2004 El Nino (Massoni) Mt Eliza Estate Pinot Noir

Tuesday night dinner, Brooke (Gritty's female offspring) provided this speculator. Great colour, dark crimson brown. Nose is obviously spice driven with a hint of cherry. To taste, it's smooth, red fruit almost strawberry flavour with great length with a vanilla oak finish. This wine is a hidden gem, not obviously Massoni labelled, but obviously Massoni made with quality fruit that stands the tests of time. 87/100 almost 88. And here is the kicker, this wine cost $10 from Purple Palate on Duporth. I would buy this wine again and again at this price.

1996 Penfolds Bin 42, 2008 Gembrook Hill Pinot Noir, 2010 Lucy Margaux Monomeith Vineyard Pinot Noir and 2008 PHI Lusatia Park Vineyard Chardonnay.

We caught up with some friends in Brisbane last night and went through more wine than we should have. These we the stand outs. I contributed the PHI and Gembrook Hill. The Phi was just spot on, delicate fruit and acid, restrained oak and perfect finish. 89/100 and I would definitely by this vintage again (the 2009 is not to this standard) $40. The Gembrook Hill is truly outstanding. The deceiving pale colour is packed with black fruit and spice on the nose. The taste is seamless and delicate and was enjoyed by everyone. 90/100 and would by this wine over and over $45. From there we opened a rare Bin 42, from memory there has only been two vintages produced. The cork broke into a million pieces, dry and brittle. It ticked all the boxes on the nose but sadly, it could have been any aged wine, nothing jumped out and wowed us. But I can now say I have tried it. I will reserve a score as I think it was past its best, and at roughly $400 I wouldnt go out of my way to track it down. Finally, we opened a new found favorite of mine, Monomeith Vineyard Pinot Noir. We didnt plan on having this wine which explains drinking it after the Bin 42, but this wine is big enough to hold its own. A truly old school making method with no fining and filtering. Beautiful nose and massive mouth feel. I wish I could be more descriptive, but by this stage we were getting quite happy and loud, just trust me its something special. 90/100 and at around $40 its well worth it.

2009 Coriole Sangiovese

There are plenty of good reviews on this wine that I think are justified. Nose of red fruits and cherry with some earthiness (is that a word). Medium bodied palate of dark berries, spice and some licorice in there somewhere. Plenty of tannin and acid, there is a small amount of Shiraz included, I assume to tame these. A lovely Sangiovese drying finish, quite well balanced. I'd say a drink now or soon proposition. My score 85 (very good)/100. Buy again - yes, need a supply for pasta nights.

2008 Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling

Top shelf! The cordon cut is an old favourite but I've not tasted the '08 before. It's almost effervescent. The colour is taking on a more yellow appearance, an almost amber colour. Lime and apricot, acid and sweetness in perfect balance. This will gain further complexity with time. Delicious, 91/100. Buy again - absolutely, a bargain at $23.

2009 Two (both) Hands Angel's Share Shiraz

I was mucking about on Cellar Tracker and came across this wine. From 19 tasting notes came an average score of 91 (outstanding) and for $20, definitely worth a look. I find cellar tracker averages to be reliable but not this time around. This is just a $20 wine that is reasonable value. Not much going on and would appeal to the non-drinkers amongst us. Plenty of alcohol heat, it's big, fruity and jammy. The palate is quite well balanced, ticks the boxes but don't expect to be challenged. Our score 86 (very good+) and did get better with more time out of the bottle. Buy again - Probably not. Get a Teusner Riebke instead.

2002 Greenock Creek Cornerstone Grenache

A dinner of braised lamb neck (sounds fancy but not really, looked a lot like stew to me). The drink. Purchased from Purple Palate for $32. The nose is a chocolate bar wrapped in dirt, or should that be earth. Lovely aged qualities. On the palate, the fruit is dissappearing, the tannins are gone but there is still a hint of spice to finish. Grenache is a favourite of ours, the challenge is finding a straight grenache and a good one at that. This is one of them. 89/100, excellent drinking. Buy again - yes if we could.

