Tried and Tested - This Week's Staff Recommendations

Established in 1860 the Tahbilk vineyard is not only a family owned winery, but one of Australia’s most breathtaking and historic. Situated in the Nagambie Lakes region of central Victoria, one of the nation's premium viticultural areas, the property comprises some 1,214 hectares of rich river flats. Purchased by the Purbrick family is 1925, Tahbilk is now home to 5 generations of Purbricks.

Some 200 hectares of the property is under vine with varietals including the rare French Rhone Valley whites of Marsanne, Viognier and Roussanne; and the Rhone reds - Shiraz, Grenache & Mourvedre. Also planted are the traditional varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Riesling, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc & Verdelho and new age rising stars Tempranillo and Savignin. Some of the Shiraz vines even date back to the vineyards pre-pheloxera roots. Of the vineyards 100,000 bottle production only about 1 tenth of this escapes Australia, usually a sign of a truly great vineyard (the locals try to keep it to themselves)!

The wines Exel staff have been tasting are: 

• Tahbilk 2011 Marsanne
• Tahbilk 2007 Vintage Release Marsanne (I love being able to try two similar, but fundamentally different wines side-by-side.)
• Tahbilk 2010 Shiraz

Clive Holroyd, Database Manager

Tahbilk Marsanne 2011 - One of my favourite French wine regions has long been Cotes du Rhone, so what a joy it was to discover an Australian winery that produces wine that is so similar to that from the Southern Rhone region. I've always claimed (only slightly tongue in cheek) to be a red wine drinker who only drinks white when there is no alternative, so joy upon joy to discover a new white grape and one I liked so much that I'd actually part with my hard earned cash for a bottle. 

This wine has a very fresh and crisp floral bouquet with hints of celery and honey. It is as light and crisp to drink as the aroma promised, with sherbet and citrus favours. Its very clean in the mouth with no after-taste.

A lovely light white that would go well with lightly spiced Oriental food. Score: 14/20

Tahbilk Marsanne Museum 2007- Ooooh. This is lovely. Honey, nectar and pear drops on the nose; sharp, crisp and dry in the mouth with just a hint of sweetness on the finish. 

A white with enough presence and complexity to stand up to all but the strongest flavours. I suspect this would go brilliantly with Roast Chicken and Yorkshire Pudding, and would also make a nice accompaniment to the Christmas turkey. Score: 18/20

Tahbilk Shiraz 2010 - If I hadn't seen the label I would have expected this to advertise itself as a Syrah rather than a Shiraz because it's right up there with my favourite French reds. There's Brandy, Christmas Spices and dried fruit on the nose, almost a Christmas cake in a glass. Pomegranate and blackberry mingle with the spices in the mouth and the tannins are beautifully balanced giving a delicious full body, but no unpleasant after-taste. I was a bit too eager to try the wine after opening so it felt a little tight, but I made myself leave some to breath and it opened out beautifully. Another addition to my list of favourites. Score: 18/20

Keron Magee, Shop Manager

Marsanne 2011 - Delightfully quaffable wine that entices you in with its plum and apricot aromas. On savouring, I was quite surprised by its dry and short finish. Very nice to drink with nibbles on a lovely summer day. Score: 14/20

Marsanne Museum 2007 - What a difference, although it's not strictly 100% Marsanne and with the extra time resting, this one exhibits a different aroma experience of cherry sweetness coupled with a nutty (brazils/hazelnuts) complexity. Would recommend this with a meal rather than on its own perhaps spicy meats ie. chorizo, duck or even a firm blue cheese. Score: 15/20

Shiraz 2010 - I let this one breathe for 15 mins as I was not keen on the initial taste when I opened it - like you say not a thumping Shiraz. On the nose I was able to recognise chocolate and blackcurrants.  A really long finish down the throat that lasted for some time afterwards. Tasting it the influence of oaky notes was obvious and deep currant/plum flavours too. I would recommend with strong meat ie. venison and maybe Roquefort cheese.  I love a good shiraz but found this to be a little lacking. Score: 13/20

Dianne Younger, Company Administrator

Marsanne 2011 - On opening this wine the sweet aromas of passionfruit certainly hit me. This followed through on the palate where the passionfruit flavours continued. I felt the wine itself was pretty dry - not at all what I'd expected. Nevertheless, a nice white to enjoy during a hot summer. Score: 14/20

Marsanne Museum 2007 - Again, I picked up on the sweet aromas of this wine straight away, but there is a softness of peach on the palate which I think may be down to the slight acidity of this wine, adding to it's complexity. Again a dry white, but one which I think would be at its best enjoyed with food. Score: 15/20

