Fermoy Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, 2005

The 2005 Fermoy Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Margaret River is this week's wine of the week in yesterday's SMH. Huon Hooke writes:

Fermoy is next to Moss Wood and the vineyard is mature, so you might expect it to make great reds. I've often been disappointed over the years, however, but lately things are much improved. The '05 Reserve Cabernet is a ripper of a wine and this isn't far behind. Good deep colour; bright red and dark berry aromas with fruit uppermost and oak tucked nicely in the background. It's medium to full-bodied with very good depth and flavour and well-measured tannin grip, the palate youthfully robust, concentrated and vibrant. The fruit aromas reflect ideal ripeness. Smart stuff and good value wine.

Drink now or add to your wine cellar 10+ years.

Food pairing: all hard and semi-hard cheeses; casseroled and braised meats; rare steak; pink lamb chops.

Summerfield Shiraz, Pyrenees, 2006

This week's wine of the week in today's SMH is the 2006 Summerfield Shiraz from Pyrenees. Huon Hooke writes:

This is not a wine for everybody. If you have an aversion to American oak, look elsewhere. However, in its bold, full-frontal, uncomplicated style, this is a really generous mouthful of red that will please a lot of people. Plum, spice and chocolate aromas, vanilla and coconut as well, which translate onto the richly fleshed palate. Choc-mint and red-fruit flavours pervade the mid-palate and the fully-ripe grapes give an impression of sweetness.

Alcohol at 14.5 per cent is not too high; Summerfield have been making an effort to tame it. Riotously decadent stuff. Drink now to 12+ years.

What the winery says of the 2006 shiraz:

2006 Shiraz
Shiraz is such an expressive wine with plums, spice, mocha and violets filling the nose in this stylish wine, while black and red fruits fill a palate with long soft tannins finishing a delightful experience. Drink 2008 to 2018.

West Cape Howe Shiraz, 2007

This week's wine of the week in today's SMH is the 2007 West Cape Howe Shiraz. Huon Hooke writes:

This West Australian company has figured strongly in my reviews this year and it's because it is delivering consistently tasty wines at remarkably low prices.

This has the sort of spicy, cool-grown shiraz aromas that lead you to expect an elegant, balanced, interesting drink that won't assault you with alcohol, tannin and oaky astringency. And it delivers. It's been astutely designed to drink young. The taste is soft and again spicy, with a nice balance of fruity and savoury flavours with a grape character that's at once cool-grown-zesty and properly ripe.

It's young but it's more than a simplistic fruit-bomb. Drink now to five years.

Food matches: Vitello tonnato, lamb navarin, ripe brie or camembert, or Heidi tilsit cheese.

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