¶ Intro / Opening
Hi and welcome to Wine with Meg and Mel . We are here to help you navigate the world of wine . I'm Mel Gilchrist , joined by Master of Wine Meg Broward . Meg , does that feel
¶ Welcome to Wine with Meg and Mel
a bit different ? A bit funny Today . We've got a bit of a set up going on , don't we ?
Yeah , we have the lovely Austin here filming us , which has been intimidating . You're looking super glam , oh my God . Thanks .
I'm going to have a bit this morning , so I did put on a little bit of , I know so , old wrinkles You're going to have to check out . Go to our socials and have a look at the videos , because Austin's recording us so we can have some slick new , actual , new , actual , proper promotional videos , which is really fun .
Thanks , Austin , we've offered for him to taste wine as payment .
Yeah , there's not much in it for Austin , to be perfectly honest , but make sure you give him a follow . He's doing his own thing with videos , so definitely give him a follow . But today , meg , what are we doing ?
We're looking at the Dan Murphy's Wine Awards wines .
Yeah ,
¶ Dan Murphy's Best in Glass Awards
it's an interesting thing , isn't it ? Maybe we'll get into it in the intro more , but it's like they've kind of taken over the world a little bit with their wine , aren't they ? With just everything they're doing , they're taking over lifestyle . They're taking over awards .
I think it's good because it is about how everyday drinking , you know , it's not about these international wine awards and you know , burgundy or whatever . There's different categories . There's like best value , best international , just the best . So they've taken each variety and then they've looked at , I'm assuming , all the wines they have .
I didn't . Yeah , I think it is . Yeah , yeah , yeah . Well , they say they've tasted over 1,400 wines . That's a lot , all the wines they have . Crazy .
That is nuts .
Okay , so we're going to taste the winners from a couple of categories just to see what we think . But first , Meg , what have you been drinking ? What ?
have I been drinking ? I had a Jaden Ong Yarra Valley Sauvignon Blanc . This is not your normal .
No
¶ Recent Wine Discoveries
, it's good , I've had it . It's fantastic . Yes , it is .
So it's Gladysdale , so Upper Yarra .
Yep , very cool . It's off the .
Willow Lake , vineyard , yep , and he does about , I think , 5% whole bunch fermentation with it . So he drops the bunches in or skins contact . It's got a lovely grip , it's got some . It's not sort of that pineapple you expect from Yarra Valley , it's more of a yeah , it's gritty , it's cool . I think it's quite expensive . It's 40-odd .
Yeah , okay .
It's very good support . He's a great you know guy for the Yarra Valley and he does everything for you know wine , the Yarra Valley , on the smell of the rag she just turned me up .
I did turn you up , you weren't loud enough . There you go . I'm not very loud . Yeah , okay , great . So that's who you've been tasting .
And fun fact . Fun fact is courtesy of my son , Luca , who sends me all these weird-ass memes all the time and Instagram things . Did you know that the French banned schoolchildren having alcohol at lunchtime ?
in 1981 ? No , isn't that awesome , oh my God . Oh , say what you want about the French . That's fantastic , that is so funny and that includes primary school children . No , shut up . No , oh my God , it was introduced in 1956 .
Wow , and then it was um . They thought in 1981 or maybe it's not the best for our children that they have oh , probably not , probably not .
Wow , okay , that's a good fun fact .
That is hilarious you've seen the photo . It's got a little kid with jumper and shorts on and he's like holding this oh no , that is not good .
Oh my god . Okay , well , look , let's get into it . So it has been splashed all over den murphy's . It's also been like in the media , it's been reported on and stuff . It's called the best in glass awards . So it's the first year they've run it . They are calling it australia's biggest wine competition 1,400 wines tasted to crown the best in each category .
¶ Tasting Best Value Pinot Grigio
It's smart if you think about it . Instead of , like , relying on traditional wine shows , yeah , they've created their own system . They've judged on what they think consumers actually care about flavour , drinkability , value for money and what we're asking is does that make these wines any good ?
If they've decided it's not a traditional wine show , they're not rating it in traditional ways . They actually care about , like drinkability and value for money , we reckon . Let's see what we think about their picks .
Yeah , we were talking about doing it blind and then we were going to rate them ourselves , but then I realised that I've got the best international , the best value and the best , the best of the best , the bestest in pinot gris , slash gujio and pinot noir . So we can't really rank them at the big . Yeah , because they're all from different . Yes , so I would .
I can give what I think it would get in a traditional wine show . Okay , yep , without saying the whole category , sure , yep . So this is the first one we've got is the Chapel Hill , the Parson , adelaide Pinot Grigio 2024 , which got best value . Best value , hang on , let me find it $16.99 .
