Gill from Coal Valley Vineyard sent us a very nice email. "Come and have a glass of chardonnay" she said. This is the sort of email we should be receiving more often. We went for the chardonnay but we stayed for the 2008 Coal Valley Pinot. This wine would keep both the "Feed the man meat" and their "I'm a vego" partners happy. It smells of spicy bacon fat but, as far as we know, contains no animal products. Normal wine lovers will also enjoy the 'phat' fruit and big smooth tannin backend.

We would go as far as to say that Waterton Vineyard makes the best range of riesling we have ever tasted. Powerful yet incredibly delicate they give you a rush with every taste. Our latest experience came with the 2007 Dessert Riesling. Matched with a home made cheese cake it provided the perfect end to a thoroughly enjoyable dinner party. This wine had all the Waterton hallmarks. Generous but balanced acid with plenty of citrus. It also had just the right amount of sweetness that finished in a dry but lingering manner. 

Recently we had a taste off between the 07 Elmslie Reserve Chardonnay and our favourite bargain of the century the 05 Kelly's Reserve Chardonnay from Home Hill. It was a great opportunity to try something from both ends of this fair state and demonstrated just how good Tasmanian chardonnay can be. They are both amazingly rich and silky smooth whites. Both got heaps of praise from our cobbled together tasting team but in the end Elmslie got the nod. Word on the street is that the 08 Elmslie is even better and has gathered a few gongs already. Sounds like it would be a great candidate for a roadtest (oh that's subtle - Ed).

As usual Derwent Estate won a swag of medals at the Tasmanian Wine show. But to top it off they won the 2011 pinot noir producer of the year if you don't mind! As annoying as this probably is for other winemakers it happens for a simple reason. They make outstanding wines. Their 09 pinot received a silver medal and not to be outdone the 2008 Pinot won a gold. Winning medals is nice but far more  importantly we liked the 08 as well. This pinot is great straight from the bottle but, like good pasta, tastes even better the next day.

We reviewed the 2006 Nandroya Pinot some time ago. At the time Nandorya Vineyard owner John Rees refered to it as "lacklustre". We thought he was a bit harsh then and time hasn't changed our minds but we reckon it would have changed John's mind. This wine has turned into a nice, light but flavoursome example. The fruit is still there and has been joined by a very smooth texture. We probably should have bought a dozen when we had the chance.