The latest released from this super limited winery.

Light, more pinot in flavour. You can taste that this is made their own unique way

 Ochota Barrels The Green Room Grenache Rating: B Price: $40

This is a blend. Not in the usual sense but a blend of two Grenache vineyards.

70% is made of 1947 planted Grenache old bush vines, while the remaining 30% is crafted from Grenache planted in 1990 on the western side of Mclaren township.

Interesting blend* and very easy to drink. A combination of chocolate and a little Chinese five spice towards the end. You won’t stop at one glass…simple…

 NX GEN Grenache By Shingleback Wines Rating: B Price: $25

Recommendation: Buy. Coastal sea breeze in a glass.

Is it me or has there been an explosion of Semillon blended with Fiano recently? Not that is a bad thing. Winemakers are really pushing the boundaries and blending this mainly Italian grape with semillion to create a unique combination that I am loving at the moment.

Varney Wines have create a wine that screams coastal happiness. I can smell the ocean and feel the breeze.

With a 60% Semillon, 40% Fiano blend this is one to remember. A young white wine that gives plenty of texture and backend flavour with a with a bite that is subtle but makes to reach for another sip.

I think this is worth the price and clearly rated as 'Great'...simple...

 Varney Wines Semillon Fiano 2018 Rating: A- Price: $28

Buy Again: Yes, I'd even buy it a normal price of $40

This wine is roast BBQ Lamb over charcoal, you know where the ends are just burnt. All that in a bottle...simple...

Sorry, should have mentioned its Shiraz & Grenache blend from the McLaren Vale. Love it. .

 2016 S.C. Pannell The Vale Rating: A- Price: $20 Clearance

With the year ending, what is your wine of the year? I want to everyones opinion and buy as many as I can. Please comment below...simple... .

 With the year ending, what is your wine of the year? I want

Just stand up and applaud...simple... 🍷

But for those that love reading my reviews. Please see below: 👇👇👇

Cork seal with a beautiful wax dipped covering. Love this. Dark in colour almost black. Smooth start, real smooth, then without notice the wine builds and before I realised it, I was in love. Delicious wine. It will develop and cellar beautifully.

Hand made approach, where I’m sure every grape is treated with absolute respect and care. Basket pressed and then placed in old French oak, which I think this was the perfect choice. You really notice all those little things in the taste and quality of this wine. I really  appreciate the love that was put into this bottle and I love drinking wines like this.

 Main & Cherry Clarendon Shiraz 2018 McLaren Vale Rating: A-

I’ll describe this wine as taking a sip of pure mountain spring water. Uncontaminated. Feels cold and refreshing. It resembles breathing in on a frosty morning. Crispy.

A sensation that should be deemed healthy...simple...

Lino Ramble is a McLaren Vale winery that in their words “have a love affair with all things Mediterranean”, Grillo is an ancient Sicilian white grape variety. The fruit for this wine is sourced from the very first McLaren Vale plantings of Grillo grown by Chalk Hill Viticulture in their Lanark’s Vineyard on Chaple Hill Road.

Definitely this grape is perfect for the McLaren Vale environment and I’ll be drinking a lot more.

 Lino Ramble 2018 Solitaire Grillo McLaren Vale Rating: B+

This was a little surprise. A good blend that would suit a light merlot drinker but also gives enough flavour for wine drinker (wanker) to enjoy. Definitely a midweek quaffer that would a variety of people...simple...

 Ingoldby McLaren Vale Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2016 Rating:

Region: Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia

Firstly open this wine at least an hour before drinking or decanter (trust me, this wine deserves it)

The smell is really enticing, while the taste is full of dark fruits, but its the ending that I love. I savour every last drop in my mouth and squeeze every bit of flavour from my tongue. Its firm and dry but I'm already looking forward to the next sip. A very good wine. It has a level of flavour and a bite that I enjoy. Recommendation: Buy 3 (at least)

Have one now and keep the others for a few years, I think this wine will develop into greatness and I bet you wished you had bought 6 or even 12. 🍷

 Beklyn 2018 Currency Creek Shiraz Rating: B+ Price: $45 Buy

The Bio Project represents Shingleback’s ongoing commitment to undertaking native revegetation within their Davey Estate Vineyards.

