6 of the best
Welcome to this fortnightly column; a down to earth look at some interesting local and international releases that have caught Mac Macpherson’s attention or proven themselves worthy of further discussion.
Emotion Rose´ 2019 — Provence, France. Available from $19.99
Forget the days when rose´ consumption was limited to the summer months. Rose´ is now a year round proposition and, while sales have skyrocketed, most local commentators believe rose´’s star is still very much on the rise. On the world stage Provence continues to drive the global shift to delicately flavoured, dry rose´s, and Emotion is a textbook example of the style that has taken the world by storm. Vinted from grenache, cinsault and syrah, it’s a crisp and vibrant wine with the grenache percentage bringing an array of crunchy red fruit and watermelon flavours into play. The cinsault component adds a slightly saline note and a vein of regional minerality, while syrah brings some savoury structure on the finish. Like all good rose´, the magic is in the detail, and this delightful wine has a subtle, fleshy seam in the mid-palate that helps it stand out.
Blackenbrook Gewu¨rztraminer 2019 — Nelson. Available from $18.99
Sadly, sales of gewu¨rztraminer in our domestic market have not followed rose´’s success. But there are some excellent, well-priced examples available to wine drinkers keen to put some spice in their glass. The 2019 Blackenbrook certainly fits that criteria. It shows a lovely perfume of tropical fruits, rose petal and classic Turkish Delight notes, and a juicy palate that brims with ginger and lychee flavours. There is lots going on in the glass here, and while the flavours are bold and exotic, the overall impression is balanced and rewarding. This is off-dry gewu¨rztraminer, and while the residual sugar aspect carries the spice notes across the palate beautifully, the finish is fresh and clean, with subtle acidity rounding out the conversation. If you haven’t enjoyed a glass of good gewu¨rz for a while, this would be a really good place to reacquaint yourself. Enjoy with spicy Asian dishes and Indian curries.
Mountford Chardonnay 2015 — Waipara. Available from $38.99
I am a huge fan of Mountford’s excellent estate chardonnays. I have followed this label for many years; my friends and family enjoyed copious amounts of an earlier vintage for my 50th birthday celebrations. Stylistically, Mountford has always been vinted in a full-bodied, barrelfermented style that reminds me of the famous white burgundies of Puligny-Montrachet. Prior to release, they are held back to mature at the winery, and have a proven ability to age well.
The 2015 Mountford is only now hitting its straps and has years of good drinking ahead of it. On the nose, it shows subtle flinty notes backed by sweet citrus and wood spice. Those characters flow through to the palate where they sit alongside a tangy grapefruit flavour, lightly creamy mouthfeel and a quite pronounced mineral/wet stone layer. It’s the most elegant Mountford Chardonnay I have tasted in a while, but the power and drive that this boutique label is so well known for, remains in full effect.
Passo Sardo Cannonau di Sardegna 2016 — Sardinia, Italy. Available from $16.99
Sourced from vineyards across the island, this is a blend of cannonau (a unique grenache that is the most widely grown Sardinian variety), carignan and graciano. It’s a full-bodied and fruitforward style with the cannonau percentage bringing the weight and flowing flavours that grenache is synonymous with. Carignan and graciano help to bring some dryness and structure into play, but the cannonau does most of the heavy lifting, and that’s a good thing. This D.O.C. wine is soft and flowing by Italian standards and that upfront attractiveness is very reminiscent of Spanish blends in this price band — but a tighter, drier finish pegs this wine as Italian.
Farmers & Stockholders Shiraz 2019 — McLaren Vale, Australia. Available from $16.99
This is a good example of well priced, honest McLaren Vale shiraz. It’s a bit more savoury and drier than many of the market leaders in this price band, but that serious styling makes it such a drinkable option. Perhaps Australia’s burgeoning exports into the American market are to blame, but it seems that so many of the cheaper Australian reds are sweeter than ever before. This certainly doesn’t sit well with me, so I am always interested in good, affordable shiraz options, especially from McLaren Vale, my favourite South
Australian growing region. In the traditional McLaren Vale Shiraz style, Farmers & Stockholders brings plenty of dark plum and spicy cherry flavours into play, but the palate weight remains a bit more understated than its Barossa contemporaries.
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Merlot Cabernet 2019 — Hawke’s Bay Available from $15.99
Here’s an absolute bargain for fans of Hawke’s Bay red wines if ever I saw one. Villa Maria’s excellent Cellar Selection wines have always been great value, but from time to time, the reds from this series can really shine. This is definitely one of those moments, and this 2019 merlot cabernet will go down as one of the market’s best buys this year. 2019 was a superlative vintage in Hawke’s Bay and the merlot and cabernet sauvignon crops absolutely shone. Pour a glass of this wine and expect to see plush, silky merlot flavours with the cabernet component bringing in drier layers, some savoury structure and a nice herbal / tobacco complexity that subtly brings another dimension into play.
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. A small look at the changed lives of Lyra and her daemon, Pantalaimon, after the traumatic events of His Dark Materials. The cult trilogy has been honoured by several awards, as well as made into a movie. This short book puts the focus back on Lyra and sets the scene for new adventures in the trilogy The Book of Dust. It’s a very short read, with not much of a story, more for diehard fans of Philip Pullman.