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This product contains the following items: |  | » 1 x Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache 2008
Class 19 18.5 Gold. This wine won the only Gold medal in its class. Few winemakers handle Grenache better than those at Yalumba and they’re still pressing the boundaries. Apart from fruit selection, the secret to this wine is probably either one of or all the following initiatives. Partial de-stemming, the controlled use of wild yeast and skin contact for select parcels post fermentation of 3 months. Pretty brave, innovative winemaking which presents us an outstanding wine with an attractive deep red colour with purplish tints. The nose is strongly scented and aromatic, reminiscent of berries and cinnamon and the palate is simply bursting with flavour that is well held with good acidity and a firm tannin finish. It’s fine to drink now, but will be even better after 2-5 years of careful cellaring. | |  | » 1 x Totino Estate Adelaide Hills Paracombe Shiraz 2007
Class 18 18.5 Gold. The legendary Max Schubert reckoned that the shiraz from Paracombe in the Adelaide Hills was an important ingredient of Grange and other famous Penfolds red wines of the nineteen sixties. I suspect that this may have helped encourage Don Totino to purchase and re-birth this old, derelict vineyard some years ago. He has been well rewarded. This wine certainly exudes the minty, peppery characters so typical of the region, as well as equally attractive hints of dark chocolate and blackberries. This is a fairly full bodied but elegant wine, showing fruit characters of plums and dark cherries and it has a luscious mid palate of fine tannins leading to a grippy, dusty oak finish. Enjoy now, but if you can be patient, put some away carefully and forget it for 10 years or so. | |  | » 1 x Robert Oatley Cabernet Merlot 2007
Class 21 18.5 Gold. This radical blend of grapes from opposite sides of the country actually makes quite a lot of sense. Mudgee has a long history of making richly flavoured, age-worthy cabernets that if anything can be a little too earthy, so the winemaker went to Margaret River, a region producing some of the country’s finest cabernets, selected a parcel of cabernet and blended it with merlot grapes from Mudgee to make this fascinating dual region wine. The cabernet component was picked at optimum ripeness and hand sorted to remove any lesser berries and the Mudgee merlot was from a single vineyard, harvested at its peak. The wines were fermented in small tanks, with 10-12 days maceration, and then pressed off skins into French oak where they underwent the secondary malolactic fermentation followed by maturation for 16 months in a combination of new and up to four year old barrels. The typical minty green cabernet characters are softened and enhanced by the rich tobacco leaf character of the merlot, presenting an outstanding wine which will impress. This is quite a big wine and will continue to develop for at least ten years. If you want to drink it now, slosh it into a decanter and giver it some aeration. It will be even better for it. | |  | » 1 x Blue Pyrenees Shiraz 2006
Class 18 18.5 Gold. This wine was produced from parcels of fruit grown on low-yielding exposed vines creating a wine of intense flavours, naturally soft tannin and the classic rich shiraz structure. The growing season was a classic, providing ideal winter and spring conditions, finished by a warm dry summer and autumn which gave excellent ripening conditions. Maturation for 24 months in a combination of new, one, and two-year-old French and American oak barriques has added softness, texture and complexity to a wine of impressive concentration. You’ll find characters of charry vanillan oak with sweet ripe blueberry fruit and a touch of pepper and spice on the nose, leading to a complex palate of ripe blueberry fruits, with a rich mid-palate of chocolate, vanilla, and a hint of regional spice. The soft tannin structure of this wine allows lingering fruit flavours to shine throughout the long dry finish. Don’t be shy about cellaring this one carefully for 10 or so years. | |  | » 1 x Gammons Crossing Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Class 15 18.7 Gold. Made by the Flint family from fruit harvested from their own vineyard, this wine was the highest pointed in its class, beating well known brands from Coonawarra, Margaret River and Reynella. It’s not often the judges comment on individual wines, however they did single out the Gammons Crossing for their comment; “Top wine a lovely example of varietal cabernet sauvignon”. I think you’ll agree. There is an abundance of blackcurrant and mint characters so typical of the Coonawarra region. Colour and flavour have been extracted during fermentation with the use of heading down boards to maintain skin contact and the wine has been allowed to finish fermentation in French oak, before maturing for a further 16 months in the same barrels. Although this wine will be great drinking anytime in the next 10 years, patience will be rewarded with careful cellaring. | |  | » 1 x Cockfighter’s Ghost Clare Riesling 2008
Class 2 18.7 Gold. This riesling shows all the hallmarks for which the Clare region is renowned. Pale lime green in colour, the wine displays delicate floral aromas underpinned by an attractive fine talcum powder character. The palate is rich with white peach, honeydew melon, lime lemon flavours and fresh acidity providing a clean, crisp and dry finish. This wine will be great drinking for ten plus years and will always complement a plate of freshly shucked oysters. | |  | » 1 x Paulett Aged Release Riesling 2005
