A South Australian Shiraz

We were out last Friday night for a friend’s 30th, and as usual the wine list was passed down the table to me with the instruction to pick something good. I have to admit it was rather a good list which was making the decision all that more difficult, but while I was scanning down the reds I spotted a shiraz from Geoff Merrill, and I remembered tasting one at the imbibros tasting I'd been to recently, which I'd thought was absolutely stunning, so it seemed like a good bet to me.

The wine in question was their 2008 Pimpala Road Shiraz from South Australia, and unfortunately is only available to the UK through the on-trade. Which is always something that annoys me, why must I only be able to drink certain wines in a restaurant and not at home, but I think that’s a topic for discussion at a later date.

Getting back to the wine, it had a deep red/purple colour in the glass, with wonderfully pronounced aromas of blackcurrants and spice. On the palate you got the fruit of blackcurrants and red currants, with the spice coming through as liquorice and a touch of clove, which were far more predominant than the fruit flavours. There was a good level of acidity which just made your mouth water profusely, helping the flavours linger that little bit more, there was a very small amount of very fine tannins which surprisingly combined beautifully and resulted in an outstandingly well balanced wine.

Is this a wine that I’d recommend, if your out for dinner and your lucky enough to find it on the wine list, then it’s definitely worth giving serious consideration, again it’s only a pity you can’t get it to take home to enjoy, If you want to try one of their other wines, give their Jacko’s Blend 2006 from McLaren Vale a go, it was rather delicious. 

A Stunning Shiraz from Jim Barry Wines

The other night we decided to open a bottle of Jim Barry, The McRae Wood Shiraz 2005. Jim Barry Wines are a member of the Australian First Families of Wine; Jim Barry founded the vineyard in 1959 with his wife Nancy when they purchased their first property on the northern outskirts of Clare, in 1964 they added 70 acres of prime river flats from Duncan McRae Wood in the Armagh area of Clare. In 1977 they added a further 329 acres, with the purchase of the Lodge Hill Property, and in 1986 his sons added the renowned Florita vineyard, which is celebrated for its superb Rieslings.

The fruit for this wine as you may have expected comes from the Duncan McRae Wood vineyards, which were planted with Shiraz vines in 1964, which I have to agree was an inspired choice of location and variety. In producing this wine two thirds will spend 15 months in new American oak, with the other third being in older American oak, before being blended.

On pouring you got an opaque inky/purple colour which is just amazing, on the nose you wonderfully pronounced aromas of Blackcurrants, Raspberries, Liquorice and violets. On the palate you these, with the sweet spice of liquorice and cinnamon being more predominant, to go along with these you also got a hint of cocoa, that just lingered around in the mouth for ages. With these flavours and aromas, you got just enough acidity to make your mouth water, and a large amount of fine, silky tannins that just combined together to create what I can only describe as an absolutely stunning wine.

This wine showed great structure and complexity that while it was drinking great now, will last for a good few years yet refining it further and making smoother and smoother. Is this a wine that I would recommend, most definitely, the only piece of advice I would give is to make sure you let the wine breathe before you start to drink it, to make sure all the flavours come through beautifully.

A Pair of Spanish Stunners

A little while ago I got sent two bottles of Spanish wine to review for the blog, for some reason, and I’m not quite sure why, but it’s not something I tend to drink very often or know a great deal about, I’ve only reviewed two Rioja's and a Cava for the blog; I haven't even touched on one of my favourite wines, Sherry!

 Vińa Pomal Reserva Rioja, 2005.

The Rioja region is in northern Spain where they are permitted to use Tempranillo, Viura, Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo to produce their wines, this one however is 100% Tempranillo. This wine will spend 18 months in American Oak with a further two years in bottle before its release; this is a requirement for the Reserva designation.

On pouring you had a deep ruby/purple colour and pronounced aromas of red cherries and red currents, coming through from the background you got some really nice sweet spice, predominantly liquorice. It had just the right amount of fine tannins with just enough acidity to make you mouth water, combine this with the aromas and favours and you got a well structured wine with an interesting complexity to it.

Scala Dei Cartoixa Priorat, 2005.

Priorat is situated in North East Spain, and covers an area of around 19,783h, of which around 5,000h are under vine, compared with a region such as Rioja which has around 49,776h. This gives you an idea of how small a region it is, all the vines are planted on terraced slopes between 100 – 700m above sea level. They are permitted to use Garnacha Tinta, Garnacha Peluda, Carinena, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah in the blend, with yields much lower than is actually permitted.

