It was interesting this week to pick up the paper and see a Seebohm featuring on both the front and back pages.
One was an attractive Olympic swimmer, with a penchant for gold medals and undoubtedly the best name in sport.
The other was a large and litigious man who has been the primary reason for me working 20-hour days all month and otherwise causing me to neglect my important wine drinking duties.
Anyway. After keeping my winning record in the courtroom pleasingly intact, we managed to open a wide selection of tasty beverages over dinner with a group of old friends at Peter Stubbs’ always brilliant Cinco Bistro.
With tops being popped on a range of very nice old 389s, 407s, and Petalumas, we were more spoilt for choice than a hungry baby in a topless bar. The highlight for me though was the tasty little ’09 Brookland Valley Chardy which was cracked early on in proceedings.
Brookland is a Margaret River producer with a stellar reputation thanks to many years of rave reviews from Mr Halliday, Mr Mattinson, and Mr Oliver.
At $40 per, the bottle we had is the middle of the Brookland range – there is also a $70 “Reserve” (which I’ve not tried), and a $20 “Verse 1” offering (which I have tried, and which is nice for the price in a very pineapply kind of way).
In the glass, this fellow is a light gold, but edged with a bright rim that’s as green as a hung-over leprechaun on St Paddy’s Day.
The label advertises a nose of peaches and grapefruit, and for once I found myself nodding in agreement with the description. It’s a genuinely powerful nose that gives off a big whiff of grapefruity tartness, but without the usual squirt in the eye.
The drinking is rich and buttery and delicious. There’s a bit of pineapple there, but it is not nearly as sweet as in the cheaper edition.
One of my mates described it as a “really thick white”, although we were also talking politics at the time, so it’s quite possible he may have in fact simply been referring to Wayne Swan.
In any event, this is a pretty damn special wine which is drinking very well now and will no doubt keep improving for many years to come.
Get on board.
Rating: 8.9
Drink with: Emily
Price: $35-$40
http://www.brooklandvalley.com.au/