From this they have produced three Bio Project Wines and one is a Dry Rosé.

Mouth sucking dryness to be exact. The flavour is different to most rosé wines and I experienced an orange taste. It is that acidity and just sucking the roof of your mouth dying for another sip. This was made for me.

Actually I’m changing the rating to A-, its great…simple…

 Shingleback Wines The Bio Project Rose 2020 Rating: B+

Time to grab a coffee or wine (no judgement here) and get ready for the next instalment of:

How can a drink made almost entirely from the humble grape have such an astonishing array of flavours? The answer is simple—chemistry.

No matter what it costs, almost 98 per cent of most wines is made up of water and ethanol. The remaining 2 per cent is a combination of acids, sugars, volatile flavour and aroma compounds, pigment compounds and tannins. Amazingly, it’s this 2 per cent that makes all the difference, giving a wine its unique flavour, colour, aroma and individuality. It’s here, in this 2 per cent, that chemistry really comes into play.

There are many, many things that can affect this 2 per cent—the variety of grape, the soil and climate in which it’s grown, the time it’s harvested, the way it is processed, the period of fermentation and the storage methods used—even the size of the glass you drink from when you finally raise the finished product to your lips.

 Time to grab a coffee or wine (no judgement here) and get

Kay Brothers use a basket press, which was  made in 1928, to lightly press each grape, without somehow hurting it, while carefully extracting that unique McLaren Vale flavour. Now that’s history in a bottle.

It seems like they treat each individual grape with the upmost respect and care.

This creates a rich and savoury wine, while still having that softness that McLaren Vale grapes is known for.

 Kay Brothers Amery Vineyards Basket Pressed Shiraz 2018

Shingleback Davey Estate Reserve Shiraz 2015

Always check the Specials area of your Liquor Merchant.

My bargain buy of year (full stop) Complete luck. This is normally over $20 and nothing wrong it it, just two of the 2015 vintages left and making room for other/new stock. So they ended in the specials bin. Marked down to $6.34. Brilliant. I'm not scoring or actually grading this wine as it was completely unfair due to the price, but it was good. Needs time in the decanter to open up, but once it does you get full body McLaren Vale shiraz. Spice and dark fruit flavour. I would buy it at $20.

So CHECK YOUR SPECIALS you never know what you find. (I did buy a couple of other wines that varied from $6 to $11. One so far was below average, but this was good. So I'm running at 50% at the moment. I'll let you know the result of the others) ...simple...

 Shingleback Davey Estate Reserve Shiraz 2015 Always check

Super juicy blend with both the Shiraz and Cab Sav working in balance to give the best of both varieties. The team

 have outlined they have made small changes to their wines. I never tasted their previous vintages but whatever small changes they have made its working. This wine is not trying too hard it is just a classic blend...simple...

 Small Changes Red 2018 Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

I know this winery is killing it at the moment especially with

 wine of the year but for $22 this wine is amazing value for money 💰 Love it. See original post where this wine got a B+

My favourite Grenache of the year (so far) well done

 Happy International Grenache Day So my pick? 🤔 2018

This wine combines the two things that we can legally do at the moment, run and watch movies.

Beautiful and the label is pretty good as well. 🍷

 Juxtaposed by Dodgy Brothers Old Vine Grenache 2018 Rating:

Recommendation: It was that good it sold out.

There are a couple awesome benefits of this Instagram thing. One is discovering new wineries and the other (I must admit the best) is getting free wine.

 hit both of these, they gave me some complementary wine and prior to that I'd never heard of them.

