2018 Jilly white New England Wolf of Cumbria

The 2018 Jilly white New England Wolf of Cumbria in Sav Blanc, Viognier and Gewürztraminer is the usual eclectic mix that characterises the artisan/hand-made nature of Jilly wines. It's golden in colour with passionfruit, honey and vanilla in the perfume and on the palate. Deliciously drinkdownable!

2018 Clunes Store and Cellars Chardonnay

The 2018 Clunes Store and Cellars Chardonnay looks like a cleanskin. But it is organic and biodynamic. It has sea salt in its perfume (I swear I can smell the sea in Clunes, on the rare occasion) and nut on the palate. This is a light-spirited wine for summer drinking … or warm, sunny days in winter. 

Morgan and Gill's 2017 Verdelho

Verdelho is an autumnal wine (besides, the two words are, for me, onomatopoeic). I know: we are now into the first month of winter! Drinking Verdelho is like drinking autumnal leaves: changing colour to flutter/fall. Traditionally, the Verdelho grape makes a textured wine of depth, something like a wooded Chardonnay.

When I talk about locabiber/local drinker, I should refer to the Northern Rivers Zone which has one region, the Hastings River, Port Macquarie. That's about 448 kms from Northern Rivers. But there are two other wine zones nearby. The Northern Slopes zone also has only one region, New England, 285 kms from us. Finally, there is the Granite Belt and South Burnett regions in the Queensland zone, 222 kms and 459 kms respectively from us. So I could say that when I drank a glass of Morgan and Gill's Verdelho in the Brisbane Playhouse recently, I was drinking locally. The two winemakers use grapes from South Burnett. They say on their website that this region 'has produced consistently excellent Verdelho'. And this one is excellent in its smooth, gold colour and apple, pear and ginger perfume and deep palate. 

Because I loved that Morgan and Gill Verdelho, I ordered two online for Christmas 2018, and discovered that the one I drank is the 2017. It is excellent in its  smooth, green-gold colour, with apple, pear and ginger in its perfume and on its deep, textured, mellifluousness. palate. The back palate may be a little tart but comes through also with lime sherbet. The 2018 is not as good, or not yet. There is pineapple/citrus in the perfume, but it is more tart in the palate, thinner and not as luscious.

 

 

smooth gold colour, and apple, pear and ginger in perfume and on the deep palate. You can order it online, for I haven't seen it 'locally' in any bottle shop.

smooth gold colour, and apple, pear and ginger in perfume and on the deep palate. You can order it online, for I haven't seen it 'locally' in any bottle shop.

smooth gold colour, and apple, pear and ginger in perfume and on the deep palate. You can order it online, for I haven't seen it 'locally' in any bottle shop.

smooth gold colour, and apple, pear and ginger in perfume and on the deep palate. You can order it online, for I haven't seen it 'locally' in any bottle shop.

smooth gold colour, and apple, pear and ginger in perfume and on the deep palate. You can order it online, for I haven't seen it 'locally' in any bottle shop.

Le Petite Mort Rosé

A Tenterfield Rosé: Le Petite Mort Rosé is blood red in colour, with a tinge of orange. It smells of smoky tomato with an orange edge, maybe even with some aniseed. On the palate it is possibly jubie-ish sweet, but not really. There is a sense of water, with further orange-tomato. It is possibly very good with food, like … veal and pork.

2016 Sirromet Vineyard Selection Granite Belt Pinot Gris

The 2016 Sirromet Vineyard Selection Granite Belt Pinot Gris, although blood red in colour, smells of burnt Turkish delight or roses and tastes of dry butterscotch with pepper and possibly geranium.