Charles Melton The Father In Law Shiraz 2006

The SMH Wine Of The Week this week is the Charles Melton 'The Father In Law' Shiraz 2006. Huon Hooke writes:

Charlie Melton dedicated this terrific, everyday drinking red to his father-in-law, Sydney Weckert. Melton advised him against taking up grape-growing in his retirement. Weckert, who was in his 70s, was told to "just play lawn bowls" but his Teutonic stubbornness prevailed.

The wine is great value and can be bought for as little as $19. Blended from Barossa, Clare and Southern Flinders Ranges grapes, it's rich and meaty, deep and fleshy, with some spice as well as blackberry flavours, the tannins ample and supple throughout the palate. It has the structure to age well, although it drinks superbly now. Best now and for 10 years. 90/100.

Food - Most red meat dishes and all cheeses except blues. Meaty casseroles and stews are especially recommended.

Bream Creek Reserve Pinot Noir 2005

After managing to survive a few years in the cellar, this highly regarded wine from the supreme 2005 Tasmanian vintage was tasted recently with pancetta wrapped pork fillet with sage and apple, accompanied by roasted vegetables.
The wine is a deep crimson colour and has a nose of dark berries, spice, some earthiness and some fine sweet oak.
Palate is complex and rich with wonderful texture. There are dark cherries, fine spices, plums, a lick of sweet oak and some super-fine tannins. It's medium to full bodied and is now superbly balanced with superb mouthfeel and a very long and fine finish. The complexity builds with each minute in the glass. This is more confirmation, as if we needed it, of the truly wonderful pinots that were able to be made in Tasmania from that best ever 2005 vintage.

Willow Creek Vineyard Tulum Pinot Noir 2007

This week's SMH Wine of the Week is the Willow Creek Vineyard Tulum Pinot Noir 2007. Huon Hooke writes:
Willow Creek's premium '07 Mornington Peninsula pinot is a real lip-smacker. It wins you over with its perfume and finesse, balance and beguiling sweet fruit, rather than bigness or power. It has well-concentrated flavour, which gives it intensity and persistence but it's very elegant and fine, long and balanced. Aromas of cherry and strawberry, with some spice and smokiness, contribute to its allure. There's fleshiness and richness too. Good with lighter meats, poultry and cheeses but don't overpower it with heavy sauces or strongly spiced food. Drink now to five years. Sold at Annandale Cellars and Vine Providore in Redfern. 94/100
Food - Coq au vin; mushroom risotto; pasta with duck ragout; softer cheeses like buche d'affinois, taleggio and Red Square.

Paringa Estate Peninsula Pinot Noir 2008

This week's SMH wine of the week is the Paringa Estate Peninsula Pinot Noir 2008. Huon Hooke writes:
One of the Mornington Peninsula's stars, Paringa Estate, makes outstanding pinot at three levels. This is the cheapest and the only one not made solely from Lindsay McCall's estate-grown grapes. I can't recall a better vintage. The restrained nose has sweet red-and black-cherry aromas, oak is relatively low-key and the finish carries some firmness from well judged tannin. It's a smidgen leaner and more angular than the Estate pinots but it's a lovely drink at a more than reasonable price. The fruit ripeness is excellent and with this kind of structure it will age well fro several years. Drink now to five years-plus. 90/100
Food - Grilled lamb shops; veal saltimbocca; vitello tonnato; milder cheeses, from asiago to ripe brie.

San Raffaele Valpolicella Superiore, Monte Tabor, 2004

Colour is brilliant deep ruby red.
Nose has leather aromas accompanied by sweet oak and a multi-layered array of delicate and elegant aromas of savoury and some raspberry; aromatically intense might be it.
Palate is medium to full bodied with supple mouthfeel and great structure. There are fine and focused tannins with a rich amalgam of fruits like dried cherries, plum and raspberry. Then also some hints of chocolate and cloves, a touch of sous bois; the whole lot wrapped in a cloak of velvet. It all ends in a savoury and super fine finish that is long and very elegant. Alcohol is 14% and it could easily handle another 5-10 years in the cellar.

This was tasted with osso bucco, however it really needs something lighter, perhaps a regional dish from Veneto.
With its 'Superiore' moniker this wine may be of the Ripasso method (passing over the lees of a recently fermented Amarone), or Apassimento method (inclusion of some Amarone juice). I suspect the former, however whether in contact or in concert this is one lovely wine.

Woodlands Margaret River 'Margaret' Cabernet Merlot 2004

Time to taste and test this great wine now some ten months since we opened the last one. This was tasted with butterfly lamb basted with olive oil, garlic, crushed anchovies, parsley, salt and pepper. Lamb was cooked in the Weber so another degree of flavour was added. The wine was double decanted which really helps to open it up and also to dispose of the build up of sediment that is now beginning to appear.
COL: is deep dark cherry/ brick red; very clear and deep.
NOS: Blackcurrant, a veil of dusty oak, plums, chocolate, silky sweetness (vanillan oak).
PAL: Medium-bodied, the palate covers all of the above. It is elegant and spicy, still vibrant flavours of fresh fruit, fine and refined smooth tannins, plummy fruit with the above blackcurrant, cassis, also an intriguing briary note. All of the components are integrated into a rich mouth filling wine of wonderful texture with a fine and long finish; the touch of mint now absorbed into the whole. A beautiful wine with still many years of development ahead; it will be interesting to see it evolve over the next five to ten years. Maybe try it next time with a roast fillet of beef.

