All The Pinots Tasting @ Mezzo 25/08/12

Some of All The Pinots.

Given there has been some glimpses of Spring Silvio and I thought we'd celebrate with a tasting of All The Pinots. Well, we got most of them. Blanc, Gris, Noir, Meunier in various wine guises including sparkling, white, red and sweet.

With somewhat Spring like weather, Mezzo's wonderful canapes and a room full of eager Pinot lovers we commenced the tasting. You can see my notes on the Pinot family and order form here.

Pinot Blanc from North Eastern Italy.

Overall it was a great tasting with some lovely wines. The general theme that linked all the wines together was the textural complexity that all the wines had and the elegance - everything in moderation and harmony. This made these wines almost too drinkable especially when paired with the food. Lucky the tasting only went for 1.5 hours!

First Pinot of the bunch was Chanter's Ridge Sparkling Pinot Noir from Macedon. A beautiful expression of Pinot's cherry, rose petal and red berry fruits. Plenty of depth and nice structure and quite dry. A great fizzy and refreshing way to kick off the tasting. A great wine for starting a meal.

The next Pinot we picked was Cantina Valle Isarco Pinot Bianco DOC 2011. Flying the flag for Pinot Blanc or Weissburgunder as it is labelled. The most shy and reserved of all the wines, it showed floral notes, pears and a hint of spice and mineral. It did have a wonderful mouthfeel and really sang when I could flag down some of Mezzo's canapes. A brilliant wine for matching with shellfish, white meats and creamier pasta and risotto dishes.



Trimbach was amazing!

To complete the whites we had two Pinot Gris/Grigio wines. Both being the same grape variety but showing the stylistic differences it can achieve. Celestial Avenue 2010 was light, fresh and simple with pears, and a hint of stonefruit, citrus and a doughy note. Celestial is perfect for chilling down and drinking in the warm weather with or without food. Trimbach Reserve 2007 was another story altogether. A lot of depth, concentration and complexity. Trimbach showed a lot more fruit complexity, perfume and minerality at the core. The mouthfeel was divine and despite its concentration it was very clean and savoury on the finish. Yum! Suited to many styles of food I do have fond memories of a fun night eating chilli crab and Trimbach Pinot Gris.


Star of the show?

The reds started with the wonderful Pegeric Pinot Noir 2008. A celebration of Pinot's lovely savoury side, plenty of wet earth and undergrowth to balance the primary red fruits and floral characters. It has great texture and silk on the palate, it was by far my favourite of the wines. Not sure if it will get better in the bottle but there is no need to find out when it drinks so well now. This would match well with gamey dishes like Mezzo's wild boar ravioli, lighter red and white meat dishes or nothing at all. Clearly I wasn't the only fan as it sold well and Paul from Pinot Post couldn't wait to feature it on his blog.

The second red was an Australian classic, Best's Pinot Meunier 2011. This wine was from their young vines and was lovely for its simple, red fruits, floral notes and crisp, crunchy palate. I am not an expert on varietal still red wines made from Meunier but this is guaranteed to charm any Pinot lover! Easy drinking on its own or with light meals, could even be served a bit chilled in the warmer months.
The final wine of the tasting was Pegeric's Late Picked Pinot Noir 2008. It was interesting watching people reaction when the wine wasn't golden in colour or cloying in taste. It was late picked in the   proper sense meaning that it was before botrytis set in so the wine is still delicate, perfumed and refreshing with only a hint of sweetness that is well balanced by the other characters in the wine. This was delicious drink that would pair well with fresh fruits and lighter style deserts.

Next month there will be no tasting as there is some sort of pagan celebration on the last Saturday of September. However October will see us showing the very best of Sparkling wines from around the world to celebrate Spring. Email me to be kept up-to-date.

Also keep an eye out for Mezzo's Northern Italy Dinner. Silvio and his team will take you on a journey through the food and wines of this beautiful part of the world.With four courses and 10 wines you guaranteed to have a good time. Email Silvio for more information.

