Baden, €16 for 375ml, cork
My friend’s been in Germany for well over a year and her boss decided that her education in local culture somehow required indoctrination in classic 80s movies. To say I was excited when she handed me a pile that included the Alien series and this absolute-classic-one-of-the-best-movies-ever-even-though-white-sneakers-with jeans-aren’t-cool-but-Queen’s-soundtrack-
certainly-is-man-this-ruled-my-childhood, would be an understatement. So after dinner and a bottle of Dornfelder we all settled down with Highlander and a bottle of Auslese Scheurebe. I’ve never tried Scheurebe before, but from what I can gather, it was originally thought to be a cross between Riesling and Silvaner, but is considered a cross between Riesling and a mysterious wild vine. The wine’s made by a co-op that is actually called Winzergenossenschaft Königschaffhausen, but that's just too long and silly to fit into the title of a blog post.
It’s an Auslese wine, it’s 9.5% alcohol and of course it’s a lovely deep golden colour. This smells of the rot, with botrytis inspired apricots, dried tangerine peel and marmalade aromas alongside the dominant smell of honey. On the palate there’s honey again, but taste wise this is all about apricots. Sure this is sweet, but it’s well balanced with noticeable acidity that does a lot to keep things fresh and lively. Königschaffhausen Scheurebe Auslese 2007 is a nice wine, it’s well made and tasty, though it lacks the complexity to be really engaging. There can be only one!
Nizza Monferrato, Piedmont, Italy, $148, cork
A good mate spent a frustrating 4 hours trying to connect a new wireless router for me Saturday afternoon. He didn't throw it off the balcony or use the language I would of, but by the end of it he 
certainly needed a drink. He loves the sweet stuff and after barbecue, beer and bubbles out comes the Moscato. Purchased from a local Yuen long wine shop, the bottle is sporting the charms of a rather fetching label and a responsible 5.5% alcohol.
There was a fair bit of frizzante action when opened, but it all settled down rather quickly. The nose on this is big and seductive; I'm so caught up in smells of honey and flowers and almost drift off to the Greek Isles. However I'm soon slapped back to reality by the emergence of deliciously intense stone fruit aromas; I'm getting one intense whiff of peaches. Having a sip and the palate is also all about the peaches. I don't want to sell this wine short; it doesn't taste like a simple can of SPC peaches in syrup it's more of a kind-of homemade baked peach dessert with canalised sugar, toffee and a hint of lemon zest. It's an amazingly complex and lush wine, but more importantly it is simply delicious. It's a lot less sweet than I expected; the sugar is well in check making it refreshingly pleasant to drink. Big, bold and delicious Scrimaglio 'Grani di Sole' Moscato D'Asti 2007 comes highly recommended; it's the perfect juice for a frustrated IT expert.
Visit winery website.
Wuwei, China, diam cork seal
Opening a bottle of Chinese wine is always accompanied by a little trepidation, though this is the first time I've tried a Chinese sticky. I couldn't find out m
uch about this wine, but it comes from Wuwei in Gansu province. The only English words on the bottle let slip it's made from Pinot Blanc and Riesling and while there's no vintage date it's stamped with 20070925, so I'm assuming it was bottled on the 25th September 2007.
Mogao Ice Wine is a light straw gold colour. The nose is rather reserved, though there're faint aromas of sweet honey and Dumbledore's favourites, old school sherbet lemons (you know; a little bit of lemon, a little bit of sherbet and a little bit of grandma). Tasting it there are traces of red apple and stone fruit, but the palate really lacks oomph. To be positive the sugar, acidity and alcohol are well balanced creating a drop that's smooth and very drinkable. It's a wine that's in many ways technically pretty good; it just lacks flavour, interest and complexity. Mogao Ice Wine while not inspiring does offer hope for this producer and region.
Visit winery's Chinese language website.
Milawa, Victoria, cork seal
I'm a bit worried; this is the fourth wine post in a row... My parents left this little bottle when they were last passing through town and though it's plastered with 'cellar door release' I'm pretty sure it was purchased at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport. Brown Brothers is a family owned winery that produced their first wine way back
in 1889. Located at Milawa in the King Valley - a beautiful area were Italian varieties flourish - Brown Brothers has done much to encourage the acceptance of alternative varietals in Australia. They release a huge range of wines, many of which are rare in Australia, including Dolcetto, Barbera, Vermentino, Graciano and Nero d'Avola; and even some rare in the World such as the Australian developed Cienna and Tarrango.
