The Five Minute Wine Rush Higher Plane Cabernet Merlot 2007   This stunning red blend from the MR region of Western Australia takes me to a higher plane. Dazzling fruit, plums, cherries, red fruits, young buzzing zesty alive fruit, not overly ripe just right spice and a spectacular array of aromas evolving from the glass minute by minute, blow by blow, upon the olfactory senses. The smoothness velvety seamlessness on the mouthfeel is just so delicious and shows off how the time in the bottle is making this an even better drop each day. Its ultimate day has not yet come, with a few good years to come. Regrettably this bottle’s time has come but trust me it has all gone to a good home. Try this with slow roasted pork ribs with Asian spices.   Drink to 2015. About $30. 94/100 – Excellent. Cowra Estate Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc 2009   The tasting room is not gushing full of Chardonnay SB blends so the intrigue factor kicked in here. The upfront luscious fulsomeness of the Chardonnay reflects its long origins at CE back to 1973. The Chardonnay gives body, the SB its structure and a touch of elegance. Together it is quite a fresh and uplifting white blend that marries well with a range of cuisines, like Malay chicken curry. It cuts through solid flavours well whilst imparting its own robust character as well.   Drink Now. Alc 12.5%. About $18. 87/100 – Good.    Hungerford Hill Fishcage Shiraz 2009   The label has changed and a classy job it is. Now that it has drawn me to it, I must say the youthful vibrant and fresh contents really give a me a jolt. Here I am it says with lashings of blue and black fruits from Southern NSW, liquorice, light herbs, spicy plums. A robust substantial red with grainy tannins and young oak. Will go the distance but drinks remarkably well for a young gun. And comes up trumps on the value stakes as well. Try it with greek lamb with lemon and oregano.   Drink to 2015. About $18. Alc 14.5%. 90/100 – Very Good.   Xanadu Next Of Kin Cabernet Sauvignon 2008   I have the words of an old Wham eighties hit buzzing through my mind as I review this wine, augmented by it playing on the radio behind me. What’s the connection you ask – well this is a young gun of a red. Well it has youthful exuberance, fun, excitement and a buzz about it which are its commonalities. This red, fresh and vibrant from the Xanadu label is just about enjoying what it offers right now, no pretensions, and bringing out the best in you. Try it with chicken and leek pie.   Drink Now. About $15. 14.0%. 88/100 – Very Good.   Pike & Joyce Sauvignon Blanc 2009   There is a lovely sweetness, ripe fruitiness in this white made from Lenswood Adelaide Hills. I am not suggesting it is some dessert wine but rather it exhibits the rich ripe lush fruit – polished deliciously yummy at that. Succulent pears, passionfruit, peaches and melon, there is a dazzling array of fruit here that tantalises the palate and tastebuds. Soft lively and uplifting, it is a very good pick me up white to serve with spaghetti with pancetta.   About $20. Alc 13.5%. Drink Now. 88/100 – Very Good. Deen De Bortoli Vat 6 Verdelho 2009   Verdelho and Asian food are a very good match. The medium bodiedness of the Verdelho goes with the array of classic Asian spices. Musk, tropical fruits and citrus limes and lemons all make for a white that knows its place and makes it mark in a way that delivers presence and substance. I like the well rounded deliciousness here and the way it delivers the fruit characters well with lively fresh acidity. Try it with Malaysian chicken curry.   Drink Now. About $12. 13.5%. 86/100 – Good.   Brokenwood Hunter Valley Semillon 2009   Semillon will never win the wine varietal of the year award. It is not promoted, or received as trendy, sexy, wine of the moment nor flashy. Sadly it does have some of those characteristics and also some runs on the board to be called at least some of these, but nevertheless it always seems to play the bridesmaid to the veritable bride of the moment. Grassy, lemony, lemongrassy, this is light and zesty and dry and full of upfrontness. Here I am it says, regrettably however not a lot of people are paying attention. If they were, they would embrace the invigorating fulsomeness and the food versatility that it has and oh and that it comes from our very own Hunter Valley where some of the world’s best examples are produced, oh and from Brokenwood, who know a thing or two about quality Semillon. Enough anyway, now back to your Pinot Gris and Savvy Blancs, but don’t say I’d didn’t try and tell you so or sway you across. Try it with chicken schnitzel topped with ham and cheese and a napolitana sauce.   Drink Now. About $18. Alc 11.0%. 90/100 – Very Good.   