Leconfield 2009 Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot vs Richard Hamilton 2006 McLaren Vale Grenache Shiraz

"The Lamb Challenge"

Leconfield 2009 Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot vs Richard Hamilton 2006 McLaren Vale Grenache Shiraz

Cruising the local supermarket on a Saturday afternoon we saw that lamb cutlets were on special. Lamb is my weakness and the George Foreman should never come near a lamb cutlet, no matter what the notches on my belt may say.

Two wines were debated on, and in the end it was like Thunder dome. Two may enter, only one can leave. Oddly enough both wines were made by the same stable, Leconfield. One wine comes from their Coonawarra Vineyard, and the Other from their McLaren Vale vineyards. Both wines were decanted and awaited their face off in the Thunder dome.

The Richard Hamilton wine comes from dry grown vines planted in 1947. It is an 80/20 blend.

The colour was Brick Red. The nose was cherries, redcurrants, briar and cinnamon and made me think of Christmas pudding.

The palate had cherries, smoked meat, redcurrants, raspberry, licorice, allspice and menthol. The length was good, with great development. Drink for another 5 years.

The Leconfield is all Coonawarra fruit, also an 80/20 blend from vines planted in 1974.

The Colour was blood red. The nose was loaded with mint, eucalyptus, camphor, capsicum, cedar, roses and Lantana. Dare I say, it smells like winter, the warmth of a crackling fire near dark stained furniture.

The Palate was oozing mint,eucalyptus, green pepper, capsicum, orange peel, Turkish delight, menthol Irish moss, and fennel. This is a medium bodied elegant wine with good length. Drink for another 3-5 years.

Interestingly, both wines had flavours of mint or menthol which just screams "give me Lamb".

The wife chose The Richard Hamilton. I chose The Leconfield. However, as I drank most of her Richard Hamilton, I guess any choice is kind of a moot point.

At any rate, points were awarded and tallied, and the  winner is.....let's just leave it as a draw, after all... happy wife, happy life.

How was the lamb, you asked?  Well, the cutlets were marinated in olive oil with paprika, oregano, basil, and parsley. They were pan fried and served with some mashed potato and julienned carrots.  It was great!  Made even greater by two delicious wines as its travelling companions.

The current vintages;

The Richard Hamilton 2013 McLaren Vale is now 100% Grenache and sells for $45 at Cellar Door

The Leconfield 2012 Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot is $25 from Cellar Door

2010 WayWood Years 98 Nebbiolo

"The only Way is up..."

This funky label commemorates a significant point in the life of winemaker Andrew Wood rather than the vintage, which is 2010. 

Andrew, once a sommelier now a trained winemaker, marks years of significance with the "WayWood Years range". '98 marks the year he completed his Sommelier studies before deciding to study winemaking and move from Britain to his adopted home in Australia.

Andrew and his lovely wife Lisa operate a boutique McLaren Vale winemaking outfit concentrating on Italian styled wines that have tonnes of flavour without massive tannins. These are definitely food-friendly wines that will go with everything from pasta to a massive Angus fillet.

This wine style has its traditional home in the Piedmont region of Italy, but the fruit Andrew uses is from Blewitt Springs within the greater McLaren Vale region.

The WayWood philosophy is all about nurturing individual parcels of fruit to produce wines that truly express site, vintage and variety.  In order to produce wines reflecting their passion, this often means throwing the rulebook out the window in order to follow flavour.  This approach definitely works.    

The fruit for this wine spends 18 months in fine-grained new French oak, with a medium toast providing a subtle charred cedar character with a fine tannin structure. It then slumbered in bottle for a further twelve months before its release in the Spring of 2013.

The colour is inky, suggesting a heavier wine than this lovely medium bodied drop, that is full of flavour without being overwhelming. Aromas of fruitcake, raspberry and nutmeg.

The flavours are layered with aniseed, fruitcake, bramble, acetate, tar, roses, and nutmeg. There is big acid and big length and at 14.3% its fairly big alcohol for a Nebbiolo, especially while retaining balance. Drink this wine way into the next decade.

Enjoy with a nice spicy dish such as Fettuccinne Putanesca!

They only produced 100 dozen of this wine so if you want one, best get yourself into their cellar door. Whilst there, enjoy some of the fantastic food that Lisa puts together. This is a little bit of Italy in McLaren Vale. Delizioso!

$50 per bottle from Cellar Door or $250 for a 6 Pack.