2007 Peter Lehmann Margaret Semillon, Barossa Valley 11.5%

Leave your comment

Margaret Semillon Bottle 125x503Huon Hooke’s SMH Wine of the Week this week is this wonderful Semillon from the Barossa Valley. Huon writes …

‘This is simply a beautiful wine. Its low alcohol, un-oaked, early picked style does a good impersonation of a classic from the Hunter Valley. The colour is bright, medium-full yellow and it has a superbly aged, mellow bouquet of toasted bread, straw and lemon juice.’

‘It’s complex, mellow and layered on the palate with a dry but rich mouth-feel; soft and rounded and managing to build lots of flavours around a citrussy core. At six years, it is still delicate and refined, showing no sign of fattening up. A great wine, with or without food. Best now to five years. 11.5% alcohol. 96/100.’

Food: ‘Outstanding with most fish and shellfish dishes, especially delicately smoked salmon, gravlax, grilled scallops, sashimi and sushi.’

I (chrisonwine) still have a few bottles of the 2004 Margaret in the cellar and the last one we had was stunning; still developing and some distance to go, vive` la screw caps!

Other wines reviewed by Huon this week are:

Bargain of the week
2012 Hay Shed Hill Pitchfork Sauvignon blanc, Margaret River. 87/100

Top Aussie red
2009 Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon, Nagambie Lakes. 90/100

Best Rose`
2011 Chateau Roubine Cotes de Provence Cru Classe. 95/100

Top Aussie white
2012 Burge Family Winemakers Olive Hill Semillon, Barossa Valley. 93/100

Best import
2012 Neudorf Sauvignon Blanc, Nelson. 93/100

For the cellar
2011 Moses Rock Estate 3857 Caves Rd Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River. 94/100

2011 Pepper Tree Limited Release ‘Tallawanta’ Semillon Hunter Valley – 11.5%

Leave your comment

I wrote about thipepper tree tallawatta 2011s wine after a tasting trip late last year to the Hunter Valley; but in a day of tasting so many wines, though this wine made me stand up and take notice, there was always another wine we needed to look at. So here we are now 11/03/2013 pulling one of these out of the cellar for another look; no big deal, let’s just check out one of these before we get a red out for dinner. I think I made a mistake – this ain’t no wine to drink while thinking about what might be coming next.

The colour is very very pale straw with just a hint of light gold showing through.
The nose can be a bit disconcerting; initially it is a little confronting, vibrant grassy/lemongrass aromas with some asparaghas and even Asian spice. Then there are some floral aromas accompanied by an elegant note of tropical fruit (lychee). After settling there is an appealing ‘oiliness’ that seems to gently surround all of the above.
In the mouth the first thing that will hit you is the mouth puckering acidity, but that is just the beginning, because your mouth then becomes enveloped by an array of fruit flavours; rich and mouthfilling, and always with this core of bracing acidity that does not impede the inevitable flow of lemon, grassy and grapefuit flavours.

The finish is mouthcoating and long; all of the above reside, melding into one as it slides satisfyingly away. After it is all over you will be left with the haunting and long lingering flavours of lemon/lime citrus and acid.

James Halliday in the 2013 Australian Wine Companion notes:
‘Bright quartz; an altogether seamless and perfectly balanced Semillon, with a deceptive youthful delicacy to the classic flavours of lemongrass and lemon citrus, minerality and acidity providing the lifeline into a very long future. 11.5% alc. Rating 96.

OK this is a fine Hunter Valley Semillon, however it is but one of a countless number of Hunter Semillon’s, many of them in the same quality spectrum as this one.

This is an arresting wine, and destined to be a great wine. Try and find a few bottles so you can see what I mean.

As for food; well it probably needs to be something like lightly grilled seafood; seared scallops, salt and pepper squid, grilled whiting fillets witih garden salad, or as suggested it is a wonderful drink on its own.

2009 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz Victoria 13.5%

Leave your comment

This is Winestar’s 2012 winSeppelts chalambar 2009 smalle of the year and they are still drawing out last supplies to the market. Bert Werden has a lot of customers (including me), so he is not known for putting out something just to sell it, although of course he must in order to stay afloat. In fact over the years I must say I have found his wine judgements pretty sound; indeed Winestar has been the source of a great deal of the standout wines I have bought over the last several years.

In truth there are most likely up to a hundred wines that could have made the grade for this gong – so why this one. I do think Bert has a slight leaning to the ‘leaner’, more elegant, savoury, and lower alcohol wines of his native Victoria; and I do too, including both the shiraz and pinot noir varieties.

BW notes: ‘Deep, dark red. An intense and complex nose of dark berry aromas, sweet spice and dark chocolate nuances with underlying, integrated cedary oak. This dense medium to full bodied wine has fleshy palate weight with flavours of spicy dark berry fruits and chocolate, supported by velvety textural tannins and cedary oak. The finish is long with a savoury complexity. Cellaring Potential To 2030.’