Harcourt Valley Sightings Cabernet Shiraz 2008   An interesting well blended classic Aussie blend that delivers lineal smooth clear fruit characters, varietal, spicy and cool climate in a way that accentuates the good parts of both the Cabernet and also the Shiraz. Go the Cabernet Shiraz I say, go you good thing. Medium bodied, great with food, delivering long berry fruit flavours with integrated oak and fine tannins. Try it with beef and mushroom pie.   Drink Now. About $25. 14.0%. 87-88/100- Good/ Very Good.  Stella Artois Premium Lager   This is my current favourite beer and its from Belgium. Imported, really imported and not made here under licence, this premium lager delivers the goods on all levels, structure, flavour and length of finish. Lighter fresh and sweetish, the malty tang just comes across the palate finely and imparts the classic Stella Artois taste. Refreshing, invigorating and replenishing after a long week and to help celebrate a new financial year.   Drink Now. About $16 for a six pack. Alc 5%. Excellent.   Sarantos Soft Press Moscato 2010   This light effervescent sweet white Moscato is a breath of fresh air amongst all those big bully boy reds that tend to dominate at this time of the year. Light flighty and yet invigorating on the palate, the free run juice is just delightful drinking pleasantly so and accompanies a range of cuisines such as Burmese and Vietnamese. Light in alcohol, it doesn’t leave a buzz in the head the next morning, indeed it is moreish and guilt free in any indulgence in a few extra glasses.   Drink Now. About $15. Alc 5.5%. 86/100 – Good.   Bobbie Burns Shiraz 2008   Don’t mind saying I gave this a nudge the other night. Be it the cold weather, be it the beef bourguignon I cooked to go with it, or was it just the fact it is just so smooth and deliciously moreish, that the glass seemed perpetually empty. Anyway the contents of the bottle went away far too fast for my liking. The rich robust ripeness of the fruit is just stunning, not cloying or overdone or overly warm, indeed the balance (and purity) of the Rutherglen fruit is what really impresses here. The winemaking is pretty good but it is the fruit where all the action is. The Campbells should be proud of this release and at the price point of around $20, it is definitely value drinking.   Drink to 2018. About $20. Alc 14.5%. 91-92/100 – Excellent.   Schild Alma Reserve Chardonnay 2006   This is just stunning drinking and really shows how regions like Barossa that are renowned for their reds can make dazzling whites that make you stand to attention and test your preconceptions. I love the way this Chardonnay has developed in the bottle and how the maturity has just lifted it to another level whilst still maintaining its varietal and regional nuances and origins and also delivering a freshness and resilience in its overall structure. The flavours are supple and not OTT, but they are distinctively Chardonnay. There is more in store here but seriously this is drinking just so well now. And the price, did I mention the price. A real Reserve wine here folks, not a pretender. The Schilds do it again here with this one. Try this with pan fried pork medallions stuffed in mozzarella and wrapped in prosciutto with sage cream sauce.     $20. Alc 14.0%. Drink to 2015. 94/100 – Excellent.   Mulyan Block 9 Shiraz Viognier 2007   Cold weather means red wine, red wine and almost exclusively red wine around here. A good solid robust red wine here from Cowra in central NSW. I like the smoothness and liqueryness of the fruit, the Viognier has done its work well here. The wine has an intensity to it, though it is not overdone, over-ripe or too fruit driven. Balance is the key here and it delivers well on that front. The oak provides a good backbone. Liquorice, aniseed, star anise and cinnamon make their secondary character appearance adding a savoury dimension to the palate and delicious mouthfeel. Very good with beef ribs.   14.2%. About $25. Now to 2015. 90/100 – Very Good.   Wolf Blass Gold Label Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2008   This Chardonnay gets extra marks for not even making it to the testing table from the tasting bench. No it’s not a sympathy vote in case you think I dropped the bottle on the way or something. No, it seems to pass the not going to make it to the dinner table test because everyone in the household has had more than their share before I even got to it. As much I like to taste my wine with food to validate and augment my opinions, regrettably this drop is never going to get that far. I am sure it is a good food wine, but at the mo, it is a crowd pleaser, which at the end of the day is what counts. Varietal and regional, I will minimise the wine buzz words down to damn fine wine drinking and please bring me another bottle.    