Pfeiffer 2009 Shiraz

While the number of wineries I try to buy from means that the question of reordering  from a Pfeiffer C2 Club delivery could well become academic, a glance down the contents of the Autumn 2011 delivery reveals a couple of likely contenders.

Pfeiffer The Carson Gewurztraminer 2010
Pfeiffer Winemakers Selection Viognier 2010
Pfeiffer Gamay 2010
Pfeiffer Marsanne 2009
Pfeiffer Chardonnay 2009
Pfeiffer Shiraz 2009 (2 bottles)
Pfeiffer Musuem Release Merlot 2006
Pfeiffer Museum Release Merlot 2004
Pfeiffer Carlyle Shiraz 2009
Pfeiffer Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 (2 bottles)

The Gewurz and the Gamay are frequent stock up items, and based on an initial sample of the 2009 Pfeiffer Shiraz it could well be another.

Pfeiffer 2009 Shiraz (4.5* $22.50; Wine Club $20.25) This rather tasty densely coloured wine, with savoury aromatics on the nose and a lingering finish across the palate could well find itself featuring in a reorder though much depends on which wines out of the rest of the C2 Club pack make me sit up and take notice.

Pikes 2009 The Assemblage Shiraz Mourvedre Grenache

Anyone who has spent close to forty years following the evolution of the Australian wine industry has probably lost count of the trends and fads that have, predictably, come and gone.

Some, like the Ben Ean bubble are probably best described as necessary steps in the evolutionary process (the discovery that, yes, you can drink table wine, followed buy there's got to be something better than this. Mateus Rose, anyone?).

Others, including the Fume Blanc phenomenon and the great Rougolais debacle  are probably best described as well intentioned but ultimately fruitless sidetracks, while others (the discovery that, yes, you can do something with Sauvignon Blanc rather than turn it into Fume) are probably destined to be with us for a while.

Which will hopefully be the case with the current investigation of alternative alternative varieties, the rediscovery of Grenache and Mourvedre and the rising interest in Rhone-style blends like this little number.

Pikes 2009 The Assemblage Shiraz Mourvedre Grenache (4.5* $22) SMG rather than GSM, but very much in the same flavour profile. Medium bodied, brightly coloured, fruit- rather than oak-driven. Soft, savoury food-friendly style with a touch of elegance that is definite reorder material.

Pikes 2009 Gills Farm Mourvedre

While a box of cleanskin Clare Hills Riesling for $40, a case of Sangiovese Blend for $10/bottle and a six pack of Red Mullet Blend for $56 were automatic purchases (i'd figured I'd be able to split the first two fifty-fifty with someone or other, but that didn't quite happen) there was no way I was going to forego the chance to try the new release wines mentioned in the same email.

The 2009 Gill's Farm Mourvedre was the first one I tried out of the extra box, and, as can be seen below, I was impressed.

Pikes 2009 Gills Farm Mourvedre (4.5* $22) Savoury herb and spice characters through the nose and across the palate, a little violet and blackberry combining to produce a very easy drinking food friendly style. There'll be the odd bottle thrown into the next order.

Pfeiffer 1999 Reserve Marsanne

I've frequently bemoaned the tendency to stow the odd bottle away in the bar fridge, waiting for the appropriate occasion to open the little devil, and here's a perfect case in point. It arrived as part of the C2 shipment just on three years ago, found its way into the fridge, gravitated to the bottom of the rack and would probably have sat undisturbed for a bit longer if I hadn't been looking for something with a bit of bottle age to go with some pork steaks with tomato and mustard sauce.

Pfeiffer 1999 Reserve Marsanne (3* $n/a) While it was pleasant enough drinking, with touches of honeysuckle and a rounded mouthfeel and I could be charitable and suggest we might have left it a tad too long, this did nothing to dispel my view that Tahbilk is the automatic go to when you're looking for Marsanne, particularly when you're after something with a bit of bottle age.

