cognitivebottletherapy

2022 Bodegas Luis Pérez El Muelle de Olaso Palomino de Jerez

After a long break in posts and a similar amount of time fretting about a damaged sense of smell thanks to another unhappy encounter with that pandemic virus, this rattled the senses beautifully. After a happy couple of weeks in Andalucia including sea moist walks along the Sanlucar river, opening this brought back those salty estuary smells. So good as it gained air, deep yellow fruit and chamomile, saline flickers from a brush with flor, freshened with a squeeze of citrus. Muesli and cereals. Richness and volume cut into shape by firm, reviving acidity. Safe to say El Marco de Jerez is without comparison in the wine world. So good to see it gaining confidence and reborn pride in its special soil, grape and place on the edge of a big ocean. The label proudly references soil and place. Three great wine towns and a delicious glass for not much.

13.5% alcohol. Cork. €12. $45 or so in Australia but worth it.

93 points.

2018 S C Pannell Old McDonald McLaren Vale Grenache

Sometimes a bottle of wine is just so good it breaks the inertia of not posting. Over four days this just got better. Probably the most poised and perfumed, pristinely fruited Australian Grenache I’ve been lucky enough to drink. 76 year old dry grown bush vines from Blewitt Springs. Gary Walsh’s Winefront review compares this to Barbaresco, perhaps in terms of the tannin and acid ripeness you find in the right grapes grown in the right place? He and S C Pannell should know. Full keyboard of ripeness, from top notes of floral perfume, mid range of succulent berries and bass of nut paste and savoury spice. No white noise, just precise gentle power. I really like Gary’s description of the finish as a landslide of shale and forest berries. As comfortable as Nebbiolo is in Barbaresco, Grenache is just as happy in Blewitt Springs. Took four days to show how great. Like great Nebbiolo the highish alcohol doesn’t impede. Wish I had another bottle.

14.5% alcohol. Screw Cap. $60 RRP but mine was $45 from auction. Think I’ll try and find more before it gets too fashionable?

96 points.

Scott Wasley Selections Albero Manzanilla en rama Saca 3 2022

I thought I had posted this in August before setting off to Spain. WordPress says otherwise. So glad to visit Sherry land again. Hospitable bars, great snacks and the best value wine by the glass. If you show a bit of interest in place, grape and what slumbers in those vast rows of ancient black barrels, the bodegas will reward you with great tastings.

For over twenty years now The Spanish Acquisition have been importing some of the Sherry Triangle’s best. In the last few years there’s been a noticeable freshening in flavours and interest in these challenging savoury drinks. The amount of detail in Scott’s passionate explanation of rediscovered traditions has been a strong guiding hand to my elbow of interest in Andalusia’s great grape. This 500mls of profound joy maybe represents the best of his efforts? This saca or “withdrawal” is from an old solera owned by Delgado Zuleta. The back label says it’s from just one barrel or bota, bottled without filtration or en rama in accordance with the phases of the moon. Well, the moon tide has bought some spectacularly rich flavours. Marine breezes, bitters and chamomile cut into very ripe yellow stone fruit and sweet dry hay. Explosive through the mid palate, like chewing the very pith of summer. A contrast of fresh and very fine mineral acidity sweeps in and makes another sip inevitable. Nowhere else makes stuff like this. Andalusia here I come.

15% alcohol. Cork. $55.

96 points.

2000 De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

I remember the year 2000 was a good one for the variety that does so well in the Yarra Valley. This bottle was a bit of a gamble at auction. Who knows where it’s been slumbering through many hot summers? Add the lottery of cork and the chances of a duff bottle increase to the point of not risking a huge bid. It was enough to score what turned out to be a tiring but still very lovely bottle. Loads of reliable Cabernet leaf, cedar and tobacco with plenty of cassis and red fruit plumping up the cushion of those fine Yarra Cabernet tannins. A pleasing roundness and resolution with age. A sort of savoury sweetness, if that makes sense? Maybe the flavours are very different but Yarra Valley Cabernet can produce a lingering sensation of timelessness just like some Bordeaux does, at a fraction of the price.

13.% alcohol. Cork. $30 at auction.

93 points.

2019 Giovanni Rosso Esther Canale Rosso Langhe Nebbiolo

I do get to drink incredibly well sometimes thanks to friends’ extreme generosity. I did at first think, so, you’ve only opened a Langhe Rosso while I’ve dug a 2010 Boschis Via Nuova out for you. Teach me to be so unkind. The Boschis Barolo was malty, muddy and horribly oxidised, not the first 2010 to be disappointing. To be honest, I did have a vague memory of Giovanni Rosso making a Langhe from a cru vineyard and it being a bit special, and not cheap. Turns out this comes from a cherished Rosso family plot in Vigna Rionda no less. And what a fine glass of wine it was. So finely wrought. All the best possible sweet red cherries dusted in perfumed sweet spices. A lift of flowers to fill out the edges. The essence of summer fruit is backed up by a savoury nut paste. In shape, sort of like Grand Cru Burg, inasmuch as there’s enormous flavour that just floats on fine tannin of great finesse that dissipates on a long vapour trail of gentle but persistent acidity. Best possible way to forget a dodgy bottle of Barolo.

