Wine Of The Week

WINE OF THE WEEK

Greenstone Rosso di Colbo Sangiovese 2011

The Greenstone vineyard is the result of a lot of know how, experimentation and breaking a few 'rules'. There is a strong focus on producing good quality Sangiovese (to good results it would appear!) but of course in Heathcote you have to give Shiraz some floor space too.



A great example of Sangiovese.

This wine was one of the highlights from Saturday's tasting at Mezzo. It is everything I want from a great Sangiovese. This could give more than a few Chiantis a run for their money! It is savoury, dry and lean with a nice acid backbone. It shows dark fruits, a hint of oak and a light floral note. Brilliant drinking! It went particularly well with Mezzo's wild boar ragu!

$31ea - Cheaper by the dozen. Email me philip@thewinedepository.com.au for more info or orders.

Italian Varieties in Australia Tasting @ Mezzo Restaurant 28/07/12



The place to be on this cold afternoon.

Having done quite a focus on Italian wines over the last few months, I thought it was time to bring it closer to home and show some Australian interpretations of Italian varieties. Teaming up with Silvio at Mezzo Restaurant we selected seven wines from interesting Australian producers making excellent examples of Italian varietals. The team at Mezzo put on a spectacular spread of food and so all we needed is some willing participants! On a cold and rainy Melbourne afternoon we were warm inside Mezzo munching on amazing wild boar ragu, mussells, arancini and salmon tartare and sipping on some Australian wine gems.
You can see the notes I made for the tasting and if you are keen the order form is here.

The challenge for those who attended.

Three whites and four reds was the assignment. We started off with a new wine from the Chalmers Heathcote Vineyard Montevecchio Bianco 2011. A field blend of Vermentino, Fiano and Moscato Giallo this wine was crisp, clean and dry with nice amount of yellow fruits, floral notes, grapiness and citrus. Perfect for uncomplicated but satisfying drinking. Next up was Mac Forbes Arneis 2010. From the Yarra Valley, this Arneis showed all the hallmarks of great examples of the style; lovely aromatics, textural mouthfeel and clean finishing. It was very hard to have just one glass of this wine (luckily I got to take home the 'dregs'). The final white was the Freeman Fortuna Pinot Gris Plus 2010 a wine that manages to straddle the rich and textural side of Gris while avoiding oily/cloying characters. Melons, grapes, fleshy stone fruits and a nice hint of spice. The addition of small amounts of Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Aleatico seem to be a masterstroke!


Me (Phil) setting up. So much romantic screwcap crackle!

While the whites were well received the red bracket was definitely the favourite of those who attended. We tasted Montevecchio Rosso 2011, also from Chalmers' Heathcote vineyard this was a field blend, containing Shiraz (yes there is some Shiraz in Italy), Lagrein, Nero d'Avola and Sagrantino. It was spicy, red fruited, mid weight and a hint savoury. Nice easy drinking and really showed well for the price. Staying  in Heathcote we tasted Greenstone Rosso di Colbo Sangiovese 2011. The Greenstone story is fascinating to hear but the wines are just delicious! This is their entry level Sangio and it had all of the cherry, earthy and hint of meat and oak characters with the clean and dry elements celebrated in Chianti. This is an excellent wine! Building up in weight we went to Freeman Secco 2008, made in the style of Valpolicella and Amarone this uses Rondinella and Corvina grapes that are run through a prune dehydrator to concentrate the flavours (Amarone use an air drying process to achieve a similar result). There was plenty of red and blue fruits, a full weight in the mouth but a nice freshness and great balance with the acid and tannin elements and a dry finish. Finally we had a variety that I think has a lot of potential for Australia Beach Road Aglianico 2010. Beach Rd make a great range of Italian varieties from Langhorne Creek and McLaren Vale, This is one of their best (in my opinion). I've recently been getting excited by Aglianico and this offers a lot of their big red and black fruit, leather notes, spice and a herbal edge. Nice palate length and very drinkable.

This is one of the most interesting tasting I've hosted as all these wines were so different from what we normally taste in Australia. There was almost a dead heat between the last three reds for most popular wine with Mac Forbes Arneis following close behind. Thanks to those that came out and hopefully we can top this tasting next month.

