Ringer Reef Alpine Valleys Rosé 2016

No information is available on the label but Ringer Reef says it is predominantly Sangiovese with smaller percentages of Merlot, Nebbiolo and Vespolina. An eclectic blend if ever there was one from the Porepunkah sub-region of the Alpine Valley.
A pale crimson coloured rosé.
On the nose florals, cherry, strawberry and watermelon with a dusting of spice. Fresh and enticing aromatics. 
The palate is soft and juicy. Strawberry, cherry, dried cranberry and some herbal tinges throughout. Smooth texture, dusty tannins and zesty acidity with a nice rounded finish.

This is not a complex wine by any stretch but it ticks all the right boxes. Dry, savoury, light-bodied, zesty, refreshing and drinkable. Well priced and very good summer time drinking.
Source: Winery. ABV: 12.5%. Closure: Screw Cap. Price: $18.00. 
Rating: 90 Points. Website: http://www.ringerreef.com.au 
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Ringer Reef Alpine Valleys VSM 2016

The VSM stands for Vespolina (50%) Sangiovese (25%) and Merlot (25%) and the blend comes from Ringer Reef, a boutique family-owned winery at Porepunkah in Victoria's Alpine Valley. Vines were planted in 1998 with the focus upon Italian and French varieties.  
Vespolina is a red grape variety planted in northern Piedmont and in Lombardy. Recent DNA profiling has identified a parent-offspring relationship with Nebbiolo with which it is occasionally blended. The Vespolina variety here is grown at a nearby vineyard for Ringer Reef. 

Bright and light ruby red colours in the glass.
The nose is aromatic and sweetly perfumed with lifted aromas of plum, red cherry, raspberry, wild flowers and spice.
The lovely perfume continues onto the palate. Delicious, easy drinking light to medium-weight red wine that has a dry, savoury, soft mouth-filling finish. Elegant and effortless. 

There is a distinctly Italianate feel to this unique blend. Having no oak added and made for early drinking, it's one of those wines perfect with an antipasto platter on a lazy weekend afternoon.


Source: Winery. ABV: 12.5%. Closure: Screw Cap. Price: $26.00. Rating: 91 Points. 
Website: http://www.ringerreef.com.au 
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Narkoojee Late Harvest Viognier 2016

This is the first late harvest wine for Narkoojee. Warm conditions in the 2016 growing season allowed the Viognier fruit to be left on the vine to ripen further and to be made into a semi-sweet style wine. 

Comes in a 500ML bottle. Pale yellow with greenish hues. 
The attractive bouquet offers up citrus, orange blossom, dried apricot, musk and spicy oak nuances.
The core of dried apricot, cumquat marmalade and chamomile does its thing effortlessly balanced by fresh lemony acidity. 
The fruit sweetness is on the lighter side and nothing is cloying. Mid palate is delicious and slippery with the finish fresh, clean and dry. 

 A perfect partner to fruit-based desserts or a cheese platter. Like it.

 Source: Sample courtesy of Narkoojee Wines. ABV: 13.5%. 
Closure: Screw Cap. Price: $21.00. Rating: 89 Points. 
Website: https://narkoojee.com/?v=6cc98ba2045f 

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Liquid Rock 'N' Roll Nebbiolo 2015


This is an esoteric pet project of winemaker Alex Byrne who plied his trade originally at Lethbridge and then went on to establish his own brand Byrne Wines and the cool sounding Noisy Ritual, a people-powered urban winery project in Melbourne.

 The Liquid Rock 'N' Roll label established with partner Kim Farrell accesses premium fruit parcels from various Victorian regions in order to make excellent quality, affordable wines that express not just the terroir but the fun, flavour and feeling of winemaking.

A youthful Nebbiolo is not always the most seductive thing to drink but give this a little air time and you'll notice the cherry, strawberry, florals and a whiff of raisin and bitumen come to the fore.

 A light purple crimson Nebbiolo wine from Heathcote fruit. 
The palate displays dark cherry, ground coffee, leather and dried herbs. Its refreshing acidity is enhanced by fine grippy tannins. 

 This is not a shy wine rather sits you back with its concentrated and succulent dark fruited mid-weight palate and lingering savoury finish. Has a rustic, herbal appeal despite the heat hanging around a fraction at the finish.

Settles well after a couple of night's drinking but its best lays ahead of it. A rockin' good example from a talented winemaker from a region whose soils are suiting the variety.


 Source: Sample courtesy of Liquid Rock 'N' Roll Wines. ABV: 14.0%. Closure: Screw Cap. Price: $40.00. 
Rating: 90+ Points. Website: http://liquidrocknroll.com

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Freeman Rondo Rondinella Rosé 2016


Dr Brian Freeman established Freeman Vineyards in the Hilltops Region of New South Wales in 1999 and to date is credited as having the only Rondinella and Corvina vines planted in Australia.

 Rondinella is a thick-skinned red Italian grape variety that grows in the Veneto region of northeast Italy and with Corvina is classically used in the popular regional wines Valpolicella and Bardolino as well as also being used in the production of Amarone and Recioto.
  
This 2016 Freeman Rosé version is at first interesting in a rustic sort of way then refreshing and easy to imbibe.The saignée method is employed here to bleed or drain the juice after minimal contact with the Rondinella grape skins to produce the wine.  

 Salmon and pale copper colours. The red cherry, quince and briary aromas are quite subtle and elegant on the nose. 
There is a juicy mouthfeel with dry, savoury earth off-setting the sweet fruit and rosewater flavours. The palate is somewhat creamy but enhanced by a mineral grip, soft, chalky tannins and refreshing acidity. Good balance between the sweet sour cherry flavours and the dry herbal character of the wine. 

