Mayer The Magician

‘Bring back the funk’ is Timo Mayer’s calling card! And funky this wine is. Timo experimented with whole bunch fermentation in his wines where he really liked the funky characters and silky texture and decided that he liked it so much Dr Mayer was born. This is 100% whole bunch fermentation and really delivers an incredible complex array of flavours and textures. Pound for pound there is no other Pinot Noir that I can think of that I would rather drink than this beauty.
The colour easily translates the unfiltered product with a hazy dark raspberry that almost turns purple in natural light. The nose is very tight at first, but after sometime in a decanter a very pronounced tart cranberry and beetroot aroma fill the glass. Layers of red licorice, more beetroot and cranberry with a wonderful dirty fungal bight to it, similar to a forest floor. An amazing wine with so much more time left in the bottle.

97 Points Drink Now Till 2018

DIAM Closure

$55

More About the Very Long Lunch

On the day we had many unforgettable moments. One that will never be forgotten by me was when Lindsay McCall arrived with one of the guest's. For those of you who don't know who Lindsay is, just think Paringa Estate Pinot Noir. "School teacher-turned winemaker Lindsay McCall has an “absolutely exceptional gift for winemaking” according to James Halliday, who says his wines are of “the highest quality, with a distinguished pedigree” that is Lindsay McCall quite a bit of praise from indisputably Australia's more decorated Pinotfile.
This is when the real fun began. With pallet's perfectly primed, we headed down to the host's extensive wine cellar where some of the giants of Australian wine were settled asleep ready to be opened.
We decided to put Lindsay's 2003 Pinot Noir up against one of the original icon's of the Peninsula Nat White's Main Ridge Estate.

 

A little bit of trivia for you, when Lindsay decided he wanted to set up a vineyard on his Red Hill property he went to see Nat about vine. What he actually did was to fill his car with the cutting from Nat's already established property. Lindsay with his school teacher mentality decided to plant as many cuttings as close together as he could, thinking that surely less that half (if he was lucky) would take. Well he as very very lucky and greater that 80% of the vineyard took.
Main Ridge Estate The Acre Vs Paringa "Original Estate" (not to be confused with the cheaper estate wine he out out in 2005) so with one of the creator's in the room we decided to put the wines head to head. I have always thought that some of Lindsay's wines are over priced compared with some of the other premium Pinot's out there. The Depth that The Acre showed was promising for what 2003 could show in years to come. Loosing none of its fruit The Acre showed that perfect acid/tannin/fruit balance that makes Pinot so seductive. Show a Strong Deep colour, the palate was layered with lashing of dark plum fruit which had that never ending yellow brick road length. There was great oak integration and I nose that kept developing the more you paid attention to it. When weighing it up against the Paringa the Acre had much better colour with the Paringa looking a little aged around the rim with a touch of yellow creeping in. That however is where the fault's stopped and the genius began. I was quite keen to put Lindsay through the ringer a bit and try to pick a few faults out of this beloved Estate wine. However myself and several others in the room were incapable of finding any. The Paringa showed a beautifully fragrant nose with soft up front fruit, the aroma of violets, game, cherry and the ever present spine & anise. Showing only that intelligent that only Pinot can show from the nose. With the Silky red fruit on your palate giving the perfect balance of dark fruit and spice seducing the mouth with that soft yet big round mouth feel that only amazing Pinot's can deliver. The depth and length of palate was so enjoyable that we decide that one bottle wasn't quite enough.
It was quite clear which wine stood out, however knowing the origins of the vines it does prove that terror and the hand of god (or the wine maker or both) can change the end product.
Hopefully I'll get a few more review from that night up soon.

The All Mighty Downie

It has to be said that William (Bill) Downie is one of my favourite wine makers. He started his own label in 2003. With his previous  stint every year in Burgundy this enabled him to express his love for regional wines with the 3 Pinot's that he crafts. He uses purchased grapes from older vines on these vineyards to make his wines, carefully avoiding any use of pumps, filtration and fining. His eye catching labels were designed for him by Reg Mombassa (Mental As Anything Fame) who is also know in the art world for his famous MAMBO graphics. These have help his obtain shelf space at many of Victoria's leading wine stores.

In 2007 Bill Won the "Gourmet Traveller Wine" 2006 Wine maker of the Year Awards, taking home the Kemeny's Medel for the Best Young Winemaker 2006. 

"His intention is to produce wines of purity and detail that reflect their place of origin. They are made in the most natural way possible, not pushed or shoved in any direction. They are not added to or subtracted from." (http://www.williamdownie.com.au)

Sourcing grapes from some excellent sources such as:

Denton View Hill, Yarra Gen in the Yarra Valley for his "Yarra Valley Pinot"
This wine is grown on only granite based soils in the Valley. There was a lot of mint, some developing meat and a touch of cherry stone. Then a complex bundle of light, vegetal, stalky cranberry fruit.  It is a well made wine, well balanced, and extremely powerful Pinot i think it will cope well with a few years left in the bottle for it brilliance to develop further.
90 Points Drink now till 2018
DIAM with Wax Seal

Merrick's Grove, Merrick's in the Mornington Peninsula for the "Mornington Peninsula Pinot"
The 2008 Mornington Pinot Noir, there is strawberry, raspberry with a meaty element coming in gently. There is a bit of grippy tannin, some spice too, on the palate but it is really nicely blended with gentle fruit flavours. A long, slightly spicy and herbal finish. 
94 Points Drink Now till 2020
DIAM with Wax seal
$59

Berry's Creek Vineyard, Berry's Creek; Lucinda Estate, Leongatha; Followell Farm (His Vineyard), Yarragon all in Gippsland for His "Gippsland Pinot"
The 2008 Gippsland Pinot Noir.  This is an outstanding wine – period!  A light, floral nose mixing with raspberries and some sweet wild strawberries leading onto a gently fruity palate, with a bundle of cocoa powder and raspberries. 
93 Points Drink Now till 2017
DIAM with Wax Seal
In 2011 there will be another Gippsland Pinot Noir released, this time with fruit from their own property.  If the 2008 is anything to go by, I can’t wait!

A Very Very Long Lunch

I thought i would just run you though a long long lunch that I had as a result of a friend leaving to head overseas to explore NZ.
The day was meant to be a Single bottle style lunch, each person was to bring there favorite bottle of vino and something to cook to accompany it. As you will discover via the amount of reviews that will in time appear on this blog I and a self confessed Pinot Phreak. I adore the complexity of the grape. So naturally i decided that for SJ and my contributon to the lunch would be a Jeroboam of Coldstream Hill's "Pinot Noir" (2000) to which i would cook pork belly which was filled with green apple & crumbed water crackers sauteed in burnt butter and sage, topped with pecorino cheese and trussed into a roll and baked in the oven.
The pork turned out stunning and blew everyone away and the the Coldstream Hill was a stunning with good complexity and nice acid structure. The day/night saw some amazing wines drunk. i will try to upload some of the pic's so that you can all see what we got through.
Next up I'll Start Reviewing some Vino...