from Clarendon
Hills. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2025.” Clarendon Hills Syrah (Shiraz) Liandra Vineyard, 2002 ($69.99) - Parker: 94-96 “Opulent, dense, blackberry liqueur-filled effort with huge body as well as tremendous reserves of fruit, glycerin, and intensity. It will last for 15-20 years.” Additional older vintages and rarities can be found at our Oldies But Goodies page. Australian Whites
Frankland
Estate Riesling “Cooladerra Vineyard,” Western Australia, 2002 ($17.99) - Both Australia and New Zealand make several terrific
dry Rieslings. Wine Spectator 88: “Dry, tart, and lively with
citrus and green apple fruit weaving a bit of a leafy note to liven the finish,
the fruit echoing nicely. Drink now through 2006. Only 100 cases imported.”
Yangarra Unoaked Chardonnay, McLaren Vale, 2006
($15.99)
- Chardonnay is capable of making world-class white wine, but too often it
is made in a clumsy, overoaked style from grapes grown in climates too
warm, resulting in high alcohol, low acid, wood-dominated wines that pair
poorly with food. I sometimes think I could get the same effect much more
cheaply by adding oak chips and water to vodka. The unoaked Yangarra Chard
is a delicious Australian wine that shows the charm of the grape without
the wood. With depth of body and flavor, in part from extended lees aging
(the spent yeast are left at the bottom of the tank), this remarkable wine
has varietal character and a seductively creamy texture. Only 800 cases
were produced. We also carry Yangarra’s delicious Shiraz
($19.99).
New Zealand Reds
(a small but growing category)
Saveé Sea Pinot Noir, Marlborough-New Zealand, 2009 ($15.99) - Pronounced "Savy See," this wine is made by Louis Vavasour whose parents were the first to plant grapes in Awatere, one of Marlborough's best sub-districts. Aged in neutral French oak, it has a surprisingly good varietal character in the nose and on the palate. The soft texture is followed by a slightly green finish, but this should age out. This remarkable value is due in the second week of November. Cloud Dancer Pinot Noir, 2008 (Regularly $19.99; Sale price $15.98) - A little more money gets you more fruit and even better balance. Another terrific Central Otago Pinot. Will age.
Te
Mata Cabernet/Merlot “Woodthorpe,” 2001
($17.99) – Te Mata is New
Zealand’s oldest wine making property dating back to 1885 when Bernard
Chambers inherited a large pastoral station and planted a small vineyard on the
northerly slopes of Te Mata Peak. Now under the ownership of John and Wendy Buck
and Michael and June Morris, it is one of New Zealand’s finest wineries. Te
Mata is located in the Hawkes Bay region on the North Island. The weather here
is warmer than that of Marlborough on the South Island. It is just slightly
cooler than Bordeaux’s Médoc, more like St.-Emilion. As expected, Cabernet
doesn’t completely ripen here every vintage, but Merlot does very well, and
the Cab/Merlot blends very much resemble good St.-Emilions. Woodthorpe is the
least expensive of Te Mata’s 3 Cab/Merlot blends and is made from the youngest
vines. It is very aromatic with medium fruit. Aged in 30% new oak barrels for 15
months, it is medium-bodied, quite juicy, and an excellent value. Sileni Pinot Noir, Hawkes Bay - New Zealand, 2010 ($15.99) - You read it correctly - a 2010 red wine! Remember NZ is 6 months ahead of us; even so, this seems to be an early release. It's not easy to find good Pinot at this price, but Sileni hit a home run with their 2010. The bouquet is quite substantial, and the flavor profile features bright cherries. The texture is rounded, and there is nicely balanced acidity leading into a pleasing finish. Of course it will develop over the next year, but the bottle we sampled was quite enjoyable. - Quality Pinot Noir under $20 is the holy grail today. Unlike most other popular varietals, Pinot Noir cannot be mass produced and still maintain character and quality. Competent Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc can be made in volume thus keeping cost low, but good Pinot Noir can only be made in small batches. With higher costs for the grapes themselves (due to very high demand) and the inability to obtain economies of scale, Pinot Noirs are necessarily more expensive than other wines, and quality Pinots are that much more expensive. Although still young, this Pinot opens with airing to reveal a richly flavored wine with pure Pinot Noir character and a relatively modest 13.5% alcohol. Sileni Estates was founded in 1998 by Graeme Avery, whose previous experience was in medical publishing. He named the winery for the wise and loyal companions of Bacchus. According to Roman mythology, they loved to celebrate good food, good wine, and good company. Graeme had the wisdom to hire talented vineyard managers and wine makers. The Plateau vineyard that produces this wine and a Chardonnay is on a dry river gravel terrace that is 300’ higher (and thus cooler) than their Triangle vineyard which yields Merlot and Semillon. Hawke’s Bay is the oldest wine-producing region in New Zealand. More details can be found at www.sileni.co.nz. Mt. Difficulty Pinot Noir "Roaring Meg," 2008 ($21.99) - Central Otago on New Zealand's South Island is becoming known for Pinot Noir that is second only to the great red Burgundies of France's Côte d'Or. Mt. Difficulty makes some of the best (and most expensive) New Zealand wines from estate fruit. It also make this value wine from younger and lesser vines and from some purchased grapes. Meg must have been something! She was a "working girl" who found employment among the miners in this part of New Zealand in the 19th century. A hydroelectric power station, dam, and stream connecting to the Kawarau River, and now this wine were all named after her. (The name actually goes back much further to England where a large siege cannon used during the English Civil War and several small rivers bear the name.) Mt. Beautiful Pinot Noir, North Canterbury, New Zealand, 2009 ($22.99) - David and Leigh Teece planted 170 acres in 2003 and 2004. They sell off most of their production, but, with consultant winemaker Sam Weaver, they make a total of about 6,000 cases of Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir. The winery has the capacity to grow to about 30,000 cases annually. This is a high quality Pinot Noir with fleshy fruit, terrific varietal character, a reasonably lengthy finish, and