Intense and powerful rosé for the vinous explorers and adventurers. Super value for a very good wine.

 A fun fact. In 2005 DNA evidence found that Corvina was a parent variety to Rondinella.

Source: Retail. ABV: 13.0%. Closure: Screw Cap. Price: $20.00. Rating: 90 Points.  
Website: http://www.freemanvineyards.com.au/dnn4/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

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Boomtown Winemakers Co-operative White 2016

Established in 2014, Boomtown is a co-operative winery based at the old Castlemaine Mill in Central Victoria. It's a 'less is more' philosophy of a group of young winemakers intent on making small batch, natural wines using wild yeasts and minimal chemicals from grapes sourced from various Victorian regions. 
The White here is a blend of Pinot Gris from Bendigo, Sauvignon Blanc from the Pyrenees with Riesling and Viognier from Heathcote. The percentage of each variety is not stated on the label.

 Pale straw yellow colour.
High in the aroma stakes. Florals, grass, apricot, melon and guava.
Nectarines, nashi pear, apricot flavours and nettle give the palate a layered and textural character. The wine is not overly oily but has a rich and dry feel to it.
Finishes with a nice kick of acid and a good slatey, herbal length. 
Medium weight blend with lots of interest, brightness and drinkability. Good find here.


Source: Retail. ABV: 11.4%. Closure: Cork. Price: $30.00. 
Rating: 89 Points. Website: https://www.boomtownwine.com.au
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2015 Yetti and the Kokonut Sercial

Sercial is a light-skinned Portuguese grape variety better known for its role in making some of the world's finest dry Madeira fortified wines. Minimal amounts of Sercial are grown in Australia, the grapes here coming from the Eden Valley. 

 This wine is a product of winemaker friends Dave Geyer and Koen Janssens from the Geyer Wine Co. My guess is that Dave is the Yetti and Koen, the Kokonut on their quirky label but that's besides the point with this unfiltered, sustainably-produced wine.    

Mid-yellow gold colour with slight cloudiness from the skin contact. It's the archetypal orange wine.
Fresh pine needles, prune, honey, apple and almond-like aromas. Subtle, not overly perfumed.
On a light-bodied palate there are flavours of crisp yellow apples, apple cider and stewed prunes.
Dry, good acid and grippy tannins with a smooth and brine-like savouriness to the finish.    

Good wine, certainly left of centre and different from the usual suspects. 
Source: Retail. ABV: 11.6%. Closure: Cork. Price: $38.00. 
Rating: 90 Points. Website: http://geyerwines.com.au

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2015 Cape Jaffa Wines Riptide Red Blend

An inspired, perhaps unique blend of 70% Viognier and 30% Shiraz that comes in a Riesling-type bottle. 
The juice of the Viognier is blended with the skins of Shiraz prior to fermentation to achieve a bright red wine with purple hues.

 If you were blindfolded, you'd swear it was a white wine in the glass.

Apricot, blackberry, a little blueberry with scents of celery. Somewhat quirky but very interesting aromatics going on here.

 Dry, light bodied with fine, soft tannins and a silky textured mouthfeel. Despite the dominance of the Viognier, the lesser amount of Shiraz gives the palate an elegant plush feel with its dark fruit and vanilla character. Lingering stone fruit flavours on the close. 
Another high bar set by the creative winemakers at Cape Jaffa Wines. Ground breaking, envelope-pushing, cutting edge, hip and chic. Give this one time in the fridge for maximum freshness and enjoyment. Recommended.  



Source: Sample courtesy of Cape Jaffa Wines. ABV: 14.5%. 
Closure: Screw Cap. Price: $29.00. Rating: 90+ Points. 
Website: https://www.capejaffawines.com.au

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2015 Cape Jaffa Wines La Lune Field Blend


Cape Jaffa is a biodynamic vineyard and winery situated on the unique and isolated Mount Benson region of South Australia's Limestone Coast wine zone. One of the first of the wineries established in the region, it enjoys a moderate maritime climate and terra rossa soils that are ideal for viticulture. La Lune is Cape Jaffa's premium wine portfolio that it cultivates by the moon's cycles and what it says expresses a sense of place in the vineyard with its unique terroir. 

This wine captures a vineyard or three inside a bottle with no less than eleven varieties in this vinous concoction. Containing predominantly Chardonnay with portions of Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, the winery indicates that the percentage of these will vary according to what is ripe on the day and what will balance with the Chardonnay. The other varieties it adds are the pale juice of a few red varieties plus small portions from an experimental block.


At a time where Australian winemakers are doing weird and wonderful things with grapes, the old practice of the field blend is also steadily making its mark here. It's a good antidote to the boredom often experienced with single varietal wines and the 2015 La Lune is an engaging and compelling example. 
  
The straw yellow colour distracts from what you are about to experience in the glass.
At first a smoky malt scent then peach, apricot, orange, pineapple, lemon rind, citrus blossom, passionfruit and pear. Heavily perfumed and complex aromatics that are worth the price of admission ! 

A texturally powerful palate is packed with generous stone fruit flavours, slatey saline minerality and some herbal action. Through the mouth there is some grip, light crunchy tannins and acid zip to drive things along.  

Medium bodied with a soft unctuous mouthfeel. Mouthwatering drinkability to this wine.
The savoury, fresh tropical fruit finish lingers long after the final sip. 

Better sum for its parts. Creative, well made, cerebral yet fun to drink especially over summer. 
Easily go another bottle. Should bring additional appeal with a year or two in the cellar.



Source: Sample courtesy of Cape Jaffa Wines. ABV: 14.0%. Closure: Screw Cap. Price: $42.00. 
Rating: 93+ Points. Website: https://www.capejaffawines.com.au

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