Drink Now to 2012. 13.0%. About $26. 91-92/100 – Excellent.   Maygars Hill Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2006   Red red red, deep dark brooding red, this really excites with all its robustness, spiciness and fruit focus. It is really tempered however in that no one element dominates over the other. There is a seamlessness that really tantalises the palate with its intricacy and class and yet lets the dominant spicy fruit really shine through. A nice Winter red that will go with a motza of different cuisines. Try it pan fried pork with prosciutto, sage and mozzarella.   Drink to 2016. About $25. Alc 14.0%. 91/100 - Excellent   Bloodwood Big Men In Tights Rose`2008   This matched up a treat with some grilled haloumi cheese and then some shoulder of lamb greek style the other night. It was indeed one of those divine pairings of food and wine, the food and wine carrying through together from course to course, versatile and adaptive with the overall synergy making each even better. Blood fire engine red, the colour just dazzles and you swirl it round and round until it looks like a siren on that fire truck. You can tell the fire-fighter in me comes out on these occasions. Anyway this has fun and unpretentiousness written all over it and I thoroughly enjoyed it with my meal. The time in the bottle has only mellowed it out nicely with a smoothness and softness that just delights.   Drink to 2011. About $20. 92/100 – Excellent.   Five Oaks Yarra Merlot 2008   It’s trendy to bag Merlot in wine writing circles. It’s not that it’s a really hard wine to make, it’s just that it seems really good Merlots seem to be few and far between. In reality we should be making plenty of Merlots and it suits our warmer climate and compliments the vast range of cuisines we have out there in the land of Oz. Ask me to name my top 10 Merlots and regrettably I struggle along with the rest of my wine scribe mates. Plummy succulent luxuriant fruit, fine tannins, lightly imparted oak, not jammy but not lean green either, this one by Wally Zuk hits my mark. Nice drinking with oven baked pizza on a hot rock, black olives and anchovies.   Drink Now to 2013. Alc 14.5%. About $30. 89-90/100 – Very Good. Verdun Park Wines Lyla Sauvignon Blanc 2009   Cool climate Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc works on all levels, classy sharp and refined in one dimension and yet retaining all the gushy juicy fresh full flavoured fruit on the other. I like how the tropical and citrus fruits entertwines here together making for a very defined presence on the palate. The acidity is just right and marries in with the fruit well. Together they dance all over the dance floor poised and in control. Try this with pork belly slow cooked with Asian spices.   About $18. 12.0%. Drink Now. 91/100 – Excellent.   Kingston Estate Echelon Petit Verdot 2007   There is nothing petit about this. Having said I am not saying it is some big warm blockbuster of an alcoholic of a wine at that. Indeed it has a maturity and smoothness to it. A bit grown up and a wine that you could quite nicely snug up to in a comfortable lounge chair, whilst smoking a big fat Cuban cigar, cigar den style and imbibing on a deep rich intense smooth red wine. I like the inherent substance and gravitas that this wine carries through from aroma to mouthfeel, with big rich ripe fruit yet imparted smoothly and with a long smoky cigar box set of nuances as well. Nice red wine drinking.   About $25. Drink to 2015. Alc 14.0%. 91/100 – Excellent. Gracebrook Vineyards Sagrantino 2008   Let’s play wine word association test. Umbria, wine, music and place, cherries, liquorice, 2000 year old Colosseum, Christmas, grilled pork with Verde sauce, spicy plums, light succulent, seamless, olive groves, burnt olive vines, hilltops, place, time, growing something, delightful smooth soft seamless, food, more food, people, fun, seven course degustation, memories, Italy, Australia, a bridge, home, King Valley, impeccably food focused and friendly. Top shelf Italian like wine drinking from a respected King Valley producer. Well done. Thank you for the memories.      About $18. Alc 13.1%. Drink Now. 93/100 – Excellent.   Postcode 2582 Shiraz 2008   2582 is the postcode for Murrumbateman in Canberra. You get it by now I gather then. The Eather brothers of Meeerea Park Hunter Valley fame in their endeavour to deliver varietal and regional wines of reflectiveness and ease of drinking have produced this very decent red. I like the way it makes you concentrate on the origins of the wine, the influence of time and place as well as the way that it glides so easily down the throat once the contemplation is over. A nice savoury edge to complement the fruitiness, this delivers well on many fronts. Try it with chicken and olive and thyme pie.   