In Heathcote (SA), particularly in Merlot and Shiraz, chocolate and mocha-like qualities can be easily recognised to set these varietals apart from their neighbouring Barossan and McLaren Vale counterparts.

In Eden Valley Riesling you might find loads of minerality on the acidic backbone followed by an action-packed lime and lemon palate, with limited sweetness. Whereas in Granton (TAS), you’d most likely find softer citrus flavours but increased minerality and a strong musk-like scent on a young Riesling, just bottled.

So what of Margaret River?

In the Margaret, as I like to call her, you’ll most likely find the greatest concentration of capsicin (capsicum-like flavours and aromas), tomato bush aromas and cayenne pepper effects on the palate. This is true across a surprisingly broad range of grape varietals from Cabernet to Shiraz, from Sauvignon Blanc to Chardonnay. A fantastic producer which captures these characters in nearly all of their wines in every vintage I have tried is Stella Bella.

Honestly I recommend their Stella Bella SSB 09 and Suckfizzle Cabernet 07 as two top vintages, but most of the wines have been highly lauded as great examples of regional wine. - Daniel Jess

The maker of the ‘Grand’ Merlot, with a cracking vintage in 2004, Mr Irvine is a winemaking personality I have always looked up to.

Having read about their wines and recent accolades this week, I wanted to share an exciting article with you today, rather than paraphrasing someone else’s hard work.

There’s a beautiful article about James and his work here: James Irvine Article, Winebiz.

Thank you Winebiz for allowing us to share the article online.

You can visit Irvine Wines online here.

James is also co-winemaker at Eden Valley Wines who produce the beautiful Saviours Shiraz 2005.

Crafted by Maison owner and Chef de Cave Michel Chapoutier, this sweet white wine is made from the world’s oldest grape varietal… you guessed it… the Muscat grape (also called ‘Muscat de Frontignan’). With a minimum of 15% alcohol content in every vintage release, you’d probably expect some heat, but the sugar, acid and flavour compounds all work in great harmony, swelling in unison as the wine washes along the palate.

It’s all a bit Moby Dick I know, but I imagine myself stranded on a sea-shore sipping this while the salt air floats around me with sand grains teetering against my glass. I’ll be darned if I’d share this with anybody nearby!

On the nose I smell musk, rosehip water, lemon, honeydew melons, some kaffir lime and orange oil. On the palate (once my tongue stopped salivating so much) I could taste the sweetness, but it was immediately backed up by tart pears coated in fresh oranges, vanilla, rosewater and homemade saltwater toffee, just like ‘gran used to make in Byron Bay.

What a delight.

A very long finish that resolves with the flavours of musk and definitely highlighted by leaner, and very sexy, lemon and lime flavours. Slight hint of honey on the finish.

Buy a pack of this. Age half until 2025, drink the rest now. You will not regret it!

My score: 95/100. Drink to 2030, peak drinking at 2026. Match with creme brulee or soft fresh sheep’s milk cheeses.

The grape growing history of this land goes back a long way – to the end of the
19th century. At this time the property was primarily used for crops and dairy cattle, with very little vineyard space.

As the 1930’s commenced, Oscar Semmler bought the St Jakobi Church block
and expanded the vineyard slightly but still the majority of the land was used for grazing.

Oscar’s son Ken Semmler took over in the early 1970’s and in 1975 planted
Shiraz vines which are still in use today. These vines became the cornerstone
of Dutschke Wines. During this period, most of the fruit was passed on to other Barossan winemakers.

In 1990 Wayne Dutschke joined his uncle Ken on the ‘block’ and they created
WillowBend Wines, deciding to keep some fruit for themselves and produce their own wine on a very small scale.

Wayne brought over 10 years of wine making experience to his role. Starting
off at Yalumba and Roseworthy, he worked with quality Australian winemakers Don Lewis and Grant Burge and then gained further knowledge at Krondorf and Mildara Blass. Wayne also has international experience as a ‘flying winemaker’ in California, France and Spain.

In 1998, the Willowbend Wines vintage release caught the interest of the US.
This precipitated the name change to Dutschke Wines and led to an increase in production.

Dutschke Wines now has 17ha planted and is operated by Wayne and Brenda
Dutschke. They produce several varieties of red including a celebrated Oscar
Semmler ‘best of vintage’ Shiraz, named after the man that started it all. A range of fortified wines is released every year and practically sells out over night!

“The quality of the wines is in fact exemplary”. – James Halliday

You can purchase some great Dutschke wines here.

