Category:Chardonnay

December 14
11 Days Until Christmas!!!! The Lost Plot ‘Serendipity’ Mornington Peninsula Sparkling 2004

This wine is Fair-Dinkum-Next-Level-Badass!!!!!! Where do I start?

Well then, The Lost Plot ‘Serendipity’ Mornington Peninsula Sparkling (Chardonnay/Pinot Noir/Pinot Meunier) 2004 is by far and away one of THE best Sparkling wines that has past this wine sellers laughing gear let me just tell you.

The wine then: the nose is classic aged sparkling wine – gorgeous yeasty autolysis with bready, brioche tones on the full-front. The palate is a mix of so much ACENESS in lemon curd, brioche, supple bead and weirdly but conversely ace-ly at the same time, a sort of salt and vinegar chip vibe. Just so good.

As Molly used to say, ‘Do yourself a favour and buy this!!!!’. And at $54 why the bloody hell not; tis the season after all.

October 25
Meet The Maker Sessions – Dom Valentine of Valentine Wines

With another Saturday comes another Meet The Maker Sessions with this Saturday to be hosted by Dom Valentine of Valentine Wines.

Dom’s wine journey started in 2010 while working in Rudesheim and Geisenheim in Germany’s Rheingau region. In that year, Dom worked for both both Weingut Josef Leitz and Weingut Georg Breuer – two of the region’s most respected producers. Each of those experiences was  inspiration to return to Australia and pursue his Valere project whereby he sourced grapes each year from a different vineyard in Victoria to explore the lessons learned in Germany.

Fast forward some years and Dom has added a deliciously perfumed Heathcote Grenache and a wildly ace Chardonnay from Victoria’s highest altitude vineyard in Whitlands in the NE of Victoria. Both wines add to Dom’s unmistakable light touch when it comes to producing wines that have true terroir expressions.

So as Molly would say, do yourself a favour and swing on by the WINE STORE | WINE BAR this Saturday, October 27th from 3-6ish and have a gander of three of our fave wines for 2018.

October 17
Meet The Maker Sessions – Dave Mack of ArFion Wines

Yet another one of the WINE STORE | WINE BARS best mates is taking over the pouring duties this Saturday October 20th from 3-6ish for another Meet The Maker Sessions. Ladies and Gentleman, we give you Dave Mackintosh of ArFion Wines.

Dave’s philosophy is simple; to try and extend the limitations of style, be considerate to the grapes and land, and to be a strong part of the local wine community. Seems simple and obvious to us, and as we say around here, “It’s not Rocket Surgery after all”.

Not necessarily conforming to an existing style, Dave aims to create wines that have their own thumbprint and can evolve as the seasons do.  They are the result of the interpretation of many connections between vintage, style and site.

So make sure you swing on by this Saturday for a wee sip of Dave’s current vintage wines where we have little doubt that you’ll like them as much as we do.

October 9
Meet The Maker Sessions – Michael Dhillon of Bindi Wines

The WINE STORE | WINE BAR is turning 4 on October 15th, so to mark this milestone of of the stores fave winemakers, and one of my best mates, Michael Dhillon of Bindi Wines in for a tasting. As many of you will know, Bindi Wines, and Michael who is effectively Bindi, have a very special place in my heart. And it is because of this Michael will be in the WINE STORE | WINE BAR on Saturday, October 13th from 1-4ish where he will pour his new release wines at the tasting bench.

Bindi’, 50 kilometres north-west of Melbourne in the Macedon Ranges, is the family property of the Dhillon family. Originally purchased in the 1950s as part of the larger grazing farm ‘Bundaleer’, ‘Bindi’ is a 170 hectare farm of which 7 hectares are planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Fifteen hectares are dedicated to managed plantation eucalypts for high grade furniture timber whilst the remainder of the land is maintained as remnant bush land and important indigenous grasslands.

The Bindi vineyard is the fundamental focus of the Dhillon family endeavors. The vineyard and winemaking philosophy is to seek balance and purity in the expression of the various individual vineyard sites and this philosophy is applied to farming and conservation at ‘Bindi’; the preservation of the natural harmony.

This tasting is going to be popular so the earlier the better we would advise. On tasting will be Bindi’s new releases which include all of the estate wines – Block 5, Original Vineyard and Dixon Pinot Noirs; Quartz and Kostas Rind Chardonnays and the Pyrette Shiraz from Heathcote. And what better way to celebrate our 4th anniversary then to have Michael pouring his wines. And there may also be a sausage sizzle out the back weather permitting.

June 2
Christmas Countdown – Benjamin Leroux Bourgogne Blanc 2016

Oh the joys of Christmas. For me it’s the lead up that excites me; only 206 Days to go. The excitement is palpable I tell ya!!!

