Tasted over the course of three days.
******************************
******************************
******************************
The whites were the real stars on Day One.
2005 Clos Nardian Blanc [Bordeaux]
Dusty, yeasty nose with some honeydew melon. Soft, sweet fruit. Really came on over the course of three days. 92 pts, with lots of room to grow. Hold until 2015.
2006 Colonial Estate "Exodus" Chardonnay [Australia]
Stones, stones, and stones. Hard to believe that this is a sibling of the 2005 bottled under the same label [maybe a different fruit source in this vintage?]. Softened nicely over the course of three days. 90 pts & hold until 2011.
2005 Colonial Estate "Exodus" Chardonnay [Australia]
Throw some shrimp on the barbie!
Bright, cheerful, effervescent wine, with a good Burgundian funk, and strong Burgundian flavors.
Excellent acidity, with powerful citrus notes [lemon peel, orange peel, etc], and maybe even something weird like a cinnamon/nutmeg/clove/spice box kinduva thang [although that might have been my mind playing tricks on me]. Exceptionally sweet fruit. Also, on Day One, a nagging sense that the wine is almost spritzy.
Easily the best Chardonnay I've ever had from Australia, and probably the second-best Chardonnay that I've ever had from the New World [behind Fisher Mountain, obviously].
If you're out on the back deck, grilling some seafood with the gang, then it's hard to imagine that you'd be able to find a better Chardonnay to drink.
95 pts; experience tells me that New World wines which taste this good should be drunk now.
******************************
******************************
******************************
Upon opening, Malthus's reds have a very svelte, slick sheen to them, which, at least domestically, reminds me a little of Brewer-Clifton.
Frankly the slickness, in combination with the tightness, was just a little off-putting on Day One. But all of these wines blossomed over the course of three days, so don't panic if you pop a cork and don't enjoy what you're tasting - just be patient, and wait a few days for the wine to come into its own.
The Bordeaux wines seem to have been released a year early [vis-a-vis the three year wait to which I'm accustomed], so if you open one now, then try to remember that you're tasting a very young wine [essentially a barrel sample, at this point].
Finally, all notes refer to the wine's performance on Day Three.
2005 Grand Destieu [Bordeaux]
Oak. Fruit. Tannins. 90 pts.
2005 Laforge [Bordeaux]
Oak. Tannins. Fruit. 91 pts.
2005 Le Carre [Bordeaux]
Licorice, fruit, licorice. Hint of tannins. 92 pts.
2005 Les Astieres [Bordeaux]
Tar, mint, cedar. Some menthol. 94 pts.
2005 Le Dome [Bordeaux]
Utterly impenetrable for the first two days. On Day Three, it's apparent that this bottle was just ever so slightly corked. Still, the wine does eventually blossom, and shows some nice soft fruit, with very mild tannins, although, within the context of very mild tannins, quite good palate grip. 98 pts.
2005 Colonial Estate "L'Explorateur" Shiraz [Australia]
Cinnamon-blueberry, with some banana esters & vanillin. 93 pts.
2004 Colonial Estate "Émigré" Shiraz [Australia]
Gamey, bacon notes on this one. Touch of menthol. Sweet, syrupy fruit. 95 pts.
2005 Colonial Estate "Émigré" Shiraz [Australia]
Some weird pork dish - frying bacon with something else which I can't quite put my finger on [later, residue in the glass would say salt pork with thyme/garrigue]. Fruit is much younger, leaner, and frankly more elegant than the 2004. 96 pts.
2004 Colonial Estate "Exile" Shiraz [Australia]
Sweet, succulent fruit. No tannin structure whatsoever. Strong, almost overwhelming notes of smoked bacon on the residue. 98 pts.