Blue Pyrenees Chardonnay 2007 (Pyrenees, Victoria)
RRP $20, Stelvin Lux
I was once a massive fan of this winery – such delicious, intensely flavoured wines at excellent prices. The premium Chardonnay in particular was a stunner. Then they just disappeared back into the Pyrenees (On that, what is happening with Knights Granite Hills of late? Another great winery MIA).

Anyway this turned back up again with some new packaging and resplendent in a Stelvin Lux, which I have decided is tacky and cheap looking, not to mention looks more fragile on the inside with its rubber threads looking rather fallible.

This Chardonnay though is quite good – A rather brassy, old school style with some rich nougat fruit on a leesy, worked bouquet. Its rich, a little too oaky, but impressively concentrated with some lovely cool climate fruit on display.

Interesting to see this in another yrs time – Its a little chubby and obvious at the moment, but there is no doubting the fruit intensity. 17/20

Blue Pyrenees Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (Pyrenees, Victoria)
RRP $20, Stelvin Lux
If you don’t like Eucalypt (and many don’t) tune out now. For the nose announces its regionality with a flourish. The nose is minty, slightly oaky but there is clearly dark berry fruit in there as well. On the palate their is spearmint, blackberry, black plum skins and then tannins, tannins tannins! Its like a tannic bomb is dropped somewhere in the mid palate and it then explodes, flooding your mouth with mouth closing tannins that are only just ripe. There is fruit in there too, but it is locked away behind the tannins.

So if you like old school Victorian reds and have some patience, this wine is for you. It may take yrs for the tannins to resolve (actually this may live for decades), but there is unquestionably fruit underneath it. If you don’t like a bit of greenness or don’t ‘do’ Eucalypt in wines, skip it completely. This gets a Silver Medal for its intensity at least. 17.2/20