Hay Shed Hill 2008 White Label Tempranillo

Rather than the unbroken half dozens that are apparently the go for the other three seasons, the Hay Shed Hill Four Seasons Club Autumn Pack arrived as a fifty-fifty split between the 2008 Tempranillo and the 2009 Sangiovese. While autumn in these parts may not quite be the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, this one definitely turned out to be mellowly fruitful.

Hay Shed Hill 2008 White Label Tempranillo (4* $30) Medium bodied elegant, silky style with full, soft, rounded tannins, gently spicy with tasty mouth feel. Very easy to drink. While it mightn't be the greatest Tempranillo going around it's a long way from being the worst.

Whiskey Gully 2005 Upper House Cabernet Sauvignon

We were headed for the Granite Belt a bit over twelve months ago, and while, in my host's words, there's a winery for every week of the year, the visit was about renewing old acquaintances, introducing new life partners and that sort of thing rather than maxing out on the tasting opportunities.

A quick look at the options meant that we arrived with two places to visit, and one of them was Whiskey Hill Wines, which seemed to be an operation strong on character that was probably worth a visit.

So we did.

The operation hosts an eatery where Friday nights are apparently in the substantial range, and Saturday morning probably wasn't the best time to be calling, but the proprietors' daughter was friendly after an extremely late night (Dad was cleaning the kitchen and not overly impressed by the world at large), the collection of stringed instruments on the walls intriguing and the wines worth a look. We escaped with a couple of bottles, including this one, and would definitely go back if the place is still in the same hands.

The daughter, however, was looking to relocate to France, and Mum and Dad had put the place on the market. While I'm inclined to go back I'll be checking local sources for info before doing so.

Whiskey Gully 2005 Upper House Cabernet Sauvignon (4* $26) Quite attractive retro style red if you like that style, which I do. While there's nothing wrong with the wine, which packs most of the requisite elements into the glass there's nothing that makes me stop and take notice either. Long finishing steak or roast beef style that won't have you racing out looking to buy it by the pallet but does its job quite satisfactorily.

The 4* rating translates to: I should buy this, but there may well be constraints that prevent me from doing so. The constraints run in at an unwillingness to shell out for a dozen, uncertainty about the current state of play at the winery and a website that doesn't seem to have been updated in a while.

Fermoy Estate 2009 Yallingup Vineyards Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc

While mileages may vary when it comes to winery ratings those of us with a limited budget as far as time is concerned need some sort of framework to start from when we're visiting somewhere like Margaret River. Lacking either local knowledge or acquaintances who've visited the area recently (though we had one friend who pointed us towards Hay Shed Hill) it was a case of turning to Halliday, and a quick squizz revealed enough five star operations to keep us busy for a week rather than the two-and-a-bit days we had available.

In cases like that, the list from Halliday is a starting point and you (or rather I, readers may operate differently) then start sifting through other details to sort out the wheat from the chaff. We had Cullen Wines pencilled in for lunch on the last day, didn't want to overdo it, and I noted with interest that Fermoy Estate was just down the road from the planned stop, conveniently located near a chocolate factory Madam expressed an interest in, and, in Halliday's words "happy to keep a relatively low profile, however difficult that may be given the quality of the wines". Sounded good to me.

Which explains how we got there. What happened when we did meant that we'll be keeping an eye on the website for frequent orders even if they're nowhere near the heavily discounted ($20 to $7,50 by the dozen with freight)

Fermoy Estate 2009 Yallingup Vineyards Margaret River Semillon Sauvignon Blanc (4.5* $20) Not quite half and half (52-48%) the Semillon characters sit on top of the grassy passionfruit Sauvignon Blanc, resulting in a blend that's  tightly knit with a tangy complexity and a lengthy finish across the palate and plenty on offer through the nose. A wine that had me wishing there were more than five of them left.  Will be looking very closely at the 2010.