Wine Code Breaker #211

2014 Mayer Cabernet, Yarra Valley, Victoria

One from the archives…Samuel Pepys is reported to be the pioneer of the modern tasting note. In 1663 he described a recent tasting, for him at least, as follows “Drank a sort of French wine, called Ho Bryan, that hath a good and most particular taste that ever I met with”. The wine was in fact French and it was Chateau Haut-Brion, regarded as the first house to label their wine as their own. Tasting notes have evolved since these times and given the era, I started to think how the most famous of bards, Shakespeare, who had passed 50 years earlier, would have written a musing of a wine tasted during his drafting of an upcoming play. Given the English infatuation for Bordeaux, I thought a similarly styled wine would be best to test this theory.

When I did pour the Mayer Cabernet Sauvignon, how light it appeared.  The year fourteen passed two thousand; Yarra Valley whence the grapes were sourced.   A nose I know a lady in Venice would have walked barefoot to for a smell of the berries and stalk.  Eternity was on my lips and nose, bliss was on my brow bent; dark berries, spice and herbs do blend.  Tobacco and cedar, elegantly they danced.  None of the parts so poor.  Tannins and acid, they were in the very wrath of love, and they will together; clubs could not part them.  A palate was but a long race to heaven.  This momentary joy breeds months of pain.  Another glass quells the cold disdain.  A tragedy it isn’t.

The 2022, as pictured, elicited similar thoughts and as I did not have a picture of the 2014, I am publishing to the site as a combined note.

Enjoy both!

Rating: 2014 – 95 pts / 2022 – 96 pts

Closure: Diam

Alc: 13%

Drink: 2014 – 5-15 yrs at tasting / 2022 – Now; 3-10 yrs

Price: 2022 – $60

Tasted: 2014 – late 2016 / 2022 – April 2023

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Wine Code Breaker #414

2022 Mayer Chardonnay Yarra Valley, Victoria

The first recorded tasting note for a wine is credited to Samuel Pepys in 1663. His description of the wine was, “hath a good and most particular taste that ever I met with.” This description leaves a lot to the imagination. “Good” can mean many things. I do though like “most particular taste,” as this alludes to something specific and exotic to his senses. A wine I recently tasted, I believe, fits the bill.

The 2022 Mayer Chardonnay from the Yarra Valley in Victoria was a wine that hath a good and most particular taste that ever I met with in recent times. It was a light, golden-coloured wine with aromas of white peach, florals, ginger spice, a little oatmeal, and grapefruit rind. The palate was elegant, graceful, and beautifully balanced. Oatmeal, lemon, savoury oak, honey wax, and peach wove through the tight, yet oily tannins. “Good” was its intensity and “most particular” was its flavours and complexity.

Enjoy!

Rating: 96 pts

Closure: Diam

Alc: 12.5%

Drink: Now; 3-10 yrs

Price: $60

Tasted: March 2023

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Wine Code Breaker #413

2021 Longhop Old Vine Shiraz, Adelaide Plains, South Australia

A winter Ashes series approaches the Antipodes; some five weeks away to be precise. This provides ample time to select a wine to match the cooler nights watching some devious swing from the medium pacers, deceptive flight from the spinners and toilers, vicious short pitched deliveries from the speedsters and an occasional long hop from the plodders. The long hop of course is a short pitched delivery that goes horribly wrong. It provides the batter with ample time to select their shot and dispatch it to or over the fence.

The 2021 Longhop Old Vine Shiraz is made from vineyards that survived the vine pull of the 1980s in the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. It is a deep dark red with vibrant red rim, closer to a Kookaburra than a Duke. The nose is generous with violets, chocolate, plums and the darker red fruits. Some fine pencil shavings of deftly handled oaks and a small dollop of cream add to its complexity. The palate loops delightfully between the red fruits and plums. Chocolate and savoury tones sew it together along a pitch of velvety tannins. A beautiful delivery with ample time to contemplate the merits of each delivery across the evenings play.

Enjoy!

Rating: 92 pts

Closure: Screwtop

Alc: 14.5%

Drink: Now; 3-7 yrs

Price: $25

Tasted: March 2023

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Wine Code Breaker #412

2021 Bekkers Tome (Vol 1) Shiraz, McLaren, South Australia

Rey spent her early life eking out an existence by scavenging on the planet Jakku. Her simple life disappeared as she was drawn into helping the Repulic and with this discovered the Force within her. She sought out Master Jedi Luke Skywalker for instruction in mastering the Force. Rey, during this time, discovered Master Luke was much more than a reluctant teacher of the Force; he was, in fact, a master of McLaren Vale Shiraz. We are fortunate to have the story of one of his first lessons with Rey from her time on a small island of Ahch-to.

