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....

Lethbridge Chardonnay 2008

I'm a big fan of Lethbridge...as people have problem seen from previous posts.  They just do a great job making a wine that isn't typical of Australia (not in my opinion) and I appreciate dedication to craft and the idealism that goes into their style of wine..

Lethbridge Estate Chardonnay 2008.
A bit of reduction...actually, I think they really sulfured the heck out of this..which is good in a way because that is currently the trend..that burnt match stick is something people are looking for in wine...I'm not sure I agree that it is a great thing although it doesn't bother me that much.  I DO think they're doing it to put off all of the Premox going around in Burgundy so that "style" or "characteristic" of the wine has rubbed off on a few others.

Good fruit, slightly muted, peaches, pear...some burnt match stick or a lot of it I should say...I don't think the alcohol is high but I do get a slight bit of heat which to me is accentuated by the sulfur.  Acidity is great, as it always is from them...Maybe a tad bit heavy on the oak although I too think the sulfur accentuates that.  Overall, I do think the wine had pretty good balance with the acidity + new oak + malo...It isn't lean, it isn't fat...it has the characteristics of a good chardonnay and I think the style is really more old world than new.

One thing I did think was weird though..over 3 days, this thing has barely budged at all..relatively tight compared to other Lethbridge Chardonnays I've had...and this one isn't showing any signs of oxidation...which again lends itself to my sulfur theory.....I also don't think this has evolved too much under screw cap....there is SOME development but less than expected....So on the plus side, I think this wine will last 10+ years..on the downside...it is at a point where it will last 10+ more years...

Will I try to get more Lethbridge Chardonnay?  Without a doubt....Do I think anyone that wants a more old world style new world Chardonnay should try these?  Without a doubt...

Torbreck Les Amis

Most Torbreck stuff is pretty biggish...they do a good job though with the fruit being pure and the wine being quite clean...

They make a Grenache called Les Amis, which, when young, is quite biggish...as Grenache often is when young...I've never really had an aged version of this and really wasn't sure what to expect but..

Torbreck Les Amis 2003.

100% Grenache, when young these are quite big fruited...nearly gloppy fruited...They remind me of very big CDPs but without any funk....But this has aged quite nicely.  As Grenache can often do, it has softened quite nicely and the texture has become far lighter than the alcohol or original fruit would suggest.  Still carries very pure fruit but the darker fruits have become a bit redder and the overall mouthfeel just feels very much improved over younger versions of this...

These are still rather expensive on release (over 100 AUD) which makes it a bit questionable given the number of other wines you can get out there for that...but as far as Grenache in Australia, this has shown it can age and age for quite awhile....There are a few other Grenaches coming out in Australia that are slightly more interesting and seeing how this will impact the price of this should also prove to be interesting...but as far as wines that surprised me and have shown they're more than what they seem...this did that..

Lethbridge Riesling

So I had the chance to try a bit more Lethbridge Riesling 2011...

On the plus side, good development..a bit of toasty notes....

On the downside...a bit more VA than I was expecting...The TA for the wine is very high which I love....but the VA is a bit of a concern for the long term....It wasn't that off putting but it wasn't what I was expecting to see and would definitely limit how much this wine will age.  Have an older example I'm planning on trying soon so maybe that'll give me a better idea....

Just to make it clear, the VA wasn't that obvious when it was younger...

A bunch of stuff with friends

Clonakilla Riesling 2014 - This is proof to me that most Australian riesling needs age on it...There are some that have some added complexity right away but to me this was basically dead.  Acid, some fruit, no depth....I know this will be better in 5 or so years....it just isn't very good right now.

Tyrrells Futures Semillon 1998
Slightly oxidized but still a very good wine underneath.  Good acidity, good depth and complexity... a lot of honey and toasty notes.  This doesn't hit the depths of their Vat 1 but no other semillon does.

Margan Semillon 1999
A bit of residual sugar on the nose and noticeably lighter in color than the Tyrrells.  Slightly less acid and less depth than the Tyrrells but still doing very well and can definitely age a bit more.  I don't mind some residual sugar in certain wines but this one is throwing me off a bit...It doesn't seem to go right with the toasty notes I get from aged Semillon but overall this is quite nice.

Wynns Centenary 1991
This is a freak of a wine.  They're generally all really good.  It doesn't have the depth or structure of some of the other Centenary's I've had but still, pretty good wine overall.  Started to fall off near the end of the evening but my initial gut was this could have gone longer in the cellar.  Brighter than most Connawarras, tannins were fine, overall depth was good.

Bowen Cabernet Sauvignon 1991
This was definitely a bit "older" than the Wynns...a lot more leathery characteristics...Tannins were fully resolved..the wine overall was drinking very nicely.  At first I would've put the Wynns over it..near the end of the evening the Bowen was getting better with sufficient acidity to carry it, ample grip and a lot of savory characteristics that just made it enjoyable to drink.  Definitely drink NOW though...