13.0% A/V Cork sealed $22

A surprise replacement on the shelf of a local wine shop who’d just sold out of the 2007!

Pristine infantile colour of bright white/green with a whisper of pale straw. Quite reticent bouquet on opening, far greater and more perplexing aromatics on day two, revealing earthy minerals, river pebbles, subtle lime, pear and pomegranate with the merest suggestion of redcurrant. The palate displays an immaculate line, houses an abundance of crunchy citrus fruit, an inviting minerality, simply marvellous acid cut and impeccable carry. For such a terrific Riesling nearing its third birthday to show such understatement in its development, a long drinking window must be forecast. Quality of this wine is beyond reproach. 93+ points. A marvellous sibling to cellar and compare over the next several years to the outstanding 2002.

A blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with about 20% Cabernet Franc and a little Merlot.

Deep ruby core with some rusty browns in the edges. Opened with a distinct animale edge, hinting at low level brett, but this seemed to give way relatively quickly to some very ripe currant and plum with savoury touches of cedar, mint, fennel, autumn leaves and hint of licorice as a top note. Pretty damned noice. The medium- to full-bodied palate reveals layers of plush, ripe red and black fruit over a delightful savoury backdrop, relatively low acidity and some quality fine-grained tannin. It finishes long with a sweet and sour resonance that worked pretty well, if not a little confected to my liking. Overall an excellent example of a Clare Valley Cabernet blend. 90 points. I’ll be drinking my remaining bottles over the next several years.

the petaluma oozes class with a brilliant glowing infantile white straw colour, continually unfolding and building, still relatively primary, aromatics of orange blossom, grapefruit, musk, pear drop, minerals, lime and a just a hint of secondary toasty development. the palate harbours a solid and multidimensional core of musk, lime, oranges, pears and chalk, all underpinned by an incredible dose of mouth-puckering mineral-laced acidity and a prolonged finish of great authority. this tremendous oz riesling deserves the self-praise heaped upon this wine on the back label. this vintage rivals, and, in my most humble opinion, surpasses, the fabled 1980 vintage, winemaker brian croser compares it to. it displays all the hallmarks of a classic ageworthy clare valley riesling and should live for another decade and a half given proper cellaring conditions. 12.8% a/v, sealed with a cork closure. 94 points

the mcwilliams “old hill” is a recent auction purchase I now have no regrets paying a little over top for securing the right to tonight’s tasting. displaying a transluscent but very healthy brick red colour with abundant rust and brown in the meniscus, the haunting nose offers up a wealth of old leather, plenty of sweet earth, some dusty oak and a strong undercurrent of red cherry liquer over a backdrop of a ‘drying smidge’ of v.a (schlack), a hint of cigar box, nutmeg and an ultimate, alluring top note of licorice. so intoxicating is the bouquet, one can only go back to it, time and time again and wonder on how this wine looked to all the lucky punters who got to try it at various times in the past. the palate opened somewhat disappointingly empty and a little short, but as I sit here sipping on it for the third hour, I am absolutely dazzled by the improved performance. silky in texture as a rare red burg, this corker abounds with red fruits of cherry and currant displaying similarly perplexing virtues I found in the bouquet. exquisitely profound with such a diversity of nuance it’s difficult to know where it starts and finishes. at forty-two years of age, this shiraz is still alive and kicking with enough acidity and some lacy tannins providing backbone to the glossy fruit. surely one of the most wonderful balanced and compelling bottles of aged oz red I’ve had the pleasure of assessing, this wine fully deserves a score of 95 points. on the indication of how this particular bottle opened, I can vouch for the 1965 hunter red vintage of being up there with the best of the twentieth century. unfortunately, due to my parents procreation schedule, I doubt I’ll have little chance to enjoy the great wines of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s that the genius winemaker, maurice o’shea, made under the mcwilliams label.

Vented my concerns at my last bottle opened due to overpowering reductive characters on both nose and palate. Thought it opportune to crack another to compare.

Brilliant, starbright palest of straw/green colour. Sensational fresh aromatics of citrus blossoms, intense limey minerals and slightly browned wholemeal toast. The palate delivers an identical story; power-packed, incredibly well-delineated with laser-like focus, rapier minerally acidity supporting bucketloads of tight lime fruit. Finishes with sublime crispness, almost perfect equilibrium and astonishing length. 94 points. A thoroughly brilliant example with, perhaps, two decades of superior drinking ahead. Now my only concern is - why was this bottle so good and the last one so reductive? Perhaps one of the screwcap experts can enlighten me about such flagrant bottle variation from such a top producer?

Bottled under screwcap with an A/V of 13.0%

A superb example of Polish Hill Riesling revealing classic aged bottled characters and, seemingly, an almost indelible freshness. Displaying a youthful bright light yellow colour, the bouquet offers up an intriguing integrated amalgam of honey, freshly squeezed limes, toast and just a whiff of petrol. In the mouth, the wine excels with a superb richness of nuance as detailed above, gorgeous mouthfilling texture, seamlessly meshed to very fine minerally acidity, followed by a gloriously mature honeyed, but still refreshing, departure suggesting this wine is close to reaching its zenith. Drink now-2012. 93 points. Brilliant, for what it is! 12.5% A/V and sealed with a conventional cork. 

Screwcap. 12% A/V

Colour is bright straw with a petrolly nose over lime, a dash of honey and a hint of toast lurking underneath. Still fresh on the palate although slightly phenolic with crunchy lime and toasty fruit married to well-integrated acids. Finishes a little short. A much more impressive wine at release. I’d opt for drinking this sooner than later. 83 points.  

I’ve waxed lyrical about this wine from release, purchasing two dozen (not by choice, but as fate has it, a dozen each in cork and screwcap) and with some slightly disappointing commentary on various boards of late, decided to try another cork-sealed version to verify the concerns of the “Doubting Thomas’s”.

Firstly, I’ve seen no bottle variation under cork thus far - the wine continues to impress and has considerable time on its side. Again, I rate this as the best Petaluma Riesling ever made.

A bright, very pale straw/green colour, this superb Riesling, initially, delivers a reticent musky bouquet of white flowers before a flood of profound, intense, quintessential Clare lime and green apple fruit with a rivetting back-end of minerals and slate building in intensity and posture with airing. In the mouth the purity and crispness of the classic lime, Granny Smith and honeysuckle fruit is perfectly counterbalnced with a chalky minerality; packs plenty of punch, finishing very dry and long, the cleansing acidity providing focus and superb delineation. A brilliant wine! 94 points. Drink anytime from now-2017. 12% A/V