Dominique Portet Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Yarra Valley Pyrenees – What i’m drinking at the time 2011.11.11

Hellow everybody and welcome back to what i’m drinking at the time. Over the past 2 days the wife and I have been chipping away at this:

Dominique Portet Sauvignon Blanc 2010, Yarra Valley Pyrenees

Dominique Portet is a little winery down in Yarra Valley own by father and son Dominique and Ben Portet who are big on old school French style winemaking (and could be french themselves!?). Got this little number when a bunch of good friends and us cashed in our scoopons for a Yarra Valley wine tour. Having zero responsibility to drive, we lapped up the vino like thirsty camels.

This sav must have cos we have 2 bottles! I think they were about $20-25 a piece, definately top end sav blanc price range, 13.5% acol which is surprising. I remember they also have a rose and champagne which made an impression on me. Did it deliver?

Sweet sour apples, a mix of granny smith and golden delicious with a fist full of passionfruit. Very appetising, extremely light and zesty. It has a tingly, almost fizzy feeling on your mouth and it almost floats on your tongue. Solid mouth feel though and has an intersting mix of salty sour fruityness which lots of apples, passionfruit, apple skins; kinda like the feeling when you bite too deep into a Nashi pear but have enough of the sweet bits. Heaps of a mineral aspect to the wine which mingles with the saltyness, imagine bath salts? kinda? The tingling feeling extends all the way to the finish and the sourness drifts off but the sweetness and saltyness lingers.

Interesting wine…what we found is it didn’t hold too well as it warmed up nor was it better (prob worse) day 2 so definately drink the whole bottle first time and on ice. Also, the tingling fizzyness subsided as the hours past. We also found it a bit difficult to pair it with food. We tried pork day 1 and prawns day 2. Definately worked better with pork, the wine has a weight to it even though the mouthfeel is light and the flavours come across very strong and accented. I’m thinking a feta and wallnut salad may match better, definatly on a nice sunny day.

Not sure if I recommend this wine which is strange because I distinctively remember singing its praises when we bought it…don’t buy wine drunk? or maybe I sould try this again, you know just to be sure 😛

Thanks for reading

Kenny

Cullen Diana Madeline 2009 – what i’m drinking at the time 09.11.11

Its a Wednesday, and that means i’m eating at parents house which means, wine time! I recently introduced by friend the wine bug to my dad and since then, we have been enjoying a bottle of wine every Wednesday. Today we are in for a treat, Margaret River’s Cullen Diana Madeline 2009 Cabernet Merlot.

Cullen Margaret River Diana Madeline 2009 Cabernet Merlot

Margret river is situated in WA and this wine comes from the sub region Wilyabrup. Made by Vanya Cullen, daughter of Diana, this is noted as one of Australia greatest Cabernets.  Some serious badassery. This bad boy is 88% Cab sav, 6% cab franc, 4% merlot and 2% malbec, coming in at 12.5% alco. Oh and btw 2009 was a wicked vintage. Looking good!

We decanted this for about 2.5 hours with premise that, IF this tasted good (ha!) that we may venture out and snag a 6 pack or so.

Sniff? crisp and clean, think of the freshness you get when you chop into an iceberg lettuce. Great mix of black fruits and berries with touches of red fruit and a sprinkle of grass (the normal kind). The nose is not all that exciting but it does give off an awe that there is something going on here. One thing I like is that there is no overpowering oak. To sum it up…this a gentile wine thats is all about elgance and finesse.

Hits your mouth like silk, smooth, velvet and a fruity. Super balanced wine, perfect mix of dryness, acidty and fruit sweetness. Has an abilty to both feel heavy and light at the same time. Makes me think of brambles and undergrowth. There is definately lots of complexity and layers in this wine, definatly a thinking wine to ponder over some time. I get alot more fruityness now (2nd glass in) with a definate sense of vegital components followed by the earthy tones then comes a wave of sweet acidity, like a sugary grapefruit. Heaps happening in this wine. Love it.

Finish lingers in the top front gums and the oak enters in the finish here for a well rounded mouth feel. Extremely mouthwatering, makes you want to drink more and more!

Cost? Got it for $89 bucks. Ouch? dunno, I would definately not say no to a freebie and can definatly see myself buying a stack to see how it develops. Factoring that the RRP is about $105, I am saying that its probabily worth the mula cos its a double threat – great to drink now (espically at such a young age!) and seems that it will only get better with time, bout a day should do the trick ;P

Let me know your thoughts!

Kenny