All right , I actually think that I paid less because I bought quite a few wines . But this is labelled as grigio , so you're expecting it to be a little bit lighter , not have that structure that gris has . I don't know , it's nice , it's been a gris , right , it's nice enough .
It don't know . It's nice . It's pinot gris , right , it's nice enough . It's very cold . You did put these in the freezer . Oh , she told me they had to be cold . It's hard to knock my socks off with a pinot grigio . It's fine . Yeah , it is , it's fine , although I had a really good .
Maybe I'll talk about it next week . I had a really good pan of gravy yesterday .
Like it's nice , it's , it's aptly , it's crispy , it's yum and it's .
And at that price point you're not expecting .
No , you're right , it fits its price point it finishes a bit short , but it's got .
That's not a very good descriptor , is it , but it's best value . It's 17 bucks .
It's nice . It is nice . No , the more I drink it , the more it warms up as well . It's like super crisp green apple . It's yummy . I do want to drink it on a nice day . I actively do want to drink it as it warms up . Okay , but you know , yeah , like I guess we're starting with probably the , not the most prestigious category . So what's next ?
No , the other thing about it is it's got a little bit of a gnoll of grip , because when you're making those cheaper wines , you can squeeze as much juice as you can out of those grapes . Mmm , gnoll of broadness on the back of the palette , which I actually think adds something .
Yeah , we wouldn't have had that because we would have thought that would have been a fault .
Oh no , I think it does add something interesting . So phenolic when you say that it's like , it's almost like tannin for white wine , because it does come from the skins . It's like a little bit of bitterness , it's like baby tannin . Baby t a bit cute . Oh no , not in this house , meg . That's on way too often in this house . Oh really , is it still wrapped ?
Oh , it's still big . Whatever works , yeah , I know you can do it with baby .
You can see why I don't take up singing as a career .
No , I can't really . I'm brilliant . Okay , this is smelling good . What did this win ? Okay , wait , what is this ? This is the best .
This is Tim Adams , Clear Valley , Pinot Gris 2024 , and it's $20.29 .
And it won top . The best , best , best , it's the best of the best , best . Yep Pinot Gris in the country .
In Dan Murphy's testing .
Is it just , yes , australia's ? Oh , no wait . Is it just Australian whites ? No , no , it's international . Oh what ? Really Okay . So how much is it worth ? $20.29 .
All right , that's all right . The first thing I noticed
¶ Tim Adams: Best Pinot Gris
about it it's got a little bit of colour , but more of an orangey-amber tinge to it , rather than that sort of pink blush that you expect from Pinot Gris . And it is labeled as green . It's a 2024 . So I'm expecting this to be a little bit richer in the palette . Apple .
Oh yeah , it's nice . It's got a really , really nice mouthfeel , it's full and it's voluptuous . Is that a weird word for me to choose ? I think I saw something on like SNL , or I saw a funny headline that was like can people , can one please stop using such like sexual innuendo in their tasting notes ? Well , we've had to stop that , haven't we ?
No more feminine oh , we can't say feminine or masculine , but voluptuous , I don't know , thinking of a sexy woman . But that's what this tastes like A sexy woman . It tastes like a sexy woman . I think so .
Okay , I am just going to leave that there .
You're going to let that go .
All right , I'm going to walk past that and I'm going to say that is bloody delicious , it's gorgeous 2029 . That , for me , drinks like a $35 Pinot Gris .
Oh easy , Easy , More maybe the acid's superb .
There's a chalkiness to it . It's got that oiliness that you expect Big orchard fruit , which I love in Pinot Gris .
And there's a richness without a sweetness , which often in Pinot Gris , if you said rich , I'd automatically go . Or if it's got a big mouthful and it's rich , it's probably got some sugar , but there's not .
They often compensate for mouth palate , weight and mouthfeel with a little bit of sugar , but this does not have that at all it's gorgeous .
Oh , oh , my god , that is yum . I would never pick a peanut grater drink , but I would pick that same .
All right , on your dance team in fact , I think I got that for like $19.99 .
I'll have to give you the receipt . They've done well , they've done well . And the other beauty about this is .
I literally went online with all the wines that had won the awards .
Yeah , Ding , ding , ding . Yeah , picked it up 30 minutes later because I said to you awesome .
I'm time poor . Yes , Exactly what we're doing . So I got home between sessions bing bing , bing , bing , bing . Yep , On the way back to bed , picked the wine up .
That's so good for a $20 wine . And it's in the classic Alsatian Riesling bottle yeah , I do like that as well .
Yeah .
