One of my favourite California Chardonnays because it’s in Burgundy style. Pale straw in colour with a spicy, apple nose and well-integrated oak; full-bodied, dry, elegant and rich apple and lemon flavours, beautifully balanced, with great length.
Of all of Calamus’ top-end 2010 reds, this is the most open and accessible. Smoke, plums, dark cherries, earth and spice are all present on the plush frame. The dark fruits carry long on the finish and the supple tannins round everything out.
A field blend of old port vines, this rugged red is dense purple in colour with a nose of spicy black berries. It’s a full-bodied, powerful wine — dry and fruity with earthy notes, firmly structured with ripe tannins.
Northern Rhône style, smoky blackberry nose with a herbal note; full on the palate, dry and savoury with a bitter chocolate finish. Lively acidity, full-bodied and amazing value.
This wine will make you think of summer. Light straw colour with a frothy rim; orange blossom, cardamom nose; light-bodied, medium-sweet perfumed orange and peach flavours. Clean, lingering finish with a touch of bitterness at the end. Enough acidity to keep it in balance.
In the Cahors region of France, where Malbec is grown, the moniker used to describe those wines is ‘Les Vins Noirs de Cahors.’ Back home, Creekside has indeed produced a black wine, which releases raspberries, roses, cassis, spice and chocolate-coated coffee bean. Medium-to-full-bodied, the tannins arrive with authority on the finale allowing it to be enjoyed over the next 2 to 3 years, with the heartiest fare possible.
Made with wild fermentation; no fining agents or filtration and finished in Tonnellerie Sirugue French oak, 20% of it new. The nose is much deeper and earthier than previous vintages, but still the ripe cherry and raspberry rise to the top with beetroot and oak spices mingling in the background. The wine does a turnaround on the palate, guided by a wall of fine oak tannin and earth, dirt, loam and Pinot funk that slowly reveals the fleshy beetroot, the sour cherry, the anise and darker fruits. It’s altogether a more masculine expression of this fascinating grape that starts with a wink and a promise but delivers a subtext of complexity that will make you work for the pleasure within this intellectual offering.