I’m always on the lookout for quality wines that don’t cost an arm and a leg, so I look for new ideas in these kinds of lists. There’s the usual sprinkling of wines that aren’t released yet, such as Houghton Crofters Cabernet 2014 and Sandalford Margaret River Cabernet Merlot 2014. Others are too obscure even for the Wine Sleuth to find, in this case Chateau Francois Semillon 2012, Madfish Shiraz Pinot Noir Rose 2014 and art by EVOI Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2015.

This is an issue we have with most wine reviewers who simply can’t be bothered to find out if their keen readers can actually get their hands on the wines they recommend. It’s like reading reviews of books you can’t buy or movies you can’t go and see – useless and annoying.

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Chardonnay isn’t what it used to be, and here’s why

Subscribers often ask me where they can get rich full-flavoured Chardonnay, and I struggle to come up with decent answers. How come, given that we once produced the biggest, richest Chardonnays on the planet?

In the eighties Australians discovered Chardonnay. The variety was new to Australia, and both winemakers and wine lovers went gaga over the exciting new addition to our then tiny selection of varieties. It was a mouth-filling style that could stand up to rich foods – you could describe it as a red wine drinker’s white.

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Find out why, and the best merchants to buy from

The worst way to buy wine is to grab a bottle on the way to a restaurant or a friend’s place, or on the way out of the supermarket in the attached bottle shop. Why? Because you’ll always pay top price, even on the ‘specials’. Why? Because you’re captive audience, and they know it.

Buying online – the obvious benefits

1. Choice: access exactly the same wines as everyone else, regardless of where you live
2. Convenience: no need to travel; order from anywhere and have it delivered to your front door
3. Independence: purchase online from major and independent retailers, and directly from wineries
4. Savings: buy wine at the special prices we find, no matter where you live.

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Whose Competition is this, and who can explain the Results?

This is a curious affair that slipped quietly by me until I saw a wine website make reference to it. There’s been very little publicity, even on the Wine Companion website. In fact the event has its own website where the winners are posted. More questions are raised by this statement: ‘This is a wine show whose [sic] only agenda is to track down, appreciate and reward the best that Australian chardonnay can offer, a philosophy we share in common with our patron, James Halliday.

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The real Challenge is making sense of the Results

Let’s begin with the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge 2015, which was won by the humble Taylor’s Shiraz 2014 from the Clare Valley – $13 at Bayfields. The wine didn’t just win the best Shiraz under $25 category but also the outright trophy, scoring an almost perfect 19.5 points out of 20.

Does it sound too good to be true? YES it does, and YES it is. I have a glass of the Taylor’s 2014 in front of me as I write this, and it’s a ripe, aromatic, forward Shiraz with sweet vanilla oak and a soft finish. Typical Taylor’s, easy on the gums but nothing special. I’d give it about 90 points unless it improves dramatically over the next day or two. (It didn’t). It beats me how the judges could give the top trophy for the best Shiraz in all of Oz to a mass-produced wine of no special merit.

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The key word here is Opinion

There are as many opinions as there are reviewers, so whom can you rely on? Let’s kick off with this example from Dr Vino :

‘… some flash points have emerged, most notably Cos d’Estournel [2009]. Parker gave it a score of 98-100 with an asterisk calling it “extraordinary … one of the greatest young wines I have ever tasted,” while Neal Martin who also writes for the Wine Advocate lamented the alcohol level, compared it to a wine from the Douro, and scored it 89-91. Tim Atkin noted the 14.5% alcohol on the label, called it over-the-top, compared it to an Australian Shiraz and gave it 95 points. John Gilman wrote that it was “one of the worst young wines I have ever had to taste, as it displays an utter contempt for both the history of its region and the intelligence of its clients … I cannot imagine having to drink it. This is a train wreck of monumental proportions. 67-68 points.’

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Cabernet Sauvignon – the noblest of red varieties?

What makes Cabernet noble is the fact that it produces distinctive Cabernet wine wherever it is grown. Isn’t that what a grape variety should do, I hear you ask. It should but few do. Riesling is another, and it’s also called noble. Pinot Noir certainly does not, nor does Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay. Some of the most expensive wines in the world are made from Cabernet, but down under is still the lucky country.

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The high price of the Penfolds Icons poses the question: what else could you do with the money?

You won’t get your money back on Grange, not the current 93 point-rated release, or any other going back to 1971 – they’re all cheaper at auction than the current shelf price. There two better ways to invest $700.

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More hyperbole, more Price Hikes, More Marketing Blunders

Has Penfolds Grange priced itself out of the Market? That’s the heading of an email Tyson Stelzer sent out, on the occasion of Penfolds 2015 Collection Annual Release (October 15). It’s not the fault of Grange, of course, since no wine can determine its own price – Penfold’s owner TWE does that. Tyson’s next issue  is this: ‘When Penfolds suddenly and brazenly jacked the price of Grange from $685 to $785 in 2013 in the wake of strong reviews for the 2008 vintage, the question on everyone’s lips was whether it would drop the price again in a weak vintage.’

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‘At the end of the day, we’re selling poetry.’ Geoff Kruth, Master Sommelier

‘When the wine critic James Suckling described a [1989] Château Haut-Brion in the pages of Wine Spectator in 1992,’ Bianca Bosker writes in the New Yorker, ‘he needed just a single phrase to sum up the taste: “Big and meaty, with lots of fruit and full tannins, but featuring a sweetness and silkiness on the finish.”

When Suckling reviewed the same Haut-Brion again in 2009, he needed 7 sentences to describe the ‘perfumed aromas of subtle milk chocolate, cedar, and sweet tobacco.’ Bosker adds that ‘extravagant tasting notes have become de rigeur in the marketing world,’ and that they’ve lost their value as practical guides for consumers.

The Baroque Painter

I’ve seen the same trend over the years, and I’ve seen tasting notes evolve from useful descriptions of wines to baroque works of art that can resemble a Rubens Masterpiece.

Some reviewers clearly consult Dr Anne Noble’s aroma wheel to come up with all the aromas and flavours they do: Orange Blossom, Kaffir Lime leaf, cloves and sandalwood. And lots of oil paint.

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