Shiraz 2010 - Colour: Garnet red with a clear rim. Aromas of forest and hedgerow fruits with a slight hint of tobacco. I found this Shiraz heavy going with its dry, spicy rioja style (perhaps because I've been drinking lighter reds over the last couple of months). Maybe as we move in to the winter months I will find my appetite for these heavier styles that stick to your tongue again, but I'm not ready just yet to face the winter months. Score: 14/20 

Tried and Tested - This Week's Staff Recommendations

Tenuta Musella

Musella - The splendid seventeenth century villa of Tenuta Musella is set within the beautiful, green hills of San Martino Buon Albergo close to Verona in one of the most picturesque vineyard regions in the Veneto. The vineyards cover three different hillside locations on south and west facing slopes which offer a remarkable differentiation of soil types; the Monte del Drago, Perlar and Palazzina hills.

The vineyards are planted with a mixture of indigenous and international varieties including, Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Barbera, Croatina, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Garganega. The estate produces an excellent white and rosé as well as a range of classic reds including a magnificent Ripasso and Amarone della Valpolicella. 

Wines were first made at Tenuta Musella by Cesare Trezza di Musella in the nineteenth century and the family continues to produce wines using traditional methods with a focus on expressing pure, natural fruit combined with the complexity from great terroir. In line with this philosophy, the estate is currently converting to biodynamic viticulture. The wines are very elegant and full of character, a very considerable step up from most Valpolicella, delivering incredible value for such exceptional quality.

Russell Wallace, General Manager

Valpolicella Superiore – Personally I love a Ripasso but for many the lighter flavours just work best in this basic model.  At £12.32 there is not a massive price difference to trade up to the Ripasso either.

Valpolicella Ripasso – The high cost and low yield of the Amarone essentially gives way to the Valpolicella Ripasso. Ripasso is not really a directly translatable term, but largely means revised or refreshed.  This points towards the use of the grape “must” or skins left over from the Amarone production in this wine.  They are mixed in during the wine-making process to impart a lot of the flavour of an Amarone into this wine.  As there is no drying process there is no loss of juice from which to make wine so the cost is significantly cheaper at £15.96.  It is common to expect the price to be about half and it is a wine I often call the smart man's Amarone.  The flavours if made well can be remarkably similar.  To put it another way, if you are paying the bill pick the Ripasso, if your boss or your friend is, pick the Amarone.

Amarone – This is the big boy, high ABV at 16%.  Amarone is made in a very unique way. Once harvested the grapes are first dried in the sun for several months this dehydrates the grapes and concentrates the flavours, sugars and general goodness!  It also means that there is less juice to extract and make the wine from hence the relatively high price tag of £30.11, which to be honest is quite good value for a quality example!

Dianne Younger, Company Administrator

Tenuta Musella Valpolicella Superiore 2011 - As soon as I opened the bottle loads of berry aromas filled the air. This wine is garnet in colour with a brown rim. Heavier on the palate than I imagined it would be, however after a few sips it becomes less heavy. I picked up lots of spice flavours in this wine along with the berries and oak, though with light tannins it doesn't last as long on the palate as I had thought it would. I would accompany this with a medium rare rump steak - no need for anything fancy with this wine. Score 15/20

Tenuta Musella Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso 2010 - Ruby red in colour this time with brownish-pink rim. Again, lots of berry aromas in this wine. On the palate the berry flavours are more intense and it is not as spicy as the last one - I would say that this one had better structure and a nicer berry flavours - the spice notes did not overpower the fruit as I felt they did in the Valpolicella. Score 17/20

Tenuta Musella Amarone 2008 - What can I say? Yumm! This was full of rich ripe berry aromas. Purple-red in colour with a brown-garnet rim. This wine went down a treat, smooth and rich on the palate - just beautiful. Definitely my favourite of the three I tasted. Again, no need for complicated food with this gorgeous wine - just a simply cooked medium rare steak and I'd be a very happy lady! Score 20/20

Clive Holroyd, Database Manager

Musella Valpolicella Superiore 2011 - This wine was hits the nose first with bright clean red fruit aromas. There is a slightly sweet taste to the wine, reminded me a little of ribena and a very clean finish with no after-taste. I found this a very drinkable uncomplicated red - what I think of as a good quaffing wine. Score 15/20

Musella Valpolicella Ripasso 2010 - Clean and bright red fruit aromas with a slight hit of alcohol suggesting a fuller bodied wine. The taste still has the red fruits but with a little less sweetness and more of a savoury smokiness. This wine has a very pleasant savoury after-taste. A very enjoyable medium bodied red that I would have happily carried on drinking if Russell wasn't so stingy with the tasting samples. Score 17/20

Musella Amarone 2009 - This is a completely different beast to the other two wines; it's a very deep red with tawny hints and prominent aromas of sherry. Very dry and astringent in the mouth with prune and raisin flavours. Reminded me of Madeira. Although not to my personal taste, if you like dry Sherry or Madeira this will appeal to you. Score 16/20

Tried and Tasted - this week's Staff Recommendations

Tiefenbrunner

This week, staff have been tasting three wines from the Tiefenbrunner Range.

