Alliance Wine
Awards and Reviews February 2009
The newsletter from Alliance is back, and this month again we have seen some great reviews of some of our suppliers.
Enjoy!
Reviews Matthew Jukes 60 Best New Zealand Wines 2009 Last month, at Lord's Cricket Ground in London, the annual New Zealand Winegrowers London Annual Trade & Consumer Tasting saw the launch of the 60 Best New Zealand Wines 2009, featuring: Zephyr Gewurztraminer 2008 |
Wine Spectator February 2009 By James Molesworth Raats Family Chenin Blanc Coastal Region Original Unwooded 2008 88 points ' Crisp, unadorned style, with honeysuckle, white peach and mineral notes. Fresh, light-bodied finish has nice persistence. Drink now. 1,300 cases imported.'
Wine Spectator Insider January 2009 By Marvin R. Shanker Bruwer Raats MR De Compostella, Stellenbosch 2006 93 points ' Burly, muscular style, with chestnut, dark cocoa and braised fig notes held in check by firm, but ripe tannins. Very streamlined finish with great buried acidity lets hints of cassis and graphite lurk underneath along with a vibrant maduro tobacco note. It's all there for cellaring. Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Merlot. Best from 2010 through 2014.'
Matthew Jukes Top 50 South African Wines 2009 Raats Original Chenin Blanc, Coastal Region 2008 ' Bruwer’s entry level wine now carries so much class and granite-soaked minerality that it would be anyone else’s flagship Chenin Blanc. Ignore it at your peril.' Raats Cabernet Franc, Stellenbosch 2007
The Drinksbusiness.com January 2009 By Sarah Ahmed South Africa: About wine ' Chenin specialist Bruwer Raats,... says “people want to know what top-quality Chenin tastes like and it is great value for money.” He reckons that this long-overdue acknowledgement demonstrates that perceptions of Chenin are changing for the better – “not just a workhorse, people are now realising we have a thoroughbred”. The spin-off is more people are treating it like one....'
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Jancisrobinson.com By Julia Hardin Latium, Campo Leon Amarone 2005 Valpolicella ' Ripe, dark sour cherry. Lots of vanilla and cinnamon. Could only come from Italy! That intense sourcherry bite. Then a darker more savoury firmness on the palate. Rich and powerful but still harmonious. Tannins present but just as they should be at this stage – dry and firm. Classic and very well executed. NA%'
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Winesofchile.org Orzada Malbec 2006 Organic This wine has been awarded the Best of the Show wine at the 6th Annual Wines of Chile Awards in January. |
Robert Parker Familia Zuccardi Zeta 93 points
Wine Enthusiastic Familia Zuccardi Q Malbec 91 points
The Guardian January 2009 Zuccardi Serie A Malbec 2006 ' Dark-cherry colour, intense, ripe fruit. Good weight and concentration, with good balance and a fruity finish ' Zuccardi Q Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ' Warm, spicy, sweet plum with nose and a full, rounded palate with sweet, ripe fruit and toasty, chocolatey oak ' |
Jancisrobinson.com 6 February 2009 By Jancis Robinson Wachau Collection Grüner Veltliner 2007 '... Austria’s finely etched whites are not well known for being bargains but this is a delicious exception.[...] Most inexpensive versions of Austria’s signature grape taste pretty tart and lean but this Domäne Wachau, Wachau Collection Grüner Veltliner 2007 Wachau tastes more like a more serious wine. Grüner Veltliner is [...] delightfully crisp yet spicy with lots of white pepper perfume. It is just off dry, with 4.7g/l residual sugar, and is clean as a whistle. Just the job for a New Year’s palate scrub, this wine would make lovely drinking without food, or with dishes such as carpaccio (of fish as well as meat) and light pasta dishes – especially those with a creamy sauce.'
