So Who is Coming to the Sydney Langton's Tasting...

[rens]

Ouch, my head hurts.

Grange 08 - Look this is a good wine no doubting, but there is just something artificial about Grange that nags me, I dont know what it is, but it seems less like a wine and more something that has been built. Maybe just the red carpet and roped off walkway put me in a bad mood. Certainly not worth 700 sheets.

I have not had this particular Grange, but based on several other recent vintages I think it is probably a lack of discernible Terroir. I think alot of it has been developed through chemical lab analysis to try and get perfect structure and balance and the result is a wine that lacks sense of place.

[TiggerK]

Yep, it was an awesome event, plenty of time to talk to the winemakers/pourers and spoilt for choice of great wine. Like comparing Ferraris and Aston Martins, different beasts, but mostly rather good!

My highlights....

Brokenwood Graveyard 2011 - Awesome.
Chris Ringland 2005 - beautiful vibrant fruit, structure, balance. Duh about the price though. The second label they had on show was very good too.
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2012 - bit of apricot on the nose had me nervous, but just lovely on the palate.
Hill of Grace 2005 - bit of bretty funk blew off and emerged perfumed and delicious 20 seconds later
Tyrrells Vat 1 Semillon 2007 - approachable and tasty.
Lakes Folly Cabernets 2011 - loved this long time.
Grossets 2013 were smart, as was the Leo Buring 2013.
Enjoyed the RWT 2010 way more than the meh soulless Grange 07/08.
Kay Brothers Amery Block 6 - enjoyed this, massive structure, and thought the guy was friendly enough.
Maurice O'Shea 2011 - another excellent 2011 from Hunter.
L.E. Art Series Chardonnay 2009 - nectarines and peaches, oak present, but nicely worked into the profile.

Had no issue with the Balnaves Tally, thought it was fine, as was the Castagna 05 and 10, but no real wow moments.
So many I missed!! You'd have to be a tasting machine to get around it all, mind you the banter with the winemakers and pourers is a big part of my enjoyment on the night.

Misses...

Bass Philip - assume Charles Leong was under instruction to only do tiny micro pours, unlike everyone else. Pity as that meant I couldn't get a sense of the wine.
Giaconda Chardonnay 2011 - OK, it's a decent wine, but not up to it's usual level, so not good value for this vintage.
Clarendon Hills Astralis 2008 - fruit seemed a bit dead to me.
Maurice O'Shea 2000 - nice to see some age, but hoped for more oomph from this great vintage
Noble One 2009 - Along with the 2007, I find this bloated and flabby with no cleansing acidity to balance the admittedly lovely fruit.


Definitely not a miss was the Grape Mates clan heading to Mr Wong afterwards for a simply superb banquet dinner and some interesting wines. Like most Merivale stuff, prices are high, but this is a great restaurant, the pork hock cubes and the salted bugs were so yum.....

[sjw_11]

Definitely not a miss was the Grape Mates clan heading to Mr Wong afterwards for a simply superb banquet dinner and some interesting wines. Like most Merivale stuff, prices are high, but this is a great restaurant, the pork hock cubes and the salted bugs were so yum.....

You have to give him his dues, when he does something he does it well, albeit with as much $$ involved as possible... they should have an all-Penfolds wine list, the two would go together well!

[simon1980]

Krusty,

I am glad you had a cracker. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the Chris Ringland...I thought I may have just been overawed by actually seeing a bottle!

You remind me of the Clonakilla 12...this was the most fragrant wine I have tasted for many a year. I discussed the '05 and '09...and it quickly became clear that '13 is likely to join those two greats. Better start saving.

simon1980

[Michael R]

Firstly, well played Langtons.
Sorry to hear of the crowd issues at Melb, but last night was superb from the moment I arrived, friendly relaxed people giving booklets and Riedel Vinums out, to the end of the night with loads of taxis filing in for quick getaways.
Excellent venue, with plenty of water, spittoons, cheese, bread etc. And importantly lots of space away from the tasting area to get your breath when required.
Even queues for the wines were relatively non-existent, which suggest they got the ticket allocation spot on.
They cop a bit of flack on here sometimes, but last night they absolutely nailed it. Bravo.

