Weinert Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Mendoza, Argentina

Blackcurrant, cedar, alcoholic raisins and drying tannic finish. Great value.

Mark: B

Selecció Raig De Raïm Garnatxa Blanca 2019, Celler Piñol, Terra Alta, Spain

Oily mouthfeel. Warm finish. Stone fruits and minerals.

Mark: B

San Baggio Groppello Riviera Del Garda Classico 2017, Podere Selva Capuzza, Lake Garda, Italy

Raspberry, strawberry, cherries, baking mixed spice (teacake spice), black pepper Brilliant !!.

Selva Capuzza is a family run estate producing wines in three distinct DOC appellations: Lugana, San Martino della Battaglia, and Garda Classico. The three DOCs overlap in this area. This is the only winery in the area which produces the three of them.

The Formentini family works only with native grape varieties. The white varieties are Turbiana, which is the main grape in Lugana, and Tuchì for San Martino della Battaglia. The red and rosé wines are made with Groppello, Sangiovese, Barbera and Marzemino. This wine was made with Groppello.

The estate’s wines are all made in the cellar, situated between Cascina Capuzza and Borgo San Donino agriturismo. The cellar was built in 2001 to accommodate all the phases of winemaking, from the pressing of the grapes through vinification and finally aging then bottling.

All the wines are made by a team led by Luca Formentini, with the help of a cellarman, a winemaker and an agronomist.

Mark: A

Mandala Chardonnay 2019, Yarra Valley, Australia

Chardonnay grape juice marinated in oak. Oak, oak, and more oak. Pineapple, lemon, and oranges in the background. For the money there are many many many better chards around than this.

Mandala wines was established by the Smedley family, Mandala Wines is a five-star James Halliday-rated Yarra Valley winery. 

Mark: C

Greywacke Pinot Gris 2017, Marlborough, New Zealand

Honey, pear, peach, green apple, oily texture, warm finish.

Much of the fruit for this wine is from the Selection Ovaille and Mission

clones grown at Wrekin Terrace Vineyard in the Brancott Valley, a valley floor site on gravelly clay-loam soils typical of the Southern Valleys. A smaller parcel of the Entav 52 clone (known for its small bunch and berry size) was grown at Riverbrook Vineyard in Rapaura, in young alluvial soils containing high proportions of greywacke river stones. The vineyards are trained on a two-cane VSP (vertical shoot positioning) trellis and crop thinning is carried out to target a modest yield of 7.5 T/Ha.

The three clones were hand-picked separately at high ripeness levels and

whole-bunch pressed using very low maceration press cycles. The resulting juice was coldsettled, then racked to fermentation vessels. Most of the juice went through a natural indigenous yeast fermentation in old French oak barriques and the balance was fermented in stainless steel tanks using cultured yeast.

Towards the end of fermentation all the wine was transferred to stainless steel tanks where the fermentations were stopped, retaining 10 g/l residual sugar. The wine then spent a year on yeast lees (six months in old barrels and the remaining time in stainless steel tanks) prior to bottling in May 2018 with an alcohol of 14.4%, pH 3.30 and acidity of 5.7 g/l.

This wine was released in June 2019.

Mark: B

Zahel Ortswein Mauer Wieiner Gemischter Satz 2019, Vienna, Austria

Apples, pears, passionfruit like, white pepper. Minerally finish. A great value and all year round glugger.

Mark: B+

Swan Bay Scotchmans Hill Chardonnay 2018, Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Peach, oak, butter, lemon, lime. Long finish.

Mark: C+

Heinrich Leithaberg Blaufränkisch 2017, Burgenland, Austria

Cherries, blackcurrant, leather, tangy spicy finish. A good Blaufränkisch.

Mark: B

Seghesio Family Vineyards Sonoma County Zinfandel 2018, Sonoma, California, USA

Green herby nose. Blackberry, blueberry, liqourice, white pepper, warm finish. 

Tasted again the day after. The greenness has disappeared. More oaky and a tingly brambly finish is evident. This wine either needs a good decant or some time in the cellar before opening.

Mark: B-

Tommasi Villa Fontana Bardolino 2019, Italy

Sour cherries, nutty, milk chocolate, a little bit of leather on the finish.

Mark: C

Wieninger Nussberg Grüner Veltliner 2019, Vienna, Austria

Minerals, peach, pear, white pepper. Long finish.

Mark: B+

Il Seggio 2017, Poggio Al Tesoro, Blogger, Tuscany, Italy

Fruity was the first thing that popped into my mind. Plums, blackberry, cedar, liqourice, cocoa powder like smooth tannins. Great stuff.

Mark: A

Loimer Rosé Zweigelt & Pinot Noir 2019, Niederösterreich, Austria

Strawberry, raspberry, green apple, minerals.

Mark: C

Sumaridge Estate Wines Chardonnay 2018, Upper Hemel-En-Aarde Valley, Walker Bay, South Africa

Big upfront on butter and oak but then the juicy fruit kicks in; lemon, lime, mango, pineapple.

Mark: B

Zecci Collezione Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi Classico 2018, Piersanti, Italy

Lemon, oranges, green apples, oak, butter.

Mark: B

Bonterra Chardonnay 2018, California, USA

Much better than I was expecting. Lemon, pineapple, buttery,  oak, lime on the finish.

Mark: B-

Codice V Vermentino 2018, Mazzei, Maremma, Tuscany, Italy

Lemon furniture polish but in a good way, tropical fruits, pear, apple, nutty, long finish.

Mark: B

Jim Barry Lodge Hill Shiraz 2017, Clare Valley, Australia

A nice barbecue wine. Blackberry, plums, black pepper, smoky oak and hints of eucalyptus on the long finish.

Mark: B

Casa Emma Chianti Classico 2017, Tuscany, Italy

Cherry, oak, herbs. If you wait long enough there is liqourice on the finish.

Mark: C+

Sophenia Synthesis Malbec 2017, Gualtallary, Uco Valley, Argentina

Warmth of alcohol, red fruits, blackberry, tobacco, liqourice, oak. Smooth tannins but lacking intensity.

Mark: C+