Rowsley Fault Pinot Noir, Geelong 2010
by Fergal Gleeson

Who doesn’t like an online wine auction? While there’s always the chance that Bruce, Aged 59 from Coober Pedy will outbid you with an 11^th hour $9 bid on that cheapo Shiraz you were eyeing up, it’s only right to be congratulated when you buy wine. It’s an achievement. It makes you a winner.

This case, at this prize may never be available again. “Well bid sir. You’re a person of discernment!”

Wine auction websites are an established part of the wine retail scene. Sites such as graysonline and crackawines specialise in cheap n cheerful/lucky dip bottles at auction which do the job but not much more.

I recently tried Langtons who operate at a higher quality level. If you are so inclined Langtons operate the largest secondary market place for Penfolds Grange and also sell a formidable array of Bordeaux and Burgundy heavyweights.

But it’s not all $500+ bottles, there are plenty of bottles from Australia and abroad for under $30 where many of us like to play. One of the joys is the ability to pick up old vintages. For example I recently bought a mixed case of Bordeaux 2009 and 2010s (considered the best vintages of the past decade) for around $20-25 a bottle. You can’t buy those back vintages from retailers.

Even better than the Bordeaux was a 2010 Pinot Noir from Geelong call Rowsley Fault. I’d never heard of the winery but I gave it a shot as I have a soft spot for Victorian reds. It’s brave to put Fault on your wine label! It turns out the fault in question is not a wine making fault but a volcanic fault on which the vineyard sits. They operate to a small batch, dry grown wine making philosophy that is vindicated in this Pinot.

Great Pinot smells so good that you don’t want to drink it. That seemingly idiotic expression “Wanting to have your cake and eat it” might have been coined for this one. The smell constantly changes from floral to fruit to leather.

The wine is evolving some brown colour as you’d expect from a 6 year old pinot that is at its peak. The taste was powerful and profound of black cherries and fizzy cola bottles. It was refreshing and charged with energy. Remember it or get onto Langtons and make your own discoveries!

Rating: 4/5. Price c: $30. For more Wine Reviews read and follow www.greatwineblog.wordpress.com  Drink and be merry!