This section holds an ad hoc selection of wines that have made me sit up, take notice and smile with renewed enthusiasm: raised eyebrows; a skipped heartbeat; a ‘yum’ on my tasting score, or some such. You’ll find other tasting notes under producers and regional profiles.
Clover Hill, Cuvée Exceptionnelle, Blanc de Blancs Brut 2006, Pipers River, Tasmania
I was completely blown away by this wine.
Crus Bourgeois 2009 – tasting notes
The Alliance des Cru bourgeois announced the list of cru bourgeois for the 2009 vintage at the end of September 2011. Here are the tasting notes of the wines I tasted.
Steinertal vineyard, Wachau, Austria
Steinertal is one of the first vineyards encountered at the eastern end of the Wachau. Two wines by Alzinger and FX Pichler highlight its favour.
Lower Austria 2010, vintage and wine highlights
Austria 2010 was pretty tough going, though there are plenty of lovely wines.
Bodegas Valdesil, Godello 2009, Valdeorras, Spain
This was the outstanding wine from Waitrose’s recent press tasting. It’s a real stunner, complex, sophisticated, layered with freshness running through its veins.
Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, 2011
The annual wine competition called Concours Mondial, which adopts a new city each year in which to do its judging, rolled into Luxembourg city in a gloriously warm May this year. Here are the top results
Languedoc Grands Crus – in the making
A hierarchy of appellations is evolving in the Languedoc. Some of the top ones are reviewed here.
Orange wines – tasting notes
Here is a selection of my favourite Orange region wines following on from my visit in October 2010, including approximate AUD$ retail prices.
Negociants’ Icon Tasting
Aussie distribution company Negociants recently held a tasting in London of what they call the icon wines, i.e. pretty much the posh kit.
Aussie sparklers and sweets
With Christmas in mind, I recently went to a tasting of Aussie sparklers and sweeties.
