Walked into Woolies after work, bought a few groceries, badly in need of a refreshing cold ale and, goddamit, this wine’s staring me in the face for $15.98 by the six pack! Just had to buy one, take it home, give it a good breathe and post a TN.

Dark ruby/purple. Excellent varietal/regional nose of weedy, herb-tinged blackcurrants, freshly turned earth, cedar, a little mint and that indelible mix of older US and French oak that has worked so well with this label over many years. Medium-bodied palate offering a smooth, velvety entry harnassing plenty of ripe blackcurrant/plummy fruit, a touch of black olive, subservient savoury/cedary oak input, beautifully judged acidty, ripe, marginally chalky, firmish tannins, terrific length and an expansive, authoritative finish that, collectively, achieves an Outstanding rating.

This is a perfectly balanced, high quality Coonawarra Cabernet with an excellent medium- to long-term cellaring potential that’s drinking pretty darn well right now. Crystal-balling the mind-set of the winemaker, Sue Hodder, and the reported “corporate goal” of re-establishing this label to former glories, I suspect this Black Label is well and truly back on the “desired track” and worthy of a place in any serious wine lover’s cellar. 92 points. Drink 2010-2018+. Fantastic QPR! 13.5% A/V

I’ve enjoyed Esmonin’s Burgundies since the 1990 vintage and this wine certainly is up there with the best I’ve tried thus far.

Displays a saturated plummy red core with considerable rust in the edges. This wine possesses all the aromatic hallmarks of such a renowned cru from a top vintage - Asian spices, undergrowth, exotic mushrooms and sweet earth intermingle with deepset plummy/sappy fruit with a strong backdrop of savoury oak. The palate is drop-dead gorgeous, smooth and silky with creamy plum and cherry fruit, a nice dose of pinot sap, terrific integrated acidity and ripe, fine-grained tannins. The oak plays a secondary role here compared to what’s found in the bouquet. The finish is ripe, soft, long and savoury with enough grip to provide this taster with renewed invigoration for more. Lovely wine that drank every bit as well the second night without a trace of deterioration or oxidation. 92 points. Drink now-2016. 13.5% A/V    

12.5% A/V. Cork closure. Superb level and virtually no seepage up the cork.

A brilliant offering, equivalent to a top Second Growth from a very good year. A beautiful crimson/garnet colour holding right to the edge. Wonderfully pure, savoury nose of superripe currants, blackberries, a subtle leafiness, cedary oak and a hint of licorice and spice box. Top shelf. The palate delivers an identical level of excellence - silky mouthfeel, perfect weight and a fantastic equilibrium difficult to emulate. Copious quantities of succulent fruit (aka the bouquet) mesh, seamlessly, with terrific fresh, bright acids and a gorgeous, melting fine tannin regime to produce a complete package. Finishes with such aplomb, I had to pinch myself and check that this was, in fact, from the Yarra Valley! Outstanding verging on Exceptional. What a wine! Although at the zenith, I can’t see similarly kept bottles falling over in a hurry. Wow! 94 points

Transluscent medium-ruby with plenty of rust in the outer edges. Pronounced white meniscus. Heavenly perfumed bouquet of pinot sap, sour cherry and plum, a little sous bois, truffles, spice box and beautifully integrated savoury oak. Silky light- to medium-bodied palate with similarly etched fruit backed by the vintage thumbprint of elevated, but in this case, not overblown, acidity and fine-grained, sympathetic tannins. Finishes soft and long with a delicacy I enjoy with this winestyle. Excellent and definitely worth of a look now but should last/improve for many years to come. Went brilliantly with the most succulent marinated free range/drug-free chook slow-cooked in the Weber. 90 points.

A rivetting example of Alsace VT Riesling - quite an austere example compared to the Zind-Humbrecht “Clos Jesbal” Pinot Gris 1990 reviewed below - but no less rivetting. Perfectly balanced from start to finish with an incredible array of almost dry extract showing complex waxy apple curd, minerals, spicy botrytis notes and an eerie petroluem overlay. Superb mouthfeel, gorgeous integrated acid cut and a wonderful departure. 95 points on its’ ear.

