The Auswine Forum

greetings,
at our latest wine club meeting a selection of wines from the Geelong area were presented.
all the wines were served masked and the wines were, with tasting notes:-

Scotchmans hill pinot 2001 $30
simple, cherry light lolly with hints of soapy new oak
austere palate with some rotted strawberry character but with metallic hardness overtones on back palate and excess acid.
vin ordinaire
points = 15.7/20

Farr rising merlot 2001 $38
typical merlot tobacco nose with briary cedar tones
red currants and cherries with dust and fine grain tannins
a genuine merlot but which failed to excite!
points = 16.8/20

Bannockburn shiraz 2001 $46
plums & touch burnt nose with obvious tannins
palate showed green undertones with meat, pepper, spice, smoky and savory influences with french oak tannins. high acid
a shiraz in the Rhone style without substantial length
17/20

Tarcoola cabernet 2000 $33
raw and somewhat sappy oak with lifted esters, mint,marmite,meat,chocolate.
palate showed lifted leafy character with esters and currants.
fair effort
17.2/20

A mystery white was served after the first 4 reds.
Curlewis chardonnay 2002? $39
At last a wine of obvious class and complexity
a classic cool climate chardonnay exhibiting cashew nut,toast and grapefruit.
great length to match the mouth filling flavours
a classic!!
18.2

Del rios cabernet 2001 $30
violets,currants,iron,tobacco,fine grain wood,choc
savory palate with currants and lifted esters with sustained tannins
wine with some substance and length
17.8


Pollocksford pinot 2001 $33
Strawberries,bready,beetroot,and cherry
palate shows the strawberry carrying through with supportive acid giving the wine some length and substance
obvious pinot with degree of complexity
16.75

Lethbridge merlot 2001 $35
lifted nose with spice, lolly and cherry plums
palate showed perfume, touch of violets, and spice but while it showed immediate characters the wine lacked length
17.3

Pettavel emigre shiraz 2001 $46
meaty,spice,plums with obvious new oak
palate showed dark plums with gamey hints,spice, currants and strong tannins.
a wine with some potential
17.6


What do you say!!
The reds were generally disappointing with a genuinine lack of complexity and substance and certainly were not value for $
The chardonnay was superlative

Rosco

Rosco wrote:Bannockburn shiraz 2001 $46
plums & touch burnt nose with obvious tannins
palate showed green undertones with meat, pepper, spice, smoky and savory influences with french oak tannins. high acid
a shiraz in the Rhone style without substantial length
17/20

Rosco,

This sounds like a dodgy bottle. The bottles that I've had are easy 18.5/20 ones. Bannockburn corkage rates are way too high for my liking - I quite often get upwards of 4 corked bottles per case (some tca, some randox). In future, every corked bottle is going back to the winery for replacement to encourage Mr Farr to change to a more consumer friendly closure.

[quote="Cellar Rat
In future, every corked bottle is going back to the winery for replacement to encourage Mr Farr to change to a more consumer friendly closure.[/quote]

Good lad Ratty,
I havent had a corked Bannockburn yet- sheesh I am doomed.
I wonder what the Farr Family view on screwcaps is ?

michel

Rosco, I also had the good fortune to try the Curlewis Chardonnay on the weekend, I agree with your assessment, it's superb. The reserve Pinot is pretty special too,

cheers

Andrew

michel wrote:I havent had a corked Bannockburn yet- sheesh I am doomed.
I wonder what the Farr Family view on screwcaps is ?
michel

Michel,

No problems, I am the black hole for corked bottles but especially Bannockburn, so all yours will be taint free. The ones that really annoy me are the slight/mild tca affected ones. Not technically corked as such, but just not right (this is what the 01 shiraz TN above sounds like).