About $18. Alc 14.0%. Drink to 2015. 88/100 – Very Good. Xanadu Next of Kin Chardonnay 2009   Who says you have to pay a motza for a good WA chardonnay. The people at Xanadu are certainly delivering bang for buck here with this delightful easy drinking youthful Chardonnay that is full of character, flavours, smooth oak, and fullsome peaches and melons as well as light cream. Lots of oohs and ahhs around me and particularly once they saw the price tag on the back. Very nice stuff at a very nice price. Try this with prawns saganaki.   About $18. Drink Now. 90/100 – Very Good.   Kay Brothers Amery Vineyards Block 6 Shiraz 2007     I like the history and the story attached to this wine and its makers, all 115 years worth. The Block 6 is the creme della creme of their production. Hand picked, given the full works treatement – the old fashioned tried and true way, no expense spared red wine this is, from none other than the McLaren Vale. A more elegant classy Block 6, tighter finer tannins, integrated cedary oak, seamless fruit well married and lashings of black and red fruit to make for that usual delcious and enjoyable drinkingong lingering finish and abundant fine tannins. Long haul drinking and very comfortable seating and accompaniements at that. Try it with wagyu beef medallions.   About $60. Alc 13.5%. Drink to 2017 plus. 92/100 – Excellent. Penley Estate Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2006   Estate grown, reserve, Coonawarra – it is has all the right words on the label. Made by Kym Tolley and with good fruit, oak and alcohol, the expectations are always high of this $50 plus red. This one is leaner and more refined in style than I am used to. The big robust ballsy Cabernet is not there, instead it is a more restrained tighter finer red than usual. And I also think it is still in its infancy, a touch of raw oak, a touch of young grainy tannins. As far as I am concerned, it needs more time to develop and maybe regular annual tastings for a few more years, not hard work really. Try it with char grilled steak.   Drink to 2016 plus. 15.0%. About $50. 90/100 – Very Good.   Jim Barry Clare Red Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2006   I enjoyed how the balance of this red carried through the palate. Lightness and yet with a presence, balanced, well put together. Enough fruit and yet also with dark chocolate and liquorice coming through as well as the classic and dominant forest floor fruits. The structure is lighter and more refined, the age is helping it all along. A foodies wine. Try it with oven baked penne in a ragu sauce with eggplant and peas.   About $20. Alc 14.5%. Drink Now. 90/100 – Very Good.   Gracebrook Vineyards The Stables Chardonnay 2009   Been drinking a run of wines lately where the balance is just so spot on. I take my hat off to the current generation of winemakers who really understand the need to temper and balance the fruit, acidity, alcohol, oak and other components in their wines so as to deliver measured drinking, not overdone not over ripe, not over oaked and not unpleasant to drink on their own. This Chardonnay ticks all the boxes just right and smooth delicious soft mellow varietal Chardonnay drinking ensues. Nice work. Try it with slow roasted quail.   About $20. 13.5%. Drink to 2012. 91/100 – Excellent.   Gundog Estate Shiraz 2008   Matt Burton is the winemaker so we are in good hands, I like Matt Burton made wines because he understands drinkability and balance. And for me these are really important in wine tasting and especially red wine making. Canberra Shiraz this is, from fruit from the Dahlberg family vineyard ( I like it when I’m told where it comes from and who made it and it is credited). This is pure dark subtle fruit, not OTT, not in your face, instead quite tight and intense yet not overly done or robust. Spicy but yet not overly so, a smooth length not velvety but finely knit. Nice stuff with roast beef with parsley dumplings. Cellar door only I just noticed.   Drink to 2016. Alc – 13.5%. About $25. 90/100 – Very Good.   De Bortoli Estate Grown Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2008   A really evocative array of classic Pinot characters flood the senses from the glass. Strawberries, raspberries, forest floor, cinnamon spice, rhubarb and cherries, the spicy fruit essences resonate all over the place. Smooth sexy fruit, enticing and appealingly so. Seamless oak, fine integrated tannins, very good winemaking here, the fruit is the show off and indeed has plenty of good reasons to shine. Soft well rounded right to the very end. Try with thin crusted pizza with smoky ham and field mushrooms.   