Wineland Live!

Finally we are there!

With a few minor things remaining Wineland.net.au is now live online.


In coming month we will continue listing new products from our wine producers from every corner of Australia and beyond.

Wineland would like to thank all of our suppliers for there patience and look forward to working with you all.

Wineland would also like to welcome our customers  to keep an eye on our blog and if you would like us review a product drop us a line wineland@wineland.net.au

Wineland Blog returning soon

To Bloggers and readers alike.

After an absence of many months the blog is returning soon and with that Wineland.net.au is launching in coming days.
We will showcase one brand every week made by a real winemaker and none of this home brand liquid flooding the market.
Wineland wants you to enjoy real wine by real winemakers and if there is anything you require just drop us a line or sign up soon to improve your wine.

At Wineland absence does make the heart grow fonder and we look forward to showing just how good real winemakers are.

See you soon.

Cheers!

The Wineland team.

Saltram No1 2006

A wine of some substance and structure , the no1 really is a bench mark . For those that do not like shiraz try this! Now obviously we are talking about a wine that has lost that youthful mouth filling oak and started to allow the mid palate to show its regional identity, full and rounded but not overcooked by any means . this is not the pepper experience but someting a little more lay back, seductive, definantly not the north west of barossa. .The structural componants of acid are still quite present but the removalist truck has arrived and most of its baggage has been shipped to the back ground . This wine will live for a long time yet .What I enjoyed here was the rather seamless nature and style of this wine.

5/5 cases
premium catagory
cellaring - 10 - 15 years

I return with an experience worth reading, I promise!

    I always new that this night may damage the cellar but this was ridiculous . At times we raid the cellar with a view that a couple of wines are required if one is good then all is well, Other times we must mentally prepare ourselves as we comence this raid as it is the oldest and best that are sought, the chosen ones that we percieve to be in balance. The ones that still retain their character, identity and a texture that can balance out the still vocal fruit weight. Perfection can sometimes only occur if time allows, alot of time.

 Now I am not suggesting that all are perfect, but that is the game we play with our cellar.

  With good time I had just finished my second game of golf in 20 years and a few old freinds arrived at Chateau Baume, the temparature had started to climb and my own body had started to nudge closer to beer o'clock, you see I have a Beerometre at home!
   So what better time to disclose to my guests that "I have a surprise!" with that I darted down to the cellar fridge and started something.... Well when you start events of with a 1997 classic clare Sparkling shiraz a ball like that one out of Indiana Jones gets rolling, the strucure imediatly struck us, a wine of balance both on the nose and palate. The Clare Valley has a distinct sweet fruit texture that develops with age as I have seen in ten year classics, but that in itself suggest that the wine is not in balance. At 14 years this wine had settled all those rough sweet fruit textures and the acidity had soothed its nerves there was a seemless pathway of flavour that presented itself as velvet or should i say dark forest fruit intermingled with a beutifully dry tannin influence that used the oak to tie the palate together. This wine, and I mean wine. You see I beleive that when a Sparkling moves beyond that of the 'middle' ground of the industry and becomes a benchmark it is a wine.This wine was stunning but not something I would have left for any longer, the acid influence was completly gone showing that by chance I had won this particular battle with my cellar, the classic was at the peak of its performance. But this was but one battle in the war and the night is young.

Cork seal
value- $100 - $200
5\5 case rating
cellaring from vintage- up to 20 years
'benchmark' catagory

  Following the stunning opening act guest appeared with a 1993 Thomas Hardy Cabernet, to be honest I was a little nervous as I had seen a ten year Thomas that was clearly maturised, but was alway convinced that it had been badly stored. This particular wine had been impecibly stored and proved to be an identity of its own. the Thomas has always been known to be rich an full bodied as most of the fruit comes from Mclaren Vale and Coonawarra but after 18 years we had another velverty contender on our hands, a perfect follow on from the Classic. the wine became layered after carefull decantering and meant that we were bound to take our time, the palate remained dry yet firm although the acid influence had clearly gone the texture remained less plum and more elegant blackberry with a long offering that just sat on the finish for as long as one could allow, the tannin influence had settled into the background allowing the fruit to continue lifting and with about 30 minutes the Thomas was 'sublime'. But by that stage it was time for the next contender. How were we going to continue? Was this to be a night where the cellar was to give up all its secrets? Could we possibly continue winning the war?

value- $150-$250
cork seal
5\5 case rating
cellaring- up to 25 years
'benchmark' catagory

Cellar- 0
Baume- 2
At this stage the BBQ was warming and it was time to visit the cellar , but it was with some determination that I would draw out of its grasp a '1988 John Riddoch Cabernet'. In my opinion the Riddoch is one of the best Cabernets in the country and I have tasted the wealth of experience that can come from the 82, 84 and 88 Riddoch. But it was not to be, thin and lifeless and lacking aromatics of any kind, it appeared as though the cellar had won. Or did somebody break in to the cellar and Steal the wine? i will never know, all I knew was that my favorite wine in the world had died the worst fate imaginable.Normally I would rate the riddoch 5\5 cases, but I must rate the individual wine on its merits.

value- $140-$220
0\5 case rating
cellaring- up to 20 years [definatly not 23 years!]
'dead' catagory', corked would be a separate catagory
Cellar-1
Baume-2

How were we to continue? what could possibly be chosen next ?after all the night was still young..........

