Welcome

Welcome

This is a resource for people who want to buy an interesting bottle of wine on a budget of about $20. If you get lost between Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon and have access to a Dan Murphy's or Vintage Cellars (or Aldi, as of 2015!), you've come to the right place. Where possible, wines are listed with their single-bottle price from DM/VC/A and the winery's home page.

A good place to start is the 'Index', or if you know what type of wine you want, head straight to the 'Recommended Reds', 'Worthy Whites' or 'Stunning Sparklers' that only show 4 & 5☆ wines.

Your experience will be different to everyone else's, which makes wine such a pleasure. The same vintage wine at different ages will be distinct, as will the same aged wines from different vintages. What the glass holds is a unique parcel of time that should be enjoyed as such.

Friday 28 October 2016

(S) Freixenet: 'Vintage Reserva' 2013 Brut Nature Cava, from Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Penedes, Spain

Appearance
Pale gold, with a frothy bead of medium-sized bubbles.

Smell
A wave of aromas leap from the glass at once, including grapefruit, sweet pineapple, apricot, red cherry, strawberry, pastry & marzipan. This cacophony of aromas are launched into your sinuses by the persistent fizz & it easily becomes a blur of smells.

Palate
Wow, this is different! Like most sparkling wine, it's dry & acidic, even a bit more acidic than most bubbles, but not at the same level as Champagne. Standard sparkling alcohol (12%), with a rich body & thick, creamy mousse/mouthfeel. The 'Wow!' factor lies in the richness of flavour, which is surprisingly pronounced & whilst there's definite signs of aging on lees (dead yeast), the stars of the show are the fruit & floral characters of Cava's homegrown heroes, Macabeo, Parellada & Xarel-lo. The dominant flavours are ripe grapefruit, baked red apples, nectarines, and some roasted almonds with a long biscuity finish. There's definitely no risk of confusing this with the subtlety of a traditional Chardonnay & Pinot-driven sparkling wine like the Yarra Burn from the same year.

Tale
Freixenet is a Cava powerhouse, as detailed in my review of their Elyssia Cuvée. The main differences between these two wines are the Elyssia is a multi-vintage wine that also uses the French Chardonnay & Pinot Noir grapes, compared to this single-vintage wine that only uses indigenous Spanish grapes. An interesting note for the wine is the 'Brut Nature' statement on the neck means no sugar has been added as dosage. the vast majority of traditional method sparkling wines (e.g. Champagnes & Cavas) have a few g/L of sugar added to balance the searing acidity. The acidity certainly shows through here, which would make it a great accompaniment to oily/fatty/greasy foods (think freshly cooked fish & thick-cut chips at the local pier in summer.... or hors d'oeuvres at a party).

I knew this was a great value bottle, but I expected it to be pushing $20, not hovering around $15. Truth be told, with the time & effort that's gone into making this one, it should cost well over $20 & closer to $30!

Price: $16
Quality: ☆☆☆☆
Value: ☆☆☆☆

www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_764899
http://www.freixenet.com.au/thewines/BrutVintage



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