Cullen 2009 Mangan

The invitation that brought Warbo and the Dragon Lady to the LHoC last night was, I must admit, a calculated move to kick off what's intended to be a serious assault on the quality end of the stock on hand in these parts over the Festive Season.

We've got 'em here, and as far as Hughesy's concerned, it's a matter of finding a suitable excuse to drink 'em.

One of the first things I did when we started out on the retirement bit was to start keeping a record of the wine expenditure, since finances weren't exactly tight, but they weren't going to allow massive extravagance either.

I like my bottle of wine at night, don't mind a glass with lunch, want something interesting to sip and was, at the time, working on a $10/bottle budget.

The spreadsheet started with a selection from the Tahbilk Everyday Drinking Range back in March 2007, and now, more than four and a half years later, with the most recent entry $180 for a six pack of Hay Shed Hill 2011 Block 1 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc, the long term average per bottle is still under $11.50 ($11.33 if you want to be pernickety).

We end up, in other words, with plenty of budget priced selections in these parts, but we've got a good range of bottles further up the price range, and we need excuses to open same.

Visitors are one, the Festive Season is a second, and there'll be a flurry of blog activity in these parts as Hughesy mounts a valiant attempt to move boxes off the office floor. Along the way there'll be a few wines like this little beauty which, trust me, I would luurve to be able to afford as an everyday drinking prospect.

The 2009, sampled at the winery a bit over a year ago, left me speechless, and that was before I got to the Diana Madeline.

Mangan for everyday drinking, a case of Diana Madeline for special occasions, and unlimited temperature controlled storage…

Well, a man's allowed to dream, isn't he?

Cullen 2009 Mangan (5/5 $45) Malbec (63% for fruit and colour), Petit Verdot (27% for the length and texture) and Merlot (10% for the structure) blend that, according to Mr Halliday, approximates a pre-phylloxera Bordeaux. Deep red in the glass, berries and oak across the sinuses and a palate that runs on and on. There's a characteristic subtlety that runs through the Cullen wines that would have you (or at least me) scrabbling for superlatives if you weren't so busy drinking. A rich, savoury wine that demands far more restraint that Hughesy can deliver. Definite evaporation problem here…

Cullen 2010 Mangan Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Semillon

When it comes down to tin tacks, most of us who drink would have to admit that we do so, at least partially, for the effect. True, there are any number of other considerations that impinge on the matter, including what some might consider minor details like taste and food matching, but when you scrutinise the matter with an intense and totally honest scrute, the desired effect is always lurking in the background.

Reflecting on what we'd sampled when Warbo and the Dragon Lady landed on the Friday night pizza doorstep here at The Little House of Concrete had me casting the mind back to a chance liquor barn encounter with an ex-student who rejoiced in the nickname of Jimbob.

At the I was browsing through the quality end of the operation rather than the cask and el cheapo section and a glance at the pricing had Jimbob suggesting that the price point was a matter of wankery since it was all about getting you off.

That was close to twenty years ago, but the encounter still sticks in my mind for some reason.

Yes, effect is a significant part of the picture, but it's not the only part. Suffice it to say, what we're looking at here aren't aimed at the Jimbob fraternity.

AS far as I'm concerned, however, I want something interesting to drink, and I want variety, which is why we've got a swag of boxes on the floor of the office to go with the contents of the wine rack, the stash in the wine fridge and the selection in chilled storage in the bar fridge.

And if you're after something interesting to sample, you're probably after some details, which explains the statistical and other information cribbed from Mr Halliday and the winery website, since I'm interested in, for example, what makes this one different from the almost identical blend produced by the same producer from the Cullen Vineyard.

Cullen 2010 Mangan Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (5* $35) 62% Sauvignon Blanc and 38% Semillon from the gravelly (c.f. the loamy Cullen) Mangan vineyard with some French oak (13%) on the SB side. Clear pale straw, with a subtlety through the nose that needed a little time to open up, revealing understated grass and citrus notes and a blend of citrus and minerality on the palate that was poised, balanced and textured to run out to a rounded finish. Subtle and quite superb…