Creek of the Week: Jacob's Creek Reeves Point Chardonnay, 2005

This weeks wine of the week is the Jacob's Creek Reeves Point Chardonnay 2005.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought it was appropriate to select from the highest quality of Jacob's Creek wines: the Heritage Collection.

The Jacob's Creek Reeve's Point Chardonnay shows incredible aging potential of up to ten years, which almost makes me want to cellar the wine instead of cracking it open, but alas, SOMEONE has to tell you what it tastes like.

The Reeves Point Chardonnay is from southern Australia and is named after the landing site on Kangaroo Island that Jacob's Creek's founder, Johann Gramp, landed in 1837 when he came from Bavaria.

The Chardonnay was aged in selected one and two year old French Oak barrels which comes through to the nose with a slightly nutty characteristic, but this does not inhibit the fresh, buttery lemon-citrus quality of the grape. Due to the oak, the wine is a deep lemon color that has begun to show some aging, despite it is only four years old.

On the palate, the wine melts in the mouth. The full-body is enhanced by buttery toasted oak characteristics, but still the lemony undertones of the Chardonnay come forth to balance out the wine leading to a tangy finish with impressive length and incredible balance.

Jacob's Creek Riesling Reserve 2008 named #73!

Wine Spectators Top 100 List of 2009 was officially released, in its entirety, today.

Coming in at number 73 is the Jacob's Creek Riesling Reserve 2008 and it's no wonder. If you remember, the Reserve Riesling was last week's creek of the week.

This was the only Australian Riesling to make the list -- and at $12.99/bottle, you simply can't go wrong!

It has refreshing acidity with fresh hints of lime and floral undertones. The wine provides an impressive length across the palate, infused with green apple and lime flavors. To see the official tasting sheet, look here.

As you've probably heard, this Riesling pairs well with oysters, shrimp and salmon as well as soft cheeses such as Brie, cream cheeses and Camembert. I don't know what it's like in every household at Thanksgiving, but our appetizer table is always full of cheese and crackers, shrimp, fresh oysters and sometimes, scallops wrapped in bacon -- I think the Jacob's Creek Reserve Riesling will be a perfect aperitif to match.

Creek of the Week: Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz 2006

This week's Creek of the Week is Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz, one of the two Jacob's Creek wines featured at the Spit & Twit yesterday held at City Winery in NYC.

The Reserve Shiraz is similar to that of a French Syrah - approachable, but with significant structure. Light black fruits and peppered spices are enhanced by the full body of this wine, leading to a balanced complexity across the palate with integrated, smooth oak tannins.

The Jacob's Creek Shiraz has won 26 awards internationally and continues to impress consumers year after year.

Enjoy this wine now or allow it to age for up to 10 years. The wine is perfect when paired with game, red meats and cheeses and is also perfect company for stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce and of course, Turkey!