I started on the Chardonnays….and the best were the Mount Mary, and the Leeuwin, which surprised me how much I liked it. The Giaconda needs a couple of years to really shine.
Was really hoping the Main Ridge would be there, but alas only the Pinot, which was pretty smart.
Agree with the comments above on the 2010 Bindi Block 5 Pinot. That was also my favourite, and despite preferring the brighter nose on the Bass Philip, thought the length and balance on the Bindi was better.

The big reds…well I tried the 07 & 08 Grange, and agree with the “well made wines, but not wines I long for’ comments.
Don’t shoot me for this, but I did like the 2010 RWT. Yes very Penfolds, but was a really good drop.
A real standout was the 2010 Dalwhinnie Eagle Shiraz, perhaps a touch too much acid some, but Top 3 WOTN for me.
2010 Torbreck Run Rig was a cracker. Smooth, big and balanced, great length. Got a great full pour at the end of the night too (thanks mate!)..happy days.
There was a herbaceous note to the 06 Mount Ed that I didn’t love, but I liked the 05 HOG allright. Very good, but again not one I especially long for.
Couldn’t find Moss Wood unfortunately, but have tried (and liked) the 2010 previously.
Staying on the 2010 theme, the Bests Thompson Family Shiraz was rock solid.

My WOTN was probably the Chris Ringland, but actually the Ebeneezer, not the 05 Flagship.
If there was a POTN (presenter of the night) then he and his assistant Nathan would probably win my vote too.
Really good banter people, and were pouring out the wine like it was a $10 quaffer.

As Tim said, there was loads of opportunity to chat with winemakers etc, and everyone seemed in top form.
At one point myself and Tiff were wandering around, and there was Reg Egan (Wantirna Estate), standing there with his daughter and no else around. We went straight over and had a great laugh, drinking plenty of Amelia which was good (no Isabella unfortunately).
It was that sort of night, everywhere you looked was class wine and classic characters enjoying banter.

Finally happy birthday Dave!….hope you pulled up ok today….and tip of the cap to Mr Wongs…frickin love that place!

Pic is Burges (Grape Mate and resident big red lover & serial Pinot dodger) hanging with the big red man (Chris Ringland)

[mark as]

Yes, a really excellent tasting last night. Well done Woolworths.

My thoughts on the wines...

Both Semillons were nice. Didn’t taste many Riesling as they’re not hard to get a taste of outside of a tasting like this.

Chardonnays: LEAS and Pierro lovely. Giaconda seemed lighter weight than usual and a little disappointing. All of them seemed to be in a more restrained style.

Pinot: Really enjoyed most of the pinots. The MM probably the best for me. The Bannockburn Serre was nice, and should be lovely in a few years. Paringa was a very pleasant surprise – didn’t taste like shiraz, had a proper pinot character and structure. BP hard to assess with the 2.5mL pour I got. Bindi was nice.

Shiraz: Lots to like here
Ringland, both wines. Two of the best overall.
Graveyard, Dalwhinnie Eagle, Old Bastard were lovely.
Craiglee – maybe the most unique wine of the whole tasting? Not another wine like it really and a nice counterpoint to most of the supercharged wines.
Liked the Armagh too, much finer than I expected, but still true to style. The Clonakilla had a very expressive nose and tasted nice too.
The Mount Pleasant ’00 was as awful as always, noting of course personal preferences in this matter.

Cabernets:
Yarra Yering No1 – probably my pick of the whole bunch of cabs and one of the best overall wines.
Parker, especially the ‘05
Moss Wood very smart, Lakes Folly nice, Cullen a bit meh, MM a bit meh.

Great dinner at Mr Wong afterwards.

[Hacker]

My thoughts..

