2019 Nerissimo Puglia Verdeca

 It is always great to go to a new place and discover a new wine ... in an ordinary bottle shop. Here in Port Macquarie it's Nerissimo Verdeca Pugilia 2019. "Verdeca is a famous white varietal native to Pugilia."

Purator Sicilia  2018 Catarratto Pinot Grigio

recycled bottle, parer label, organic wine.  Catarraztto is also indigenous to Sicily. 

Palates: reminiscent of salt water. 

2019 Colpasso Sicillane Fiano + Sardinian Vermentino

This Fiano for me is odd: tart and watery. I think I will stick to Australian versions: Coriole and Elephant in the Room. In King's Cross, Sydney, in the piazza of the El Alamein Fountain, I discovered a restaurant with Vermentino, from Sardinia, and decided it was the best provider of Vermentino ever. In fact, 'Vermentino di Sardegna' is a wine DOC used on the Italian island of Sardinia.

2018 Yalumba Y Series Viognier

A beautiful, clear bright golden colour, it smells of pear, lemon and peanut, and it's like drinking cotton on the end palate. I hope I recognise Viognier in a blind tasting: softer than Vermentino, more romantic. Not a forcefield, though impactful nevertheless, maybe it's an Elizabeth Bennett grape.

Cat among the Pigeons Eden Valley Riesling

I regularly say that Clare Valley Riesling will always be great. Well, Cat Among the Pigeons Eden Valley is also terrif. It smells of sweet pea/lavender/soft green grass, or juicy sweet peas from the garden. Gosh, what a phenomenon: fresh peas from the garden! It is not easy to get fresh peas in the pod anymore. Sometimes I think I last had them last in the Jurassic. Cat Among the Pigeons Riesling is pale-gold melon in colour. The palate is tart, but pleasingly so. It would go well with fish. A great Rielsing: superb, sophisticated, well-crafted. And for the price: exceptional. Elegant. Seriously, someone has come upon a simple gown for the Oscars that is a knockout.

 

 

2018 Jim Barry Clare Valley Assryticko

I was in Adelaide for a specific purpose, to which I added several more specific purposes, one of which was to get a bottle of Jim Barry's 2018 Clare Valley Assryticko (indigenous to Santorini; Dan Murphy's has a good, Greek one), because his is the only planting in Australia, and because his vines burnt down this year. Success at East End Cellars. A restrained and elegant label for the 2018. The colour of pure, clean, barely there lemon; a soft vanilla-briny, edge-of-peanut-brittle perfume; and a palate of drinking-summer. It's enough. (I could say more, but because it is enough, I won't. Although I will say: drinking on my Mum's (Joyce) birthday.)

2016 Campagnola Vigneti Monte Foscarino Le Bine Soave Classico

I've had a rare sighting of a Soave, this time in our local bottle shop: the 2016 Campagnola Vigneti Monte Foscarino Le Bine Soave Classico. Soave is a comune (equivalent to a township or municipality) of the Veneto region, Verona province, northern Italy. In Italy, permitted grape varieties in a particular place are specified under its Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG: controlled designation of origin). So the name of the place stands in for the name of the grape grown, primarily Garganega. Though Soave itself is principally Garganega, it can also be combined with Trebbiano di Soave (Verdicchio), Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco (Chenin Blanc) and Trebbiano (Ungi Blanc) Toscano. So Soave, and not Garganega, will be prominently on the imported bottles' front label.

Australia's appellation system for wine-growing areas is its Geographical Indications(GIs), recognising super zones, zones, regions and subregions. The zones and regions are mapped geographical spaces where several varieties of grapes, both red and white, are grown, depending, of course, on geographical and climatic conditions. In Australia, we don't say 'McLaren Vale is a … wine', the way 'Soave' is said to be a dry, white wine in The Oxford companion to Wine. McLaren Vale is a wine region. While the place is most often named on an Australian wine bottle's label, that place doesn't necessarily stand for only a single grape variety. Nevertheless, there is a burgeoning sense of links between place and variety, such as Riesling in the Clare Valley.

The 2016 Campagnola Soave has custard and pear in its perfume, but with something a little awkward like over-ripe fruit. A beautiful, medium-to-deep gold in colour, on the palate there is lovely pine which right at the end has an unusual touch of sweetness. While not a sweet wine, the 2016 Campagnola would go well with dessert. Certainly not fish. I was having whiting on the night, and planning to drink the Soave, but desisted.

2016 Mas Des Bressades Costières de Nîmes Cuvée Tradition Vin Blanc

Grenache Blanc is still relatively rare to see it in an Australian bottle shop. But it is the most delicious of grapes. Usually, it will be a wine from the South of France, or from Spain. The 2016 Mas Des Bressades Costières de Nîmes Cuvée Tradition Vin Blanc is a combination of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier. What a delicious combination! It has a musk and vanilla perfume and vanilla on the most untroublesome, drink-downable palate.