Bindi Block 5 2008

Macedon, Victoria, Australia. Pinot noir. 14%. Diam. Approx $A90

Is it possible for something to be delicate and yet overwhelming? Straight from the wine cabinet at the end of a working week this smelt pretty, sleepy and every so delicate. Slippery and laden with raspberries and stems there is a trace of cream and softness. Temperature has made the nose modest and timid. . . With my first sip, it seems my whole substance has been immersed and woken. The succulence and intensity is quite superb, this is bright, searing and evocative. I've scrawled a whole page of adjectives and in retrospect, none of my words capture the impact. Vibrant, enveloping, complex (smoke, char, cream, cherries, flow, grace, tang, softness, apparent sweetness. . .) and lingering. 95. Now - 2015.

Tyrrell's Belford Semillon 2002

Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia. Semillon. 10.5%. Cork. Approx $A40.

After feeling how prickly this fig leaf is, I can see why they invented underpants; and after smelling how dodgy and tainted this cork sealed bottle of semillon is, I can see (yet again) why the answer is screwcap. . .

Despite the taint, which ruins the nose, the wine retains its zip and saltiness.

Australia Day 2010

A shy rock crab, possibly a yellow Leptograpsus variegatus @ Mettam's pool.

Moric Necken Markter Blaufrankisch 2006

Austria. Blaufrankisch. 13%. Cork (mostly stained). Approx $A75.

I tried four praiseworthy wines today. A 2002 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling, sealed with cork, which was mature and showing a hint of honey and oxidation. More impressive was the 2008 Brookland Valley Estate Chardonnay, which was Margaret River through and through, with a lovely combination of peach-skin, grapefruit and butterscotch. Tight, lively and quite gorgeous. I also was impressed by the 2005 Balnaves the Tally Reserve Cabernet sauvignon which was still showing plenty of creamy oak and ginger spice, some (me) would say the woodwork is still a little too dominant and intrusive.

The Moric is very curious and quite pleasing, though I suspect it will be even more rewarding in years to come. Leafy and brisk with plenty of sap, earth and stems, it reminded me of a young Baby Jesus. Bold, wild and clean, I liked the assertive tannins and the bright vigour. 92+. 2012 - 2020.

More Moric and Blaufränkisch information can be found here.

Bründlmayer Kamptaler Terrassen Riesling 2007

Kamptaler Terresen, Austria. Riesling. 12%. Screwcap. Approx $A33.

Once the sulphur fog lifts, this is quite enjoyable. Tight and edgy, I thought there was trace of peanut skin rancio - which is is very odd, but very effective. Smelling of flint, mustard fruit and lemon juice on warm stones. This is very tart and chalky in the mouth, at times giving the impression of being salty. 88. Now - 2015.

Domaine A 'Stoney Vineyard' Cabernet sauvignon 2004

Coal River Valley, Tasmania, Australia. Cabernet sauvignon. 13.5%. Diam. Approx $A25.

Tasmania's Coal River Valley is more or less 43 degrees South of the equator. This seems a cold and unwelcoming place for Cabernet, until your realise that Bordeaux is an equal latitude North of zero. . .

Despite the heat outside (the third day in a row where the temperature exceeded 41 degrees Celsius) I found this wine inviting and enjoyable. It's quite pure and primary and the nose is all fruit to begin with, though in time there is a whiff of spiced oak and small goods. A sweet blackcurrant nose - like a freshly opened bottle of Ribena (call it creme de cassis if you must). Satisfying, mouth-filling, plush and graphite rimmed. I'm not sure what more you could want from a $25 Cabernet. 91. Now - 2016.

Cullen 'Kevin John' Chardonnay 2007

Margaret River, Western Australia. Chardonnay. 13.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A75.

I wonder if there are plans to produce an Edward Cullen wine (a sangiovese perhaps). . . Up until last week I associated the name Cullen, with the esteemed medical and wine producing family behind this superb chardonnay (The Kevin 07). Now I think of teenage vampires. . .

"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."

A superb wine which has been manicured and made up with all the usual White Burgundy tricks. Flinty and sulfurous to begin, I can imagine stones and very little oxygen. Sap and spice, white nectarine and under-ripe pineapple. In the mouth it is layered and complex and certainly one of the better Margaret River chardonnays I've tried for some time. I found the fleeting and unusual note of tangerine and ripe mandarin captivating, while the seams of assertive acidity and controlled butterscotch and essence like texture give this wine a beautiful shape. 95. Now - 2017.

Ad Hoc Riesling 2009

Mt Barker, Great Southern, Western Australia. Riesling. 12.3%. Screwcap. Approx $A17

I like the label of this wine, partly because I have two identical lampshades at home. . . Quite similar, but much better than the previous (2006) vintage. This is a much more direct and simple wine that the pricier Cherubino, and it will of course live for longer than my drinking window, but it is so bright and zippy, it seems a shame to watch it age. . . Bath salts, citrus blossom, and lime zest. Refreshingly direct and spiked with lemon, grapefruit and a trace of fennel. 91. Now - 2012+

Gobelsburg Riesling 2007

Austria. Riesling. 12.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A22.

From the book:

"In the process of furnishing the house, the recurrent problem was where to find room for all my books. I was not a book collector, but I acquired them avidly, and for any variety of reasons. I bought books to read immediately, books to read some time in the future, books that might be useful for research, books that looked good to me or might look good to others. Many I bought for no reason at all, on one whim or another. And after a time there was nowhere to put them. The alcoves were all shelved, occasional bookcases bedecked the walls of the hallways, bedrooms, kitchen and study. Piles of books grew like spores, and prospered. The house was infested with them."

