Redux

After a lengthy hiatus, brought about in no small part by a mountain of work and studiousness, all things wine and donkey related are back in the public consciousness! Drinking has not suffered, indeed the quality seems to be taking off upwards. I just can't seem to find the time to indulge as often as i'd like....

A brief little rundown of what I've drunk lately :

NV Jacques Selosse 'Exquise", Avize, Champagne



Anselme Selosse is really the man. This is a wine created at the behest of Pierre Gagnaire as a 'cuvee gourmand' - the ideal food wine. Slightly higher dosage in no way impedes the purity of fruit. An amazing freshness my friend referred to as "very pure ice, such as you would find in a negroni", rich aromas of baked apple, cider, buttercup, fresh cream, beurre bosc pear and a touch of honey. Moreish.


Rekordelig Pear Cider (Sweden)



A slightly sweeter style than i would normally enjoy, but amazing nonetheless. Candied pear, gum drops, jubes, pear syrup are all appropriate. Fresh and lively. Very fine bead.


2008 La Violetta 'Das Sakrileg' Riesling, Mt Barker, Western Australia



A 'sacrilege' of a wine. unfiltered, unfined, barrell fermented, natural yeast. A rich creaminess on the mid palate thanks to the old oak, fresh acidity, grass and fresh bush herbs on the nose with sorrell, lime and white grapefruit. Miniscule production.


A selection of reds at a menu tasting. Delicious all. The Chignard in particular is off the chain.



A disaster of a wine, with a cork to match. This is how it looked when i opened it. So the cork was broken BEFORE it was put into bottle, and yet they shoved it in anyway....ridiculous.



Wines on my birthday. A grange from my birth year (terrible vintage) but drinking very well for the style. Not up my alley but a good look at classic Australian icon red wine. earth, bitter chocolate, dried hedgerow, dried old cherry and currant, a bit meaty.
Also a champagne my father described as 'better than Krug'. Still frightfully young, massively powerful, coiled and brooding. Loads of acid, a little hard to judge at this stage but years ahead of it.





NV Jacques Selosse Rose




A gem. Bought at auction - listed merely as Selosse Brut. Ha. Truly like a sparkling red burgundy. So long and elegant and vinous. Tannin. Beautiful fruit, round and rich but not too ripe and in no way sweet. Incredibly delicious. The best rose champagne I've ever tasted.


2007 Pierre Overnoy Arbois Pupillin Chardonnay



Incroyable. A burnished orange bronze colour. Aromas of brine, apple cider, cold tea, dried yellow flowers. Soooo much minerality. Fresh as a spring breeze. Long and complex and a triumph of natural winemaking. Hooray for the Jura.


More updates soon.

Wine Tattoos Installment 3

Ok.

The game is over I feel. We have all been beaten.

I see no future in Wine tattoos after this

Behold.....

Random Wine #1

A half-hearted attempt to chronicle some of the weird and wonderful wines that seem to get drunk at Clos Windsor every now and then.

This week -

2005 Terruzi & Puthod ‘terre di tufi’



Described as the original 'White Supertuscan', it is a typically Italian blend of Malvasia, Chardonnay and Vermentino. When I say typically, it's like, you know, those bloody field blends from Alto Adige where they just chuck Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Gewurz in together and hope it turns out Alsatian, or this wines red cousin, where someone decided it wasn't enough to have Sangiovese, it should be beefed up with Cabernet.

Anyway this is a goddamn bizzare wine, mildly oxidative, heftily oaked, strange and intense.

I found a decent wack of aniseed and notes of crushed sorrel, butter, sea foam, sand and biscuit.

After some warming up a lovely element of spiced pear gave the wine some fruit and approachability.

Vibrant acidity dominates and carries a long, hot, almost tannic finish.

weird....i would rate this wine 81 italian boots.

Mad Decent Coffee

I LOVE COFFEE
and i drink it almost more often than wine, so i thought i should dedicate at least some small amount of space to it.

Quick plug for one of my other favourite beverage destinations....coffee shop immaculate - Pigeon Coffee.

Whilst I also visit Single Origin Roasters, Mecca Coffee and Sonoma Outlet 5 Ways, 'the pidge' will always remain a special.

Roasting their own organic columbian (check the sacks) and PNG Purosa, serving up great croques and hefty amounts of back chat and attitude to keep you entertained.

St Margaret's Complex, Bourke St, Surry Hills, tucked away at the back. search it out.

Germany and Austria

A monumental tasting at work the other day of some stellar German and Austrian wines resulted in not a little leftovers...appropriated by yours truly in a short space of time and consumed rapidly.

