All posts tagged: Shiraz

the best wine I’ve had this year!!!

Published by

Man, this wine is good! Sevenhill 2012 Inigo Shiraz, $17 from Dan Murphy’s. When you read the spiel about this wine in the latest Dan’s buying guide, and they claim 98/100, one needs to try it if for no other reason than to knock the score down a few pegs. I mean, 98 is a ridiculous score for any wine, and even more so for one that’s only $17! Scoring for wine has become ridiculous, with 90/100 becoming the benchmark score for any wine that is half decent. James Halliday has set a rod for his own back giving out higher and higher scores in his wine companion book and magazine, seemingly making perfectly good wines superfluous if they ‘fail’ to garnish a high enough score. If your wine scored a 90 a few years ago you’d shout it out loud for all to see, and hopefully buy, but now that is seen as only a fair pass mark. Even our own Dromana Estate 2012 Chardonnay got a 94/100 this year, and it barely caused …

d’Arenberg d’Arry’s Original

Published by

Sometimes when you look at the vast array on offer on the wine list, you thank your small mercies for a trusted old friend that rears up at you, saying “pick me, pick me”. So, I did! d’Arenberg d’Arry’s Original Shiraz Grenache 2010, about $16 pretty much everywhere. Unless its on a wine list, in which case it could, and will, be a whole lot more!! Confession first, I have a very soft spot for d’Arenberg, and more particularly the Original, which used to be called Burgundy. So, yep, I love this humble wine which has never failed to please and impress. What used to be predominately Grenache, now has plenty of Shiraz for the younger set, but this is still an old fashioned wine with plenty of tannin, grip, and old school ‘get down & dirty’ to it. Grenache is quite popular in the McLaren Vale, as in the Barossa, and is usually blended, most often with Shiraz and Mourvedre, becoming GSM. Sometimes its a straight varietal wine, which can be a bit course …

Voyager Estate Shiraz 2010

Published by

Most transplanted Vic’s living in West Aus reckon the only part of that state that reminds them of their former home is down south in the Margaret River. Sounds like a pretty good reason to grab a wine from down that way. Voyager Estate Shiraz 2010 $34 @ Templestowe Cellars. Whereas most of the west is bush scrub, the Margaret river region is the land of tall gums, Aussie bush, and some of the best tended vineyards in the country. Man, there must be money in digging up the state as the mulla spent on some of the estates is phenomenal, and Voyager estate is certainly no exception. No expense has been spared in turning what was once Freycinet Estate into Voyager. Beautifully manicured lawns, rows and rows of roses, white washed walls, cellar door, restaurant, functions, you name it…the lot! It also has the second largest flag pole and Aussie flag in the country, behind only Parliament house in Canberra. Why? ‘Cos they can! Wouldn’t surprise me if they had a team that went …

Best’s Bin No.1 Shiraz

Published by

Wine’s a wonderful thing. It tastes great, is full of mystery and romance, tells a fascinating story and evokes memories to treasure time and time again. Not your bog average wine which has no providence, the favourite of the chain store and bargain bin, but wines with a rich heritage, or back story. Best’s Bin No.1 Shiraz 2012 $25 from Great Western, Victoria. The Great Western region has long been a favourite of mine, so much so I indoctrinated Rachael into it’s seductive charms, and we got married there. Not at Best’s but down the road at Seppelt, outside Vine Lodge. Great Western and I go back a ways, from the obligatory speeding ticket outside Ararat (more cops per square mile than anywhere on earth!) on the way to the Great Western Cup, to drunken wine tours at Seppelt fancifully called “conferences”. Suffice to say, we got ourselves barred from most of the motels in Stawell and Ararat at one stage or another. The Great Western Cup is a ripper race day (Australia day weekend) on …

Massey Wines

Published by

Why do we pick the wine to buy that we do? Is it because we know and respect the brand? Or do we like the varietal, or vintage, or region? Or was it something recommended to us?! Price? The whopping big display smack bang in the front of the store! Choices are endless. Me, I just ask a mate to pick something for me, which is what Noel from Red, White & Amber Wine Merchants did. A choice between a fancy Italian number of unpronounceable name and origin, or a wine from Massey Wines in the McLaren Vale. The shallow character I am decided on the Aussie if for no other reason than the name of the wine, and the fact Noel raved on about how good it was! Massey Huey’s Patch 2008 Shiraz @ $35 from Red, White & Amber in Hawthorn. I have to admit I’d never heard of this wine before, never seen it anywhere, hadn’t read about it…nothing. Just another of the hundreds of wineries out there battling for recognition in …