Posts Tagged 2010
V for Victory! Err… I mean Victoria (Part 2)
Posted by eatbikelove in Australian Wines, Producer Wine Tasting on December 20, 2013
Post the visit to Yarra Valley, it was now time to visit the other Pinot Noir and Chardonnay region in Victoria, Mornington Peninsula.
However, since we were in Melbourne, no morning will be complete without trying the famous Australian coffee (aka. flat white). So after a quick search online, we decided to visit St Ali which was closeby.
The place looked very cool and had a nice rustic charm to it.
Refreshed and woken up, it was time to set off to Mornington Peninsula. Our first stop was Merricks General Store in Merrick, the eastern end of Mornington Peninsula.
Merricks is actually a popular restaurant. It is a JV between 3 local wineries so natrually they have a cellar door to taste a massive selection of wines from 3 producers… a 3 in 1 bargain!
First up were 2 Viogniers from 2 different producers.
Elgee Park Viognier 2009
Nose: Not much nose to speak off. Perhaps the wine was served too cold?
Taste: A simple fruity and tangy texture.
Finish: Short finish of c5 seconds
Baillieu Viognier 2011
Nose: Lychee, sweet fruits
Taste: Fruity with a light to medium body
Finish: Short 5 second finish
Next up was Quealy Fruilano 2012
The Fruilano grape is a local grape from the region.
Nose: Light lemony nose, bit like a Sauvignon Blanc
Taste: Medium bodied
Finish: Short 5 sec finish
This was followed by Pobblebonk 2012 which seemed to pack a different selction of white grapes…
Nose: Fresh white flower, hint of honeycomb
Taste: Smooth white fruity balance. Low acidity
Finish: Short finish of 10 seconds.
Surprisingly Pobblebonk works and tastes great! I would recommend everyone to at least give it a try.
Quealy Moscato
Nose: Good muscat grape nose. Hint of greeness and cut grass
Taste: Bubbly with a nice hint of sweetness
Finish: Short 5 sec finish
Queally Musk Creek Pinot Noir 2010
Nose: Simple singular fruity nose
Taste: Medium bodied with strong acidity.
Finish: 10 sec finish
This is another one of those weird blends with an equally cool label to match
Nose: Red fruits, red berries
Taste: Good body and balance. The red fruit does carry over to the taste along with a low acidity
Finish: 10 sec finish
Baillieu Reserve Pinot Noir 2010
Nose: red and black fruits. Good perfume
Taste: Good balance, fruity and slightly tannic
Finish: 10 sec finish
Queally 17 rows Pinot Noir 2011
Nose: muted fruit nose and not that pronounced.
Good acidity but that seems to overpower the fruit at this moment.
Finish: Long 25 sec finish.
A good wine but 2011 wasn’t a good year so the fruit did not really shine.
We finally finished with a muscat rose
Nose: Sweet strawberries, lychees and roses
Taste: good body and balance. Decent sweetness but not overpowering.
Finish: 15 second finish.
After having a chat with the kind sommelier, he kindly informed us that Quealy is having a clear skins garage sale. That sounded perfect so off we went to pay the vineyard a visit.
We were greeted by a very observant front of house.
Quealy Balnarring Pinot Noir 2012
A simple and easy to drink Pinot Noir. Sometimes, there is no point in making wine too complex :-P.
After an extensive visit to the visit, then it was time for a quick lunch and then off to Montalto
This is what happens when you do not have enough wine!
Montalto Hawkins Hill Chardonnay 2011
Nose: Fruity- lemon, apple and white pear
Taste: Good backbone and structure
Finish: 15 second finish.
By this time my friend and I were Chardonnay’ed out. So we decided to visit a vineyard which had won a lot of awards but was off the beaten track.
Ocean’s Eight (No the proprietor is not George Clooney) supposedly makes fabulous pinot noirs and the vigneron allegedly trained in Burgundy… so this must be good…
The cellar door itself looks very pretty. It was simple (no french castles here) but still presented nicely.
We were served by a very nice (and good looking) young winemaker, but what really caught my eye were the burgundy wine bottles on the top shelf!
