2010 Seppelt Chalambar - Mount Langi Ghiran Cliff Edge

[Phil H]

I have read great interest on the 2009 Cliff Edge topic and subsequently purchased a couple of bottles for the Cellar despite being unfamiliar with the winery an the wine. However I have a better understanding of the Chalambar, following it from the 2000 vintage.
I wished to invest in the 2010 Vintage, and was tossing up between the two. Usually the Chalambar is on regular tastings at my local, however it appears to be forgotten. The only way to solve the problem - buy a bottle of each and compare.
Result - Chalambar is the clear winner ( my opinion - however I would like other people's input)
Chalambar- med to full bodied, more savoury than sweet, well integrated, fine dusty tannins, slowly developing revealing itself/ changing over two nights. Great cellaring potential.
Cliff Edge- Red Fruits - Strawberry/plumb, slightly unbalanced, med bodied. Not a long term prospect.
If both wines were the same price I would still chose Chalambar, however with the Seppelt wine being about $5 cheaper the choice is simple.

Cheers

Phil

[phillisc]

Thanks for the note Phil
In Adelaide are seeing this for about $17 atm and based on your note will get a dozen.
I love the wine, great value, pity about the shitty new label, don't know why Seppelts or TWE can't leave well alone.

Cheers
Craig.

[ticklenow1]

Chalambar is always reliable and one of the chains always has it for $15-$20. Like you Phil, I've bought every vintage since 2000. Sadly the oldest I have left is 2003. It ages well and is something different to the bruisers we normally drink. It used to be a quaffer at our place a few years back when it was being sold for $12. At the sale prices it is up there with the best in terms of VFM. The 2004 is drinking very nicely at the moment and I only have a couple left from the dozen I bought.

I bought a few of the 2009 Cliff Edge only after reading all the positive reviews on this forum. The 2010 doesn't seem to be elicting the same glowing reports, so I'll probably skip it.

Both these wines seem particularly popular. Seppelts seem to have found the correct price and have realised (along with Mt Langi) that it is competitive market and you need to over deliver at this price point. I buy a lot of wine in the $15-$40 dollar bracket and Chalambar is a must buy every year.

Cheers
Ian

[phillisc]

Seppelts seem to have found the correct price and have realised (along with Mt Langi) that it is competitive market and you need to over deliver at this price point. I buy a lot of wine in the $15-$40 dollar bracket and Chalambar is a must buy every year.

Could not agree more Ian, pity a few more in the TWE stable don't have the brains or inclination to work that one out.

2011 BL at $33...really!! Spoke to 2 mangers at 2 different chains...guess what, not selling folks

Cheers Craig.
BTW the Seppelts Victorian (could be 2010 vintage or 2012, not sure) at $11 is a bargain and really over delivers.

[Michael McNally]

BTW the Seppelts Victorian (could be 2010 vintage or 2012, not sure) at $11 is a bargain and really over delivers.

Agreed. Recently had a 2006 of this and the Chalambar and the Silverband, and the Victorian, while not the fullest of body had the most interest!

Cheers

Michael

[ticklenow1]

2011 BL at $33...really!! Spoke to 2 mangers at 2 different chains...guess what, not selling folks

Surprising seeing as how James Halliday gave it 95pts.......

That will do me!

Cheers
Ian

[AndrewCowley]

Surprising seeing as how James Halliday gave it 95pts.......

Huon Hooke gave it 93pts.

[phillisc]

Seems JH would give 95 points to a dead possum that resembles road kill.

Will be interested in your thoughts Ian, along with the 92 and 95 this for me is the worst BL since those; green, bitter and falls way short.
Still will be very interested in your TN, but way way way overpriced at $33

Cheers
Craig

[LGW]

Just picked up a six pack of the 2012 chalambar. Was there no 2011? Has anyone tried the 12 yet?

[ticklenow1]

Seems JH would give 95 points to a dead possum that resembles road kill.

Will be interested in your thoughts Ian, along with the 92 and 95 this for me is the worst BL since those; green, bitter and falls way short.
Still will be very interested in your TN, but way way way overpriced at $33

Cheers
Craig

I won't be buying any, even when they hit sub $20 (which I think they will). I tried it at an instore and when the attendent asked what I thought of it, I was polite and said "not the worst I've had". But at this young age, it probably was. For me if that is a 95pt wine then next years Wine Companion will be full of 98, 99 & 100 pointers! Your descriptors are really good Craig. It is just not that good at all. If I'm also being honest, I am moving away from Coonawarra Cabernets and gravitating towards Barossa and WA examples. I've bought Black Label almost every year since 2002 and I'll probably just get 2 or 3 bottles in the really good vintages only from now on. I did buy a dozen 2009 BL as it was my youngest boys birth year (based on a few good reviews ) and I haven't even tried one yet! They better be OK!!

