Howard Park riesling tasting 8 April 2015

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

A group of us assembled in a private room at the Brown Fox (West Perth) for a vertical tasting of Howard Park Rieslings. I’ve been wanting to do this for a couple of years now, which means, by the time we got around to it, a couple more vintages made it into the line-up. The plan was to look at every vintage from 2001-2014. These are the Great Southern Rieslings only, and excluded the 100% Porongorup Rieslings which the company has been producing for the last couple of years.

The majority of these came from my cellar; however, I was aware that I was missing a couple of the earlier vintages (2003 and 2005). I contacted Burch Family Wines (producer of Howard Park) to invite a representative to the tasting, without realising that the company had its own vertical tasting of every Riesling since 1986 (so we couldn’t top that): http://www.burchfamilywines.com.au/news ... mmary.aspx. David from Burch Family Wines kindly provided us with a bottle each of the missing vintages, and our (relatively mini) vertical was ready to go. However, when I subsequently retrieved the majority of the wines from the cellar, I could not find a bottle of the 2012. I’m sure there’s a few hiding in an unmarked box somewhere. So, the vertical had a gap.

Nine of us took part in this tasting. The 13 wines were tasted in 4 flights, from oldest to youngest, and all were under screwcap. A ‘wine of the bracket’ was voted, and the wine of the night was selected from these. As usual, the tasting notes are a compilation of the opinions expressed around the table, and not just my own. So, off we went, with the first flight comprising the 2014-2010 vintages:

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2014 (93% Mt Barker, 7% Porongorup) 12% alcohol: Pale straw colour. The nose shows lime and lemon, a touch of musk, some white grapefruit, and some perfumed florals. The lime-lemon flows through the palate – pristine fruit with a clean line of acid running through it. General consensus is that the wine is very well balanced, with one taster referring to it as ‘coiled’. A great start. 3 votes (equal wine of the bracket).

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2013 (90% Mt Barker, 10% Porongorup) 12% alcohol: Straw colour. The nose was a little shy compared to the 2014; however it still showed lime-lemon with a little touch of ginger. Some thought it was already starting to show some development, but this was not a consensus view. The palate showed the same intense lime-lemon, with the acid apparently bigger and more ‘mouth-puckering’ than the 2014. The chemical analyses for both wines are very similar, however. No votes.

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2012 (80% Mt Barker, 20% Porongorup) 12% alcohol: The missing bottle – sorry!

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2011 (69.5% Mount Barker, 30.5% Porongorup fruit) 12% alcohol: Straw colour. Very little on the nose. A touch of sulphur, and slight kero. Some thought they picked up a touch of botrytis, with faint apricot and nectarine. The wine was also muted on the palate, with lower apparent acid than the previous wines. Rieslings are known to go through a ‘dumb’ phase, and we reckon this was the one. 2 votes.

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2010 (85.9% Mount Barker, 14.1% Porongorup fruit) 11.5% alcohol: Straw colour. Lots of citrus, with some flint and sandstone on the nose. The palate shows intense lime and lemon fruit, quince paste, accompanied by slatey, clean acid. This is broader and fuller than the previous wines, with more texture. Unfortunately, this is slightly let down by a short finish but is still impressive. 3 votes (equal wine of the bracket).

The second bracket comprised the 2009-2006 vintages.

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2009 (100% Great Southern – which included some Porongorup fruit) 12.3% alcohol: Straw / yellow in colour. The nose was slightly more developed than the previous wines, with the lime started to show a cordial character. The palate showed moderate lime-lemon, with the usual clean acid. Tasters noted that the palate ‘explodes early, but doesn’t last”. A short finish. No votes.

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2008 (68% Mount Barker, 21.75& Porongorup, 37.25% Frankland River fruit) 12.2% alcohol: Straw / yellow in colour. Apparently lighter in intensity than the 2009, and quite muted – some florals but not a lot of obvious fruit. The palate was also thin, with lots of acid, some minerals and slate, but the fruit was lurking in the background. A short finish. The wine was described as ‘adolescent’ and from my experience, showed very differently on this occasion than 18 months previously, when it was spectacular. No votes.

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2007 (100% Great Southern – which could include Porongorup fruit) 12.5% alcohol: Straw / yellow in colour. This is starting to show some development, and is possibly at a turning point, with honey and lime cordial on the nose. This is a bigger wine with more flavour on the palate – like lime juice with searing acidity, slightly honeyed and a longer finish. The wine divided the tasters, because of the imbalance between acidity and fruit. 2 votes.

