Tyrrells Futures Semillon

Tyrrells Futures Semillon....

I've had a number of these..99s and 98s mainly....Most have been pretty good, some are oxidized...but I was able to pick them up so cheaply it didn't matter...

Tyrrell's Futures Semillon 1998.   Great acidity, toasty notes, honey, slight lanolin but not a lot.  Good depth of flavor.  Not as good as VAT 1 but still very good.  It is missing that extra depth that keeps it from being a fantastic semillon but still, the acidity and everything else is really singing and it is making for a wonderful drop.  90 points.  

Domaine Simha

So it was brought up in one of the forums...Domaine Simha..

New producer out of Tasmania...

Most of the reviews (the few I could find) on their wine seem to suggest the wines are of good quality....but after taking a look into their prices, I have to wonder, is this just marketing?  Firm belief in their product?  High cost of operating in Tasmania?

To give you an idea of what we're looking at:

Riesling - $75 dollars.  This puts them at the top of the tree price wise for an AU Riesling.  More expensive than Grosset Polish Hill, which I don't like that much but is probably considered the #1 AU Riesling...More expensive than Crawford River, more expensive than Leo Buring, Pikes Merle, etc, etc...List all of the top Rieslings in AU and this is about twice as expensive as those are...Even from an international standpoint, this puts it more expensive than Donnhoff, more expensive than a lot of JJ Prum (depends on which one)..but it essentially puts it at the high end of German Rieslings...

Chardonnay - $95 dollars.  I think outside of Giaconda, this is the most expensive AU Chardonnay...more so than Leeuwin Arts, more expensive than By Farr, than Xanadu Reserve...there is a huge list of really top AU Chardonnay in that 55-80 dollar bracket and this is more expensive than those..

Pinot Noir - $85/$150/$250.  So on their low end, they're more expensive than nearly every other Pinot in Australia...on their high end they're in there with Bass Phillip Reserve....in the case of the $250, the first release will be in 2016....$250 gets you a pretty damn good Red Burgundy as well..

So all of this and ZERO track record.  None...

I hate to say it but this all looks like a lot of marketing BS.  Price it high, make people believe it is a quality product and they're paying for something special.....You know, I get the idea, I understand the thought process behind it...the problem is it really doesn't work well with wine.  At the end of the day, it still needs to perform.  Even the most overhyped wine, Ace of Spades, is still a good wine...and Champagne is already associated with luxury and most of the people buying it have no idea anyways....But in a market like still wine, is that going to work?  So far all of the companies that have tried that have failed...Now with this one, it actually looks like the wine is good...which really helps...but is it good enough to justify those prices?  I don't know..

I will say...The price hype and the good reviews has made me want to try the wine...I certainly would be interested in trying it...but would I buy it?  Not at this point...There is absolutely nothing to suggest this is going to be better than so many other things out there...Tassie, in general, has not shown itself to be ideal for Pinot.  You'd think it would be but they just don't perform at their price point...It is funny, I feel like it is complete marketing but I still want to try it....I want to try it because if it is good, I always love good wine..and if it isn't as good as it should be, I'll have no issues saying so..and I'll want to say so....I see the lightning storm but I'm still walking towards it...

BK Wines Skin and Bones Pinot 2013

BK Wines has been doing a lot of interesting things with their wines...generally, I'm pretty impressed by the quality and they tend to always be interesting.

BK Wines Skin and Bones Pinot 2013.
These spend a good amount of time on skins (100 days).  10% new oak.  When I first got a whiff of this I thought, ok..Aussie pinot...Palate was a bit hot and ripe (only 12.5% alcohol though)...Tannins were more apparent but not off putting..but it just reminded me what I dislike about Aussie Pinot...cherry cola like...Might've even been a bit spritzy...

BUT

After some time, this really started to come into its own..the nose become a lot more interesting...with the heat going away and replaced with some earth, mushrooms, herbs.....Palate became far more mid weight, red cherries and it tastes like some stalk but I'm not sure if any whole bunch was used.  Tannins are apparent but they're the nice ones (on my tongue vs. lips).  The acidity was great..overall palate progression became quite good....Whereas before this wine had some aspects of Aussie Pinot and a very very ripe Gevrey...it really started moving away from typical Aussie pinot..still ripe which makes you think new world..but with a lot of interest and overall great texture...

You can find this for around 30 AUD if you can find it at all...and it is definitely a good buy at that......90 points..

MP Hunter

I'm generally a fan of Meerea Park in the Hunter.  Great Sems...pretty good Chardonnays..and pretty good Shiraz as well.  The Shiraz tend to be on the bigger end of the Hunter Spectrum..with more oak and riper fruit, but they're well made and they do have some really nice wines...

Meerea Park Hell Hole Shiraz 2003.

Nose is slightly muted when I first open this...stays like that for awhile.  Hint of match stick/sulfur....On the Palate it tastes heavily reduced...Very reduced at this point and awkward on the palate..oak it sticking out...heavy match stick flavors....I wait a bit longer...

1+ hour in, still reduced but some red fruits coming across..oak is less obvious but honestly, I'm not overly enjoying this...

Day 2 - I felt this just needed a lot of air to get rid of some of the reduction...huge difference in the wine...brighter red fruits, good acid...Still a bit heavy on the oak but not too bad...Slight hints of leather, crushed rock and pepper....Good Shiraz...90 points...

I enjoy what I consider the oakier Hunter Shiraz makers (Thomas, Meerea Park, Brokenwood) because they use great overall technique and have great fruit...but I definitely wouldn't mind seeing it toned down slightly....