As for the wines, they are quite well made.
Oceans Eight Pinot Noir 2010
Nose: Red fruits, strawberry, red cherries and hint of spice.
Taste: Good fruit balance and low tannins. A typical cool climate wine
Finish: Decent 20 second fruity finish.
Aylward Reserve Pinot Noir 2010
Nose: Red fruits, cassis, hint of dark cherries
Taste: Fruity taste, good balance and overall a more elegant wine
Finish: 25 second finish
Aylward Reserve Pinot Noir 2009
Nose: Red cherries, hint of vanilla. fruit forward but still a very burgundian nose
Taste: Nice balance and a rounded texture. Silky smotth. Good fruit and a good tannic body.
Finish: 25 second finish
We were really trying to squeeze in as many cellar doors as possible now. We were very lucky to be able squeeze into Prancing Horse. A beautiful estate which winemaker was an ex-Accenture consultant. The owner (tony Hancy) told us that his Prancing Horse wine (the Pony) are currently being served on Qantas’ business class routes. Classy stuff! However that was not the biggest surprise, he also has a vineyard in Burgundy and was only too keen to crack opena few bottles to share (or compare).
Unfortunately to me, I felt Tony shot himself in the foot as the Morey St Denis was just sublime (when one ignores the price).
Prancing Horse, Morey St Denis, Clos des Ormes 2007
Nose: Red berries, raspberries, red cherries, hint of spice and light soya sauce
Taste: Lovely balance, beautiful fruit profile, good acidity and sweet tannins.
Finish: 20 second finish
Sadly, after I tasted this burgundy, it just did it in for me for all pinot noirs that day. No matter, Paringa Estate, which is just up the road, makes very good Pinot so hopefully they can salvage some credit for the Mornington Peninsula.
This was sadly our last stop in Mornington Peninsula… but what a view!
Imagine sitting down by the window, sipping wine and soaking in the magnificent view… ahhhhh bliss!
Paringa Estate Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2010
Nose: a bit of heat, Lemon fruits
Taste: Good rounded texture. The fruit envelops the mouth. Good balance and acidity.
Finidh: 15 second finish
Paringa Estate Peninsula Pinot Noir 2011
Nose: Strawberry, fruit forward nose, red fruits
Taste: Simple fruity texture
Finish: 15 second finish
Paringa Estate Peninsula Pinot Noir 2009
Nose: Dense red fruits, Cassis and hint of black berries
Taste: Smooth Texture, red fruit carries throughout the palate. Slight acidity but good tannins.
Finish: 15 second finish
Paringa Estate Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009
Nose: Dense and concentrated. Red berries, hint of cassis and liquorice.
Taste: Very good balance, sweet tannins and a super smooth texture.
Finish: 25 second finish
This wine is very elegant and is a bigger but finer wine than the non single vineyard version. Lovely wine! Shame about the price (over A$100 a bottle)!
This was a very successful trip and deepened my understanding of Aussie new world wines. It was now time to drive back to Melbourne and there was just one last drink to try before making the journey back…
… a well needed Piccolo.
Grand Cru Burgundy extravaganza… Is it worth it?
Posted by eatbikelove in Wine Tasting Notes on December 8, 2013
Ahhh Burgundy, the reference point of all pinot noirs. What is it about this region that makes its wine so intoxicating and so alluring? Is this a temporary infatuation or is this permanent love?
Frankly, Burgundy is a very complex region to understand. Not only are there so many different villages, there’s also the different grading of vineyards within the same village… and we haven’t even begun talking about the producers yet. Yes there are the famous producers such as DRC, Leroy, Rousseau, Mugnier which I think you need to be a billionnaire or win the lottery to be able to afford and drink nowadays (burgs being the latest Chinese craze is adding fuel to the fire) but somehow I doubt these wines score highly in the quality to price ratio. Which is why I jumped when I was presented with an opportunity to taste some of these Grand Cru wines at a specially held dinner by BBR. Since we are talking Grand Cru here, I have also taken the opportunity to add some of my other GC Burgundy drinking notes.
