Terre a Terre Summertown Reserve 2017

2017 was a warm, yet late, vintage and the finicky Pinot Noir required extra management to see it through a growing season. The extra care didn't stop in the vintage, with additional work from the winemakers hand.

Soft and succulent, red berry fruit awash across the nose. A slight sapid hint alludes to the inclusion of a small portion (15%) of whole bunch in the fermentation.

The palate a joyous unison of savoury, sweet, with textural elements - tannin and width. Seeing four weeks on skins for additional tannin extraction.

Latterly an element of blackcurrant peeks through, a sweet accent to a harmonious wine. 92 

Tasted on: Saturday 29th September 
Source: Sample
Price: $40
Alcohol: 14.2%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://terreaterre.com.au

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Cook's Lot Riesling 2018

Fresh and fragrant, it's all at you with its tropical ways. Think guava-esque notes and a dribble of lime, squeezed for added freshness. 

Minerally with a tang across the bow, it's long on flavour too. An initial intensity delivers a sensory assault, a burst and pop of flavour that brings with it more kaffir and brown lime. 

That length mentioned earlier then slowly draws the experience out, a lingering presence until the next intake. 92 

Tasted on: Sunday 30th September
Source: Sample
Price: $23
Alcohol: 12%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://www.cookslot.com.au/

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Daosa Natural Reserve NV

Badged as an NV wine, yet with 85% base wine from 2016 it could equally be declared as a vintage. It's also 85% Pinot Noir, the balance being Chardonnay. 

The Natural part refers - I think - to the addition of zero sulphur.

Delicate: quince, stonefruit, with a suggestion of brioche, buttery and sweet. It has the appearance of being softer in its presentation.

Biscuit, with a caramelised edge. A fine mousse and textural softness, more like an apricot Danish with respect to its flavour profile. Gentle length, ebbing along - sustained in its presence. 93 

Tasted on: Saturday 29th September

Source: Sample
Price: $40
Alcohol: 12.1%
Closure: Cork
Website: https://terreaterre.com.au

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Out of Step Wine Co. Margin Walker Sauvignon Blanc 2016

The 2016 guise of the Margin Walker comes from the Willowlake Vineyard (the 2015 being off of Lusatia Park, a fruit source prior to its acquisition by De Bortoli).

Made primarily from a single bin of fruit. It was sent to two one year old barriques to ferment naturally, and then mature. 

Smelling more like a mature Chardonnay, all honeyed and stone fruit rich. It simply oozes with charm and character. Texturally lavish, it comes with a vanilla and stonefruit profile - quite unlike any Sauvignon Blanc you’re like to have tasted before, unless of course it came from the Out of Step crew.

Grapefruit drops add further substance, and provide the lead in to a long, flowing finish. Simply put, this is quite exemplary Sauvignon Blanc. Words I don’t often write. 94 

Tasted on: Tuesday 2nd October
Source: Sample
Price: $34
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.outofstepwineco.com

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Margan White Label Semillon 2017

Lime and lemon butter, hints of lemon grass. Initially some menthol - but that had dissipated with some time. 

Soft and rounded, initially the acid quite flacid, again with time the energy gains. Soft and fleshy, has texture and width - enough meat about the bones, so to speak. 

More akin to something like a Roussanne. I'd hazard this will grow in stature with time. 91 

Tasted on: Sunday 30th September 

Source: Sample
Price: $30
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://www.margan.com.au

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Bremerton Racy Rosé 2018

Not too much to write about here. Safe Rosé by the numbers.

Sweeter Berry aromatics, toffee-apple, cranberry and a little rose. Needs a chill, there's sweetness and softness - a balancing phenolic edge, a welcome counterpoint. Length, OK. 89 

Tasted on: Saturday 29th September
Source: Sample
Price: $17
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.bremerton.com.au

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Out of Step Wine Co Summerhill Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2017

The OoS team are not only raising the bar for Sauvignon Blanc production in Australia, I'd actually hazard they're redefining the rules. 

Opening with a honeysuckle and citrus imbued aroma, with a suggestion of tropical fruit flowing underneath. There's the barest grassy hint in the frame, just SB's calling card - leaving its mark.

What I love here is the freshness, the acidity that just gives so much energy, and totally lacking the shrill that so often afflicts the variety. It feels so pure, so fresh. Redefining the variety. 93 

Tasted on: Monday 1st October
Source: Sample
Price: $30
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.outofstepwineco.com

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Cook's Lot Sauvignon Blanc 2018

Woooh, we've a live one here. This is all Gooseberry, Passionfruit with some lychee puree thrown in. Ultra-fresh. 

Has a fair bit of zest and mineral about it, rippling through the palate, dancing it's merry tinge across the tongue. 

The fruit makes itself known beyond the aromatic intro, a quality game being played. Another excellent value - and well made - wine from the Cook's. 91 

Tasted on: Tuesday 2nd October 
Source: Sample
Price: $23
Alcohol: 12%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://www.cookslot.com.au/

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Bremerton Betty & Lu Sauvignon Blanc 2018

Comes across fresh and vibrant, a veritable fruit salad of aromas (and indeed smells a little like chewy lollies of the same name I was rather fond of as a wee lad).

Clean and crisp, has hints of melon, Gooseberry and fresh herb. Zesty and lively across the finish. This will surely liven things up as you ponder the road (figuratively) ahead. 88 

Tasted on: Tuesday 2nd October 
Source: Sample
Price: $17
Alcohol: 12%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.bremerton.com.au

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Ferngrove King Malbec 2016

I was all too ready to dismiss this, it seemingly offering a reductive, sulphurous pong on first opening. It was meaty, gamey - smelling more like a Pinotage.

