Saturday, March 17, 2018

Bimbo


The Aussies tend to have a habit on contracting names, more often than not in a sign of affection.  As Aussies can do, they put an edge into the name, just to keep everyone on their toes.  So I don’t think there’s any misogyny in shortening the name of the premium Hunter Valley winery ‘Bimbadgen’ to ‘Bimbo’.  Don’t let being PC control pour lives; just have a bit of fun in once in a while. 

The Chairman actually knows Bimbo (the winery) very well, and has done many good works to improve the breed of the wines, especially with winemaking advice, but also in thoughts of viticulture and management.  These all impact on how a wine can taste.  From being ‘another’ label, albeit with decent wines, the output is in the classier level, with many of the wines winning good show awards.
We were graced by The Chairman visiting SWMBO and I, and as a gift, he left us a 2011 Bimbadgen ‘Signature’ ‘McDonalds Road Vineyard’ Hunter Valley Shiraz.  My early experience with Hunter Reds is that of ‘soupiness’ with plenty of bugly things happening.  Then the modern age  kicked in, and the wines became very varietally expressive, pure and lean, maybe too skinny.  They had lost the Hunter character.  Being warm and humid, there are huge challenges in the region, so there are advantages in picking early.  2011 was seen as a great growing season, and the wines are said to show the Hunter as it be.  Dark and impenetrable black-red with some garnet of bottle development, this was dense and weighty on the nose as well as palate.  Not really varietally expressive, it was more a rich, sweet, ripe, hearty red.  Mulberries rather than blackberry or raspberry.  No real peppery overtones, but plenty of tar and earth and layers of interest bordering on the funkiness of those old ‘soupy’ styles of the past, but with all the negatives removed.  It tasted of traditional Hunter as I see it in my experience.  Nice underlying structure held up the fruit, and just enough acidity to prevent it being flabby in any way.  A nice, heartwarming number and certainly no flashy, empty Bimbo.  

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