TN: Blacktongues 24/11/04 Oz Heavy Hitters

[n4sir]

This was an incredibly mighty group without one dud wine prompting me to bump back the Champagne notes – even the unlucky last rated wine had a medal winning score from yours truly. The panel had an awful lot of trouble ranking their best and least preferred wines, and the voting was accordingly widespread. I wish all blind tasting panels were this good. Thanks again to Steve and the gang for the invitation to this hedonistic event.


2002 Rockford Basket Press Barossa Shiraz $45: Dark to inky red/purple colour. Perfumed nose at first with a mixture dusty plums and blackberry without any hint of oak, but turning ever so slightly soapy and grapey/porty with air. The palate opens with trademark Barossa dark chocolate, and is spicy with syrupy Blackberry fruit oozing from every pore with a touch of heat. A very rich and impressive wine, but like the rest of the line up is just a baby with a long way to go.

My Ranking: =5th place
BTs: 0 most preferred, 3 second, 3 least


2002 Turkey Flat Barossa Shiraz $38: Dark to inky purple/red colour. A very perfumed nose of sweet blackberry at first, but the wine then closes up and doesn’t budge an inch. The palate is powerful and sweet, again opening with that regional dark chocolate, stewed blackberry and black olives, but huge tannins dominate the finish with a smoky aftertaste. Steve wasn’t impressed again but it was a lot better this time around, although I still thought it needed a lot more cellaring time and/or breathing to show its best.

My ranking: =5th place
BTs: 0 most, 2 second, 1 least


2002 Rockford Rifle Range Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon $35: Dark to inky red with a bare hint of purple. Just the nose you would expect from a top notch Cabernet, with mint, chalk, and after closing up briefly some ground pepper and tar. The palate has a very soft entry and builds up rather spicily with some heat, before that predictable Cabernet hole appears in the middle, finishing with mint, green leaf and some olive on the aftertaste.

My ranking: =5th place
BTs: 3 most, 3 second, 1 least


2002 Greenock Creek Apricot Block Barossa Shiraz $43: Glowing inky purple/red colour. A powerful and concentrated nose of stewed plums & blackberries and some spirit that seems to hint at that 15.5% alcohol (not 15% as I had previously noted). The palate again opens with chocolate, concentrated blackberry & blueberry, and that very visible alcohol. With breathing the hotness seems to tone down, and those chalky tannins that drive the impressive length become quite mealy/wheaty, with black olives lingering on the aftertaste. This bottle seemed to take less time to open up than my last experience three weeks ago.

My ranking: 4th place
BTs: 3 most, 2 second, 1 least


2002 Charles Melton Barossa Shiraz $43: Dark to inky red/purple colour. Rich blackberry and a touch of herbs on the nose at first, then becoming quite sweet with bubblegum, and grapey/porty characters. The palate was dominated by the structure with big tannins clearly evident from the entry leaving the fruit behind. With breathing there were some of those bubblegum characters and a touch of licorice and heat, but I thought it needed a lot more breathing time to squeeze out more fruit from under that sizable structure.

My ranking: =5th place
BTs: 1 most, 3 second, 1 least


2002 Kay Bros Hillside McLaren Vale Shiraz $44: Dark to inky purple/red colour. A wonderful complex nose opening with dried herbs and a hint of spice, some cinnamon, black cherry, brown banana and some lemon sherbet. The huge structure is the first thing noticeable on the palate, with massive tannins and a touch of heat from that 15% alcohol from the mid-palate onwards, but like the Apricot Block this impression lessens with time. At this stage the massive blackberry/black cherry fruit is well in command, with suppressed nutty oak making a cameo appearance on the rebound. This was the overall best wine voted by the group, and with more time I suspect it would have topped my list too – just how good is the Block 6?

My ranking: 2nd place
BTs: 4 most, 5 second, 0 least


2001 Henschke Mt Edelstone Eden Valley Shiraz $75: Dark to inky purple/red colour. Slightly stinky nose at first, with hints of marzipan, greens and herbs surfacing with breathing; with additional air some Band-Aid characters started to appear – at this stage I turned to Winky and said this could be the Edelstone if you were basing a guess on the most Brett like characters! That said these weren’t obvious or foul enough for me to consider it a fault and it didn’t affect my scoring, but it does again question if Henschke has the problem under control. The palate has an incredibly slow build up, and the persistence of the structure was the best of the group, finishing with raw tannins and olive on the aftertaste. This polarized opinions, with some of the panel lauding it as a great return to form & others thinking it was crap, but I don’t think anyone thought it was worth $75.

My ranking: 3rd place
BTs: 1 most, 7 second, 2 least


2002 Liebich CW Block Barossa Shiraz (The US label of “The Darkie”) $40: Inky purple/red colour. A very stinky nose at first with a mixture of diesel fumes, roadkill and a hint of cheese, then some blackberry, fireplace oak and cough drops with air. The palate opens with sweet oak, chocolate and a touch of heat, but again the tannins dominate the picture, finishing with some smoke and olive. This wasn’t as impressive as at the Super Shiraz II tasting, but it was still mighty good for ninth place on my scoresheet!