Yeah well , tim Adams rocks as well , just across the board . Okay , do we have more Pinot Gris ? What's this one for ?
We have Best International . Oh , best International . Okay , it's Versato . It looks very Versace on the label Reggio Alto Adige , soutirol . So it's , I would have thought , veneto , but no , it's near the Austrian border Alto Adige , south Tyrol . So I expect this to be quite light and lemony .
Yeah , I mean there's not much going on the nose so far . Light and lemony is about right .
Bit of pear pear drop . Yeah , oh , they say here it's Veneto Dan Murphy's . Oh my , maybe newscomau . It definitely says Elta at a J
¶ International Category Winner
and it is Versato 2023 .
Guess the price now . Guess Yep , oh , $25 ?
$30 . Yeah , I'll be honest , they do that killer stiletto at like $16.99 . Yeah , which is Stella Venezia ? I would prefer that . I think for $30 it feels a little bit short . Again , I didn't taste what they were tasting it against .
There's some acidity . That's unexpected , that I like .
It's in the north of Italy .
Yeah , I know , but it's I don't know . It's kind of crunchy . I think there is a phenolic grip that I'm enjoying in this as well . I don't know .
I don't mind it . I think maybe we should have done this after the Parsons peanut grigio , because it's following the peanut grigio , so I'm probably a little bit , you know .
No , you're right . No , it's got nothing on the peanut grigio , but I think it's interesting $30 . I like it . It's kind nothing on the peanut gris , but I think it's interesting $30 . I like it . It's kind of like pineapple-y and stuff as well . No , I wouldn't buy it either . No , but it's a hard side . I don't drink peanut gris .
I would never spend $30 on peanut gris no . I would spend it on gris , no . Yes , I guess it's all just in the marketing , isn't it ? But look , it's fine . It's $30 , but that's tax .
Yes , oh yeah , I mean international . Yeah , okay , Pinot , this is where it's interesting actually .
Yeah , this will be fun . There's one in here that I've never really been a fan of , but anyway . So what do you want ? To start with Best value .
Yeah , start with best value . Little Yering , yeah , but finish on best of the best . This time , I think Little Yering Is best value . How much is it Korea ?
2024 Pinot Noir . So Little Yering Trades it's very clever marketing Trades of
¶ Pinot Noir Showdown
the name of Yning station , yarra valley , but it's a victorian white but it's kind of been shining on them . It's two , it's oh yeah , it's 22 dollars . No one can make a 22 dollar yarra valley peanut anymore and profit I .
Just when we first started this podcast , I was the biggest lover of pinot in the world . I could have been the ambassador for pinot noir , but now it takes a lot to impress me with pinot , I think .
I had several estates . 2023 . Pinot Dillon was still the winemaker then . It's just extraordinary .
Is it .
Oh my god , it's so good .
This actually smells pretty good so this is Victoria .
I'm assuming the fruit is going to be from King . Yeah , okay , alpine .
Yeah , mellies , there is some in the Like Macedon or something they do . A Pinot , yeah , that'd be too expensive , would it ? Okay , it's $22 .
You've got to get fruit in $100 a ton to make it $22 . Yeah , Unless they've patted it out with some .
Honestly , it smells lovely , it smells like a whole bunch . It's quite perfumed , it's so perfumed and it's bright , vibrant red fruit . It's like raspberries and stuff , rather than that deeper spectrum like the plums . What , what's your ?
face doing it is . There's lots of maraschino cherry in there , raspberry sort of smashed up strawberries , but it's the tannins that give it away .
Yeah , it is yeah , yeah , yeah .
For me what we like with Pinot and its tannins . We need it to have proper Pinot tannins and they're just a little bit raspy and aspirin-y . They should be a little bit softer and velvety , but they are $22 .
Oh , you just can't get good Pinot for less than yeah , and I would argue that maybe if you just decanted that gut some of the carbon dioxide , the tannins may soften a little bit . Carbon dioxide ? Yeah , Because tannins may soften a little bit . I've just realised I've just put wine on your table .
Oh , that's all right , I'm not even , I'm not even . Yeah , no , I completely agree . I really really loved the noise , but the tannin does kind of pull it back a bit for me . But maybe chilled with a little bit of charcuterie . I was just going to say fruit , Fruit is all you need to fix that yeah that's right .
I mean , it's not .
Charcuterie Perfect Bang .
I never say charcuterie because I think it's a real cop-out for a friend wine pairing , but it is the perfect thing . You'd sit down and have this before a drink . Some beautiful prosciutto , yeah , it's almost a prosciutto .
It's like a picnic or something Esque . Salinity in the wine .
