It’s that time again. Time to inspire me to spend more money on drinks, even though the WineArk cabinet can’t be closed properly and the Amex is maxed out.
So, what wine, beer, and other refreshing liquids have you been buying and drinking this month?
The long-promised cellar clean-out happened this month, which meant sending off a wad of wines to Langtons (quite a bit of Mt Edelstone and older Barolo because the prices are insane given what I paid, and I have mixed feelings about the wines). Happily, this means I can now fill the newly created holes! There’s already some 2023 Domenica & Kumeu River Chardonnay on the way, and I’ll probably buy 2023 Hunter reds next. There is also a pressing need (NEED!) for more Champagne/fizz, and that’s never a cheap exercise.
What about you? What have you been buying?
Meanwhile, multiple fine bottles were emptied this month, with Mrs Ozwinereview’s bday a very worthy excuse to open the good stuff.
I really enjoyed the effortlessness of this Pierre Gimmonet Special Club Chouilly Grand Cru 2015, among other things. It is refined in a wonderful Blanc de Blanc mode. It may be a little on the lighter side, but I’d happily take the delicacy any day.
The Tyrrell’s HVD Semillon 2017 opened alongside was barely entering its drinking window. A strident Semillon star, with the power and green fruited intensity of a big year, with just a whisper of toast creeping in. Oh yes, you can see that it will be a superstar, and it was probably dumb to open it now (but I have minimal regrets; I have more).
Meanwhile, a proper current vintage Chardonnay face-off was next on the agenda and this was pretty confounding. An Australian Chardonnay that looked lean next to a classic Chablis? Twilight zone. I was whelmed by the Eastern Peake Chardonnay 2022 and found myself looking for another degree of ripeness. It’s a bony wine built up by winemaking artifice, with great acidity and fancy style but a missing middle.
By contrast, the Christophe et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu 2022 was a welcome return to Chablis town. Wet stones, white peach, freshness, ripe fruit and plenty of joy. Still, threatening to get a little stonefruity, but ultimately resolving into Chablis classicness. Australia 0 France 1.
Finally, the Jean-Baptiste Souillard Saint-Joseph 2021 belonged to a different decade. It was no more than 12.5% alcohol, and it screamed ‘I’m so Rhoney’ with this beautiful, lithe, but slightly early-picked Syrah flourish. Leaf litter, mulch, purple fruit, ham, and black pepper, all delivered in a just medium-bodied and cool thing that feels like how some of the old Hermitage wines of the 1980s might have looked. I liked it, without loving it, appreciating the cool lines and infinite cellarability.
What else? Well, a few passing tastes are worth mentioning here, too. The Suenen C + C Blanc d Blancs Extra Brut NV (2023 disgorgement) was the runaway highlight of a grand grower Champagne tasting that featured Larmander Bernier, Egly Ouriet, Laherte Freres, and a shedload more. I know little about this maker, but the profound beauty of this stunning BdB was unmistakable. It’s Champagne, in all its purity, but with Burgundian feels (without oxidative wildness). I can feel my credit card balance draining more with every sip, luring me into buying some.
Closer to home, earlier this week I had a very quick run-through of the top By Farr bottlings with Nick Farr. The quantities are tiny, but the 2022s have epic written all over them. The By Farr GC Chardonnay 2022 was less exciting for me as it looked wrapped up too tight in an oak and itself. Come back later! Compare that to the open flourish of the superb By Farr RP Pinot Noir 2022 or the stem and tannin framed power of the By Farr Tout Pres Pinot Noir 2022. Love By Farr? The 2022s are going to win you over easily.
On Tuesday, there was also a lineup of 2022 Dr Loosen Grosses Gewächs Riesling in there too. It’s easy to get blase about how everywhere the Dr Loosen wines can be, but the three Riesling releases I tried (Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Ürziger Würzgarten & Erdener Treppchen) were exceptionally intense expressions of grand German dry white. They’re not even that expensive, given the unmistakeable quality, either.
Finally, or something completely different, there was a brief look at two stunning whites from the Azores Wine Company. The vineyards here (on the Azores islands) sit at the very extreme end of viticulture, with tiny bush vines stuck into cracks in the volcanic rock. The basket-pruned Assyrtiko vines on Santorini are wild (and worth a visit), but this looks next level.
I absolutely loved the Azores Wine Company Verdelho O Original 2022 with its remarkable saline tang and unexpected crystalline beauty. Made from a clone of Verdelho that likes a sexy, distant cousin of the workhorse Verdelho we have in Australia, this Verdelho tasted more like the exceptional Assytriko of Santorini than anything else. Two enthusiastic thumbs up from me. The Arinto was not quite as provocative, but that punctuating, nervy volcanic energy runs through it too.
But enough about me and my obsession with vital white wines. What have you been drinking this October 2024?
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