About $38. 13.0%. Drink to 2015. 91/100 – Excellent. Pike and Joyce Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir 2008   I said to people around me, try this, this will be good, trust me. They say, oh, I don’t know, I don’t normally like Pinot Noir,  it’s too light, its different, it’s not my type of red, its expensive, it’s this and that, yadda yadda yadda. I say, just try it, trust me and give it a go, then if you don’t like it, you can move on, having at least given the palate development side of you a tad more wine education for the time being. Surprising however, not for me may I add, when the oohs and ahhs come out saying, yer, you’re right this is different and not bad at all at all, oh and can you pour me another glass. Anyway the fact that it is Pinot Noir from the Pike and Joyce stable does help I admit, they are a synergy of winemakers and winegrowers who understand the product well and get the purity of fruit right as well as the winemaking needed to get the balance around so many issues that are required of good Pinot. A lovely wine balanced in every aspect. There, I have done my good wine deed of the day. Try it with cassoulet with pork belly, lamb and cannelloni beans.   Drink to 2013. Alc 14.0%. About $35. 91/100 – Excellent. Higher Plane Chardonnay 2008   The word classic is overused in wine writing. I certainly have done my share and probably more than my share of describing a wine as a classic in my time. Classic this, classic that, makings of a classic, this is classic drinking and so on and on. But seriously this Margaret River Chardonnay is just that. Classic wine, classic drinking and a classic MR Chardonnay that will be so for quite a few years to come. And yes I whilst I do have other words in my wine vocabulary to describe it I shall choose not to in this case. Hand picked, minimal intervention, low yields for the purists, for the hedonists I tell you it is pure indulgence and luxuriant drinking. Try it with a homemade butter chicken.   14.0%. Drink to 2013. About $33. 92-93/100 – Excellent. Dominique Portet Yarra Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2009   A lot softer mellower and more supple than I anticipated. Was looking for crisp sharpness and freshness and upfront characters, instead what I get is more tempered and measured. Lemons, limes, apples, green peas and straw, light in structure, soft acidity and mellow on the finish. Easy drinking. Try this with grilled prawns.   Drink Now. About $20. Alc 13.0%. 87/100 – Good.   Sandalford Cabernet Sauvignon 2005   This is still an infant, not an infant terribles however, a well mannered one, a youthful one, a young and exuberant one, one full of life despite its near five years of age. I like youthful reds especially those that aren’t raw. This exudes classic raspberry, currants, mulberries and spicy plums, underpinned by liquorice, aniseed and coffee oak. I like the nice cut in structure it makes along with the fine tannins and youthful oak that it imparts on the palate. Smooth fruit and yet with distance on its radar. Try it with pork spare ribs, slow cooked with Asian spices.   Drink to 2020. About $25. Alc 14.5%. 91/100 - Excellent.     Jeanneret Doozie Riesling 2008   I looked up the colloquial definition of doozie and got thoroughly stuffed in terms of being able to put it into any witty or otherwise context for the purposes of this review. Thank goodness the wine actually triggered some scope to write some words, albeit less witty. Luscious limes, cordial like, not overly sweet but ripe limes lineal and yet velvety so, mouth enriching. Effervescent, lightly so in its composition, lightly so as I said, but adding to its overall tang. I like the strong flavours, the length that goes on and on and on, the overall smoothness as well as the developing lemon pub squash character, lightly bitter as well, quinnine like. Try it with spaghetti carbonara.   12.0%. Drink to 2013. About $16. 91/100 – Excellent.   Brokenwood Beechworth Pinot Noir 2008   Beechworth is in the Alpine region of northern Victoria. A somewhat unexpected level of big ripeness and well roundedness emerges from the aromas with solid cherries, plums and currants. Some underlying liquorice and spiciness but the fruit is doing all the talking. Smooth and long, it delivers a good mouthfeel of flavours, fruit laden. Try it with roast duck pancakes.   About $30. Alc 14.0%. Drink Now. 87/100 – Good.   