May 2017 ~ The Vinsomniac - Stuart Robinson

An Australian Wine Blog

Wednesday, 31 May 2017

Yaldara Ruban Cabernet Shiraz 2014

14:30 Stu.

Big changes at Yaldara. After some years in the corporate wilderness at the hands of AVL/ McGuigan wines, acquisition by a wealthy Sino-Australian businessman is breathing much needed life into the business. I had the good fortune to spend two days recently as guests...

2014 / Barossa Valley / Cabernet Sauvignon / Shiraz

Rymill The Dark Horse Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

08:30 Stu.

Much change at Rymill, with the Rymill family selling up in October 2016 to Chinese businessman Mr Ye, ending the Rymill involvement with the brant after some 42 years. A familiar tale across much of the wine industry. Cedar, Bay, blackcurrant - sweeter spice beyond...

2015 / Cabernet Sauvignon / Coonawarra

Tuesday, 30 May 2017

Karra Yerta Riesling 2009

14:30 Stu.

Karra Yerta was a fantastic label back in the day. Run by the lively Marie Linke, the Karra Yerta label sadly came to an end when the partnership behind the business sought to get out of the winemaking game. Marie was a fantastic story teller, someone who wore...

2009 / Eden Valley / riesling

Hither & Yon Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

08:30 Stu.

The only wine in the H&Y portfolio i've struggled with. Odd given their pedigree and the strength of the Cabernet on their home turf. Malt, black fruit, cedary seasoning. Medium veering to full. Good burst of flavour, concentrated black fruit, perhaps a little...

2015 / Cabernet Sauvignon / McLaren Vale

Monday, 29 May 2017

Mr. Riggs Ein Reise Riesling 2016

14:30 Stu.

Here's an interesting one. Look, at 30g of residual sugar it's always going to be a tough challenge to drink as a stand-alone wine. Paired with appropriate food - here some Thai Chilli Chicken - it simply lapped the Chilli up. It's all floral, citrus, tropicals...

2016 / Adelaide Hills / riesling

Bremerton Tamblyn 2014

08:30 Stu.

Offers up an inviting mix of savoury (Cab dominant) aromas with a bountiful element of sweet fruit. This flows into the palate, a sweet fruited, sugar dusted mouthful of wine. Pretty full, little roast beef and grainy tannin profile. Solid you'd say....

2014 / Cabernet Sauvignon / Langhorne Creek / Malbec / Merlot / Shiraz

Sunday, 28 May 2017

Mr Riggs 'The Magnet' Grenache 2015

14:30 Stu.

Ooh, smells pretty high-octane: less of the raspberry and softer red fruit, more toward the mulberry and plum. Fuller bodied, more of that red fruit shines here, take berries and masticate/ macerate to really bring to the fore. Tannin is present, fine-grained, a gentle...

2015 / grenache / McLaren Vale

Summit Estate Alto Tempranillo 2011

08:30 Stu.

Yes. From that vintage. What that doesn't tell, is of a wine purchased on the occasion of the first Queensland Wine Week in 2014. Those keen to find out more, can revisit the occasion of the coach trip to the Granite Belt through this promo video. It's dark, leathery, pruny, almost gamey in stature. At odds to this, the palate is light, silken. Soft red fruits, delicate sandy tannin....

2011 / Granite Belt / Tempranillo

Saturday, 27 May 2017

Mr Riggs Yacca Paddock Tempranillo 2015

14:30 Stu.

I've had to go on a bit of a diet of late, sometimes the enjoyment of life takes its toll. Paired this with some (diet version) Veal meatballs - a rather delicious pairing. Good Tempranillo just invites you in, regardless of the style aimed at typically offers an abundance...

2015 / Adelaide Hills / Tempranillo

Deakin Estate Chardonnay 2015

08:30 Stu.

Soft, floral, rounded, redolent of pears, lemony butter. Carries this with convinction through to the palate. Layered, some texture and lime-centric core. Freshening acid. It's of reasonable length. Not necessarily sure I would want to drink a heap of...

2015 / Chardonnay

Friday, 26 May 2017

Rob Hall Harriet's Vineyard Chardonnay 2015

14:30 Stu.

Citrus, buttermilk, wheaten, with peach-fuzz sensory of delicate stonefruit. Medium weight, minerally, awakens the senses with a burst of acid. Citrussy acid and flavour. Little textural feel to proceedings. It's well balanced, doesn't seem to shout of any...

2015 / Chardonnay / Yarra Valley

Rob Hall Yarra Valley Cabernets 2015

08:30 Stu.

A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (80%), Merlot (15%) and Petit Verdot (5%). Smoke and ash sitting atop florals, dusky blackcurrant and the like. Fair twist of seasoning. An easy going, languid style - initially. Perks up a little through the mid palate, perky...

2015 / Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot / Petit Verdot / Yarra Valley

Thursday, 25 May 2017

Alkoomi White Label Chardonnay 2015

14:30 Stu.

Plenty of which peach, a little toast too. Perfect - what you want and just gently hums: "Chardonnay". Bit of toastiness - perhaps a little overdone, four and not three on the dial. Certainly gives carry, but in a bitter manner. Given where Aus Chardonnay is,...

