Thirst of June by Rob Geddes MW
Winery Wine Vintage Varietal RRP Alcohol Drink By Rating
Galafrey Wines Dry Grown Vineyard Reserve 2016 Riesling
$25.00 11.5 2024 94
A traditional dry cellaring style of Australian riesling with classic “just ripe” pine lime-like fruits, lifting into nectar blossoms with riesling fruit spice. The palate is long and dry and very traditional in style, flavours build towards the back, linear acidity gangly as a pup and it is a classic cellaring style of riesling with a long pine lime fruit spice finish with clean acid.
Arras Grand Vintage 2005 Chardonnay Pinot Noir
$69.99 12.5 2020 96
Seriously complex, with aromas from the confectionery and biscuit kitchen. The aromas are very complete; rich lees, age and development and a generous deep palate. A malolactic texture that flows on and on in the mouth, with lovely green apple acidity wrapped in yeasty complex with flavours. Displays ginger nut biscuit, fresh bread, strawberry panacotta and yoghurt-like notes. I could mistake this for champagne.
Jasper Hill Occam’s Razor 2012 Shiraz
$46.00 15 2022 95
Smelling like central Victoria with a slight fly tox pythium, smoked meat spice inside the pepper flowing into red fruit. The palate is a dream for spicy shiraz fans with juicy deep and generous red fruits, fabulous spice notes aging with the solid Heatcote tannins framing everything into a deep, long, full bodied shiraz with lingering ripe fruit unique to the region and to Australia. Interestingly there are Heathcote tannins and Jasper Hill tannins.
Miles from Nowhere 2014 Shiraz
$15.00 14.4 2016 89
Spicy edged sulphides give a sweaty, grapefruity edge to the dark fruits and butter malo aromas add dimension to the quality fruit. The tannins are soft, the raspberry middle palate is fresh and generous, medium bodied and lingering red cherry jam fruits. Some sulphuric notes close down the fruit flavours.
Bindi Wines Block 5 2013 Pinot Noir
$119.00 13.5 2020 95
More strawberry and less stalk than the original vineyard, with lifted floral fruits in the aromas. In the mouth, very good texture and mouth feel. A generous, deeply flavoured long mouthful of fresh ripe strawberry, with a vanilla creaminess to the oak to close the flavours. Fine acid tannins to finish.
3 Oceans The Explorers 2014 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
$34.99 13.8 90
Complex, classic white bordeaux style with subtle vanilla butter oak semillon, white fruits and a touch of oak supporting the complexity. The fruit salad palate has a savoury edge from oak and is mouth filling, ripe and full with the subtle oak closing the flavours with vanilla peanut brittle.
Bremerton Wines Selkirk 2012 Shiraz
$22.00 14.5 2021 92
Chocolate, meatstock bayleaf and biltong aromas make this intriguing, and that is just the aroma. The wine has finnese and flavour with an appealing structure and good length. Firming tannins with a hint to the future lead to fruit that is sweet, big and generous and bloody good. It is in the regional fruit style with dark spices, generosity, freshness and a certain elegance for a big wine.
Angove Family Winemakers The Medhyk Old Vine 2010 Shiraz
$65.00 14 2040 95
This beautifully structured wine has the ability to age 20+ years and reflects the Angove family’s belief in the future of fine Australian wine from old vines in McLaren Vale.
Philip Shaw No 19 2015 Sauvignon Blanc
$25.00 12 2020 94
An adult sauvignon blanc. Grassy, green peas into honeysuckle sauvignon, oak spices and subtle contribution of winemaking to wed complexity to the grassy horsepower of sauvignon. The wine is a driven balances richness of fruit, kiwi fruit freshness and subtle spice flavour in a weighty style perfectly wed to crispness with a persistent fruit finish.
Dandelion Vineyards Wonderland of the Eden Valley 2015 Riesling
$60.00 11.5 2020 96
Lime and lemon pith into tropical fruit with a pushy personality for riesling. The creamy texture is an immediate, generous, round, fat and fleshy bear hug. The finish is a stony hard landing. Flavours ascend a citric staircase of lime and lemon into tropical and holds long with intensity and silky elegance. The acidity cleans and minerally grippy to end. Very drinkable while young.
Angove Family Winemakers Long Row 2014 Riesling
$10.00 11 2018 89
Pineapple ripe fruit with a floral lift, a clean fresh juicy and zesty palate with good weight, passionfruit and spice medium long flavours. Pack a few in the esky you will not be disappointed. Is this a rival for the best ten dollar riesling.
Balnaves of Coonawarra The Tally 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon $80.00 14.5 2035 95
Still vibrant bright red rim with barely any brick brown in 2014, as a 10yo this is still youthful. The aroma is black olive cool cabernet cassis and briar in the back drop leading to a palate that has sweet dark licorice fruit and sustained medium bodied long and refined sumptuous ripe fruit and long ripe tannins with a firm dry finish.