But sometimes you just cannot wait, and I doubt anyone could wait to crack this ripper on Christmas day to smash it down with a dozen or so freshly shucked oysters; Oh dear NO-NO-NO!!!! And that ripper would be the Benjamin Leroux Bourgogne Blanc 2016 which I recently tasted along with most of Benjamin’s 2016 Burgundies. This one for me was the highlight of the day. With fruit mostly sourced from Puligny-Montrachet, the wine on the nose offers lovely creamy notes followed by bright citrus and stonefruit; I picked up nectarine and tangarine. The palate has a quick whack of green apple followed by plenty of length with the citrus and stonefruit flavours dancing over my tongue.

Just a stunning wine. I seriously doubt that this will still be here, even more so that it is currently by the glass at $17 with the bottle price at $68. What a ripper indeed.

August 14
#Augdulgence – Pierre Morey Bourgogne Blanc 2012

Oh what a delicious beast this is!!! pierre

A serious chardonnay and most certainly a chardonnay drinkers chardonnay. Did I mention its an amazing chardonnay? A wine coming from mostly Meursault vineyards, the Pierre Morey Bourgogne Blanc 2012 is drinking superbly well right now with rich crème brûlée notes all melded deliciously with ample new oak – which does not leave splinters in your tongue – and balanced grapefruit pithy acid holding it all together.

Belle sanglate indeed and always $58, or maybe $54 this #Augdulgence. And also pouring #BTG in the wine bar at the moment for $15. Bon

September 15
Byrne Pyrenees Blanc de Blanc 2011

byrne spkIt’s very safe to say that Byrne wines have the best labels in Australia. Who else creates a fuzzy, flocked, crushed velvet like label I ask? It’s like a Dave Graney smokers jacket. It’s just ACE. Not only are the labels ACE, but most importantly the wine too is smoking hot; smoking hotter I reckon.

The Byrne Blanc de Blanc 2011 from the Myola Vineyard in the Pyrenees is Alexander Bynre (a newly moved in Brunswick local) first foray in to sparkling and what a debut it is. Crisp citrus notes on the nose are followed after a while by ginger bread and floral notes. The palate has a lovely soft bead that lends it’s hand to more soft ginger bread, citrus and green apple notes. Just smashing.

The production of this is very small and as usual, the really, really good things are only here for a good time, not a long time and always $45

May 7
Slow Wednesday – Chicken Pie and Benjamin Laroche Chardonnay 2012

It was very deja vu like yesterday. Day off. Cooking Slow. Kids sick. At home. Again!!! Bloody heck. But all was well and the house was quiet with movies, an open fire blazing and yum aromas from the kitchen.

Chicken Pie. My theory with pies is if you are going to put a lid on it, put something below it too; pastry all over. That means if you are making short-crust pastry you gotta make double. pastryAnd when you are making said pastry it is always better to have a food processor to mix the butter and flour because if you do it by hand you are more likely to melt the butter.

So to start. Once butter and flour are blitzed, in a bowl slowly add cold water until you have a solid ball of pastry that is elastic like in texture and not crumbly. Cover and sit in fridge for about 30 minutes. Next brown whole thighs of chicken off with butter, tarragon and garlic in batches with the occasional slug of white wine to glaze and release the crusty bits.

browning chook Remove chook from pot and soften leek, carrots, slippery jack mushrooms and more garlic. Throw chook back in and top with chicken stock and white wine until almost to the top of the pot. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer and walk away for about 4 hours.

About an 3 hours in grease of round baking dish with butter and roll pastry in. Make sure you have plenty to tuck in and to hang over side. Cover with baking paper and weigh down and on about 150°C for about 12 minutes. Then remove baking paper and heat on same temp for another 10 minutes until semi-hard and tanned and with that, pour the reduced yumness in and pop the lid on and brush with an egg wash and bake until golden brown. Awesomeness awaits!!!

ready for lidlid ondone

Now with a pie like this you are going to want a wine that has punch yet finesse as well. The Benjamin Laroche La Manufacture Bourgogne 2012 from Burgundy. A Chardonnay. Pithy grapefruit and lemon aroma’s waft up with a hint of stone fruit and white licorice powder and more pithy grapefruit come through on the palate. Not too big but not too skinny either. Ripping and always $37le manufacture

Ingredients:

Pastry

500 grams plain flour
250 grams butter
Cold water

Pie

1.2kg chicken thighs
1 big handful of tarragon
3 x carrots
1 x leek
1 whole bulb of garlic, skinned and thrown in whole
3 x slippery jack mushrooms
1 litre of good chicken stock
400 mL white wine
Salt and pepper

February 28
Between 5 Bells Heathcote Red Wine 2013

An interesting label you say? Yes it is. An interesting blend? Double Yes.

These guys do not do things by halves and certainly not weighed down by convention when it comes to blending. Nero d’Avola, Chardonnay, Riesling and Negreoamaro. Yep. All in one blend. And no SO2. That’s the funky stuff. But you know what? It really works and tastes awesomely tickityboo.

The nose starts with bright blueberry that slowly takes on a more tart complexity with blood orange citrus poking through. The palate starts pretty much the same way as the nose with clean and bright fruit up front which slowly evolves in to a dry garden herbage; think fennel.

All in all, a ripping wine. $37

A very unusual blend indeed

A very unusual blend indeed