THE STUMP JUMP - brought to you by Spec Savers???

D'Arenberg's Stump Jack label and range has evolved considerably since it was introduced as a budget alternative to the iconic d'Arry's Original. So when you're trapped in the famous Eumundi Market carpark, with no red wine, there was no finer sight than this being offered at 2 for $25 at the local Thirsty Camel Bottleshop.
While the label looks like an eye chart [it comes with a back label justification] it's always the stuff inside that counts. And both really surprised me.

D'ARENBERG "THE STUMP JUMP" 2013 CABERNET MERLOT: At 5 years old I was expecting this to be a little tired. It's the complete opposite with lashings of vibrant berry fruit leaping out of a beautifully balanced, integrated palate. This is worth hunting for.
REGION: McLaren Vale
A/V: 14.4% 
PRICE: $12.50
FROM: The Thirsty Camel, Eumundi
RATING: 5/5 from me 

D'ARENBERG "THE STUMP JUMP" 2016 SHIRAZ: On Day One of tasting I thought this may just be too young. It was a little bit aggressive on the palate and fairly feral. So we tasted it over the next threed days and while it 
understandably softened it was still a wine that disappointed.
REGION: McLaren Vale
A/V: 14% 
PRICE: $12.50
FROM: The Thirsty Camel, Eumundi 
   RATING: 3/5 from me

    

A LESS THAN OUTSTANDING WINE TASTING

So I grab a range of random reds from our first Lidl we visit in Italy. You've got to start somewhere so I chose price points.  From left to right these cost 1.69, 2.99, 4.99 and 13.99 euro . Alcohol levels seemed to go up with price. Once again left to right: 12%, 13%, 13.5% and an absurd 15.5%.

Sadly there's not much else to report. We opened the bottles and tasted them over three days. Nothing happened. The two innocuous cheaper wines stayed that way. The Valpolicella Ripasso stayed a charry unbalanced beast and the |Amarone remained a weird bottle of over extractive fruit.

It's sad when a retailer I enjoy gets it so wrong. In the absence of any on floor advice you run the risk of being very disappointed. Lidl also have their own label Barolo which I've found very disappointing.

A 2/5 rating is probably harsh on the cheaper two but generous for the others. Impossible to recommend any of these.

RIVALLANA 2013 RESERVA RIOJA

This was the second wine opened each day of Outstanding Wine Tasting Number Three. It was undoubtedly the majority winner on day one and then faded into a distant third place by the end of the tasting. So perfect to open and drink now without too much excitement.

GRAPE VARIETIES: Tempranillo 90% The balance comprising of Carignan [Mazuelo] Grenache and Graciano
REGION: Rioja
A/V: 13.5% 
PRICE: 5.99 euro 
FROM: Aldi, Spain
RATING: 3.5/5 rating from me 

OUTSTANDING WINE TASTING NUMBER ONE

Chateau Bellevue Medoc : Vintages 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015
October 8, 9 and 10 - 2017

The starting point for understanding wine is drinking the stuff. We in the wine biz used to say "we had a look at that wine" or "have you seen it?".It meant have you tasted it? And that's just like drinking although you may spit. 

I can't see the point of spitting if you've only got four wines and you're planning to taste them over three days. This tasting was inspired by the opportunity to buy four sequential vintages of the same label. We wanted to see the extent of vintage variation and how the wines evolved once the cork was pulled.

The vintage variation was HUGE!

2012 was the strongest performer on Day 1. A little bit all over the place but a big opulent wine offered plenty of optimism for Day 2. Sadly it had fallen over by then and never got back up. If you have some, drink now

2013 was by far the lightest bodied and the biggest surprise. It evolved each day in a positive subtle way. Medium cellaring should be fine.

2014 was oak dominated and didn't show anything but oak for the life of the tasting.

2015 not surprisingly opened as a young wine and evolved really well each day into the best of the line up. Enjoy it over the next three years.

The wines were all around the 9.5 euro mark. I wouldn't jump up and down about any of them but for under 40 euro this was a priceless tasting experience.

Do you want the good news or the bad?

CARTA ROJA 2013 MONASTRELL SYRAH
Well here's both. The bad news is that the superb 2011 vintage of this is just about sold out. The good news is there is still some stock of it along with the 2013 which is sharing the shelves in some stores. The even better news is that the 2013 is a cracker. Still a little quirky but far more depth of colour and fruit with encroaching dustiness in the background. It gets even better with the price down from the regular bargain £4.85

5/5 rating from me at a ridiculous £3.64 from Sainsbury's while the 25% off sale is on  

Chateau Haut Boutisse 2013 Saint Emillion Grand Cru [Merlot Cabernet]

What a disappointment this was! It opened fine for about a minute and then stewed fruit took over. I'm surprised they managed to achieve that at just 12% a/v and annoyed that a wine I selected as a benchmark was not the quality of wines half the price.

2,5 rating from me

8,49 euro from Aldi, France

Peos Estate 2013 Four Kings Chardonnay

This is one of the most exciting chardonnays we've ever offered.
Yes, it's a big call but then again we've tasted it and you haven't!

In the second half of 2014 I started  searching for a big, fat , buttery, wooded old fashioned chardonnay. And while I still haven't found it, this beauty turned up amongst all the samples we received.
Peos Estate [Manjimup WA] sent a sample of their 2011 and 2013 vintages under their Four Aces label. We road tested them over 4 days and while we would have happily settled for the superb 2011 the younger release just blew it away.
We sold the first pallet in a blink and had no hesitation ordering a second one.  Strangely the second pallet arrived labelled "Four Kings" and as far as we can tell it's pretty much the same apart from the spelling.

This wine is all about balance and complexity. There are so many layers of flavour that reveal themselves as you progress through the bottle and yet none of these elements clash with any other part of the wine. It really is quite extraordinary how it works.
There is just a mere scraping of butteriness amongst glorious fruit that's been achieved with just 12.5% a/v. Consequently there's plenty of acid that holds the promise of a fascinating and lengthy cellar life.
The Peos back label description is spot on apart from missing the point that this a truly outstanding wine:
"Lifted aromas of nectarine, waxy citrus leaf and subtle complex toasty notes. The palate is focused and weighty featuring stone fruits and delicate spicy, vanillin oak flavours. There are flinty, nutty undertones supported by firm, fresh acidity."

Our Price: $13 per bottle by the dozen

SOLD OUT