Lunch at Andre

A little midweek lunch organised by Alex for our guest, Rossano Terazzano, the Italian wine journalist. Alex, William, Lawrence, Nancy and I made up the rest of the table. Alex brought the wines, both blinded. Special mention goes to Andre's fabulous duck confit.

• 2002 Capel Vale Chardonnay Frederick 90 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  Yellow gold colour. The nose was intensely mineral at first, slate, schist, oyster shells. I thought Chablis, but the composition of mineral became more and more chalky with time. Below that, there was a bit of funk and muskiness that blew off quickly, followed by a layer of sweetish white fruit. The palate showed more of the sweet fruit, which became more and more obvious with air, and a round, lemony acidity. Towards the finish, there were more interesting notes of musk, a little beeswax, a hint of tropical fruit and more chalky mineral along with subtle buttery oak. The wine had a very slightly oily, creamy texture to it, with a touch of alochol heat and glycerin. Acid was not high, but still rather lively. Served blind, we all thought old world because of the mineral backbone, but changed our mind to new world when the sweetness of the fruit and the little tropical notes became more and more obvious with time. Lawrence and I eventually settled on Western Australia Chardonnay as our guess. Towards my last glass and when the wine warmed up a little, it was actually rather juicy and expansive.

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• 2004 Main Ridge Estate Pinot Noir Half Acre 88 Points

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Mornington Peninsula

  Extremely highly rated Australian estate, but rather disappointing. An orangey garnet colour belied the wines youth, which showed clearly on the nose and palate. On the nose, it opened with a strong scent of preserved red dates, a touch of maraschino cherries, some herby bramble and a funky, muddy undertone. The palate had a touch of confection in its cherry flavours and a clear sweetish mineral and floral tone at the back of the mouth. It was rather light bodied, almost a touch watery in spite of a little wash of heat and alcohol in the mouth. There was good freshness, but I thought it just a little too bright at points. It finished with a slight hint of oak. Served blind with duck confit, everyone on the table guessed pinot. Lawrence thought it was a 2003 Burg, William called 2005 Adelaide Hills, while I guessed 2004 Mornington. None of us could place the maker though. I thought it would pair better with the duck, but it instead came out a little ferrous and metallic. All in all, it was not a bad wine, but I felt just lacking a little finesse in the way the acid and alcohol and the general struture of the wine stuck out a little. Rossano put it very nicely when he said that this wine stood on the border between an ordinary wine and an interesting one.

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