So much has been said that I agree with, great venue, not too crowded, great wines!
My picks were the 2005 HOG - went back a few times for this, and honourable mention to the 2006 Mt Edelstone.
2008 Yarra Yering No1 was also great, so happy I have some hidden away,
Moss Wood 2010 big tick.
Wantirna Amelia 2010 delicious, and a lovely talk with Reg.
Wendouree 2005 Cab/Malbec still tight but all components are in place.
Woodlands 2010 cabernet was beautiful.
Just wasn't in love with the Grange, and many punters apparently agreed. Often there was no one on the red carpet later in the night! Similar with the RWT, sorry.

A few things I learnt: The Margaret River producers generally rate 2010 and 2012 above all other recent vintages for cabernet, perhaps 2012 being the best of all.
The Rockford stand listened to me ranting on about the possibility of releasing 375ml Basket Press to the punters. Watch this space. Actually I found the 2003 BP annoyingly sweet on the night.

It was lovely running into so many Auswine regulars last night. I wish I could have joined the dinner

[paulf]

I'm glad to hear that the Sydney event was a little more roomy than Melbourne. Last time they did this, a few years back, they held it in the St Kilda town hall and that was much more spacious. The atmosphere was great on Wednesday, but the downsides were it was difficult to take notes and the room got pretty warm, which almost certainly impacted on how I liked the wines.
In a complete surpirse to me, I'd have to say that my wine of the night was the Crawford River 2011 Riesling which was absolutely singing. I tasted it very early, but went back for more near the end and still had the same impression.
Some others that made an impression were -
2000 Bindi Block 5 - Micheal Dhillon was pouring from a large format bottle, maybe a 6L, and it was stunning
Castagna Genisis - I liked all three that they had on show and I love the enthusiasm the guys bring to any tasting.
The Torbreck Runrig was fantastic
THe HoG was too.
LEAS Cabernet - Anyone know whether it was 08 or 09 they were showing ?
2010 Vasse Felix Cab - seriously good and an absolute bargin

There were so many I didn't get to, but you cant do them all

[Pat]

Was away this week taking my kids to the snow. Looking forward to meeting others from this forum at the next one.

[Matt]

You summed up the Basket Press well however, it's a different beast on night two! Needs a lot if air if approaching ATM.

[Polymer]

Well, I tried nearly everything and dragged my friend along to each place...Pretty much everything was good....Some things were never going to wow me but still, I'd be happy drinking pretty much anything there...

Rieslings: I really liked the Leonay..I thought it was showing much better than the Grosset or Crawford River....I though the Pewsey Vale Contours was actually better than I usually remember it being as well...

Tyrrells Vat 1 was quite nice...I've been more on a Riesling kick but a really nice Semillon always pulls me back...

I really like the Giaconda Chardonnay 2011...Still a full Chardonnay but really good acidity..which to me separates it from the rest...although I can see why people might not like this compared to other Giacondas...and I can see why some would like it more..

I'm normally pretty underwhelmed by HoG but for whatever reason this one was coming together for me....very nice depth and mouthfeel to this...

I was a bit surprised at the reactions to the Chris Ringlands...not because it wasn't a good wine..it was..but it was basically the same as last time...Big fruit but really great balance, mouthfeel...it just tastes good...I liked it last time..it was really good this time as well...I wouldn't pay what they're asking for it but it was till very good..

Dalwhinnie Eagle, Graveyard, St. Peters, Bests Thomson Family were all good. I was glad to get my Yarra Yering thoughts back on track after tasting their poor 2011s..the 2008 was quite nice.

Biggest shock to me was the Tim Adams Aberfeldy...Pretty sure I remember it being quite a bit bigger than this...but it was very nice..it could be because I had it right after the Greenock Creek RR so basically everything was going to feel like it had good acidity and a bit more elegant after that.

Noble One - I had this at the very end so hard to trust what I'm tasting after 100+...but to me it seemed like it had better acidity than I'm used to (I'm normally not a big fan of Noble One) and a lot more complexity than I'm used to seeing....