“Rey, take this 2021 Bekkers Tome Vol 1 Shiraz from McLaren Vale in South Australia. What do you know about McLaren Vale Shiraz?” 

“It’s a power that Jedi have that lets them control people…and make things float,” was Rey’s response.

“Impressive. Every word in that sentence was wrong.” Luke continued handing her a glass. “Look at the colour, its dark side is the light. Prisms of reds and blacks. Now place the glass to your nose. What do you smell?”

Rey made to throw the glass away in frustrated anger. Luke caught her hand, “a Jedi’s weapon deserves more respect. Try again.”

She breathed slowly, did as instructed and gently sniffed the glass, chanting inwardly, “I can do this. I can do this.” She hesitantly speaks, “I need someone to be able to show me my place in all of this.” 

“Go on,” encourages Luke, “confronting your fear is the destiny of a Jedi. Your destiny.” 

“I am sensing plums and dark fruits. Spices. Liquorice. Violets. There is much more that I can describe. Coffee and chocolate too, more dark than light. The complexity frightens me.”

“Very good. Very good. What of the palate?” 

“Light. Darkness. Balance.”

“The power in her is frightening,” muses Luke.

“The flavours build. The tannins I sense are velvety; grippy yet delicate. The dark fruits float. The power is there, the lingering is long. I am all of the Jedi.”

May the fourth be with you on this upcoming International Star Wars Day.

Enjoy!

Rating: 95 pts

Closure: Screwtop

Alc: 14.5%

Drink: Now; 5-10 yrs

Price: $50

Tasted: March 2023

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Wine Code Breaker #411

2022 Mayer Gamay, Yarra Valley, Victoria

Carbonic maceration is a fermentation technique that has been made famous by the wines of Beaujolais. Under a blanket of carbon dioxide, at the top the fermentation process involves the conversion of sugars into alcohol occurring inside the individual grapes. At the bottom, conventional fermentation occurs, as the grapes are crushed by gravity. Unique chemical reactions are said to take place within the grapes resulting in distinct effects on the resultant wine. Mostly associated with Gamay, the grape that was once banned from Burgundy, it is growing in popularity in vineyards afar.

The 2022 Mayer Gamay from the Yarra Valley in Victoria is a delightfully coloured wine that is best described as cherry red. The nose wafts at once of perfumed notes of red fruits, rose petals, rose water and lavender and has influences of both whole bunch and carbonic maceration. The palate is very expressive with the plushness and softness of the red fruits that float between raspberries and cherries. Savoury and herbal flavours round this out on a bed of soft sinewy tannins delivering a long and lingering finish.

Enjoy!

Rating: 95 pts

Closure: Diam

Alc: 13.2%

Drink: Now; 3-7 yrs

Price: $60

Tasted: March 2023

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Wine Code Breaker #410

2021 Eden Road The Long Road Chardonnay, Tumbarumba, New South Wales

There is a Latin saying, in vino veritas. In wine, there is truth. Of course in too much wine, there is ruin. Too little, and there is a riot. This is precisely what “International Stab Someone in the Back Day” advocates. Not heard of this day? Surprising. It is better known as the “Ides of March”. This day calls for wine that can balance on a knife edge, posing the questions without the slaying. Tumbarumba is a region that can do just that. Its cool climate, high sunshine hours, bright sunlight and cold Summer nights, combined with slow ripening, deliver wines that keenly balance flavours and piercing acidity.

The 2021 Eden Road The Long Road Chardonnay is from the Tumbarumba region in New South Wales. It is a light golden-coloured wine that reflects sunlight back to your eyes. The nose has aromas of white peach and cashews offset by taut grapefruit. The palate mixes the peach with oatmeal, cashews, ginger spice and subtle oak influences. Rounded creamy tannins walk on a sharp blade of saliva-inducing acidity to deliver a lingering and flavoursome finish.

Enjoy!

Rating: 93 pts

Closure: Screwtop

Alc: 12.5%

Drink: Now; 3-7 yrs

Price: $30

Tasted: March 2023

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Wine Code Breaker #409

2022 Pewsey Vale Riesling, Eden Valley, South Australia

Australia’s early economy was said to have ridden on the sheep’s back. John Macarthur is credited as the first to introduce the merino breed that led to the boom on the back of wool. What is less known is that in 1847, Riesling cuttings from his Camden Park farm on the outskirts of what is now Sydney were collected and planted in the Eden Valley in South Australia. Moving forward 100 plus years and one could say we are riding on the back of a bottle of Eden Valley Riesling as it is world class.