In the glass it was a much deeper ruby than the Rioja, with pronounced aromas of dark fruit, cherries and plums and loaded with the sweet spice of cinnamon, their was also a touch of minerality coming through from the back ground. You got all of these on the palate coming at you wave after wave; it had wonderfully juicy tannins and great acidity helping to let the flavours linger in your mouth for a long time. This was a stunningly well balanced and complex wine that I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to taste.

Both of these wines were beautiful with great flavours and structure that if you get the opportunity to try them, then I’d definitely recommend them, but my favourite was hands down the Priorat, as it was for the friends I had round to enjoy them, it was just absolutely stunning.

A Summer Tasting with Imbibros

The other week a friend sent me a message saying that his local wine merchants were having their summer tasting evening, and did I fancy joining him. So I jumped on a train and headed on down to a town called Godalming, which is just south of Guildford and then on to Imbibros Wine Merchants to see what they had to offer, and if there was anything that was just that little bit special.

When we got their, we found the tasting was in full flow and very busy, always a good start in my eyes, so we collected our glasses and made a start on the task in front of us. On show were 77 wines and 8 spirits from all over the wine growing world. There were some fantastic wines and unfortunately a couple that really were not very good, there was even one that was a tribute to the legendary Pink Floyd, which was of course a Rosé. 

Here are my top 5 from the evening and in no particular order;

Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Marlborough – Loaded with green fruit, predominantly Gooseberries and combined with the perfect amount of Acidity that just made your mouth water profusely, creating an absolutely stunning wine and a classic example of the great New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, £15.50 a bottle.

Painted Wolf Penny Viognier 2009, Swartland – Really pronounced stone fruit with a hint of vanilla coming through from the background, combined again with just enough acidity that made your mouth water and cut through the fruit perfectly, a beautiful wine for £13.95.

Living Rock Cinsault/Ruby Cabernet 2009, Western Cape – Full of red fruit, cherries and red currants, perfectly combined with the tannins and acidity, creating a surprisingly well structured and enjoyable wine, all for £5.95, you can’t go wrong really with that.

Geoff Merrill Jacko’s Blend Shiraz 2006, McLaren Vale – With pronounced flavours of red berries and spice coming through, it was perfectly integrated with the oak and full of fine, silky tannins, and just the right amount of acidity, a stunning wine, as it should be for £16.50.

Four Vines Old Vine Cuvee Zinfandel 2008, California – Full of juicy dark fruit and spice, again combined perfectly with the fine, silky tannins and acidity, creating an enjoyable wine, and a great example of Zinfandel at £15.95 a bottle.

It was a great evening, and there were many more fantastic wines that we tasted, these are just a couple that really caught my eye, if you’re interested in purchasing any of them, they are all available online from Imbibros.

A Stunning Pinot Noir form Central Otago

If you’ve ever read my blog before you may have noticed that I’m a big fan of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc; however they do produce some fantastic wines from a lot more than just Sauvignon Blanc. Its cooler climate helps it grow some of the harder varietals, the ‘terrible enfant’, Pinot Noir, and with some great success.

 A family member had made a business trip to New Zealand and bought back some wine they tasted on a wine tour, very graciously they gave me a bottle of Chard Farm, Finla Mor Pinot Noir 2008. It had been stuck at the bottom of my wine rack gathering dust for some time when we decided to open it the other night.

Chard Farm was established in 1987 by Rob and Greg Hay, Rob had spent three years in Germany learning wine making, before heading back to New Zealand to look for land that emulated the great ‘terriors’ of Europe; Burgundy and Alsace. They found this in Central Otago, at the southern end of the south island, making it the most southerly, wine producing region. The climate is that of cold winters, and hot, dry summers, perfect for Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris.

This Pinot Noir had a pale ruby colour, with great fruit aromas of red cherries and raspberries, with a hint a sweet spice, Vanilla and Cinnamon coming through from the back ground. That’s exactly what you got in your mouth when you tasted it, first the fruit, then from the background you got the sweet spice which just combined beautifully. With a reasonable amount of acidity, that cut through the fruit perfectly, making your mouth water and helping to let the flavours linger for that little bit longer. With barely any tannin left, this was again absolutely perfect; I have to admit I was stunned by just how enjoyable this was to drink.

If you hadn’t of guessed, yes this is a wine that I’d definitely recommend, it's available in the UK from Must Wines Ltd and New Generation Wines Ltd, but that doesn’t stop you from looking out for other Central Otago Pinot Noir’s, hopefully they’ll be as enjoyable as this one.