My ranking: =9th place
BTs: 2 most, 2 second, 2 least


2002 Yalumba Barossa Shiraz Viognier $30 CD: Inky purple/red colour. A huge open nose that was the best of the group from the start; nutty/coffee oak, blackberry, a hint of VA and some lemon sherbet all in gorgeous proportion. The palate was just as soft, sweet and slushy with concentrated blackberries/blueberries supported by sweet oak, a touch of olives and finishing long with sweet black cherries and not a sign of alcohol heat. This was the most approachable of the group and I was sucked in hook, line & sinker from the start. The howls of “Viognier lover” from the panel (who me?) left me with the biggest surprise because I normally spot these a mile away – maybe I was having an off night, or I’ve been possessed by the dark side.

My ranking: 1st place
BTs: 1 most, 2 second, 4 least


2002 Charles Melton Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon $43: Dark to inky red/purple colour. A very closed nose all tasting, with hints of stinky exhaust fumes, earth and herbs in the background. The palate was dusty and earthy, with a marvelous layered structure of blackberry, olives, and herbs, which must have given Peter the hint to correctly guess this was a Cabernet. In the taste off for my last place this drew the short straw, but I suspect that would’ve changed with more time – this line up was so good I think everyone thought it was almost unfair to have a least preferred.

My ranking: =9th place
BTs: 1 most, 3 second, 1 least


Cheers
Ian

[TORB]

Hi Ian,

Now that was a line up of wines. What a difficult job in ranking them.

FWIW, I agree with you on the Yalumba. I am not a fan of SV blends but this one is so well done it won me too.

Cheers
Ric

[707]

This tasting was agony.

I'm developing an aversion to Shiraz Viognier, unless it's so bloody subtle and well done like Torbreck, that other than the Yalumba SV I was still juggling rankings for nearly all the wines approaching voting time which was a full hour after we started.

Every one of these is excellent wine and they all need a heap more time.

FWIW, I gave the palm to Rockford Rifle Range just ahead of the Melton Cabernet (WHAT? - two Barossa Cabernet at the top of your list!!). I had the Rockford BP, Kays Hillside and The Darkie so close that the rankings could have been different in another hour.

Mt. Edelstone, yes a return to form but way overpriced compared to the rest of the line up.

We are really so lucky to have such great wines readily available and affordable.

[markg]

Ian,

The slightly soapy descriptor for the Rockford BP sounds a bit offputting, is that dominant or something very mild in the background? I don't have the advantage of being able to get these early and was considering the quantiy I wanted for next years purchases but think I might give it a miss if you get soap on the palate...

[n4sir]

The slightly soapy descriptor for the Rockford BP sounds a bit offputting, is that dominant or something very mild in the background? I don't have the advantage of being able to get these early and was considering the quantiy I wanted for next years purchases but think I might give it a miss if you get soap on the palate...

Just a touch of soap/deodorant on the nose only, and not on the palate. I've noticed this character on a few 2001s and 2002s, and I'm guessing it's the youthfulness & power of the fruit matched to an early bottling/release time.

Like most of the wines in the group it was way too young to be consumed, but again showed great potential. I think Craig remarked that it didn't show too well that night, but look out in about five years when it will inevitably boom.

Cheers
Ian

[markg]

The slightly soapy descriptor for the Rockford BP sounds a bit offputting, is that dominant or something very mild in the background? I don't have the advantage of being able to get these early and was considering the quantiy I wanted for next years purchases but think I might give it a miss if you get soap on the palate...

Just a touch of soap/deodorant on the nose only, and not on the palate. I've noticed this character on a few 2001s and 2002s, and I'm guessing it's the youthfulness & power of the fruit matched to an early bottling/release time.

Like most of the wines in the group it was way too young to be consumed, but again showed great potential. I think Craig remarked that it didn't show too well that night, but look out in about five years when it will inevitably boom.

Cheers
Ian

Ahhh, In that case would you say it is more of a floral fragrance. I think I get what you mean now, it reminded you of the perfume from a particular soap rather than the actual soap itself ?

[707]

Mark my words, there was no soap on or in it!

[Harry]

I reckon that the smell of soap was from the bloke next to you, Ian. I thought it was a delicious wine with still lots to offer. It needed far more air than the time allowed.

Fortunately for the Yalumba - a last place was not a difficult choice, but the other nine places were hotly contested.

My pick of the night was definately the Kays Hillside Shiraz 02, an awseome shiraz with much yet to offer. It was almost a shame to open it so young, but I am glad that we did.

Once again a fantastic line up.

[JamieBahrain]

Great line up, notes and comments gent's.

That few Australians get it right with the shiraz-viognier blend probably says something about our up front and often over the top viognier-as opposed to the finesse and restarint of the French expression.

[KMP]

Ian:

Interesting note on the Turkey Flat. The 375's I've tasted have been closed but the 750ml was much more open, and after 5 days sitting in the fridge the last couple of small glasses that were left gave off an amazingly intense blackberry aroma. I agree that it still needs a lot more time tho.

Mike