2015 / Chardonnay / Great Southern

Chateau Yaldara Reserve Shiraz 2013

08:30 Stu.

A whopping 16% alcohol, a wine that's dark, chewy, leathery - almost Biltong like, giving the hint to that size. Dense, concentrated, black fruit, almost tarry; the oak is shouting at the top of its lungs, and the black tarry fruit is more than a match in this slanging...

2013 / Barossa Valley / Shiraz

Wednesday, 24 May 2017

Mr Riggs Mrs Viognier 2015

22:27 Stu.

Subtle wafts of Apricot on show here, sitting atop a floral/ dried grassy/wheaten undertow. Quite fine structured, elegant, crisp and snappy. Stonefruit hints, minerally. Avoids the overblown, blowsiness that can afflict. Shows a little oiliness by way...

2015 / McLaren Vale / Viognier

Tuesday, 23 May 2017

La Linea Lenswood Mencia 2016

18:32 Stu.

I've a curious soft spot for Mencia, after having been lured in to the variety via a magnificent example from Guimo. Of course, a few Aussies are now having a play with the variety, of which d'Arenberg's stab is also reviewed on these pages. Anyway, i'd long since give...

2016 / Adelaide Hills / Lenswood / Mencia

Thursday, 18 May 2017

d'Arenberg Darry's Original Shiraz Grenache 2014

12:01 Stu.

Classic blend, nigh legendary wine from McLaren Vale's d'Arenberg. Faintest whiff of a reductive note on show - certainly not an expressive beast on first showing. A little time reveals something of more a savoury bent: earthen, cedary, spiced, yet there's blackberry and...

2014 / grenache / McLaren Vale / Shiraz

Friday, 12 May 2017

Mr. Riggs Montepulciano d'Adelaide Hills 2015

14:30 Stu.

Alluring. Carries the Monte prettiness with purple florals, black fruit and eucalyptus over underlying vanillin oak. It's pretty, a sure fire hit on aromatics. Jam packed with black fruit, spice, in the main pepper. There's a freshening vanilla hit, back to blueberry....

2015 / Adelaide Hills / Montepulciano

Cush & Cush Wine Co 300 Grenache 2016

08:30 Stu.

Just 300 bottles made, hence the name. Deep, earthy, beetroot-esque; black fruit starts to gently shine through against that altogether more serious proposition. There's a suggestion of stem inclusion, via the earth, but really with time it's the fruit that starts...

2016 / Greache / McLaren Vale

Thursday, 11 May 2017

Yaldara Reserve GSM 2013

18:00 Stu.

Stalwart blend from the Barossa, unsure of the specificities of the cepage. Draws a pristine, long Cork on opening. Sweet black fruited nose: mulberry, blackberry, as you wish. Alluring, intoxicating, inviting. There's a little oak, providing a frame for what is the...

2013 / Barossa Valley / grenache / Mataro et al / Shiraz

Wednesday, 10 May 2017

Gartelmann Sarah Elizabeth Chardonnay 2015

14:30 Stu.

Lemon sherbet dusted over a little oak seasoning. Significant portion of barrel fermentation that is communicated both aromatically and via the palate Minerally, spicy twists, both freshening and yet with an underlying depth. I've not always been the biggest...

2015 / Chardonnay / Hunter Valley

Out of Step Wine Co, Lusatia Park D Block Sauvignon Blanc 2016

08:30 Stu.

It's hard not to replicate what the Out of Step Crew post: 2016 (was) our 5th year of making wine. Along the way I feel we’ve transitioned from getting excited about varieties we’d like to make to really thinking about the vineyards we work with & what varieties will...

2016 / Sauvignon Blanc / Single Vineyard / Yarra Valley

Tuesday, 9 May 2017

La Bise Sangiovese 2015

14:30 Stu.

This is just what I want, perhaps expect, from a well priced Sangiovese. It doesn't want for a decent amount of fruit - a small portion of the wine is rack dried amarone style to get some good concentration. Even with that fruit it offers up herbal, savoury twists,...

2015 / Adelaide Hills / sangiovese

Yaldara Ruban Shiraz 2014

08:30 Stu.

Milk choc, mulberry, kinda wafery with some suggestion of residual oak (old, not new). Latent blackcurrant shines through. Middle lacks some assertion, wanting from what the aromatics suggest. Mix of black fruit in the main, fresh, and freshening. Finishes well on the...

2014 / Barossa Valley / Shiraz

Monday, 8 May 2017

Tim Adams 'The Fergus' 2014

14:30 Stu.

A blend that's ben around the traps for years. Nice touch naming the wine after a grower (oft overlooked) for stepping in with some fruit during a shortage of Cabernet and Shiraz. Gum leaf, berry fruit, expressly aromatic. Touches of blue fruit (Temp). Medium bodied,...

2014 / Clare Valley / grenache / Malbec / Tempranillo

Hither & Yon Grenache Mataro 2016

08:30 Stu.

