Wine lovers musings, amusings and news

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Wine critic Jeremy Oliver to launch online platform for wine retail






Jasper Hill: How a winery helped turn a town into a destination

What to drink at a dinner party



Decoding the Complicated Color Wheel of Wines


  • 2020 Chateau Troplong Mondot $215 - reviews

Redman: This winemaking family just uncorked all 52 of their cab sav vintages




Behind a paywall, but sadly Cellarone is unlikely to continue to have Arras as a brand. Sad days
Accolade Wines has sold its House of Arras sparkling wines brand and vineyards, and the Bay of Fires winery and cellar door in Tasmania, to boutique player Handpicked Wines for an undisclosed price.
Accolade will retain the Bay of Fires wine brand, under an arrangement where Handpicked Wines will make the wine under contract.
Accolade has entered into a long-term agreement to continue to produce and bottle all House of Arras brands under contract with the new owners.
The grapes will keep being sourced and pressed in Tasmania and the wines will be made at existing Accolade facilities, including Torresans in the Adelaide Hills.
 
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How La Nina’s cooler vintages paid off for Brian Croser’s Australian wine brand Tapanappa and its chardonnay and pinot noir







Stockbroker Danny Younis’ ‘ethical dilemma’ creates bonanza for wine lovers



Allegedly one of the best Zins Australia producers. I've never been blown away by it though.
I’m not big Zinfandel / Primitivo drinker myself. At the beginning of covid (yes, that thing that happened many moons ago) FC reduced CM Zins from $50 to $20 so it was good opportunity to try something different :)
10 Zinfandels and Blends to Drink Right Now
 






 






 


  • James Halliday Top 100 - 2023
20 Best Champagnes and Australian Sparkling Wines
JH97
  • Bellebonne Natalie Fryar Vintage Rosé 2020
  • Stefano Lubiana Grande Vintage 2011
  • Chandon Australia Étoile Brut NV
  • Brown Brothers Patricia Extended Lees Pinot Noir Chardonnay Brut 2010
JH98
  • Dom Perignon Vintage Brut 2013
  • Louis Roederer Cristal 2015
  • Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 2015
JH99
  • Krug Grande Cuvée 171ème Édition NV
Top 20 white wines over $30
JH99
  • Leeuwin Estate Art Series Margaret River Chardonnay 2020
JH98
  • Meadowbank Riesling 2023
  • Grosset Polish Hill Clare Valley Riesling 2023
  • Brokenwood ILR Reserve Hunter Valley Semillon 2017
  • Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Winemaker’s Selection Hunter Valley Semillon 2017
Top 20 red wines over $40
JH99
JH98
  • Turkey Flat Barossa Valley Shiraz 2020
  • Yarra Yering Underhill 2022
  • Balnaves of Coonawarra The Tally Reserve Cabernet 2021
  • Wise Dr RW Frankland River Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
  • Stargazer Palisander Vineyard Coal River Valley Pinot Noir 2022
  • Delamere Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
  • Yabby Lake Vineyard Single Block Release Block 2 Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2022
 
Wine Ark top 10 wines collected 2023

01 Penfolds Grange Shiraz (-)
02 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz (up 1)
03 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz (down 1)
04 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz (up 1)
05 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon (up 1)
06 Lake's Folly Cabernets (down 2)
07 Cullen Diana Madeline Cabernet Blend (-)
08 Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon (-)
09 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay (up 1)
10 Mount Mary Quintet Cabernet Blend (up 2)

Good to see at least one white included in this very “old school” list. My only surprise is the lack of representation for Henschke, particularly HoG.

Other highlights include:
  • Most popular wine brand: Penfolds (7 entries)
  • Most popular wine region: 1st: Barossa (8 entries), 2nd: Hunter Valley (6 entries)
  • Most popular single varietal: Shiraz (14 entries)
  • Most popular state: South Australia (25 entries)
  • White Wine vs Red Wine: 13 whites, 37 reds
  • The most collected Shiraz: Penfolds Grange #1 (Multi-regional)
  • The most collected Cabernet Shiraz: Penfolds 389 #3 (Multi-regional)
  • The most collected Cabernet Blend: Lake’s Folly #6 (Hunter Valley)
  • The most collected Cabernet Sauvignon: Moss Wood #5 (Margaret River)
  • The most collected Riesling: Grosset Polish Hill #12 (Clare Valley)
  • The most collected Chardonnay: Leeuwin Estate #9 (Margaret River)
  • The most collected Pinot Noir: Mount Mary #26 (Yarra Valley)
  • The most collected Semillon: Tyrrell’s Vat 1 #14 (Hunter Valley)
 

The Death of the Tasting Note…
The new generation of drinkers coming through (20-30 years old), are not big readers of the papers and almanacs. They are not particularly endeared with a slow process of accruing knowledge through the steady drip drip drip of “wine work” – it is a punchy, quick to change, fast to react world out there and opinions are easily found wherever you look on this World Wide Web of ours. No single wine writer can tap into this zeitgeist as they are hidden behind their self-made pay walls set up for the aged professionals who want the camaraderie that comes with their wine enjoyment. So, this younger generation will flit like hummingbirds in the forest, from one experience to another lightly touching on its surface before belting off for another experience hit. No time to waste dear comrades.
The generation of the tasting note, even the ranking of scores, is becoming that old school niche that is looked upon like a Nokia 3310. [What does it actually do? … Ah, make phone calls, how quaint.]. I was in a local liquor store during “Schoolies” last year, and as most of the finishing high school students are now 18, they are able to buy liquor. How these young adults discussed their alcohol choices was nothing like how little old me in the early Pleistocene used to buy booze (beer was one of three brands – wine was from a cask – spirits were to get you drunk so lowest $/abv won the day) – they were checking QR codes, going off mates’ recommendations, spotting cool labels, attracted to what was “in”. Price was not a consideration and in no way were they bothered by “scores” just interested in the peer group assigned reputation and what they actually wanted to drink!
Some of this younger generation will delve deeper into this wine world of ours, but unlike previous generation’s growth in alcohol, which was much more linear, theirs will not be a slow pathway. In or out. Know everything or know nothing. It does not matter; it is how you feel and not how you are expected to feel that counts. A generation spoilt for choice, and they know of no other.
Tasting notes and the form of presenting them is becoming a historical artefact and the experts that write them are in essence writing them for the industry and not the consumers. The industry may regurgitate them, abbreviate them, poach them, and even smoke them with manuka chips in a dry smoker – but solely to keep those that lightly touch upon their marketing banter feeling as if these lines of prose have a modicum of weight. We are in an oneiric state, not realizing we are in the middle of change in how wine can be sold and presented but cannot follow how the goal posts have moved so we continue to kick to where they once were.
 
Is there a plausible explanation as to why wine bottles are not included in any CDS in Australia?
 
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Oh sorry I missed Qld - but why not the other states? Be shame for them all to be on the one page wouldn’t it?

The origins of the scheme(s) are founded on reducing litter, not recycling. Smaller consumables are more likely to become litter than larger items...

There is also an age old argument that wine and spirits are more than likely to be consumed at home and at restaurants where the inherent recycling rates are already high. You therefore don't need incentives to drive recycling of these products. This seems to be the argument made by the antis.

But times have changed and now recycling is seen as carrying a more holistic (environmental) benefit. I agree should be extended.

Unfortunately (wine) industry is generally against it (also use argument that it will result in an increase cost to product) so will be a hard sell, especially in the more established wine growing states.


 

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