TN: Some Less common varieties (at least in this country)

[GraemeG]

The Noble Rotters October 2004 dinner was supposed to showcase wines made entirely, or at least predominantly, from less well known grape varieties. Wines were (generally) tasted blind, hence the note layoutÂ…

1. Classic gewurz nose of luscious pot-pourri and floral tones. The palate is quite weighty – it has a sweet texture (perhaps emphasisied by generally soft acid), yet does finish dry. Very much a wine that lives on the front palate, though.
2003 Spy Valley Gewurztraminer (Marlborough)

2. My wine, so the identity wasn’t a mystery to me, but I’d never tasted this variety before. The nose is quite rich – reminiscent of a lightly oaked chardonnay. The palate adds a stoney, minerally quality. At 6 years the somewhat sour acid has softened, and although the finish is somewhat short, the body at least extends to the mid-palate!
1998 Bream Creek Schönburger (Tasmania)
OK, so what’s Schönburger? According to Jancis, it’s a pink-skinned, German-origin cross of Pinot Noir with Chasselas Rose and Muscat Hamburg and is widely planted in…England!

3. Ripe raspberry/strawberry aromas, with a wild and brambly quality to them. The palate is warm, with bubble-gum flavours on the front palate emerging together with firm tannins. Almost resin-like in texture, this has a medium length finish which feels slightly sweet.
2001 dÂ’Arenberg Bonsai Vine Grenache Shiraz Mouvedre [70/25/5%] (McLaren Vale)

4. Very dark, this has an iodine-like nose. Zinfandel? Warm licorice & kirsch notes. Blooms powerfully on the palate with a warm explosion of ripe dark fruits. Lovely balance of flavours across the palate, and respectable length of finish, but ultimately a bit simple. A wine for drinking, not thinking.
2001 Morris Wines Durif (Rutherglen)

5. Dark red. An earthy, horsey, bretty nose. Stark and tannic on the palate, with spice becoming apparent on the front palate. In retrospect there are some hints of coconut too. Big in body, impressive, if a bit bizarre.
1994 Happs Merlot (Margaret River)
Not the first time weÂ’ve been surprised by a Happs merlot with some bottle age. ItÂ’s a very low profile winery, but they obviously must know something about merlot that few other Australian producers do. Impressive size for a local merlot at 13.7% and ten years.

6. Bright crimson red. Fresh clean yet fuzzy flowery aromas of violets, cinnamon & spice. Weird! Medium length, quite soft. The label reveals all!
2000 Kingston Estate Empiric Petit Verdot (Riverland SA)

7. A quite dirty, feral nose, with a splash of VA to me. Lots of confected raspberry fruits on palate, which feels cleaner than the nose would suggest. ThereÂ’s a whiff of corkiness too (not TCA, rather cork as a flavour) which may be the oak? Palate does die away quite quickly, leaving a lingering astringent finish.
1995 dÂ’Arenberg The Custodian Grenache (McLaren Vale)

8. Rich licorice nose with strong earthy notes. Savoury palate, light pepper & spice. Very front palate balance, and a short finish. Food wineÂ…!
2000 Masi Campofiorin [mostly Corvina] (Veneto)

9. A porty nose of raisins & prunes. Hugely ripe, yet somehow hollow on the palate – the tannins have left the building here. A little hint of VA emerges after a time. Something big and warm-climate, no doubt. Short finish.
1998 Deen de Bortoli Vat 1 Durif (Riverina NSW)

10. Deep crimson red. On the basis of the first whiff of the wine I said ‘Zin?’ A nose of camphor with musky, powerful vanillan oak, porty liquorice notes, almond and spice. The palate is tannic and powerful, warm, with a very front-palate balance. Tannic finish, palate balance not great. Unusual wine.
2000 Peel Estate Zinfandel (Baldivis WA)
The back label should be commemorated. It read as follows ”This unusual grape variety has a real ‘wine for heroes’ nose with hints of liquorice and lots of alcohol. Wimps beware, the palate is huge. There is enormous flavour and length boosted by the high alcohol content. It’s obviously a wine for eccentrics and is made to rival stilton cheese."
Obviously no-one has told these guys that Port already exists – they clearly intend to fill the same function with a dry table wine. Yes, the vanilla oak is very much to the fore, supported by coconut and musk. For the record, the alcohol was 18%!