14% alcohol. Cork. $275 RRP, eek.

96 points.

2015 Domaine Grand Nicolet Côtes du Rhône

Some but certainly not all 2015 CdRs have had a fresh and deeply fruity edge that’s hung on really well with age. Mostly Grenache and Syrah with bits of Carignan and Cinsault it seems, this was a direct import from Nick’s Wine Merchants in Melbourne. For those of us with long memories of local wine retailers from the 1990s, Nick’s was famous for the line, “Nick’s nose knows” and the use of a weird tasting word of their own, “joosy”. They also did well riding the wave of enthusiasm for huge, high alcohol Australian wine. This still looks fresh and alarmingly balanced for a Nick’s offering. Sour cherry, kirsch and a sooty depth that sort of reminds me of the best of Priorat. Pure, fresh and bound by good skin tannin tied to just right acidity. Hanging on well, like Nick’s now solely on line business. Those old shops are much missed for easy access to some good imports. Notice Nick’s are still importing Nicolet. Do wonder if the 2021 is just as “joosy”?

14% alcohol. Cork. $15 a while ago, bargain.

92 points.

2021 Mount Avoca Estate Lagrein

A drive to the Victorian version of the Pyrenees happily included a stop at a warm and welcoming cellar door. The hills aren’t quiet the size of those in Europe but in mid winter they may be as cold. The organic vineyards look well tended by some shivering sheep who hadn’t read the weather advice for farmers or viticulturists considering winter pruning. There’s a good range of wines to taste by a wood fire. Solid, clean and not trying too hard, letting the vineyard speak. This appealed for its rich sour cherry fruit, chocolate tannin and ripe acidity. Opening the bottle at home, there’s much more of that central Victorian mint and eucalyptus lift apparent and a good sappy tang. It always surprises how much tasting at a cellar door can differ from the relative objectivity of home. Nonetheless some lovely fruit here and perhaps an Italian mountain variety that doesn’t mind those rugged gum tree covered hills. Seems it’s the local cockatoos’ favourite grape too.

If you’re travelling in a Pyrenees way, an enthusiastic recommendation for the Avoca Hotel. Great food and a spectacular wine list. Wish there were more country pubs as good.

13% alcohol. Screw cap. $30 at the cellar door.

92 points.

2018 Yves Cuilleron Syrah Les Vignes d’à Côté

Opened at the same time as the Gravity Ghost Syrah, it’s an interesting example of how the changing climate is messing with perceptions of ripeness. 2018 was one of the hottest years in southern France and makes this look a bit like it comes from Coonawarra rather than a cooler corner of the Rhône. Lots of ripe blackberries, earthy bass with a hint of that sort of tar that lurks in good Australian Shiraz. Stone and a crumble of ripe tannins held in place by natural feeling acidity that maybe still tells of the Rhône? Very good value as usual.

13.5% alcohol. Diam. $30.

92 points.

2021 Gravity Ghost Syrah

Another less than objective opinion about a lovely human’s recent vintage efforts. Opens cleanly with a strong waft of Australian bush or terroir if you prefer. Fresh and aromatic. More than just gum trees, there’s fresh spices, sweet earthiness and wet undergrowth overlaying a core of dark raspberries with a bit of plum. Just medium weight. Same flavours as it hits the tongue together with more woody stem spice. A natural feel to soft insistent acidity and powder fine tannin. From a cooler year perhaps but no greenness intrudes. A gentle drink with enough perfumed fruit and warm savouriness to make an impression. Haunting perhaps.

13% alcohol. Screw cap. Somewhere between $25 and 30 I think? Got a bit lost in some swaps where I came out the better off as usual.

92 with a shout for 93 in time.

2010 Massolino Barolo Margheria

Continuing to open special bottles while the tasting is good, a special cru from Serralunga albeit not marked on the map photo above. Think it’s the unnamed vineyard next to the S of Serralunga maybe? Was anorak fun googling the amazing Masnaghetti MGA maps to check. The incredible detail is a joy for both wine and map fiend. I always liked Massolino’s cheaper bottles, clean, good fruit and good winemaking. Time to open a cru which ten years ago was seen as relative value and now retails over two hundred Australian. Must admit it was a blind buy for the cellar based on Massolino’s Dolcetto and persuasive reviews. It’s rare for most of us to get a taste before deciding. Not sure it would have done any good here, as I’d have been as puzzled then as now maybe. Opened well visually but the first sniff was swamped by a haze of pine forest with the hint of fresh fruit below. The palate likewise a drying, dominant pine needle flavour gives the beautiful fruit that lurks below a bit of a biff. It sort of looks like a cedary, raw oak flavour but it’s much more complicated and earthy too. All the publicity says it’s made using big, traditionally sized oak. Serralunga or barrel or both, beyond me. Nonetheless, despite the distraction there’s intense cherry, rose perfume, deep sweet stone stuff, all held in eternal tannin and pleasing acidity of real quality. I’ve a few more Massolino bottles to go, here’s hoping.

14.5% alcohol. Cork. Around $100 at the time?

Somewhere between 89 and 95 depending on how much you like pine forests.