The wines for the dinner was shown in pairs by region, Corton Charlemagne for the whites, Musigny for the first red flight followed by Clos Vougeot.
First the pair of Corton GC
Benjamin Leroux Corton Charlemagne 2010 GC
Nose: Lovely showy nose. Honey, white flowers, pear and a hint of butterscotch
Taste: A lovely balance with a good velvety texture. Full bodied and relatively fruit forward.
Finish: A lovely 20 sec+ sweet finish
Patrick Javilier Corton Charlemagne GC 2010
Nose: Mineral with a hint of white flower. This nose is a lot more subdued when compared next to Leroux
Taste: Light medium bodied, fine acidity with minerality lingering . A more classic style
Finish: 20 Sec light finish
As the night wore on, the wine began to open up more and the fruits then decided to come out to play…
Mugnier Le Musigny GC 2007
Colour: Light red ruby
Nose: Compact and very herby. Red fruits with a hint of Asian spice.
Taste: Light to medium bodied, strong acidity but a good structure. Hint of pepper and asian spice
Finish: 20 sec finish which I felty was a tad short given the quality of the producer and the vineyard.
This wine is light with good structure. One can just about taste the red fruits but they were quite subdued and required time to open up. Is this wine worth £400 a bottle???
Domaine De la Vougeraie Le Musigny GC 2007
Colour: Deep red colour
Nose: Sweet red fruits, hint of cassis and vanilla
Taste: Medium bodied with a good velvety texture, good fruit length.
Finish: 25 second sweet tannic finish.
A lovely wine which I actually prefer over Mugnier’s
Meo Camuzet Clos Vougeot GC 2002
Colour: Dark Red with a hint of purple
Nose: Hint of vegetal dryness, red and black fruits with a hint of cassis
Taste: Good and velvety smooth texture. Medium Bodied and feels a bit hollow towards the end.
Finish: Shorth-ish 15 sec finish.
Meo Camuzet Clos Vougeot GC 2000
Nose: Hint of Vanilla, red fruits and boiled sweets
Taste: Good velvety texture, red fruits with a hint of Asian spice. Ezxcellent balance.
Finish: 25 seconds of gorgeous fruity tannins.
What a lovely wine. I was surprised that I prefered this wine to the 2002 and also to the Musigny’s. My WOTN.
The following notes were from subsequent dinners which I was lucky enough to saviour some excellent GC burgundies.
Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne GC 2008
Nose: White fruits, white flowers and honey, hint of minerality and butterscotch.
Taste: Light medium bodied with good fruit following through. Low acidity and good balance
Finish: 20 sec finish
Grivot Richebourg GC 2006
Nose: very dense nose, raspberry, hint of blackcurrant, black cherries, violet and vanilla
Taste: medium full bodied, good acidity, dense fruit with an excellent balance. Sweet tannins
Finish: 30 second finish of concentrated fruits and sweet tannins
A lovely wine. Shame it is so ridiculously expensive!
Tasted Nov 2013
Colour: Dark red, very youthful even though it has been in bottle for over 7+ years
Nose: Black cherries, blackberries, hint of Vosne spice and vanilla. Very young wine.
Taste: Good balance, medium bodied with good structure. The fruit was a bit subdued by the lovely tannins.
Finish: 30 sec+ Finish.
A lovely wine but it obviously needs another 5 years to bring out the monster inside!
In conclusion to the opening question, is Grand Cru burgundy worth it? It ultimately boils down to a matter of choice and personal judgement. The wines are very good but for the big name producers, the pricing of late has just been stratospheric. Having said that, the fun and beauty is to try and find quality GC wines from the lesser well known producers and revel that one has picked up a bargain by getting very good juice at a fraction of the price of the famous producers. Now that is definitely one of the reasons why I LOVE burgundy!
Back to the ‘Old’ world…
Posted by eatbikelove in Wine Tasting Notes on August 27, 2013
Spending over a month in Australia has definitely helped in improving my understanding and appreciation of Australian wines. Interestingly, it has also helped solidify my wine preference. There are lots of very good wines in Australia but, I’ve realised that I am a crazy fan of aged old world wines which focuses more on balance and the wines being velvety smooth.