Pinot Noir Tasting 05/05/12

Over the past few months I've been asked to host numerous private tastings for customers. The most recently run event was about a month ago near Heathcote and it involved educating a group of 14 people about Pinot Noir.

Grasping a chance to drink a handful of my most favourite Pinots from around the world, I looked forward to this event and the attended to the notes and wine selection with particular vigour. Of course having a willing and eager bunch of participants makes it all the more entertaining. Thankfully the attendees had that in spades.



The warm up act. Seriously good for the price.

The event was structured into four brackets, which built from entry level wines and graduated up to tasting the pinnacle of Pinot Noir - Burgundy.

Bracket One. Flavours of Pinot Noir.
Bress Vineyards Silver Chook Yarra Valley & Macedon 2010 $22 Showing the easy, cherry/red berry and rose petal notes. Excellent value and highly recommended.
Hungerford Hill Tumbarumba 2009 $25 Darker, plums and a hint undergrowth. Riper fruit and more generous mouthfeel.
Faiveley Bourgogne Rouge 2008 $32 Great entry point to Burgundy, showing the minerally, structured and more savoury styles they tend to make. If drinking water was impossible, this is what I would turn to.


Bracket One under way.

Bracket Two. Regionality and the wide world of wine.
Pegasus Bay Canterbury 2008 $63 From the South Island of New Zealand. Showing the typical style of great NZ Pinot. Bold with perfume, subtlety and restraint.
Apsley Gorge Tasmania 2008 $69 East Coast of Tassie based producer. A bit stinky when first opened, but possessing great texture, balance and silkiness. Beautiful wine.
Bernard Huber Baden 2009 $43 A Spatburgunder (aka Pinot Noir) from Germany. Showing perfume, oak, balance and nice refreshing acidity.
Britten Vineyard Willamette Valley Pinot Noir  The host added this wine so the USA got a jersey.  It has great pedigree with the owner being a former member of the Stags Leap team. This tasted slightly oxidised on the day sadly.



You can always tell a Curly Flat family.

Bracket Three: Terroir and aging.
We used two wines made in almost the same way to highlight how much a region or vineyard (ie Terroir) can affect the taste of a wine.
William Downie Mornington Peninsula 2010 $71 The more floral, red berry and vibrant style. Showed really well upfront. Beautiful balance and lovely to drink.
William Downie Gippsland 2010 $71 Darker, more brooding and darker fruits. Needed a bit more time in the glass to show its best. But definitely had that hallmark Downie balance and texture (and drinkability).
Then we used two wines from the same producer and different vintage to show how a wine can change with time in the bottle.
Curly Flat Macedon 2008 $56 Dark, powerful, generous with a lot of depth and great mouthfeel.
Curly Flat Macedon 2001 En Magnum The host once again donated this wine to the tasting. It showed more savoury/undergrowth/truffle and was a lot more silky and supple. I would say at its peak now in the best possible way.


Pouring the 95 Pruliers.

Bracket Four: Burgundy.
Nicholas Potel Vosne Romanee Les Petit Monts 1er Cru 2000 $105 The budget didn't quite stretch to Grand Cru but this high quality Premier Cru certainly showed the best of the region and why it is the pinnacle. Supple, savoury, minerally, perfumed, vibrant, spices, depth, layered, intense and thrilling. Great balance, depth of fruit and plush but with fine tannins and great length.
Dom Laurant Nuits-St-Georges Les Pruliers 1995 Because more is more, yet another bottle was taken from the cellar to be shared. This wine really showed up the difference between communes and vineyards in Burgundy. This wine reflexed the denser, more chunky style of Nuits compared to the refined, elegance of Vosne.



Expert host and wine waiter... me.

Additional Wine.
Roda I Rioja Riserva 2004 This wine was pulled out just as we took our leave of the group but I stuck around long enough to have a glass. I have included it because Tempranillo is often described as tasting like Pinot with a bit of age. It does share the red fruits, floral notes and spicy notes. Along with the silk and purity you would expect.