Wines -

1 - 1996 Domane Wachau 'Kellerberg' Smaragd Gruner Veltliner
2 - 2007 Heymann Lowenstein GG 'Rottgen' Riesling
3 - 2007 Wittman GG 'Aulerde' Riesling
4 - 2006 Donhoff 'Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg' Spatlese Riesling



Wine number one was a new experience for me - never had i previously tasted an aged Gruner, let alone one of Smaragd quality.

-interlude : Smaragd is a classification used exclusively within the Wachau for Rieslings and Gruner Veltliners and refers to the potential sugar levels and by association the alcohol levels, similar to the pradikat system in Germany. Smaragd is the highest rating, reserved for wines of alcohol 12.5% or higher, often with a sweetness level somewhere between kabinett and spatlese. Below this is federspiel and steinfeder. -

With age this wine has taken on nutty, almost cheesy characteristics....almost dare i say it puligny in character?? it still had nerve and verve, but was a wine of undoubted power and grace. Beautiful melon fruit with a touch of cinnamon.

Wine two was outstanding. Heymann-Lowenstein is one of the more innovative producers in the Mosel today and is making a range of dry rieslings from different sites, including many Grosse Gewachs (GG), essentially Mosel Grand Cru.

The Rottgen is picked at sugar levels nearing auslese capacity, then fermented dry. It is a driving wine, packed with spice, sweet fruit (pears and peaches) and a fine, deep mineral quality. It is not a shy, delicate wine, but a wine built to impress. Powerful and opulent, it is a modern mosel.

Wine three I seem to have lost my notes on, but judging by a tasting of the WIttmann trocken riesling last nite, it impresses with a fine minerality and a touch of honey/acacia on the nose and fine fruit, full of finesse.

Wine four was delightful in a classic Mosel style... except it was from further east! Rippling with sweet fruit, it struck that perfect balance between sugar and acid, and was eminently drinkable because of it. Apricot, fresh white and yellow flowers, tangerine and a delicate sea shell quality. This bottle was gone in sixty seconds it seemed, everybody loved it. The acidity was so bright, so fresh, so clean, it invigorated you as you drank it. Hooray for the Nahe. Hooray for Donhoff.

Hooray for Germany.

Sommelier's Lunch

When sommeliers get together outside of work, it is generally for one of two reasons -
a) talk about wine
b) drink wine

Let's go with option b

Location - Ormeggio, Mosman (sorry to all the staff there)
Occasion - Boss's birthday
Date - Valentines Day (sorry to all those couple who had to put up with us)
Line Up - NV Bollinger en magnum
05 Georg Bruer 'Berg Roseneck' Riesling
98 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling
05 Doppf GC Schonenburg Riesling
07 Salomon 'Wieden' Gruner Veltliner
06 Montes Alpha Chardonnay
06 Henri Boillot Savigny les Beaunes 1er 'Les Vergelesses' Blanc
92 Leroy Chassagne Montrachet 1er
04 Isole e Olena Cepparello en magnum (2 separate bottles!)
04 Ornellaia - double magnum



If I tell you the day ended with shots of Patron XO Cafe, me chatting up a redhead, two people covered in margarita and us nearly being arrested, perhaps you will forgive my lack of tasting notes.

The Ornellaia was stunning, rich, concentated, sooty minerality and polished tannins.
The Leroy was tired but still complex.



The Boillot was excellent, soft, mellow yet racy (does that make sense?), high tuned and savoury.



I also enjoyed the Doppf, although it was a little soapy.



The Montes sucked...but i expected it to :)

A delightful if somewhat trashy day...

Initial(e)

A brief note on a great wine.

NV Jacques Selosse Initial (my bottle was labelled thus, but i have seen it with an 'e' on the end.....bizarre.



Rich, lifted nose.
Honey, fig, almonds and treacle. Baked apples.
Very frothy.
Texture is silken yet biting, in and out - it rushes away and acidity coats the tongue, like the sea leaving the shore.
Like no other champagne I have ever tasted....notes will follow on others as I taste them this year.


All Selosse's Wines (from the Rare Wine Co.) :

Blanc de Blancs

Initial. Anselme’s “classic” Brut. An assemblage of three vintages. Aged 2 years before degorgement.

Version Originale. Anselme’s great multi-vintage cuvée is aged 42 months before degorgement, and bottled with little or no dosage.

Millésime. The Methode Selosse used to express the character of a single year.

Substance. Avize’s essence in a single wine, without regard to vintage variation. Made from a solera started in 1987. Profound.
(P-BOMB!!)

Exquise. A higher dosage makes this Sec the “cuvée Gourmand.”

Blanc de Noirs & Assemblage

Contraste. This wine allowed Selosse to work with Pinot Noir from Aÿ. Incredibly vinous and powerful.

Rosé. With just a hint of salmon color, this rosé almost transcends class; a unique wine.