I do have lots of friends who are big fans of strong and powerful red wines (such as Barossa Valley Shiraz’s) and I can completely understand their preference. Post my trip, I have been checking my wine notes of recently tasted old world wines and I can happily say…”Honey, I’m Home!”
Tasting
Lumiere Histoire 2011
OK… after all this talk of old world wines, what is a Japanese wine doing here :-P. This is an interesting wine from Yamanishi prefecture which I recently tasted with a few friends in Tokyo. Tasted: June 2013.
Nose: Cheesy smell, hidden white flowers, white pear
Taste: medium light body, smooth body, no acidity, no dryness.
Finish: no finish to think off.
I admit, this is not my first choice if I have one.
Champagne Lahaye, Blanc de Noir NV.
Tasted June 2013 when I visited my friends in Singapore. I’ve had this on numerous occasions and it does not disappoint.
Nose: almonds, lemon zest, hint of green apple
Taste: great balance, medium weight, good acidity,
Finish: decent finish of 20 second
A v v nice champagne to go with Chinese food (tasted with Teochew cuisine)
Clos des Papes 2001
Nose: red and blackberries, strong cherry nose, hint of white pepper
Taste: good smooth texture, secondary flavours of berries and plum. Hint tannin
Finish: long finish of 30 second
A very nice GSM blend from this legendary producer. Given its age, all the harsh tannins have receded leaving a lovely smooth texture. Tasted along the champagne with Teochew cuisine. Lovely!
Blain Gagnard Chassgne Montrachet Caillerets 1er Cru 2009
Tasted July 2013
Colour: pale straw yellow
Nose: oily, white apple, pear, white flower, honey
Taste: beautiful silky texture, typical Chassagne body with the fruit taking centre stage. White flowers and good acidity
Finish: white apple and pear finish. c25 seconds.
Lovely wine and keeps on improving in the glass. After lots of swinging, the wine opens up to velvety smoothness.
Cathiard Vosne Romanee Aux Reignots 1er Cru 2008
Tasted July 2013
Colour- dark ruby red
Nose- dense mix of red n black fruits, hint of vanilla, upon opening smells like a Pauillac then reverting back to a Vosne nose.
Taste- velvety smooth with power! Good balance between fruits and tannin. Hint of mint @ finish.
Finish- long minty finish of over 30 seconds.
A very good wine that is bound to put on more weight and improve with age.
Jean Grivot Vosne Romanee Village 2005
Tasted August 2013 in Sydney Australia.
Nose: beautiful red and black fruits, cherries, velvety rose perfume, hint of vanilla
Taste: medium bodied, good fruit, velvety fruit,
Finish: good 20 second sweet fruity finish.
A good wine but shame about paying the WET tax in Australia.
Domaine Tollot-Beaut Chorey Les Beaune 2010
Tasted August 2013
Nose: cowpat at first, then slowly opened up for red fruit, cherries, raspberry,
Taste: acidic taste, red fruits, medium light body, simple structure.
Finish: 15 second finish.
A decent and simple glass of burg. On of those daily wines if you can afford it.
Domaine De la Vougeraie, Gevrey Chambertin Les Evocelles 2009
Tasted August 2013
Nose: red fruit nose, green muskiness from the oak, hint of vanilla
Taste: medium bodied, red fruits, slight hint of acidity
Finish: short finish of 15 second
Interesting wine with the potential to add on weight after a few more cellar age.
Domaine De la Vougeraie, Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2007
Tasted August 2013
Nose: red fruits, strawberries, hint to green, velvet texture, hint of mint
Taste: medium full bodied, red fruits, good texture, velvety smooth
Finish: 25 second finish
On a different level to Evocelles even though it is from the 2007 vintage. Good concentration.
Olivier Leflaive Meursault Tillets 2010
Tasted August 2013
Nose: white flower, lemon peel, hint of honeysuckle
Taste: sweet fruits, hint of apricot, slight acidity. Good texture.
Finish: 15 second semi dry finish.
Relatively simple wine given the price. Not sure if I am paying for the wine or for Leflaive???