Dinner With William Downie 10/07/12 at Scopri

It was 5.59pm on Tuesday and I took a call from Matthew Hanson who I have chatted to regularly for well over 5 years now and who runs Fine Wine Appreciation Melbourne http://www.finewineappreciation.com.au/ . He said he had a last minute withdrawal from his William Downie dinner so would I like to come along? "It starts at 7pm" he added. I had been keen to go as I've loved Bill's wines since day two (there is an amusing story about day one but I shall save that for another time!) but the dinner filled up before I responded. Given I had just opened a bottle of wine to cook dinner with and it was corked, it was obviously a sign that I should go. So I did.

Bill's three Pinots.(LtoR) Gippsland, Mornington, Yarra.

Bill Downie has been on a wine making odyssey that has seen him work at tiny producers and large wine factories most notably in Australia and Burgundy. Since 2003 he has also been making Pinot Noir under his own name from the Yarra Valley and subsequently added Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland to the range complemented by a one off wine (or two).

I made it to Scopri - fast becoming my second home with plenty of time to spare and a thirst! The dinner was to be four courses, each matched with a pair of wines Bill had made. Once again I have to say that Scopri's ability to match food to wine is outstanding.

The back labels are a bit more informative.... A bit.

Roasted quail with puy lentils and pancetta

William Downie Mornington Pinot Noir 2011 Red berries, bright fruits, floral, vibrant, pure Mornington Pinot. The palate was tart, clean with a hint of oak and spice, clean and crunchy.

William Downie Mornington Pinot Noir 2008 Much darker in colour and flavour than the 2011. 2008 was much warmer compared to the wet and cold 2011 vintage and it showed in all the wines. Curranty, aniseed, hint savoury.
Richly fruited in the mouth with more muscle and tannin. Great length with red fruits coming up on the finish.

Potato ravioli with veal ragu

William Downie Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2011 Red fruits, spice, earth, jubey, lavender, pepper, dense. Silky, great flesh, vibrant, spice, fine and lean with a flinty note. Very long, fine and even tannins, savoury finish. Much more dense and savoury compared with the Mornington.

William Downie Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2008 Dark, plums, currants, spice, rose petal/floral, lifted.
Rich mouthfeel, ripe fruits, vibrant, sour cherry, muscular tannins and a hint bitter (in the positive refreshing mould), good length.

Yep, I defaced my menu with all the vital notes you are currently reading.

Braised beef cheeks 

William Downie Gippsland Pinot Noir 2011 Tart, tea leaf, smoke, roses, red fruits, blood orange, pretty nose with an earthy edge. The palate showed red fruits that were vibrant and juicy with some dark fruit almost fruit cake like notes. The finish was fine, taut and structured. Great finesse. Possibly my favourite of the 2011s but it really is just splitting hairs and a little bit unfair to compare such young wines.

William Downie Gippsland Pinot Noir 2008 Dark and meaty. Some of the spiced hung meats, oaky, dense and intense. In the mouth it offered lifted lavender, creamy big oxy berries. Sweet fruits, silk, vibrancy, fine fruit tannins, good length and a hint of bitterness.

Italian cheeses


Thousand Candles - you just have to taste it.

Thousand Candles 2011 This is the first release of this wine. I won't try and replicate Bill's story about this wine because I couldn't fake his passion and belief. But this wine came about when he was asked to make a wine that speaks of the best of what Australia can do. He has full control of the process from the vineyard to the final packaging.
The wine is from one vineyard in the Yarra Valley and is a blend of Shiraz, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. The blend came about because Bill and the team felt that on their own they had three OK wines, but together they had a wine that offered "Truth in the Glass". The wine spoke of where it came from. The wine making process was simply "Whole bunches in a vessel." No destemming, no yeast additions, no crushing, no punched downs or pump overs. Even the Sauv Blanc was made with full stems and skins. In fact it spent almost a year on skins which would be considered almost heresy in most peoples winemaking manuals.
The wine itself was stunning. Dusty, gravel, earth, stemmy, tight, tart red berry fruits, hint sappy with spice. The palate was juicy, vibrant, silky, meaty, with great fruit tannins, smoke/flint. It evolved a lot in the glass. I felt like I could picture the vineyard in my head as I drank it. I'd love to visit the place in the near future. It sounds amazing.
There is quite a lovely story about how the name and the label came about. But that takes a bit of time and if far better to hear from Bill himself.

