Reviews

BY CAMPBELL MATTINSON - THE WINE FRONT http://www.winefront.com.au/

MIKE PRESS WINES ADELAIDE HILLS CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2008

I've only just had this Mike Press cabernet sent to me, but it's been out for a while - it might even be scarce already. I reckon of all the Mike Press reds that have beguiled us in recent years, this is the one I'd be happiest to drink.

The Mike Press reds always show a good lick of seductive vanillin oak, and you'd be hard (err-) pressed to find a wine anywhere near this price that gives you such a hit. It therefore tastes smooth and polished and delicious, especially given that this oak is supported by pure, sweet, essence-like blackcurrant flavour. There are notes of dried herbs and dark olives too, and from the start of the bottle to the end, it's a wine that you just want to keep pouring into your mouth. There's some alcohol warmth here and the acidity pokes out a fraction, but it tastes so good that no one will care. Australia's best value red continues its run.

Rated :91 Points
Alcohol : 14.9%
Price : $13.99
Drink : 2010 - 2014

OUR GRAPE ACHIEVERS

In the spirit of the day, Jeni Port from The Age honours those who have served palates well.

Officer of the Order of Australian Wine (AWO)

For outstanding achievement and service

Mike Press, winemaker, Mike Press Wines: for services to wine and value.

James Halliday Top 100 2009

James Halliday Top 100 Tasting Notes:

 

Mike Press Adelaide Hills Shiraz 2008

 

It was once accepted that only the warmest parts of the Adelaide Hills could adequately ripen shiraz. Now, with cool-climate shiraz style in vogue, the dynamics are very different. Vivid crimson; the wine exudes black cherry, blackberry, licorice and spice through every pore; just enough tannins to underwrite development. 94/100 drink to 2015. James Halliday Top 100 wines 2009.

Mike Press Adelaide Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Curiously, cabernet sauvignon has been on the Adelaide Hills menu for as long as shiraz, even though it theoretically requires more warmth. Deep crimson-red; luscious cabernet crammed to the gills with roughly equal blackcurrant and cassis fruit; despite all this flavour, is not the least extractive, the tannins fine. 94/100 drink to 2018.  James Halliday Top 100 wines 2009.

Mike Press Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2009

The enterprise of industry veteran (over 40 years in the business) Mike Press and wife Judy, offering estate-grown wines at irresistible prices. Elegant, vibrant and supremely fresh, it runs the gamut of grapefruit, green apple, white peach and nectarine flavours with perfectly judged acidity. No oak evident, and none needed. 94/100 drink to 2013.   James Halliday Top 100 wines 2009.

Good wines to suit your wallet

JENI PORT  August 4, 2009

The Age

At the start of the year, the Winemakers' Federation of Australia laid down the facts for our wine industry facing a crippling over supply of grapes.It's a bit of a minefield so let's narrow the field and look to some of the big names and new promising labels out there punching above their weight in their respective price categories:

Mike Press 2008 sauvignon blanc ($10) If you haven't got on to Mike Press Wines, do yourself a favour. Mike Press Wines is a small outfit that hits way above its weight, so forget some of the cheapies from big companies. The shiraz is incredible, but this sauvignon blanc from the Adelaide Hills is so savvy, so flavoursome, so good it could be twice the price.

 

Jeremy Pringle

Wine Will Eat Itself

Mike Press Adelaide Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Adelaide Hills 14.5% Screwcap $13

A generous gift from Tyson Stelzer, I was told to give this a good decant and seeing as I was sneaky enough to pour a taste from the bottle before decanting I can say with confidence that the wine needs & deserves it. And it's a wonderful and cuddly wine for money, delicious and with good sensible structure.

It is a rich opaque purple black and it tastes like it. It smells of sweet spiced red currants, plums (stewed & fresh) and blackcurranty goodness all with a nice splash of vanilla and some chocolics. The acidity provides life to the fruit flavours and the rub of tannin at the end is well judged.

I'd heard about Mike Press wines, and this lived up to the raves. I'm reliably told you can cellar it too, and from tasting this I don't doubt it. Delicious.

Gay2share world .com

Cult Red


Mike Press Adelaide Hills Shiraz 08 Whoa! This is the kind of wine that sends shockwaves through wine circles for its value-to-size ratio. Clanks around with muscular, dark berries and stewed plum fleshiness. Around $12. From Mike Press Wines

James Halliday's Wine Companion

We made it into James Halliday's 2010 Wine Companion as a four star winery first year in!!

"**** Excellent winery able to produce wines of very high quality knocking on the door of a five star rating.  Will have one wine rated at 94 or above and two or more at 90 or above."

James awarded the yet to be released MP1 (reserve) 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon 94 points!  Mail order customers will recieve first offers on this wine when it is released.

