2006 Coldstream Hills Reserve Chardonnay (Cellar Door)

Not a hard job reviewing this wine - I enjoyed the 2006 Coldstream Hills Reserve Chardonnay at the cellar door a few years ago (purchasing a few while I was there) and after a couple of years developing in the bottle it has lost nothing.  The Reserve has a flavour profile I love when done well – subtle melon, just-ripe grapefruit and freshly cut white nectarine fruit flavours, nice acidity that adds freshness, all backed by toasty, cloves/spicy oak. A round creamy texture in the mid and back palate that doesn't go into malolactic overdose adds to the enjoyment. To top it all off, the wines persistence is also noteworthy (flavours lingering long enough for the next mouthful of roast chicken, oven baked fish or whatever other rich dish you chose to pair with this).
A few Sundays ago this was matched very nicely with a seasoned organic roast chicken and herb dusted vegetables roasted in goose fat.
The Coldstream Hills Reserve Chardonnay should continue to evolve for several more years (hense the +), though drinking very nicely right now.

In summary: An impressive weighty expression of Yarra Valley Chardonnay. Complexity matched with drinkability: Delicious.

Rated

+*

RRP: $50
ABV:14%
Website: http://www.coldstreamhills.com.au/

PS .The star (*) is for this wine being an oaked, creamy chardonnay done very well. The Yarra Valley often makes top quality chardonnay and this is an example.

2008 Fire Gully Shiraz Viognier (Margaret River, Sample)

The frustrating thing about this Shiraz Viognier is that it could have been a really nice wine. The 9% co fermented Viognier is actually in no way overpowering (as I actually find with much Australian Shiraz Viognier), and provides the wine with nice lifted aromas. The wine however, is ultimately marred by alcohol heat and bitterness.

The nose presents some lifted aromas of plum, cherry, chocolate oak and a touch of meatiness, however there is also a hint of the issues that are to come. If you rest the wine just on the front palate you get a sense of what a nice wine it could have been with many of the same tasty flavours presenting themselves very nicely. From the mid palate however, bitterness and a sense of heat becomes distracting and dominant. I gave the wine a couple of days to try and sort itself out, but it never did. I don’t mind bitterness in some wines and I’m certainly no alcohol wuss, but in both instances they are too dominant in this wine.

Rated:


RRP: $24
ABV: 14.5%
Website: www.firegully.com.au


Red

Rosemount Botanicals Sauvignon Blanc infused with lemon and elderflower (NV) (Retail)

Polonius: [Aside] “Though this be madness, yet there is method in't”.
(Hamlet Act 2, scene 2, 193–206)

“What works on paper, has the tendency to ride on vapor”
Fading into Obscurity – Sloan

Some concepts look great on paper and work perfectly in theory. Sometimes market research and focus groups can anticipate consumer trends, assisting a company/industry to make a tidy profit in the process. On other occasions all the planning, research, brainstorming and marketing spin can make no difference whatsoever to the end result (just ask the Federal Australian Labor Party).

According to the Group Managing Director of Rosemount, the Rosemount Botanicals range of white wines are ‘aimed at making wine more attractive to drinkers who previously avoided it and to wine drinkers who would not normally drink during the day’ (Link)

The Botanicals range consists of three white wines that are lightly carbonated and infused with different fruits and florals - Chardonnay with apple and cucumber; Pinot Grigio with blood orange and rosewater; and the subject of this review, Sauvignon Blanc with lemon and elderberry.

I must admit, I was intrigued to see if these wines tasted as bad as they sound (in my opinion at least). It would be hypocritical to criticise the Botanicals range and snigger from the sidelines without trying them.

The colour of the wine is almost clear – like a glass of carbonated water with a teaspoon of Bickfords lime cordial. It smells sickly sweet - lychee, gooseberry and florals. It tastes sickly, cloyingly sweet - simple, green pie apples, lychee, and sugared ripe honeydew melon flavours are followed by an unpleasant bitter lemon rind finish that not even the high residual sugar can mask. Finally, there is no pretence of structure, length or intensity. One glass was enough to get the idea, and that was a struggle.

Rosemount are promoting the Botanicals range as chic and new, the fruit and floral infusions enlivening the wine. The cynic in me would argue that no amount of spin or marketing can make this range anything more than an over-engineered 2010 version of West Coast Cooler in a pretty, Bombay Sapphire-inspired 750ml bottle. Unfortunately, stranger things have happened.

All in all, I would have to say that there is no method in the fruit and herb infused madness. Surely there are more effective ways of converting non-wine drinkers to the joys of wine – making wine and not fizzy wine cooler might be a start.


     Rated



    RRP: $17.99
    ABV:8.5%
    Website: http://www.rosemountestate.com.au/

Bay of Fires Tasmanian Cuvee (Tasmania)

With the warmer weather and the missus being a lover of bubbles, we’ve been drinking a bit more sparkling of late. This Bay of Fires Tasmanian Cuvee is a decent sparkling but when compared to the Brown Brothers NV reviewed on this site last week, it’s clearly of lesser quality and another $10-15 more expensive.

This would go down well at a stand up event this summer with its nice red fruit flavours, along with some lovely rich, creaminess. If you’re in a bit more of a contemplative setting however, it won’t bear up quite so well with a lack of focus on the palate that is supported by less than smooth acidity. In the end a decent enough sparkling that has just enough flavour and complexity to get it over the line for 3.5 stars.

Rated:


RRP: $31.50
ABV: 12.5%
Wesite: www.bayoffireswines.com.au


Red