Nigh on pitch-perfect 60/40 blend of two listed players. There's just something so wickedly, consistently, deliciously moreish about H&Y reds. This no exception, it extracts a juicy, jubey aromatic without straying too far towards confection. Call it an allure,...

2016 / grenache / Mataro et al / McLaren Vale

Sunday, 7 May 2017

Yaldara Ruban Grenache 2014

19:17 Stu.

Ripe and rich, pronounced black fruit, smidgen of red rounding out, top spice, oak. Sandy soil perhaps? Expressive nonetheless. Very full, but with a disarming lightness. Black currant, licorice, a little back palate freshness, salinity. Moderate length, and like me...

2014 / Barossa Valley / grenache

Friday, 5 May 2017

Margan Breaking Ground Barbera 2015

14:30 Stu.

The Hunter Valley is a long way from Barbera's traditional home of Italy's Piedmont wine region. Andrew Margan took cuttings from Carlo Carino's Montrose Vineyard in Mudgee to establish this vinous immigrant back in 1998. Pouring a vibrant garnet colour, that visual...

2015 / Barbera / Hunter Valley

Yelland & Papps Second Take Grenache 2016

08:30 Stu.

Fragrant, floral, a feast of aromatic intensity. Evokes crushed berries, raspberries - without being jubey - and just a delightful fruit/ sour balance. Soft, plush, velvety. Intensity of flavour: burst of berry goodness, with a fine raspy tannin that builds to...

2016 / Barossa Valley / grenache

Thursday, 4 May 2017

Angullong Fossil Hill Sagrantino 2015

14:30 Stu.

Bright, floral in initial introduction - lurking underneath, a more savoury bent. It's a little fennel seed like, a grind of nutmeg. Full, big grippy tannins that dominate the palate - its varietal, for sure. Tannins that seem to morph into fine, powdery tannins. Needs...

2015 / Orange / Sagrantino

Clovely Estate Barbera 2015

08:30 Stu.

Interesting to taste this example alongside Andrew Margan's Hunter Valley example. Exhibiting that hallmark sour cherry for which the variety is famed, it also carries a more savoury line, a little time under oak lending some spice and oak derived aromas. Deliciously...

2015 / Barbera / Queensland / South Burnett

Wednesday, 3 May 2017

Tim Adams Semillon 2014

14:30 Stu.

Citrus, butter menthol, hints of lanolin, waxed/ candied lime. Curious citrus, touch honeyed. Gravelly, quartz like across the palate, somewhat disjointed - but I like it. Bold, generous length, keen to see what becomes of it. 90+ Tasted on: Friday 10th February,...

2014 / Clare Valley / Semillon

Out of Step Wine Co. Denton Hill View Chardonnay 2016

08:30 Stu.

Hand picked, pressed to barrel and then wild yeast fermented. Matured in 10% new/90% used French oak barriques and hogsheads. Full MLF, no fining, racked, settled (but not filtered) and then into bottle. No additions other than sulphur dioxide. Delicate stone fruit...

2016 / Chardonnay / Yarra Valley

Tuesday, 2 May 2017

Zonte's Footstep Love Symbol Grenache 2015

16:30 Stu.

Interesting one, in that the palate off the bat delivers far more than the aroma suggests. Aromatically it just comes across as somewhat mute, not really offering up a lot - needing some time to wake, unfurl. Quite fleshy, lolls and rolls across the tongue, quite...

2015 / grenache

Zonte's Footstep 'Baron Von Nemesis' Shiraz 2015

12:35 Stu.

Beautifully sweet fruited nose, hints of burned orange, satsuma plum, choc-orange. Succulent, fresh, vital palate - medium veering to full. Kinda blossoms, grows in stature in the palate. Sweet edged, darker spicier tinged. Lovely balance of the two. Balance, yes. 92 Tasted...

2015 / Barossa Valley / Shiraz

Zonte's Footstep Lake Doctor Shiraz 2015

08:30 Stu.

Smells pretty ripe, pruney, gamey meat. Coconut, mint, satsuma plum, fresher than the nose suggests; freshness keeps alcohol in check. Minor back palate bitterness. Goes alright, served at the appropriate temp (as with all). 90 Tasted on: Monday 6th February,...

2015 / Langhorne Creek / Shiraz

Monday, 1 May 2017

K1 by Geoff Hardy Autumn Harvest Riesling 2016

14:30 Stu.

Late harvest and naturally botrytised Riesling from the Adelaide Hills, picked some 11 weeks later then K1 would do for a table Riesling. No mistaking the style of the wine on aroma: sweet, smells unctuous, a veritable cocktail of stonefruit with a key lime edge to it....

2016 / Adelaide Hills / riesling

Mac Forbes EB26 Meunier 2016

08:30 Stu.

From the Mac Forbes Experimental Batch (EB) range. The label comments how it's rare to find an old patch of Pinot Meunier in the Yarra Valley. The fruit here being drawn from a 2 acre plot planted back in the 80s. Pours an incredibly light, radiant hue, looking more like...

#Vegan / 2106 / Pinot Meunier / Yarra Valley

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