The 2022 Pewsey Vale Riesling is from the site where the original cuttings were planted way back in 1847 within the Eden Valley in South Australia. It is an almost clear colourless wine with a slight yellow green straw marking its presence in the glass. The nose is bright with citrus blossoms sitting deftly against the citrus zest, herbs and a talc-like minerality. The palate plays out the citrus flavours with lemon and lime in equal abundance. It is a lightly oily texture where the minerals evolve against the slinky acidity to deliver excellent persistence and mouthfeel, confirming we continue to ride on the back of our agricultural pursuits.

Enjoy!

Rating: 94 pts

Closure: Screwtop

Alc: 12.5%

Drink: Now; 3-10 yrs

Price: $22

Tasted: January 2023

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Wine Code Breaker #408

2021 Mac Forbes EB80 G-Train Grenache, Yarra Valley, Victoria

The evolution of the Grenache style away from a blockbuster, high octane jube driven palate continues to amaze. It may even be a revolution. These wines are highly perfumed, textural, tauter / leaner framed while retaining the raspberry and blackberry fruit that makes it such a delightful wine. They are reminiscent of a warmer climate Pinot Noir that suggests Grenache makers are perhaps frustrated Pinot Noir makers. A twist in this story is the growing of Grenache in cooler climate areas of Australia where Pinot Noir has been making its mark for some time. Perhaps I had it wrong all along and Pinot Noir makers are frustrated Grenache makers.

The 2021 Mac Forbes EB80 G-Train Grenache is part of his Experimental Batch of wines from the Yarra Valley in Victoria. This is a light crimson coloured wine, beautiful and glowing. The nose is highly aromatic with attractive spices, dark berries and the perfume you hope to see in a Grenache. Touches of thinly sliced fennel adds complexity and further attractiveness. The palate builds around the fennel, berries and spices with cherries and kirsch. The tannins are light and sandy, dancing and lingering oh so nicely. What an experiment, or is this a revolution in the making!

Enjoy!

Rating: 95 pts

Closure: Cork

Alc: 12%

Drink: Now; 3-7 yrs

Price: $40

Tasted: December 2022

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Wine Code Breaker #407

2021 Mac Forbes Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley, Victoria

What has the colour pink got to do with Pink Floyd? Nothing. Pink was in fact Pinkney Anderson, a blues guitarist who went by the name Pink. The Floyd part came from Floyd Council, another blues guitarist. A spur of the moment decision by Sid Barrett created The Pink Floyd Sound in 1964 to avoid confusion when two bands turned up at the same gig to perform under the same name, The Tea Set. The “Sound” part was quickly lost and so grew the legendary band that has been one of the most inspirational bands of the last century. Incidentally, it was estimated that at one point, 1 in 12 people owned a copy of Pink Floyd’s seminal album, The Dark Side of the Moon. This album turns 50 in 2023.

What has the colour pink got to do with the 2021 Mac Forbes Pinot Noir from Yarra Valley in Victoria? A lot, starting with the attractive simple pink label and capsule. Upon pouring, the colour presents as a delightful deeper variation of pink; perhaps you would call it light crimson. The nose is attractively perfumed with pink rose petals, rose water, lightly crushed raspberries, along with a little influence of cream and earth. The palate is light to medium bodied and is flavoursome and textural. Pink fruits, silky tannins, savoury and earthy notes leave a lingering sensation that makes me think Pink Forbes has a great ring to it.

Enjoy!

Rating: 94 pts

Closure: Screwtop

Alc: 11.5%

Drink: Now; 3-7 yrs

Price: $35

Tasted: January 2023

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Wine Code Breaker #406

2021 Cherubino Uovo Grenache, Frankland River, Western Australia

The phrase “afternoon delight” has over time become a reference to a dangerous liaison between two lovers when everything’s a little clearer in the light of day. This is all thanks to the Starland Vocal Band’s hit song of 1976, Afternoon Delight. A more recent version of the famous song was by Ron Burgundy, the legendary anchorman. This was his attempt to describe what love is, in a way that only Ron Burgundy could do. A recent experience now sees this phrase taking on a whole new meaning.

The 2021 Cherubino Uovo Grenache from Frankland River in Western Australia is a wine that has been crafted from an egg-shaped clay cement fermenter. The end result is a gorgeous crimson-coloured wine with a highly perfumed nose. Fresh red fruits, liquorice and stewed red fruits evoking wild thoughts in the early afternoon. The palate moves the experience along to another level. Shaved slices of raspberries mixed with a little cream and rhubarb offer some rusticity and shine against the emery board and talc-like tannins lingering into the evening. You could say that this is a textural delight, skyrockets in flight, afternoon delight.

Enjoy!

Rating: 95 pts

Closure: Screwtop

Drink: Now; 7-10 yrs

Alc: 15%

Price: $65

Tasted: October 2022

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