2017 Salomon Estate Dark Pearl Cabernet SFM Fleurieu Peninsula

Happy memories of generous Austrian trade commission funded tastings a couple of decades ago jogged my memory when a few bottles of this popped up on the temptation that’s my favourite auction site. What’s Austrian wine got to do with Cabernets from near McLaren Vale you ask? Well, the Austrian maker, Salomon, enjoyed Australia so much, they invested and produced some reds of more restraint and drinkability than was fashionable on the Parker tasting bench. This is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon it seems, with the remainder split between Franc and Merlot. Despite the advertised 14.5% alcohol, this was bright and fresh. Loads of Australia in the form of mint and bush land in the wet, then rich cassis and berries, little bit of iron and chocolate to add detail. Deliciously concentrated and fruited but it skips away to the end with vigour, hitting a swell of settled acidity and very ripe sweet tannin as it frolics. Definitely Australia not Austria.

14.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $15 at auction, good buying.

93 points.

2020 Bodegas Monte Ory Garnacha Navarra

There’s a few new French, Italian and in this case Spanish direct imports on the shelves of Dan Murphy’s barns at tempting prices. So far about one in three has been interesting and good enough to consider a review and more importantly a rebuy. Unsurprisingly Grenache has featured strongly and when it comes from Navarra it tickles my fancy. This took a while to open up, a bit surly from both recent bottling and shook up after a long sea voyage? With a little patience, smells of musk, roses, strawberries, cherries, nut paste and sweet green herbs emerge. The same sort of light to just medium bodied flavours are cinched by clean fine and ripe acidity with a lovely tug of minerality. Not the most concentrated but delicious fruit for $13. Sort of resembles a basic Gredos altitude Garnacha, no bad thing.

13.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $12.40 in a six bottle purchase.

90 points, bonus for style and grace.

End of February 2022 and it’s a Dan’s member special, two for $13. Probably the best $6.50 bottle I’ve had for a long time, possibly the only one too. Still pretty brisk with a green edge but tart fresh fruit elbows its way through. Bit of meaty reduction in some bottles but as close to what I like in young Spanish Garnacha as you’ll get for not much. Seems Spain may have been into good Garnacha for a while? Think this sort is best cool and young, like we all were once. Goes extremely well from the fridge with a Sunday night pizza.

Now 91 points

2016 The Graillot Project No.2 Heathcote Syrah

A collaboration between the Graillots of Crozes fame and a reasonably well off Melbourne wholesaler and importer makes you think this might be outside the generously ripe parameters of mainstream Shiraz. Oh, it’s Syrah. The perfume does indeed include that smoky, floral whole bunch waft. There’s spice, raspberry and an earthy bay note. Good to actually drink, less extraction, less oak, less winery fiddling than some. Despite the reminders of the Rhône, there’s a core of loose knit broader shouldered Heathcote fruit. Relaxed and friendly. The second day, it gets darker, dried fruits, woody stems and a nibble of fruit and nut chocolate. Nonetheless, still very nice to drink, good acidity and tannin, ripe and succulently drying. Entente cordiale.

13.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $30 ish.

93 for impact, 92 to settle.

2020 Vinatero Old Vine McLaren Vale Grenache

At the prices Aldi sell their wine, this is indeed a pauper’s Pinot. Initially shows that bubblegum like whole berry carbonic ferment thing, roses, lipstick, cherry juice heading toward kirsch, maybe some sappy stem to cut the fruit sweetness. Grenache suits the Vale so well, naturally hanging onto mouthwatering ripe acidity and a brush of tannin to slice the sweet fruit. Light to barely medium bodied. Really nicely made, a cute wine! Does get a little washy and dilute through the mouth but the perfume resonates and it did hang on over a couple of days without falling apart. Does make you wonder how long bargains like this will continue as McLaren Vale Grenache gets increasingly popular? These relatively small makes of regional specialties may not build a long term brand but they do suit the Aldi way, opportunistically snaffling and putting on the shelf at a price until all gone. Just don’t expect it to be there next time. Good fun for the jaded wine nut.

13.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $11.99.

90 points.

2015 De Bortoli The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

From an original Yarra Valley vineyard in Dixon’s Creek, the area not actually the creek itself I think. Full ripe Cabernet smells, almost lush, backgrounds of earth and pencil case austerity too. Just right ripeness in the mouth with black currant, touch of gravel, black olive, all sweet but in no way sugary. Satisfying old style Yarra Cabernet with a fine mesh of milky tannin and natural acidity. Touch of cedar oak in low volume adds seasoning. Another of those that shows just how good 2015 was in the valley where it’s best grape still struggles to be noticed in the sea of Pinot and Chardonnay. Unless you’re from Mount Mary or similar royalty of course.