This was just in need of some air. From the reductive to the sublime, now more like an old school Grenache, singing its delicious Berry coulis tune. 

Seduction becomes its play, the soft texture bringing with it the red currant and nigh-raspberry flavour married to a graphite like tannin. 

What a transformation! 91 

Tasted on: Monday 24th September 
Source: Sample
Price: $32
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://www.ferngrove.com.au

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Cook's Lot Shiraz 2017

Smelling more like a Pinot on steroids - no bad thing - with a strong game of macerated strawberry and raspberry here. It comes across well. 

Soft, sensuous, vibrant and juicy - a light rub of tannin initially, firming up as it moves across the palate. From that initial intro, growing in stature and holding, lasting. 

Finish of generous proportions, greater than it itself promised. Good wine. 91

Tasted on: Thursday 27th September 
Source: Sample
Price: $22
Alcohol: 13.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://www.cookslot.com.au/

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Rymill The Yearling Rosé 2018

Berry, raspberry and cranberry in the main. There's a sweeter edge, perhaps like a little caramelisation.

Red fruit sweetness without being over-wrought. Powdery edge, as though brushed with talcum, provides a welcome aspect. 

Rather well, if perhaps simply, put together. Refreshing, pleasingly moreish. 88

Tasted on: Thursday 20th September
Source: Sample
Price: $15
Alcohol: 12.9%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.rymill.com.au

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Heartland Shiraz 2015

A crowd-pleaser for sure, with Ben Glaetzer's moniker writ large across it. 

It's a dark and rich mix of fruit, toasty oak remnants and a mix of spice that runs from pepper through sweeter accents like cinnamon. 

Dark chocolate, mocha notes dominate the palate - a deep wine to sink yourself into, it's comforting embrace familiar. 91

Tasted on: Thursday 20th September 
Source: Sample
Price: $19
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://heartlandwines.com.au

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Rymill The Yearling Sauvignon Blanc 2018

Zing combined with a little tropical shrill. Back palate loses a bit of shape before spreading on what can only be regarded as reasonable length. 

Up front it's a tropical riot over a herbal inflection: fennel tops, dill, perhaps a little creamy sage. It offers what Sauv does. And at $15 you'd be happy. 87 

Tasted on: Thursday 20th September
Source: Sample
Price: $15
Alcohol: 12.9%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: http://www.rymill.com.au

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Peter Lehmann The Barossan Shiraz 2016

With its faux leatherette label, along with carrying both the name of quite possibly the Barossa Valley's most famous winemaker AND perhaps claiming itself as a regional standard bearer through use of the definite article, the Barossan sure has much to live up to. 

Fortunately for fans of both PLW and the region, the wine won't fail to delight. It's a rich and hearty wine, offering toasted nuts and deep set Mulberry. 

It's a wine not shy of the oak that has supported its development, and is complimented by choc-mocha and hazelnut elements. It's delicate in the way it gently ebbs along to its finish. A good marker for the region. 91 

Tasted on: Sunday 16th September 
Source: Sample
Price: $20.95
Alcohol: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://www.peterlehmannwines.com

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Higher Plane Fume Blanc 2017

It would appear that the winery has moved onto the 2018 vintage now. Unsure if any stocks remain of this, a fine wine.

Smokey edge of complexity derived from the barrel fermentation. Lends a flinty, nutty edge to it.

The palate, a contrast - creamy, vanilla aspect. Latterly lighter and finer with, in the main, a creamy citrus aspect supplemented with fine herb. 91 

Tasted on: Saturday 15th September 
Source: Sample
Price: $25
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://www.higherplanewines.com.au

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Yaldara Reserve Chardonnay 2016

Selected from a single site vineyard of Bernard 94 clone (Chablis) of Chardonnay situated near Charleston in the Adelaide Hills. 

The fruit was hand harvester, with a portion of the juice (the unclarified part) sent to ferment in French oak (of which 20% was new). The pressings underwent a natural ferment. The wine matured in these barrels for 9 months with lees stirring for the first 6 months to build complexity.

Delicate, lightly spiced oak nose - a gentle almond paste and secondary stonefruit profile, lingering and wafting. Latterly it starts exhibiting a lime G&T profile, not entirely unpleasant I needn't add. 

Calm, assured - unhurried. Gently ebbing along and across the palate. Nothing over-done here, a gentle inter-play of oak and citrus centric fruit. 91 

Tasted on: Saturday 15th September 
Source: Cellar Door
Price: $ 40
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwap
Website: http://1847wines.com

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d'Arenberg The Money Spider Roussanne 2017

Opens with an edge like kumquat marmalade, with apricot nectar and sweeter nuances of honey.

Lime acidity, semblance of body and texture. There's aspect of honey and a savoury and spiced line on the finish. Good value Roussanne. 89 

Tasted on: Saturday 15th September 
Source: Sample
Price: $20
Alcohol: 12.9%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: https://www.darenberg.com.au

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Higher Plane Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2017

The Sauvignon leads here, a Gooseberry core fleshed out and supplemented with blackberry and grassy citrus from the Semillon. Fresh and herbal at its very heart. 

Grassiness flows onto the palate, adding further freshness and giving the wine the line and urgency that propels it. 

Purpose and a phenolic edge adding further substance. Well made wine. 92 

Tasted on: Saturday 15th September 
Source: Sample
Price: $23
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Website: www.higherplanewines.com.au

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