Paringa Estate Pinot 2007

2007 Mornington Peninsula Paringa Estate Pinot Noir

With intense colour, this pinot shows adequate length and a toasty caramel nose.  Beautiful mouthfeel with a palate rich in red cherries, cinnamon, earthy tones and tar giving off fine tannins that might give it a few more years in the cellar...but don't leave it too long because it is tasting great at the moment!

A great effort that Lindsey McCall should be proud of that sends me dashing back to the cellar door to try more of his wines.  If it rains this Saturday I might cancel golf and head out to Red Hill and see him...heck, I suck at golf anyways so who cares if it rains!

Score: 94

Greenock Creek Apricot Block Shiraz 2006

$40AUD

Have you ever drank blood?? If I imagined a glass of blood, the mouthfeel would be something like this. So thick, the mouthfeel is almost like tasting melted chocolate...actually it has some very great chocolate flavours (sorry American readers but I am using Australian English....its not misspelt!)  Some great pepper and spice on the nose with heaps of coco and has some amazing length.

I'm not lying when I say this wine broke my expensive wine glass. Not sure if you can see it in the picture but I swirled the first glass and it popped...that might be a sign that this is one POWERFUL Barossa wine that can really body slam the drinker. Barossa wines are known to be BIG and BOLD, but this one really does it! Also, it brings the HEAT.  Almost 19% alcohol means this wine was like a fortified and it didn't take many sips to be tipsy...good night :)

Evans & Tate

2006 Evans & Tate Reserve $40AUD


Another Margaret River vino but this one had no punch to it.  I was hoping for some immense flavours from this Reserve but I have tasted entry level wines that packed more than this cab.  Not a great effort from Evans & Tate....label states extraordinary length but I think I'd rather pour it down the drain....but thanks for coming...Evans & Tate., by the way... "Can I have my money back??"

Score 78

Eagle Vale & Guy Gallienne

Hello!!!  Eagle Vale!!! Are you kidding me!!??!!

Guy Gallienne is making some great booze in Margaret River.  Really happy to be able to open this wine, 2003 Shiraz.  I love how Guy uses a 2002 label and takes a black marker to it to make it 2003 :) Bought it with my good mates Tom and Jason when we visited Margaret River in 2008.  I was so hung over on that morning we had the tasting and I spit out the first wine and totally missed the spitoon...oh well, Guy thought we were classy up to that point!

This wine was full of flavour and really had some great herbs and wild cherries screaming through.  Paired well with my Supreme Pizza (Why am I always eating Pizza!?!) from my local joint Lamore in the Docklands.

With Guy in charge, he always makes sure the vines are in prime condition and uses some great BD principles that I love.  Keep up the good work guys (GUY)!

Pinot, Pizza & Duck

I am very happy to start off my first blog with this post.  My favourite things...Pinot, pizza and duck all rolled into one night.  It brings me back to my 28th birthday when I was living in California which I made the exact same pizza and paired it with some amazing Sonoma Valley Pinot Noir.

Duck, fennel and fig pizza.  I found this recipe on the net awhile back for my 28th birthday and loved it.  I'm not sure why it took me so long to try it again but here I am and it turned out great again.  You can find the recipe here -  http://www.kalamazoogourmet.com/recipe06-2.php?recipe=127

2008 Hudelot Noellat Bourgogne Rouge $45 AUD

And the wines....I started with a Burgundy that I opened about 4 days ago that was much better than when it was originally opened.  The wine was very open and much more approachable this time around with a bouquet of smashed strawberries and earthiness. Poor length on initial opening but great tonight with the duck pizza.  89 Points

2006 Stonier Reserve Pinot Noir $50 AUD

Wine of the night for sure.  Matched very well with the duck pizza giving such a juicy mouth feel.  The cherries and raspberries swarmed the nose with great earthy and soil aromas that I love to see in New World Pinot.   The palate showed great red fruits and richness and the length lasted for ages.  I can't wait to taste this wine over the next few days and see how its developed.  92 Points