Post #3

This weekend was a blur. If you've ready or heard anything else about my weekend, it's not true.

I’m still concused and confused and as none of the weekends wines were spectacular I’ll try and keep this brief. Let’s start with some sparkling. Friends in the industry often give Chandon (www.greenpoint.com.au) a bit of a kicking and based on the Domain Chandon Brut 2004, I can understand why. It’s hard to get enthused by a Kraken of the Champagne industry oozing its oily tentacles into both California and the Yarra Valley, and who assume various disguises depending upon the market. World domination my mediocrity is only a credit card swipe away.

The Vintage Brut is a single vintage made in the traditional method and had some green and citrus fruit, along with some classic yeast and bready characters. The balance and structure were OK, but like a children’s party, it had a bit too much sugar than what was good for it and overall it was bit lumbering and unrefined. Not bad, and you wouldn’t mind if you drank it at a party, but at $24 there are better options. I will persevere and try the well regarded Chandon ZD (zero dosage) when I get a chance.

I’ve read a lot of good stuff about the Charles Sturt University (http://www.csu.edu.au/winery/cellar-range.htm) Orange Chardonnay, and Halliday included the 07 vintage in his 100 top Australian wines. Even so, I felt a slight reticence when I handed over (an admittedly measly) $12 for the Charles Sturt University 2004 Cabernet Merlot, and I should have trusted my gut feeling rather than dismiss it as the result of bad sushi. There was plenty of varietal black fruit that hadn’t diminished from the time in the bottle, but it exploded in the mid palate with not much else to support it. The high acidity was an elbow sticking in your ribs on a crowded train and there’s probably more length in an Italian Government. I don’t want to be unkind, but it’s back to school for this one. I’m sorry. I won’t let that happen again.

In the words of Vanessa Williams, I go and save the best till last. Innocent Bystander (http://www.innocentbystander.com.au/) are the second label to Giant Steps, who I seem to know a fair bit about but who’s wines I’ve somehow managed to avoid. My first foray into the world of Phil Sexton and Steve Flamstead, who have been nominated for the Gourmet Wine Traveller Winemaker of the year award, is the Innocent Bystander Bleeding Heart Sangiovese Merlot 2006. Once you get past the name there’s a really nice spicy red, with red and black fruit on the nose, earthy cherries and plums on the palate, and is savoury with a good acidity and firm tannin structure. Not perfect, but I liked it as it’s a bit raw and rustic and not uber friendly. It opened up nicely after some time in the decanter and went well with a bowl of spaghetti and tomato sauce. The website is worth having a look at and is as interesting as the wine.

Sunday saw my first father’s day and my first father’s day gift. I don’t know much about Sarsfield Estate (http://www.sarsfieldestate.com.au), but their Pinot is highly regarded and I look forward to tasting the 2005 Gippsland Pinot Noir that my son kindly gave me, hopefully sooner rather than later.

That’s it, I’ll be back soon with a couple of Bargain Bin specials

Be seeing you.