The Road Less Travelled

Culture Bar Bree Street
Tasted Wednesday, September 27, 2023 by rikipedia with 107 views

Introduction

A walk around tasting various wines that Radford Dale imports. Have split flights into countries. All short notes

Flight 1 - Australia and New Zealand (6 Notes)

  • 2022 Pewsey Vale Vineyard Eden Valley Riesling 88 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Classic sliced limes, lemon oil and leaf with a touch of honeysuckle. Not as pronounced as expected.
    The palate is linear in shape with a pithy, lime skin, chalk dust texture that becomes quite phenolic as the wine remains in the mouth. There is a slight residual sugar in the mid-palate that helps balance the cleansing acidity, but feels rather early picked with green notes dominating and a bitter finish. As per the nose rather lightweight with no real depth.


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  • 2021 Yalumba Grenache Samuel's Collection Bush Vine 89 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Barossa

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): My very short note mentions a fragrant nose with some pleasant strawberry/raspberry fruits and a hint of spice. Crowd-pleaser with red berries joining some baking spice and a polished palate with a reasonable finish.

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  • 2016 Yalumba The Signature 94 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): 2016 Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon - Shiraz: A deep intense nose with blue fruits blackcurrant, graphite, and minty edges. Intriguing palate that is layered with a creamy texture, dark chocolate and a sweet red and blueberry fruit that mingles with mineral and graphite edges. Excellent depth of flavour, there is a delightful purity, concentration and fabulous ripe tannins edged with blackcurrant skin and pulp. Fairly big, full-bodied with considerable length
    
A blend of 53% CS; 47% Shiraz.

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  • NV Jansz Wine Company Premium Cuvée Brut 86 Points

    Australia, Tasmania

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): The nose has a light mineral and chalky character with a slightly concentrated sweet fruit. Yellow apple slices and dried apples are present, as is a bubble gum-like fruit and lactic quality that distracts (shortbread biscuits dunked in milk).
    The palate is better but lacks conviction.
    A blend of 53% Chardonnay and 47% PN. The dosage is 7.4 g/l and matured 18 months on lees.

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  • 2021 Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 91 Points

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Pronounced, welcoming aromas of tropical fruits, thiol esters with honeydew melon and gooseberry dominating. There is a lot going on up front and on entry as the palate is vibrant and fresh, with mineral acidity with a pithy texture that gives a gum dryness/chalkiness that slightly shortens the length. Melon joins pineapple and granadilla as the wine has a gist of Alpine air. However, it lacks a bit of depth and seems somewhat front-loaded, although it did improve in glass a little.

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  • 2018 Burn Cottage Pinot Noir Burn Cottage Vineyard 90 Points

    New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): At first a rather punchy feral, savoury and earthy aromas that calm down to reveal smoke, strawberry, red cherry and some light herbs. The palate is fleshier than expected, with fine mineral and chalky acid vibrancy that runs through the wine. Slowly showing more purity in a glass, the tannins build and start to claim territory over the fruit, finishing with a slightly bitter cherry stone and medium length. Still, a smart and complex wine that closes with a twist of liquorice/

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Flight 2 - Burgundy (4 Notes)

  • 2020 Paul et Marie Jacqueson Rully 1er Cru Blanc 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Rully 1er Cru

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): A mineral-driven nose with crushed rocks and a toasty oak note. A crisp freshness on entry as a finely honed horizontal acidity, gives poise and purity of flavours. Tightly woven with good length and depth this is a spanking wine!

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  • 2020 Famille Paquet Saint-Véran Les Cras 91 Points

    France, Burgundy, Mâconnais, Saint-Véran

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Delicate aromas of Gala apple, white soil, and minerals. A lovely soft entry with a gentle richness, balanced by fabulous mineral-edged acidity that drives horizontally through the mid-palate. Light fruit nuances. The wine has some breadth but feels trim and moves along the palate at a clipped rate. A slightly watery finish tails off but is still enjoyable, with a grip around the gums as it exits.

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  • 2018 Domaine Pierre Gelin Fixin 1er Cru Clos Napoleon 93 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Fixin 1er Cru

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): A gorgeous black cherry infusion with ripe plum and pure berry fruits with a wisp of smoke. Fresh and complex, the palate offers a fabulous sinewy grip with a sweet edge and a dark, earthy, slightly spiced core with excellent depth. Shiny and smooth, this solid wine has excellent concentration and length with a densely woven pliable tannin that exits a sweet fruit finish. Some rustic charm here as the finish lingers.

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  • 2020 René Bouvier Marsannay Le Finage 89 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Marsannay

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Light red cherry in colour with minerals and some plum on the nose. Some sweetness on entry the wine has a energetic acidity with fine, delicate tannins giving a gently positive bitter sensation. Elegant, it is mainly ripe red cherry and a medium finish. Fairly approachable but not that compelling.

