2019 Edinburgh Hotel Adelaide, Shiraz day

[phillisc]

Hi , attended the annual Ed extravaganza Shiraz fest, some 230+ wines on show, now in its 28th year , I went to the first 10, and this one. In 2019 there were very few top marques present like there were in the good old 90s. 600 of us in a marquee and it went fairly well.
Gavin, I have just included prices for reference only, if you want me to remove them, please let me know. I am aware that you stock some of these wines....I think there are only 4 on my tasting list that you have....and the prices differ by about a dollar.

15 Brick Kiln single vineyard MV $24, very good VFM lovely mouth feel finishes long, likely purchase
17 Bellevue Estate MV $20, can see why this has won the last 2 challenges, lovely aromas, berries spice and great on the palate, simple for the money wow, what a wine. Will have to get some
16 Yangarra Iron Heart MV $90 fantastic wine, such power and balance, what a wine, went on and on and on, beautiful sweetness and plush fruit which I love…can I afford some
14 Pennys Hill MV Footprint $57 again really good nose of spice berry choc, great on the palate, MV on song with this lot.
07 Mitchell McColl CV $27, at 11 years on, lovely colour, moving into that soft secondary phase great vfm, all fruit, medium weight oak soaked up…would be happy with some of these
16 Shaw and Smith AH $47 purchased 12 of these late last year for $39 lovely cool climate profile, so clean in the mouth, but a but of a berry explosion, followed up by tannins and wood, think this one will go a while
17 Ministry of Clouds BS (Blewett Springs) $55, excellent wine lovely nose all fruit with a hint of vanillin oak ?? French, fantastic fruit profile, real surprise, lots liked this.
15 Willows Bonesetter BV $55 didn’t pick this as BV (or wouldn’t), very cool climate with a whiff on the nose fruits, spice, plums, really smooth on the palate, could drink now, very nice indeed.
16 Majella Coonawarra, $30 nothing special, finished short.
17 Mollydooker NV Blue eyed boy, $47, lots to like here more complex than the 17 Boxer, good weight, clean, lovely balance , everything right here. Boxer good VFM proposition $27, BEB shadows this however
15 Geoff Merrill Henley, MV $155!!! Thin, almost a little acetone, well past it…don’t bother, not a bad bottle, most thought this
16 Smidge The Ging, MV $27 not a bad wine for the money, well balanced, nice texture, good finish, had not tried these before, a couple of others that I didn’t look at Houdini and Gutsy well received by others.
16 Kaesler OV. BV $75 very solid, nothing wrong, but just lack a fraction of a spark on the palate, well integrated and a nice drop, but others better on the day
15 Balnaves Coonawarra $27, thin green, too little fruit, too much acid
14 Clos Clare Cemetery Block CV, $24 real surprise here, picked up some 16s at a Cd visit last year, but will get some of these, lovely nose, very fine, but equally rick on the palate, lovely mouth feel, really good. Barry’s have got this one right
17 Punt Rd YV $27, really cool climate, slippery smooth, not a hair out of place, clean as a whistle, nice, but a tad boring to be honest
16 Bowen, Coonawarra $32… this was the best from anything from Coonawarra, yes I’m biased, yes there is a dozen in the cellar, but fantastic fruit profile, lovely rich berries, slight oak, fruit on the palate clean, rich and none of the acid others talk about…this will develop really well…somewhere in my top 10…others on the day loved it.
16 Ox Hardy, lil’ Ox MV $32 Tintata …upper Tintara in the old Hardy’s winery, so a family descendant has really come home, a side project that has been 11 years in the making, old open fermenters, on )8 big Ox just released $200 shit!! But this wine for the money was surprisingly good, lovely old McLaren Vale palate, oak and fruit in balance, might have to get some of these.
16 Duval Eligo BV $90, Yep this bloke sure knows how to make wine, his son was on the stand and seems like a lovely guy…has a good teacher. In the top 5 without any hesitation, seriously good wine, nothing like a Pennies, and will get some of these, everything is fantastic, great palate, soft and assertive so good, ripper wine…where’s the T-Bone!!
16 Langmeil orphan bank BV $55…tannic monster, not much more to be said.
14 Bleasdale Powder monkey LC $55 this was very very good, lovely fruits, a little mixed spice, savoury tones, great palate, hint of sweetness, excellent and recommended…so drinkable!
16 Dandelion Red Queen BV $177, a good wine, but to be honest, falls away, too much tannin, not worth the money
15 JB McCrae wood CV $50, smoky charry oak, muted fruit, quite nice on the palate, probably better around.
13 OLW Reserve CV $81, very good wine, just settling into a nice phase, great nose palate and medium weight, will go a long time, a nice wine…just not sure it’s a $80-90 red.
16 WW RSW MV $58, very disappointing, green, weedy and thin…something wrong here, but not just my opinion
15 Yalumba Octavius BV $131 an oak monster lip smacker cheek sucker, have had this wine a couple of times now. Will it ever come round, will the fruit make an appearance, who knows, and at Edinburgh shiraz day special price of $131…simply outclassed by wines half to third the price
16 Clarendon Hills Onkaparinga MV $91, very impressive great aroma, black in colour, power with finesse on the palate, a real crowd pleaser, quality and very good…need to find a key to the bank.
16 Maxwell Ellen St MV $32…well this was the star of the show, 20 plus tasters had this in their top three that I spoke to, great wine, everything is perfect, like a watered down Eligo, but stacks of fruit, lovely palate, lingering tannin, really good. will be getting some of these, shows what MV can do, very impressive.
16 Woodstock Stocks MV $82, brought a dozen vintages of this in the 90s when it was a $25 red. Overall very nice, well integrated, nothing over one, nice drying tannins, but not paying for the Collett retirement, much better to be found at this price.
16 Turkey Flat BV $48 really polarising, needs decades, yes the fruits there, classic earthy spicy dusty Barossa , yes the oak is there like a bloody forest, but needs eons to integrate, not sure about this one, will probably be great in a decade.
15 Brown brothers Patricia, Heathcote $49, disappointing, thin ordinary
16 Henschke Tappa pass BV $130!! A good wine, yes in the Henschke style, restrained, but lots of potential, but at the price…pass.
15 Henschke Wheel Wright, BV $125 excellent wine, much better than the TP really long lingering mid weight palate, the new Mt Ed me thinks!
15 Bremeton Old Adam LC $47…simply fantastic, rich plush, fabulous palate, most of the MV and LC reds really shone today…might have to get some of this, real crowd favourite.
16 Henty Farm the Beast BV $84, a very good wine, lovely nose frits spice, oak all seem to be happy with each other long long long on the palate, excellent
16 Hentley Farm The beauty BV $54, actually preferred this one of the two, very good wine, lovely mouth feel good tannin structure.
15 Pikes EWP CV $68, has 2% viognier and really nice, not oily slippery like some Clonkillas can be, but really nice texture and structure, oak all gobbled up, great palate, not too many duds so far.
Next three have been wanting to try for awhile after picking up 16 of the cheapie ‘16
17 Powell and Sons B and E (BV/EV) $47 very very good wine, and you can pick that EV fruit popping through, really smooth, silky and clean, a great effort.
17 P& S BV not a bad wine, lacks the structure and the mouth feel of the abobe, but foir $27 hard to fault
17 P&S Schulz, BV $140, what a wine, someone said in the background, so so smooth, hard to argue, fruit up front, oak coming through, delicious, at $140 ah um, would love some, probably in my top 5 today.
14 Charlie Melton, Grains of paradise BV $70, just ok really, lacked the plushness of the above, and today smashed by much better company, a big ask for the coin.
14 PL 8 songs, BV $37, very oaky, nothing special, drink up of keep for 15.
17 Hemera Estate JDR BV $71…two wines here from Jasson Barrett the ex Pennies Magill Estate maker. Hemera is that impressive set of buildings on the right out od Lyndoch, the old Ross Estate. This wine simply smashed it out of the park, so rich plush, some similar characteristics to the ironheart, lovely sweetness, beautiful structure and tannin, lingered for ever, was thinking same price as Rockford BP, but have never had a BP on release like this…top five for me.
17 Hemera Aurora BV $38, a good wine in its own right, but left in the wake of the JDR , still had the power on the palate, but just a little less richness and complexity…another one to consider
Next up a run of Schubert estate, there were 6 to try ( all 15 vintage), but in the essence of time and trying to avoid palate fatigue only looked at two, 15 Gander BV $230 and you could tell, simply excellent, lovely nose violets, flowers dusky tones, spice sweet, savory, really really good, excellent mouth feel, a real treat.
15 Goose Yard Bv $140 not quite in the same company as the gander, but still a might wine. That said would pick P&S Schulz over this
18 Head old vine BV $33 not bad, nothing out of place, but nothing special, suspect time is required here.
12 Torbreck Factor BV $117 Hardly budged, inky black, needs decades, but great now, serious wine and glad I had the opportunity, excellent
17 Torbreck Stuie Bv $47, quite a nice wine, but to be honest, overshadowed by many many other BVs today, good but not outstanding, finished a bit short.
14 Seven Hill John May resever, CV $76…wow what a surprise, one of the picks of the day and certainly top 10, maybe higher. Really lovely, soft, delicate, but also had the complexity and richness great mouth feel, dry chalky tannins, good sweetness. This was very good, might suggest something about the 14 vintage in CV
17 Sevenhill Indigo CV $21, very good value for money, nice wine, probably over delivers for price, good fruit, twinge of sweetness, lovely. Liz H as the new winemaker certainly knows what she is doing.
14 Hollick Wilgha, $46, nothing special, better than balnaves and Majella, but thrashed by the Bowen, should be $20-25 less. Finished short, lacks fruit.