Geoff Merrill Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale & Coonawarra 2002

This week's SMH wine of the week is the Geoff Merrill Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale & Coonawarra 2002. Huon Hooke writes:
'Geoff Merrill has a thing about properly aged red wine and is fighting an increasingly lonely battle in defence of well-cellared red. In a world drowning in raw, infantile red wine, it's a relief to find something as deliciously complex and mature as this lovely seven-year-old cabernet. The bouquet is full of roast meat, smoky, almost truffley aged complexities but still retains some primary fruit aromas. In the mouth it has intensity, depth and length: delicious and eminently drinkable. A wine of character and interest, drinking beautifully now and for at least another decade. 93/100.
Food - Aged cheeses such as reggiano, asiago, cheddar, beaufort and gruyere; braised meats and casseroles; osso bucco.'

San Raffaele Amarone della Valpolicella 2000

After some years in the cellar, the remarkable 2000 San Raffaele Amarone della Valpolicella was tasted with a superb rich beef casserole in red wine, though a large chunk of hard cheese would be just as good.

I must say I'm slightly disappointed to say it was not quite what I expected; I was ready for a wave of raisins and portiness overpowering the senses. Sure there is the hint of raisins along with a cacophony of gorgeous flavours, but the most delicate and controlled raisins covered by a velvet coating of dark chocolate.

Why am I disappointed? because I was hoping it would be too monstrous for my palate and I could retreat gracefully to the much more affordable Valpolicella Superiore previously enjoyed.

Colour is somewhere between brick and purple, dark, deep, hinting at treasure below. Although sitting at 15.5% alc this wine is a superlative exercise in restraint with power - an iron fist in a velvet glove if ever there was. Drinking this is somewhat akin to gently sucking the dark chocolate off the gentle raisiny body. There are some prune and black fruit flavours and layer upon layer of sweet and savoury sensations.

The final impression is a wine that has the near perfect texture and mouthfeel; velvety, slinky, sexy, voluptuous and luscious with perfect body and long finish. Not often a wine stops you in your tracks but this is one. The bottle will be gone long before you are ready to accept the fact; drink with a very special friend!

A LITTLE VALPOLICELLA TRIVIA
Valpolicella means in english 'Valley of many Cellars'. The region lies just to the north of Verona, itself a truly lovely city made more so by being home to a wonderful wine bar called 'Antica Bottega del Vino'. This must be your first stop as soon as you have checked in to your hotel. Many wines are listed on a huge blackboard available by the glass, a very good cucina is just a bonus.

Amarone (della Valpolicella) came about probably by accident and as a result of a traditional method developed by the Romans called Recioto. With Recioto (which is still made in white and red styles) the grapes are dried on racks and vinified with a percentage of residual sugar remaining. In the drying process, called Apassimento, the grapes lose up to 40% of their moisture. In the Amarone process fermentation is continued so all of the sugar has been converted. What remains, as you can guess, is very intense grape juice; the trick then is not to let the process go too far so as to bring in too much of the porty, raisiny elements. Amarone comes from 'Amaro' meaning 'Bitter'.

Valpolicella Superiore (or otherwise called Classico), which is the lesser sibling to the Amarone, can be made by either of two methods; one is called 'Ripasso' and involves passing the wine over the lees of a just fermented Amarone adding another level of richness and complexity. The other method is called 'Apassimento' and involves adding some of the Amarone juice to achieve a similar richer wine.

The principal grape in a Valpolicella wine is Corvina, followed by Rondinella (these two must be a minimum of 60% of the blend but are usually much more). After these two there are a number of others, the main one being Molinara, although this is being increasingly phased out.
Just to add to the confusion there is the basic Valpolicella, which should have had nothing added to it and therefore will retain the bright red fruit qualities of the grape varieties (the perfect tomato-based pizza wine).

So what is Valpolicella? Some observers say that even the makers of the wines are not sure what they want it to be, so we mere drinkers have our work cut out for us.
My advice is to continue your relentless research; buy them and try them and revel in the pursuit of knowledge. Just make sure you read the label carefully to best ascertain the particular version that is in the bottle in your hand; price will help here.

Hungerford Hill Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2008

Huon Hooke’s SMH wine of the week is the Hungerford Hill Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2008.
Huon writes
‘Michael Hatcher and Phillip John are doing terrific things with Hungerford Hill’s wines. Their two 08 Tumbarumba chardonnays (the reserve won’t be released for a few months) are a case in point. Both are exceptional. This one had just 40% barrel fermentation in new French oak and is very subtly oak influenced. The main aromas and flavours are of lemon and grapefruit, with a subtle underlay of peach and nuttiness from the oak. It’s fruit-driven, and a large part of the wine’s finesse comes from the acidity, which tastes very natural- that is, unadjusted. This gives a seamless flow to the very finely textured palate. Now to five years. 94/100.
Food – Ripe runny brie, creamy goat’s cheeses, crustaceans and most fish dishes, as well as stuffed, roasted chicken.