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Flight 3 - Champagne (1 Note)

  • NV Vazart-Coquart Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Réserve Brut 89 Points

    France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Light brioche and hazelnut aromas with minerals and a pronounced line of chalk. The palate is lean with a citrus-edged steely acidity that is undoubtedly energetic but gives the mid-palate a rather linear, almost skinny shape that is a little unforgiving. Medium-weighted, the wine opens further to reveal a slight marmite edge that borders on funkiness. The finish is shorter than expected, but it's not a bad wine.
    The grapes are sourced from the Grand Cru village of Chouilly on the Côte des Blancs.

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Flight 4 - Bordeaux (2 Notes)

  • 2020 Château Mangot L'autre Mangot 90 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): 2020 Chateau Mangot 'l'Autre Mangot' | 2020 Chateau Mangot 'l'Autre Mangot’. The nose is fragrant with violet, deep blueberry and blackcurrant aromas. Full-bodied, the wine is rich and powerful with a good depth of flavour and a sweet core of fruit that works with the grippy texture. Focussed, the wine is fairly expressive with kirsch cherry and blackcurrant flesh and framed with somewhat jagged yet integrated tannins that build to a puckering finish with a touch of heat. Fair length, solid, no-frills wine.

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  • 2021 Château Le Rey Les Argileuses 88 Points

    France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): 2021 Chateau Le Rey Les Argileuses | 2021 Chateau le Rey Les Argileuses Cotes de Castillon Cotes de Bordeaux. A very deep black-ruby core with aromas of black plum, blackberry, and blackcurrant aromas tinged with some stem. The entry coats the front palate with sweet blackberry, stewed plums and kirsch that reaches to a blackcurrant leaf character of the Cabernet Franc. With some width to the velvety mid-palate, the wine has grip and fruit tannin extraction without much secondary complexity, making it somewhat mono-dimensional. Fairly long with dense, firm tannins.
    A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% CF.

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Flight 5 - Beaujolais (3 Notes)

  • 2021 Domaine de la Grosse Pierre Chiroubles 88 Points

    France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Chiroubles

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Aromas of rose hip, sour cherry and plum. With sweet cherry and raspberry on the entry, the wine has a linear gait and fresh mineral-edged acidity, making for a lightweight, juicy and approachable. The tannins have an apple skin texture and the finish is longish and accommodating. Nicely made.

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  • 2021 Château Thivin Brouilly Reverdon 92 Points

    France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Brouilly

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): A pretty lifted wine with inviting aromas of Bing cherry, violet, black plum and a dusting of spice. A smooth and silky entry with fleshy blackberry/blackcurrant coulis wrapped in a finely-grained tannic intensity. Long and delicate, with chalky edges, this has a purity that entices, finishing with a slight bitter cherry twist. It is eminently quaffable with some decent length.


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  • 2021 Domaine des Marrans Fleurie Les Marrans 87 Points

    France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Fleurie

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): A light, less obvious nose gently massaged with Rainer cherry, sour plum, and mineral. The mid-palate is soft but edged by minerals that show green leaf, herb, nettles, white pepper, rosewater and apple core. A rather pithier finishes with a dried apple skin texture leads to a firm but blunted irascable finish.


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Flight 6 - Loire (3 Notes)

  • 2020 Catherine et Pierre Breton Vouvray La Dilettante 85 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): A funky and bruised apple aroma with a touch of herbs and white grapefruit peel. Edgy, the yeasty funkiness dominates, making the wine feel unbalanced. There was some mineral on the finish; this was a little too loose-clothed, natural and dungaree-clad for me.

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  • 2020 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre 93 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): A fragrant to floral nose of apple blossom, nettle, boxwood and soft herbs. The palate is linear with a rubber glove note at first, then slate, wet soils with a lightly creamy texture and a piquant acidity. Nicely textured wine, it has excellent balance, some complexity, but ultimately has a shy Alpine air freshness with a richer, denser core (reflecting older vines?). It travelled along airily and bright remaining light-bodied and lissom to a lingering finish.

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  • 2020 Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur-Champigny 92 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): A heady nose rippling with fresh blackcurrant leaf, mineral and loganberry. With a strong mineral presence on the entry, the wine is juicy and clean with a grippy mid-palate and a well-balanced, long finish. A dusting of spice and a savoury swirl adds intrigue to this smart and well-crafted wine.

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Flight 7 - Rhone (2 Notes)

  • 2018 Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Light roasted meat aromas are joined by a mix of red and black berries over which a fragrant component lifts the whole wine. A fresh entry with minerals and florality work in tandem with a blueberry compote and summer pudding quality. Fabulous concentration (old vines?) with solid, chalky tannins lead to a long finish that has a light garrigue aftertaste. Lovely wine.
    75-year-old vines.

