Winetastic

We picked up a 375ml bottle of Miranda “The Pioneers” Raisin Muscat 2004 for only $7 in a bargain bin at Dan Murphy’s. The grapes used in production are left to dry somewhat on the vine before harvesting and are sourced from vineyards in the Riverina, SA and VIC.

Golden honey in colour, the wine exhibits aromas of druid fruits, citrus and honey. The Muscat tastes just like it smells, with pleasant honey and citrus character. It is fairly light for a dessert wine, with balancing acidity that ensures the somewhat short finish is not overly sweet.

The Miranda website is very out of date, with 2002 being the most recent tasting note available for this wine. Overall it’s hard to complain about the price, and the wine itself is actually pretty good.

Score: 6/10
Price: $7
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 10%
Other Opinions: Miranda Wines
Would I buy this wine again?
Who can argue with $7 a bottle for a decent dessert wine? Why not.

I like Moscato, it is the ideal lunch time wine due to its low alcohol volume. It is also generally cheap, a small group of committed souls could create an impressive collection of empty bottles on their table at a Riverina wine festival, one would imagine.

This spritzy wine smells and tastes just like white table grapes. It lacks enough acid to bring the fruit sweetness into balance, thus the second glass was difficult to drink. Brown Brothers recommend serving it “well chilled”, this would be a good way to hide some of the sugar.

The conclusion? Drink an Italian import such as the Castello del Poggio Moscato D’Asti 2005 instead.

Score: 4/10
Price: $12
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 5.5%
Other Opinions: Brown Brothers
Would I buy this wine again?
No

Moscato is a sweet white wine style which falls somewhere between spritzy and sparkling. Castello del Poggio Moscato is an Italian import made in the traditional style by stopping fermentation once the wine reaches around the 5% alcohol mark, retaining the natural fruit sweetness.

Golden straw in colour with a fine fizz, the wine has floral and fruity aromas with a hint of musk. Flavours of grapes, lychee and turkish delight are kept in balance by fruit acidity with some honey on the lingering finish. A lightweight easy drinking style.

I feel this is a great lunchtime wine, perfect with sandwitches (or focaccia if you want to sound fancy). It would also go great with dessert, think fruit salad or apple crumble with ice cream.

Score: 7/10
Price: $14
Closure: Cork
Would I buy this wine again?
Yes, it is a step above the Australian Moscato style wines I have tried

Australian Old Vine Wine have thoroughly impressed us with their premium quality wines at incrediblely reasonable prices, and their semillon botrytis is no exception.

A soft golden straw in colour, this botrytis has a gentle honey nose with hues of intermingled citrus. There are very subtle hints of apricot present on the palate nicely balanced with light citrus flavours, it’s viscous without being overly sweet. This is a delicate, soft dessert wine that is concentrating more on the fruit flavours rather than being a big sticky botrytis. A really well balanced and structured wine, which is exceptionally easy to drink.

This wine is drinking incredibly well now but has cellaring potential for another 8 years. If you tend to steer away from the typically sweeter Aussie style dessert wines then give this a try, it might be right up your alley.

Would I buy this wine again?
Yes, i think i’d go as far as to say this is my favourite dessert wine to date, and at only $12 a bottle from the cellar door there is great value to be had. We have several bottles in the cellar which we are going to try and leave for a few years.

Its been a while since my last post, the flu has had both Gemma and I in its vile clutches, so no wine has been consumed for over a week, terrible times indeed. The first post-flu wine review is for a french sticky, a Saturne, which is predominantly botrytis Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.

This wine presents lemon and honey aromas partnered with a viscous mouth feel, however not syrupy or overly sweet. The flavours last an extremely long time, running a gambit of lemon, through honey and ending with a touch of butterscotch.

Overall the style is less sweet and more subtle than most australian dessert wines. This is a very affordable import at only $15 for a 375ml bottle at Dan Murphy’s.

Score: 7/10
Would I buy this wine again?
There is definitely value for money to be had at $15 for a half bottle, however I think I would prefer to support the aussie producers.

Having recently re-awakened our taste buds to the delights of dessert wines we thought we would give this 2002 Noble Taminga from the Trentham Estate a go. The grape variety used in this wine was developed by the CSIRO at Merbein by cross breeding Riesling, Farana and Traminer vines.

A soft gold in colour, this Taminga has a gentle honey nose with hues of intermingled light citrus. On the palate it’s a lot lighter than I find most Australian stickies, this is a fruit driven dessert wine that concentrates less on the botrytis characteristics. There are subtle hints of peaches and apricots, with lifted tangs of lemon which make it almost refreshing. This is a wine of excellent structure, all the flavours are well balanced and there isn’t anything overpowering about it.

At only $13 a bottle at Dan Murphy’s this is an excelent value for money sticky. This wine is drinking very well now, or it has the potential for cellaring to allow it to develp some more complex flavours.

Would I buy this wine again?
At such a reasonable price yes, I love the flavour and like the fact it’s not as sweet or sickly as some of the stickies I have tried in the past.