TN: Blacktongues - Current Shiraz & Blends 15/9/04

[n4sir]

I guess you know the story by now: all wines were tasted blind and served in the order listed, and after about an hour all participants voted for their most preferred, two next preferred and their least preferred drops. This time I started the tasting late and rushed through, completing my notes as the votes were being tallied, so for now I don’t have the total votes of the group.

2001 Chateau Tanunda Grand Barossa Shiraz $33: Inky red/purple colour. Earthy chocolate aromas at first, but then turns decidedly stinky/funky; the balcony door was open, and I was continually trying to work out if the truck fumes were coming from outside or the glass – it was the latter! At one stage it also resembled amalgam, or something else equally disturbing from the dentist chair, plus that carrion twang of roadkill at Bolivar. The palate was far more straightforward, with a soft entry and very obvious tannins in front of the fruit, finishing with a good flavour rebound. My ranking: 7th place

2002 Saltram Mamre Brook Barossa Shiraz $20: Deep inky purple/red. Perfumed, sweet nose of chocolate, earth, coffee and musk before closing up. Rich, sweet blackberry and raspberry fruit drive the mid-weight palate, with a sweet confectionery/jelly finish, and coffee on the aftertaste. It was no surprise that this was at the top of my list for the majority of the time, and only just got pipped in the dying seconds. It’s not a big wine, but that fruit power hides that 15% alcohol remarkably well, and as Steve says it’s become a 2002 benchmark. My ranking: 2nd place

2002 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz $20: Dark to inky purple/red colour. A slightly stinky nose at first with some meaty/apricot characters and obvious American oak, and then closed up for a while. At the end of the tasting it had opened again to show lush dark chocolate, mint and some supporting coconut and coffee. The palate had an aggressive but not unpleasant entry, good mid-palate weight, and a ripe berry finish with a touch of chocolate. The structure of the wine was slightly bigger than the Mamre Brook plus it also hid its 14.4% alcohol very well, and at the end of the tasting just managed to top my list. After trying it again the following night, I’m sure this wine needs a lot of decanting and breathing time to show just what it can do. My ranking: 1st Place.

2002 Gibson Barossa Shiraz $29: Dark, inky red/purple colour. A very closed nose at first, opening up to show some milk chocolate, and finally some typical earthy dark chocolate characters. The palate opened with a big Barossa mixture of chocolate, tar and diesel, finishing with obvious sweet oak. I was very impressed with this wine, and I felt with some more breathing it could have scored even better. My ranking: =3rd place

2003 Thorpe Wines Shiraz $25: Youthful inky purple/red colour. Very closed nose that didn’t budge a cracker for me. The palate had a rich, plummy entry, good mid-weight, and lingering plum on the finish. It’s probably not surprising I thought this was a potential fruit-bomb given the young stage of the wine and the lack of time I had to try it. 5th place

2001 John Hongella Shiraz $21: Inky red/purple colour. Weird nose at first, with chemical/paint aromas, followed by some exotic Asian mint/herbal scents, then rich chocolate/coffee. In comparison I never took to the palate, which was very spicy and hot, with the tannins hanging off the finish of the dark chocolate/mint fruit. My ranking: 8th place

2000 Kies Dedication Shiraz $40: Dark red colour, the poorest by a long margin. A very stinky nose, with aggressive, funky earth and toasted/fireplace oak. The minty/menthol palate was as lightweight as the colour; quite a vivid demonstration of how weak some 2000 vintage wines can be. My ranking: 10th place

2002 Foggo Shiraz $29: Inky red/purple colour. The nose had obvious coffee oak that was a touch stinky at first, but cleaned up nicely with some sweet chocolate, confectionery, coffee and tomato leaf. The palate is on another scale to all the previous wines; a big, slow build-up with a touch of alcohol heat, and massive entwined tannins that linger, finishing just a touch bitter. I was very impressed, but I think it needs some cellaring to polish off the rough edges, then it will be stunning. My ranking: =3rd place

2002 Marius Shiraz (screwcap) $25: Inky red/purple colour. The original wine in the line-up was corked and this was a last second replacement, which I think affected my impressions. The nose was rather stinky at first, with some meaty/apricot characters and obvious toasted oak. The considerable palate was on the same scale as the impressive Foggo, with a deep, plush blackberry entry, slow build-up, and a good finish with a touch of mint and alcohol heat. I didn’t recognise it this time around, but I think that under the circumstances it didn't really get a fair go either. My ranking: 6th place

2003 d’Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier $27: Inky purple/red colour. Unlike the last time I sampled this, the nose was dominated by typically stinky/sweet apricot, with deep-set plum firmly in the background. The plummy palate had good weight, but was relatively simple, finishing with very bitter tannins. This time around the Viognier was way too obvious for my liking. My ranking: 9th place


Again my thanks to Steve (aka 707) and the gang.

Cheers
Ian

[707]

Thanks for the notes Ian, I know you were rushed on the night. This was a very good line up for the price point. My rough impressions:

Gibson Barossa Vale Shiraz 2002 was very typical and classy Barossa, A wine that is great value at under $30 and I think will develop nicely

Foggo Road Shiraz 2002 is a sleeper, real class on this wine too, complex and brooding, it will be facinating to see how this evolves, a winery just hitting it's straps and starting to gain recognition on the show circuit whilst maintaining it's individual style. They own some great old vines in the heart of McLaren Vale.

Marius Shiraz 2002 is a very small single vineyard production, another sleeper that is complex and has lovely texture in the mouth. A wine to put away for a couple of years and it will really sing. Well priced too at around $25.

Mamre Brook Shiraz 2002 continues to impress although on this occasion I thought the oak was a bit obvious. Whilst on this label grab yourself a 2002 Cabernet, it's a blinder around $20, the fruit was just so good in 2002 for them but nowhere else to put it but in a $20 label - our gain!

At the other end of the scale for me was Laughing Magpie 2003, just too much Viognier, I really don't want that much apricot in my Shiraz. I think I'm over the exotic taste of some of these blends. This wine got 4 Most Preferred votes and 4 Least Preferred votes indicating the polarised opinions the style educes.

If you want to try brilliantly handled Viognier in Shiraz, albeit at a high price, try the Torbreck Run Rig or Decendant, absolute stunners.