Cape Jaffa Waxed Lyrical 2014 Viognier Marsanne
$20.00 13.5 2017 93
Dried fruit from marsanne and viognier apricot aromas. The palate is oily, fat, wide, long and very sweet fruited. Extraordinary power of fleshy fruit flavours and weight. The distinctive fruit sweetness is cut at the finish by fruit tannins that save it from being overwhelming. A pork and apple sauce wine. Balanced and well made.
Cloudburst 2014 Malbec
$250.00 13.9 2021 97
Bramble, mulberry, boysenberry fruits with moderate cedar spiced oak notes. The palate is bright fruited and youthful displaying cedar, Christmas cake, and fruit cake oak spices in the middle palate, continuing as soft tannins fruit bright with bramble pip and pulp fruits and the fruit cake oak spices brigade to follow.
Cape Mentelle Wines 2014 Chardonnay
$46.24 13 2019 95
Yellow peach aromas with cantaloupe and the exquisite balance of quality honeyed oak. The full bodied palate is rich, full, even and generous with qualty oak and nougat flavours. A full bodied intense and complex wine with balance that will see it fit in anyhere. Use the purity and freshness of Margaret River to build a complex wine.
Paringa Estate 2006 Shiraz
$27.00 14 2018 94
Beautiful aromatics sweet and savoury blackberry with black pepper smoked meats resin and a smooth fully ripe palate with blackberry and pepper on the finish. Utterly delicious.
Blue Pyrenees Estate 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon
$18.00 14 2014 89
Very ripe generous middle palate and cleansing cabernet acidity. Age gives a black liquorice against the lush black fruit.
Cape Mentelle Wines 2012 Zinfandel
$59.00 14.5 2029 94
The most refined Zin I have ever seen. Deep fruit with blackberry, raspberry and zinfandel fruitiness, backed by smoked meats and a BBQ oak smoke. In the mouth, firm long reserved supple “fruit cup cordial” fruits with none of this variety’s vices — neither green nor overly alcoholic. The palate is long and taut red fruits and the acids are well judged to hold the fruit and tannins in a long term tango with the finish, showing savoury details of smoked meats.
Henschke Henry’s Seven 2012 Shiraz Grenache Mataro
$32.00 14.5 2017 96
A wine with lots of band width showing details and nuances within. Aromas are floral black fruit, potpourri with rose, cola, raspberry, nutmeg and pepper. The medium bodied palate runs an intense complex gamut of earthy inky shiraz flavours and a complex finish with black pepper, spice, juicy raspberry and a pleasant grape tannin drying finish.
Bird in Hand Wines Nest Egg 2012 Chardonnay
$75.00 13 2020 96
Their most awarded wine is the opposite to many of its neighbours. This has the wild savoury elements of struck flint, malty wild yeast, white butter malo notes wedged into nectarine. The style aims for creamy entry roundness in the middle palate, and the fullness comes with an intereting fragrant flowery stone fruit. Nougaut and malt flavours from front and tip layered white peach, vanilla, and coconut. The balance is towards elegance with varietal personality aided by a winemaker funky back beat which flows long, and out into an expensive finish.
Briar Ridge Dairy Hill Single Vineyard 2011 Shiraz
$60.00 13.1 2030 94
Superior fruit weight here with great richness of dark chocolate oak yet balanced and elegant. In the mouth deep ripe berry fruits, fruit sweet, even and long, a classic Hunter River Burgundy style with a firm youthful finish.
Bleasdale Generations 2014 Malbec
$35.00 14.5 2023 95
The challenge with this variety is to match the flavour to the perfume, a little goes a long way in a blend. Blue berry, raspberry, red currant and rose hip with a dark spice back drop. The palate has exceptional length, medium full bodied and balance with fragrant blue berry red fruits up front running long with a sappy juicy rhubarb edge to the finish.
Devil’s Lair 9th Chamber 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon
$119.99 14 2027 95
From the get go this wine flies, clear into ripe and savoury aroams in a seemeless web of brioche brown bread oaks with the red currant balckcurrant gentle leafy cabernet and fruit. Regional styled palate with refined length, nothing heavy here, lithe limbed gentle persistant tanins wed to fresh fruits with a lovely red and black currant freshness and a fine finish with cleansing tannins.
Bleasdale Fortis Et Astutus NV Frontignac Grenache Tinta Cao $125.00 17 2016 96
Very old, heaps of rancio, complex and intriguing of the antiquity that envelops the nose, engaging and endearing genuine old style from small oak. Viscous concentrated explosion of rancio, tawny, long luscious and clean. You measure the pour of this to make it last, but you wind up pouring a tumbler.
Bleasdale The Powder Monkey 2012 Shiraz
$70.00 14 2035 96
Youthful tight ripe raspberry, blueberry and blackberry fruit aromas with quality oak tying the fruit down for ageing. A very elegant focussed wine. It is big and ripe, and smooth. The middle palate is exceptional in length, harmony and balance of fruit, tannins and acidity, and yet it is not heavy. The finish is mouth puckering plum, dark spice from fruit and oak, and gently astringent.
