Howard Park International Pinot Noir Tasting and Lunch

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

My partner Rita and I were privileged to attend this event last Saturday (October 28), at the Burch Family winery in Margaret River.

This is an extremely well-run event. From the shuttle-bus from Margaret River, to the glossy booklets with detailed notes on each wine, and each speaker, to the magnificent lunch in a large marquee attached to their Wine Chapel, the accompanying band - it was all quality and attention to detail.

There was a mix of industry people and enthusiastic amateurs like ourselves - about 100 in total.

18 wines are tasted, in three brackets of six wines. They’re tasted single-blind – you know what wines are in each bracket, but not the order of tasting. The bracket is introduced (in our case by David Stredwick, their Wine Club Manager), then the tasting is conducted in silence. A guest speaker then talks about each of the wines in the bracket, and general discussion ensues. This process takes about 45 minutes per bracket.

The wines are from the 2014 vintage (northern hemisphere) and 2015 vintage (southern hemisphere). Six countries were represented: Argentina, Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, and USA.

I took modest (= incomplete) notes, and therefore will just give you brief impressions of each wine instead.

Bracket 1 comprised:

2015 Bodegas Chacra Cincuenta y Cinco, Patagonia, Argentina: Dark fruit and meats on the nose. Weighty fruit on palate, slightly fat and not very complex.


2015 Chatto Huon Valley, Tasmania, Australia: Earthy, dark sweet fruits, bacon. Fine tannins and supporting oak. Fruit dominant palate. Good balance. I enjoyed this one.


2014 Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanee Bossieres, Burgundy, France: Bright and dark cherries, stalkiness, spicy oak, perfumed, a little barnyard. Slightly bitter palate but came good with time in the glass.


2014 Marchand and Burch Clos Vougeot Grand Cru, Burgundy, France: Opened up considerably in the glass. Sweet red fruits and some savoury characters. Palate was fresh and lively, with fresh strawberry, cherry and raspberry, good supporting acid and overall a very satisfying wine. Rita’s favourite of the day.


2014 Ziereisen Vom Schiefer Spatburgunder, Mosel, Germany: Cherry fruit and savoury nose, quite muted. Cherry cola and light strawberries on the palate. Slightly vegetal and short finish.


2015 Burn Cottage Vineyard, Central Otago, New Zealand: Expressive nose, maraschino cherry and five-spice. Weighty fruit palate good supporting acid and powdery tannins. Well balanced


Bracket 2 comprised:

2015 Bindi Block 5, Macedon Ranges, Victoria, Australia: Initially muted nose, bright cherries, cola, spicy oak. Lively and complex palate, fruit dancing over the tongue, zingy acid and fine grippy tannins.


2015 Dexter Black Label, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia: Perfumed, a little stalky, barnyard, bacon and savoury notes. A full palate with chunky tannins and great length – the peacock’s tail. Good wine.


2014 Henri Boillot Volnay 1er Cru Santenots, Burgundy, France: Very perfumed, violets, bright red fruit and cedary oak. Bright expressive palate, raspberries, powdery tannins. I enjoyed this one.


2014 Marchand and Burch Beaune 1er Cru Clos du Roi, Burgundy, France: Lovely complex nose – meaty, spicy oak, darker fruits. This was reflected in the palate – bright fruit amongst grippy tannins and slightly sharp acid. I enjoyed this nonetheless.


2015 Pyramid Valley Angel Flower, Canterbury, New Zealand: Very barnyardy, meaty and savoury on the nose. Raspberry and cherry on the palate. Sharp acid, slightly short and astringent. Not for me.


2014 Louis Jadot Resonance Vineyard, Oregon, USA: Bright cherry fruit, and spicy oak. Clean but simple fruit palate, modest tannins, good acid.



Bracket 3 comprised:


2015 Marchand and Burch Mount Barrow, Great Southern, Western Australia: Ripe cherry fruit, savoury oak. Rich overt fruit flavours on the palate.


2015 The Wanderer Upper Yarra Valley, Victoria, Australia: Delicate nose. Intense pure strawberry and touch of savoury oak and truffle. Palate was light but lingering – fresh fruit over drying tannins – oak is in support only. A surprisingly long finish – this was satisfying without being overpowering and I thoroughly enjoyed it for that reason.


2014 Domaine Amoit-Servelle Chambolle Musigny, Burgundy, France: Complex wine – mushroom, dark cherry and oak all in perfect balance. Some dried herbs on the palate alongside ripe fruit and grippy tannins. Good length. One of my favourites on the day.


2014 Marchard-Tawse Clos Saint Denis Grand Cru, Burgundy, France: Very perfumed, floral, some spice, savoury oak, strawberry and cherry fruit. Good acid and fine grained tannins, with fruit zipping over the tongue. Good wine.


2015 Prophet’s Rock Cuvee Aux Antipodes, Bendigo, Otago, New Zealand: Forest floor, charcuterie, darker fruits (slightly stewed). Complex palate but modest acid and tannins.


2014 Adelsheim Chehalem Mountains “Breaking Ground”, Oregon, USA: Very spicy oak slightly overshadowed the fruit. The fruit came back on the palate, however. My note was “Interesting!”


Certainly an impressive and varied line-up of wines, which showed a wide spectrum of quality pinot noir from around the world. The whole event is a credit to Burch Family Wines and their staff – the location provides a perfect backdrop, the staff are knowledgeable and on top of their game, and the attention to detail was impressive.

This was a memorable day for us, and an experience we will relish.

Cheers
Allan

[swirler]

Great notes! Did the professionals say about the wines?

[Waiters Friend]

I didn't actually hear a lot of other opinions of each of the wines, although I'm sure there were many I was focussing on my own assessment and understanding of the wines, and made my notes before any of the speakers (or others) expressed their views. I do recall there were differences of opinion among the assembled tasters about several of the wines, and this was promoted by the guest speakers (e.g. "Is there a wine you really didn't like?")

[swirler]

Oh. That would have been interesting for me. Maybe you forgot to spit and were enjoying the effects of lots of amazing pinot noir terroirs combining together

[Waiters Friend]

Oh. That would have been interesting for me. Maybe you forgot to spit and were enjoying the effects of lots of amazing pinot noir terroirs combining together

Sorry to disappoint, swirler. And, I did spit, mostly - a couple made it past the gatekeeper