Sebastien Magnien, Beaune !er Cru, Les Aigrots 2006
Nose: red fruits, strawberries and raspberries, hint of vanilla and lavender.
Taste: red fruits, started out light but gained weight once opened, good texture with a slight acidity
Finish: fruity finish of c20 seconds.
A half decent wine. Shame I only have a bottle.
Pierre Vincent from Domaine Vougeraie in HK
Posted by eatbikelove in Producer Wine Tasting on May 11, 2013
My first post. I thought I should start with a tasting from one of my favourite region and one of my favourite producer, Domaine Vougeraie from Premeaux-Prissey in Burgundy.
Pierre Vincent made a short stopover in HK in April and with my wine merchant BBR, hosted a dinner tasting in HK to showcase his wines. I signed up to join in a flash!
Pierre showcased his selection of excellent white and red wines including the icing on the cake, Musigny! The dinner was hosted in Island Tang where the wines were accompanied with great Chinese food.
This was the wines of the evening:
2009 Clos Blanc de Vougeot 1er cru (Aperitif)
2007 Clos Blanc de Vougeot 1er cru
2007 Corton Charlemagne
2010 NSG, Les Damodes 1er cru
2009 NSG, Les Damodes 1er cru
2007 Corton Clos du Roi
2007 Clos Vougeot
2007 Charmes-Chambertin, Les Mazoyeres
2007 Musigny
Overall, it was a great evening with a great group of wine lovers.
Wine Notes (Tasted April 2013)
Colour: Pale straw yellow
Nose: white fruits, butter, pear
Taste: slight acidity, smooth texture although a bit closed, lighter bodied
Finish: 30 second finish
Good wine but I think is too young to drink now.
Colour: deeper colour, like a young sauternes
Nose: Oily nose, white flowers and lemon peel
Taste: weightier than 09, oily texture, good balance, low aciidty
Finish: 30 second fin
A good wine suitable for drinking now.
Colour: light yellow
Nose: white flowers, mineral, floral, buttery
Taste: slight acidity, light bodied, floral and white flowers, good balance,
Finish: 20sec finish
Good wine and expressive of the terrior.
Colour: ruby red
Nose: vanilla, red fruits, very expressive, cranberry
Taste: good balance, red fruits, medium bodied
Finish: smooth 20 second finish
This bottle is showing very well tonite. Bravo!
Colour- ruby red
Nose: very good perfume, hint of reduction, red fruits with hint of cassis,
Taste: medium full bodied, tannic, hint of vegetal, red fruit takes a back seat to power, complex with potential to develop further
Finish: 25 second fin
Colour: deep red
Nose: A very Vougeot nose! Red perfume, hint of vegetal, red fruits, much more complexity than Corton
Taste: good acidity, red fruits, good balance, good complexity
Fin: 25 second finish
A good wine that expresses the source of the wine. I’ve recently had the 2001 which developed secondary flavours so have confidence that this wine will improve and develop secondary flavours with age.
Colour: deep red
Nose: red perfume, leafy note,
Taste: good medium bodied, sweet red fruits, raspberry, hint of cassis, very easy to drink now
Fin:30 second fin
A very good wine to drink now
Colour: deep purple red
Nose: rose perfume, red fruits, concentrated red fruits, hint of vanilla
Taste: smooth, velvety texture, sweet sweet tannins
Finish: 30 second fin
I was taken aback from this wine. Love the smooth smooth texture and most importantly the balance! What a wine. My Wine of the Night
Nose: Violets, concentrated, hint of cassis n black fruit, hint of reduction, very fruity and hint of vegetal
Taste: oh my good! What a wine! Very dense and concentrated, great complexity, excellent balance, sweet sweet wine full of red fruits,
Finish: 40 sec+ finish
I have been dreaming about this wine since I knew I had a chance to taste it! It most certainly did not disappoint. I think today, the Charmes Chambertin just pipped it but I think in another 5 years, this Musigny will then shed its outer shell and show what it really is made of.
Unsurprisingly, we finished off with lots of empty glasses :-D. What a great night and I look forward to similar tastings to come!
Winston's Wine World 
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