Burnished copper/orange/khaki with an attractive luminescence. Gorgeously elegant bouquet harbouring an ethereal mix of peel, nutty rancio, a hint of white chocolate/burnt caramel and a mild whisky barrel top note. Luscious but holding a fine line in the mouth, neither heavy or sweet with a replica of flavours found in the bouquet including wonderful complex aged barrel characters. Like the Seppelt Fino I reviewed below, this is smooth as a bub’s bum, finishing relatively dry with amazing persistence well after swallowing. Top class “aged” sherry totally belying its 21.5% alcohol by volume. 92 points.

Glowing pale straw with a flick of pale green. Gently lifted, spirity nose harbouring walnuts, hay and old barrel notes. Smooth, crisp and fresh in the mouth with predominant nutty/rancio flaours. Finishes ohso long and pretty darn smooth without any alcoholic burn. All in all, a pretty impressive wine that, ideally, would be served as an aperitif, although could handle savoury hors d’ouvres or olives, hard cheeses and the like. 90 points.

15.5% A/V - sealed with a t-cork.

Having mentioned to a few people that the Wine Lover’s Discussion Group’s doing a “wine focus” on sherry for the month of June, I’ve been surprised by many who’ve dissed this wine style carte blanche. Whilst appreciative of the individual’s right to like/dislike any particular wine style, I feel sherry gets the rough end of the pineapple, so to speak, possibly due its perception of being something cheap and nasty that old people (read streotypically old women) drink and/or is perceived by many as a salute to the past rather than a worthy part of the modern wine drinker’s armoury.

I, for one, have not had a great deal of experience with sherry, but have thoroughly enjoyed trying it from time to time, especially when presented with food or just as an aperitif.

The Seppelt Fino and Morris Amontillado I’ve opened and posted tasting notes for this exercise have greatly impressed.

Sherry desrves far greater recognition from wine lover’s; the only problem is so few people are willing to give it a chance by actually trying it, so it seems.

This wine might just be one of the best young Aussie Riesling’s I’ve tasted in the last year or more. And it just might contain a higher percentage (hopefully, one day, 100%, but I seriously doubt it) of Steingarten fruit than some of its predecessors.

Steingarten goes way back, for me at least. I remember drinking it in the eighties thanks to some of the local wine club dudes and it was sublime. I suppose the fact it, seemingly, went off the boil there for a while, isn’t all that important. But with this vintage, Orlando have produced the real deal, so you’ll get no complaints from me if this standard is reproduced on a regular basis in the future. The 2002 is another vintage of this label worthy of similar praise on what I tasted a year or so, too.

Boasting a starbright, brilliant palest of green/white gold hue’s, this wine’s aromatics are truly stunning revealing a classical bevy of freshly squeezed lime, musk, river pebbles, rosehip, ripe Packham pear, apple blossom; all wrapped (hopefully) in some of the minerality of the rocky soils of this legendary Barossa Ranges vineyard. The palate continues to the beat of the same drum - beautiful entry, expansive palate of pristine, tight citrus fruit combined with an explosive, superbly crafted middle and back palate riddled with vibrant, mouth-puckering, minerally acidity. This wine is very well balanced yet displays such youthfulness and has such incredible potential for improvement, probably for at least a decade, most likely closer to two. Finishes with the resolute persistence of crunchy citrus fruits and zesty, crisp acidity, I predict this wine will be difficult for most people to keep their hands of it before it reaches its final curtain. Drink 2007-2025. 12.5 %A/V and sealed with a Stelvin screwcap. 92 points.

Ancient mahogany brown with a khaki/olive rim, incredible viscosity. Heavenly amalgam of esters soar from the glass harbouring fragrant muscatels, creme caramel, mixed peel, dusty oak and a volatile top note. Massively concentrated, luscious palate of amazing sweetness with identical nuance found in the bouquet, held together by a grippy astringency on a sensationally long, lingering, moorish departure. Rutherglen Muscat at its absolute finest. Drink now. 96 points. 375 ml bottle sealed with a tradional cork and 18% A/V.

Slightly burnished mid-gold with tremendous depth and a luminescent brightness. Reeks and tastes of candied apricots, powdery botrytis, dessicated coconut encrusted pineapple, creme brule’, citrus peel, marzipan, poached yellow peaches, a touch of butterscotch and the haunting everpresent overlay of spicy oak that, seemingly, only the French can infuse seamlessly into their Sauternes. There’s nothing overly heavy or cloying to be found in this wine, although I don’t believe this will make extremely old bones, displaying just enough acidity, freshness and equilibrium to suggest this will continue to hold for another 5-10 years. With extended breathing everything got a little thicker and more unctious, further enforcing my belief this will be better drunk sooner than later. Excellent drop, all the same. 90 points.