After tasting this wine and making notes and comments about it, I wondered to myself, where do I start? In the end, it was easy. By saying at the start what I would normally leave to the end. That is, this is a lovely, lovely wine.

It comes as no surprise that it was been awarded a gold medal at the Mudgee Wine Show plus (and how good is this?!) top gold and the Best Grenache Trophy at the Sydney Royal Wine Show. This is no mean feat considering there were wines entered in that Show from the more coveted Grenache growing regions such as the Barossa Valley and Mclaren Vale. Take a bow Tim Stevens!

Region: Mudgee, NSW     Price: $54     Source: Sample thanks kindly to Huntington Estate

Things started well when I poured it into the glass. The aromas rose from the glass giving me an immediate indication of what to expect. There was an inviting freshness and brightness from the abundant ripe red fruits that made me smile. I was liking this already.

The palate, however, impressed me even more. Blue and black fruits, and dark cherry and plummy notes provide the great flavour profile of this Grenache. These were complemented nicely by slight peppery and herb characters that all come together forming a smooth, delightful mouthfeel that I found to be quite moreish. The tannins did present (as expected with these wines) but were nice and fine and were easily carried along by the generous fruit flavours this wine has. Loved it!