Class 2 18.5 Gold. Personally I find it difficult to resist an aged riesling, so selecting this wine is perhaps an indulgence, but the judges backed me up. Due to the benefits of the new impervious-to-air screw cap, even after 4 years in the bottle, this wine is still quite tight and fresh as ever. Neil and Alison Paulett have been well regarded growers and winemakers in the Clare region's Polish Hill district for close on 30 years now and no-one knows the riesling variety in that region better. The outstanding quality of the fruit in 2005 encouraged them to put a parcel of wine aside for later release and what a stunning result! The colour is still light straw with green tints and suggests a far younger wine. There is lovely complexity on both the nose and the palate, with fresh but complex citrus, well held with the clean acid still quite apparent on the palate. We were lucky to get this wine which is on limited release, so please don’t brag to your usual retailer. Enjoy now or if you like even more complexity, try a few more years of careful cellaring. | |  | » 1 x Hamelin Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Class 3 18.8 Gold. Trophy for Best Sauvignon Blanc in Show. It seems I could have had an award winning sauvignon blanc or semillon sauvignon blanc from this winemaker in the selection for each of the last ten years, so consistent are they. This wine is outstanding, being one of only four wines in the nearly 3,000 entries to be awarded 18.8 points, the highest number given. Its trophy was well deserved. A delightful pale straw colour with green highlights leads to a nose of lifted passionfruit, nectarine and citrus blossom combining to give a fresh and vibrant aromatic profile. The palate is fresh and light, but still shows great depth of stone fruit and citrus flavours. The secret with the palate is probably the 5% barrel fermentation and light lees contact which has given the wine a lick of creaminess which with the fresh natural acidity, gives a wine of impeccable balance. I think this wine is at its vey best now, but it will surely still be great drinking in 1 -2 years. | |  | » 1 x Goundrey “G” Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2009
Class 10 18.5 Gold. The Pemberton and Great Southern regions of Western Australia experienced a cool and extended ripening period in the lead up to the 2009 harvest. The winemaker took advantage of this with gentle fruit processing and cool fermentation which has ensured that the vibrant tropical fruit flavours and intense herbaceous notes were captured. A short period of lees contact has given the wine further texture and mouth feel. Colour is a brilliant and vibrant white with green tints and the nose is intensely aromatic with fresh tropical fruits of honeydew, pineapple and lemon citrus complemented by herbaceous leafy characters. On the palate, juicy lemon and lime citrus notes are enhanced by tropical fruit flavours and passionfruit. Intensely flavoursome, the wine has a lovely structure, no doubt from the semillon, and a fine natural acidity. Enjoy while young and fresh or carefully cellar for 1-2 years to gain complexity. | |  | » 1 x Serafino Reserve Chardonnay 2008
Class 1 18.5 Gold. The best fruit from the Sharktooth Vineyard near Willunga is selected each year for this limited production chardonnay. Barrel fermentation and extended lees contact have accentuated the peach, cashew, citrus and honeydew melon characters evident in the intense bouquet, while adding subtle overtones and creamy texture. The palate displays elements of orange peel and intense lime flavours with a flinty finish which has exceptional length and freshness. A beautifully balanced wine drinking well now or will develop richness and complexity with careful cellaring. Will work well with full flavoured fish, mango tiger prawns, spicy Asian cuisine or apricot chicken. | |  | » 1 x Brown Brothers Pinot Noir Chardonnay Pinot Meunier Sparkling NV
Class 25 18.5 Gold. The high-altitude Whitlands vineyard of Brown Brothers provides it with a continuous source of quality grapes, hence the consistency of this wine and the trophy and gold medal success of this particular bottling. Straw-green, it has considerable complexity on the bouquet and palate, with lifted aromas of green apples and citrus and with nutty brioche nuances. The soft creamy palate is balanced with refreshing acidity, giving considerable length and a pleasing clean finish. | |  | » 1 x Leconfield Richard Hamilton Gumprs Shiraz 2008
Class 18 18.7 Gold Trophy for Best Shiraz in Show. No, I haven’t misspelled it. Gumpr was the original owner of the Salopian Inn, a well known local restaurant adjacent to Leconfield’s McLaren Vale vineyards. Only a portion of the fruit comes from this vineyard though, the rest from select parcels of fruit from various vineyards in the district. This is an excellent example of McLaren Vale shiraz, exhibiting the peppery mint characters so often found in the fruit from this region. Allowing a small portion of the ferment to finish in new oak has further complexed the wine with attractive vanillin, cedar and cinnamon characters. Maturation in new and up to four year old French and American oak barrels has allowed all this complexity to marry, forming a quite complex wine which will be even better drinking in 2-10 years. | |
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