Last weekend I ran into someone who kindly invited me to a tasting group the following Monday, with the theme of comparing several vintages of Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1, Parker Coonawarra Estate’s First Growth and Cullen’s Diana Madeleine – needless to say I jumped at the opportunity. The three were chosen because all they’re all Cabernet blends containing a little Petit Verdot and Malbec as well as Merlot, and were at similar premium price points.
The majority of the wines were obtained direct from the cellar doors, a couple of the 2001 & 2004s specifically for this tasting. They were decanted on the spot and served single blind in flights, and the group asked to discuss each of the wines and try to guess their identity and/or pick up common traits between the wines/vintages.
FLIGHT 1: All of these wines were very young, tannic and tight-knit, yet already there was a clear difference in styles – this time I guessed the identity of all three correctly.
2004 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1: Dark to inky red/purple. Minty/spicy/herbal nose with some ozone, very floral and spicy followed by cassis and supporting cedar oak in the tradition of the best of this vintage. Spicy entry with some herbs and paprika/cumin, then classic coal, cassis and black olive, finishing very fine and tannic and long with some black cherry. This appeared medium-weight, low in alcohol and a little green compared to the other wines, but I’m left wondering if that’s an impression because of its fine tannins and relative elegance.
2004 Parker Coonawarra Estate First Growth: Dark to almost inky garnet, surprisingly poor for a 2004 wine. Darker/toastier nose, very earthy with some coal/menthol, VA and dark chocolate/cola characters. The palate was likewise riper/darker than the Yarra Yering, with tart raspberries and earthy chocolate, finishing minty with some alcohol heat on the finish. I came to the conclusion this was the Parker by default, despite it being nothing like I’d expect from a top 2004 Coonawarr]2
2004 Cullen Diana Madeleine (screwcap): Very dark to inky purple/red. Cassis, dried herbs and a little toast, an earthy, minty nose that’s a little vegetal at times; full-weight palate with noticeable glycerol on the entry, followed by a wave of tart plum/cassis fruit and pepper, finishing very long with chocolate and black olive. The scale of this wine dwarfs the others in this flight, and despite preferring the Yarra Yering if pressed I still thought this was absolutely top-notch, with a very long future ahead.
FLIGHT 2: I had tried two of these three wines before – the only problem was that I didn’t find any similarities to the previous tastings, and completely struck out with my guesses.
2001 Cullen Diana Madeleine: Dark to very inky red/purple. Black cherries with some cola/chocolate characters on the nose; sweet cherries and plum/confectionery characters with a little liquorice and pepper, finishing tannic but fine and very sweet. I remember this wine being a huge, inky purple tannic monster a few years ago, and while the colour was still as impressive its elegance and sweet fruit had me leaning towards it being the Yarra Yering.
2001 Parker Coonawarra Estate First Growth: Dark to inky red. Earthy nose with dark raspberries, cassis, mint and dried herbs; earthy/toasty entry with some black olive, followed by tart, earthy fruit, coffee and spice, finishing long with black olive. Surprisingly bigger in scale than the Cullen I mistook it for that wine despite thinking the colour wasn’t quite right – after the showing of the 2004 in the previous flight I was very surprised it was the Parker, a superb wine and clear favourite of this flight.
2001 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1: Dark red/brick. Green, stinky and vegetal nose, with some cloves, clumsy coffee oak and some salami characters; the palate was much better, very fruity with some cranberry/raspberry and pepper but a touch of alcohol heat too. I thought the poor colour and green/savoury aspects on the nose were similar to the 2004 Parker and guessed that it was the same maker. I was shocked it was the Yarra Yering – the last bottle had a decent (although relatively clear) purple colour and was a big ball of elegant red peppery fruits, no green/stinky elements or clumsy oak.
FLIGHT 3: Two absolutely brilliant wines, complex and perfectly developed with time still on their side – it’s a pity the Cullen didn’t come up to scratch to challenge these classics.
1999 Parker Coonawarra Estate First Growth: Dark to inky garnet/brick. Earthy blackcurrant and liquorice, some chocolate and soy sauce with breathing; the palate was even better, with fully ripe/tart raspberry fruit leading to a tangy mid-palate, finishing minty and slightly smoky. An excellent textbook aged Coonawarra.
1999 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1: Very dark garnet/brick. This was even better again, with gorgeous cedar and ripe/peppery cassis at first, developing superb earth, mushroom and truffle characters with breathing. Magnificent, soft velvety palate with very sweet, earthy fruit and a hint of confectionery, the tannins silky smooth and the length outstanding - my WOTN.
1999 Cullen Cabernet Merlot: Horribly corked and not even presented.
FLIGHT 4: An interesting final flight, with two wines that polarised opinions and one dud that managed to slip through the radar.
1996 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1: Very dark garnet/brick. Wonderfully developed nose of old leather and earthy chocolate, dark fruit and just a hint of game, mint and barnyard; silky palate with tangy raspberry fruit, mint and earth, finishing stunning long, soft and leathery. Some thought it was a little stinky, but I thought it was a superb old Cabernet at its very peak – drink up and enjoy.
1996 Cullen Cabernet Merlot: Dark garnet/brick. Funky, awful nose of squashed peas and tinned corn; the palate was a little better with smoky/sweet cassis fruit with some glacied cherries, but its also unbalanced with the hefty structure sticking out, finishing dry and tannic. While I correctly guessed the Yarra Yering I thought this may have been the Parker from what I thought were revolting closed canopy DMS characters – the wine had its fans but I sure wasn’t one of them.
1996 Parker Coonawarra Estate First Growth: Dark brick/red. The first whiff reeked of cork taint, and while some of it blew off to reveal some weird and green soapy/ozone characters it was quickly judged to be faulty and removed.
Cheers
Ian
TN: Yarra Yering vs Cullen vs Parker 3/9/07
TN: Yarra Yering vs Cullen vs Parker 3/9/07
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.