It has been a while since I posted. Work and life have been taking up a bit too much time lately. Luckily work and life has not stopped me from drinking great wines, it also helps to have generous friends.

As you will see Dec 2018 was a good month, for me at least, for wine. How was your December?

Oz’s Ratings

Icon	Rating	Description
	1	1 out of 5	Bug spray, good for cleaning or powering vehicles
	2	2 out of 5	Acceptable at a pinch (must be extremely desperate)
	3	2.5 out of 5	Drinkable, might improve with age or decanting, good for the last bottle of the night when there is nothing else available
	4	3 out of 5	A good wine, may improve with time, a quaffer
	5	3.5 out of 5	A very good wine, worth a try and probably a bit of patience if it is a young wine
	6	4 out of 5	A great wine! Recommended by Oz
	7	4.5 out of 5	A great wine, definitely one that Oz recommends!!
	11	5 out of 5	Amazing, WoW. Highly recommended, please give me more!

Dec 2018 Wine Reviews

My favourites from this batch were hard to pick, they were all great wines so will stick to the ones I scored the highest:

• 1990 Petaluma Coonawarra Red
• 1996 Petaluma Coonawarra Red
• 1962 Faustino Tinto Gran Reserva

Rating	Wine
1		> Name: Arras EJ Carr Late Disgorged Year: 2003 Region: Tasmania, Australia Varietal: Chardonnay Pinot Noir Oz's Rating: 4 out of 5 Vivid light straw in appearance with a tight bead of tiny bubbles. The wine has a perfumed nose of freshly baked cookies and mascarpone aromas, on the elegant complex palate it is slightly sour with lime and lemon flavours and refreshing with an enjoyable medium finish. One of the best, if not the best, examples of white Aussie bubbles. <
2		> Name: Petaluma Coonawarra Red Year: 1990 Region: Coonawarra, South Australia, Australia Varietal: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon 18% Merlot Oz's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Vivid youthful deep crimson in appearance with a reserved combination of dark fruit and spice aromas. The refined medium-bodied palate is exquisite with silky soft tannins and a delightful medium to long finish. This bottle was amazing, would never have picked it from its appearance as an 18 year old wine. I really enjoyed the silky tannins. Great wine!!! WoW <
3		> Name: Petaluma Coonawarra Red Year: 1996 Region: Coonawarra, South Australia, Australia Varietal: 66% Cabernet and 34% Merlot Oz's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Rich deep crimson with red brick edges in appearance with a perfumed mixture of leather, spice and eucalypt aromas. The vibrant medium-bodied palate is elegant with savoury silky tannins and a delightful medium to long finish. Another great bottle from Petaluma, hard to decide which of the two Petaluma vintages is the better, but the '90, IMHO, just edges the '96. <
4		> Name: Roda I Reserva Year: 2010 Region: Rioja, Spain Varietal: Tempranillo Oz's Rating: 4 out of 5 Rich deep garnet in appearance with a reserved mix of dark fruit, cigar and mocha aromas. The medium-bodied palate is balanced with savoury structured tannins and a medium to long finish. An enjoyable wine. <
5		> Name: Grosset Springvale Year: 2007 Region: Clare Valley, South Australia, Australia Varietal: Riesling Oz's Rating: 4 out of 5 Vivid bright light straw in appearance with a perfumed combo of pink grapefruit, lemon, lime and kerosene aromas. The complex palate is elegant with lemon and lime flavours and a medium finish with a trailing sweetness. Geoffrey keeps on coming up with great wines. Definitely the best bottle of this vintage I have been lucky enough to try, so far. <
6		> Name: Muga Reserva Year: 2000 Region: Rioja, Spain Varietal: 70% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo, 20% Garnacha Oz's Rating: 4 out of 5 Rich medium deep garnet in appearance with a pleasant but reserved mixture earthy, black pepper, black currant and cacao aromas. The medium-bodied palate is elegant with fine, silky tannins and a medium finish. Needed time to open up, but when it did WoW, it kept getting better. <
7		> Name: Faustino Tinto Gran Reserva Year: 1962 Region: Rioja, Spain Varietal: Tempranillo; Graciano, Mazuelo Oz's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Vivid medium deep red brick in appearance with a reserved perfumed combination of cedar and leather aromas. The complex medium-bodied palate is subtle and elegant with soft delicate tannins and a medium finish. An amazing wine, I wish I looked as good as this 56 year old wine when I was 40..... First glass was excellent, then there was dip and then it came back with a vengeance. WoW WoW! <

Oz’s Wine Reviews

Looking forward to 2019 and the great wines that it will bring.

Cheers!