Domaine Charvin Cotes du Rhone 2007

Cotes du Rhone, France. Grenache (mainly), Shiraz etc. 14.5%. Cork. Approx $A30.

Bright and cheerful, the deeply scented cherry and berry fruit has a note of confection and liqueur. In the background there is a suggestion of hardness, dried herbs and stalks. After my first sip I thought it stern, sappy and hard, a little too big and inky. Half way though the bottle, I can see its charm, but the sinew and inkiness remain.

Very good.
87.
Now - 2012

Mommessin Monternot Cote De Brouilly 'La Montagne Bleue' 2005

Cote De Brouilly, Beaujolais, Burgundy, France. Gamay. 13%. Cork. Approx $A25.

Spiculated and acidic at first, before fleshing out and becoming more satisfying. Quite earthy and stem scented, along with raspberries and what to me evokes the scent of a banana's phloem bundle.

Very good.
88.
Now - 2012.

McWilliam's Riverina Botrytis Semillon 2006

Riverina, New South Wales. Semillon. 12%. Screwcap. Approx $A20

I've not met Tim Cohen, but he is clearly a man of taste. . . We share a love for Bindi (Block 5 and Quartz), Clonakilla and the hard to find Bilancia La Collina Syrah. A month ago he wrote glowingly about what is a very modestly priced Australian sticky from the Riverina. It was enough to trigger a search, and for the last month or so I have been looking without reward.

Though this should be enjoyed for what it is, the trainspotter in me could not help but think how close this was to Sauternes. The lighter weight and zip is Australian, but the almond meal nose and the aldehyde is teasingly other. Like bitter orange marmalade this evokes citrus zest and pith. Intense and enduring, there is so much to admire and distract. The acidity is tongue tingling, the flavours complex and guilty and all the while the sweetness and texture caresses and dissolves all resistance.

Excellent.
95.
Now - 2014+

Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillon 2000

My hand written recollections of the first wine of the night. Later on, I sipped with little enthusiasm at my glass of 1992 Hill of Grace. It was quite smelly, like over cooked cabbage and surprisingly sweet in the mouth.

RK by Giaconda Chardonnay 2008

Beechworth, Victoria, Australia. Chardonnay. 13.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A40

Like its red twin this is only available at Vintage Cellars. It's quite convincing. Flinty and fleshy and smelling of struck match, grilled pineapple and peaches. Plump and almond meal like in the mouth with notable and lovely butterscotch and a trace of bitterness to conclude. Perhaps a touch short and round for more positive praise, but still, this seems true to the esteemed maker's house and is worth seeking out.

Very good.
90.
Now - 2012.

Weekend wino sapien #6

The last weekend of school holidays and I am feeling pensive. Maybe it's my reading material. The grim, but well written tale of dreams gone wrong by Philipp Meyer is captivating but full sorrow.

2001 Penfolds St Henri. 14.5% and quite brutish. Grainy and dense, this is in an awkward spot. It lacks the fragrance and beauty of the 02 and reminds me more of the 04.

When the sun was out, I picked the last of my olives. They are starting to wrinkle and I suspect I have left them too long on the tree. Full of purple finger staining goodness, I hope this round of pickling is more successful than before.

2003 Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon. Still stoppered with cork, this is pure, light and tight. Very enjoyable, like a gentle caress.

One the eve of the moon landing 40 years ago, I am reminded of my own age. As I watch my dear friends I see them all change. Appropriately then, I also read F. Scott. Fitzgerald's playfully short story - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

2006 Howard Park Chardonnay. The back label makes much of the fact that there is only minimal malo. Still this is the notable thing. Just goes to show how obvious cream and milk is when 'added' to wine. . . As with just about every Howard Park Chardonnay I have tried, there is much to like.

"Then it was all dark, and his white crib and the dim faces that moved above him, and the warm sweet aroma of the milk, faded out altogether from his mind."

Chateau Certan De May 1994

Pomerol, Bordeaux, France. 12.5%. Cork. Source: Gift from brother in law.

Despite (or because) of the obvious imperfections (brettanomyces), I found this enjoyable. Maturing and secondary, it is savoury with cedar and creamy oak. The structure is notable, probably more so because of the taint, with its combination of parching, slightly adhesive tannins. Rustic and quite charming.

Very good.
88.
Now - 2012.

Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese 2007

Mosel, Germany. Riesling. 8.5%. Cork. 375ml bottle.

If you don't count the Chandon NV (direct but short), the 2 glasses of 08 McHenry Hohnen Semillon Sauvignon blanc (green beans and grass), the sip of 05 Watershed Shiraz (vanilla laden) and the half bottle of 00 Tyrrell's Vat 47 Chardonnay (sappy and still kicking), I have had a wine free week. The sauce has been secondary and consumed with little thought. Even if my nose was functioning at 100%, my mind was distracted.

A veil of sulphur obscures the nose, but I imagine there are bruised green apples and wet stones. Somewhere. More pleasing in the mouth, though still reluctant and waiting. It is too soon you fool. Tea leaf and sugar cane, lime zest and apricot, the flavours roll and flow. Though the texture is teasing and playful, and the flavours rewarding, the secrets that might be there, are hidden away for the distant future.