As if he didn’t have enough to do, Wayne is also the author of a children’s book – ‘My Dad Has Purple Hands’. It tells the story of winemaking from vineyard to bottle – through the eyes of a little girl growing up on a farm with a vineyard and winery. A very good read for both children AND adults.

2010 was a big year for Wayne Dutschke: in February he was voted Barossa
Winemaker of the Year by the ’Barossa Barons’. The Barons selected Wayne
because of his hard work to produce wines of great quality – along with his
marketing of the region in his travels.

In his 2011 Australian Wine Companion, James Halliday has given Dutschke
Wines a 5 star rating – the 5th year in a row it has been rated so highly. - Daniel Jess

This is a great sign for the region whose historical roots date back to 1838. Colder in average temperature than Bordeaux (in some years), it’s not surprising the whole industry stops to hear the news when a vintage report is released for the Yarra Valley.

The Yarra has been prone to either huge frost events or overly wet seasons, yet it has also been the victim of devastating droughts in recent times too.

With warmer conditions than average throughout the entire growing season, there were sufficient key rain events to put water under the vines, thus limiting the need for irrigation to almost no need at all.

As the season progressed and grapes swelled to full size, colour and flavour (this process is called veraison), the skies held off and the ground dried up nicely. This means that Yarra grapes should have been in a strong concentration when picked, packed full with aromatics. This is probably most important in Pinot Noir – a very difficult grape to grow well.

There were great conditions for flowering throughout the region and it was noted that Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc were the top three as far as fruit set was concerned.

There were very few cases of Botrytis outbreak in the Valley despite the relatively humid season (due to increased rainfall).

Vintage began in early February to produce sparkling wines, with Cabernet being the final variety to have been picked in mid March.

My personal recommendation is to buy some 2010 Yarra Valley Pinot Noir and Chardy, tuck the bottles away for six years and visit them with eagerness! - Daniel Jess

This week more than 24 wineries will make their way to Bar Barossa to showcase a broad range of amazing Rose wines. This is an opportunity I’ve never had before, so I’ll definitely be there.

Winemakers on show include Diggers Bluff, Bethany, Tomfoolery, Kalleske, Kabminye, Jamabro, Moorooroo Park, Clancy Fuller, Troll Creek and Crab Tree.

I’ll be on my iPhone tweeting away while I wind my way through these absolute gems. Don’t tell my mother, but I’m on the lookout for a nice dry Rose, preferably made from Grenache, for her Christmas present! (Just as well she doesn’t use Twitter!!)

My mate in the office Elyssia said: “Rose can be made from savoury, earthy varietals such as Pinot Noir, Grenache, Mourvédre and Syrah, even Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, but what they have in common is that they are alluring and appetising; they are pale, dry and delicious. These wines are perfect for Summer drinking but can be enjoyed at anytime throughout the year – you just need some great food and friends to make the occasion.”

Couldn’t agree more!

Join in the ‘Tweet Up’ on 30 November at Bar Barossa from 5pm.
The live ‘tweet up’ will be held between 7-8.30pm. If you do one thing this year, help me find that perfect Rose for mum! - Daniel Jess

This Iconic South Australian winery swept aside the competition from Yalumba, Peter Lehmann Wines, St Hallett, Stella Bella and Morris wines to receive the ultimate accolade along with picking up two of the individual wine trophies for their ‘The Everest’ range.

The Everest wines stand at the very pinnacle of elite winemaking at the Château and have picked up trophies for World’s Best – ‘International Shiraz/Syrah’ for the 2005 ‘The  Everest’ Shiraz and World’s Best – ‘Single Estate Red Wine’ for the 2008 ‘The Everest’ Grenache.

The owner of the Château, John Geber said this was “…a fantastic achievement for Château Tanunda and the international reputation of Australia, it certainly confirms my belief that we can compete with the very best in the world on a truly international stage.’

‘Australia has some very unique vineyards and it’s [a] testament to the superior quality of fruit which comes out of the Barossa.’

Château Tanunda was originally established in 1890 and in its day was the largest winery in the Southern Hemisphere producing table wines along with fortified wine for the world famous Brandy brand. Closed and vacated in 1993 the building was purchased in 1998 and completely renovated by John Geber who installed new facilities and a winery in 2004 with the sole aim of producing world class wine.

Buy The Everest Grenache 2008 online!

Our Club Purple group convened again last Wednesday night for a blind Pinot Noir tasting at the Purple Palate Queen Street store.

Wrapped in rustic brown paper bags, eight bottles of premium Pinot Noir were measured against each other.