Madfish Gold Turtle Flint Rock Chardonnay 2009   This bolted out the gate so to speak. It was upfront, oak influenced, sharp and punchy in its initial approach. It caught me unaware as I was expecting something more refined and tighter but interestingly with sometime in the glass, it settled down and picked up these characteristics. Tangy fruit remains, well influenced leesiness, nectarine, light figs, cashews, honeysuckle and apples all ensue. The palate captivates with a dazzling array of flavours, all classically Chardonnay. Try it with tangine chicken and green olives.  Drink to 2014. About $30. Alc 13.0%. 91/100 – Excellent.   Swinging Bridge Canowindra Central Ranges Shiraz 2008   Decent honest red wine drinking from the Central West region of NSW. Boutique wine making from Tom Ward and Chris Derez, means this is classy cool climate red wine with good spiciness, edgy oak, substance on the palate and smooth robust cherry, blackberry, blackcurrant and coffee mocha characters right to the end. Has some time left in it yet and good with a Winter stew.   Drink to 2016. About $20. 14.1%. 87/100 – Good.   Juniper Crossing Rose` 2009   A tad frantic in getting this one written up as I would hate the 2010 vintage to hit my desk before getting this into print. Call it the last of the Summer wine, the time in the bottle, and on our tasting bench hasn’t hurt this  at all. Indeed I like the lush fresh watermelon lift that this has all the way through. Made in the saignee method,  it is soft tempered gentile and yet still imparted with succulence and character to the end. I await the 10. Try it with marinated pork Vietnamese style.   Drink Now. About $18. 13.5%. 88/100 – Very Good.  Cullen Mangan 2008   Vanya Cullen really does blending ever so well and here this mix of Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec, is done just so effortlessly that it just subsumes the senses and palate, not in an intense or substantive way, but rather with subtly, refinement and elegance. I like the wine’s lightness, integrated parts, seamlessness and lineal delivery in mouthfeel. Purity of fruit is accentuated, winemaking skills in imparting the oak treatment just right and a restraint and underlying sense of power inherent in the fruit that will evolve in its own way to define its Margaret River origins and the Cullen brand of synergy over the next dozen years or so. The only problem I have with it is that I imagine it will be very difficult to keep this in the cellar for the fruits of time to take effect as opposed to the dining table. Buy lots of it I say to solve this problem and avoid disappointment. Really top shelf winemaking here folks.   Drink to 2018. Alc 13.0%, spot on. About $45. 95/100 – Superb.   Pikes Gill’s Farm Viognier 2009   I don’t mind Viognier, I like Chardonnays and Rieslings and aged Semillons, so aromatics and substance in a white wine do it for me, so the French influenced, and I don’t mind things French either I might also add, Viognier as a varietal was always going to get an audience with me. Not all wineries have embraced it as much as Pinot Gris/ Grigio as an emerging and suited alternative varietal to Australian conditions but I like the food friendly compatibility of it as well as its drinkability both with food and on its own. Grown in a more cooler climate like Polish Hill that this one is, makes it a classy more structured white, but yet not taking away from its inherent substantive qualities. Anyway Pikes have got it right again here with this one, as this delivers fresh crisp and yet succulent fruit flavours abundantly and yet with a finesse and a light smoothness to the end of its finish. Try it with grilled chicken satay.   Drink to 2013. About $23. Alc 13.5%. 92/100 – Excellent. Penley Estate Phoenix Cabernet Sauvignon 2008   I look forward to tasting the Penley reds each year. They are so drinkable, balanced, seamless and well integrated that even in their youth they delight the senses and especially the palate with their full flavours, smoothness, ripeness and yet also strong backbone, auguring well for the future. Yes they will develop for years to come, but I like the way they come across now. Yes you get some youthful exuberance, some youthful sweetish coconutty oak and some edginess to it, but there clear focus is lineal smooth and just right drinking now. Celebrating 20 vintages is no mean feat and it reflects through the consistency and value that this wine offers each release. Bring me more I say.   Drink to 2018. About $20. 15.0%. 92-93/100 – Excellent. Tyrrell’s Old Winery Pinot Grigio 2009   Well done to whoever put this wine together because you got the varietal characters just right. I know from the first sip that I am drinking a Pinot Grigio and not a Pinot Gris and the integrity of the wine is not lost even long after it trickles down the back of my throat. Firm crisp and with a solid backbone, the classy pears, apples, citrus lemons and light frangipani all make their presence felt. Good solid drinking. Try it with grilled chicken salad.     