Australian Red Wine of the Year
Arlewood La Bratta 2007 – Margaret River, Western Australia
When was the last time you had an Australian merlot that pushed your button?
I came across one that not only aroused my merlot curiosity; it triggered just about every pleasure and sensory neuron in my wandering olfactories and aesthetic and had me reaching for my tasting note book.
The 2005 vintage is being hailed as among best of the past century but there is always plenty of spin involved.
Wine merchants throughout the world are ubiquitously fixated with en premeur sales of 2005 Bordeaux, blamelessly riding the wave of a frenzied market chasing a dream vintage. The Bordelaise propensity to embellish necessitates some recalibration after the vintage has sold out, the adage being “the finest Bordeaux vintage appears to be the one that Chateau owners and merchants are currently selling or have the most of in their cellars.”
Taste testing the best 2003 Bordeaux at Vinexpo had its pain and its pleasures… Curtis Marsh confesses all.
I recently spent three grueling days tasting at the world’s largest and most significant wine show, Vinexpo, with leading vintners from all over the globe massed at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Vinexpo has been held bi- annually in Bordeaux since 1981, with overseas exhibitions in the Asia-Pacific region organized in alternate years.
Choosing the best out of Bordeaux from 2003.
Continuing with my 2003 Bordeaux inquisition the following days tasting held by the Union de Grands Crus de Bordeaux here at Vinexpo was a more comprehensive representation of the Bordeaux communes with an impressive turnout from the northern Medoc appellation St- Julien.