My overall impressions and concluding remarks were LC, MV and BV all make great wines, with a few surprises from CV. Bowen is head and shoulders above anything from the Coonawarra
My favourites for the day were: Sevenhill, Bremeton, Clarendon Hills, John Duval Eligo (must get a few), Bleasdale Powder Monkey, Maxwell Ellen St ( have ordered some) Bellevue Estate, Ironheart ( if only!) Ministry of Clouds ( Blewett Springs doing good things if they can do this), Clos Clare, Bowen, P&S BV/EV ( will have to get some) and both the wines from Hemera, particularly the JDR

Wandered down the street to a mates place for a lovely home made pizza lunch a few welcome Boags and a bottle of 16 Epsilon BV Shiraz, big wine, very good, needs a decade.
Hope my assessments weren't far from the mark
Cheers Craig.

[mjs]

Craig,
Great notes, haven't been to the Ed for a couple of years, although it was almost a local when I lived there
Picked up six of the Bowen two weeks ago at CD, good stuff, cabernet as well I dare say
regards, Malcolm

[phillisc]

Craig,
Great notes, haven't been to the Ed for a couple of years, although it was almost a local when I lived there
Picked up six of the Bowen two weeks ago at CD, good stuff, cabernet as well I dare say
regards, Malcolm

Yes Malcolm, looking forward to the 17 Bowen Shiraz, if anything like the 16 a definite buy....will try next month.
The tasting was a lot of fun and a bit of a calibration to be honest...Cabernet is king for me, and will feel on far more familiar ground at next month's Coonawarra Roadshow, but gee there is a lot of mighty fine Shiraz out there.

Cheers Craig