William Downie Petit Manseng 2009 Hailing from the King Valley, this wine came about because Bill had no Pinot in 09. So rather than compromise he thought he'd find something completely different. Petit Manseng makes brilliant high acid sweet wines in the Southern French region of Jurancon. This wine was a fair facsimilie. Tropical, floral, pure and clean. With a waxy bitterness and piercing acid to balance out the sweetness. It had great intensity and was a lovely way to finish the evening. Only topped by a second glass of the Thousand Candles!

Overall it was a great experience. It's not often I get to taste so many classy Australian wines in one sitting. So I have to say thanks to Matt for the invite and Bill for the wines!

A Tale of Two Regions: Piedmont at Chianti Tasting 30/06/12

Mezzo in all its glory

Yep, it has been a busy week and very much focussed on Italian wines, it has been fun and informative.

On Saturday TWD teamed up with Mezzo Restaurant to host a tasting that featured wines from two of Italy's premier red wine producing regions. Piedmont – the foggy, hilly region in the North West and the centrally located Chianti which has captivated wine lovers for many years. It was a free event that saw us taste six wines that represented the regions.

Farnetella - My favourite of the Chianti wines.

From Chianti we had a lovely progression that featured an entry level IGT wine Il Corzanello 10 - a blend of Sangiovese with Cabernet and a hint of Merlot. This wine showed some nice juicy red berry fruit, mid-weight palate and generous flavours. It really highlighted the fantastic savoury and clean nature of Sangio with the plump and vibrant Cabernet. Next we had a fantastic wine from just South West of Chianti Classico being Farnetella 2009 from Chianti Colli Senesi. This is my sort of wine. 95% Sangiovese with a little bit of Merlot this is dry, savoury, clean, refreshing, elegant and with just a hint of dry tannins on the finish. This wine is really drinkable and the sort of wine that sees you finishing the bottle and looking for a second before you realise. The third wine from the line up was Rocca di Montegrossi Chianti Classico 09. This was quite well received at TWDs recent Chianti dinner and showed the Chianti Classic style really well. A bit more flesh and vibrancy than the Farnetella but still having that savoury, cleansing charm that is the hallmark of great Sangio. The journey from entry to Chianti Classico was great fun. Check out the dinner notes to see where the next stops on the journey take you. Mmmmm Brunello!

My wine of the day. I do love Barbaresco.

Next we switched to wines from Piedmont. Some of these we had already featured at TWD's Piedmont Dinner. First up we had the delicious Brezza Dolcetto d'Alba 2008. There is a lot to love about Dolcetto, it is fruity and aromatic with a savoury and structured palate. It goes great with slow cooked meals in winter! Brezza is a seriously good producer of Piedmont wines and this was a highlight. After Dolcetto we tasted the seriously amazing Produttori del Barbaresco DOCG 2007. I've recently tasted a range of their single cru wines. This was my favourite wine of the day but it was also the youngest and most ungiving. I had more than a few people almost choke on their wine when I suggested it needed another 15-20 years. Even after they confirmed I said 15-20 I think they still thought I was pulling their legs. I think Barbaresco (and its close cousin Barolo) are some of the best wines in the world and should be part of everyone's cellar. And of course, if you are tasting Piedmont wines you have to have Moscato. Patrizi Moscato d'Asti is one of the best because it is so clean and fresh with nice light bubbles that dance on your tongue. This is a wine of balance and charm not overt sweetness.

Of course all of these wines are available for sale if you are keen to taste them. And if this sounded like fun, TWD and Mezzo should be teaming up regularly for tastings of this style. Email me for more information

Barbaresco Dinner at Mezzo 02/07/12

That is right folks, it has been an Italian-a-thon in my tasting circles. But far out it has been a great adventure. This was my third Italian wine event in a week and while I was a bit tired, my enthusiasm for their wines is as strong as ever.

