G’day
Eight of us met at Moretons, on Rathdowne St in Carlton for the WA vs Vic challenge. Some of the best chardonnays and shiraz on offer in each state were presented for the assembled company to analyse, critique and savour, with Moretons take on French bistro cuisine in full support.
The wines were served individually, and blind (I’ve never used socks at a dining table before!). We tried to mix up Victorian and WA, and served generally young before old, but it was difficult to do when only one person knew what was in each bottle. So I have listed the wines in the order they were served (and un-socked). I won’t describe colour for any of the wines, as it was difficult to compare in the less-then-glaring lighting.
It was a pleasure to meet a bunch of people who knew their subject and were passionate about it. Discussion was intelligent and more animated as the night went on, with some sharp observations and profound analysis. I hope my hastily scrawled notes reflect this …..
Cobaw Ridge 2010; Macedon, Vic: This was an impressive wine to start the chardonnay games with. Nougat, cashew and a little oatmeal, with light buttered toast. The wine had a savoury streak to it, and was quite full and rich. John advised that the wine had seen some barrel fermentation. For a youngster, this is a full and complete wine, and a great start to the evening.
Hoddles Creek 1er 2009; Yarra Valley, Vic: A lovely nose of grilled nuts, and strong lemon and grapefruit characters. In fact, the citrus carried through very strongly with lemon pith, some toasty oak and finishing with a load of clean acid. Personally, I was very impressed by this wine – it was my first taste of the 1er, despite the standard Hoddles being a regular for me.
Voyager Estate 2009, Margaret River, WA: A little leaner and not as acidic as the Hoddles Creek, but still with grapefruit / citrus, along with a streak of minerality. The oak was less dominant also. A clean, long finish – Tom reckoned the wine suffered a little in comparison by perhaps being too clean. The Chardonnay Princess went back for seconds.
Marchand and Burch 2007, Porongorups (Great Southern), WA: Made (deliberately) more in a white Burgundy style, with some tropical fruit (most tasters commented on this) along with almost smoky oak and nutty characters permeating the wine. For me, this was OK without blowing me away, but it was much more to the tastes of just about everyone else at the table, and definitely a departure from the modern Australian style of chardonnay.
Cullen 2006, Margaret River, WA: This was the star of the chardonnays. Grapefruit and nectarine, a strong acid structure, fullness and weight, and many layers of complexity unfolding. From a quirky cool year for Margaret River (in which some reds were not made or declassified), it shows that there were great whites made nonetheless. Overwhelmingly voted White of the Night.
Then we moved onto reds. While this was happening, small flutes of bubbly red liquid materialised in front of us. This turned out to be Anderson’s
Sparkling Shiraz 1995, Rutherglen, Vic, and what a revelation it was. Medium bodied, with bubbles still evident, dusty tannins and some leathery overtones, secondary fruit and very very drinkable. We were able to sit on this while the ‘serious’ reds got underway.
We started with a couple of relatively younger reds. The
Seppelts St Peters 2005, Great Western, Vic, opened with some soy and a hint of licorice. There was plenty going on around the outside of the tongue, but the finish was short, and we agreed this would be a much better wine when it grows up.
Likewise, the
Capel Vale Whispering Hill 2009, Great Southern, WA, generated comments about raspberries and violets (and one taster noted caramel). Powdery tannins and a slightly slippery mouthfeel added to again what will be a top wine in a few years’ time. My previously posted tasting note on this wine can be found here
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12780&p=102184&hilit=capel+vale+shiraz+2009&sid=c4552448876b8d6ba51e824472f23524#p102184 The next wine was the ‘ringer’ for the evening. The
Katnook Prodigy 2008, Coonawarra, SA will be a fabulous wine in years to come. It’s medium bodied and elegant, with mocha the predominant character. Comments included ‘big structure’, ‘drying tannins’, and ‘long finish’. It looked for a while there that the WA / Vic challenge might be won by a South Australian!
However, the next wine restored order to the proceedings. The
Seppelt St Peters 1999, Great Western, Vic, was a rich and complete wine, with strong peppery characters over plum, blueberry and mulberry. Some mocha on the palate and a superb structure made this the wine of the night.
The
Plantagenet 2005, Great Southern, WA, offered lots of white pepper over blackberries. It got better with time in the glass (some wines were decanted but some were not, as circumstances permitted) and the fruit came out more than the pepper. At 8 years old, still too young, and I’m glad I still have a couple of these in the cellar.
The
Willespie 2000, Margaret River, WA, was fully mature, and richer and fuller bodied than many of the other wines. Black pepper was the theme for this one, which probably suffered in comparison by being bigger while served towards the end of the night.
The final wine was another
St Peters – this time the
1997. Similar notes to the 1999, and a similarly classy wine, but slightly out-gunned on the night by its younger brother.
Overall, a fine line-up of wines, well supported by simple yet delicious French bistro fare. More importantly, the company was fabulous and it was a pleasure to meet (or re-meet, in some cases) you. I look forward to doing it again next time I am in Melbourne – possibly with Riesling being the white theme next time?
Cheers
Allan