Was nice to try different vintages of Castagna..

Disappointments:
Grange, St. Henri...I normally like the St. Henri but granted, I haven't really had much of the last few vintages...I was very meh on it...
Grosset Polish Hill: I'm not sure why..I must always just try these at the wrong time..I've had them young..had them fairly old...Never seems to impress me like it does a lot of other people..I don't know..It wasn't bad..I'm just always expecting more...
Greenock Creek RR: This was a bit of mess..
Clarendon Hills Astralis: Has anyone ever had a good one of these? I haven't tried a huge number of them but every single time I'm just wondering what is going on. I know some people like this...I don't even mind big fruit bomb type wines but this just doesn't seem right...

[damonpeyo]

Was Noon Winery there?

[monghead]

Polymer, what vintage was the Polish Hill?

[TiggerK]

Would have been 2013. I enjoyed it! The Springvale was more approachable as usual, but the Polish Hill was a class act and more expressive than the reticent 2012 was at it's young age. Better than most of the $20 respected producers though? Maybe, but not by much, it's the Grange of Aussie Riesling, has an established pedigree and hence a higher price. Preferred the Springvale in 2012, but suspect I'll cellar a few of the Polish Hill 2013 and drink the 2013 Springvales in their youth. 2013 Riesling (so far) from Clare and Eden seems a very floral, expressive vintage and although the acidity is there, it's less prominent than 2012. Happy days and look forward to comparing the vintages in 10 and 20 years!

[Brucer]

Was Noon Winery there?

Yes. 2012 Noon reserve shiraz. My notes said.....not deserving of this position.

[phillisc]

Was Noon Winery there?

Yes. 2012 Noon reserve shiraz. My notes said.....not deserving of this position.

So Brucer, I have a nice little run of Noons, but should not worry about getting any this year...dodgy bottle perhaps?
Fairly comfortable Drew would continue to adopt his policy of not releasing a vintage that he is not happy with, which he has done multiple times in the past.

Speaking of which, Greenock Creek mailer arrived today with 4 reds from the 2011 vintage...Whitey seems fairly enthused about them....again bit like Wendouree, feel I can buy with confidence rather than buying crap on reputation cause there has to be one made every year!!

Cheers
Craig.

[ticklenow1]

Was Noon Winery there?

Yes. 2012 Noon reserve shiraz. My notes said.....not deserving of this position.

So Brucer, I have a nice little run of Noons, but should not worry about getting any this year...dodgy bottle perhaps?
Fairly comfortable Drew would continue to adopt his policy of not releasing a vintage that he is not happy with, which he has done multiple times in the past.

Speaking of which, Greenock Creek mailer arrived today with 4 reds from the 2011 vintage...Whitey seems fairly enthused about them....again bit like Wendouree, feel I can buy with confidence rather than buying crap on reputation cause there has to be one made every year!!

Cheers
Craig.

Craig,

I really respect the wineries that don't release wines they think aren't up to scratch. You have to admire Drew Noon for doing this. Michael Waugh did it with his Creek Block Shiraz as well. It's still not being released. It's hard to believe that Noon could mess up the 2012 Vintage as well.

Wendouree, Noon & Greenock Creek are wines I will buy from 2011 because I know they will be decent quality. Different to the norm - yes, but I'm hoping to be surprised. Whitey does seem to gush about GCW's 2011 releases, particularly the Cabernet. I'm sticking mainly to WA wines for the 2011 vintage, which is good as it will give my cellar a bit more variety.

Cheers
Ian

[Brucer]

I believe the Langtons list is based on "the best performing ultra fine wines" sold thru Langtons.
Noon wines have certainly "performed" price wise in the secondary market.
But the quality of this particular wine on the night had me scratching my head.
Noons do make some good wines, and Drew certainly sells them to his followers at very fair prices. He is one of the good guys.

