oakboy wrote:with the failure of the 2001 gladstone shiraz, i opened another one to make sure it wasn't a whole case thing! and i can say with joy this bottle is smashing, definitely on the big side of wa shiraz, lovely nose of fruit and savory herbs, a little choc, nice smooth long finish! great wine.... needs a little time but can be consumed now! cheers all simmo
Just to keep you happy oakboy, we have noticed great variability in the Gladstones over several vintages, including 2001. We had one particularly disastrous tasting where after having had 3 bottles in a row (incidently brought from 3 different cellars) that were faulty, the host hit his cellar and the next 3 bottles were all faulty.
I cannot recall the exact vintages of all but am certain 99 and 01 were in the mix.
In the last fortnight I visited Leabrook Estate twice, including last Sunday during their open day where Colin Best said a moving tribute to co-winemaker George McAllan who died just after vintage. IMHO they have the best range of wines in the Adelaide Hills – the following are my brief impressions:
2007 Leabrook Estate Sauvignon Blanc: more advanced than I expected, a little flabby and touches of honey already.
2008 Leabrook Estate Sauvignon Blanc: fresher, tighter that the 07, more smoke and flint and racy acid.
2006 Leabrook Estate Sauvignon Blanc: also looks younger than the 07, a little lime and pickled capsicum, great clean acid on the finish – a keeper.
2008 Leabrook Estate Gewurztraminer: riper/softer than the 07, more obvious sweet/pear characters, just a little rose petal with breathing. Good, but the previous vintage is the one to choose if available.
2007 Leabrook Estate Gewurztraminer: this also has a touch of pear, but it’s also spicy with glorious rose petals, mineral and a superb mouthfeel and balance. Still a winner and a benchmark wine.
2006 Leabrook Estate Chardonnay: lemony fruit accented with milky/nutty malo & oak, lots of spice but well contained with racy acid on the finish. Very smart at this early stage.
2004 Leabrook Estate Chardonnay: Beautiful characters of Meursault-like peachy fruit and cashew/nutty oak, but the palate’s slightly drying out on the end.
2008 Leabrook Estate Riesling: quite flinty/grassy and grapey (RS?), the structure’s good but I’m not so taken by the flavours.
2008 Leabrook Estate Charleston Rose: I never would have picked this as pinot; this free-run juice is a beautiful pink and full of sweet raspberries and musk. Right on time for summer (or vice versa).
2003 Leabrook Estate Pinot Noir: Very complex nose full of cigar/spice box, leather and mushroom, but the palate’s drying out. Drink up.
2004 Leabrook Estate Reserve Pinot Noir: Similar complex characters on the nose but it’s got more guts and length – that said it’s still developing a fraction quicker than maybe I was expecting.
2005 Leabrook Estate Reserve Pinot Noir: Stunningly long, mineraly and cool with a freaky flash of ozone, the nose reminds me of Stefano Lubiano or Pipers Brook; this hasn’t aged a day in the last two years, and will be very long lived.
2008 Leabrook Estate Reserve Pinot Noir (barrel sample): unbelievably rich, full of rhubarb, vanilla custard and nutmeg/dried spices, the palate soft but incredibly full and long. If it carries this form into the bottle in a year or so its beauty will break hearts.
2006 Leabrook Estate Merlot: Huge nose of fresh raspberries and icing sugar; the palate just as fruit-sweet with a touch of cocoa and smoke. The 2005 had similar characters but lacks the pure volume of this vintage.
2005 Leabrook Estate Three Region Shiraz: More raspberries, just a little funk and black pepper with more than a slight nod to Northern Rhone; ripe raspberries, smoke and liquorice on the palate, excellent balance.
2006 Leabrook Estate “George†Cabernet Shiraz: Lots going on here, cigar box, cranberries, menthol and cassis before cool characters of wintergreen/mint kick in. A very elegant, stylish wine, although I wish it was a fraction longer.
2008 Leabrook Estate Late Harvest Pinot Gris: Looks rather young, overly sweet and simple – maybe it will come around in time, but I have my doubts.
An edited copy and paste job from TWF about Mike Press cab 07:
I don’t much remember the 05. The 07 has much the same initial maltiness of the 06. Adair is right, the 07 being more savoury than the 06 but I don’t think it “screams†better quality. Perhaps it’s the oak treatment, the mealy character, but Mike seems to have developed a fairly consistent style for the cab IMO. There’s nice ripe fruit, a touch plum on the fore palate, some cassis, moving to sweet/sour black cherry and a hint of violets on the finish, supported by soft, ripe, rounded tannins and good acid. As with the 06 and to quote Campbell, “I could drink buckets of thisâ€Â, especially at the price. For me, the 06 is more linear on the palate, the fruit more forward.
Thank you Mike for the wines and thank you Judy for your impeccable, personal service. Please place me in the queue for the shiraz 08.
