Hacker wrote:FWIW there is a small but dedicated Sydney offline group of about 6 guys that have formed on the Red Bigot Forum that are meeting this Thursday night 28th at Rocket Restaurant in Chatswood at 6pm. I'm sure we would be happy for a few more to join us, as the whole idea is to meet up and share wine! BTW it is a cabernet theme this time.
Just mention it here if you want to come along and I will adjust the booking numbers. We have been to Rocket before and the food is great and stemware and decanters well provided. Cost from memory was in the vicinity of $70 per head.
Cheers,
David M.
Further to David M's invite above, thought that I'd post some notes from last night's tasting.
Last night David M, myself and a few other Red Bigot members met up at Rocket for our cabernet themed tasting night. It was absolutely pelting outside, so was nice to be inside surrounded by good food, good company and good wines sitting in a number of decanters.
As usual, Rocket put on a really good spread, with plenty of dishes available which go well with good cabernet.
We decided to drink wines from oldest to youngest, and I have included by tasting notes below – obviously these may not reflect other peoples’ thoughts on the night.
1980 Thomas Fern Hill Estate cabernet sauvignon (McLaren Flat, SA) The label states that this bottle was matured for 14 months in American oak, bottled in July 1981, and won a gold medal at the 1980 Hobart Wine Show.
This wine was picked up at Best Cellars in Darlinghurst. Apparently it was ‘lost’ in the cellar maintained by the original owner, and subsequently re-discovered wedged – capsule and base – between two bricks in a cool corner, which may help explain the fact that the level was high neck and the bottle otherwise in excellent condition.
I did some research on Thomas Fern Hill Estate (now Fern Hill Estate). The winery was established by Wayne and Pat Thomas at McLaren Flat in the 1970s. The winery was sold in 1994 and it is now a part of the James Australia Group.
http://fernhillestate.com.au/ I suspected that this would be better used as salad dressing after the cork crumbled on opening. But after pouring it into the decanter there was immediately a strong porty smell (which blew off). The colour was also very surprising – deep and dark. A good sign. After a two hour double decant:
Dark crimson/purple with some red/brown bricking. Slightly porty initially, but this gave way to a lovely nose of sweet, toasty oak, leather, herbs, cocoa and surprisingly prominent dark blackberry, blood plums and blackcurrant. Very soft mouthfeel, with ripe tannins and good acidity and a good fruity finish. A surprisingly youthful 33 year old wine.
1991 Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard cabernet sauvignon (Hunter Valley, NSW) A vary rare wine – I had never seen one before. Apparently the Graveyard vineyard was initially all cabernet.
The cork was soaked through and the wine needed a good hour before it started to come into its own. David M put it best when he said “this wine has seen its best days, but tonight is certainly not its worstâ€Â.
Red-brown and slightly translucent. Some cedary oak, dry leather, fading red berries and tobacco. Light mouthfeel and some dusty tannins and acid still present. Certainly past its best but not without its charm. An interesting wine nonetheless.
1994 Petaluma Coonawarra cabernet merlot (Coonawarra, SA) Dark purple. Blackberry and blackcurrant, charry/smoky oak, leather, aniseed and a bit of earthiness. Intense yet supple on the palate, with the tannins and acidity balanced nicely by the core of black fruits. Long finish. Excellent wine.
1997 Wendouree cabernet sauvignon (Clare, SA) Ruby red/purple. Completely unique wine – dark fruits, chocolate, liquorice, earth, cedary oak, eucalypt and mint, mint and mint – this level of spearmint on any other wine would be a point of distraction, but the black fruits and savoury elements carried it through. Good fruit through to the palate and a nice fruit choc finish. Very interesting to try, and I personally really enjoyed it.
2001 Penfolds Bin 389 cabernet shiraz (multi-regional) Impenetrable purple. Smoky vanillin oak, blackberry, plum, brown spice, milk chocolate and some nice secondary notes. Great mouthfeel and finish. A really delicious wine. Someone remarked that this wine is clinical, and I think that’s a great way to describe it – this wine does not put a foot out of place in the classic Penfoldian way, and is reminiscent of the sort of style that I have always thought makes Bin 389 both interesting and boring at the same time.
2003 Chateau Ponet-Canet (Pauillac) This was initially tasted blind. All present immediately agreed that it was French: there is no mistaking a good Bordeaux.
Dark purple with crimson edges. What immediately struck me as I put my nose in the glass was the understated balance between the dark plums, red and blue berries, pencil shavings, smoke and tobacco leaf. The purity of the fruit on the palate did not go unnoticed by anyone; layers of fruit flavour, minerality and fine grained tannins. Superb finish. An absolute pleasure to drink, and my personal WOTN.
2004 Eagle Vale Estate Whispering Lake Single Vineyard cabernet sauvignon (Margaret River, WA) A relatively young wine to finish which was good in its own right, but could hardly stand up against the wines that preceded it.
Deep crimson/purple. Dark fruits, coffee, pepper, cassis and cedary oak. Good mouthfeel, and a pleasant finish. Very nice MR cabernet. On any other night this wine would have been better appreciated; this wine is certainly better than Halliday would lead you to believe.
Wine of the nightWe did a count, and although there was no clear winner, the votes tallied up as follows:
1. Wendouree
2. Thomas Fern Hill Estate
3. Chateau Ponet-Canet