My notes were thus (March 2013) >>> this is  a beguiling, intriguing wine; it’s colour is crimson red still with a purple tinge, the nose is of bright red fruits and peppery spice but has subsided a little since it’s first release. It’s in the palate that the wine sings. Medium bodied only but mouthfilling, superfine tannins and savoury notes add to the fragrant fruit; it still has a fine acid backbone, and the finish through the veil of tannins is harmonious, rich and lingering.

Anyway that’s all I can come up with for now, let’s look at what James Halliday had to say in the 2012 Australian Wine Companion.

‘Vivid colour; beautifully polished and highly perfumed red and black fruits, violets, black pepper and clove; truly medium-bodied, fresh, succulent and vibrant, with racy acidity, fine-grained tannins and great persistence; long, harmonious and seamless. A lovely wine. 13.5% alc. Rating 95.’

An additional review from James Halliday:

‘A wine label with a great heritage, and fulfils its birthright in every detail of the stylish bouquet and palate; black fruits, spice and black pepper enliven the long, medium-bodied palate, opening additional doors across its length and aftertaste; the tannin structure and oak are exemplary. Drink by: 2040; Date tasted: 28 Aug 2012; Price:$26.90; Alcohol:13.5%; Rating: 96 Points & Top 100 Wines of 2012 – James Halliday, The Weekend Australian, November 17-18, 2012

.

John Fordham of the Sunday Telegraph writes:

‘The 2009 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz ($26) and 2008 Seppelt St Peters Grampians Shiraz ($69) provide consummate evidence of fine winemaking and meticulous fruit selection. The Chalambar has been around for almost 60 years, a wine first brought to prominence by legendary winemaker Colin Preece. Fruit is sourced from two highly distinctive and contrasting wine regions, Grampians and Bendigo. The elegance and softness of the Grampians component tempers the bold strength of the Bendigo fruit delivering a wine with first-rate length and structure.’

And Ken Gargett of Spit Bucket adds the following, in case there was any doubt:

‘Time of writing, this wine is about to hit the bottleshops. What absolute cracking value it is. Fill the cellar. And it is a tribute to the winemaking skills of Emma Wood, as this is very impressive for the vintage. Black fruits, leather, black jellybeans, florals, aniseed, spice. This is towards the elegant end of the spectrum. Quite fine tannins. Plenty of length. This is a shiraz with breeding – and to say that about a wine at this price, from that vintage, you have to be impressed. Balance, finesse, intensity, a good future. Delicious. Have not seen too many better Chalambars, I suspect. 93 Points.’

As for me, I also have a few of these left from previous vintages going back to 2002, and not one of the bottles has cost more than $20. Every time we open one of the older bottles it is always a revelation; one of the earlier wines to to go screwcap, they are now opening full of vibrancy and complexity, layers of delight in every glass. This has to be a contender for the best cellaring sub $20 wine in Australia.

 

2004 Lake Breeze Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 14.5%

Leave your comment

Lakebreeze Cab 2004The loveliness of Langhorne Creek.  Sumptuous, rich, sweet, succulent, complex, flavoursome, delicious, moreish. These are thoughts that spring to mind when I think of the wines of Langhorne Creek in a a good vintage. This 2004 Lake Breeze Cab Sauv had not been tried for a couple of years; a revelation ensued.

Colour is deep inky red with a touch of purple still on the rim.
The nose is all rich and plush, plenty of spicy and creamy vanillin oak, with chocolate, blackcurrants and plums.
The palate is a mirror of the above, and feels medium to full bodied despite it’s 14.5% alcohol. It is a voluptuous wine, really rich, and with a quality coating of fine and solid tannins. The finish is long and plush and you do feel the alcohol as it slips by.

The bottle is festooned with trophies and medals, however is the antithesis of it’s fine boned namesakes from say, Margaret River. But that takes nothing away from the wine; it’s just different and no less likeable.

The wine is made by Greg Follett, a real character and lovely man, whose family have been farming in Langhorne Creek for more than 100 years. Surprising to many, this is one of the most fragile wine growing areas in Australia; down near Lake Alexandrina, the rainfall is pitifully low and unreliable, and access to water is difficult. In a year when the stars align, Langhorne Creek will produce some of the most intriguing and best value wines in Australia.

When you remember that this wine was purchased for well under $20 you begin to understand what a true bargain this is. Now nearly 10 years old the wine is still in perfect condition and developing beautifully.

I have not done yet myself, but I would suggest trying this with a fillet of kangaroo with redcurrant jus and roasted beetroot, I have three bottles left of the 2004, and that is what will accompany the next bottle.

If you are a student of Australian wine, look into the wineries of Langhorne Creek; it’s a small area so not hard to get to know the main players there. All the wines are a vinous bargain and most are readily available in the major retailers. You need to remember however, that Langhorne Creek suffers more than most from any vintage vagaries; heat wave in 2008, floods in 2011 are two recent tragic events. But the star winemakers of the region, like Greg Follett, will either make smaller amounts of wine in difficult years, or they won’t make it at all.

Get some Langhorne Creek love in a bottle and see what I mean.

 Page 1 of 80  1  2  3  4  5 » ...  Last »