Lenton Brae 2009 Southside Chardonnay

While February hasn't been a great month for sampling wines I haven't tried before (we'd stocked up on Riesling, Rose and other summer drinking styles and the contents of the wine rack needed to be run down before orders go in to Rockford, Cullen and Pikes between now and Easter.

An email from Lenton Brae earlier in the month complicated matters slightly, offering the No Way Rose for $150/dozen and this one at one-third off the RRP freight free!

Another reason to be grateful we added our details to the mailing list when we were there.

Lenton Brae 2009 Southside Chardonnay (4.5* $25) As opposed to the significantly more expensive Wilyabrup Estate Chardonnay this drink in the medium term style comes from early picked fruit, some malolactic fermentation to tone down the acid and with no obvious oak on the palate the result is an easy drinking style that has a creamy citrus textured tang that's refreshing with a lengthy finish. Ticks all the right boxes as far as new style early drinking Chardonnay is concerned.

Lenton Brae 2009 Cabernet Merlot

I wasn't quite as taken by this one when we were at the Cellar Door, but sitting down with a bottle some six months later I'm starting to wish I'd indulged in, well maybe not a whole case but definitely a few more than a mere three. Still, having jumped on board for dozens of the No Way Rose and the Southside Chardonnay at substantial reductions, lack of space in the rack was an important consideration.

Lenton Brae 2009 Cabernet Merlot (4.5/5 $25) Works very well as a softer, drink now style and that;s definitely the territory this one's aimed towards. Notes on the winery website confirm the intention, and with a fragrant nose, softly rounded palate with the tannins subtly folded into the mix and a lengthy finish. Possibly not one for the long term, but as a medium-bodied style to drink over the next year to eighteen months (which is about all you can expect in this environment unless I can manage a substantial increase in refrigerated cellar capacity) it's hard to see how you could go much better.

Tahbilk Everyday Drinking 'Limited Release' 2009 Zinfandel

While it might make up 10% of United States plantings the grape variously known as Zinfandel, Primitivo and Crljenak Kaštelanski has yet to establish a substantial footing in Australia, Not that you'd be expecting too many people outside its native Croatia to be trying to pronounce Crljenak Kaštelanski. There might be a bit of an issue with consumers where Primitivo is concerned as well, though that seems a perfectly acceptable descriptor for the big robust high alcohol knuckle-scraper style that seems to be synonymous with red Zinfandel.

The continuing rise of the alternative varieties is likely to change that, however, which brings the question of learning how to handle and what to do with what is, by all accounts, a rather ornery varietal into play. 

Brown Brothers would put it through The Nursery and release the result as a Limited Production Cellar Door offering while they worked things through, and the decision to throw this into the Everyday Drinking Range at Tahbilk looks to be along the same lines. As an $8.95 Limited Release it'll give the punters a chance to try it while those other matters sort themselves out.

Tahbilk Everyday Drinking 'Limited Release' 2009 Zinfandel (4* $8.95) While I was expecting a big brawny knuckle-scraper of a wine, this one, while certainly substantial in flavour, tannin and alcohol/volume (they don't provide an exact percentage on the label but 8.9 standard drinks puts it in well over the 15% mark) came across as remarkably rounded and while it certainly packs a punch it was remarkably easy drinking. Given the Limited Release side of things it won't be around forever, and in any case I don't know that I need a dozen of these little devils, but as one-third of the Everyday Drinking New Releases Dozen @ $80 (RRP $95.40) along with Everyday Drinking 2007 Chairman’s Red and 2008 Chardonnay I may well be lining up for more around mid-March (assuming, of course, there's any left)

Lenton Brae 2010 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

Lenton Brae was the first place we stopped when we were in Margaret River, and yhis was the first wine we tasted there. Not a bad way to start! Subsequent visits to the website revealed references to Gold Medals and Trophies, awards I find much more plausible than a certain other wine reviewed recently in these parts.

Lenton Brae 2010 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc (4.5* $22) Not quite half and half (52% Semillon, 48% Sauvignon Blanc), and while the Semillon just comes through on top the varieties blend close to seamlessly. Powerful from the aromatics on the nose to the lingering acid on the finish, and there's an abundance of fruit in between. While it may develop over time there's no way the other two in the order will be getting a chance. In fact, they'll be lucky to see March and April is almost certainly out of the question. Stunningly good, and within a whisker of a 5* rating.

Baileys of Glenrowan 2009 Rutherglen Durif

I may be wrong, but the incorporation of Baileys into the Fosters corporate conglomerate (an entity that I'd normally be wanting to steer well clear of, given my preference for small, family-owned operations) seems to have had something to do with the winery's capacity to handle quantities of fruit that can't be removed from the area due to issues with phylloxera. Given the experience with Seppeltsfield, one doubts that it had much to do with extensive stocks of fortifieds.

Such issues probably explain the presence of Rutherglen rather than Glenrowan on the labels of cousin-brothers 2009 Durif and 2009 Petit Sirah in the most recent 1870s Club pack.

Baileys of Glenrowan 2009 Rutherglen Durif (4.5* $25/ $21.25 1870s Club) The conventional wisdom suggests that those who prefer subtle, understated reds should be giving Durif, with high alcohol levels and big flavours to match, the big flick pass, I found this remarkably understated. There's still plenty of rich full-bodied fruit flavour there, but it's nicely balanced and went down a treat. Better cellaring conditions and/or a genuine winter could well prompt a reorder, though it works very well as a short term drinking style.

Baileys of Glenrowan Founder Liqueur Muscat

Back when I was starting to develop an interest in Australian wine, Len Evans' Complete Book of Australian Wine was, to all intents and purposes, the bible (at least it was in my neck of the woods) and while some of the icons that emerged from its pages have been supplanted in my own estimation, I think an abiding appreciation of north-east Victorian liqueur muscat will be with me till they carry me away in the pine box.

Baileys of Glenrowan Founder Liqueur Muscat NV (4.5* $25/ $21.25 1870s Club) While it's impossible to be entirely accurate where memory is concerned, the varietal intensity through the nose and across the palate takes me right back to the old HJT Liqueur Muscat, my own long term benchmark for the style. Full-flavoured with a lusciouusness across the palate that will keep the I'm getting a bit of crowd busy, Obtaining a regular supply was the main reason for joining the 1870s Club, and i want a bottle of this as a permanent fixture on top of the wine rack, at least until I can afford the Winemakers Selection Rare Old Muscat ($75/ $53,75 1870s Club for 375ml on a regular basis.

Baileys of Glenrowan 2008 1920s Block Shiraz

I'm not a big fan of flowery descriptive terms when it comes to wine, but as I took my first whiff of this a couple of months back for some reason my mind went back to the dusty ancient leather-bound encyclopaedia Britannicas that were shelved beside the fireplace in the landlady's half of the majestic old Queenslander where my family lived until we moved north in 1963.

With a couple of substantial orders on the way it's a case of clearing things out to make room in the rack, so I've been revisiting some things that have previously been tasted and reviewed on the website.

Baileys 2008 1920s Block Shiraz (4.5* $35/$29.75 1870s Club) Leather notes on the nose, abundant tannins, surprisingly silky mouth-feel (I was expecting something substantially bigger and bolder when I first tried this one) combine to result in a wine that's complex, stylish and quite delightful. At 16% alc/vol, this is a wine that could easily creep up on you and should last well into the 2020s. While there's no guarantee Hughesy will still be around to enjoy it when it really hits its straps there's some left in the wine fridge.