Wine Taste Ed. 4, here

It’s Friday! Your Weekend Wine Taste is here.
The hurly-burly of vintage is in full swing across Australia this week, although Coopers hour has already arrived in the
Hunter! Elsewhere, winemakers are up to their necks in fermenters and vats, so there aren’t many new wines hitting the
shelves this week. Instead, I’ve rounded up a list of faves and bargains for you.
If it’s time for a detox from your St Patties grandslam (Guinness is most certainly off the menu today!), I have two crisp
young whites to revive you. These cool nights are red territory and I’ve got you fully covered, whether you’re slapping down
$10 or $400. I’ve unearthed the funkiest new thing that you’d never expect from Kiwiland, the best thing out of the Barossa
since Sting visited in January and a Grand Cru Burgundy that will take you straight to cherry blossom heaven.
There’s more to the Browns than the Brothers these days and Ross and daughter Katherine Brown called by the other day
to show off their latest creations, including THAT fizz. How’s this for a travelling routine: he works the early morning shift
and she handles late night cocktails and champagnes!
There’s just one more free edition of Wine Taste in March. Details of how to sign up are coming soon at TysonStelzer.com.
$11 McPherson Shir az 2009
Ten buck red is the toughest nut to crack in the wine world, and this is the last place you want to take your
chances. McPherson delivers a veritable fruit cart of plush plums and dark berries and a generous shake of
mixed spice. Climb on board, enjoy the ride! www.mcphersonwines.com.au
Drink 2011
90 points
$15 Penfolds Club Reserve Classic Tawny NV
Don’t let Penfold’s reds distract you from its tawnies – these rank among the fairest in the land! Club Reserve
is the bargain. Five years in old barrels has drawn out complex toffee, mixed spice and dried fig flavours. Join
the Club, but pass on the no frills version and sign up for a lifetime membership with the Reserve!
www.penfolds.com.au
Drink 2011
90 points
$19 Fox Gordon By George Cabernet Tempr anillo 2007
Hello Flash Gordon! It takes all the Wonderwoman superpowers of Tash Mooney to conjure a red wine of
such heroic precision, complexity and structure. You can snaffle it for $15 at 1st Choice. By George!
www.foxgordon.com.au
Drink 2012-2017
The Bomb of Bargain Wine Storage
Got wine stacked to the rafters? Need to age those special bottles properly? Want to store
your wines at drinking temperature so they’re always ready for last minute shenanigans?
‘Dome’ 28 bottle wine coolers are the best bargain wine storage going. I’ve been driving these
workhorses for ages, the fan gets a little noisy after a few years but otherwise they just keep
on going. On sale for $149 at Target right now. Buy a few and stack ‘em up! www.target.com.au
94 points
$22 Ninth Island Pinot Grigio 2010
Shame on you, cheapo grigio! Overcropped, overpriced, overhyped – I’m over you! Thank goodness I still
have Ninth Island to turn to. Its crunchy, fresh Tassie fruit and gorgeous fragrance of frangipani and linden
blossom will transport you to an island in just one sip. $15 at 1st Choice. http://kreglingerwineestates.com
Drink 2011-2012
92 points
$23 Tim Adams Riesling 2010
Tim Adams is my hero for his monumental gamble to save the Clare’s most historic winery this year, but more
so for making some of the best value wine in the land. His riesling transcends a difficult vintage, exploding
with crunchy green apples, zesty lime and rippling with minerality. $17 at Kemeny’s.
www.timadamswines.com.au
Drink 2011-2018
94 points
$27 Vasse Felix Margaret River Chardonnay 2009
Virginia Willcock infuses this wine with more poise and energy than the Australian ballet. One of the star
performers of my World Wine Discovery nights last month, with breathtaking grapefruit and white peach fruit
and classy French oak. Insane value at $17 at 1st Choice this week. www.vassefelix.com.au
Drink 2011-2014
94 points
$45 Brown Brothers Patricia Pinot Noir & Chardonnay Brut 2005
This wine rules the magic line above which I will buy champagne every time. Its secret is the icy Whitlands
vineyard in the foothills of the Victorian snowfields, with an altitude that defines its taut, mineral backbone,
overlaid with the toasty complexity of six years bottle age. It will elevate you to a new altitude! $37 at
Kemeny’s. www.brownbrothers.com.au
Drink 2011-2015
95 points
$48 Gembrook Hill Yarr a Valley Pinot Noir 2008
Hidden in the highest reaches of the Upper Yarra is an idyllic amphitheatre vineyard called Gembrook Hill.
At this cool altitude, pinot grows fresh, floral and spicy, producing wines of profound perfume, finely tuned
structure and astonishing longevity. 2008 was one of its finest seasons yet. www.gembrookhill.com.au
Drink 2011-2025
95 points
$50 Cambridge Road Martinborough Dovetail Syr ah Pinot Noir 2008
No one in Australia has heard of it, but get ready, this delightfully peculiar and hauntingly brilliant wine
is about to be unleashed on us. I discovered it and its maker, Lance Redgwell, over a long Martinborough
lunch early last year, and I was floored by its perfume of pepper and violets and its concentrated but utterly
reserved personality. www.cambridgeroad.co.nz
Drink 2011-2018
95 points
$86 Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve NV
Billecart NV is one of champagne’s most precise house wines and my all time fave of the entry NVs. The
house of Billecart is the finest fizz on the shelves this year, not by concentration, power or presence but by
the fairy-touch of understated delicacy and crystal-clear fidelity. $70 at WineStar and Kemeny’s.
www.champagne-billecart.fr
Drink 2011
95 points
$90 Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shir az 2006
Stonewell is the finest Barossa shiraz of the modern era. A monumental call, but no other comes close in its
consistency across more than two decades, its core of profound longevity and the ever-escalating grandeur of
its finest vintages. 2006 is a maelstrom of concentrated power and uncompromising composure like none that
has gone before it. Screw cap for the first time! $70 at Kemeny’s. www.peterlehmannwines.com
Drink 2021-2031
97 points
$396 Domaine Christian Sér afin Charmes-Chambertin Gr and Cru
2007
The weakest seasons prove the greatest producers. Christian Sérafin is a fast rising star in Gevrey and
Charmes is his finest turf. In 2007 it has blossomed into a thing of gloriously perfumed, cherry blossom
beauty; a wine of spellbinding elegance and legendary longevity. www.euanmckay.com.au
Drink 2022-2032
97 points
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Wine Taste
The Best Wines of the Week
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First published in Australia by Wine Press 2011
Stelzer, Tyson, 1975Wine Taste: The Best Wines of the Week
ISBN 978 0 9806400 4 5
Design, typesetting and layout by Wine Press
Copyright © Tyson Stelzer 2011
No part of this ePub may be reproduced electronically, verbally or in print without written permission from the publisher, except in the
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