Very good - excellent.
91+
2012 - 2025

Tuna and avocado

This is from the excellent Izakaya - The Japanese Pub Cookbook, by Mark Robinson. The recipes are pleasingly short and suited to alcohol, and they are interspersed with style tips and information about particular ingredients. Did you know for instance that it is considered rude to rub your chop sticks together? (*)

Though it is a beautiful, informative and evocative book of recipes, perhaps its best use, would be for planning an indulgent pub crawl through the streets of Tokyo.

How? Cut one avocado into cubes and coat with the juice of half a lemon. To this add 250 grams of sashimi grade tuna which has been diced. Now add the dressing (2 tbsp of soy, 1 tbsp of sake, quarter clove of garlic - crushed, 1/2 tbsp of sesame oil), then toss and top with finely chopped spring onion.

* Smoothing your chopsticks, implies they are substandard.

Any day now. . .

my nose will stop dripping and I will be able to breath, speak and smell. In the mean time I wonder if it is possible to capture a bottle image of what I hope this wine will taste of. An arc of lightness, crystal clear, fresh and pristine?

A vinous comma

I've started reading a small and beautiful book by Yoko Ogawa (and translated by Stephen Snyder). For a moment, I should be able to find my dose of stillness in words, rather than wine. It is such a contrast to PKD's vertiginous, but excellent book - Ubik, which left me anxious and disturbed.

Post script (July 11): Insomnia is easier in summer. The nights are warm and the shorter. . . I've completed The Housekeeper and the Professor, but so many questions and thoughts remain. I think for instance I am a prime number (based on the sum of my birth date and my inordinate stubbornness). As to the protagonist, there is something very pure about actions which take place without thought of reward or personal gain. The Professor is one such noble and tragic figure, with his 80 minute 'video tape' of live memory, his actions are based on first principles (the importance of prime numbers and the status of children) which have been hard wired. He looks and finds numbers, which provide him with comfort and significance. Like friends, the relationship between numbers are not always immediately obvious. It is a curious book, riddled with numbers and equations. It must work though, I'm still up in the middle of the night musing about the story and its secrets. . .

Isabel Sauvignon blanc 2008

Marlborough, New Zealand. Sauvignon blanc. 13.5% Screwcap. Approx $A25.

July 5 and at least four things collide. Infection (I would assume H1N1 / Swine flu), children, work and wine. I think Ogden Nash put it best:

Isabel met a troublesome doctor,
He punched and he poked till he really shocked her.
The doctor's talk was of coughs and chills
And the doctor's satchel bulged with pills.
The doctor said unto Isabel,
Swallow this, it will make you well.
Isabel, Isabel, didn't worry,
Isabel didn't scream or scurry.
She took those pills from the pill concoctor,
And Isabel calmly cured the doctor.

I can't decide if the wine smells of a sweaty armpit or a bowl of fruit salad. Either way its delicious and entirely appropriate for a mid morning birthday party. Not having tried an Isabel SB for over 5 years, this seems to have more flesh, texture and saltiness than I can recall.

Very good.
88.
Now - 2011.

RK by Giaconda Shiraz 2008

Beechworth, Victoria, Australia. Shiraz. 13.9%. Screwcap. Approx $A40

As with the Jack Reidy by Clonakilla, this is only available through one particular national retailer. It's an interesting exercise, tapping some of Australia's leading boutique producers for an exclusive line of wines. I'm a convert, happily picking up some of this, the Reidy and the RK Chardonnay.

I liked this. It does remind me (a lot) of the more expensive Giaconda Warner Shiraz, and it does nod to the Northern Rhone with its meatiness, though the note of eucalyptus on the nose is an early give away.

Enamel staining purple and black. Changeable and complex. To begin there is meat, pepper and a round soft note of vanilla. Crushed berries, bay leaf and eucalyptus. Powerful and in comparison to the last wine I tried (an 07 Rhone Syrah), sweet. Concentrated and multi-layered, this has a lovely silkiness and flow, while the tannins are seamlessly fine, creamy and emulsion like.

Very good - excellent.
92.
Now - 2018.

I've given this the same rating as the Clape Le Vin des Amis. Which of course highlights the absurdity of rating wine. I enjoyed both, and would happily buy more of each. I would also encourage a side by side taste test. The Clape is more beautifully scented, but it also has a hardness, with chalky, almost block like tannins. The RK has more flow, fat and sweetness. It is curved rather than angular.

Domaine Auguste Clape Le Vin des Amis 2007

Northern Rhône, France. Syrah. 12%. Cork. Approx $A50

A gorgeous wine. Fragrant, chiseled and chewy. Spice, musk and raw minced meat, but in time this becomes sappy and earthy. It reminds me a little of Burgundy with its suggestion of geosmin and freshly turned earth. Rounded to begin before showing its sinew and teeth. The structure and grip is quite something, a show of virility, with the chalky, meat like tannins giving a pleasing toughness.

Very good - excellent.
92.
Now - 2014.