Mike Press Wines Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2008

I opened this alongside some of its more expensive Adelaide Hills peers (2007 Henschke Coralinga and 2007 Hewitson Lu Lu) and the humbly priced Mike Press acquitted itself favourably. Admittedly from a different, and from what I am seeing, possibly better white vintage - the Press is the wine I actually preferred to drink. It had a vivacity and uncompromising Blancness that I found more appealing than the softer 2007's.Young and vivacious - full of banana and tropical fruit, grass, pee and minerals. It has plenty of honey and tropical fruit with a touch of minerality and sheen of sweatiness. There's some chalkiness to the texture which is an attractive touch and chilling it down (they way you would/should drink it) results in better focus and line. The finish is good too - often a let down with Sauvignon Blanc. It should be ready for you just in time for summer and the bang per buck value is as obvious as the wine itself. ABV: 12% Drink: 2008 - 2010. 90 points. Gary Walsh; The Wine Front

Mike Press Wines Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2009:

This is a fresh, pure, fruit-focused Chardonnay which tastes like white nectarines, peach blossom and spicy pink grapefruit. It has excellent balance of fine minerality and a long, persistent finish. The theme is all about the vineyard and the fruit here, with not a hint of distraction from oak or winemaker influence. This is one of Australia's best sub-$10 Chardonnays, and it ranks among the greatest whites yet to emerge from the impressive Mike Press estate. 91 points Tyson Stelzer – Wine Busines Magazine, Taste Food and Wine

Mike Press Wines Adelaide Hills Shiraz 2008:

On the Mike Press scale, this is a big Shiraz. But don't let its stature or its immediate youthful appeal fool you into the impression that it is either blockbuster or simplistic. It is neither, but at this young age it takes a vigorous double decant and a few hours to really reveal itself. When it does, you will discover a bouquet of stewed plums, prunes, rhubarb and pepper with a dash of milk chocolate oak. The palate is concentrated and powerful with flavours of cherry liqueur dark chocolates at first, then building into deep, layered Satsuma plum and preserved black cherry intensity. Tannins are very fine and structured, and it has the acid freshness to counter its high ripeness. With sufficient time for the fruit to unravel, there is no suggestion of overt alcohol. This will be a faster maturing Mike Press Shiraz, but it will benefit from a year to settle, and a further two to integrate. Another impressive result from Mr Press and, as ever, the value for money is off the scale! 92 points Tyson Stelzer - Wine Business Magazine/Taste Food and Wine. 

Mike Press has taken the bargain red stakes by storm over the past few years, and he's continued the form here. This is riper and richer than we've previously seen under this label and while personally I'd like to see it tamed back a notch, the quality/value equation is still pretty amazing. A warning though: you have to enjoy the taste and smell of American oak to enjoy these wines; it's laid on pretty thick.  Vanilla and nougat and then lots of rich, ripe, cherry-plum flavour. All the quality is obvious and up-front and ready to be enjoyed. Delicious wine and clearly a much better wine than the price would suggest. Warm finish and so much oak that it seems varnishy, but given some air it drinks very well. Ripe, grainy tannin folds through the finish. I reckon it needs another 6-12 months to integrate better but for good old-fashioned red drinking, this is right up there once again. Could be worth an extra point or two as well, depending on your tastes in oak. 90/100 Campbell Mattinson – The Wine Front:

A very generous nose of plums, liquorice, mulberries, caramel, dark earth, cinnamon sugar, marshmallow, ripe red cherries, vanilla and wheat grass, all encapsulated in a savoury framework. Full/medium bodied, the palate is juicy, smooth, rich and generous with good weight and soft, expansive, cushion-like yet defined tannins providing a sumptuous experience. Refreshing, life-giving acid melds with the tannins to carry the wine's flavours to a lingering, finely-textured finish. At 14.9% alcohol, I am amazed that I didn't detect any heat, although the "ripe red cherries" verges into a hint of kirsch... but only a hint... a nuance. This wine will age, and I will cellar some bottles, but I can't see it getting any better over the next 6 months... economic crisis relief in a bottle! This is the most easily enjoyable Mike Press red on release that I can remember. 91/100. Adair Durie

Edinburgh Cellars Shiraz Challenge 2009

STOP PRESS!!!!  Mike Press Adelaide Hills 2008 Shiraz was rated 10th overall out of 308 shiraz presented at the Ed's annual shiraz challenge recently.  This is in a field that includes wines with a retail price of up to $183 (which rated 9th just one ahead of Mike Press Shiraz) and you can have 18 of ours for one of those!!  The Mike Press Shiraz was easily the highest rated wine on the day under $20 - so buy up, drink up and enjoy - the consumer has spoken!!

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