Alexander Park 2008 Central Victoria Pinot Noir

"Alexander the great"

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house was cooking and expletives and no sign of a mouse-spider.

Ah that time of the year when families come together in spirit and try not to harm one another. Everyone is pressured to get everything perfect for everyone else even though they are sure that no-one will appreciate their efforts. While Madam was cooking and swearing, I was hunting for a mouse spider that had resulted in several bumps to head and knees as I scrambled under tables in my quest and I hadn't even opened any alcohol as yet.

We gave up and decided it was time to eat (and drink) before St Nick came a clatter upon our roof.

Pinot Noir is a fiddly grape that can be difficult to make into good wine. Its a smaller grape than most red wine grapes, therefore it takes more acreage to make Pinot Noir than it does Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon. It needs the right soil and climate more so than other more robust varieties and is less forgiving than more masculine varieties such as Shiraz than can fare well in almost any climate.

Pinot needs a longer ripening season, more constant temperatures in its ripening periods form bud burst to harvest. Even if you get all that right it can still be stuffed up by the wrong choice of oak or the winemaker not paying attention during fermentation or oak maturation.

All of this means you usually pay a pretty penny for a decent Pinot Noir and many drinkers will confess that they lack the punch or depth of flavour they would have expected for the price.

This one however was a gem. It sits nicely in that sub-twenty dollar bracket (just), and provides everything you expect from a new world Pinot.

There was a slightly funky berry nose with hints of mushrooms and a silky sexiness that suggests a naughtiness lurking under the covers.

Ah yes tonight please Josephine! The palate is silky just as the nose suggests. There are flavours of dark cherries, cranberries, redcurrants and plums. This wine has good length and is the epitome of a great value elegant Aussie Pinot. If this was from New Zealand it would be twice the price. So shop locally and enjoy a great alternative to those masculine reds, and then head straight to bed. I'll be there shortly Josephine. Forget the spiders.

Purchase price was $19.99 last month - worth every penny and then some. Don't keep it hidden away in the cellar. Drink within two years will be my recommendation.

Mr Riggs The Gaffer 2007 McLaren Vale Shiraz

"Call me Gaffer me old son"

Most wines are purchased based on their label. For this reason wineries strive to create a label that will attract the consumer's attention enough to take it off the shelf and to accompany them on their journey home or to their favourite BYO. This simple black and white label depicts a man who appears to be somewhat of a ruffian, the kind that might lend you money in the darkest corners of that pub that no-one goes to. Is this the case? Well you have to pick it up and read the back label. Research indicates that once someone has read the back label of a bottle of wine they are usually engaged enough to buy it.

This didn't happen in my case. I was feeling somewhat rough and dusty after winning this weekend's worst handyman award for making retaining walls and steps that don't meet. I was thus inclined to buy several bottles of wine in the hope that it may improve my carpentry skills or at least allow me to forget where the back yard was and therefore the monstrosit I had created. It didn't work. The wine, however, was a nice distraction.

Made by famed Mclaren Vale winemaker Ben Riggs under his own label, the wine is a tribute to his Great Great Great Grandfather John "The Gaffer" Riggs who was a medal winning wheat farmer. Not a ruufian as far as I know.

The Nose is earthy with crushed leaf and spice. There is big alcohol in this wine (15%) but there isn't that alcohol heat on the nose or palate.

There is that typical Mclaren Vale edge of sweetness, which shifts into flavours of white pepper, camphor, and nutmeg. The flavours are more spice than berry, suggesting a more sophisticated wine that is Ben's trademark. Ben looks like he played for the Wallabies and makes wines to suit. Enjoy this with pepper steak medium rare and keep a sprig of wheat and a football nearby. Forget the spirit level and hammer, they will only lead to frustration.

I paid $19.99 last week - worth the money, and Mr Ben Riggs donates money from this wine to breat cancer research. That's gentleman's work there me old gaffer.