INNISKILLIN RIESLING EISWEIN 2006 The harvest occurs at the pinnacle of Canada's crisp winter. Exceptional grapes, naturally frozen on the vine, are delicately handpicked and carefully pressed throughout the night. Once guided through our arduous fermentation, the resulting wine can only be hailed as the Nectar of the Gods.

Tasting Notes

…sublime aromatics of fresh lime, apricot, grapefruit and peach blossom with a slight mineral edge. A racy interplay of sweet and tart offer up echoing balanced flavours of lemon, lime and candied apricot.

Frogmore’s Creek Iced Riesling 2008 Dessert-style wine with luscious sweetness as its most obvious characteristic. High acidity combines with the high sugar to give the wine an intensely sweet yet balanced taste.

Variety: 100% handpicked Riesling.Region: 100% Frogmore Creek vineyard, Southern Tasmania Winemaking: Crushed into press for overnight cold soak to maximise aroma and flavour extraction from skins. De-juiced with only slight pressure prior to freeze concentration to 18°Bé. Inoculated ferment, controlled at 16°C until sugar/acid/alcohol balance achieved. Awards: Bronze medal, 2007 Tasmanian Wine Show; Bronze medal, 2008 San Diego International Wine Competition;

…….the seamless intermingling of fruit and sugar, and the equally seamless transition to an incredibly delicate, clean acid finish. The lemony, appley aromas and flavours are wonderfully enticing in themselves, but it’s the fineness of this wine and the delicate balancing of fruit, sweetness and acidity that make it so good. 

2008 Chateau St Jean Chardonnay, Sonoma County

Pleasing aromas of pear, mango and clove along with a hint of vanilla mingle on the nose of this classic Sonoma County Chardonnay. The well-balanced acidity wraps around a luscious core of pineapple, lemon and melon flavors and creates a creamy palate. The wine has a refreshing finish.

bloggers notes

…..drank as part of a wine night with friends. and served with chili rubbed pork tenderloin. …. not buttery, smooth, crisp.

…I was looking for a "buttery" chard and this was recommended to me. It fits the bill. Very nice finish. Tasted much better when it was well chilled than when it warmed a little.

2007 Evesham Wood Pinot Noir It's hard to believe that this wine cots less than $20 –does it John!!!!

The 2007 vintage in Oregon's Willamette Valley was particularly cool, giving this wine a clear, pure cherry fruit melody. …..alcohol, fruit, acidity and tannins are in perfect balance. …..food-friendly wine to drink now.

…..bit cloudy in the glass, giving off a bouquet of dusty earth and muted red berry fruit, with a modest floral perfume encapsulating these scents. Flavors of strawberry and cherry are evident with balanced acidity ending in a decent finish. This is a wine that deserves time to open up and express itself. …a bit tight at first and unimpressive. …..tide turns later in the bottle.

2007 Seghesio Family Vineyards Zinfandel

…..aromas of fresh ripe raspberries and blueberries intertwined with briar patch spices. On the palate flavours of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries persist with notes of creamy oak. A silky and refined texture with juicy acidity and smooth, integrated tannins.

bloggers notes

…..excellent, truly - huge black cherry flavor - smooth as silk - it deserves the #10 spot for certain! One of my favorite Zins to date and the price, it cannot be beat! Do not miss this one!

….balanced, opulent and smooth. Spice and red berries. Full bodied with a medium finish.

Yering Station- Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2006A complex wine, bringing together strong stone fruit, melon and citrus cool-climate characters augmented by barrel ferment oak and lees inputs. 13% Alc $23 Drink to: 2011 Rating: 95 Points; James Halliday Wine Companion 2009  Long, vibrant and rather polished, this supple, elegant and fruit-driven chardonnay backs its lively flavours or white peach and melon skin with lightly smoky vanilla oak and creamy complexity.

Vintage 2006 was the earliest on record. The early onset was due to a warm spring, followed by unusually high summer temperatures. An excellent growing season led to even flowering and fruit set across varieties. Ripe fruit flavours meant fruit was harvested as early as possible to retain acid structure.Crushed, pressed into stainless steel tanks for settling prior to fermentation in French oak, 25% new oak. No malolactic fermentation. Pale Straw. This wine will age beautifully over the next 4-5 years.

Casillero del Diablo 2008 Malbec Concha y Toro Gold Medal winner :Decanter World Wine Awards 2009.

…dark in color, on the nose are a mixture of lovely dark fruits.

…mid pallet are some very nice fruit forward cherries and cassis. …hint of oak and tobacco on the wine but nothing overpowering. …finish of the wine has some nicely balanced tannins and some complexity.…..pairing it with a meat lasagna ??

….. drink now style of wine so don’t plan on cellaring this one.

Sauvignon Blanc - Bodega Norton Torrontes 2007

… a distinctly floral, fruity bouquet, with juicy fruit evident on the fore-palate,

…….but does chop off with a short finish.

James Halliday

2006 Kangarilla Road Fleurieu Primitivo

……heel of the boot of Italy in a region called Puglia. Originally a native of Croatia, Primitivo eventually travelled west to the USA where it mysteriously became known as Zinfandel. We have used the Primitivo synonym with this wine to reflect its exuberant Mediterranean style. Our Primitivo was fermented employing gentle cap management techniques.

