Voyager Estate 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River) Unfortunately, this is my last bottle of what has been a wine consistently outperforming both its price and its expectations. Its not Australian wine for all the dire connotations that has to American consumers, its cabernet sauvignon, and its Margaret River, and its good. Dark blackberry fruit, narrowed and focused, with the herbal bite of rosemary and thyme, black peppery structure, and the requisite balancing act between firmness of character and the complexity of age. Its good, its middle-aged at best, its aging as any fan of non-internationlized cabernet would wish, and it was under $20 at release. You wont find many wines like that coming from California. (2/10)
Knappstein 2006 Riesling (Clare Valley) The prevailing wisdom that Australia = goop is relentlessly questioned by Clare Valley rieslings, which (if anything) bite, slash, and rend far more than their Germanic brethren. To the extent that they have acid balance issues, its almost always too much (or too aggressive), rather than too little, acidity. Here, too, the acid is almost lurid in its intensity, and while theres a pretty solid layer of greenish-yellow fruit and apple skin pressing down upon it, this really is all about the vibrant spike of sharpness driving right through the wines center. (2/10)
Knappstein 2006 Riesling (Clare Valley) The prevailing wisdom that Australia = goop is relentlessly questioned by Clare Valley rieslings, which (if anything) bite, slash, and rend far more than their Germanic brethren. To the extent that they have acid balance issues, its almost always too much (or too aggressive), rather than too little, acidity. Here, too, the acid is almost lurid in its intensity, and while theres a pretty solid layer of greenish-yellow fruit and apple skin pressing down upon it, this really is all about the vibrant spike of sharpness driving right through the wines center. (2/10)