A laundry list of recent bottles.
Dreaming of White Burgundy.
Giaconda Chardonnay 2023. Pale. 13.5%
Emphatic but fine; power with grace.
Almond meal, fabric softener and something struck. Compelling.
Terrific poise and grip. No half measures or doubt here.
2019 Dexter Chardonnay. Mornington. A poised and polished example. Confident, tanned, but perhaps too conformist. Ripe. Flinty and essence like. Globular texture.
Bindi Quartz Chardonnay 2021. A very sharp wine. Maybe the best Bindi I’ve had in recent (5 years) time. It must be near its peak. . . Juicy, bright, cordite and flint, stone fruit. Super tight, lean, long. Sadly my last bottle. . . Before. A+
Houghton EV 37 Old Vine Chenin blanc 2023. With my blind tasting blinkers on, I feel no shame in calling this a Chardonnay. Whole bunches, wild yeast, old barrel fermentation, battonage. . . An excellent nod and wink to Jack Mann and his 1937 creation – the Houghton White Burgundy. Curry leaf and flint, it smells like a Leeuwin Art Series. . . Fruit forward, quince and blossom, grippy with mid palate fat and weight. Super. A new wine with old roots. . . A+
Riesling.
2002 Mesh. Eden Valley. Riesling. 13%
A relic and a last bottle.
Golden but still full of vigour. Oily. Still with time. More talc and bath salts than kero.
Honey like in the mouth, but bone dry.
More youthful and lively than the 09 Poision Hill.
2009 Frankland Estate Poison Hill. 11%
Golden, and seemingly attenuated.
Kero, a small frame. Time has not been so kind here.
2009 Pichler Loibner Burgstall Riesling. Austria. 12.5%. Golden, honeyed edges. Botrytis. Crisp. V. Good. A whiff of saffron. Complex still. Holding on. Long and lingering in the mouth. Day 2 dregs still delicious. Before.
Pinot.
2021 Bannockburn. Medium. Good nose and body. Stems, Grippy, sl sweet and round to open. Full, sl warm / hot. It’s only later that a hint of animal hide appears on the nose. Game, funk. Meaty tannins.
2024 Lyons Will ‘The Greys’. Macedon. 13%. Single block. 100% destemmed. Deep and vibrant. Cherry ++, medium full, good weight. Juicy and long. Fleshy, essence like.
2017 Ata Rangi Pinot noir. Deep and dark, on the turn I’d say. Dark fruit and prominent secondary savoury elements. Ginger spice, smoulder, black cardamom, undergrowth. . . Formidable, meaty and round. More All Black than super model.
Bordeaux.
23 Les Charmes de Magnol Haut Medoc. Diam. Deep and suave, mainstream. Smooth and big. Lovely oak treatment. Cedar and pencil in the mouth. Plush. V. Good. Warm.
Chateau Le Puy Emilien 2011. Blackcurrant, menthol. The nose is still quite primary, though there is more development in the mouth. Savoury and meat, fine tannins. A trace of good Brett. . . Delicious. Before.
Image: A plate of cat’s ears. The recipe can be found here. After playing around with the recipe I prefer to make my ears with a 50/50 blend of white flour and semolina, making them more orecchiette than mao er. . .