[ross67]

I believe the Langtons list is based on "the best performing ultra fine wines" sold thru Langtons.
Noon wines have certainly "performed" price wise in the secondary market.
But the quality of this particular wine on the night had me scratching my head.
Noons do make some good wines, and Drew certainly sells them to his followers at very fair prices. He is one of the good guys.

Hey Brucer
Totally off topic... Sorry
Have you had any current koltz releases?

Ross

[Brucer]

Yes, I got the info from Mark a few weeks ago.
New releases....
2012 Dog Day shiraz
2012 Dog Day Bianco
2011 Etruscan
2011 Pagan...only 40% of normal qty made due to crap year, but Mark said it was ok.
I didnt buy any, as I still have a fair bit of older vintages of Pagan and Wizard.

[ross67]

Yes, I got the info from Mark a few weeks ago.
New releases....
2012 Dog Day shiraz
2012 Dog Day Bianco
2011 Etruscan
2011 Pagan...only 40% of normal qty made due to crap year, but Mark said it was ok.
I didnt buy any, as I still have a fair bit of older vintages of Pagan and Wizard.

Thanks Bruce

I'm nearly out of my Wizards & Pagans.
Time to buy again.
I was pretty impressed with the Etruscan too.

Ross

[sjw_11]

Since were off topic... Koltz Wizards and Pagans?? For once, I am lost... never heard of these

[burges]

Since were off topic... Koltz Wizards and Pagans?? For once, I am lost... never heard of these

http://www.koltzwines.com.au/ The website is outdated but you can see the wines they make.
If you’re into big reds, you want to try these. Big, bold, full-on flavours. Mostly high alcohol but fairly well balanced.
They are made in the Italian styles – the Pagan is made in the Appassimento style while the Wizard uses the Ripasso method.

[ross67]

Since were off topic... Koltz Wizards and Pagans?? For once, I am lost... never heard of these

Sam
Koltz are a fantastic small producer in McLaren Vale.
They use slower traditional techniques in some of their
wine production. eg- ripasso, amarone etc.
If you like big sweet lush styles with an edge you'll like them.
There two top tier wines Wizard & Pagan aren't cheap but wonderful.
They also do a blend called Etruscan ( I think cab/sang/Shiraz?) that's fantastic too.

Ross

[Hacker]

Re; the tasting, did wineries get to turn up and show their wines because they were on Langtons list of best performing wines? Is this list on their website? For example, Hugo Wines were at the tasting, and whilst their wines are very nice, I didn't think they had made it in terms of Langton's prerequisite.

[burges]

Re; the tasting, did wineries get to turn up and show their wines because they were on Langtons list of best performing wines? Is this list on their website? For example, Hugo Wines were at the tasting, and whilst their wines are very nice, I didn't think they had made it in terms of Langton's prerequisite.

I understand it was a tasting of only those wines that are on the Classification list, however some wineries also brought labels that were not listed in the Classification.
Not sure how Hugo fit in.

[Brucer]

Its only the wines that are on the Langtons Classification list.
I only saw 1 wines that was not on the list, one from Chris Ringland.
Hugo were not there. Orlando had St Hugo there.

[Polymer]

Mt. Langi had Cliffs Edge there..but that and the extra Ringland were the only two outside of the Classifications..I think...

[Hacker]

Hugo were not there. Orlando had St Hugo there.

Oohh. And the room wasn't spinning either?

[shauno]

Koltz are a fantastic small producer in McLaren Vale.
They use slower traditional techniques in some of their
wine production. eg- ripasso, amarone etc.
If you like big sweet lush styles with an edge you'll like them.
There two top tier wines Wizard & Pagan aren't cheap but wonderful.
They also do a blend called Etruscan ( I think cab/sang/Shiraz?) that's fantastic too.

Digging up an old post here, but there's not much mention of Koltz in the last few years - I just saw a few reviews on WineFront, sounds like some good Italian-style wines!

Anyone else tried them recently?