more complexity than is common at this price. The 2008 Mt. Beautiful received a 90-point rating from Parker; the 2009 has not yet been rated. Mt. Difficulty Pinot Noir, 2006 ($33.99) - The fact that New Zealand has a wide range of micro-climates means that all grape varietals can be grown well somewhere in the country. I’ve been watching the Pinot Noir scene there for many years. A few good ones have been made, but at un-realistic prices. Mt. Difficulty is a boutique winery in central Otago’s Bannockburn (South Island). It has had success with Pinot Noir in recent years with some spectacular, but expensive single-vineyard Pinots. Mt. Difficulty also offers this attractively priced blend of grapes from their four vineyards. It has unique earthy, savory, dried herb, and white pepper characteristics, most likely due to an unusually long maceration, but the varietal fruit is beautifully rendered. This newly released vintage improves substantially with airing. A bottle I tried was actually better the second day. More information can be found at www.mtdifficulty.co.nz. Amisfield Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand, 2005 ($3 7.99) - Wine Spectator 93 & Top 100 Wines of 2007! “Suave and ripe, with plush depth to the Asian spice, roasted duck, wild berry, and black cherry flavors. Crushed stone nuances, judicious oak, and sinuous tannins streamline the stylish finish. Now - 2011.” It is amusing to read PR describing the “classic Central Otago dark spicy fruit characters underlaid with licorice and smoky notes.” Central Otago is too new a wine growing area to talk about anything “classic,” but this South Island region of New Zealand is fast becoming the source for fine Pinot Noir. The small Amisfield Wine Company is located 7 km north of Lowburn near the shores of Lake Dunstan. Planting began in 1999 and now consists of 60 hectares of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc. The vines are close-planted, and yields are kept low to provide concentrated fruit flavor with complexity derived from the range of sites within the vineyard. Award winning Amisfield winemaker Jeff Sinnott’s philosophy is that wines should be a reflection of where they are grown.Tui Grove Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2008 (Regularly $11.99; Sale price $9.98) - Comparable to wines like Nobilo and Villa Maria, this is a great value. Clean and accurate (but not overwhelming) varietal character harmonizes with a soft texture and acidity that is sufficient but not excessive. Matua Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, 2009 ($12.99) - The people behind Matua played a crucial role in the development of the New Zealand wine industry. Bill and Ross Spence were the sons of a winemaking father. Ross experienced the excitement of the California wine scene while at university in Fresno in the early 1970s. Bill's schooling was at Massy, New Zealand's world-famous agricultural university, where he learned about the potential of New Zealand's land. The brothers began at the bottom making their own wine in a ragged tin shed in West Auckland in 1974. But the wines they released in their first vintage included New Zealand's first Sauvignon Blanc. Its success inspired the massive plantings in Marlborough that have made New Zealand famous for that varietal. With the desire but not the financial ability to expand, the brothers joined forces with the Margan family to create Matua. They then purchased land, planted vineyards, and established the brand. Today, Matua is part-owned by Fosters. Despite the corporate influence, Matua still produces wines of impeccable quality. Cloud Dancer Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2008 (Regularly $15.99; Sale price $13.98) - This beauty shows a little more refinement and balance than the Tui Grove. It is a very pretty, clean, balanced, and harmonious wine that pairs well with salads, Cornish game hens, and seafood. Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand, 200 9 ($13.99) - New Zealand continues to send us superb, well priced Sauvignon Blancs. This one is fresh, clean, medium-bodied and solidly varietal, with hints of grass and grapefruit. It is perfect for casual sipping or to accompany seafood and chicken.Mt. Beautiful Sauvignon Blanc, North Canterbury, New Zealand, 2009 ($16.99) - This New Zealand SB is a huge step up in quality from the popular ones in the $12-$14 range. Its creamy texture and perfect balance of fruit and acidity (7.2 g/l) are a function of the loam soil and the vineyard location just five miles from the Pacific Ocean. Parker: 89 "Pronounced capsicum, grass, and hemp aromas with supporting notes of passion fruit, kiwi, and straw. Concentrated, dry, full bodied, juicy, and crisp, it has a very long finish." Mt. Beautiful is the pioneering vineyard in New Zealand's Cheviot Hills district on the South Island, about 65 miles south of Christchurch. New Zealander David Teece, the Tusher Professor of Global Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and his wife, Leigh, a native Californian with degrees in international relations and business administration, are the driving forces behind this venture. Bremner Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2008 (Regularly $21.99; Sale price $17.98) - This classy New Zealand Sauvignon is one of the best we have ever tasted. Malolactic fermentation gives it a creamy texture, and aging in used oak adds to a rounded mouthfeel. Ripe fruit and low yields give this wine good body and rich, complex flavors. Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc “Te Muna Road Vineyard,” Martinborough, NZ, 2008 ($26.99) - New Zealand’s Marlborough district makes impressive mass-produced Sauvignons, but other producers hand-craft smaller batches of even higher quality wine. Martinborough, at the south end of the North Island, has a cooler spring and a warmer autumn than Marlborough. Because its harvest takes place roughly ten days later under drier conditions, its wines are more extracted, complex, and structured, with more subtle aromatics and greater elegance. This beauty tones down the aggressive grapefruit notes of the lesser wines and offers refined balance and bright acidity. Technical details for the wine geeks: free-run juice only, part indigenous yeast, 10% barrel-fermented, 2-4 months on the lees, gently fined but not filtered.
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