All in all a great tasting. If you are interested in hosting a tasting like this, we can work together to find a theme, budget and venue that suits. Email philip@thewinedepository.com.au 

Dinner at Sosta Cucina 11/05/12

After a few false starts Dave's group finally managed to convene to taste some awesome wines at one of the best restaurants I've eaten at in Melbourne Sosta Cucina.

A late withdrawal meant that we had to sacrifice a bottle of Cignale from Tuscany (one of my favourite Italian wines). But just as well, because an unannounced no show meant we were flush with wine anyway. It wasn't all that bad; never before has a waiter said to me "Would you like a top up of the Rousseau?... OK, which vintage?"

The menu was fantastic but crab and rabbit are almost always going to get my vote - and it was well chosen on my part too! Beautiful food and great service on the night.

Larmandier Bernier Brut Tradition NV - I never get sick of this wine. It was up to its beautiful standard! If you havent tasted it email me philip@thewinedepository.com.au because it is a must for any lover of wine.

Giaconda Chardonnay 2010 - A lot of people talk about Grange being Australia's greatest wine, I don't have much experience with Grange, but I would vote for this wine. In fact the 94 is the best Australian wine I've ever drunk.
The 2010 is already so complex, layered and lovely. Toasty, flint, pure, mineral - white stones, peach and apricot, zesty, white chocolate/creamy.
The palate is creamy, intense but balanced, great texture and seamless. It is a joy to drink and altogether too drinkable.

Phi Pinot Noir 2010 Coming off the back of some great accolades I was keen to try this wine. It needed a bit of time to open up. Initially it was dirty, ash, tart/herbal with a hint of VA. With time it developed some spicy oaky notes with cherry, red and blue fruits and plums.
Quite a tart palate with red fruits, clean finish and a tight core of fruit supported by fine tannins.

Bindi Composition Pinot Noir 2010 Bindi is an awesome producer, this is their entry level wine and I think it showed a bit that way on the night. Full, mint, round and meaty, dense eucalypt and smoke. It was dark fruited and round on the palate but just a hint simple.

Domaine Armand Rousseau Gevrey Chambertin Les Cazetiers 1er 2009 Such a priviledge to taste this wine. 2009 was such an amazing vintage in Burgundy. I was surprised there was a bottle left for us to drink. Initially it was quite ripe, lifted tropical and sweet red fruits. With air more savoury spice, rocket, pepper and clay notes came through.
It had great silk on the palate, with great length. Showed its extreme youth by being a hint bitter, disjointed and oaky. Very enjoyable none-the-less.

Domaine Armand Rousseau Gevrey Chambertin Les Cazetiers 1er 2008 On the night I felt compelled to write "Awesome Wine" with an arrow pointing to this wine. It was pretty good. Spice, rocket, ripe herbs, blood orange. Good silk, hint tart, smokey, long, hint of chocolate, great mouthfeel, very long and beautiful drinking.

Domaine Armand Rousseau Gevrey Chambertin Les Cazetiers 1er 2006 Savoury, truffles, tart red fruits and rose petal/floral cologne like notes and dark stone minerality.
Silky, structured, clean and balanced. Probably a bit in between youth and maturity. Lovely drinking though.

Mount Mary Quintets 2006 Pretty, delicate, currants, cherries, earth and a hint of undergrowth. The palate was dense but fine and balanced. The tannins were smooth and refined. This wine is just a baby.

Mastroberandino Radici Taurasi DOCG 2006 Aglianico could well be the next big thing in Australia - as I have said recently . I think it needs a nickname before it is properly accepted though.
I've had this wine a few times in the recent past and I love it more each time. The toasty, clay, burnt earth, meat and game notes really shone through with a beautiful rabbit dish. You just have to give it a go.

Kopke Reserve Tawny Port A well regarded but rarely seen producer. This was well put together, more savoury styled tawny. Mid-bodied and quite refreshing.

The night ended with the 3,2,1 voting (each person gives three votes to their favourite wine of the night, two to the next and one to the their third best). Giaconda Chard came first with 13 votes (and an enthusiastic "my Mother would love this"), Rousseau Cazetiers 08 second place with 10 votes and Cazetiers 09 third on 7 votes.