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Ace of Spades, Armand de Brignac, Brut

2009 Apparita, Castello Di Ama

Stunning as usual, the 2009 L???Apparita (100% Merlot) starts off slow but builds steady momentum and intensity. This is a seamless and beautifully integrated expression that sees fine contrast between acidity, structure and fruity extract. The wine is still tight, so give it time to complete its bottle evolution.

2008 Apparita, Castello Di Ama

The 2008 L'Apparita (Merlot) is very, very beautiful. This is a gorgeous vintage for the Apparita. Sweet dark cherries, chocolate, mint, licorice and spices are some of the many notes that emerge from the glass. The 2008 possesses striking inner perfume and sweetness. The 2008 is a decidedly mid-weight vintage, but it works. Graceful and elegant through to the long finish, the 2008 Apparita is a wine that convinces for its balance and overall sense of harmony. This bottle is far better than the two examples I tasted last year.

Arnauld

2008 Astralis Shiraz, Clarendon Hills

Also deep garnet-purple in color, the 2008 Astralis is a little reduced and brooding on the nose showing aromas of dark berries, meat, liquorice and dark chocolate. Big, full-bodied and rich in the mouth it has balanced acid along with medium-firm grainy tannins. It finishes long and balanced.

2002 Astralis Shiraz, Clarendon Hills

The 2002 Syrah Astralis Vineyard rivals the greatest wines Roman Bratasiuk has made in his 15-year career. This compelling, black/blue-hued offering from 75-year-old Syrah vines tastes like blood of the vine. An extraordinary perfume of flowers, creme de cassis, blackberries, roasted meat, new saddle leather, and earth is followed by a wine with sweet tannin, sensational concentration, full body, an unctuous texture, and a full-throttle, tannic finish. Yet it reveals unbelievable elegance and finesse. Too many Euro-centric elitists argue that Australian wines are too rich and over the top, but all of these offerings have been made by someone with great talent and vision who takes the extraordinary ripeness and purity of fruit available from these old vine vineyards and crafts them into wines that are quite European in style ... just richer and denser. The 2002 Astralis is a tour de force.

2010 Astralis Shiraz, Clarendon Hills

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2010 Astralis is still quite primary eliciting aromas of black plums, blueberry compote and blackcurrant liqueur with a savoury and baking spice undercurrent plus a fragrant whiff of violets. Very structured, fine and complex in the medium to full-bodied mouth, this wine is revealing much more than when I first tasted it a year ago and is now showing layer upon layer of black fruit preserves, mocha, toast and spices before finishing with great length. Extraordinary wine.

2006 Astralis Shiraz, Clarendon Hills

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2006 Astralis has stunning nose redolent of warm blackberries, meat, toast and charcoal, infused with notes of smoked duck, anise and a slight bit of peat. Though still very youthful, this big, rich, and powerful full-bodied wine has firm yet velvety tannins, a vibrant acid line and is very long on the finish.

2003 Ausone

Amazing! The limestone soils of Ausone appear to have been the perfect foil for resisting the extreme heat and drought of June, July and August, 2003. This black/purple-coloured effort boasts a glorious nose of violets, truffles, lead pencil shavings, blueberry and blackberry liqueur. Full-bodied with staggering concentration, a voluptuous texture, low acidity and well-integrated, melted tannins, this deep, multidimensional, profound Bordeaux is beginning to drink exceptionally well. It should continue to do so for another two decades or more.

1999 Ausone

Is the 1999 Ausone the wine of the vintage? Dense purple color, a compelling bouquet of liquorice, minerals, black and blueberry liqueur, extraordinary delineation, high tannin, superb extract, and phenomenal richness all are the stuff of a legend. This wine seems impossible to have emerged from a vintage like 1999. Proprietor Alain Vauthier produced only 20,000 bottles because he eliminated one-fourth of the tiny crop. The result is out-and-out fabulous, but the wine needs 12-15 years of cellaring.