Thanks be the Infant Legume for putting me onto this one!

Medium ruby core with immense bricking throughout the hue. Glorious mature nose of damp earth, cedar, dusty blackcurrants, satsuma plums, rosemary, thyme, savoury oak and a stunning top note of anise and sweet corn. Pure silk in the mouth, re-enacting the bouquet in nuance to a tee, magnificently plump but ohso soft and utterly captivating with melted fine tannins, surprisingly ripe acidity and a finish of thirty seconds and thensome. What is so rivetting about this Outstanding/Exceptional example of right-bank Merlot/Cabernet Franc is the glorious balance and integration of every component combined with that delicate underlying power that provides the backbone of greatness. 94 points.  

Last Saturday night I produced a bottle of this, one of my favourite LLC’s, to a group of wine lovers at a “posh” restaurant in Sydney. It was bordering on fair/good at best - I had trouble giving it above 80 points. Not within a bull’s roar on this one below, opened with two experienced wine tasters earlier this year.

“Still a very deep ruby with virtually no bricking. Powerful, masculine, minerally (almost ferrous) bouquet housing a brooding, classy mix of graphite, deep-set curranty fruit, briar, black olives, herbs and plenty of newish savoury oak. “Lots going on here”, was Tony’s first remark as he nosed the Riedel. Jamie’s “Ahhh …. Bordeaux!”, was also a good start (the wine had been decantered sometime before and masked at Jamie’s request). From the outset, we were all surprised and most impressed by this wines’ enormity and youthfulness, particularly for the vintage. If anything, the palate has quite a way to go to reach maturity. Again, fantastic quality of savoury fruit and oak, more of the brooding mineral/briar/olive character, of full body, excellent delineation, robust, firm tannins and great length. Over the next hour or two we sniffed, swirled and sipped our way through this Outstanding bottle of St. Julien until there was no more. My best sip was the last. Drink 2011-2025. 93 points”

Mature hue with flashes of light ruby in the core but mostly rust. Elegant, earthy, feminine nose of spices (cinammon and nutmeg), game, red cherries, green plums and a little rose hip backed by some varietal sap/tomato stalk and a nice complimentary touch of oak. Of light- to medium-body, the palate reveals an exemplary silky texture combined with a seductive delicateness only Pinot Noir can deliver. Although lighter in style, there is no lack of intensity in flavour with sappy notes of cherry and plum combining effortlessly with subtle savoury oak, lacy fine tannins, gorgeous ripe acidity and a resolute soft finish. Drinking beautifully now, this wine is fully mature and should be drunk over the next several years. Excellent for what it is. 89 points.

Mature hue. Exuburent sappy, spicy Pinot nose of plum, cherry, game, musk, undergrowth and damp earth. Silky, slippery, light-medium body palate harbouring similar exemplary varietal fruit flavours, wrapped in lively integrated acidity and fine-grained tannins. A kiss of savoury oak on a long, impressive departure. Probably nearing the peak of its powers but should hold for several years. Drink now-2012. Rated as Excellent, about 90 points.

I have very fond memories of the various late-picked Riesling’s and Gewurtztraminers from this revered Domaine from the great vintages 1989 and 1990. Have not tried one for many years, this bottle provided wonderful drinking last evening, holding up extremely well for several hours after being opened.

This outstanding/exceptional wine posseses a deep, glowing burnished gold colour, an exotic, honeyed but still fresh bouquet of tropical fruits, yellow peaches, apricots, lychee, musky florals and the haunting minerality that abounds in these fabulous Alsatian whites. Possessing abundant extract and perplexing complexity on the palate (with identical descriptors as mentioned above) this fully mature Pinot Gris fills the mouth with a beautiful unctious texture, holds a faultless line but still has sufficient acidity to provide a precise, crisp, clean, lingering aftertaste of considerable aplomb. Bliss in a glass! Drink now-2010+. 95 points 13% A/V