The Auswine Forum

I love Vasse Felix Shirazes and bought the 2000 for my wine tasting tomorrow without checking anywhere first--VF is one of those reliable producers in my experience who can be trusted to make at least very, very good wine vintage in, vintage out. I thought it would be, therefore, no trouble at all to round up some critics' praise, but in fact I've found just about nothing except Davo saying the 2000 is "still going strong". Not neccessarily faint praise!, but I don't think the folks in my class tomorrow night will quite know what to do with that. Can anyone help with more background?

Here's what James Halliday had to say on the 2000 Vasse Felix Shiraz

Wine background
Draws upon a little under seven hectares of estate plantings, and over the years has produced some outstanding wines.

James Halliday Oct 16 2001 Rating: 87 out of 100

Medium red-purple; there is plenty of dusty/vanilla oak on the bouquet and palate, which battles with the still-youthful sweet, dark berry fruit, the outcome uncertain.

Not great but maybe 3years after this review the oak has melded with the fruit. Interested in your TNs.

My TN from Feb 03

Vasse Felix 2000 Shiraz ($38) this is a wine with good rich fruit and it has power without weight. Sweet blackcurrant and savoury pepper combine with a slightly sour unusual green but not unripe finish, possibly its asparagus. The wine is well-made but lacks excitement and is rated as Recommended with ** for value it should peak in 2005.

It appears as if the CFO got in on this wine. That is, you have to turn out a wine... never mind the quality, feeeeeeel the width.

Torb's notes and Halliday's are consistant with the fruit being picked physiologically un-ripe. I bet the brix was peeeeerfect, the TA just right and the pH was roght on the button.

What happened was that the winemaker forgot to taste the fruit.

Green-tea tannins (yeah TORB, you've heard me rant on this before) which indicate an imbalance in the phenologic structure.

Perhaps it was going to rain.

ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Just what I was afraid of. After searching on the net yesterday for notes and finding none, I actually went back to the garage to double check and make sure I hadn't really bought the 2001 instead.

A waste of time, but you can't blame a girl for being hopeful, can you?

I bought four bottles, I better go open one to see just how bad it is. There are more Marg River wines about, I have time to switch horses if it's too poor. I'll eat the cost before I embarrass myself!

Jenise,

I can't recall when I said the 2000 was still going strong or in what environment I tasted it. What I can tell you is that I have a heap of the 99 in my cellar but only 1 bottle of 2000.

Tells the tale I guess.

When VF turn out a good shiraz it is usually a cracker but in most years there is better available from other producers and usually cheaper.

Davo, your comment about the Vasse Felix was from a tour of Margaret River cellar doors. I can see why you only bought one bottle of the 2000--I think it will eventually reward cellaring and be more profound because of it, but it's not ready for prime time yet.

PaulV wrote:Here's what James Halliday had to say on the 2000 Vasse Felix Shiraz

Wine background
Draws upon a little under seven hectares of estate plantings, and over the years has produced some outstanding wines.

James Halliday Oct 16 2001 Rating: 87 out of 100

Medium red-purple; there is plenty of dusty/vanilla oak on the bouquet and palate, which battles with the still-youthful sweet, dark berry fruit, the outcome uncertain.

Not great but maybe 3years after this review the oak has melded with the fruit. Interested in your TNs.

Hi Paul and Jenise,

Almost tried one this last weekend, damnit! Only have two compared the 99's, so I left it for another couple of years. By the sounds of it, it might go well in a bolgnese sauce.

I'm not quite sure if it was the Cab or the Shiraz but I do believe the JH rating went up considerably after a year, somewhere around 91-2/100?.
There is a Winestate Mag that did a vertical from last year, will try and find it.

al the best,

Jenise,

After your reply I went through some MR tasting notes and found this from August 2002, tasted at CD.

"Shiraz 2000 $38
Very deep crimson. Blackberry vanilla and chocolate with white pepper and violets dominate the nose and palate. The fruit is quite intense in the mouth complimented by velvety drying tannins and a long sweet finish.

Improving every time I try it and may prove to be better than the great 99."


A bit different from the other notes posted, eh. Makes me wonder why I have only 1 in the cellar.

I always found this wine to be chocolaty and with lots of charry meaty oak. One bottle in the cellar also. Not green at all but not my style either. I think Vasse lay the oak on with a heavy hand with the Shiraz.

GW

Davo, did you see my tasting notes of all the wines? That the Vasse Felix ended up in first place? I was really surprised, because it was my favorite wine too and I generally don't vote with the pack, especially when it's a relatively inexperienced pack. But the Vasse showed beautifully, and it's going to be a great wine. It just has some green tannins at this point and is going to take atypically more time to show what it has to offer.

Davo, did you see my tasting notes of all the wines? That the Vasse Felix ended up in first place? I was really surprised, because it was my favorite wine too and I generally don't vote with the pack, especially when it's a relatively inexperienced pack. But the Vasse showed beautifully, and it's going to be a great wine. It just has some green tannins at this point and is going to take atypically more time to show what it has to offer.

Jenise,

Thanks, I saw them and had a quiet chuckle. I am still wondering why I did not buy more after re-reading my tasting notes. Possibly the price point especially as there are several equal or better from MR for less, or perhaps that I had already spent my quota for that trip.

I had a rushed try and buy trip down through MR last October and did not buy any then either, instead finding better value at Xanadu, Cape Mentelle (their 2001 Shiraz is bloody good) and Brown Hill (2/3 the quality for less than 1/2 the price). I also tried a Voyager 2002 last week, very very good. Their act has cleaned up remarkably and no more slimy ham. A beautiful CLEAN fruit driven shiraz.

Thanks again for the notes.

Quoted by Jenise:
[/b]Davo, did you see my tasting notes of all the wines? That the Vasse Felix ended up in first place? I was really surprised, because it was my favorite wine too and I generally don't vote with the pack, especially when it's a relatively inexperienced pack. But the Vasse showed beautifully, and it's going to be a great wine. It just has some green tannins at this point and is going to take atypically more time to show what it has to offer.

Jenise,
I loved this Vasse Shiraz, I didn't notice any 'green', just sweet full fruit, and I tasted(chugged) twice. I also have some invested in my cellar too, so I'm hopeful that my impressions didn't go completely awry.
I'm going straight for your notes next !
Cheers,
Mishy

Hey, neighbor! I see you're in Vancouver, and I've just conversed with you and Bill there about the Blue Mountain wines. Small world, isn't it?

Hey, neighbor! I see you're in Vancouver, and I've just conversed with you and Bill there about the Blue Mountain wines. Small world, isn't it?

The Grey Ghost wrote:It appears as if the CFO got in on this wine. That is, you have to turn out a wine... never mind the quality, feeeeeeel the width.

Torb's notes and Halliday's are consistant with the fruit being picked physiologically un-ripe. I bet the brix was peeeeerfect, the TA just right and the pH was roght on the button.

What happened was that the winemaker forgot to taste the fruit.

Green-tea tannins (yeah TORB, you've heard me rant on this before) which indicate an imbalance in the phenologic structure.

Perhaps it was going to rain.

but torb said it wasn't unripe