Bob McDonald

9.3

Deep garnet with a tawny rim. A savoury earthy mushroom note coming through - also balsamic notes. Fading red cherry on the palate. An excellent Brunello from a good vintage, travelling well at 15 years. A fabulous food wine with homemade fettuccine. I will probably drink my last bottle in 2027/28 although I have a drinking window through to the early 2030s. I ended up having my last bottle on 22 June 2026 with consistent notes. This really was an excellent Brunello. Towards the end of the bottle it showed aromas of dried fruit like raisin. — 9 months ago

Debbie Bouma

9.1

Soft taste in a fantastic bottle of plastic, what means easy and light weight for travelling — 5 years ago

with John

Bob McDonald

9.0

Mid Ruby red in colour. Somewhat closed on the nose - red fruits - cherries in particular. After a decant and an hour with regular swirling still a muted nose. On the palate savoury red cherry with medium minus acidity. At 5 years it would appear to have a huge future - this is my first of 4 bottles. Solid and latent on the palate - yet to open up but the quality is there. Main Ridge was the first licensed winery on the Mornington Peninsula in 1975. This producer not always easy to source. Had another bottle 64 weeks later on the 10th May 2022 with similar tasting notes. Perfect balance between the red fruits and a touch of charred oak. Travelling well. Try and have the next one in 2023. — 5 years ago

Simon Gilligan

9.0

Buying at the budget end while travelling is like throwing dice, but this Rioja Reserva (1 year in oak, 2 in bottle) delivered nicely at around 11€. Balanced, black/raspberry fruited, earthy, bit of spice, leather, gravelly tannin. If I find another bottle I’ll buy it! Ronda, Spain — 7 years ago

Severn G

9.4

Global Champagne Day 2018...Why not?

@Casey @ Travelling Corkscrew I'm not going to sabre this one, maybe another time. Nice post/feature today.

Seemed excessively frizzante when we opened the bottle, more mellow after an hour, quite nice. Lightly brioche, the Chardonnay is more prominent tonight. Light caramel on under-ripe peach, delish. At hour two, lightly saline, red fruit arrives, the terroir is making an appearance. — 8 years ago

Gillian Kennedy

9.0

Canada. Wow what a surprise! It’s good. We had a glass, then ordered a bottle. We are travelling through the Cypress Hills. Where this is made. We normally drink Argentinian Malbec. — 8 years ago

Karla Bounds

9.0

Good with some sweets really good with meat balls!! — 9 years ago

Daniel M

9.1

This is a serious Egri Bikaver... Probably the best i've had so far. Bought by my best half in Budapest while travelling there for business this week. The nose is inetense and shows cherry, strawberry, blueberry, licorice, gun powder, pencil lead, an earthy touch too. Wow. The palate shows superb balance, great acid drive, good width, blueberry, cherry notes all along, a gentle, soft mouthfeel that is gently disrupted by lightly carressing tannins. The finish is fruity, with blueberry and cherry, some earthy notes and a tiny savoury note in the rear. Wow this is punching way above its league... — 2 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

Nothing to add to my previous notes. A well made Chardonnay from Chardonnay specialist, David Bicknell. Made in the leaner style. Travelling well at 10 years. — 5 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Ruby red in colour. Not giving much initially on the nose after decanting. Notes of menthol, light Cherry, and balsamic notes. Almost devoid of fruit but has a delicious savouriness with a skinnsy note on nose and palate. Fine dry, tarry and persistent tannins and remains an excellent Barbaresco travelling well at 10 years of age. — 6 years ago

Simon Gilligan

9.1

Travelling Spain, Marqués de Cáceres - crianza edition - is everywhere. Kept an eye out for a Reserva without luck, however picked up this Gran Reserva at Bilbao airport. 21€. 85% Tempranillo and a 15% mix of Graciano and Garnacha Tinta, dark dark fruits, rich cherry, dense, oaky with fruit cake spice. Nicely tannic. Big wine with plenty of length. Reminds me a of a Parker-esque Barossan. Wanted to like this more, but just a bit too rich and heavy-handed for me. Scrapes in for 91. — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

Tasted on board Qatar Airways travelling from Doha to Kigali. Always liked Torrontes from the first time I tried it in the WSET Classes. A tropical fruit character with notes of guava. Lush and mouthfilling with stacks of flavour. Low acid- drink now. — 8 years ago

Deb Machin

10

This is actually from Monterey County. It's semi-sweet and should not surprise you if you finish the bottle by yourself! Our absolute favorite! — 9 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon; 6% Cabernet Franc and 8% Petit Verdot. Vintage rating 9/10. Ruby red in colour - somewhat translucent - not opaque. Herbal notes combining with savoury black fruits. Quite developed on the medium weight palate showing its age. Travelling well at 20 years but further cellaring will not improve the tasting experience which is outstanding right now - good pairing with a medium/rare T Bone for Sunday lunch and the Australian Open Tennis. Let’s go Alex de Minaur against the Djoker tonight!! — 3 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.6