Varney Wines is the combination of a lifelong wine career of Alan & Kathrin Varney. Who after working for some of the big wineries, bought a block of land and started their dream of making their own wine and more importantly under their own label.

Varney wines are small quantity, limited release, modern day wines from vineyards in McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills.

Its at this point you start to understand the devastating effect of the the bush fires, not only in the Adelaide Hills, but all over Australia. Its the owner, winemaker, fruit pickers, cellar door assistants all the way to the distributors who are all affected.

This Chardonnay was from a single block at the Rathdowne Estate in the Adelaide Hills. As I drink this, I don't know if this vineyard was affected by the fires, but I do know how many people worked together to bring me this wine.

How good is it? Well it sold out...simple...

My apologies for not reviewing this earlier so you had a chance to buy some. Good news is I have a Shiraz and a couple of blends to review in the near future. Until then buy Australian wine and maybe favour those wine regions impacted by this terrible disaster. 🍷

 Varney Wines 2018 Chardonnay Rating: B+ Price: $32

Buy Again: Yes. This has 20+ years left and would love another for the cellar. 🍷

Sometimes, just for a special occasion you buy something special. Outrageous even.

The Bin 707 is Cabernet Sauvignon version of Grange 🍇

A detonation of happiness erupts on your tongue with a tsunami 🌊 of different tastes and flavour rolls through your mouth. What the 🤬 just happened?

You gather your thoughts and start to dissect it but I can’t. I don’t want too.

This is just too good to worry about anything else. Brilliant...simple...

If your wondering why this didn’t get a A+, the reason was I know this is very young and no where near it’s peak. It is holding something back for this reason. Hence why I would love one for the cellar. .

 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Rating: A Price:

If you get a wine for half price, does it make it taste better?

What if the wine was already great tasting, then you get it for half price the second time you buy it, does make it taste even better?

If a grape falls in a vineyard and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

If you are going to ponder these questions, then this is the wine to drink while ‘pondering’.

Rating: B+ but I think it will develop into a A after a few years in the cellar

Cellar: Tasting notes outline a 20 year potential

Tasting: Dark spicy blend that has a fine ending. Mushroom and prosciutto would be the perfect food description.

Recommendation: I’d buy six as a great example of a wine that will mature over quite a few years

Price: I would pay RRP of $70 and still be very happy with the purchase

Sometimes you have to trust your ‘gut’ and press that ‘buy now’ button.

 d'Arenberg The Ironstone Pressings Grenache Shiraz

Sometimes you win lotto and grab an absolute bargain. I bought this off a “little” online wine merchant on a pre-release secret deal. I bought the wine on special without knowing the actual wine or winery. You get hints of the producer and an outline of the variety and location but that’s it. I took a punt. They never send a bad wine.

So Mother f¥€£er (hint) when this arrived I lost my mind. A beautiful

Without question I love Mitolo wines and have had plenty of their wines over the years. None have ever disappointed.

But this is my first of their GAM Shiraz. GAM, you ask? Instantly I see the three initials on the front and automatically think it is a blend of some description but soon realise it is named after Frank’s Mitolo three children, Gemma, Alex and Marco. Hence the GAM. Brilliant and its 100% Shiraz.

This is that classic Shiraz with the McLaren Vale finesse. All the usual Jammy flavours with hints of mint, licorice and hardwood timber. Yes that old beautiful timber smell. Beautifully structured and a pleasure to drink. Will only get better over the years. This is that type of wine where you buy a few and enjoy them as the years go past...simple...

  Although I bought this myself and have no links with either (but I would love to...)

 Mitolo G.A.M. Shiraz 2017 Rating: A- Price: $60

You either like surprises or you don’t. I’m not a fan of certain surprises, like I don’t surprise birthday parties or opening the mail and surprise a parking ticket!

The surprises I like are when I have no expectations, no preconceived ideas and you buy a wine on a whim or someone brings a wine you’ve never had.

