2017 Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Syrah Grenache Mourvèdre Pays d’Herault IGP

From the family responsible for the hallowed Mas de Daumas Gassac’s grand vin comes this grand value. A Murphy’s direct import. Lip smackingly fresh, clean and delicious. Clear red fruit, some Languedoc herbiness and good acidity in harmony. Little bit dilute towards the end but it’s candid in its honest good fruit and not artificed by over extraction. The quality of good skin tannin and ripe acidity pull it through. Just as good the second day. Lovely label too that would look good on hobbit’s dinner table, my precious.

12.50% alcohol. Screwcap. $10.

89 points for a tenner!

2018 version. Dark, spicy and a bit of dried fruit. Pull of sappy dried grape skin. Some herby Mediterranean dry scrub and more dusty dried skins. Lacks a bit of succulent sweet fruit and looks a bit hollow.

86 points and now nearer $12,

2017 Wynns Coonawarra Shiraz

Thanks to the great late Mark Shield the first vintage of Wynns Hermitage I bought and then bought some more was 1986 for $4.99. Miraculously it’s still only $12 on special at Dan’s and I still can’t help wanting to call it Hermitage. This vintage shows the late season in cool minty Aussie bush aromas and bright red fruits. Gentle tannin and acid carry it through to a calm easy end. If you want to see just how clever an almost industrial level of broad acre, large volume Australian wine can be and still taste like an honest agency of place, then this is it. Good old Wynns. Don’t touch please TWE.

13.50% alcohol. Screwcap. $12.

90 points

2011 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett

Still a pale colour and pristine sparkly flavours of ripe citrus, white peach together with old church candle wax and flower arrangements show some sprightly youth. There’s a sniff of petrol creeping in and some honeyed melding of flavour from time in the bottle. Fine ripe acidity that tingles the teeth is perfectly balanced by just the right sweetness. No cloy just integration. Is there anything better on a fan forced oven of a hot summer evening?

10.50 % alcohol. Screw cap, performing perfectly. About $50 at the time.

94 points.

2017 Wickhams Road Heathcote Sangiovese

Perhaps a first Sangiovese from those relentlessly great value and energetic Hoddles Creek chaps? Clean, fresh, bright, just medium weighted, cherry scented with a twist of mint and eucalypt forest. Really has that lip smacking, cheek flapping twang of the juicy blood of Jove. One for those who value fruit over extraction. The ripe acidity positively takes it up a notch with some simple pizza or pasta. Bravissimo ragazzi!

13.50% alcohol. Screw cap. $20.

90 deliciosi punti.

2017 Henry Fessy Gamay Noir

A Dan Murphy direct import from a business now owned by Louis Latour. For a wine made on an industrial scale this still has some charm. Bright crunchy red fruits and firm but still agreeable acidity. Some of those banana skin whole berry smells and spotlessly clean freshness add up to what’s really a bargain. Much better the second day which shows there’s some genuine fruit quality here. Not exactly Foillard  but a good choice from uncle Dan’s..er..heterogeneous offerings.

13% alcohol. Screwcap. $14.50

90 points

A 2020 version as a Dan Murphy’s two for one members’ special is ludicrously good for $8 a bottle. Pretty much the same note as above but with a bit more latent power and fruit concentration through the middle and end. There’s a suggestion from the way it got richer and more enjoyable that things may be even more tasty in a year or so. I’ve put four bottles away to find out. Massive investment risk of $32.

2017 Eperosa Magnolia Blanc

Barossa Semillon from old vines. Opened a bit yeasty and spicy with rich very ripe citrus to more exotic fruits. Over a couple of days the jangly edge settled well and things calmed down into some generous rich fruit, a touch of oak spice and some firm fresh acidity to balance. The rich yellow green colour suggests some skin contact and the acidity does seem buffered by some good grape skin texture. The whole thing looks natural and has some honest depth from terrific fruit. Big fellah with a fine sense of balance.

12.50% alcohol. Cork, oh dear. $25.

94 points.

A more recent bottle in March 2019 was much more settled. Less yeasty and jangly. Cleanly fruited, satisfyingly deep and poised. Makes you wonder what this would be like after ten years under screwcap. Is it possible to get a six pack rebottled? Can you save old screwcap empties, clean them and stick this in with a squirt of argon? Corks make you desperate in many ways!

Still 94 points.

2017 Domaine Heimbourger Chablis Cuvée Pierre

One of the joys of holidays in Paris is finding a new caviste with a small selection of consistently good choices. Even better if you realise you know not a lot about the producers on offer and the adventure keeps ending deliciously. So, hats off to the Marché St Martin again. Right from first sniff this is Chablis. Very slick wine making. Clean, almost sanitised, with a judicious seasoning of oak barrel. There’s some solid yellow and green fruit and that long, gentle but insistent acidity that makes Chablis so irresistible. So much wine, so little time and relative amounts of money. Next stop uncle Dan’s member specials.

13.00% alcohol. Cork. 18 euros.

92 points.

2016 Jean Foillard Morgon Côte de Py

Bit of a treat but in relative value terms no second thoughts. Touch of yeasty breath and then pristine ripe raspberries, freshly turned stoney soil after cool autumn rain, yeah really, glacially finishing acid and a long distance end. Incredible purity of fruit and the best sort of supporting texture. A bottle of the ‘14 was quite reduced and built for leaving alone, this seems more candid and extrovert. Very nice to meet you indeed.

13% alcohol. Cork. 22.50 euros from Julhès who had the basic Morgon for 14.50!

95 points.

 

2017 Domaine des Montèzes Carignan IGP

From Larzac in Languedoc. Perfumed and primary, really fresh and bright, mid weight, clean and red fruited, nicely ripe but still hanging onto the crunchy, firm handshake of Carignan’s acidity. The tannin lurks behind. Great favourite country cousin sort of grape. Another unwavering selection from Juhlès leading to some frantic posting.

13% alcohol. Cork. 11 euros.

91 points.

2017 Jean Perrier et Fils Savoie Abymes

100% Jacquère which isn’t numbered amongst the world’s greatest varieties but makes up a large proportion of Savoy’s output. Spotless and delicious though in this case. Smells and tastes perfectly like white wine without shouting any specifics. Sort of sweet green herbs and yellow fruit of some density. Just mouth-wateringly dry and difficult to stop drinking. Great value way to start the cooking. Another super value from Juhlès.

11.50% alcohol. One of those new fangled Nomacorc Plantcorc things which are causing some excitement among Euro producers. 9 euros.

90 points