Two most excellent wines opened with a smoked Tasmanian salmon medley and Peking duck last night with me mate, Ezza.
The McWilliams (Hunter Valley, NSW) really sang with attractive oily aromas and flavours of lemon butter, dried herbs, toast, honey and nuts. Everything in symmetry with nice weight in the mouth, still enough acidity for a crisp, clean, lengthy finish. 91 points. Probably no use holding these much longer judging from the bright but slightly burnished gold colour and maturity shown. Held up well over a couple of hours in the glass. It went quite well with the salmon, too.
The St. Hubert's "Barrel Select" (Yarra Valley, Victoria) must be some sort of reserve, I'd guess. Wow, did this little cracker of a "claret" reveal some eerie similarities to a very fine left bank Bordeaux. Classical aromas and flavours of cedar, freshly turned earth, weedy blackcurrants, herbs, sous bois and perfectly-judged French oak gave little hint of its' Aussie origins. Perhaps the only criticism I can muster was a slight lack of structural complexity found in the very best examples of the French. Otherwise exemplary in terms of a very youthful, deep colour, the alluring well-honed sweet/sour aromatics and the very elegant medium-bodied palate that oozed class, poise and remarkable persistence. A really Outstanding bottle and would make a great "options" wine for anybody who's got some in the cellar. 91 points for this one, too. This wine should drink well for at least another 5 years.