2005 Terroir De Dentelles

Vacqueyras is a region located in the Rhone valley which gained it's own appellation status in 1990. The main grape used here is the Grenache which must make up at least 50% of the wine. It can then be blended with Syrah and Mourvedre in what is sometimes called a GSM blend. This is the case with the 2005 Terroir De Dentelles. Here is my tasting note:

Colour: Purple, red in colour.
Nose: Red fruits; red and black berries.
Palate: Kind of earthy with spicey red and black berries.
Finish: Earthy, spicey finish.
Comments: Nice food wine; A good value for money, every day drinking wine.

2005 Pepperjack Shiraz

Coming from a town close to the Swan Valley I have come to realise that I really enjoy a glass or two of the warmer climate reds. I picked up this bottle of Barossa Shiraz on one of my daily, holiday tours through the local liquor store. Here is my tasting note:

Colour: Deep red and purple; i like wines with good colour depth, and this certainly has that.
Nose: A big, solid nose of black berry fruits and some vanillin.
Palate: Very soft, round wine. Plums and black berries. Generous wine typical of warm climate Shiraz. Good tannins round the wine off.
Finish: Nice soft, slightly spicey finish.
Comments: I loved this nice, generous Shiraz. Will also go a few years in the cellar.

2004 Waters Edge Merlot Cabernet

I was in the Swan Valley and swung by what used to be Olive farm. I saw it has been renamed Waters Edge and decided to stop by. It appears most of the wines have been made from fruit grown down south in places like Pemberton. I purchased two wines for further tasting at home: and Cabernet Merlot and a Merlot Cabernet.

Here's my tasting note for the Merlot Cabernet:

Colour: Vibrant cherry red in colour.
Nose: All fruit with Cherry and Plum. Some vegemite here too.
Palate: Cherry and plums. Nice soft tannins.
Finish: Short finish of Cherry and Plums.
Comments: Nice easy drinking wine. Plenty of fruit there when the wine opens up a bit.

2004 Faber Vineyard Riche Shiraz

I purchased a case of this wine a few years back. Pulled one bottle out to see how it was getting along. Here is my tasting note:

Nose: Deep intense purple; very intense in colour.
Palate: Gobs of juicy plum and dark berry fruit. Spice and some tar. Very round and big; voluptous with solid tannins.
Finish: Nice lengthy finish.
Comments: An impressive wine that got bigger as it opened up. Next time I will give it more airtime. Clearly still too young; needs a piece more in the cellar.

2004 Zilzie Cabernet Sauvignon

I am a big fan of the cabernet grape, and was looking forward to tasting this wine as I have read good reviews of their wines around the place. Here is my tasting note:

Colour: Deep purple in colour.
Nose: Black currents. American Oak and Vanilla.
Palate: Typical cab flavours of black currants and berries. Also some numeg spice. Good firm tannins.
Finish: Finishes with vanilla and nutmeg. Slightly weak on the finish.
Comments: Ok wine, but in my opinion lacking fruit. Expected more from this.

2000 Killerby Shiraz

I purchased this wine back in 2000. Over time I seen some less than postive reviews of the Killerby marketing tactics - I haven't noticed this as yet. Anyway, some six years later pulled one out to check how these are travelling. here is my tasting note:

colour: deep red bordering to purple in colour. some fading of colour to the edge of the glass.
nose: nice nose with spicey red fruit. hints of cedary oak and pepper also.
palate: a rich wine with a good dose of spicey red fruit; blackberrys. some oak imparted vanilla. nicely structured with lovely grippy tannins.
finish: nice long finish.
comments: i'm quite impressed by this wine. it's certainly travelled well so far.

2005 Zilzie Buloke Cabernet Merlot

I have read pretty positive reviews on the Zilzie range of wines in a number of different sources. The Buloke range (meaning Bull-Oak) is named after the range of Buloke trees overlooking the vineyard and aims to deliver everyday drinking wines that overdeliver in quality. In my opinion Zilzie have achieved this with this wine. Here is my tasting note:

Colour: Lively red in colour. Nice colour density.
Nose: I can only identify fruit here; mainly dark berry aromas. Oak is not noticable.
Palate: Dark berry and plum flavours dominate the palate. Very soft, smooth tannins. Some oak and spice decernable here.
Finish: Oak and spicey fruit linger a little on the finish.
Conclusions: Nice food wine for every day drinking; quite good value for money.

2003 Ferngrove Symbols Cabernet Merlot

Ferngrove Estate is located in the South West of Western Australia some 360 km south of Perth. It's one of the rising stars of the southwest. The climate here is a temperate mediteranean meaning a cool climate wine region which the wines produced by Ferngrove reflect. Here is my tasting note:

Colour: Red in colour; good depth of colour.
Nose: Typical Cabernet Merlot nose. Dark berry and plum. Lots of sweet fruit.
Palate: Same dark fruits as on nose. Nice grippy tannins.
Finish: Nice dark berry finish. Slightly short as you would expect with wine of this cost.
Comments: A nice, simple, entry-level cool climate Cabernet Merlot.

2005 Taylors Shiraz

I am currently back in Australia at the moment. I always like to purchase wines from regions known for their particular wine varieties. In this case it happened to be a shiraz from the Clare Valley one of Australia's oldest wine regions that is well known for Reisling, Cabernet and Shiraz. Here are my tasting notes:

Colour: Deep purple red. very dense bordering to black in the centre of the glass.
Nose: Lovely nose of cherry. Definite American oak gives the wine a nice hint of vanilla as well.
Palate: Spicey red fruits: plum and again cherry. The palate also has a creaminess about it probably due to the oak. Nice soft tannins.
Finish: Nice smooth, creamy finish lingers for a while.
Comments: Lovely wine that will probably soften a little as it ages.

1997 Chateau Coufran

Chateau Coufran is located in northern Haut-Medoc. Suprisingly for a left bank Bordeaux Chateau Coufran grows predominately Merlot rather than Cabernet Sauvignon in contrast to the majority of estates. While this estate is not very high profile, it does produce quality wines.

The wine is now ten years old, and it took some time before it opened up. While 1997 was not a great year for Bordeaux it did produce some quality wine albeit with shorter lifespans than better vintages.

Here is my tasting note:

Colour: Still a deep red with some browning at the rim showing it's age.
Nose: Lovely elegant nose. Once it opens up it shows black fruits with some hints of cedar.
Palate: Black current and cherry. Spicy with solid tannins.
Finish: Lingering finish, though more tannin than fruit.
Conclusion: Nicely structured wine.

2004 Doluca Antik

Doluca is one of the best independent producer of wines Turkey. The winery, which was founded in 1926, is situated on the Sea of Marmara close to the Black Sea. I haven't tasted a lot of Turkish wine: in fact this is just the third time. This particular wine is produced from Gamay grapes. Here is my tasting note.

Colour: Light red in colour.

Nose: Pleasant nose with some hints of cherry.

Palate: Uncomplicated dry red. Typical of Gamay it's light with cherry and red berry flavours.

Finish: Short finish with the same light cherry.

Conclusion: Pleasant, simple wine.