Brown Brothers Botrytis Riesling 2003 is an amazingly deep golden orange colour that gives the impression that it's older than it is. I smell apricots, honey and if I was being a little creative maybe even some kind of sweet, golden syrup pudding. The palate tastes of marmalade, stewed peaches, apricots and a little spiciness. It's thick, but not too sticky with a touch of acid inspired freshness. It's certainly a tasty little number and I would have no problem drinking a bit of this
Visit winery website.
Fargues, Sauternes, France, $96, cork seal
Nowadays people tend to consider sweet, botrytis affected wines an accompaniment for dessert, but I live with a girl called Naomi who tends to consider them the only wine worth drinking. This bottle comes from Chateau Partarrieu which is located near the co
mmune of Fargues in Sauternes. It's made from 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon grapes that come from 60 year old vines.
It's as lush and golden yellow in colour as expected. The restrained noise has aromas of stewed apricots, raisins and splash or rum, while the palate is totally dominated by the taste of dried citrus peel. There's a slight hint of acidity to help keep the sweetness balanced, but unfortunately there's also pretty obvious alcohol heat on the finish. Chateau Partarrieu Sauternes 2005 is a simple wine with a one dimensional flavour profile and no real length or intensity.
Chateau Jolys Jurançon 2005
Pau, France, $89, synthetic cork seal
I grapped this from a local super market in an attempt to satisfy Naomi's love of all things sweet. The Jurançon is new to me, but it's apparently an appellation in the Pyranees in southern France. The region speacilises in dry whites and botrytis affected sweet wines made from the locally ingidinous grapes Gros Manseng, Petit Manseng and Courbu. This wine is made from 95% Gros Manseng and 5% Petit Manseng.
Chateau Jolys Jurançon 2005 has suggestions of apricots and pears on the nose, but it's dominated by the aroma of big, juicy, sweet pineapples. The pineapple smell is really obvious and reminds me of one of thsoe huge cans of Golden Circle pineapple juice. The palate has citrus and pinaapple flavours, but to describe the dominate taste I again turn to a can. This time it's that magicaly sweet mix of SPC peaches and mangoes in natural syrup - you remember the annoying TV add; "peaches, mangoes, peaches"? It's sweet, but there's enough acidity present to keep it fresh and stop it getting too clingy and sickly. Chateau Jolys Jurançon 2005 is pretty tasty and for the price it's a steal and definately worth trying.
Visit winery website.
Chateau Petit Vedrines Sauternes 2003
Barsac, Bordeaux, France, $152, cork seal
Liking wine and being in a relationship can sometimes be very complicated - "How much did that cost?" "Do we really need more wine?" "Why did you buy 6 bottles of that?" - are probably all very fair and relevant questions, but ones I'd prefer not to have to answer. As a result a big thumbs up goes to my good, good friend Mr Botrytis; because of him there's always the response "yeah I bought some wine, but half of it's Noble One for you". Naomi loves dessert wines, hey I love dessert wines, but she really, really loves them and as a result drinking wine is that little bit easier. I picked up this bottle from Citi'super were it was part of their French in May promotion.
A beautiful gold colour; not deep, but a sparkling straw like gold. The nose is a delight, there are aromas of pear, honey, maybe a little apricot, toasted almonds and a hints of marmalade and spice/cloves. The palate continues along a similar theme; honey, apricot, candied orange peel, with the pear flavours really coming to the forefront. It actually reminds me a lot of the stewed pears Naomi just had for dessert; the resemblance is remarkable - the syrupy texture, the sweet notes and the lovely spiced pear flavours - all that's missing is the ice-cream. The texture of this wine is impressive, it fills the whole mouth and lingers around like a good smell. There's a tiny hint of alcohol that is warming rather than distracting. Chateau Petit Vedrines definitely gets the nod; great flavours, intensity and texture, at a very reasonable price. A winner.
certainly-is-man-this-ruled-my-childhood, would be an understatement. So after dinner and a bottle of Dornfelder we all settled down with Highlander and a bottle of Auslese Scheurebe. I’ve never tried Scheurebe before, but from what I can gather, it was originally thought to be a cross between Riesling and Silvaner, but is considered a cross between Riesling and a mysterious wild vine. The wine’s made by a co-op that is actually called Winzergenossenschaft Königschaffhausen, but that's just too long and silly to fit into the title of a blog post.
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