Mount Mary 2011 Vintage – What I’m Drinking At The Time 20.10.2013

Mount Mary 2011 Vintage

 

Last year I was fortunate to attend the 2011 Mount Mary vintage release tasting. I gotta, say, if it weren’t for their recent website update I would have forgotten to posted this. For those who don’t know, Mount Mary is one of my favorite wineries who stay true to quality. I am lucky enough to visit them every year and hope to eventually have a long list of vintage to reflect on in years to come.

The 2011 vintage hasn’t been a strong one and I felt that the wines were a bit boardline and not up to their usual awesomeness. It felt that whist the wine making was exceptional, the fruit was a bit lacking. Mount Mary are known to produce a “second label” for bad vintage when quality is threatened so suffice to say, the experts think that the 2011 vintage is up to scratch. The go to wines for me were the Bordeaux wines; the Triolet, highly complex and well balanced with the Quintet looking like a wine to cellar for a little while yet. The Burgundy expressions were sorely missed.

 

The 2011 Mount Mary Lineup

 

Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz 2001 – what im drinking at the time 22.02.13

Hello again, welcome to a slightly more recent drinking adventure. Today I’m going to be showcasing the wine we have for my wife’s birthday; her favorite (well, at least her favorite at the time of purchasing) the Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz 2001.

Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz 2001

Wantirna Estate – what i’m drinking at the time 20.10.2012

Wantirna Estate Annual Tasting 2012 

Wantirna Estate. With his fascination with Victorian wine, Reg Egan established this wonderful place in 1963. This place remains a family run winery with daughter Maryann as the chief winemaker.  You would not have expected to find such a beautiful winery producing top notch wines just around the corner from Glen Waverly.

I was first introduced to this place when I attended a Dan Murphy’s dinner. They had the Amelia on tasting that night and I still remember how floored I was at the quality of the wine. I quickly signed on the website and awaited the annual tasting. Wantirna Estate don’t do cellar door, their stock is usually swallowed up during the annual tasting whist the rest of the precious cargo is already promised to their negotiations.  So….if you happened to miss this years, be on the lookout for next year!

Mount Mary 2010 Vintage – what i’m drinking at the time 22.07.2012

Mount Mary 2010 Vintage

Heya peeps, been crazy busy lately and with the combination of being lazy, my poor blog has been unattended to, so without further ado, I bring to you the weekend that was Mount Mary. About a month ago now, I was piling on my frequent driver miles visiting this little gem of a winery in the Yarra Valley. If you have read my previous posts, you will know that I am no stranger to this winery and sing its praises.

Yeringberg 2010 – what i’m drinking at the time 22.07.12

Yeringberg

Yarra Yering Members Tasting 2010 – what i’m drinking at the time 06.05.12

Yarra Yering Members Tasting 2010 Vintage

Yarra Yering is a great little boutique winery in the Yarra Valley near Coldstream. Originally founded by the late Dr Bailey Carrodus in 1969, the wines from Yarra Yering gained an international reputation for quality and individuality. The wine is now made by Paul Bridgeman who continues the tradition of making a range of great wines including the delicious Carrodus range.

Couple of weeks ago I received an email from Yarra Yering. They were having a Medallion members only tasting for their 2010 release. I missed the previous one so not going to miss this one! A few friends and I first stumbled upon this winery a while ago whilst trundling around the Yarra Valley looking for something to fill the back of the car with. It’s a very beautiful place, looks like a very old school English house equip with a fireplace, a pond, fruit trees, a veggie patch all surrounded by rows of vines.

Penfolds, Moss Wood & Mount Mary – what i’m drinking at the time 22.02.2012

Hello everybody! Welcome back to another edition of the Kenny wine show. Today is action packed! I got three wines for you today in celebration of my lovely wife Natalie’s birthday and our 10 year and 1 month anniversary. Lets go!