Woodland Cabernet / Merlot, 2008

Woodland
Margaret river
Cabernet/ Merlot
2008

   The woodland I came across was because I have become genuinly interested in Margeret River lately, The woodland top shelf I am familiar with. However, in the search of good value plonk, this Cabernet / Merlot proved to be more than just 'plonk'.
    Being a 2008 the nose threw a rich stalky texture a little menthol infact, the wine is too young i thought but through its youth came a well rounded fruit feel of blackberrys and a little dark plum. Quite intiesing and i could see that the aromatics were in balance, this would be an interesting wine to lay down for a while and allow those stalky textures to tone themselves down a touch.
   At first the wine showed an intense stalky feel ofcourse but after 20 minutes the green notes sliped into more of the structure of the wine rather than the centre peice and fruit weight became complemented by an extremly velvety tannin influence, overall acidity was in balance and I could really see some real production skills at work in this wine. The merlot is not here to drive the wine but merely to cut the edges of the youthfull west coast cabernet and it will continue to keep this wine like velvet throughout its life, but as the cabernet loses its green notes I expect the middle palate to lift and start working with the back palate in a way that will allow these velvety tannins to come to the fore and retain a fairly dry crisp finish.Often 'crisp' is refered to when discussing white wine but in this case it refers to the finese of the wine and the belief that the fruit will retain a refined feel throughouit its life and not develop into a flabby of stewed fruit character.
   Personally  I would like to see this wine in 5 years but also curious about its ability to keep improving with further age.

4 / 5 case rating
5- 10 years cellar
classy good value catagory
5 / 5 for good value
screw cap seal
value-$20.99 / Dan Murphys- fine wine

Leuwin Estate Cabernet 2004

   Sometimes we try a wine when it is too young like an 04 Leuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet with layers of green capscicum and menthol strengthened by tight youthful acidity hiding the fruit that we all know is in their somewhere, this was by no means a bad experience. Rather an insight into just how much classs and finese the Margeret River region can throw into the top shelf . The wine may have needed another ten years but I cant help thinking about the importance of blending in WA, many of the west coast growing regions are heavily influenced by a maritime climate this leads to a Mediterainian style of viticulture similar to Rhone or Bordeaux so I look at other top shelf success stories from the west such as the Cullen, Madeline who use Cabernet and malbec blend to tone down the dominant green textures thrown forward from Cabernet, creating a wine of balance from the begining right through its 20 years of life. The art series is one of the most collected and sort after wines in Australia and I can see why, the wine has the character to change quite often throughout its cellar life which means that one must have enough on hand to experience this. Expensive, yes! good value, absolutly!    Other times we experience a wine when it is over the hill and past its prime,where we could not pry it from the cellar in time and we realise that somebody had most likely broken into the cellar and stolen the fruit. such as the Redman 78 I have in my cellar that I am quite concerned for.
   Then we have the occasions where we negotiate our way through the cellar only to come out the other side with liquid velvet layered with aromatics of sweet fruit textured with firm and inviting tannins that have risen to the fore, relagating the once dominant oak to the obligations of balance in order to give the wine a feeling of finese and refinement. The Clare Valley palate was just perfect, seemless and the more blackberrie textures tended to be joined by well balanced acidity that assisted by draging the fruit feel to every part of the universe, the tannin structure that was quite obviouse on the nose formed more of an assisting role on the palate helping to give the wine firm edges and a firm lingering finish, the drying feel was great and good to experience a wine packed with Natural Tannin

I give both wines a 5 / 5 case rating
both were cork seal
5 / 5 for good value drinking
personal preferance - undersided!
Comming features - 08 Woodland Cab, Merlot
                               09 Grant Burge Shiraz 

Dead Arm

The Dead Arm is on the way! after a lengthy chat with cellar door on the history of cork taint, the wonderful people at Darenburg have decided that due to the problem of the 2001 Dead Arm is sold out, it would be best for everyone if they send me a current vintage. This means however that i will not be able to blog it for about ten years or so.
  for all those interested I will be opening a Classic Clare Magnum 1999..... soon!