Some Warm up wines to break the ice, the final one chosen to get us used to the level of tannins to expect:
2013 S.C. Pannell Syrah, Adelaide Hills (screwcap): 14% alc. 2014 Jimmy Watson Trophy Winner. Dark to inky red/purple. Sweet, plummy and dusty with black liquorice and seemingly obvious vanillin oak, black liquorice on the finish; a solid commercial wine, nicely perfumed but it doesn’t seem particularly special either.
2013 Honey Moon Vineyard Shiraz, Adelaide Hills (screwcap): 14.5% alc. Medium to very dark red. It visually looks older than the Pannell and drinks like it too, tart and a little closed, quite dusty, savoury and a little cheesy with molten liquorice, finishing with black olive, drying tannins and some minty warmth. Hylton McLean said this seemed like an odd bottle, not exactly what he was expecting.
2011 Luigi Pina Barolo Marcena, Piedmont (cork): 14.5% alc. Medium red with a hint of brick. Light on fruit and heavy on tannins, meaty and savoury, strawberry cordial, some black tea and roast meats on the finish, some minty heat appearing with breathing; nice structure, but it really needs more fruit.
FLIGHT 1: SHIRAZ MATARO
2012 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro, Clare Valley (screwcap): 80% Shiraz, 20% Mataro from the 1893 Central, 1919 and 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. 13.4% alc. Medium red. Bright cherries and rhubarb with hints of roast meats and black tea with subtle, spicy/lemony oak, more than a little Pinot-like; the medium-weight palate opens with thick, velvety tannins from start to finish, finishing long and meaty, slightly minty. Bright, breezy and attractive at this young stage, it will never be a blockbuster but then I don’t expect it to be either.
1998 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro, Clare Valley (cork): 85% Shiraz, 15% Mataro from the 1893 Central, and 1920 Eastern & Central vineyard plantings. 13.7% alc. Medium garnet. Meaty and developed, black and green liquorice, camphor wood and boot polish. The tannins have softened nicely as this wine has developed; I would say this is at its peak but will hold a good few years.
1975 Wendouree Claret, Clare Valley (cork): First bottle was badly corked and not presented – unfortunately the replacement wasn’t much better. Dark garnet/brick with an olive rim. The first whiff is damp cardboard followed by oxidised, leathery/gunpowder with a backdrop of dirty socks, a little black liquorice and bitter chocolate remaining on the palate.
FLIGHT 2: SHIRAZ
2012 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley (screwcap): 13.6% alc. From the 1919 Eastern Vineyard & 1893 Central bush vines. Medium to darkish red. Bright, minty and minerally with cherry pie and rhubarb, red liquorice, black tea, tea roses and subtle spicy oak, a lot like the Shiraz Mataro and again Pinot-like. The palate is again very similar to the Shiraz Mataro with a little more weight, bright and breezy with thick, black tea tannins from the start with a long, soft finish.
2001 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley (cork): 13.9% alc. From the 1919 Eastern vineyard & 1893 Central vineyard bush vines. Medium to darkish red/garnet. Savoury, developed nose with black tea, black liquorice, mint, camphor wood, mothballs, spices and noticeable VA lift. The palate’s spicy and peaty with notably fine tannins but also an odd structure, the acidity sticking out mid-palate finishing meaty but a little short.
1991 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley (cork): 13.5% alc. Medium garnet/brick. Lifted nose with seemingly obvious honeyed/American oak, mint and menthol ahead of bright red fruits; the palate is beginning to fade, finishing sweet but with bright acidity. It’s okay, but nowhere near as good as previous bottles I have tried over the last few years.
FLIGHT 3: MALBEC
2011 Wendouree Malbec, Clare Valley (screwcap): 13.5% alc. From the 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium to dark red with a hint of purple. Sweet perfumed nose full of black tea and liquorice, mint and sweet, smoky deli meats; the entry of the palate is fat, jubey and exotic, boysenberry, dark chocolate and pastilles leading to thick black tea tannins mid-palate, finishing minty, jammy and a little sweet. An unusual and fun wine as a youngster, an excellent result from the tough vintage.
2005 Wendouree Malbec, Clare Valley (cork): From the 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium to dark red/garnet. Minty, jammy and showing some age already, with meaty/black liquorice characters; the palate is quite odd, despite possessing a huge mid-palate it lacks structure and balance, finishing short. Dunno about this, maybe in a hole or maybe a poor bottle?
1997 Wendouree Pressings, Clare Valley (cork): Blend of pressings from Shiraz and Cabernet fermentations in combination with an equal quantity of Malbec from the 1920 & 1940 Eastern vineyard plantings. First bottle was corked and not presented. Medium garnet/brick. Opens with obvious VA and crushed ant/American vanillin oak, followed by camphor wood and old leather, fresh paint and mothballs; the fruit’s fading on the palate, led by secondary characters of sous bois, tea chest, earth and chocolate bullets, finishing minty and slightly hot. The 1997 vintage has become notorious for widespread levels of cork taint - better bottles are hanging in there, but the time to drink is now.
FLIGHT 4: SHIRAZ MALBEC
2013 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec, Clare Valley (screwcap): 14.0% alc. 50% Shiraz, 50% Malbec from the1919 & 1920 eastern vineyard plantings. Medium red/purple. Wildly perfumed, exotic and slightly jammy like the straight Malbec, black tea and black jubes; the palate’s medium-weight and fruity, full of black tea and rhubarb with thick tannins mid-palate that flow through the long, velvety finish. Quite yummy right now.
2001 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec, Clare Valley (cork): 70% Shiraz, 30% Malbec from the 1893, and 1898 Central and 1919 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium garnet/brick. Smoky and meaty, black liquorice, cough lollies, mothballs, mint, menthol and umami; the palate’s smoky and meaty, the thick tannins have softened a little, the finish minty. Overall it’s fatter and far better balanced than the straight Shiraz.
1998 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec, Clare Valley (cork): 75% Shiraz, 25% Malbec from the 1919 and 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium to very dark garnet. Fully developed with lovely jubey fruit matched with lovely cedar oak and a touch of lavender, those familiar mothball/mint characters in the background; the palate is the fattest of the entire tasting, coating the mouth with chocolatey fruit and thick, velvety tannins, the length and balance excellent.
Cheers
Ian
Would you rather see Aussie Shiraz under cork? 