After a few unsteady guesses at the origin of each wine, the group was eventually allowed to take a peak at the fine wines they were sampling. The group had a clear preference for Burgundian wines, but the Australian and New Zealand examples were very highly rated and, to be honest, were confused as being from France on some occasions!

In order of wines enjoyed most:

• Mongeard-Mugneret Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru 2007
• Marchand & Burch Gevrey-Chambertain 2007
• Pegasus Bay 2007
• Picardy ‘Tete de Cuvee’ 2007
• PHI Lusatia Park 2008
• Paradigm Hills ‘L’ami Sage’ 2008
• Lethbridge ‘Mietta’ 2006
• Allan Scott ‘Hounds’ 2008.

Here are the points awarded by wine critics for these wines, complete with retail prices.

Mongeard-Mugneret Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru 2007

90-93pts – Burghound     RRP $310/btl

Marchand & Burch Gevrey-Chambertain 2007

94pts – James Halliday RRP $100/btl

Pegasus Bay 2007

94pts – Tim White & Bob Campbell, Top 10 NZ Wines – Decanter Magazine, Obtained highest rating of “Super Classic” – Michael Cooper’s Buyers Guide to NZ Wines RRP $65/btl

Picardy ‘Tete de Cuvee’ 2007

17.5pts – Ace High Wines RRP $70/btl

PHI Lusatia Park 2008

95pts – Tim White, 94pts – James Halliday RRP $60/btl

Paradigm Hills ‘L’ami Sage’ 2008

93pts – James Halliday, 5 Stars – Robert Geddes (MW) AWV Review RRP $60/btl

Lethbridge ‘Mietta’ 2006

94pts – James Halliday & Jeremy Oliver RRP $65/btl

Allan Scott ‘Hounds’ 2008

Gold medal – Air New Zealand Wine Awards, 4 Stars – Michael Cooper’s Buyers Guide to NZ Wines RRP $40/btl.

Please contact Matt or Nick to book your ticket for the next event!

Call 1300 1GRAPE (1300  147  273) and follow the prompts.

Western Australia’s Stella Bella Chardonnay was named Best International Chardonnay at the 2010 International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) in London this week.

With five national awards to its name already, the 2008 Stella Bella Chardonnay is available now from our online store at a fabulous price.

Grapes are hand-picked from eight individual vineyard sites in the Margaret River region. This wine captures the strong varietal character of the popular Chardonnay fruit, also maintaining a high natural acidity, courtesy of the region’s maritime climate.

Presenting aromas of white field flowers and citrus oils, enriched with nutmeg spice, the wine has a palate of citrus, peach, honeydew and dried pear, each flavour perfectly moulded around a fine nut-meal texture with a soft mineral acidity on the finish. A great match for a char-grilled marron and pistacchio salad, or perhaps with Kingaroy Brie.

To win the IWSC award, the wine passed a rigorous two-stage judging process which took more than six months, comprising a blind tasting and a detailed technical analysis.

Entries were judged by panels drawn from 250 specialists from around the world. Since its creation in 1969, the IWSC has become the premier international competition of its kind.

Purple Palate passes its most heartfelt congratulations to the winemaking team at Stella Bella and wish them all the best for the upcoming harvest! -Daniel Jess

In their Wine of the Year awards, Winestate Magazine awarded Greystone the Australasian Pinot Gris Trophy for their delightful Sand Dollar Pinot Gris 2010.

NZ Winestate editor Michael Cooper referred to the wines as having “great delicacy and purity” – having tried them this week,  say he was spot on.

With a focus on aromatic wines, of which grapes grow very well in the Waipara Valley just north of Christchurch, Greystone now produce top notch Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a unique pedigree of local favourite Sauvignon Blanc.

Impressively, their Sauvignon Blanc won gold at this year’s Air New Zealand Wine Awards and is currently in line for a trophy as well. It was the only non-Marlborough sauvy in its class to win an award.

My top picks were the two Pinot Gris wines produced by Greystone. Their Winemaker’s Selection Pinot Gris 2008 is fabulous and lingers in the mouth for ages with supple, rich fruit flavours. On the flipside, their more delicately textured Sand Dollar Pinot Gris 2010 packs a juicy punch and is highly aromatic.

Greystone was recently named in the Top 100 at the Sydney International Wine Competition to highlight its excellence as a Pinot Gris producer.

Don’t wait with baited breath to see if they win any more awards, goodness knows they will… duck down to Purple Palate now to purchase some great Gris. - Daniel Jess