Welcome to the latest edition of Soaked. In this edition we'll take a look at the 2005 vintage in South Australia & Western Australia, taste the Majella new releases, give you the opportunity to attend a special dinner and continue our look at the great Stelvin/Cork debate.

This will be the start of a regular fortnightly email update, I'd love to hear any suggestions or ideas you have. Please feel free to let anyone else know about Soaked, if they sign up on the mailing list they'll go into the draw to wine a bottle of Grange 1997. As a subscriber to Soaked you are already in the draw which will be held on October 31 - Good Luck!

2005 Vintage

Over the next few editions we'll take a glimpse at how the various wine areas fared. Overall 2005 is looking great with only the Riverina and eastern Victoria reporting major problems. Firstly we'll look at the larger South Australian regions. The Barossa and Eden Valleys have had a wonderful run in to the vintage, with many producers suggesting it will be on a par, if not better than the superb 2002 vintage, with the reds looking particularly good. In McLaren Vale things might be a little patchier. D'Arenberg reports an excellent cool ripening period with some inconsistency of picking times. Overall the quality is excellent. Clare looks like producing big rich reds this year, and early reports suggest an excellent Riesling year. A textbook growing season means that Coonawarra is looking forward to a superb vintage, Cabernet Sauvignon looks like the star.

I've just tasted my first South Australian 2005 wine, the Yalumba Y Viognier which is an amazingly good varietal Viognier for $10 to $12. It continues to be one of the best white wine bargains around.

Over in the West the vintage is also looking good, with Margaret River heading for another good vintage. Overall the reds are showing great flavour intensity and showing a better sugar/acidity balance than the warmer 2004 vintage. Shiraz is good across the board but the best Cabernet Sauvignon from low cropping vineyards will potentially produce exceptional wines, look to better producers such as Moss Wood and Cullen to produce classic wines. The southern regions of Frankland, Pemberton and Manjimup are also promising a good to very good vintage.

Next time around we'll look at Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.

Australian Icon Wine Dinner 31 August at the Court House. Hosted by Soak Wines

Wine dinners are something I've enjoyed organising and hosting for a number of years and I' m pleased to announce the first one under the Soak Wines banner. On Wednesday August 31 I'll be hosting an Australian Icon dinner at the wonderful Court House in North Melbourne. I've selected a range of benchmark Australian wines that are drinking close to or at their peaks. They include: Henschke Hill of Grace 1992, Penfolds Grange 1997, D'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz 1999, Cullen Cabernet Merlot 1999, Wynn's John Riddoch 1990 & Penfolds' stunning rarity Bin 820 Coonawarra Shiraz Cabernet 1982. Fourteen great wines in all, as well as a few surprises and the splendid hand crafted food of the Court House.

Places are strictly limited to 28, $220 per head, to book contact the Court House on 9329 5394 or send them an email. The full wine list and menu is on the web site. If you'd like to know more give me a ring on 0418 228 890 or send me email.

Around the Traps

Majella New Releases

I recently attended the launch of the new vintage of Majella wines which have established a deserved reputation for making rich, fruit driven Coonawarra styles. The 2004 Riesling is a nice soft drinkable style, a little pricey given some of the superb bargains coming out of the Eden Valley & Clare, but it is the reds that are Majella's strong suit. Big generous reds that show the quality of fruit coming from what is one of the best vineyards in the Coonawarra region.

I was very impressed by the first release of the 'The Musician' 2004 that is named in honour of family member Matthew Lyn, who was tragically killed in a hit & run accident earlier this year. The wine is a brilliant first effort being a great early drinker with typically generous Majella blackcurrant/dark berry fruit shining through. A blend of estate Cabernet Sauvignon & Shiraz, it is balanced by just enough oak to give the wine a touch of grip, a super Aussie red that would still be a good buy at around $30, I rate this wine as one of the best under $20 reds around.

You can buy it from my web site for $16.99.

Majella's Shiraz has a very loyal following, the 2003 being it's 13^th vintage. It has a consistent style built around rich dark berry fruit, dark chocolate characters, lifted pepper and spice notes, firm tannins, and a whack of sweet cedary oak. The 2003 is a baby but will cellar beautifully. If drinking it now I'd suggest at least a couple of hours air and drink it with a substantial slab of steak. The Majella Shiraz style is winning a lot of fans although I find it a little clunky. Expect to pay around $33 per bottle.

I must admit I much prefer the Majella Cabernet Sauvignon 2003; this is typical of the superb Cabernet Sauvignon that Coonawarra can produce. It has a lovely lifted nose with just a touch of Coonawarra mintiness, rich cassis fruit, vanillin notes, a touch of herbaceous/brambly characters and some firm tannins that run the length of the wine. A bit formidable for drinking tonight but as the 1999 which was also on tasting showed, this wine will open out beautifully and will drink well for at least another ten years. A damn good Cabernet that will set you back around $33.

Last but not least is the flagship Malleea 2002 which is quite a wine, with the concentration and structure of a superior wine. It is a blend of the very best Cabernet and Shiraz available in the vineyard that is given the Rolls Royce treatment in the winery, including 2 ½ years maturation in new French oak. For me it might just be the best Malleea yet, with a powerful core of dark berry fruit that is offset by the substantial tannins and oak, a really powerful wine that demands some time in the cellar. This is yet another superb wine from the brilliant 2002 vintage. It makes me wonder why this great Aussie blend has gone out of fashion, why aren't there more wines like this and Penfolds Bin 389 in production? Expect to pay around $70 per bottle - if you can find any.

The Debate Continues on Stelvin v Cork

A visit to the Henschke web site led me to an article that looks further into the Stelvin/cork debate. The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) has been looking in to the question of screw cap closures retarding a wines long-term development. The AWRI measured the amount of air let in by corks and Stelvin seals after 3 years of bottle maturation. There has been an extraordinarily long running and somewhat esoteric argument over whether a wine  s maturation is a product of interaction of the air from outside the cork or whether it is more to do with the air sealed into the bottle between the cork or Stelvin seal and the wine after bottling.

Anyone who has drunk old wines knows that the better wines have been the least ullaged, indicating that the air in the bottle is quite sufficient for aging the wine. Interestingly the very best corks actually let less air in than the Stelvin seal but the screw caps performed much more consistently. The argument goes that the screw cap seal is actually performing like the very best corks, allowing a slow consistent maturation. From the study results it looks like they didn't include any dinged or damaged screw caps  remember don' t buy these as the internal seal may well have become dislodged.

Purchase Soak Wines Online

You can now purchase wines on the web site through a secure online purchasing system. At the moment you will find quality clean skins and other ''Featured Wines'' that I think represent exceptional value.

Keep your eye on the website over the next few weeks for more great wines and reviews.

Cheers for now,

Declan

Soak Wines

www.soakwines.com.au