I brought a back-up wine in case the Schönburger was undrinkable, and we were running out of wines with desert not yet in sight, so out came the cork…

1997 Nino Negri [Nebbiolo] (Valtellina)
Mid red. A slighty dirty, dusty nose. Any remaining fruit is well hidden. The palate adds a tannic tarriness to the generally savoury notes, and remains quite severe. There’s little fruitness here either – although unripeness is not apparent. The texture spreads well across the front and back palates, but the length is not great. Fair.

Finally, with dessert;
2002 Cassella Carramar Estate Botrytis Semillon (Riverina NSW)
Richly luscious, typical induced-botrytis nose of apricot, cumquat & marmalade. Sweet on the palate, rich, but as commonly with high sugar/low acid wines, a cloying and short finish.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Adair]

5. Dark red. An earthy, horsey, bretty nose. Stark and tannic on the palate, with spice becoming apparent on the front palate. In retrospect there are some hints of coconut too. Big in body, impressive, if a bit bizarre.
1994 Happs Merlot (Margaret River)
Not the first time weÂ’ve been surprised by a Happs merlot with some bottle age. ItÂ’s a very low profile winery, but they obviously must know something about merlot that few other Australian producers do. Impressive size for a local merlot at 13.7% and ten years.

"Big in body, impressive, if a bit bizarre." - Sorry Graeme, are you describing the winemaker, Erl Happ, or the wine. Both fit quite well.

I have been particular impressed with his Charles Andreas Cabernet blend under the Three Hills label (over the Shiraz) from Karridale fruit, but have usually found his normal stuff from Dunsborough a bit bland. However, I don't ever remember a Happs Merlot at that high percentage alcohol or that big. It sounds exciting. I will have a look at the current vintages soon, and ask about the 1994 in particular if much different. Thanks for the note and notes.

Kind regards,
Adair

[fred]

Graeme,

Re gewurz: try the Delatite Dead man's hill as it is a genuinely decent wine from gwurz and just about the only good one made in Oz; also interesting as varies enormously with age (I have drunk one as old as 83 - one of the first vintages) and generally matures for a decade although most people prefer to drink it young but to my taste teh 1995 isdrinking very well now.

Re MR merlot: as a difficult options number the early impressive Evans & Tate straight MR merlot (circa 1990) was a very impressive wine with genuine body and style (no, it's not Petrus or even Cantemerle but bloody good) and continued to show well until at least 1998/9 (when I finished my stash), so Happs does not surprise.


Durifs are interestingand we are more familiar with the Rutherglen style, but a couple of makers eg Battely are making a less aggressive style with a bit more finesse which are worth a try.


Zinfandel: you can see why Yanks brought up on these wines like huge OTT shiraz. Both Peel & Cape mentelle do ok versions with the CM far more reliable vintage to vintage IMHO

Nebbiolo: general proposition = needs age. Secondary proposition: no one in Oz has made a semi-decent fist of doing anything with this grape (but then with so many different areas and few old vines....?).

[GraemeG]

Nebbiolo: general proposition = needs age. Secondary proposition: no one in Oz has made a semi-decent fist of doing anything with this grape (but then with so many different areas and few old vines....?).

My limited - and all theoretical, not practical! - research tells me that Nebbiolo from Valtellina is very much poor cousin to Barolo & Barbaresco. Even then, Valtellina Superiore is the recommended variant - and it seems the only 'prize' in the DOC is the raisined-grape sforzato (almost a dry recioto, if that makes sense) style of wine.

Never tasted a local Nebbiolo that was up to much, but an experimental 2002 vintage wine made by Neville Falkenberg under the Chain of Ponds label tasted earlier this year was very promising. Notes are on here somewhere!

cheers,
Graeme

[fred]

[quote="GraemeGMy limited - and all theoretical, not practical! - research tells me that Nebbiolo from Valtellina is very much poor cousin to Barolo & Barbaresco. Even then, Valtellina Superiore is the recommended variant - and it seems the only 'prize' in the DOC is the raisined-grape sforzato (almost a dry recioto, if that makes sense) style of wine.

.....

cheers,
Graeme[/quote]

I think the sforzato (literally "strong one") is very similar to an amarone in style.

Valtellina used to be on the World Cup skiing circuit, for which it is justly more famous than its wines!

Nebbiolo from Piemonte both barolo & barbaresco are far better generally than most of their Lombardian cousins, but they are still pretty fair at teh top end.

regards to Judith

fred