WIne Tattoos Installment 1

Yep this is the latest trend.
Love your wine? I certainly do....thus when i heard that the mack daddy of wine geekness, riesling lover and superstar sommelier Paul Grieco had the name of his favourite varietal permanently etched onto his forearm, i decided to up the ante.

Visited my local parlour. Had to spell it out for them. It was worth it tho. I now proudly carry 'the word' with me forever.

I will never forget the 1st time I tried this varietal. The bottle was there. The time was right. the company was set. So we cracked it....and the world was never the same. Thanks to my boss at the time who provided this.



Get it on ya.

A Farewell to Bentley

The Bentley Bar and Restaurant on Crown St is without a doubt our favourite drinking establishment of late. Some have said it is our second home. Whatever the case, the wine list is inimitable and the selection of beers and spirits is excellent as well.

Recently we discovered that the Bentely was to close for 3 weeks in order to undertake some renovations. Keen to pop in for one final session, we perched up at the bar, talked shit and drank some wines.

2005 Clos Rougeard "Breze" Saumur Blanc
A favourite discovery over 2009, Clos Rougeard reaches a pinnacle with their red wines unmatched anywhere else in the Loire (it's in France). 100% Cab Franc, the wines (3 separate cuvees) are fresh and high in acid, with crystal clear fruit definition and stunning spice/earth notes holding the wine straight. They also age into quite fascinating dry reds.
They make only one white however - a barrel fermented Chenin Blanc. Wow.

Decanted into a funny looking teapot thing called Aventinus (spelling??), it took a few minutes to come into its own. A touch of musk, then almonds and sharp green fruits come into play. Is it a 1er cru Chablis? Half an hour later oatmeal and hazel with acacia is jumping from the glass. Is it Puligny-Montrachet? The texture is rich, soft and supple, the oak is massive but yet the heat is negligable and the fruit handles it. A revelation.



2007 Gamay Sans Tra La La (Loire)
Cool as a summer breeze. Redcurrant, blueberry, iron-like minerality, graphite, acid....bang. A bargain.



2008 Vertigo 25GR Riesling, Adelaide Hills
A cheeky collab between David Le Mire MW and Peter Leske of Nepenthe, this is one of many off dry rieslings sweeping the aussie market as we chase something slightly germanic. apples of many hues, citrus rinds and dull flowers, acidity not bracing enough to cope with the sweetness, some mild tangerine juice on the finish. Seeing as we drank it en bouteille, I was fairly happy with it. More on this incredible phenomenon later.

We eat some pimentos de padron, the russian roulette of chillies. some are hot, some aint....only one way to find out. Ouch.

Bentley will return bigger badder and blacker in the near future

Un nuit sans Richard

There is an ever-growing element of one-upmanship that is burgeoning amongst the circle of friends that often get together to have some wine...it is somewhat dangerous and ends with one very unhappy member of our group. Upon this evening it was to be Richard that missed out.

This is Richard. He is the Mayor of Windsor. You are able to discern his mayor-ship by his medal/wreath that he is wearing.



Richard had other important duties to attend to on the evening we decided to hold a small tasting of some champagne and wine.



We ate dinner at Le Pelican on Bourke St, a favourite for our wine dinners. The food is consistently good, with an oft-changing menu and stellar produce.

Wines -

2004 Weingut Wegeler Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett Riesling (a cheeky pre-dinner)
green apple, nectarine, pine. Uncomplicated but a touch staid. Fresh and easy.

2004 David Leclepart "cuvee l'apotre" Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Trepail
A wine approached with more anticipation than perhaps any other. We had spoken of this for months. Perhaps with such high expectations it could do nothing than disappoint. Perhaps it was the glassware. Perhaps we needed to decant it. Perhaps, as one writer put it, it is a wine that has simply 'shut down' for the time being. Anyway...we plan to drink the 05 next month, so we shall see. It was closed for a good half an hour, although with such drive, acidity and tannin that it hinted at something explosive to come. A hint of daisys and peonies on the nose, with an overload of stony minerality. It just never came around, just more butter and cream coming through on the mid palate an hour in. A perplexing wine.

1996 Billecart-Salmon "cuvee elisabeth salmon" Rose
Massive. A joy. Yellow peach, rose oil, redcurrant, raspberry pips, strawberries and cream, with a giant yet focused structure. Held its poise and bead for hours. So creamy and yet with trademark 96 acidity keeping it fresh. This bottle was a farewell gift from Auge Restaurant in Adelaide in 2007, and as desperately as I wanted to hold onto it, the temptation was too great. It drank beautifully but is still keenly young.

2000 Albert Mann Grand Cru Schlossberg Riesling
Wine of the Night. A perfectly balanced expression of semi-mature riesling. Walking a tightrope between honeyed, crystallised lime cordial on one side and fresh kiwifruit, white flowers and fresh summer herbs on the other. Again, long an strong and beautifully mouthfilling.

2007 Francois Raveneau Chablis Village
Decanted but still too young. Cream, yellow apples and a fresh wet stone/lime finish, it is easily the biggest village chablis I've ever tasted. It was elegant and balanced but still needs to fill out.

1999 Louis Latour Aloxe Corton 1er Cru Les Chaillots
I'm not a fan of Latour but this was solid enough. Dirty earth, some brambly red fruit, a hint of poo, wet leaves and gravel. Palate intact but a touch short. Good for one glass then turned boring.

2003 Chateau Beausejours St Emilion
Not me at all. Bloody 03 just annoys me - cooked fruit all over. Too much extract and oak, fruit far too ripe, this could've fooled me as Australian. Mono-dimensional and outright boring, it was a good foil for the angus beef but frankly my dear I couldn't give a damn.

End Game - A lovely party night, immaculately finished off by Richard meeting us on the street, cradling the empty bottle of l'apotre.

A Welcome to Wine

A forum for the wine-oriented.

Herein shall be described some wine which was tasted, consumed or merely imbibed. Occasionally opinions will be put forth on restaurants, wineries, people, cocktails, glassware, and of course donkeys. Other matters will be given no more than cursory attention.

Let the drinking begin.