Wines We Most Enjoyed Last Week (20-26 July 2008)

Not necessarily the "best" that we drank but the wines that gave us the most pleasure, even if that pleasure was nothing more than a warm smile and a chuckle.

Rogov,

For me it was a bottle of the 1999 kosher edition of Loeville Poyferre. Althought the wine was past its prime, it was still holding on with a suprising amount of both fruit and tannin still in play, a lovely hint maderization, and a supringing elegance the the wine lacked in youth.

Gamliel

2 wines for me in this last week:

NOVAS WINEMAKER'S SELECTION CHARDONNAY MARSANNE/VIOGNIER 2006,Casablanca Valley,Chile

...an organic Chardonnay blend that Decanter rated 5/5 stars describing it as young fresh and nutty in aromas and with warm toast notes and as having avery interesting combination of juicy peaches and spice fruits with good acidity and balance and a long oaky finish...my own view is that the peach flavours were indeed unusual for a Chardonnay and I admit I prefer either grassy or apple cinnamon or butterscotch /toffee flavoured Chards,and I found the spice overdone in this wine (perhaps too much Viognier) --again I guess I prefer more pure Chardoonay rather than concted blends in it.. In any cae ,while this wine was good,I would not go so far as to give it 5/5 as Decanter did...more like 4 to 4.5 of 5 ...



RODNEY STRONG KNOTTY VINES ZINFANDEL 2005,Sonoma County ,California

...A Gold Medal winner at the California State Fair Wine competition in 2007 earning a score of 95 from the judging panel.....this wine shows plenty of structure and elegance...the flavouring is bursting with ripe blackberry fruit balanced off with good acididity ,gentle tannins and spicy white peepper and herb notes ....a terrific Zin...

Herzog Alexander Valley Reserve Merlot
Smooth wine with a fantastic nose.
I usually tend toward Cab but I will purchase more of this wine

I'm just back from a week tramping about in the Lamington Mountains in south-east Queensland (Australia). The air was crisp and cold, the mountains were covered in subtropical rainforest, and there were exotic and wonderful birds to look at. The proprietors of the guest house I stayed at also have branched out into wine making, with a vineyard at lower altitude in the valley at Canungra. I always like to try the local wine, so I tried three of their reds and one white with meals while I stayed. Now, Queensland is rather far north for wine growing, as a general rule, but there are a number of wineries in the southern parts of the state. Previous attempts with Queensland wines haven't impressed me much but I was pleasantly surprised by the Cabernet Sauvignon in the range. Notes follow. Years unknown but probably 2005/6 for the reds and 2007/8 for the white, being the current releases; I ordered by the glass and they came to the table already poured.

O'Reilly's Canungra Valley Vineyards: Viola Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
Fruity without being a fruit-bomb. Aromatic, plush stewed plum flavours, with a hint of violets. Smooth in the mouth, rounded texture. Pleasant.

Shane Reserve Shiraz
Thin mouth-feel, but quite dense in colour. White pepper on the nose. Savoury rather than fruity. Tannic. A bit one-dimensional. Unremarkable.

Vince Reserve Verdelho
Lively; fruity but not sweet. Lemon-peel to the fore, some green grass and kiwi fruit. Pleasant with food, but a bit boisterous to drink on its own.

Bernard Reserve Chambourcin
I approached this with high hopes: I am fond of chambourcin. Alas.
In all the years I've been drinking wine, this was the first glass of wine I have ever sent back as being undrinkable.

Anyway - I post these for interest.

Matilda