This dinner revolved around the 2001 vintage of Produttori del Barbaresco. Last month we tasted a range of their magnificent 2007s at Matteo's.

2001 was an excellent vintage in Barbaresco and we were all keen to see if an extra six years meant the wines were softer and more seductive.

The short answer is not yet. Like the 2007s they were tannic, acidic and chewy. But they did possess an impressive core of densely packed fruit. They just need a lot of time. And by that I mean 15 or more years. Which for some people is a scary prospect. Which is why you have to start your cellar when you are young.

We had quite a long chat about the value of the wines and if people would be willing to cellar them. The consensus was no. Because people are not sure the wines will come around. I love these wines and feel they are as good if not better than a lot of Bordeaux and Burgundy. They are also significantly better value in my humble opinion.  

So the challange has been laid on Patrick to find some really lovely older examples to prove just how good these wines are at their peak.

Until then I can reminisce about the good times I had with these wines.


A likely looking lot. This was all the 2001s we tasted with 2007 'minders'

Charles Orban Blanc de Blancs NV A lovely, fresh, clean and crisp Champagne that went perfectly with yummy oysters from Merrimbula and my favourite Mezzo starter arancini balls.

The six wines from Producttori del Barbaresco we tasted below were all from 2001. Patrick put them in order from most elegant to the beefiest (that is an authentic wine term!). These were all dry and savoury wines with long and clean acidity and hefty tannins. They were all so young and vibrant but tightly packed.

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 'Moccagatta' Red, currants, stoney, hint of rubber and spice. The palate was spicy, with hints of oak, pepper, rocket and brilliant length. Definitely the lightest of the line up in terms of weight and tannin intensity but probably one of the best balanced.

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 'Rabaja' Oxy dark berries, olives and a hint of oyster shell. This wine was a bit shy at first but eventually jumped out of the glass and was one of the favourites of the night. The palate was beautifully sweet with red fruits, floral - rose petal notes. Very long and refined. This was a pleasure to drink.


The sleek and sexy wine. It was lovely drinking.

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 'Pora' This wine had the most overt nose. Cardomom, floral/roses, aniseed, smoke/flint and jubey fruit. In the mouth it was dark, smokey/flinty/stoney, very long, vibrantly fruited on the finish and firmly acidic. This was the most complete and the best balanced of the wines. It really showed well on the night and was my favourite for drinking. 

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 'Asili' Initially this was my favourite wine. It showed lovely dense smoke, dark fruits, plums and toasty/spicy oak notes. The palate showed red and jube like fruits, tea leaf and was long and dense. But as the night wore on it became apparrent this wine was suffering from cork taint and by the end of the night it was definitively corked. Shame because this was the third vintage I had tried of this wine and the previous two were awesome. This will require re-tasting because it had so much potential!

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 'Ovello' This guy was a monster. Dark, earthy, dense with a hint of grapeyness. The palate was the tightest, most tannic and muscular. Great if you want to put a wine away from 25 or more years but once the food was gone it was pretty hard work to drink now.

Barbaresco Riserva DOCG 'Montestefano' It was almost perceptible the minute I sat at the table but this wine was so corked that it was DNPIM (Did Not Put In Mouth) and everyone was subtly pushing their glass as far away from themselves as they could. Stupid cork. Such an attention seeker!


Not sure why I always end up with bottles in front of me...

Seppeltsfield Rare Tokay In a break from two traditions we had no mystery wine and didn't have a Port. I have to say I missed the mystery wine experience sorely. However I was happy to be drinking such a classy fortified. Rich, silky, dense with lots of layers for flavours. This sort of wine really needs a nice hunk of blue cheese though, as I find the sweetness gets a bit much for my savoury obsessed palate.

As we were leaving Mezzo's owner Silvio gave me a taste of a mellow, elegant and vibrant Willows Cabernet 2002 and a caramel, stoney fruity and mid-weight Moss Wood Chardonnay 2010.  Not a bad job if you can get it.