The “Arrogant Frog” series of wines hail from the region now known as Pays D’Oc Indication GĂ©ographique ProtĂ©gĂ©e (IGP). At $10.99 they are keenly priced and appear designed to be noticed and, I am guessing, to compete with the Yellow Tails of the wine world. It’s even bottled under screwcap. The “Ribet” cabernet merlot isContinue reading “Arrogant Frog Ribet Red Cabernet Merlot 2011”
Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2006
The MarquĂ©s de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2006 vintage is a good rather than very good wine. It would have been much better had it not have been beaten quite so severely with the oak stick. A medium to pronounced ruby in appearance, the wine’s aroma is a study in oak, butter, vanilla, oily popcorn kernels,Continue reading “MarquĂ©s de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2006”
Coriole Sangiovese 2011
Coriole have some of Australia’s oldest plantings of sangiovese, with vineyards dating from 1985. Â Being partial to sangiovese, a grape variety that Australia has mostly struggled with, the older vine Coriole sangiovese naturally caught my attention. Unfortunately, and despite wishing that the position were otherwise, I didn’t find this wine particularly commendable. Â The 2011 vintageContinue reading “Coriole Sangiovese 2011”
Phylloxera: Victoria and South Australian changes
Phillip White wrote an interesting article the other day on proposed changes to relax rules in South Australia regarding the transport of grape harvesters and other machinery and equipment from Victoria to South Australia, provided that they have come from a “phylloxera exclusion zone”. For those unacquainted with phylloxera, it is the insect that laid wasteContinue reading “Phylloxera: Victoria and South Australian changes”
A natural wine dinner, naturally
I attended earlier this week a natural wines dinner hosted by well known Australian wine writer Max Allen at the genial Montague Hotel in South Melbourne. Â The food and wines were good, and so worth mentioning, as well as the underlying premise of the evening – a practical debate on the merits of natural winesContinue reading “A natural wine dinner, naturally”
Cabernet Sauvignon – Which clone is that? Or a possible riposte to terroir.
I think I believe in terroir, I do. Wines that taste of a place. An identification with stones, earth, soil, salty or foreign winds, fog and weather that all play their role in maintaining and augmenting this belief. Or care free holidays. But, for my sins, I am also somewhat rational, and wonder, and perhapsContinue reading “Cabernet Sauvignon – Which clone is that? Or a possible riposte to terroir.”