Drink to 2013. About $13. 12.5%. 91/100 – Excellent.   Brokenwood Cricket Pitch Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon 2009   Tangy zesty limes shooting all over the place. Citrus fruit galore, bright, lively and crisp, the lines of fruit are in sync with a good lineal clean structure. I enjoy the buzz of it all. Light straw, passionfruit vines, green peas and a hint of asparagus add to the core of this white blend. Nice easy drinking with Thai stir fried vegetables and tofu. Decent affordable drinking, as reliable as they come.   About $20. Alc 12.0%. Drink Now. 89/100 – Very Good.   Majella Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2008   As a youthful vibrant and exuberant red, this is a classic wine in the making. At this stage it can be no more than this. Yes I can prophesise a long term future for it but the hedonist in me is thoroughly devouring and enjoying it right now. The fruit is just majestic, succulent fullsome robust in one dimension and yet with a regalness elegance and finesse in another. The best of both worlds await here. Purity of fruit just leaps at you, youthful liquorice oak, finely imparted and a velvetiness that just covers and allows the drop to just glide down the throat. Really good stuff, a classic varietal Coonawarra cabernet in the making. Top stuff. Try it with baked lamb.   Drink to 2020. Alc 15.0% (undiscernible). About $30. 95/100 – Superb.     Moss Wood Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2008   Made from Dromana Mornington grapes, the smoothness ripeness and overall fulsomeness strikes you with this Pinot Noir. There is a lot of substance happening here  and this may surprise some who are expecting a fragrant rose, and instead are confronted by more vigorous and pronounced aromas and flavours. Robust sweet fresh plums, ripe cherries, allspice, blackberries and light milk chocolate find their way through. Fine tannins, good spicy oak and flavours flooding the mouthfeel make this an interesting Pinot.  Try it with roast pork.   About $60. Alc 13.5%. 90/100 -Very Good.   Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay 2008   This is more fullsome than I expected. I suppose I should learn to keep an open mind when assessing wines I know well, but there is less refineness and elegance here and more substance and gravitas in turn than I am used to with this stalwart white. It makes it no less as one of Australia’s leading Chardonnay’s at the end of the day, the difference is ultimately difference in it very self. More butterscotch, more cashew oak, more lusciousness, evolving and enveloping succulent classic lightly tangy varietal fruit, still pure, fresh and invigorating but with more oomph and vigour to it overall. Creamy lightly rich even essences of honey, the palate still dazzles and tantalises with deliciousness. I like it and reference it in my own wine catalogue wine mind as an older fashioned Chardonnay sort of way but yet at the same time modern influences emerging. It has a future to it that will develop upon the fruit maturity that is already evolving now. Try it with crayfish.   Drink to 2014. About $75. Alc 14.0%. 94/100 – Excellent. Domaine Chandon Chardonnay 2008   Have had a dream run of wines for tasting lately, and this one is no exception. It again is so typical of the excellent quality and consistency of the Chandon Chardonnay releases. The creamy smooth purity of the classic varietal fruit shines through beautifully. Peach melon figs, light honey, tropical notes, cashews and double cream right to the end. The class and elegance is there shining through the lively fresh abundant fruit. I love the way it coats the tongue, invigorates and rewards right to the last drop. Polish the bottle off I say, with someone you like , along with a bucket of fresh Crystal Bay prawns.   Drink to 2013. Alc 13.0%. About $28. 92/100 – Excellent.   Yering Station Cabernet Sauvignon 2008   Classy stuff this Yarra Valley Cabernet, especially when it is ripe, rich and fruit driven. You see it already has an inherent refineness and elegance to it, but the ripeness and spiciness and fulsomeness, well that just makes it so much more drinkable. Play with it in your mouth and the seamless velvety richness just so gloriously coats the throat. Smoky oak, ever so cedary, integrated with the plums, succulent and liqueur as well as cherries, fresh and sweet, and long coffee mocha flavours right to the end. The structure and tannins augur for more, there is a nice alcohol warmth right at the very end but for me, it is just right now. Try it with grilled cevpaki sausages.   About $28. Drink to 2015. 14.5%. 91-92/100 – Excellent.