Hmm , do you know what I mean yeah . And the salt crystallizes on prosciutto , yeah , kind of like that . I think it delivers for the price point .
I agree . Do you know what I used to say to people to buy Pinot Noir ? That's under $20 . I think I've got to say $30 now , back when I first started saying that like , or $25 or something Like . It's just , of course , it lives , bro , the price is going to be bonkers , isn't it ? For good Pinot , oh , some stuff , although I didn't buy it .
The last package that arrived , to be fair , was sent by Tom tom's sister and I think it's mother's day related . So , um , that was not a purchase by me . Okay , oh , there's a duck , billy would love it . Billy loves ducks . So we have the decoy quack , quack , oh , decoy , california , california . Oh my god , I tasted them at the Wines of California tasting .
I went to like last week or something . Oh , with Cara . Yeah , I think that was really good . No , well , I should have , shouldn't I ? I didn't think of that actually .
Decoy Pinot Noir 2021 Duckhorn Portfolio . It just says California . It's a red wine of California . My concern is when I saw this , I won't say anything .
That's what it is . It's got best international . The Chardonnay from Decoy was one of the best Chardonnays I had that day . Yeah , really yeah , from California , yeah , okay .
¶ California Decoy: Best International Pinot
Well , this is not cheap . This is $50 . And they say it's from Sonoma , but it's just the AVA that's listed . Ava is American Viticultural Area . For people who don't know , it's like our GI geographical indication is California .
Meg , how would you expect a California Pinot Noir to taste different to our key Australian regions ?
There's only a few regions in California that I think do decent Pinot . Carneros is quite light and very cherry and the tannins are quite silky , but it's a lot lighter , it's more like a massive peanut that we have in australia . Um , russian river I really love that's got , but they are bigger and bolder .
Um , they tend to go to more towards darker fruit than lighter . Absolutely red fruit , yeah . Um , sometimes a bit confected fruit and I find often alcohol can be a problem , and sometimes the winemaker's hand with a little bit too much . Yeah , but Russian River , but I'm talking , you've got to be spending 80 USD to get you know something that's really delicious .
Carneros is a little bit cheaper . So Sainsbury's and Canaris , yeah , what do you think of this ?
It's everything you just said Darker fruit bit , alcoholic bit of oak , going on . There's actually a lot of tannin as well .
Oh my God , that's 31.1% alcohol . Yeah , that's every percentage of it . Okay , this is the highest international wine , so nowhere in France could produce a wine that competes with this .
They all had to come in under $50 .
Oh so Burgundy's priced at Well Burgundy .
I'm pretty sure they all had to come in under $50 to qualify for the awards , so nothing Burgundy is coming into that .
And nothing from Oregon would come in Nothing .
Oregon Would they even have an Oregon panel at Dan Murphy's ?
I don't know .
Nothing out of New . Zealand . New Zealand , might that's a good Just New Zealand , new Zealand , might that's a good just New Zealand ? Count as international , I guess ? So yeah , every wine is capped at $50 . Oh , and all currently are on my dance member offer until May 28th .
So all everything we're tasting is on sale until end of May oh okay , um , yes , no , wines . they actually are counting Australia and New Zealand . Best and best value have to be from Australia and New Zealand , and then international wines is a separate segment , so New Zealand wouldn't have been eligible , which explains this . Like , what else could you have done ?
I've never seen chili .
They do have a chili pinot . We've got it at home in their wine fridge . We're going to try it . I think it's trepichi from down south . Maybe this is better not my style of peanut .
That's just all I'm gonna say I really want you to taste the chardonnay , though I actually really liked the chardonnay and yeah , no , we're gonna do a chardonnay episode . I've spoken to wines california we're gonna do a california wine Chardonnay . And yeah , no , we're going to do a Chardonnay episode .
I've spoken to Wines California we're going to do a California Wines Chardonnay episode , because I really want to go into it , have you noticed that all the Europeans and the Americans and everyone are suddenly over here with all their promotional export arms , their trade arms .
We've got Chablis out here . Someone else from Burgundy is coming out . The Loire's sending out a contingent because of the trade .
Oh my God , With the US . Are they doing tastings in Melbourne and can you get us in ? We're trying to get them to come out to the Valley to do a tasting for our members . That's nice .
Another benefit of being a one-year-old member Salad Meg Salad .
And Another benefit of being a One Year Ago member . Sell it , meg , sell it , I'm selling it . All right , we've got one more pinot . This is the supposed best pinot under $50 . Central .