From the bottle:

I've scribbled, flint, sulphur and lime zest. This is correct, but as I type and swirl, I can smell camphor balls. . . An initial spritzig, which distracts and seems to give the wine a cold hardness, the image of rain on metal comes to mind. Even once the CO2 recedes, there remains a sappy green edge and bracing lemon juice acidity. Some would call it minerality. . . To this antipodean palate, this reminds me of South Australia and the Eden Valley. 89. Now - 2014.

Bánh mì

I ate my first Vietnamese roll (Bánh mì) less than a year ago, and though I have eaten only a half dozen of these delights in the intervening months, I think about them obsessively. It's curious that such a simple thing can taste so delicious and so strongly of its birthplace.

Brown Brothers Patricia Noble Riesling 2006

King Valley, Victoria, Australia. Riesling. 8.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A30.

I've scrawled a whole page of possible descriptors for this pert, confection like sticky. Sugar cane, marmalade, honey, tea leaf. . . Simple, lush, playful, persistent. . . In the end, I keep returning to the image of Suchard Sugus sweets, which I used to greedily consume. It's that concluding combination of sticky sweetness and acidity after you have had one sweet too many. 90. Now - 2013.

Cherubino Riesling 2009

Porongurup, Great Southern, Western Australia. Riesling. 12.2%. Screwcap. Approx $A31.

Please sir, may I have some more. . . This is a fantastic wine and perhaps the most peppery Australian riesling I have tried. I wonder if it is the vintage, the 09 Isolation Ridge seemed to have a shake of white pepper too.

It starts on the nose with a playful tickle of pepper, which complements the slate and lime zest. The spice builds to a crescendo in the mouth, giving this wine a dimension which is quite apart from its local peers. This is no one trick wine - the texture is superb, mouth filling and fleshy and there is a distinct impression of kaffir lime leaf and stones. Intense, pulsating acidity and telescopic length. 95. Now - 2020.

Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay 2006

Margaret River, Western Australia. Chardonnay. 14.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A85.

The observant will notice the pictured grapes have nothing to do with chardonnay, it's a humble muscat vine, which is located at the Museum of Western Australia and supposedly dates back to 1850, when the museum was then the local gaol and the execution yard was just around the corner. It's a rather tenuous link to the Art Series, but look carefully and you will see some millerandage . . .

2006 according to the back label was the coldest Summer ever recorded in Margaret River.

Pale and characteristically bristling nose. Leesy, flint, peach skin and pineapple. Chubby and loose in the mouth, with vanilla, cream and butterscotch, the strands are eventually brought together, though perhaps the wine could do with some more tension and bite. 92. Now - 2014+

Another opinion and tasting note.

Yoga and wine

There was a time, maybe a decade ago, when wine was less important and yoga was my obsession. I knew more about Iyengar than Parker. I could reach my toes, do a passable downward dog and a more or less unsupported, though wobbly headstand. Then came children, wine, and eventually a move from the city to the suburbs. I forgot, became stiff in places and flabby in others. Perhaps it is the new year and a delayed reaction to turning 40, but I've retrieved my mat from the laundry cupboard and rediscovered pain and my hamstrings.

Image: Sri Veeramakaliamman temple, Little India, Singapore.

Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2008

Canberra, Australia. Shiraz, Viognier. 14%. Screwcap. Approx $A75.

I took delivery of a large bag of Manjimup cherries, picked less than a day ago and hand delivered to my doorstep. The fruit are in clumps of eights and twelve and the toothed leaves are still attached - they taste, I had to try, like a cross between grass and cherries, with very little bitterness at all.

Like the cherries, the wine in question has a lovely succulence and unity of flavour and impact. This is the seventh vintage I've tried and though it seems a little heavier, grainier and more tar flavoured than I can recollect, like it's siblings (02,03,04,05,06,07) the quality is without dispute.

Spice, dried citrus peel, musk and raw meat. Grainy and gripping, juicy and fleshy, the mouth feel is superb, and despite the 39.9 degrees Celsius outside, it is compelling. 93+ Now - 2025.

Domaine Les Pallières Gigondas 2005

Gigondas, Rhone, France. Grenache, Shiraz. 14.5%. Cork. Source: cellar.

15 minutes left of 01/01/10 and a sudden urge to blog. . .

I've been reading Lord of the Flies, a known unknown as it were, a book I would discuss at school in English Literature classes, in the same breath as our curriculum text, Heart of Darkness. Attending an all male school, I wonder if the notion of wild, face painting, pig hunting, schoolboys was considered too close to reality. Thank goodness I escaped in time.

All the talk of the ocean and waves drew me to the beach today. Combing around at Mettam's pool, looking at the sea anemone (white, brown and green ones), chiton, crabs and sea snails, I found myself in Piggy's shoes. . .

Piggy was mooning about, aimlessly picking up things and discarding them. The rock-pools which so fascinated him were covered by the tide, so he was without interest until the tide went back. . . Piggy wore the remainders of a pair of shorts, his fat body was golden brown, and the glasses still flashed when he looked at anything.

Tasting note: Smells of freshly killed pig, stuffed with cherries and seasoned with pepper and dried herbs. Slightly acetic, dusty and sharp. Quite hard, grainy and stern to begin, but in time this loosens and takes on more plum, without ever dropping the suggestion of meat and blood. 90-92. Now - 2015+