Russell Wallace, General Manager

Mouthful wines from a mouthful of a vineyard! So at first glance at the name you would be forgiven for presuming this would be German or Austria wine we are discussing and out of fear or whatever else given them a wide berth. Well we implore you not to, instead ignore the vineyard/family name and think of these as just divine wines from the northernmost parts of Italy and we can continue. It is at this point that I need to tell you a little more about the Alto Adige homeland of these wines, bordering Austria & Switzerland and the Germanic influence of this Autonomous region. If we are honest though Wikipedia is likely to say it much more accurately and professionally than I so over to them! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trentino-Alto_Adige

In the family since the 1675 and named after the Castle Turmhof, it was only in the 1960’s that the current generation set the direction for the vineyard by bottling the estates wines for consumption off the premises. The dedication here is to maintaining and indeed showing off the relationship between varietal and the land resulting in fresh and voluptuous wines just full of character. I started off with the Pinot Grigio. It is a variety I enjoy, but I have to be honest in saying that I have had my opinion tainted by the bulk produced House wine and supermarket trash that has sullied this varieties reputation. In this example we see a delightfully simple refined wine, that would be a great pairing with simple fair, seafood salads perhaps. Quite a floral little number and not a hint of the over acidic qualities I associate with the lesser examples of this variety. Score 16/20

Then we move on to the Pinot Bianco. It is not a varietal I would pick off the shelves with great regularity, and again there is no real reason why I should not, other than fear of the unknown. Which is stupid as discoveries of the great unknown are, to me, some of the greatest blessings. I enjoyed trying the two white Pinot side by side (and indeed next up is a Pinot Nero), there was a similar fresh and voluptuous characteristic just with a more pronounced flavour in the Pinot Bianco. This is where we definitely step more firmly into food friendly wine territory, my thoughts being a rich lobster dish or maybe even a bouillabaisse type dish! The floral notes gave way in this case to a more crisp apple with just a gentle touch of the tropics about it. Score 17/20

Then it was on to the Pinot Nero with nero being the same in Italian as noir is in French so to simplify things, and that is my basic desire in wine, in essence we are talking Pinot Noir and if you didn’t already guess that the divine light characteristic colour should hint at it straight away. The actual wine was a real mouthful. This is not a delicate sip it by itself sort of wine, it really needs a nice game dish to enjoy it with. So try a bottle with friends, but I do not see this as a wine to enjoy a few bottles of on the sofa on its own. A new discovery for me and yet another wine that really can rival some of the worlds best Pinot Noir! Score 18/20

Leanne Brodie, Data Administration Assistant

Pinot Bianco - Really, really enjoyed this wine. Fresh tasting, nice and light and very refreshing! Tastes really fruity, would say the flavours are very tropical like. Ideal for summer drinking at a BBQ or with a nice crisp salad. I will definitely be having a bottle or two of this one. Score 20/20

Pinot Nero - Again a lovely wine which I also enjoyed. This one again has a summer feel with lovely smells of summer berries. Lovely and smooth with flavours of strawberries. Easy drinking! I had this one with a chicken pasta dish and it seemed to work well. Score 20/20

Pinot Grigio - Didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the Pinot Bianco, but was still delicious. Slightly heavier maybe. Strong aromas of citrus fruit. Nice and smooth to drink. I found this to have quite a zesty taste to it. Score 17/20

Ally Moir, Exel Wines Shop

Pinot Bianco - Lots of fruit on the nose and mouth, lovely taste of ripe pears, not much on follow through though. Best served well chilled. Great for a sunny afternoon though perhaps a little bit on the expensive side. Score 15.5/20

Pinot Grigio - Not quite so fruity as the Bianco – in fact a little bit creamy with hints of vanilla. Again a bit light on finish and equally as good on a sunny day, also slightly on the expensive side. Score 15/20

Pinot Nero -  I’m a big fan of Pinot Noir and was therefore looking forward to this - it didn’t disappoint. Initially there’s a taste of strawberries and what to me was like white pepper – I loved it (my wife didn’t). From here things got even better as I matched it with a creamy blue cheese – the effect was excellent all of the flavours enhanced and morphed in to an overall depth of fruit cream and just enough light tannin to make you want more. Score 18/20