Winetastic

Tahbilk have being making wine down in central victoria since… well basically the dawn of time. I have no idea why it has taken so long for us to review what is one of the great bargains of the Australian wine world: Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon 2004.

This Cabernet smells of sweet dark berries, menthol and herbs growing in a pine forest. There is a bit of warmth up front on the palate, however this is carried by the fleshy yet tart dark fruits and mouthfilling and chewy tannins. Surprising length for a $15 wine, drinking well now.

I was a little skeptical while drinking the first glass, however as we progressed through the bottle this wine really started to grow on me, a definite bargain at $15 for a Cabernet that has an excellent pedigree and mid-term cellaring potential to boot.

Score: 90/100
Price: $15
Closure: Screwcap
Alcohol: 14.5%
Other Opinions: Tahbilk, Winorama
Would I buy this wine again?
Yes, time to pop a few in the cellar.

Released from the shackles of winter we are now free to enjoy a nice chilled glass of Rosé in the sun, and what better way to kick off this season than with the Turkey Flat Rosé 2008.

A hat-trick of strawberries: colour, aroma and flavour, howzat? Crisp and refreshing with some strawberry and raspberry fruit up front, a drying acid backbone and some nice minerality on the finish.

I always find it hard to score Rosé wines, however on a warm day in the sunshine I would drink this one over most full bodied red wines, so take the score in that context.

Score: 90/100
Price: $19
Closure: Screwcap
Alcohol: 13%
Would I buy this wine again?
Yes, it is reasonably priced.

Meerea Park have been through a (pardon the pun) purple patch recently, especially with their red wines. The 2003, 2004 and 2005 vintages were very good to exceptional and the 2006 vintage of “The Aunts” Shiraz is no exception. There is one big difference this year, your favorite Aunts now come dressed in a bright red frock.

A clean and modern hunter nose of cherry, dusty earth, aniseed and hints of clove and nutmeg. Medium bodied with a solid backbone of fine tannin, blackberry fruit, balancing acidity and a goodly dollop of spicy oak. Good length, needs time.

I suspect the score will increase somewhat as the wine ages, this particular bottle was enjoyed very soon after the wine was released a couple of months ago, however I was very slack in writing up the tasting note. As a little side note, we now have more bottles of The Aunts Shiraz in the cellar from various vintages than any other label.

Score: 91/100
Price: $26
Closure: Screwcap
Alcohol: 13.5%
Other Opinions: Meerea Park
Would I buy this wine again?
Yes, quickly becoming a mainstay in our cellar.

For some reason it has taken me around three years to even try a Cabernet based wine from Margaret River. I will atone for my sins and swiftly include several of these wines in my cellar, starting with the Sandalford Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005.

Sweet blackcurrant and blackberry aromas draw you into glass, on the front palate it’s all juicy, velvety and mouthfilling followed by a long and drying finish with plenty of chalky tannin and a little oak.

The finish is a touch warming, a trait I have noticed with other Margaret River Cabernets and feel is best described as a dash of white pepper. Overall a very good package, enjoyable now (after a serious decant) however should be much better after some time in the cellar.

Score: 92/100
Price: $28
Closure: Screwcap
Alcohol: 14.5%
Other Opinions: Sandalford, The Wine Front
Would I buy this wine again?
Yes, I feel the wine is priced reasonably.

Recently I opened a bottle of Rosemount Estate Show Reserve Shiraz 2002 which was sadly corked. The next day I followed this up with the producer via their website, which led me up submit my request about replacement of corked wine via their online email form.

Flash forward a couple of weeks and I realised I had not received a response and the offending bottle had long since vanished, presumably down the sink. I called up the customer service line explaining the situation, and to cut a short story shorter, a replacement bottle from the current vintage is on its way - bravo Rosemount.

I was glancing at the Winetastic archives the other day and realised that the blog will have existed for three years as of today. Happy birthday to us? The real question of course is which wine to open in celebration…