A collection of great Australian Reds - Christmas break up of the Tennis Group on Monday. This was one of the best on the night. Still travelling well with say a 5 year future. Brilliant. Delectable: This is a Shiraz Cabernet released to commemorate 100 years of Wynns. — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

Pale to mid Lemon in colour. Stone fruit aromas. Mild stone fruit on the palate. Some good mineral and medium acid. Cannot see a long future for these 2015 village white burgundies with the warmer vintage although this Puligny-Montrachet is pleasant drinking now. I must visit a 2015 Premier Cru to see how it’s travelling. — 5 years ago

Leslie Bedolla

9.4

1979 held ip super well after travelling from France to the US then to Germany for the uncorking. Notes of dark cocoa, deep plum, cherry, saddle leather — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

Travelling well at 7 years but not made for the long haul. Light to medium crimson with tawny aged rim. Savoury Cherry aromas with forest floor/compost heap. Light to medium weight but with M plus intensity and soft tannins. An excellent Australian Pinot and amazing value - I remember paying around $45. — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

Coffee Mocha and Blackberry notes. Medium plus intensity finishing with fine Tannins. One of the Barossa’s old vine icons - Stonewell. From the cooler slow ripening Top quality 2002 vintage. Travelling easily in its 16th year with a strong core which will ensure another 5 to 10 years but pretty compelling right now. — 8 years ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.4

On the nose; ripe, syrupy dark currants, blackberries, sweet slightly liqueured dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries, blue fruits, dark fruit gummy bears, tarry notes, black pepper, soft leather, dry brush, black licorice, caramel, dry crushed rocks, loamy dry top soil, violets, lilacs and lavender. The body is warm, thick, ultra rich, lush & elegant. The tannins are round & velvety but still have strength...50% resolved. It has another 10-12 years of good drinking ahead. The fruits are gorgeous & ripe; blackberries, sweet slightly liqueured dark cherries, black plum, black raspberries & lots of blue fruits & strawberries that paint the palate on the long set. A fair amount of tarry notes, black pepper, dry herbaceous notes (bay leaf), dry black olive, medium dark spice, dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, clove, soft leather, dry brush, black licorice, dry crushed rocks, loamy dry top soil, violets, lilacs and lavender. The acidity is round & excellent. The long fruit driven finish is beautifully lush, elegant, well structured with near perfect balance. Photos of; Owner/Winemaker Roman Bratasiuk, their old gnarly 80-90 year old and low yielding vines and two of their vineyards. Producer history and notes...Clarendon Hills was founded in 1990 by Biochemist Roman Bratasiuks. Roman sought to further his passion for great wine by making some himself. Roman never trained as a winemaker. He planned on using his insight as a wine taster and scientist alike to dictate decisions. Roman sought to make a version of the wines he loved. The beginnings of Clarendon Hills effectively started in 1989 when he knocked on the door a local grower whose fruit he liked. A great friendship grew from from this by chance knock on the door. A handshake ensued and it became the first Clarendon Hills vineyard. On Saturday 24 February in 1990, Roman with just a bucket and secateurs arrived. Much to the growers shock, he began picking fruit himself. Roman started at 6 am and finished at 9 pm that evening; he picked half the entire vineyard himself and returned on Sunday the 25th to finish it. This process was repeated in a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard which formed the 3 single site wines produced in 1990. Crushing was performed by Roman using empty bottles to squash the fruit in a bucket, then transferred by that bucket, to one of the 3 small ex-dairy tanks all bought for $100 and a quick, non-temperature controlled wild-yeast fermentation ensued. The wines were pressed in a borrowed basket press and matured in 3 separate third-hand barrels. The vintage was finished in 11 days. Much to Roman’s delight the wines were superb and they sold. With the money he bought more buckets, three more barrels and rent for a shed to house wines. The process was repeated the next year and the year after that. Clarendon Hills grew from his determination. This one man had to make wine after work and on the weekends after his 9-to-5 job. A local news paper even ran a story "Tin shed wines take on the world"; which made Roman cringe but slowly Clarendon Hills grew, it afforded him more equipment to make the process less labour-intensive and slowly grow his vineyard repertoire. In 1994, Roman left the Australian Government laboratories and devoted himself to Clarendon Hills 100%. In the 1994 vintage, Roman hired his first employee and rebranded his $30 Clarendon Hills Shiraz as 1994 Clarendon Hills Astralis. It was the first bottle in Australia to be priced at $100. It sold out. Roman went on for many years, making and selling the wines himself. Travelling the world over to show people the wines he made. Roman figured since he made the wine, he was the most logical choice to sell and represent his wine. This worked out so well, he continues to show the wines himself. Clarendon Hills produces; 8 Syrah, 6 Grenache, 3 Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot and Mourvedre wine. They are all single vineyards single varietal wines, produced from low yielding, dry grown old vines which are hand pruned and hand picked. All his wines are aged in high-quality French oak barriques. Quite a brilliant success story. This is also another wine I acquired on the secondary market for much less it’s release price and far less than their current release prices. It starts as a 9.3 with a half-hour decant. However, as it gets to an hour and half decant plus, it just gets better & better. Works it’s way to a 9.5 in a hour decant. — 9 years ago