Despite it being the height of Summer, we were in the mood for some slow-cooked lamb shanks over the weekend, and popped into Brisbane's Wine Emporium to ask for a wine recommendation to match the rich meal but wouldn't be too heavy for people who had spent all day aircon-hopping in an attempt to desperately to keep cool.
The resulting wine was the Coldstream Hills 2010 Merlot, and it went down a treat!
The resulting wine was the Coldstream Hills 2010 Merlot, and it went down a treat!
What really blew us away with this wine was that it changed glass-by-glass so we were tasting different layers as we got through the bottle. The nose featured rich cherry and chocolate notes, with some spicy aniseed thrown in there for good measure.
While I'm probably still way too influenced by my recent Christmas diet, the 2010 Merlot tasted just like a rich plum pudding. Super-juicy ripe plums was the dominant feature on the palate, and this worked beautifully with our lamb shanks. I would actually make more of a Moroccan tagine-style lamb next time to have with this wine, because it would really be phenomenal with stewed dates and prunes surrounding the meat. There were beautiful, soft tannins holding the wine together making it excellent drinking now, but it would still benefit from some time in the cellar.
Coldstream Hills itself is a small winery in the cool climate Yarra Valley, and is better known for its Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. The vineyards are close planted which encourages vines to compete with each other which results in less vegetative growth around the vines. It also means a lower yield per vine which concentrates the fruits' flavours. This is particularly evident in the ripe cherry and plum flavours found in the 2010 Merlot.
Overall, this was a lovely light merlot that was highly rated by all at the dining table.
Website: Coldstream Hills
While I'm probably still way too influenced by my recent Christmas diet, the 2010 Merlot tasted just like a rich plum pudding. Super-juicy ripe plums was the dominant feature on the palate, and this worked beautifully with our lamb shanks. I would actually make more of a Moroccan tagine-style lamb next time to have with this wine, because it would really be phenomenal with stewed dates and prunes surrounding the meat. There were beautiful, soft tannins holding the wine together making it excellent drinking now, but it would still benefit from some time in the cellar.
Coldstream Hills itself is a small winery in the cool climate Yarra Valley, and is better known for its Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. The vineyards are close planted which encourages vines to compete with each other which results in less vegetative growth around the vines. It also means a lower yield per vine which concentrates the fruits' flavours. This is particularly evident in the ripe cherry and plum flavours found in the 2010 Merlot.
Overall, this was a lovely light merlot that was highly rated by all at the dining table.
Website: Coldstream Hills
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