Gill from Coal Valley Vineyard has done it again. This time she presented us with a bottle of the 2008 Barilla Bay pinot. "You can compare this with the 08 Coal Valley pinot" she said. "Yes, yes we can" we thought. The 'arty' label is very nice but what about the bottle contents? Even better as it happens. 

The smell appeals to us lazy wine appreciators. It rushes out at you rather than you having to actually expend energy sniffing. Nice. Maybe this is why dogs like to put their heads out car windows. Where were we? Right, the smell. Big spicy cherries. It actually brings a smile to your face and makes you eager for a taste. 

Of course the problem with creating a great first impression is that you have to back it up and this wine does that pretty well. It tastes fantastic. Intense flavour delivered in a silky smooth package. Finished off with a lovely lingering back end. Nice.

We really enjoyed the 08 Coal Valley pinot but this is better, way better.

On a recent visit to the east coast we stopped to see how things were progressing at Milton Vineyard. Even though he was supposed to be 'off to town' Michael stopped for a chat. Toward the end of this rather lengthy conflab we noticed his daughter Laura had been left sitting in the car. "She's right, the window's down and she's got her phone" Michael assured us. The reason for Laura's incarceration was the 2010 Milton Riesling. While not for sale just yet it is one to look out for in the near future. We would go as far as to say "start salivating now, you are going to be impressed". It is a bottled lemon meringue pie with a clean finish. Nuff said.

Following the 'success' of our recent chardonnay taste off we decided to do another one. This time we thought we would square off a couple of middle aged (ie: 2005) pinots. Since the tasting team is getting a bit cocky we conducted a blind tasting to make it a little more interesting. It turned out to be an emotional roller coaster. 

The first pinot was a joy. A beautifully balanced and gracefully ageing pinot. "Ah" we thought "this is why Tassie is home to the world's best pinots". This gem was the 2005 Spring Vale 'Cellar Release' pinot. It won't be easy but if you can get your hands on some of this you won't be sorry.

The second pinot was awful. Flat, dusty and dead. To our horror it turned out to be our favourite pinot of the last 3 years. Yes, this sad and sorry drop was the 2005 Winstead Reserve pinot. To describe how we felt at this point isn't easy. Imagine meeting your hero and discovering they don't shower and have a mole with a hair poking out on their face. 

The next day we opened another bottle of the Winstead reserve and to our relief it was fantastic. Luckily we were a victim of a faulty cork. It was like realising that you hadn't met your hero after all, just their evil twin. Phew!

If you are getting sick of us saying good things about Elmslie wines we understand but what can we do? It's just one quality wine after another from those people. Sitting down with friends the other day we had the 2008 pinot as a warm up act for a Barossa shiraz. Like all good warm up acts it turned out to be better than the 'star'. Oh the shiraz was lovely but the Elmslie pinot was just so much better. This wine delivers from beginning to finish, from flavour to tannins. To quote baby bear "it's just right". We thought the 2006 was good but amazingly this one is a step above.