Melbourne Offline / 16 September / Aussie Pinot vs Rest of the New World

[Ozzie W]

Fantastic night, wines and company!

Unfortunately, I lost my phone on the way home and remote wiped the phone so no photos
I'll try and grab some photos off Cellartracker.

[mjs]

Ozzie, sorry to hear about your phone. What did I miss out on? Best Oz and Other New Workd pinots were .... ??

[via collins]

Gee Ozzie, what a dud end to a great night - really sorry to hear that.

All your efforts in co-ordinating a lovely bunch of folks, and some really terrific wines deserve a much better result.

Not helping with info am I Malcom? Sorry, lots of work on today, but let's say your contribution did very well indeed!

Cheers,

[mjs]

Gee Ozzie, what a dud end to a great night - really sorry to hear that.

All your efforts in co-ordinating a lovely bunch of folks, and some really terrific wines deserve a much better result.

Not helping with info am I Malcom? Sorry, lots of work on today, but let's say your contribution did very well indeed!

Cheers,

Strictly speaking, I think it was grb2001's contribution as it was out of his cellar! I was just a lackey in the winery and tasted it in barrel on a couple of occasions!

[Chris H]

A very enjoyable dinner. Probably too many wines in the end but that was my fault as much as anyone's

Brief notes that got briefer as the night rolled on.

2011 Langi Ghiran Sparkling Pinot
Still has its lees in bottle apparently so cloudy in colour. Pinot sweetness and some yeastiness on mid palate then finishes dry. Made like a Champagne more than a Sparkling Burgundy style. Good on a hot day.

2010 Louis Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos
Nice acidity underpinning good depth of citrussy/pear fruit. Some typical stony minerality nuances as well, although fruit hides it to some extent. Now onwards. An intelligent maker realising the benefit of screwcap.

2013 Dry River Pinot
Deep colour for a Pinot. Somewhat subdued nose leading to a rich but fairly soft palate which is maybe a bit dry reddish more than Pinot.

2009 Escarpment Kupe Pinot
Maturing red colour. Attractive savoury, perfumed red fruits. At its peak and excellent drinking.

2008 Felton Rd Block 5 Pinot
Deepish colour showing some maturity. Rich, ripe plummy, dark cherry fruit. Good length and balance. Drinking superbly.

2002 Yarra Yering Pinot
Browning red. Ripe and aromatic developed fruit with complexing forest floor-mulchy characters from age. A fully mature but very much alive wine drinking really well.

2013 Hillcrest Premium Pinot
Lovely mature drinking with excellent underlying tannin structure, not common in a lot of new world Pinots. Problem with it was that it is very advanced for a young wine - maybe just this bottle ? A screwcap would have benefited it and made sure it wasn't a cork issue Luddite.

2008 Romney Park Pinot
Still relatively tight and youthful for its age. Slightly skinny fruit as a result at this stage. The cracking pace of wines opening at this stage didn't give it a chance to fully unfurl before I had to move on.

2009 Paringa Estate Pinot
Mid red. Not what I'd expect from Paringa - high acid and not that complex. Maybe a product of the hot vintage.

2013 Durbanville Hills Rhinofields Pinotage
Obviously different. Smoky, herby, tannic black fruits. Medium bodied. Interesting to try.

2014 Home Hill Kelly's Reserve Pinot
Jimmy Watson winner. Good sweet cherry fruit and spice. Nicely perfumed. Pretty young and presumably a serious style made to be cellared. I'd give it 4-5 years to soften and fully integrate.

2012 Felton Rd Calvert Pinot
Youthful and tight, quality fruit, good acid-tannin structure. Needs more time in the cellar to open out.

2009 The Story Henty Pinot
Too many wines now. Just wrote nice wine and something else that was pretty much undecipherable.

2000 Bindi Pinot
Thought this was slightly corked.

2011 Curly Flat Pinot
Light bodied and peppery. Reflects the cool, wet vintage.

2010 Burn Cottage Pinot
Nice fruit, good structure, some alcohol on back palate that tended to dissipate with air. Shouldn't have opened this yet, needs a bit more time.

[via collins]

There were a lot of highlights, but for me, that middle-run was pretty awe-inspiring.

The Felton Block 5 showed the red fruits in real abundance, lovely light musk elements, tremendous grip and line. The Yarra Yering was a step up again - to imagine a 14 year old wine by a maker not usually noted for pinot noir has something so fresh and deep is pretty much joy. Again, Romney Park not a name that comes up in PN discussions a whole lot, but I rated this as good as the two prior. Pretty otherworldy actually with a wonderfully complex palate, and just a hint of sweet sour on the exit. You're drinking at a quality level some way from the $35ish price-point.

Really educative evening for me, and don't half mind being served food that tasty that well either

Cheers to all.

[Ozzie W]

Here's some photos courtesy of primarily CellarTracker and Vivino, with a little image editing.










image hosting 15mb

[mjs]

^^ love your work

[Benchmark]

Great work Oz.