Winetastic

My search for a good Australian wine in the UK continues and has led me to explore what Lindemans have to offer in their bin series.

A vibrant crimson in colour the 2006 Bin 50 shiraz has an appealing nose of rich berries, vanilla and subtle spices. A fairly full-bodied wine, the palate is bursting with red and dark berries, and subtle chocolate and liquorice. This shiraz has a good length to it, soft tannins and a creamy rich finish, with a hint of spice.

This is an easy drinker and a general crowd pleaser. Drinking now, it would be well suited to a beef or game dish, or perfectly acceptable on it’s own.

Score: 82
Price: I paid the equivalent of $16
Closure: Screwcap
Alcohol: 13.5%
Other Opinions: Winorama, Lindemans
Would I buy this wine again? This is a good wine, but not a great wine. Not bad value for money, I might be tempted to go another bottle or two whilst still in the UK.

Wynns have a reputation for good quality and excellent value with their black label Cabernet, I had heard murmurings that over the last few years they had been slipping a little, however the 2004 release looks to be a rousing return to form.

A deep and vibrant red in colour, this wine smells distinctly of menthol and blackcurrant with a touch of mint and some spices. There is good structure and balance between dark plummy fruit, tangy acid and cedar oak on the nice long finish. Serious amounts of drying tannins need some time to settle down.

Generally I don’t mind a fair whack of tannin in my reds, however after the second glass it all became a bit too much at this early stage, so if you are drinking it young, be sure to have it with a big chunk of beef or lamb. This wine is a medium-long term cellaring proposition, and a good one at that.

Score: 90/100
Price: $16
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Other Opinions: Wynns, Winorama
Would I buy this wine again?
Yes, cant go wrong at $15-16 per bottle.

Now that the cooler weather has arrived we are getting stuck right into the reds again. In the interests of science we are trying as many different wines as possible, this week it is the Robertsons Well Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, made from fruit grown in the Coonawarra region.

Initially inviting aromas of blackberry, plum and oak, these continue onto the palate accompanied by some spices and drying tannins on the finish. Medium bodied and easy drinking. This is not an overly complex wine, however you cannot really expect that much from a $14 Cabernet.

Overall this is a good wine, however it is not hard to justify spending the extra $3 for a bottle of the Mamre Brook Cabernet when it is on special.

Score: 6/10
Price: $14
Closure: Cork
Would I buy this wine again?
Maybe if I was after a budget Cabernet and was faced with an unfamiliar selection.

I recently reviewed the 2001 vintage of this wine which was lush, balanced and delicious. Unfortunately the last case sold out at our local bottle shop, so I picked up one bottle of the 2002 vintage to give it a try.

A typical Cabernet varietal nose of plums, berries and oak. The oakfest continued on the palate accompanied by some bitter grape seed flavours which were most unpleasant. After spending a couple of hours in the decanter the wine was marginally better, however half the bottle ended up going down the sink the next day.

Rosemount talk this wine up in their online tasting notes, however I was really disappointed with this wine as 2002 was supposed to be quite a good vintage down in South Australia. Admittedly the style is designed to age for many years, however its older brother from 2001 was delicious young.

Score: 4/10
Would I buy this wine again?
Although I am curious to see how this wine would taste in 5-10 years time, there are far more enjoyable wines to be had for $20.

Having been suitably impressed with the 2002 Show Reserve Shiraz, we recently picked up this bottle of the 2001 Rosemount Estate Show Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon which hails from the Coonarwarra region of South Australia, the traditional heartland of Australian Cabernet.

Having strong blackcurrant and berry aromas, this Cabernet is very full and juicy in the mouth with flavours of dark berries and plums. The finish is long and well balanced with drying tannins. This is a wine of structure that should continue to age well for several years, in fact in the official Rosemount Tasting Notes, a drinking window up to 2018 is recommended.

Most retailers currently have the 2002 vintage of this wine available, generally falling around the $20-25 a bottle mark. However if you are down in Sydney’s south, Dan Murphy’s at Menai found a few cases lost in a corner of their warehouse and are clearing them out at the very reasonable price of $16.

Score: 8/10
Would I buy this wine again?
Yes, this is my favorite straight Cabernet Sauvignon to date. Cannot complain about the $16 price tag either!

South Australian 2002 Shiraz continues to impress.

Whereas the Knappstein 2002 Shiraz was probably more of a drink-now wine, this one tugs on my shirt and asks kindly to be cellared for a few years to reach that same softened, mellowness of flavours. Hold on - did you just read what I just wrote as something like “don’t bother drinking now?” hahaha… hell no! Drink it now, its bloody delicious. Bigger and less subtle than the Knappstein, but oh - there is no doubt, I am picking up some more of these and I’d suggest that you at give it a whirl if you enjoy a cool climate Australian Shiraz with plenty of delicious raspberry and black cherry fruit flavours.

Fantastic length, great balance of flavours and spice, silky tannins, medium to full bodied - what more can I ask for? Not much thats for sure. Check out some of the Brand’s of Coonawarra tasting notes and such. Anyway, you know I’m impressed - theres value to be had with this one in my book.

Would I buy this wine again? I’m going to pay a visit to Uncle Dan this weekend to grab three of these. One to spoil myself with, two to put away.

This delectable Shiraz offering from Jamiesons Run was one of the wines available for tasting at our local Dan Murphy’s recently, i saw a guy take one sip and immedietly walk off with a bottle - a promising start!

A deep red in colour this fairly full bodied shiraz shows hints of blackberry and chocolate on the nose, intermingled with subtle spices. Strong, ripe berry flavours slide across the palate and for me there was an almost slightly sweet finish to this wine. It has a soft elegant texture yet the tannins feel almost heavy, as though they’ve not fully developed. This is a wine that will only improve with ageing, five to ten years down the line this will be something very special, though it’s drinking very well now.

Would i buy this wine again? At around $15 a bottle this is an excellent wine for the money, though i think if i was to buy it again i would invest in a few bottles for the cellar. Jamiesons Run is definatly going to be a label to watch closely.