Outstanding Tasting Line-ups

First Glass 5 September 2018 
Theme: New and Not So New
Notes by Sue Courtney
Wines were tasted blind

 
Robert Mondavi Private Selection Chardonnay 2017 – California, USA
Lightly toasted nutty oak fills the bouquet and it's full of caramel and citrus in the creamy, lightly honeyed palate that has a nice little savoury twist and a lingering butterscotch taste. Value plus. 13.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $14.99.
 
Villa Maria Reserve Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 2016 – Hawkes Bay
Grilled peaches and cream tantalise the nose and toasty oak and creamed nut flavours fill the warm, rounded, mouthfilling palate. It's savoury, spicy and zesty with nicely balanced peach and nectarine fruit and a tangy and satisfying finish.  13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $32.99.
 
Aronui Single Vineyard Nelson Albarino 2016
The bouquet radiates pear and tropical fruit, and there's mouthwatering pineapple-laced tropical fruit and honeydew melon in the palate with a touch of honey and beeswax to the just off dry and slightly salty and salivating finish. Refreshing and summery and while seemingly light to start there’s increasing complexity to the texture. Gold Medal Sydney Top 100. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $17.99.
 
Millton Riverpoint Vineyard Gisborne Viognier 2015 
Moderately gold in hue with a bouquet of apricot and honey following through to the rich, oily palate with a bees-waxy sweetness beautifully balanced by a nutty savouriness, a zing of exotic spices and a juicy green melon aftertaste. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $24.99.
 
Conde Valdemar Rioja Reserva 2010 – Rioja, Spain 
Starting to show bricking to the burgundy hue, this has spiced cherries and vanillin oak on the soft bouquet and an edgy bite and slightly furry tannins to the upfront savoury taste, then cherry and blueberry fruit comes to the fore and the mellow finish is creamy and satisfying with touches of cake spices, oak and anise.  13.5% alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $35.99.
 
Chateau Loudenne Medoc Cru Bourgeois 2012 – Bordeaux, France 
Dark red in the glass with signs of bricking. Smoky and brambly on the nose and strong and moderately tannic to the taste. A savoury wine embellished with smoke, spices, pencil box and leather with a refreshing undercurrent of acidity and a juicy berry sweetness on the velvety, almost creamy finish. A blend of Merlot and Cabernet. 13.5 % alc. Cork. First Glass Price: $38.99.
 
Paritua Hawkes Bay Syrah 2014
Black red with crimson edges. Dark berry fruit wafts through the savoury bouquet that has a faint suggestion of barnyard and game. Full-bodied and mouthfilling in the silky palate crammed with dark berry fruit and layered with Black Doris plum chocolate with a sprinkling of cake spice and pepper and a savoury oak frame. Soft and velvety as the flavours linger. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $41.99.
 
Matua Single Vineyard Matheson Hawkes Bay Syrah 2014
Purple red with crimson edges. Hints of Black Forest chocolate on the nose and nicely honed peppery notes in the palate with plump plum and berry fruit, harmonious nutty savoury oak and sweet spices.  Velvety and long with enveloping fruit sweetness. Drinking beautifully. 13.5% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $49.99.
 
Cape Barren Native Goose McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016
Purple red with crimson edges. The bouquet is reminiscent of chocolate chip biscuits and the taste is rich and smooth with a savoury spine, a vibrancy of pepper and spice, mulberry and plum fruit and touches of menthol emerging as the wine lingers. A juicy wine with a velvety flow. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.
 
Grant Burge Barossa Ink Cabernet Sauvignon 2016
Inky black red. Dusty on the nose with concentrated cherry jam and blackcurrant fruit, hints of tar and leather. Deep and dark at first in the soft juicy palate, the brambly fruit infusing almost milk chocolate-like notes with touches of praline and brightness to the lingering finish with subtle nuances of mint. 14% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $16.99.
 
Linke Barossa Valley Shiraz 2015
Inky black red in the glass. Crushed chocolate biscuits, plum, cherry and savoury vanillin oak laced with mint fill the bouquet and there is all this and more in the velvet cloaked palate. This is a massive wine, a heady wine, an opulent wine with a smooth seamless flow, raisined cherry fruit, pepper, anise, nut chocolate, cedar and vanilla with a touch of mint adding to the bright lifted finish. Kapow! 15.7% alc. Screwcap. First Glass Price: $19.99.

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