Dinner at Attica

Tom, Stacy and I trooped down to rather out of the way Riponlea on a warm end-of-summer evening for dinner at this highly-rated restaurant in Melbourne. Food was alright, with some great dishes and some that were a bit pretentious without pleasing the taste-buds. It had a pretty decent wine-pairing though, with some interesting offerings on show.

• 2006 Ewald Tscheppe (Weingut Werlitsch) Ex Vero II 89 Points

  Austria, Styria, Südsteiermark

  An unsual Austrian blend of 75% Sauvignon Blanc and 25% Chardonnay, I thought this was a decent wine that ticked all the right boxes without being particularly exciting. The nose showed some savoury cream and cooked butter notes that spoke of Chardonnay and oak component, wed to expressive Sauvignon Blanc aromas of gooseberries, pineapples and sweet mangoes. Interesting enough. The palate was rather big – rich and creamily textured, with some rather distracting alcohol warmth on the attack, it showed telltale lentil notes that seem to accompany so many Austrian whites, along with lemons and pineapple riding above lower-toned white melon notes into a minerally finish. That flush of alcohol aside, this was decently balanced, with a good touch of acidity. All in all, not bad drink, but nothing outstanding.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2007 Dario Princic Bianco Trebez 91 Points

  Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT

  Kept on skins for longer than a usual white, this was a very unique, orange wine. Not quite a Vin Jaune, but not dissimilar in style either, the nose showed a slightly oxidative, rancio character running ahead of honey, orange peel and chestnut aromas, with a sprinkling of some sweet nutmeg spice at the sides. After that hint of sweetness on the bouquet, the palate was almost surprisingly dry, with a nice acidity streaming through flavours of limes and lemon zest, more orange peel, and plenty of mouthfilling spice at the finish. There was plenty of extract here, and the wine was almost grippy with shades of tannins from the skin contact. With that structure and the freshness that it had, this was really food friendly. A strange wine, but certainly interesting and very pleasant. I liked it.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2012 Gaia Assyrtiko Thalassitis 90 Points

  Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini

  Very decent. This nosed a bit like an earthy Sauvignon Blanc, with cat's pee and gooseberry smells ahead fresh citrusy wafts and touches of earthy lentils. The palate was certainly a bit different though. There was quite some depth and richness to this, with an almost oily texture to its interesting flavours of lemon oil, lentils and cucumber, all undergirded by a good sense of freshness. It was just a touch short at the finish, ending with a little tingle of herb and spice. Otherwise, I found this a poised, balanced wine that showed quite a bit of interesting character. I enjoyed this.

  Read 1 Comment / Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2011 Syrahmi Collioure L'Imposteur Vin de Pays 89 Points

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Collioure

  Another decent wine. It had a rather pretty nose that reminded me of the Rhone with its melony scents wed to gentle drifts of white flowers and garrigue, musky beeswax and exotic spice. The palate was very Rhone-like as well, with its slightly creamy texture giving up pleasant flavours of lemon curd, citrus limes and white melon flesh. A bit simple maybe, but balanced and pleasant to drink. It finished in pretty decent fashion as well, with lots of spice sprinkled amidst almond and gingko nuts accents. Not bad.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2006 Yarra Yarra Syrah Viognier 90 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  The fact that the winery decided to name this a "Syrah" rather than "Shiraz" is perhaps an apt expression of what they tried to achieve with the wine. This drank rather like a modern Northern Rhone, and not a bad one either. A bit bretty on the nose, it showed an obvious dose of barnyardy, leather and meat notes. Not so much as to completely swamp its other aromas of sweet blueberry, blackberry and violets though. It was actually quite pretty underneath the funk, with the Viognier element showing up quite well. The palate was surprisingly clean and well-balanced for an Aussie Syrah, with, sweet, ripe, but nicely fresh flavours of blueberry and blackberries just straying into plummy territory on the midpalate. The fruit then tapered of slightly towards the finish to reveal more savoury touches of leather and earth wed to some dried earth tones. Not bad at all - this was a very pleasant, early drinking sort of wine.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2010 Dominique Portet Sauvignon Blanc Vendanges Tardives 89 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

  I did not know quite what to make out of this wine. It was certainly technically well-made, but I did not enjoy it all that much. On the nose, it smelt like a particularly grassy Sauternes, with wafts of honey and caramelised apples along with touch of rubber and spice and a twist of something green at the edges. It came across very sweet, almost a bit sickly sweet in fact. Thankfully, the palate was a lot more controlled than the nose suggested, it was less green too, with simple but attractive flavours of orange tangerine and apricots, honey and burnt caramel, with a touch more of that spice and rubber twang picked up on the nose. Decently balanced, it led into a nicely fresh finish, with little notes of bittersweet pomelo chasing the sweeter fruit. There was some depth and complexity, but somehow it was just not that appealing on the evening. This would be interesting to try in 3-4 years’ time to see how it develops. May get better given that it showed decent bones.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2009 Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 94 Points

  Germany, Rheinhessen

  By some distance the best wine of the night. In true Gunderloch fashion, this had a wonderful nose, full of floral perfume - osmanthus, elderflower and honeysuckle all coming to mind – along with sweet nectar aromas, and some gentle stone fruit and sweet spice notes. Wow. That was a nose that really grabbed the attention. The palate was perhaps less developed, more in-your-face in its primary sweetness, but boy was it lovely. Showing some absolutely perfect balance, it melted creamily across the mouth with beautiful honeyed, nectarry tones of white peach and apricots, shading into tropical notes of mangoes and pineapples and longan on the midpalate. This was absolutely delicious even in its infancy. Lovely finish too, with a nice, floral, white musky perfume swirling around chalky mineral notes as the pull away. This was a really top-notch Rheinhessen. Fruity, expressive, delicious, but also complex and graceful. Lovely even now, but boy will this be great in say 10 to 15 years.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No