Wynns' Coonawarra Estate Shiraz

I said in my last post that I was excited for these latest two wines I have sampled recently. In this second post, I will review the Wynn's Coonawarra Estate Shiraz. This wine is there basic Shiraz that they produce out of the Coonawarra region.

Unfortunately, this review will be a bit short. The Shiraz was good, but not great. I would say that over all I liked the Yalumba Menzies better than this red. Now, I should mention that this wine is still a pretty good wine. However, it lacks anything special. Its just a basic Shiraz, a good Shiraz, but basic none the less. You can find better wines at this price range. It would be a good wine to share with some wine novices but a more selective taster wont be as impressed.

Yalumba Menzies The Cigar 2009

The following two posts are of two wines that I am excited to try. Both wines are in the $25 range which means that they are potentially good wines to enjoy on a regular basis. Today I am reviewing Yalumba's The Cigar from Yalumba's Menzies vineyard. Yalumba named the wine The cigar after the shape of the terra rossa soil in the Coonawarra region where the vineyard is located. Menzies is one of their premiere vineyards, so I am excited to give this one a try.
The wine is a cab sav, which is a nice change from all the shiraz I have been sampling recently. I have had less experience in tasting cab sav wines so this will further my experience with this type of grape. Lets take a look at what Yalumba is offering with this wine:

The very first thing I noticed with this wine was the very light tannins. Virtually no grippy tannins to be noticed. The wine is a bit heavy in texture. It would be excellent with some seafood, or chicken. It seemed very well oaked, something that is not quite as noticeable with shiraz, at least in terms of what I have tried. Very bold flavor. It is certainly worth a taste and it is a very good value for what you are getting. The coonawarra produces excellent wines and this is no exception. It is a very well done cab sav. I would be interested in camparing it with the iconic Bin 707 from Penfolds and compare. perhaps one day...
NExt up wil be a shiraz from Wynns Coonawarra Estate. It is their entry level shiraz, similar to this wine from Yalumba. I am hoping that it will be as recommendable as this wine is for anyone looking for a great wine at a decent price, from an excellent region in SA.

Henschke Mount Edelstone 2004

My family came up to Vancouver this weekend to visit Jenn and I. I decided to take my dad to Everything Wine in North Vancouver and needless to say he was impressed with the selection. While buying wine in Canada is more expensive, I have found that the more expensive bottles don't vary in price as much as cheaper bottles. My dad went to the vintage room and found a bottle of Henschke Mount Edelstone shiraz. This particular red was one of his favorites when we were living in Australia. The bottle cost $160. $40 a glass. WOW. I knew we were in for a treat.

First, some background on Henschke and its wines. This red is from Eden Valley which is around the area where Mclaren Vale is located. The vineyard, which this wine is specifically picked from, was planted in 1912. This is the same location Hill of Grace, possibly Australia's most expensive and exclusive reds is produced. 

Wine Description

Deep red with violet hues. Rich aromas of spicy plums, blackberries, anise and sage oil with hints of tar, pepper and cedar. The intensely fruited palate is concentrated, rich and lush with excellent balance, velvety tannins and a long finish.

Overall I found Mount Edelstone to be quite nice. It needed about 45+ minutes out of the bottle to allow its flavor to come out. I was pleasantly surprised at the sugar content of this wine. I found it a bit sweet which was a nice change to the more tart shiraz I have sampled. Tannins were very light, and the wine was very well balanced. 

This is an empty bottle I intend to keep, so far it is the most expensive wine I have ever tried. It was a very expensive treat at $160, so I cant say I would recommend it for anyone who doesn't take red wine seriously. If you are someone who appreciates reds, then I would recommend you take this one and savor it. It is not a casual bottle to buy on your way to the grocery store. 

Eat it with meat and potatoes, its a shiraz. 

Wolf Blass Grey Label

The grey label shiraz is a part of Wolf Blass' luxury range of wines. It cost about $35-40 a bottle. The more and more I sample wines that are in the $30-40 range, I find that they are very similar in quality and taste. 

The grey label is a very fruity wine. Dark Red in color, with a very dry finish. The tannins were light, again which is common with this price range of wine. The $100 bottles of wine are more complex and have tannins that complement the wine. The lowest quality wines are all over the board which have harsh tannins and extreme tastes. Older more mature wines are more subtle and well rounded.
Overall I liked the wine, if it was a bit average. There wasn't much that stood out about this wine. It was a middle of the road wine that everyone would like. Good price point and good taste makes this one accessible for anyone. Its not one I would necessarily buy again and cellar, but it would be a wine that I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a decent red.

Penfold's Grandfather Port

I had the unique opportunity this weekend to try a very special port. Now, I realize that port falls outside of the scope of this blog, but for this specific port, I am willing to make an exception. Port is technically called a fortified wine. In my research on the port, I learned that this port has a very interesting process.
The Grandfather port is 20 years old on average. I say average, because of the unique process in which the port goes through. The port is fermented in an 8 level system called a solera. But before the wine is added to the solera, it is aged for 8 years. once in the solera, the wine is slowly pushed down through the various levels by a small amount of port being drained at the bottom and a small amount of wine being added at the top. When all is said and done, the port has been fermented for about 20 years.

