No April Fools here!!!
Can you believe its already April? Easter has come and gone. The kids have holidayed and now are back at school! Richmond isn't stuck in 9th position on the ladder - weird I know. And the weather is getting chillier and chillier thank heavens. Its the time of the year I love because open fires are a blazing and we all think about our favourite wine to drink now the sun is getting lower in the sky. So here are just a few newbies and some old favourites to contemplate over the next little bit.
Winter warmers, new stuff and just plain rippers
Uccelliera Rosso di Montalcino 2010, Tuscany Italy $40 - It was love at first sight and sniff with this wine. Hailing from one of Tuscany's greatest patches for Sangiovese, this wine opens up with a tart dusty nose and lingering red fruit. The palate follows suit with more tart fruit and a wonderful balance of tannins and acid. Bellissimo with slow braised lamb and eggplant.
Reichsrat Von Buhl Riesling 2011, Pfalz Germany $24 - For those who know me you will well know that I just love this wine. Brimming with lime rind and flinty minerality on the nose, this wine really comes in to its own in the palate with more mouth watering minerality and then, just like that, a sudden stop. What ensues is very unlike Riesling dry garden herbs; this is why I love it. Drink with grilled whiting.
Ar Fion Field Blend 2012, Yarra Valley Victoria $27 - The Field Blend, certainly the catch phrase of the year for me. And what a blend it is comprising of Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Savvy B. All three work in harmony to produce a wine full of textural balance of ginger, talc and racey, yet checked, acid. Good stuff with shallow fried white bait.
Gioiello Merlot 2008, Upper Goulburn Victoria $25 - This is what cool climate shiraz tasted like before we had cool climate shiraz. And it tastes like real Merlot too!!! Full of bright blueberries and cassis on the nose and palate, the wine is held together with a seamless balance of acid and tannins and a touch of savoury tobacco leaf at the back. Drink with lamb burgers.
Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Marlborough NZ $27 - Mad by the man who made Savvy B famous. Kevin Judd, ex Cloudy Bay, puts together a cracking little wine that is not dripping with ripe tropical fruit but instead puts together a supple wine woven together by minerality, tort acid and savoury garden herbs. A ripper with pea, pancetta and goats cheese risotto.
Yves Cuilleron Roussanne 2011, Rhône Valley France $30 - This is a white wine that wants to be a shiraz when it grows up. Big colour and and a big nose of sherbert and honey suckle, the palate is, well, big too and full of orange rind, prickly acid, pear and peach flavours lingering till the end. Drink with chicken cassoulet.
Hochkirch Steinbruch Pinot Noir 2010, Tarrington Victoria $27 - This is always a great wine, and a perennial favourite of mine. Jam packed full of tart red fruit on the nose and a touch of gamey funk, the palate is an ongoing collision of terracotta, savoury fruit, spice and mouth watering acid. I love it and you will too. Drink with pan seared duck breast.
Good Drinking