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2006 (68% Mount Barker, 27% Porongorup, 5% Albany fruit) 12.0% alcohol: Straw / yellow in colour. The nose is showing more development, with honey and lime cordial / marmalade, slight toastiness and (surprisingly) some caramel and nuts. The palate was mouth-filling, and the acid / fruit weight balance was very good indeed. It appeared to be the richest wine so far. 6 votes and wine of the bracket.

The third bracket comprised 3 wines; the 2005 to 2003 vintages.

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2005 (49.5% Mount Barker, 24.2% Porongorup, 15.5% Albany, and 10.8% Frankland fruit) 12.4% alcohol: Yellow in colour. Surprisingly fresher than the 2006, yet some tasters felt it appeared older than the 2004 and 2003. The nose shows honeyed development, with lemon and white grapefruit. The palate shows more honey / lemon cordial, with good supporting acid. There was superb balance and length in this wine. 6 votes and wine of the bracket.

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2004 (68% Mount Barker, 29% Porongorup, 3% Albany fruit) 12.4% alcohol: Yellow in colour. Intense lemon and honeysuckle on the nose, along with apricot and nectarine (which some tasters considered might be a function of different sites). The palate showed a slight beeswax texture, sitting nicely alongside the honey and lemon and the accompanying acidity. This is a ‘ready to drink’ wine for some tasters. No votes (after the 2005 took the majority).

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2003 (100% Great Southern) 12.0% alcohol: Yellow in colour. The usual honeyed lemon on the nose, along with a sherbet character. Some tasters got a ‘spritz’ or sweetness on the tip of the tongue (possibly acid as well), and the wine seemed to have more prominent acid generally, along with good palate weight. No votes (after the 2005 took the majority).

Dinner arrived at this point, so a halt in proceedings was accompanied by a very generous offering from one of the tasters – a magnum of the 1994 Howard Park Cabernet Merlot. Delicious – red/purple in colour, with deep, dark fruits. Some acid freshness, with supporting grippy but fine-grained tannins. Some smoked meats, a little leather and savouriness. Some tobacco, eucalypt, pencil / graphite. Medium to long finish and balanced. One taster considered this to be similar to a left bank Bordeaux. It wasn’t long before the inevitable question was asked “Is there any more?”

Then, onto the final two wines:

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2002 (100% Great Southern, including some Porongorup fruit) 11.9% alcohol: Yellow / gold in colour. The nose was very developed, with lemon – lime cordial, lime brulee, caramel and honey. There is still good acid, but it is in balance with the spicy (rather than fresh) fruit and mouthfeel. This was a big step away from the previous wines. 3 votes.

Howard Park Great Southern Riesling 2001 (100% Great Southern, including some Porongorup fruit) 12.0% alcohol: Yellow / gold in colour. Very well developed and honeyed, with lemon-lime brulee, some nuts and white peach on the nose. The palate showed big acid, with sweet lemon and lemon curd, and good palate weight. A very balanced wine and may go even longer than its current 14 years of age. 6 votes and wine of the bracket.

Wine of the night was arrived at by countback, and it was the 2005 vintage that triumphed. However, it is a testament to Howard Park that the quality and consistency of their Rieslings produced such a fascinating tasting event. I’d like to thank David Stredwick from Burch Family Wines for the two missing wines, as well as a stack of tasting notes and technical information (some of which has advised this write-up).

Finally, although this wasn’t an ‘official’ Grand Cru tasting group event, I’d like to thank all those who joined us – including three people who have now become members! Welcome!

Cheers
Allan

[Jay60A]

Thanks Allan - great notes.

Tesco (aka TEE) here in the UK sell a Howard Park riesling as part of their self-branded Finest range - "Tingleup".
2012 is the current vintage, it would be interesting to compare vs the real Howard Park wine and know if there is any difference - a very smart wine though.

As for the Howard Park Cabernet Merlot 1994, it's just a true australian classic. Mine are still going strong (still have most of a case) although and the balance of this wine means I am not sure when it will fall over ... still really lovely and far from mature, although the acid sticks out in a few bottles. Alas Abercrombie has picked up in price these days but it really does fly under the radar.

Jay

[via collins]

What an enjoyable read!

Almost felt like I was there - a really special set of notes Allan, much appreciated.