Really craving some pinot tonight, so off popped the cap on this little number.
Very promising nose of sweet and sour red fruit, and a hint of forest floor. Very Yarra Valley in character. The palate continues the flavour profile promised by the nose, with attractive, moderately complex pinot fruit mixed with very low level oak. Good intensity of flavour and nice length. Sourness is a feature of this wine's flavour.
The main issue with this wine is that its structure is quite "small scale". It's like a wine in miniature. As the wine enters the mouth, it is linear and consistent but somehow ungenerous. Just when you want the wine to open out, it maintains its linearity and never quite fills the periphery of the palate.
Still, delicious flavours, great value. Recommended.
Showing posts with label mornington peninsula. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mornington peninsula. Show all posts
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
Thursday, 18 October 2007
Red Hill Estate Pinot Noir 2004
Staying a friend's house at the moment, so the drinking has been a little irregular! Did manage to work in this little number, though.
A transparent orange-red colour that was a little dull.Quite a meaty nose, beetroot-like, again a little dull perhaps, and subdued, also a bit hot. Livelier on the palate, with a slippery entry that leads to a spectrum of flavours showing good intensity and balance, if not great sophistication. More beetroot and bright red fruits that are a bit confected. Acid is very present and gives the palate a zippy feel. There's no great length of flavour, and the palate dies a bit towards the lightly drying finish, which is a shame.
I'm probably damning this one with faint praise. On the plus side, it's varietal, tasty, and cheap (I think I paid about $15). One could do a lot worse.
A transparent orange-red colour that was a little dull.Quite a meaty nose, beetroot-like, again a little dull perhaps, and subdued, also a bit hot. Livelier on the palate, with a slippery entry that leads to a spectrum of flavours showing good intensity and balance, if not great sophistication. More beetroot and bright red fruits that are a bit confected. Acid is very present and gives the palate a zippy feel. There's no great length of flavour, and the palate dies a bit towards the lightly drying finish, which is a shame.
I'm probably damning this one with faint praise. On the plus side, it's varietal, tasty, and cheap (I think I paid about $15). One could do a lot worse.
Sunday, 7 October 2007
Stonier Pinot Noir 2006
Fresh Mornington Peninsula pinot, here we go!
I like it when pinot gives off slightly stinky notes, and this one does, just a bit -- let's call it polite stink. The stink actually seems inseparable from the fruit in this wine's flavour profile, almost as if the light red fruit flavours have gone slightly putrid and started to develop savoury edges. So far, so good. The wine's aromas are quite delicate, with the aforementioned savoury fruit, beetroot and herbs/forest floor. There's a hint of sweetness in there but I'd say this wine is tipped firmly to the savoury end of the spectrum.
The palate is surprisingly light in body; it slips across the tongue and away, leaving some quite gorgeous flavours in its wake. Fairly forthright oak (caramel/milk coffee flavours) adds itself to the mix. The wine's mouthfeel is nicely astringent, seemingly driven by acid, but aided by fine yet drying tannins. All this is well and good but with each sip I keep wishing for a bit more presence, and for the flavours to assert themselves beyond the alluring whisper they repeatedly offer to me. Perhaps I'm in the mood for more generosity. Certainly, this wine has a lot of attractions if you enjoy a light, savoury red wine.
I like it when pinot gives off slightly stinky notes, and this one does, just a bit -- let's call it polite stink. The stink actually seems inseparable from the fruit in this wine's flavour profile, almost as if the light red fruit flavours have gone slightly putrid and started to develop savoury edges. So far, so good. The wine's aromas are quite delicate, with the aforementioned savoury fruit, beetroot and herbs/forest floor. There's a hint of sweetness in there but I'd say this wine is tipped firmly to the savoury end of the spectrum.
The palate is surprisingly light in body; it slips across the tongue and away, leaving some quite gorgeous flavours in its wake. Fairly forthright oak (caramel/milk coffee flavours) adds itself to the mix. The wine's mouthfeel is nicely astringent, seemingly driven by acid, but aided by fine yet drying tannins. All this is well and good but with each sip I keep wishing for a bit more presence, and for the flavours to assert themselves beyond the alluring whisper they repeatedly offer to me. Perhaps I'm in the mood for more generosity. Certainly, this wine has a lot of attractions if you enjoy a light, savoury red wine.
Saturday, 7 July 2007
Kooyong Estate Pinot Noir 2004
Mornington Peninsula pinot.
The nose of this wine is strikingly expressive. It's not a wine that sneaks up on you. On initial sniffing, the dominant notes were of caramel oak and spices, with sour red fruits emerging after a few minutes of swirling. Distinctive, savoury and quite beguiling.
My first sip of this was disappointing, the palate not echoing the intensity of the nose. There is a slight hole in the middle palate, and the entry is not as explosive as you might expect, but the finish is what's extraordinary here, with great intensity and complexity flavour. The oak is very much present, but the fruit's sour deliciousness stands up well, creating a distinctive and more-ish flavour profile. The wine's mouthfeel is also notable in its velvet luxury.
The nose of this wine is strikingly expressive. It's not a wine that sneaks up on you. On initial sniffing, the dominant notes were of caramel oak and spices, with sour red fruits emerging after a few minutes of swirling. Distinctive, savoury and quite beguiling.
My first sip of this was disappointing, the palate not echoing the intensity of the nose. There is a slight hole in the middle palate, and the entry is not as explosive as you might expect, but the finish is what's extraordinary here, with great intensity and complexity flavour. The oak is very much present, but the fruit's sour deliciousness stands up well, creating a distinctive and more-ish flavour profile. The wine's mouthfeel is also notable in its velvet luxury.
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Paringa Estate Peninsula Pinot Noir 2005
Another cheap pinot, this time from the Mornington Peninsula.
The style of this wine is pretty oak-driven, which is no doubt a conscious decision, but that does challenge my notion of the sort of young pinot I'd like to drink. A relatively expressive nose of overripe strawberries and spices is followed by more of the same on the palate. But, for my taste, the fruit recedes too far, structurally, with the oak dominating rather than framing the pinot fruit's (attractive) character. Intensity of flavour was only moderate, an impression perhaps created due to the wine's structure (I kept wanting the fruit to creep forward just a bit more than it did). Over the evening, the wine did balance out a little, and developed some extra complexity, but was still pretty oakey.
I liked this a lot more than the Tamar Ridge from the other night, because its flavour profile struck me as more delicious, but I shall continue to search for an inexpensive pinot that suits my tastes.
The style of this wine is pretty oak-driven, which is no doubt a conscious decision, but that does challenge my notion of the sort of young pinot I'd like to drink. A relatively expressive nose of overripe strawberries and spices is followed by more of the same on the palate. But, for my taste, the fruit recedes too far, structurally, with the oak dominating rather than framing the pinot fruit's (attractive) character. Intensity of flavour was only moderate, an impression perhaps created due to the wine's structure (I kept wanting the fruit to creep forward just a bit more than it did). Over the evening, the wine did balance out a little, and developed some extra complexity, but was still pretty oakey.
I liked this a lot more than the Tamar Ridge from the other night, because its flavour profile struck me as more delicious, but I shall continue to search for an inexpensive pinot that suits my tastes.
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