13.8% alcohol. Screw cap. $27 RRP but discounted to close to $20 and still there’s plenty to be bought.

93 points.

2019 Pájaro de Buen Agüero Garnacha Cariñena

Is there better value than an authentic, firmly of the place Garnacha from Aragón? Sure, there’s attractive prices for Bordeaux grapes transplanted to the new world but do they have the natural balance, detail and unadorned charm of tough old Grenache? This is much more in the medium weight, rich in extracted bits than recent vintages. Disappointingly it was stinky with reductive smokiness when opened but patience really paid off a day later. So much more open, there was a little balsamic lift to a summer berry sweetness, a spring breeze of roses, darker just picked cherries and plums in the middle. Firmly put in place by genuinely ripe skin tannin grip. Fresh and mouthwatering to finish. Admittedly, not the most lingering of ends and a bit washy but for less than $10 it’s bargain of the year so far. Great effort from those old sun blasted, windswept vines.

Forgot to note the alcohol, denial probably. Screw cap. $9 from Aldi.

91 points.

2012 Frogmore Creek Riesling

From a Tasmanian creek with more frogs therein, perhaps? Having gone nuts buying 2012 Australian Rieslings, it’s good to still keep finding them lurking amongst the dusty bottles. Riesling from Tasmania seems to produce some flavours not usually tasted in the mainland versions. Perhaps sort of a hybrid of Alsatian and the warmer bits of Germany if comparisons have to be made? This opened with exotic citrus, beeswax, then some mandarin and a honey richness. All clinging well as it passes through. With a bit more air, white peach like some of those Germans. Pithy grip, positive but not assertive acidity, any brittle edges knocked off by a well judged tickle of sweetness. Should explore Tasmania more, frogs, vineyards and wine, cool in both senses.

12% alcohol. Screw cap. About $20 to $25 a while ago.

93 points day one, loosened up to a simpler 91 day two.

2013 Wynns Coonawarra Shiraz

From the initial three bottles bought six or so years ago but I did notice it as a Dan Murphy’s cellar release for $20 if you want to join the fun for still not much, notwithstanding the quality of the storage, of course. To repeat myself, again, not sure how this has so much character for something made on a large scale. Savoury and earthy to sniff and taste. Brown spice, blackberries, earthy in a red dirt way, tar and that saline, mineral water thing that seems like an alkaline Coonawarra marker? Just medium bodied, even acidity settled into good firm tannin and a touch of nougat from subtle oak. The label’s even older than I, not many of those left in Australia. Would be great if they went back to the original white label, still calling it Hermitage might be a push but maybe Syrah to be..er..self consciously modern.

13.5% alcohol. Screw cap. $12 discount on release.

92 points.

2020 The Story Super G Grampians Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre

Another from the super value six pack from Rory and his Story. It’s not breaking news to say it was apparent to grape farmers a long time ago that something was awry with the weather as their crop was on average ripening a bit earlier each year. I’ve heard candid comment about the sustainability of getting Shiraz flavour ripe in its most revered old vineyards from those who earn their living there each and every year. Happily for some there’s always been Grenache and Mourvèdre planted to thrive in those once were infrequent very hot years. The Grampians used to struggle to ripen Shiraz some years, now there’s interest in varieties that cope with the heat and need less water in an area where it’s always been less than abundant. Super G to the rescue perhaps? Early days but this may be the future. Medium weight, bright as a ruby in the sun, fragrant smack in the chops of roses, Turkish Delight, cherries, plums, spice, meat juices and earth. Just bottled primary fruit sweetness cut by stem sap and savour. Good gloss of fruit, a blend more than the sum of its parts perhaps? I like, super good.

13.5% alcohol, seems a recurring story. Screw cap. Part of the six for $150.

92 points.

2017 Château Thivin Côte de Brouilly L’Héronde

A good friend brought a bottle of this to dinner and for once hadn’t had the chance to open it first to check the tree bark. Murphy’s cork law applied itself with vigour and it was simply the most TCA affected bottle to offend my delicate nose for months. A kind suggestion to drink the replacement if I could get it swapped got me off the couch the next day, thanks Rathdowne Cellars for the sympathy. The new bottle opened without any musty horror, in fact with a good whack of super fresh, glistening red fruit. Over time darker plums and spices gave gravity and a sweet lip stick kiss seduced another glass. Beautiful earthiness and a bloody lip after that sweet kiss add depth. In terms of brilliant acidity and ripe tannin underpinning svelte and deep fruit, this rivals a good village Burgundy for half the price which probably means I’ll have to open another from the Côte d’Or for that dear friend. He did stick his ample nose in the last one opened blind and exhaled ‘ah, Burgundy’.

13.5% alcohol. Cork, despite being a daft thing to stick in a bottle, it did lead to me getting more of the contents and a nice stroll to the shops. Thanks D.

94 points.