2009 Mount Riley Seventeen Valley Pinot Noir

Its Thursday night and my usual after work libations are on hold until my colleague returns from holidays. So, in keeping with the Thursday evening tradition I decide to open this. Yes I know its a kiwi wine. But damn, they get it right when it comes to Pinot Noir.... I was recently introduced to this wine at a Purple Palate tasting where I met the wine maker. A great young guy with some decent pedigree behind him. That night we tasted the 2006 version of this wine and it impressed me greatly. It channeled its French cousin from Gevrey-Chambertin displaying the firm-masculine and tighter stuctures, with lots of red and black fruit, and earthy barnyard finish. This vintage, I am not sure why we didnt get 07 and 08, has similar characteristics. Very elegant, with the same red and black fruit, fine tannins and a smokey finish. Still a babe, and cant wait to see what a few years will produce. Perfect with chicken Maryland in Diane sauce. For $35 its a bargain. I give it a 90/100.

2006 Mount Pleasant Maurice O'Shea Shiraz AND 2008 Michael Hall Adelaide Hills Chardonnay

Tuesday night dinner of lamb koftas with pita bread, hommus and spicy spuds. Michael brought over a 2008 Michael Hall Adelaide Hills Chardonnay to start, he paid $36 from Purple Palate. Nose was quite restrained and gave little away, minimal oak influence. Well balanced, acid in check, quite a citrus palate, finished slightly astringent on the back palate. Overall nice drink but wouldn't buy it again for the money.

The Koftas were eaten with a 2006 Maurice O'Shea Shiraz, purchased from the First Choice Bargain Bin for $32 bucks - a bargain indeed!! I can't remember the last time I drank a Hunter Valley shiraz but after this, I should do it more often. Decantered for an hour and even into 1 hours drinking (i.e. 2 hours out of the bottle), still an understated nose with just hints of black and red fruit. Particularly spicy at first, the palate is beautifully balanced, tannins in check with (again) black and red fruit, perhaps some leather. Beginning to develop those lovely aged (chocolate) characters. The finish is long and damn near perfect. While excellent (++) now, this will be another rung up the ladder in time. Our score, 90/100. When is peak drinking, not clever enough to know. Maybe 5 years? Buy again - definitely.

Elderidge Estate

We sort Elderidge out as we were recommended by and purchased from the Barrique wine place in Healville an Elderidge '07 Pinot. It was a cracking good drink. Unfortunately, at the cellar door, the current vintages were nothing to get excited about, certainly at the prices being asked. The wine maker loved the sound of his own voice which probably didn't help.

Paringa Estate

Had a mostly terrfic afternoon at Paringa. We did the usual tasting thing across their entire range of Peninsula, Estate and Single Vineyard wines followed by a superb lunch of quail entree and mains of duck and salmon. The hilight though was a 1997 Unfiltered Estate Pinot, of which only a few bottles were made as an 'experiment' by winemaker Lindsay McCall. We had one of the last six remaining. So keen was Lindsay to hear of the results of his experiment, he joined us for a chat after lunch. The news was good re the wine, lovely nose although the fruit was on the way out, as you would expect. The conversation then degenerated into talk of french wine and other FROG NONESENSE.

Main Ridge

What a cracker this place is. Everyone we spoke to said this was a 'must visit' and they were definitely on the money. Winemaker Nat White came out of the vineyard to look after us (if you are wondering he was pruning his Pinot to 4 canes, 3 buds a piece). He had '08 and '09 Chardonnay to try, which were the best that we had outside of Yarra Yering. There were 3 Pinots, and a $60+ each, were excellent value.

How many canes Tony?...

Ten Minutes By Tractor

Montalto

Port Philip Estate

I can't help but think that given the money invested in recent years, that the focus has moved more to quantity than quality. Fair enough. Some of the wines were basic at best. They made a one-off shiraz in a hot year from non-estate fruit when given the result, they really shouldn't have bothered. Nothing exciting or of any real value here.

It doesn't look much like a winery...

Willow Creek Estate