It’s after that first taste. That feeling of enjoyment. The moment that I am pleasantly surprised by this wine...simple...

 Hugo McLaren Vale Grenache Shiraz 2015 Rating: B+ Price:

Recommendation: Strong Buy. Will only get better.

Ok, so bear with me. This wine is like adding Parmesan cheese to spaghetti bolognese. Confused....I don’t blame you. I’ll try to explain. You know how adding some Parmesan to a home cooked bolognese just makes it better. It adds a little bit of bite, a little texture and sharpness that only Parmesan can do.

That element is this wine. I’ll stop right there and outline, the wine taste nothing like Parmesan cheese.

Its that concept, that ending that gives an extra bite, dimension, sharpness. All of that makes this wine. The ending and length of this wine is very good.

Maybe I’m mad and I guess no winemaker ever wants to be compared to Parmesan cheese but I that was my initial reaction.

The winery uses the word satisfying and I can not disagree. I should have read the back label before I went on this tangent and just wrote, satisfying...simple...

Well made, quality and will aged brilliantly.

 Stable Tales McLaren Vale Shiraz 2018 Rating: B+ Price: $30

So it begins. Looking forward to tasting and finding that next brilliant wine...simple...

 So it begins. Looking forward to tasting and finding that

Geoff Merrill Reserve Chardonnay 2016 McLaren Vale

Buy Again: Getting some more as we speak 🍷

This will be quick, the best Chardonnay I’ve had this year*...simple...

 Geoff Merrill Reserve Chardonnay 2016 McLaren Vale Rating:

These three varieties that Main & Cherry have created form the perfect bbq trio. Everything you need in three bottles.  You can have a fresh exciting Spanish Tempranillo that works with anything but loves those Spanish spices and flavour. The Sangiovese is built for a char grilled steak. I’d leave the Shiraz to last. Savour every sip. With a few years under its belt and drinking at its peak. At only $22 it is a steal. All wines work and are very good by themselves, but as a trio they compliment each other like a dream. Delicious...simple...

A great selection of wines that create your own wine dinner with friends or family.

 Main & Cherry Wines from McLaren Vale. 2019 Tempranillo

 Koomilya Shiraz 2014 by S.C. Pannell Rating: A Price: $60

Recommendation: You need to try this. 🍷

I drank the whole bottle. It was that good...simple...

 for the opportunity to taste and review this great wine 👏

 Dowie Doole Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Price: $25

Yangarra Estate Small Pot Whole Bunch McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016

Small Pot refers to when only a couple of barrels of this wine was made and sometimes considered a winemakers trial. I didn't know this was such a limited release when I opened it but, too late now. It was beautiful. 97 points from Sir Halliday and I understand why. It is soft and smooth, with the quality shown in the length. You need to have this wine on a rug in front of an open fire. Its Barry White in a Bottle...

too much of anything is not good for you, baby

 Yangarra Estate Small Pot Whole Bunch McLaren Vale Shiraz

Absolutely beautiful. 6 years old and developing into an elegant Shiraz. Loads of fruit that is delivered in a soft silky finish. Still a few years to go but great drinking at the moment...simple...

 Mitolo Cantiniere McLaren Vale Shiraz 2014 From the Cellar

2017 Cabernet/Shiraz Blend from the McLaren Vale

What a label. Whoever says don't buy a wine because of the labeI. Whatever! Buy it, why not.

Exciting, provocative, seductive, alluring and don’t forget Passion. Is it the label or the wine? You choose but I’d buy Again...simple...

 Passion has Red Lips by Some Young Punks 2017

Concentrated full body classic Shiraz from the the McLaren Vale for under $17.

 No affiliation just a good special. 🍷

 Tintara by @hardyswines Mclaren Vale Shiraz Rating: B

98 POINTS JAMES HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION 2021

Nothing really else to say or do except 👏

🍽 Slow cooked lamb shoulder with duck fat potatoes

🎁 Any wine lover will love this as a present