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Jancisrobinson.com 10 February 2009 By Tamlyn Currin Shelmerdine Chardonnay Yarra Valley 2006 16 points ' Quite smoky. Broad spread of rounded sun-soaked fruit, bright acidity and a slightly savoury nuttiness on the finish. 13.5% '
Jancisrobinson.com 24 February 2009 By Julia Harding MW Shelmerdine Sauvignon Blanc Yarra Valley 2007 17.5 points ' Very pure citrus, just very slightly smoky (reductive) and an underlying citrussy minerality. Sophisticated, dry, firm and tense, almost savoury on the finish. Excellent depth and concentration without strong fruit flavours. Very good. ' Phi Lusiata Park Vineyard Sauvignon blanc Yarra Valley 2007 17.5 points ' A joint venture between Shelmerdine and De Bortoli. Their UK agent was keen to point out that in fact the label says simply Sauvignon not Sauvignon Blanc, intended to convey a message that this is a different style for your run of the mill Sauvignon Blanc. Far too subtle to mean anything, in my opinion. A little reductive just now, not notably oaky (old oak only), dry, mineral, smoky and a hint of grapefruit. Impressively intense, complex and sustained. '
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STELLA BELLA, SUCKFIZZLE & SKUTTLEBUTT
Jancisrobinson.com 10 February 2009 By Tamlyn Currin Stella Bella, Skuttlebutt Shiraz/Cabernet Margaret River 2007 16 points ' Traces of mint and smoke on the nose and firm red berry fruit underneath, broadening up on the palate. Tobacco leaf, confident chunky tannins and refreshing acidity. An all-round pleaser. 14%.' Stella Bella Cabernet/Merlot 2004 17 points ' This smells like a garden after the rain - fresh and leafy damp, rich wet earth, crushed blackcurrant buds, a hint of flowers. Precise and perfectly elegant fruit. Framed by fine tannins and long and lovely on the finish. 14.5%' Stella Bella Shiraz 2006 17 points ' Smoky and intense, elegant and refined, but ever so seductive. Kohl-brushed tannins. Rich dark opulent fruit and spice. Burlesque. 14%' Stella Bella Pink Muscat 2008 16 points ' It really is pink. And I may as well have been putting my nose into a box of Turkish delight! Spice and roses, and so so pretty. Sweet, but delicate. Very feminine - all ribbons and lace. Great fun! 7%'
Jancisrobinson.com 24 February 2009 By Julia Harding MW Stella Bella Scuttlebutt White Margaret River 2008 15.5 points ' Sauvignon/Semillon. Fresh, lemony, quite simple though quite good length, with grassy, grapefruit flavours. 12%.' Stella Bella Sauvignon Blanc Margaret River 2008 17 points ' Herbaceous, nettley and very fresh. Bright, aromatic, tense and sustained. 13%' Stella Bella Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc Margaret River 2008 17.5 points ' Still pretty grassy on the nose but creamier in texture. Ripe yet attractively sour citrus flavour. 13%' Suckfizzle Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon Margaret River 2005 17.5 points ' Inviting, quite oaky nose and noticeable oak spice and depth on the palate, then fresh herbaceous flavours and very good balance of fruit and oak. Fresh and long and rather like a smart, rich Bordeaux Blanc. 13%'
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Jancisrobinson.com 24 February 2009 By Julia Harding MW Stoney vineyard Sauvignon Blanc Tasmania 2008 17 points ' Unoaked. Intense, ripe but still has mineral notes with strong grapefruit pith (thiol) aromas and flavours. On the reductive side at the moment. Good length. Serious. 14%' |
Jancisrobinson.com 10 February 2009 By Tamlyn Currin Thorn-Clarke, Terra Barossa Riesling Eden Valley 2008 17 points ' Lime pee land elderflower scent. Clean geometric lines, and precise citrus notes. Finely etched. 12%' Thorn-Clarke, Terra Barossa Pinot Gris Eden Valley 2007 15.5 points ' Lemon cream with a hint of spice on the nose. Floral, light and quite soft - the texture and flavour of a ripe pear. Not highbrow. 13.5%' Thorn-Clarke, Terra Barossa Chardonnay Eden Valley 2007 15 points ' A firm backbone of acidity, fleshy nectarine and apple fruit with a creamy, spicy length. 13.2%' Thorn-Clarke, Terra Barossa Shiraz Barossa Valley 2007 15.5 points ' Yield 3t per acre. 12 months in 2nd or 3rd American oak. Ripe berry and blurry oak on the nose. Chunky slightly drying tannins, inky. Intense smoky blueberry fruit. Have some food with this. 13.5%' Thorn-Clarke, Terra Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon Barossa Valley 2007 16 points ' Smooth cedar-spice and blackcurrant perfume. Dark sweet fruit, tobacco leaf and decisively fresh. Balanced although quite a bit of power, and interesting. 14.5%' Thorn-Clarke, Shotfire Ridge Shiraz Barossa Valley 2005 16 points ' Yield much lower than the Terra Barossa Shiraz at 2t per acre. 14-16 months in 50% new American oak. Very spicy vanilla and cherry nose. Espresso, blueberry and late summer plums, that same inky seam running down the middle. Quite intense and full-bodied. 14.5%' Thorn-Clarke, William Randel Shiraz Barossa Valley 2004 17 points ' 22 monthsin 50% new American oak and 50% new French oak. Very, very powerful, dense and concentrated. Clearly no effort has been spared for their flagship bottling. Layers of dark chocolate and crushed blackberries and smoky plums. An undertow of earth and spice. Opulent and hedonistic. 15%' |
Le Figaro 15 January 2009 By F. Durand-Bazin Interview of Pauline Bich '[..].Can you explain your philosophy? It could be described in three words: passion, nature and life. Passion is in the soul of wine , in the soul of the men and women who make it and of the family that created the necessary cement. Nature always brings us back to the essential.'
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