Tate 2014 Shiraz
$16.00 14.5 2020 91
The aromas show complexity and detail, red fruits, and mustard greens like dill make it more interesting, tense fruits cooler climate restraint with ripeness. In the mouth plenty of medium bodied modern fresh personality with very fine grained tannins raspberry sage, red current fruits that have evenness and length of flavours that run the full length and linger.
Tellurian Block 3 TLR 2013 Shiraz
$39.00 14.8 2026 96
From the top of the hill vineyard section with deep soils. Bright mid-ruby youthful bright red fruits subtle spice herbs native bush resin vanilla oak. The palate is plush, silky fine-grained sweet tannins and a round fruit texture running generous middle palate rich red fruits and chocolaty oak. A very strong regional varietal style.
Jacobs Creek Reserve 2013 Shiraz
$18.00 14.5 2018 89
Straight forward fresh red fruits backed by cedary oak. The palate is ripe. Sweet blackberry fruited, even and long with refined tannins that will partner a main course adequately well.
Annie’s Lane 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
$19.99 14 2016 92
Complexity with savoury meaty, black currant fruit and a lick of oak make this one of the stand outs in an under $20 tasting. The palate has a rare balance of good even length of minty black currants, soft long firm tannins mixing oak and grape to achieve elegant length.
Pierro Reserve 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
$74.00 14 2020 95
Style class breeding. Wonderful wine with an even style of crunchy red-berry fruit delicious flavours and fine finishing tannins that’s civilised sensible and extremely food friendly.
d’Arenberg The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliania 2015 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon
$25.00 10.4 2025 95
Cheeky name and questionable Latin Germanic translation. Abundant botrytis quite fine tropical complexity; the balance is here and the fruit acid balance has energy and drive long fruit flavours and finesse in the levels of richness with pretty orange peel and blossom and lingering concentration.
Banks Thargo 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon
$23.00 14.5 2021 95
Black currant and black berry fruit with a leafy edge of dark olive savoury earth and licorice in the aroma. In the mouth silky tannins up front with a mouth filling fresh black fruit flavour and excellent sustained ripe black fruits full middle palate and classy sustained fresh fruit and soft tannins on the finish producing a mouth watering, morish fruit and grape tannin finish.
Pooles Rock Post Office 2014 Shiraz
$60.00 14 2029 95
Quality complexity red licorice red currant fruits, stylish cedar oak. The ripe fruits have sweetness which sets up the palate, regal style, with balance and length, concentrated knitted tannins and flavours that will expand with time.
Mount Langi Ghiran Langi 2014 Shiraz
$120.00 14 2042 96
Balanced aromas showing complex high quality finesse and fresh fruits fine grained oak adding a cedar oak spice edge. The palate is not striving for grandeur, charming elegant length, fine grained tannins silky mouth feel a compote of red fruits dusted in black pepper with a pastry basket of flavours with a long a finish threading dark spices, liciorice and black pepper. A great wine you can drink now or keep for decades.
Angove Family Winemakers Nine Vines 2015 Grenache Shiraz
$16.00 12.5 2016 92
Red fruits, crushed dried herbs, and tarragon like aromas herald the increasingly complex on going evolution of this wine. Drinks like a charm, fleshy fruits, and silky flavours of red fruits, raspberry, and red currant middle palate. Appealing texture gives weight to the fresh ripe fruits and the flicker of tannin gives a firm finish to the lingering red fruits.
Angove Family Winemakers Nine Vines 2011 Grenache Shiraz
$14.00 12 2012 90
Most wine writers advise avoiding fairy-floss pink rose. This is the exception; a delicious everyday wine with an exceptional balance of vibrant grenache and shiraz berry fruit aromas and flavours beautifully integrated sweetness and a tangy dry finish. Best chilled.
Pressing Matters R139 375ml 2015 Riesling
$30.00 10.1 2024 96
Stylish balance showing intensity without heaviness; fresh and dried apricot into lemon citrus. The palate is honeyed texture luscious texture bright lemon citrus fruits up front, pineapple, ripe white peach with length. Purity, freshness and concentration and pretty much unique to the vineyard.
Mondillo 2014 Pinot Noir
14.5 2020 92
Sweet fruits and oak welcome you in to this hospitable and friendly wine. Getting through the door it has more generosity and friendly texture with fleshy roundness and flavours of ripe blue berry, black and red berry fruits with caramel oak.
Mayer Granite 2015 Pinot Noir
$55.00 13.5 2028 95
The upper Yarra intensity of strawberry fruit is quite special and the intensity needs respect which it gets here, lower sites don’t have the perfume and the power. Intense strawberry and raspberry a flick of green stem with the palate showing the Mayer touch almost luscious creamy textures to start and the stems adding a chalky edge to the texture This is full of pure fruits, very long and generous in favour and very young in texture and structure in 2016.
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