So we gathered at my parents house today for a lovely dinner. I was nervous because I had invited people over as a surprise. Turns out, Nat actually knew about it already…well played. sigh. Anyways, Dad went crazy over the weekend and not only has he bought out Melbourne of Cullen Diana Madeline, but it seems he has basically done the same with the Moss Wood Cab Sauv (I think there are 6 bottles left, get them now!). He also went nuts on some Penfolds cos they were on special. In any case, much joyous food and drink was had. Here are the boys:

 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Mount Mary Quintet 2007

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2003

Drink 1

 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

14.5% alc

The first of the bunch was one of the many 07’s found in the wine fridge. I have gone over the history of Moss Wood a few times now (just do a little search in the blog) so nothing much else to say. The 07 rates slightly lower than the 08 so I am interested in how things go. It was aerated into a decanter for almost 4.5 hours. Even so, the nose was much more closed than I expected. I did get some intervals of oak sweetness, but mainly it’s some yellow plums and some dry leafs, herbs and some semi sweet sour red berries. There is also a touch of lemon rind, maybe lemon thyme.

Attack is a bit of tannins and acid mix with some roundness from the oak.  The leafy aspect comes in at the mid palate along with dried orange peel and a big hit of dark berries. Loads of non spicy ground black pepper, black leather, bark and richness like that of a reduced red wine sauce and some toasted oak, throw in some burnt wood. Medium to full body and very smooth and rich mouth feel.

Finish is dark, wooded and brings up that pleasant bitter note with a complete balance of background plums, berries and lemon rind.

Balanced wine, extremely layered, feels older than it is at 6 years. Makes me think the vintage was hot and dry and summer. I am impressed with this effort though I can see why the 08 vintage is better.

Drink 2

Mount Mary Quintet 2007

13.1% alc

Mount Mary is a great little winery in the Yarra Valley and is a winery that let their wines speak for themselves. They are very anti-publicity and is built up from word of mouth. Helps that their Quintet is a cracker wine hey? Mount Mary was started by Dr. John Middleton who has since passed away and now run by his son Dr. David Middleton and family owned. They produce four wines, 2 in the Burgundy style (Pinot Noir and Chardonnay) and 2 in the Bordeaux style (Quintet and Triolet). They pride themselves on quality and as such, the 07 was given out to members as a gift as it was thought to not be up to standard. The back of the label reads:

“The wine was produced from secondary fruit as a result of a devastating frost event in the early hours of October 23rd 2006 which destroyed the entire primary crop. Whist significantly different to ‘normal’ vintages it is not without merit and we have released this wine as ‘not for sale’ gift to our dedicated customers who have shared and endured the seasons with us over the years.”

We are very fond of this winery and if you get a chance, look them up and join their mailing list. They only open for tastings 2 weeks a year so clear your calendars. We aerated this wine into a decanter for about 30 mins. Idealy it would have been better if it stayed in the decanter for a full hour but glasses were empty 🙂

Nose is floral and light with violets. It is also a little bit bread and cake with some green icing. Think cup cakes!

Attack is light, some firm tannins and some sour cherry cover the mouth. Mid palate firms up the flavours and gives the wine a tighter mouthfeel. Somewhat like a semi sweet granny smith apple and equally light in body.

Finish is a touch dry, dusty tannins and again a lemon rind but much more present, maybe a little flabby. Lacks sweetness and more terroir driven with little to no oak.

Two different styles, Moss Wood definitely more new world, Mount Mary more old world. I get alot of Cabernet Franc from this wine. Difficult to say which I like more…I am leaning towards the Mount Mary, probably because I am drinking it now! Still, the better wine is definitely the Moss Wood, more complex, more layers, rich, has a better mouth feel and I dare say more balanced.

Drink 3

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2003

14.5% alc

This wine was opened almost as an after thought, rated around the 93 mark so not to be outdone by its predecessors. Penfolds Bin 28 is a very robust and generously flavoured warm climate Shiraz. Originally named after the Kalimna vineyard from where it was sourced, it is now a multi region and multi blend from Barossa Valley.