The pressed wine was aged in French and American oak for 12 months. The 2006 Primitivo was sourced from vineyards in the Langhorne Creek and Southern Fleurieu regions of South Australia.

Aromas of perfumed spicy bright red jubey fruits with light fig and brambles.The palate has loads of sautéed red fruits almost exotic bonbon in style. The integrated yet flavoursome tanninstogether with tight acidity create a wonderful lingering finish. Drink over the next 5 years.

Zuccardi Chardonnay/ Viogner 2008

….light, citrusy and made with very little to no oak.  It’s crisp and dry and perfect for seafood or fish.  The thirst-quenching quality of this wine makes it ideal for Summertime get-togethers.

….Nice wine for folks who don’t enjoy big, buttery Chardonnays, but who enjoy that varietal when done in this manner.

Montes Cabernet Sauvignon/ Carmenere Colchagua Valley

2007Loads of fruit concentration in this dark-

ruby wine from top Chilean producer Montes. A blend of 70% Cabernet

Sauvignon and 30% Carmenere this read-to-drink pleaser has a medium intense nose of toasted oak, cassis and warm

spice aromas with mineral notes.

The full-bodied palate offers flavours of concentrated cassis from the Cabernet

with underlying spice from the Carmenere. Lovely texture from integrated tannins and good acidity makes this wine very easy to drink solo or match with BBQ'd red meats. Very balanced medium finish. Drink now

through 2012

Cape Mentelle Zinfandel 2003…deep, dark red-black colour. Sumptuous berry fruit on the nose, with black cherry character.

…..rich and velvety fruit on the palate, which has a fat, rounded texture.

…plenty of fresh acidity and spicy, peppery tannins

.. 2003 aged Zinfandel drinking well.

Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

Cabernet Sauvignon is synonymous with the Napa Valley ….Stags Leap District in particular. ….take full advantage of this ideal location, planting Cabernet vines in deep, well-drained loamy volcanic soils. ….Round supple tannins wrapped around layers of blackberry, espresso and black truffle

…perennial favorite on restaurant wine lists, … generous in flavor and velvety in texture.

…Classic flavors of cassis and black cherry fill the mouth as notes of violets and vanilla linger on the finish.

Montes Alpha Shiraz 2006

…wonderful wine with cedar aromas mocha flavors crisp and youthful and firm with mulberry flavors. Full bodied yet graceful and a great great valueWinery comments:…scarcest of our ALPHA line, it shows how promising the Apalta Valley slopes are.… Yield is very low, only 6 tons per hectare. It has been aged in French oak for one year and had only one soft filtering. Aurelio has added 7% of Cabernet Sauvignon and a 3% of Viognier to the final blend. .. intense ruby red color, it has a great aroma with floral, tobacco and leathery notes. Strong and full bodied to the palate, with soft and mature tannins.

..very long, elegant and satisfying after taste. A superb Syrah. Syrah 90% + Cabernet Sauvignon 7% + Viognier 3% Ruby-red.

Montes Cabernet Sav Carmenere 2008Loads of fruit concentration in this dark-ruby wine from top Chilean producer Montes.

A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Carmenere this read-to-drink pleaser has a medium intense nose of toasted oak, cassis and warm spice aromas with mineral notes.

The full-bodied palate offers flavours of concentrated cassis from the Cabernet with underlying spice from the Carmenere.

Lovely texture from integrated tannins and good acidity makes this wine very easy to drink solo or match with BBQ'd red meats. Very balanced medium finish. Drink now through 2012. -

Carmenere grape- extract from WikiThe Carménère grape is a wine grape variety originally planted in the Médoc region of Bordeaux, France, where it was used to produce deep red wines and occasionally used for blending purposes in the same manner as Petit Verdot.

A member of the Cabernet family of grapes,[1] the name "Carménère" originates from the French word for crimson (carmin) which refers to the brilliant crimson colour of the autumn foliage prior to leaf-fall.[2] The grape is also known as Grande Vidure, a historic Bordeaux synonym,[3] although current European Union regulations prohibit Chilean imports under this name into the European Union.[4] Along with Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit verdot, Carménère is considered part of the original six red grapes of Bordeaux, France.[5][6]

Now rarely found in France, the world's largest area planted with this variety is in Chile in South America, with more than 4,000 hectares (2006) cultivated in the Central Valley. As such, Chile produces the vast majority of Carménère wines available today and as the Chilean wine industry grows, more experimentation is being carried out on Carménère's potential as a blending grape, especially with Cabernet Sauvignon.

Carménère is also grown in Italy's Eastern Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions[7] and in smaller quantities in the California and Walla Walla regions of the United States.

reserva CASILLERO del DIABLO Shiraz 2006 Concha Y Toro

Bright, dark and deep purple in colour

…aromas of ripe blackberries, dark plums, chocolate, and pepper and a touch of vanilla and toasted American oak.

….Round and mouthfilling wine with ample smooth and sweet tannins.

….dark and deep red. Very ripe and dense, remarkably focused on flavor, offering solid blackberry and cherry flavors.

Norton Reserva Malbec 2006

…very toasty, offering showy mocha and spice aromatics, but there's also plenty of flesh, with lush raspberry, fig and plum notes that follow through on the long, polished finish.

…drink now through 2010."

…90 Points Wine Spectator