McHenry Hohnen Cabernet/Merlot 2008, Margaret River (£9.99 Majestic) Surprisingly forward, rounded wine, showing just the right amount of leafy mint and eucalyptus character alongside juicy plummy fruit, hints of leather and tobacco and smooth ripe tannins. B+
Averys Pioneer Barossa Shiraz 2007 – made by Yalumba (£8.99 Averys) A lovely bear-hug of a wine, ripe and confident, but never jammy, with meaty leathery plum, liquorice and chocolate flavour tinged with cloves. S-
Mount Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz 2005, Grampians (£29.99 Harper Wells, Harrods) Rich, exotic style with exuberant blueberry and blackcurrant flesh, notes of pepper, clove and oriental spices, and an earthy ferrous note to the finish. My only reservation is I’d like to have seen it picked slightly earlier – it’s 15% alcohol, and there’s just a touch of jamminess as the wine open up. S
Botham Merrill Willis 25th Anniversary Shiraz 2005, McLaren Vale (£14.99 Christopher Piper – £2.50 from each bottle goes Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research) Less fragrant and more stolid than the Langi, has a warm chocolate and orange liqueur edge to its dark fruitcake flavours, but it’s let down by a volatile, port-like character. B(-)
Australia Day + 1, so a few hangers-on from the haggis adventure, plus a moody but not all that magnificent Italian…
Jacobs Creek Grenache Shiraz 2008, South Eastern Australia (£5.99 Tesco, Asda, Ocado) Quite light, almost refreshing, sweet raspberry aroma and flavour, slightly jammy, but then the more earthy gravitas of Shiraz comes through. Good, easy commercial style, almost chillable. B
Peter Lehmann Layers Red 2008, Barossa, Australia (£10.50 SWIG) Liquorice and earth, slightly jammy dodger-like sweetness, big, quite fleshy, concentrated and juicy, and the blackberry and plum fruit isn’t overripe, but seems not to be quite sure what it wants to achieve. B
Wyndham Estate George Wyndham Founder’s Reserve Shiraz 2005, South Australia (£9.99 Majestic) Big, pungent, peppery, inky, has a pleasing black fruit and herb intensity, but there’s a slightly ‘processed’ feel to it, along with some vanilla that detracts from that nice fruit. But a decent glug all the same. B(+)
Castello Banfi Rosso di Montalcino 2007, Tuscany, Italy (£15.07 Bibendum – sale price from Feb 2nd £7.82) Vague brown sugar, black cherry and Cola, touches of vanilla and bayleaf, but ultimately quite simple with not much in the way of aroma, and a finish that’s just that bit too dry and charmless – too controlled. B-
Leaping Lizard Cabernet Merlot 2007, Western Australia (£7.99-£8.50 Seckford Agencies) Vibrant, crunchy blackcurrant nose, then slightly pippy blackberry flavours, with a tar-like streak, easy fleshy wine, quite powerful and ripe but finishes dry. B
Ferngrove ‘Symbols’ Cabernet Merlot 2008, Frankland River, Australia (£8.99-£9.50 Seckford Agencies) Fresher and tangier than the Leaping Lizard, with fine cassis, black cherry and leafy Cabernet edges joined by an oily richness, intense, but never aggressive. S-
Yalumba The Scribbler Cabernet/Shiraz 2007, Barossa, Australia (£9.99 Oddbins, Noel Young) Jovial forward style, ripe and rounded, with the sweet edge of plump Shiraz and the vanilla sheen of (American?) oak coming through. Good meaty finish, tasty and honest, but not hugely complex. B+
Casillero del Diablo Reserva Privada Cabernet/Syrah 2007, Maipo Valley, Chile (£8.99 Asda) Classic Chilean dusty blackcurrant pastille, intense but quite angular – needs sexing up. B(-)
Brown Brothers Patricia Cabernet Sauvignon 2004, Victoria, Australia (£22.99 Christopher Piper, www.everywine.co.uk) Corked! Bugger.
If you are surrounded by cake, what do you do? Open three sweet wines…
Mont Tauch Muscat de Rivesaltes NV, France (£5.99 per half Morrisons)
Plump juicy grape and barley sugar, a hint of rose petal, maybe a touch of heat from the fortification, but overall this is very friendly, sticky wine – perfect for Christmas puddings. B+
Heggies Botrytis Riesling 2006, Eden Valley, South Australia (~£11 per half)
Alluring apricot, orange and peach kernel aromas, supple, juicy wine, not overladen with botrytis, but with that almost creamy richness allied to the tangy floral edges of Riesling. S
Disznókő Tokaj 5 puttonyos 2001, Hungary (£21.36 per 500ml Waitrose)
Classic burnt sugar and deep marmalade character, showing some maturity but still with that backbone of searing, almost herby acidity that will keep it in good nick for years to come. Yes it’s sweet, but that acidity dries up the finish – save it for blue cheese and foie gras. S+
Thanks Enotria for the six Rieslings that landed on the doorstep recently, two with corks, two with screwcaps and two with those very pretty Vinoloks. It’s been a rather soggy afternoon in the Pennines, but these brightened up matters considerably. More on this week’s First Taste page here.
Last year, my prize for the wine name which didn’t transfer so well to the UK market went to a Brazilian wine. It was a 2005 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Tannat from the excellent Miolo winery, and I liked everything about it except the name – Gran.
This year is still not much more than halfway through, but in my pile of wines to be tasted is a Riesling that looks set to take the 2009 crown from Peter Lehmann. This renowned Barossa winery now forms part of Donald Hess’s wine portfolio, along with Glen Carlou in South Africa, Colomé in Argentina and the Hess Collection of California. However, it’s Doug Lehmann (Peter’s son) who remains in day-to-day charge of the place, and the wines still speak in broad Aussie. Ask Doug the secret of the winery’s success and he’ll probably first talk about the excellent network of growers he works with in the region. But it probably won’t be long before his conversation will turn to his winemaker Andrew who’s been part of the Lehmann team for more than 30 years, and who’s surname appears on this Riesling now on my rack. It’s name? Wigan.
Now I hope I won’t come across as being Wigan-ist here, but I have a feeling that Brits will struggle to see the appeal of a wine with the same name as a town that was the birthplace of both George Formby and Northern Soul and which each year hosts the World Pie-Eating Competition. Wines called Scunthorpe and Peterborough would probably be similarly off-putting, as would ones named after that town in Austria that thanks to its unusual name keeps having its road signs nicked – you know the one I mean.
But yes, Wigan. Fortunately, I have several other Rieslings on the same samples rack, so when I get around to tasting Wigan, its identity will be concealed within a plastic bag and the name won’t put me off. Expect the verdict later this week.