Otago In 2023 . This is made by Nanny Goat Vineyard . I remember when these guys were just starting out , they were tiny , they weren't a warm , international cool climate . This is probably about seven or eight years ago and I probably didn't love it . Um , and it was when central tagapino was sort of
¶ Central Otago: Best Pinot Overall
at its peak , I guess . Um , I've always said that central tagapinos , for me , are a little bit gruntier . Yeah , yeah , they are . You know , they're usually darker in colour . Don't forget , you've got a lot more sunshine down there so there is a bit more colour .
I find them like spicy as well , Like a lot of In a lot of spice . Yeah , well , yeah , for many You're a little bit spicy , A lot of spice . I am a little bit spicy , no , but like oaky oak spice .
For me . Yeah , do you smell the spice ? Yeah , but it smells like rhubarb . You know how you put spice in with rhubarb .
Yeah , yeah , yeah , like I don't know the kind of spice that you'd put in a mulled wine .
Yeah , that cooking spice . Yeah yeah I know who's the WSCT of us um , so we're probably talking clove and some cinnamon , yes , I think , um , and definitely a bit of vanilla , but the oak is very evident on the wine , but it's for me it's more rhubarb and dark cherry .
I don't get a lot of that light cherry and raspberry on this wine all right , have a comment .
I think that no one on the wines who are part of this tasting , doing judging is a super taster , because all of these wines are just , they have way more tannic than I'm feeling .
It's very Centro-Targan .
It is , it is , it's a big , it's a big Pinot .
Yeah , on what it says in the bottle and on your shirt . Now it is it's a big , it's a big pinot . Yeah On what it says in the bottle .
And on your shirt now . Oh no , we're being filmed , so it's even going to matter . It's going to matter Skating curls .
hide it , I'll have to change my shirt between episodes , so you're an idiot for wearing white to live testing . We all know it's a rookie mistake .
I know , I know , I know . Oh no , it's a rookie mistake . I know , I know , I know .
All right , I don't think we even need to Spend too much time on that wine .
Well , I don't think we even need to cover what our favourite wine of the tasting was . I think it goes without saying that Pinot Gris from Tim Adams is
¶ Final Thoughts and Next Episode
unreal . Some of could be the best wine I've ever tasted at that price point $20 , steal .
It's one of the best wine I've ever tasted . At that price point $20 , steal it's one of the best , better Pinot Gris that I have tasted and I'm like you I would never normally turn to Pinot Gris , but I'm certainly going back and buying that . I'm buying that and midweek Yep , and I mean the difference between that and the Parson Crazy it's nothing .
Yeah , it's a1 or $2 . Yeah .
Well done , dan Murphy , for actually looking at wines in the context that they're used . Yeah , rather than three points for colour , oh , my God , I know yeah . And it'd be interesting to see what the line-up was . It'd be great if they actually could . I guess it's a bit unfair to publish .
No , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , it's been unfair to publish . No , yeah , yeah , yeah , yeah , that would be unfair . But I agree , dan's is doing a really good job and I think it's part of their strategy that they are really trying to be a lifestyle brand . They like have you noticed that ? They have , um , uh , like Vivina , uh , vivina Mofo ?
No , what's it called ? Wine Follylly , wine folly . You know how they do lots of articles and stuff and it's like that they're putting out heaps of articles like how to drink wine , what's the best wine to go with this , blah , blah , blah . They're really trying to get into , like your wine lifestyle occasion marketing . Well , that's what it is .
They're doing a really good job of it . Um , and I think this is a great example of I I know , don't they ? Okay , good , pin , agree . What are we doing next week ? Next week , we're doing Margaret River Chardonnay .
My hypothesis is that Margaret River is trying too hard to not be Margaret River and they're taking out the oak , they're taking out the lees stirring . They're not doing any of the things that I love about Margaret River and it's like if I wanted lean and citrus and juicy , like I'd drink Yara , I want big from Margaret River . You're putting lean . Why not ?
What's wrong with lean ? Not really lean .
Lean means not enough Anyway .
No , lean is just the opposite of oak , is it not ? No , I think it is anyway . I I think we could have that . I think that's a good argument to have . Anyway , I've got to do a poll in our instagram . Is lean the opposite ? Do you think lean is has negative connotations ?
lean for me means that it doesn't have sufficient meat on its bones . It's got nothing to do with oak , it's like almost underripe .
Oh , I don't think that at all . See , Lean is not in my head . A lean Chardonnay could be like a beautiful Chablis , Like it's lean and mineral and saline , like they all go in the same . I said to you it's a bit of a lean pull .
I mean , it's a little bit on that .
Yeah , but if you said to me , mal , you're looking pretty lean lately , I'd be like thanks , meg , see you next week . Enjoy your next glass of wine , Drink well .