Monthly Archives: June 2012

Irvine Springhill Merlot 2009

I am not overly fond of straight merlot wines (Château Pétrus is a little outside my price range) as they tend towards being lolly water. One real exception to this is the Eden Valley 2009 Irvine Spinghill Merlot. This is simply a great wine – soft, smooth and full of flavour. It is easy to pair up with food and best of all it is a total bargain at under $17 a bottle. For the price I don’t think I have had a better wine all year. This is certainly a wine you can afford to stock up on.

Irvine Merlot

Price $16.90
Value >$25.00

Update Jan 2014. I have recently tried the 2012 vintage and it is great too – I would say even better than the 2009. Still the same great low price.

Mount Pleasant Rosehill Hunter Valley Shiraz 2009

A longer overdue post on some good wines. I have had a few (well more than a few) in the last couple of months, but life has intervened and I have just not had time to write about any of them. One that I should write about is the 2009 Mount Pleasant ‘Rosehill’ Hunter Valley Shiraz. I have a very soft spot for Hunter wines in general and for ‘Rosehill’ in particular. The 1991 Rosehill was one of the first ‘good’ wines I can remember drinking and I have drunk a lot of the great vintages of this wine over the years. The only problem is Rosehill is typical of all Hunter wines in being totally vintage dependent. To say the Hunter Valley does not have a reputation for consistency is a massive understatement. If it was not for its geographical location a couple of hours north of Sydney then I am sure that all the vineyards in the Hunter would have become coal mines long ago. Despite this when the conditions are right (unfortunately far too rarely) it can give birth to some of the best wines in Australia.

The upside to all this inconstancy is that no Hunter wine can command the prices that it should when a good vintage comes along. The 2009 vintage is a great vintage and is one of those years where there are many hunter bargains to be found. There is probably no greater bargain than the 2009 Rosehill. This is a traditional hunter shiraz at a price ($26) far below where it should be for the actual wine in the bottle. My advice is run (don’t walk) and buy as much of this wine as your wallet (or wife) will let you. Bargain of the year so far.

Rosehill

Cost: $26
Value: +$50