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  • 2020 Verzier Saint-Joseph Chante-Perdrix La Madone 92 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): The nose offers soft and light violet and blackberry fragrances, with edges of tilled soil and a dusting of pepper. The palate is marked by fabulous freshness and purity of fruit, with serrated mineral acidity complemented by blue fruit, fennel, and peppery edges, evoking a walk in a lavender field. The ripe and present tannins provide a firm structure, and the wine has a fabulous length.

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Flight 8 - Provence & Cahors (2 Notes)

  • 2019 Domaine de la Tour du Bon Bandol 88 Points

    France, Provence, Bandol

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): A meaty and slightly feral character on the nose with minerals, light garrigue and dried herbs. The palate opens with sour plum, white pepper with an earthiness supported by a crunchy fresh acidity with a plum stone texture (like sucking a plum stone). Certainly a wilder, unkempt wine, this is all about Mourvedre, and whilst the fruit character is somewhat subdued, there is wild scrub, rugged with grippy tannins on the finish.

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  • 2017 Château de Chambert Cahors 89 Points

    France, Southwest France, Cahors

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Aromas of sour black cherry, smoke and a touch of wildness. The palate is mid-weight with juicy, fleshy blue and bilberry fruits wrapped in dense firm tannins with a hint of iron and sea kelp. Reasonable length this has a steely structure with a lively acidity.

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Flight 9 - Languedoc Roussillon & Jura (3 Notes)

  • 2020 Le Roc des Anges Côtes Catalanes Segna de Cor 90 Points

    France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes Catalanes

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Lifted tones of Bing cherry, minerals, and alpine air. Fresh, direct with plenty of fruit to the core with a juicy acidity and supple texture. A reasonable finish this is very quaffable.


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  • 2020 Clos du Gravillas Côtes du Brian Sous les cailloux des grillons 90 Points

    France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Côtes du Brian

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Light garrigue aromas join fresh red berries, violets, and fennel fronds with a mineral element. On entry, a lovely sweet coulis of red berries, blue flowers, and light herbs is present, with a bright mineral texture and juicy acidity and spikes of tannin that punctuate the fleshier fruit nicely. It is very approachable, fresh, and vibrant.

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  • 2020 Domaine de la Borde Arbois Pupillin Terre du Lias 90 Points

    France, Jura, Arbois Pupillin

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): made from Chardonnay. The nose is a funky mix of wet dog, mineral and wet chalk with a tell of gentle oxidation reflecting Jura. The entry is all about that wet dog fur funk, firm mineral spine and a rather sharp acid experience upfront, with some chalk dust, all working surprisingly well together. Linear in shape, the wine may lack some of the creaminess or softness seen in other Chardonnays but is characterful.

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Flight 10 - England (2 Notes)

  • 2020 Blackbook Winery Chardonnay Painter of Light Clayhill Vineyard 94 Points

    United Kingdom, England, Essex

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): An evocative nose of peach slices on toast, a blob of clotted cream with stuck match and rock scree. The palate is linear in shape offering excellent depth and laserlike focus. The mid-palate is crammed with minerals, crushed stones, savoury nuances and a fresh thread of invigorating acidity. There is a nod to a reduction in the wine, but the whole thing works beautifully. It has an excellent length and is far better than I remember, with a slight creamy, nutty, farm butter quality adding further intrigue.

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  • 2020 London Cru Pinot Noir Précoce 91 Points

    United Kingdom, England, Sussex, West Sussex

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Lifted aromas of fresh strawberry and mineral. A nicely delineated palate with ripe berry fruit balanced by a sparkling fresh acidity. There is cherry coulis on the mid-palate, and the tannins are fruit-wrapped, finishing long but without much complexity.

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Flight 11 - Austria (3 Notes)

  • 2021 Martin Arndorfer Grüner Veltliner Handcrafted 91 Points

    Austria, Niederösterreich, Kamptal

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): A little funky with pleasant notes of celery salt, white pepper, mineral and wet limestone soil with some sliced Granny Smith apples. The palate is linear with a smooth almost glassy texture, crispy, tangy acidity and a touch of lees. The wine has depth and builds nicely to give a chalky edge from skin contact and long length, with a refreshing finish of fennel/dill and lime.

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  • 2018 Heinrich Lunzer Blaufränkisch 89 Points

    Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Wild, earthy aromas with cherry stone, light spice, mineral and blue fruit that is fairly intense. The palate is juicy with a line of crisp acidity, bright but with slightly wild components. Blueberries and blackberries make up the core of this medium-bodied wine whilst it flows to a persistent finish. A well-defined expressive wine with some minerals on the close.

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  • 2020 Heinrich Pinot Noir 85 Points

    Austria, Burgenland

    (Short notes, Walkaround tasting): Very funky nose with wet soil and wild, feral notes that develop as it opens. The palate continues in this vein with lots of funk, accompanied by a sherbet-like fizz that didn’t seem correct. Whilst there are some light red berry fruits with a touch of earthy encrusted cherries there is a touch of bitterness on the finish that makes this wine challenging and frankly limits its appeal.

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