An entry level wine for Meerea Park, and a blend of 80% Hilltops fruit and 20% Hunter Valley fruit. Good strong red in colour. Bright red cherries, plums, raspberries, clean earth and a touch of spice. Medium weight, just, red fruits and a soft peppery spice. Unobtrusive tannins and solid value. Sealed under screwcap. 14.0% abv. 87 points. Drink 2012-2015

A short note on this one. A pleasant nose, cherried fruits and spice, but the palate, despite having dark cherry fruits with plums and some lovely spices, is too hot, with the alcohol slicing through the palate and wrecking the balance. Think Darth Vader, a light sabre and Luke Skywalker. A tough wine to drink. $20ish. 15.0% abv, but tastes like more. Drink now. 82-84 points.

I am slow off the mark. These wines (Mike Press) have been around for a while, and well regarded for their value-for-money. And though all this praise generally makes me suspicious, the reputation is deserved. A single vineyard wine from the Adelaide Hills. A nice nose: plums and spices. The palate is richly fruited, without any jammy or oaky characters. Good length, but still somewhat showing raw power. Not explosive power and seems to be misfiring a bit in the mid-palate, so I would suggest it needs a couple of years. RRP $12. Screwcap. Taster from a friend (Thanks David!). Drink 2013+. 87 points.

My support of the smaller wineries continues. Fresh off the truck from Stephen George at Ashton Hills. Delivered yesterday and opened within 6 hours. I hope I haven’t been premature. Incidentally, a museum release; a mixed dozen of 2000-2002 Shiraz and Cabernet based wines from vineyards in the Clare Valley. Initially muted. Mint, eucalypt, tannins and mossy stones. Light to medium bodied on the first night but with firm tannins (??), and then it showed more body and better backbone on the second night. It has tannins; let there be no mistake. And actually, these looked better with a rest too. Pretty good, but you have to like the eucalypty and minty characters. $20 from the cellar door. 13.5% abv. 86 points. Drink now-2016.

This will not be a long review. I suppose that’s an indication of the magnitude of the associated “score”. Which is fair enough, because great wines will make you effuse. Either that or leave you speechless. Anyways, after a quick flick of the wrist we were there. Spice and cinnamon and red fruits. The palate showed sweet fruits, plums and cherries, but not too sweet. Nice body with quite sweet length. Undistinguished. Not bad, pretty much what you’d expect from some of the larger producers. A decent BBQ wine. RPP $14 but can surely be found cheaper. Winery sample. Drink now. 82 points.

A GZSS blend. Incidentally, I had 4.1L Ford GZSS in the 80s. Two dual throat Webers and it used to go like a rocket. Anyway, the wine: 51% Grenache, 24% Zinfandel, 14% Shiraz and 11% Souzao from their Draycott and Olive Hill vineyards. Prominent Szechuan pepper and ripe fruits on the nose. The palate is a bit syrupy, red currant jelly, plums, peppery spices, and thumpingly strong. But it is balanced; no raisins or overripe characters. Just everything turned up to 11. 15.5% abv. Sealed under screwcap. My heart says ‘yes’, my mouth says ‘yes’, but my liver has abstained.

This is not a wine by Lindsay McCall from the Mornington Peninsula, but one from David Hickinbotham in the McLaren Vale. I don’t know how it can be labelled as “Paringa”. By the way, this wine is something my father-in-law gets from Get Wines Direct for $9.99 per bottle, though it has a “buy 1 case, get 1 case free” deal associated with it at the moment. So he has spotted me a bottle. On the nose, warm dried spices and fruit, licorice. Sweetness dominates the palate, blackberries, black cherries and some spice. Simple and satisfying. Sweetness through the palate, with dry spice finish, black pepper and cinnamon. Drink now. Sealed under screwcap. 14.6% abv. 82 points. Amazing value for $4.99 per bottle (potentially). Cavaet: my wife refused to drink it; so there you go.

I once had a thing for Durif, much like I had a thing for Molly Ringwald. And Joanna Lumley. But these things pass. Originally purchased in 2000 for $19 per bottle. Seems like a lot. Especially considering I’ve had a couple of duds; this is the first “good” bottle. At 14 years of age it still has a great colour, with only slight bricking. Sweet fruit on the nose, with some leathery secondary development. The palate is rather sweet and non-descript – you know what I mean, just like what happens to so many wines when they get older. The tannins are soft, like chocolate that’s been left in the car, and the length is okay. Drink now. 84 points.

And on the tasting bench: Pyramid Valley “Cowley Vineyard” Pinot Noir

A quick note for this one. From the Polish Hill River district in the Clare Valley. Mint, black cherries, nougat, cherries, a bit of eucalypt. On the palate, pleasant red fruits, plums, pepper and spice. Some minty goodness too. Medium bodied. Sealed under screwcap. Labelled as 14.5% abv, but 15% abv on their website. Also noticed when I was there that it has garnered a Gold Medal at the NZ International Wine Show 2010, and 94 points from James Halliday in his 2012 Wine Companion. Retails around the $17-$20 mark. Drink 2011-2015. 87 points from me; perhaps I’m missing something (again).

How could I resist? Though I am not listening to AC/DC as per the serving suggestion on the back label; something a bit more sedate for me I think. Produced by Warburn Estate in the Riverina district, apparently from Barossa fruit. Plums with some cedar and spice. A cheap and abrasive palate, thinly fruited and hollow. A vinegary acidic finish. Okay for drunken guests at 11pm, but tough going otherwise. 13.5% abv, sealed under screwcap. $15 from Dan Murphys, which is about $10 too much. 80 points.