The nose on this wine reminded me of peach Lipton ice tea, toasted sesame with liquorice/aniseed notes in the background. I am expecting a very powerful wine.

Attack is a bit bitter, that aniseed flavour comes through and brings some cloves. Not too nice. Transitions into a blackcurrant and walnut notes in the mid palate. Very unbalanced in my book and quite harsh to drink. Brunt wood and overly soaked back tea, rough on the mouth and void of richness to balance the wine’s weight.

Finish is very green, fresh mulch, dirt with the smokey burnt bitter green and black tea.

Errr…..super pass. Nothing good to report. The word stale comes to mind. Sorry guys, I couldn’t finish my glass.

Well, what a downer to finish on, but hey, we got to drink some fantastic wines and eat birthday cake so I can’t complain!

Hope you guys are enjoying the blog posts. Noticed that I got alot of hits for my Fat Duck review so a bit thank you for reading (where are the comments!?!?) I will be going to Vue de Monde in a few weeks so can I get a show of hands via hitting the ‘like’ button or better yet, a quick comment to see if it’s worth me bringing my computer to the dinner? I would love to write a review for you all but it does take a bit of effort and concentration on my part so a bit of support from you lurkers would be appreciated 🙂 Please let me know!

Till the next time, happy birthday Natty, Love you always

Kenny

Coldstream Hills Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 – what i’m drinking at the time 12.02.2012

Hey folks, been awol…again, but still kicking. Thanks to everyone who’s been checking in and hitting the “like” button on my posts, means alot 🙂 so I took out a little somethin somethin tonight, a little gem from Yarra Valley.

Coldstream Hills Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Another side note, please excuse the picture today, I lost the bottle! I know, slack right? Had to scour the net for a half decent pic of this bottle and the fact that the picture changes for each vintage doesn’t make it easier. The bottle is in a bin somewhere so if I am able to source another bottle for a pretty pic, this post will get updated.

Ok, so whats up with Coldstream Hills. Coldstream Hills is a very solid winery out in the Yarra Valley originally (and maybe still) owned and opened up my James Halliday. I bought this bottle a year or two ago where we were served by a guy who we nick named “the white James Earl Jones”. Imagine JEJ saying “PEEE-NO” with that deep deep voice. Great guy. Classic.

The reserve wines are only made in the great vintages of the area. The cab sauv was first made in 1992 sourced from a 2.6 hectare block fermented in new French oak. You can pretty much find all the info you want on google for just click here.  Reserves are usually made to last for about 20 years. I made some chicken scratching on this bottle saying I can keep this till 2018. Lets go!

The nose was not as big and bold as I expected but you can still easily pick up black and purple fruits, think plums and black berries. There is also some mint thrown in there too.  The oak is not very upfront but makes it’s presence known. There is also some sour red fruits and some musk sticks – remember those lollies in the 80’s called “fags”? They are white sticks with a touch of red on one end and looked like cigarettes. There is definitely some of that in there.

The attack on the palate is lean tannins which transitions into lychee skin flavours. Randomly after the wine was all gone, we had lychee for dessert! I quickly peeled off the skin, wiped off the leftover juice and put it in my mouth. It was pretty spot on! The wine has a nice balance here because there is some ripe fruit sweetness with firm tannins and an acid backbone…and hits of dusted mint sugar? Does that even exist?

It finishes very very long, probably because the wine is so concentrated and gives the impression of a heavy wine (though it’s more medium bodied), some residual alcohol in the mouth but just heat and not the unpleasant burn. The tannins are still here and pleasantly tickling the inside of you gums. The sour fruits come in about a  minute after.

A solid, powerful and stong wine. Very ripe and very upfront with some overall softness to it also. It’s also a layered wine if you want to look for it. I think it would go great with big prominent sauces, thinking a garlic or maaayyybe a blue cheese sauce on a juicy steak. Downside is it’s $50 a bottle but it’s quite good. I’m 51% thinking that it’s a bargain buy.

Till next time, lets hope it’s sooner rather than later!

Kenny

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