Shiraz Masterclass - Hunter Valley v Rest of Australia

Gary W · Post by **Gary W** » Wed May 10, 2006 2:26 pm

This tasting was run by The boutique wine centre to showcase and compare the wines of the Hunter Valley with other benchmark shiraz from Australia. Wines were served in Riedel Chianti glasses and served single blind. Many people would say that blind tasting is the best (or only) way to objectively assess a group of wines. Well that is all well and good but I am still not a huge fan of blind tasting. With single blind it is not too hard to pick many of the wines (although that is never the goal), so maybe double blind is better, but I would say that many of these wines would have looked much better with the label directly in front of me and placed on the dining table. A leisurely single bottle tasting is, I think, still a more thorough method of tasting a wine. It give them a fair chance and does not mix styles. The notes below are as written on the night with no knowledge of the wine as they were tasted. Some interesting results and a pretty good one for the Hunter Valley all in all.

Mount Langi Ghiran 2003
Very rich and ripe. Blackberry, licorice and pepper. Quite porty. Spicy with high alcohol and soft tannins. Very spicy finish. Voluptuous but too much alcohol showing. 92 Points

Glenguin School House Block 2003
Quite oaky. Spice, pepper and rich black fruit. High acidity. Very dry with strong tannins. Needs time. 92 points

Brokenwood Graveyard 2003
Quiet nose. Red berry and noticable resiny oak. Good dose of bandage and horse. Fine dry palate. Fresh and tight with red berry flavours. Very savoury. Bit wrung out and tinny on the finish. 89 points.

Seppelt St Peters 2003
Spice, red berry, pepper and French oak. Lacks weight on the palate in this company but looks good all the same. Subtle. Very spicy dry finish. 91 Points.

Meerea Park Terracotta 2003
Huntery, poop, earth and pepper and some green characters over ripe fruit. Savoury dry palate with some bitterness to close. 90 points

Wendouree Shiraz 2002
Light red fruit, nail varnish, mint, bandages. Iron like tannins and a sherry like palate. Dries out on the finish. 85 points.

Chateau Pato DJP 2003
Smelly and rich with an earthy sweet fruit nose. Hunter Valley. Rich red fruit. Warm alcohol and good fruit sweetness. Grainy tannins. Warm finish. 93 points

Meerea Park Alexander Munro 2003
Dusty with red and black fruit. Gamey and spicy with a touch of crushed mint. Savoury gamey palate showing much more presence than the nose suggests. Opening up very well. Plenty of tannic grip and lots of potential. 94 points

Torbreck Run Rig 2003
Apricot jam, vanilla, floral. Sexy but sickly. A syrupy stonefruit palate with rich ripe tannins. Soapy texture and a long slick of ripe tannins to close. Looks very sweet but great within the style. 93 points.

Henschke Hill of Grace 1996
Smokey with loads of coconut oak. Licorice, rosemary, spice and berry fruit. Complex. Palate is a powerhouse of berry fruit with outstanding length and balance. A certain coolness. Very fine. 95 points.

Glenguin Aristea 2003
Overt cedar oak, licorice, earth and dark fruit. Tannic, packed and savoury. Excellent but very young. 94 points.

Penfolds Grange 1998
Nail varnish, coconut, licorice, mint, resin oak and rich berry. Huge slightly porty berry flavours. Very dry but with outstanding fruit. Very long. Extremely smart wine. 96 points.

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Muscat Mike · Post by **Muscat Mike** » Wed May 10, 2006 7:07 pm

GW,
are the points just yours or overall average?
Thanks,
MM.

Gary W · Post by **Gary W** » Wed May 10, 2006 7:41 pm

Just mine. Averaged points don't mean anything much I think.
GW

Aussie John · Post by **Aussie John** » Thu May 11, 2006 2:51 pm

Thanks Gary. Interesting line up.

I would have marked the Munro and the Run Rig far lower, so I would be interested what the rest of the crowd thought of these two wines.

Agree with the Chateau Pato, essence of a great Hunter red for me. I found the Aristea a little oaky, but it might sort itself out in time- superb fruit underneath it all.

Don't like the 98 Grange as much as you, but still a smart wine (if you ignore the cost!!)

DaveB · Post by **DaveB** » Thu May 11, 2006 3:02 pm

AJ

The Run Rig looked a bit full on in this company, very floral and syrupy, still a good wine and 92 points from me(I scored it higher when I drank the wine by itself)....the Munro 92 points also and looked very good on the night.....the HOG was my favourite by a couple of lengths....Grange was porty, VERY volatile, monolithic and lacked soul.
St Peters lacked in this company as did the Graveyard and the Wendouree was vile.

Cheers

Dave

Aussie John · Post by **Aussie John** » Fri May 12, 2006 10:24 am

Dave
I too found the Run Rig too syrupy, to be honest it was hard to drink. No doubt RPJ will love it. I cannot see it aging at all.
I have another five of the Munro, so I might crack another to get another assessment.
Totally agree that the 98 Grange is almost a dry port... not a patch on the wonderful 96, and I even prefer the 95, which I think has been very under-rated.