Penfold's produces this grandfather port from four main varieties of grapes-Grenache, Cabernet, Shiraz, and Mourvedre. Although the website mentions that the port is not limited to only these varieties. Port is generally considered a dessert wine. It is very sweet, and as my father in law said, "if you feel like you've got a mouth full of syrup, you've taken too much." All that is needed is the tiniest of sips in order to experience the flavor. Because of this only a fraction of a regular red wine glass is typically served- only about an ounce.
When I tried it, I found it very smooth and easy to drink. Just wetting my lips with the port gave me all the flavor I needed. I got the sense that this port had a very nice toffee type of taste while I was drinking it.
I very much enjoyed the Grandfather port. And because port is able to mature in the bottle, even after opening, it is something that I can keep in my collection for a long time!! This bottle retailed for about $85. The price initially seems like a lot, but considering you simply don't drink as much of it at any one time, it actually will last quite a while when compared to a bottle of red you would finish in an evening. It is well worth the experience of drinking it!!

Yalumba- Octavius 2000

To put it simply, I was quite spoiled this weekend. My parents came up for a visit and we decided to spend the evening with Kevan and Judy. Being a special occasion, my dad bought some very nice wine for us to try. One of the many wines we tried (and the best one) was Yalumba's Octavius from 2000. Needless to say, Yalumba always produces excellent wines, and their Octavius is top notch. The Octavius, along with the Reserve, are Yalumba's top wines they offer. Octavius is a Shiraz from Yalumba's Barossa Valley and Eden Valley vineyards. The Barossa and Yalumba in particular, have produced some of Australia's best Shiraz. It is  such a privilege to be able to try one of Australia's iconic red wines.

I had the opportunity to try two very nice (and expensive) wines this weekend. The other being Oculus from Mission Hills here is BC. Oculus is a favorite of Kevan and Judy. In both of the bottles I noticed the wines' ability to transcend the fruity and sweet, and oakey and dry barrier. In my limited experience, cheaper wines are either one of the two. The term for this is "complex". And usually you find that more expensive wines are more complex. For the Octavius, this was very apparent. It had an oakey taste that went well with its lighter fruity side. I was surprised how well the two flavors complimented each other. Octavius had a spicy flavor as well in its finish. It had very light tannins-probably the lightest I have tried. The term silky comes to mind trying to define this wine's texture. I had my glass with steak and mushrooms which I quite enjoyed, although this wine certainly doesn't need to be enjoyed with a meal. It can be enjoyed on its own, or with a wide variety of food-Cheese, chocolate, fruit, steak, chicken. Whatever you can throw at it. At $100 per bottle, it is a VERY special treat. Again, I was quite spoiled this weekend.

Peter Lehmann- Layers 2008

Jenn and I just picked up a new bottle of wine this evening. We didn't want to spend too much this time so we went with a wine in the $20 range. We decided to go with a Peter Lehmann wine called "Layers". The front label has five grapes on it signifying the five different types of grapes that were used to produce this wine- Shiraz, Tempranillo , Carignane, Mourvedre, and Grenache. The Shiraz makes up about half the bottle at 46%.
As usual, I did a bit of research before opening the bottle and learned a bit about Peter Lehmann. I was unaware that Lehmann is a commercial company. I know I did not speak very well of the Jacob's Creek wine I tried a few weeks ago, and mentioned that because it was a commercial wine, perhaps it was a lower quality. Upon further research, I have learned that my comments about large wineries may have been a bit too generalized. Penfolds is an excellent example of a large commercial winery that makes one of the worlds best known wines- Grange. It is also know for making some other excellent wines that are of very high quality. In my defense, I am just trying to stick up for the small guy. I would say that I am more easily attracted to the smaller, privately owned wineries that really try to differentiate themselves from the average bottle that the corporations turn out by the millions.  So I am willing to give Peter Lehmann a fair shot. Apparently this wine won several awards in some Australian wine competitions (bronze and silvers), and received a gold metal in the Sydney international wine competition. And for $20, if its a winner, them thats all icing on the cake. After all, this blog is about trying reds I haven't experienced before. I cant say that I have ever tried a Peter Lehmann so this will be new.

The wine is from the Barossa Valley, so on the north side of the wine region that has Mclaren Vale on the bottom of it. The Mclaren Vale is very close to the ocean and produces a Mediterranean like climate. The Barossa is further away from the sea and has a drier atmosphere. Much like that of the Columbia basin region of Washington, or the Osoyoos area of British Columbia.

The wine colour was a very light red, almost dark pink when I opened the bottle. Upon drinking it, I was quite surprised at the lack of fruit in the first taste. Not that its a bad thing, but it was just a surprise. It has a very oakey taste, that I am not use to. The tannins were very light which was surprising because I would think that tannins intensify with oakey flavored wines. The wine was very rich and acidic. Spicy notes as well. You can definitely taste the shiraz in it, but the other wines give it a more complex flavor. After drinking the red for a few minutes I was hit by how rich and heavy the wine was. I felt like after one glass I was ready to be done. Quite a difference from the other more fruity and light reds I have tried recently. It is definitely one that should be enjoyed with food. Steak and potatoes would be my first inclination.
My conclusion on this red was that it was good enough to by on a whim for a dinner party, but definitely should be served with dinner, not just enjoyed while standing around with friends. I would give it a pass but would look for something a bit lighter as a favorite "whenever" red wine. Perhaps one more strike against it is that the red is not designed to age. It is a drink now red that is not good for collecting.
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