The 2011 Rockford Rifle Range that I tried at a lunch recently is a much better Cabernet. I've only tried a few 2011's (cabernet's), so I don't really have a good base to work on at the moment, so I may be being a bit over the top as well.

Having said that, you can see from the amount of 2011's (pretty much all varieties as well) on internet discount sites, that they are just not selling. I also think the critics are giving good ratings to these wines in an effort to prop up many struggling wineries. This is a good thing for the wineries I suppose but for me as a wine drinker, it is a bad thing. I buy a 94 or 95 point wine and it is ordinary, I will never buy that label again. Then the next vintage comes out and it is a good wine and gets rated similarly (as critics are running out of places to go in regards to ratings), I just think it is another ordinary wine.

A bit of a viscious circle really and I do remember Jeremy Oliver saying at a dinner that many wineries had stopped sending him wine because his ratings were too harsh. That says it all for me.

Just picked up a six pack of the 2012 chalambar. Was there no 2011? Has anyone tried the 12 yet?

I only just bought the 2010's a couple of months back. Didn't even realise the 2012's were out yet. Seppelt's website only says that 2010 is the current release and I can't find 2012 anywhere on the web????

Cheers
Ian

[daz]

Haven't tried the Cliff Edge 2010 but rate the 2009 a smidge higher than the Chalambar 2010.

[phillisc]

Cheers Ian, going up to Rockford next month and yes the RR and R&S have always impressed me. Barossa Cabernet often has that "warmth, chocolatelty, dusty, velvety textures" rather than the sometimes green lean and bitter shortness and sharpness of cabs from other regions, particularly so in bad vintages.

I can't wotk out 2011, especially so in Coonawarra and the boffins at last weeks melbourne wine show give the 2011 Wynns BL a top gold...go figure... shit they must know much more than me.

Limestone coast wineshow results will be out tomorrow.
Will be interesting to see who exhibited a 2011 cab and what wines got the points.

Cheers Craig.

[LGW]

I only just bought the 2010's a couple of months back. Didn't even realise the 2012's were out yet. Seppelt's website only says that 2010 is the current release and I can't find 2012 anywhere on the web????

Cheers
Ian

Yes I also bought the 10s not long ago too! I've noticed on the 12s the front label only mentions the grampians whereas the 10s have bendigo as well. A quick look at the back label the 12s appear to be a grampians shiraz with a "splash" of bendigo fruit. Could be in for a spicier fragrant release. I'll probably try it out this weekend.

[dlo]

2011 BL at $33...really!! Spoke to 2 mangers at 2 different chains...guess what, not selling folks

Surprising seeing as how James Halliday gave it 95pts.......

That will do me!

Cheers
Ian

Hardly surprising James Halliday giving anything 95 points. The guy is, without a doubt, this country's most distinguished wine guru, but has lost the plot with his scores and is doing his reputation and the wine writing industry untold damage by propagating such atrocities. The madness will end sooner or later. It's a bit like Tony Abbott, everything has its "use by" date. Some sooner than later.

[dlo]

Haven't tried the Cliff Edge 2010 but rate the 2009 a smidge higher than the Chalambar 2010.

..... tried the 2010 Cliff Edge in Adelaide last week and liked it .... far better than the angular and unbalanced 2008 Chalambar I tried a few weeks before .... sorry I'm not comparing apples with apples.

[Phil H]

Sorry about bringing up an old topic. I just stumbled upon an article in the Good Food Section of the Sydney Morning Herald, listing the 2010 Cliff Edge in the top 10 Red Wines for 2013.


http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/to ... 2ykvb.html

Have I got it so wrong, or is it is just another persons perspective?

[Mahmoud Ali]

I love the wine, great value, pity about the shitty new label, don't know why Seppelts or TWE can't leave well alone.

Personally the label appears much better than the old glossy, stamp-sized labels that used to adorn the wine back in the late 90s.

Mahmoud.

[daver6]

So does anyone have any tasting notes on the 2012 Chalambar yet?

Thanks

David