Grand Cru (Perth) Tasting Group – Rhone reds

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

A few of us got together at Mayfair Lane in West Perth to share a few bottles. The stipulation was that they contain at least three of the recognised Rhone varieties. In the Australian context, this generally means lots of blends of grenache, shiraz and mourvedre, and some of the wines definitely fitted the bill. There was plenty of variety, however.

Chapoutier Bila Haut (Cote Du Roussillon) 2017: This was a bright ruby purple in the glass. Spicy nose, with cherry cola and plums. It’s jubey and candied, but with slight barnyard. There’s some dried oregano as well. The palate is juicy, with dark fruits. It’s medium bodied, with good acidity and fine grained tannins. Unfortunately, its hollow on the mid palate and finishes slightly short. Probably a good BBQ wine. It was revealed to be a blend of grenache, shiraz, and carignan, and sees no oak.

Brash Higgins Mataro, Cinsault, Carignan (McLaren Vale)2017. Ruby garnet in colour. Big perfumed, confectioned nose. Light on oak, Lots of red fruits and cloves very prominent. The palate is big, with lots more red fruits, spice, and crushed herbs. It’s light on oak and tannins. There was a touch of VA initially, but that blew off. General opinion was that this is best drunk young and fresh.

Kaesler Avignon Grenache Mourvedre Shiraz (Barossa) 2015. Purple red in colour. Quite oaky on the nose, with red and black fruits, some mint. It’s quite sweet, both from fruit and oak. The palate is slightly raisined, and slightly slippery (glycerols). Soft tannins and moderate acid sit underneath some Christmas cake and portiness. Many of the group considered this to be bland, without being faulty.

Guillame Gonnet Le Reveur (Cotes Du Rhone) 2015: Purple in colour. Slight VA, raisins and red fruits. A couple of tasters referred to horse blankets. This was unfortunately bretty and also hot. No further comment.

Teusner Avatar GSM (Barossa) 2015. Deep purple in colour. Obvious oak, fresh blue and red fruits, mocha/coffee, and loads of fruit sweetness. The palate shows prominent chewy tannins, big alcohol and fruit and quite a long finish. It was interesting to compare it (unintentionally) to ….

Teusner Avatar GSM (Barossa) 2013. Very similar notes to the 2015. Not surprisingly, more developed, and replacing some of the big fruit with conserves, and darker chocolate. Both the Teusner wines showed well, IMHO, but they weren’t everyone’s tastes …..

And so to Wine of the Night. It surprised me that it was the Brash Higgins Mataro, Cinsault, Carignan, with myself as the only dissenting voter. I still think everyone else was wrong.

Cheers
Allan

[Ian S]

And so to Wine of the Night. It surprised me that it was the Brash Higgins Mataro, Cinsault, Carignan, with myself as the only dissenting voter. I still think everyone else was wrong.

Cheers
Allan

The one element that stood out for me in your note was 'confected nose' and I very much empathise if that was the thing that turned you right off it (there is a little genie sat on my shoulder at such moments shouting "That is the nose of a CHEAP & NASTY wine!"). There seemed enough postives beyond that - the rest of the note sounding very appealing to me (and I've no problem with a little VA, nor indeed a little brett). The trouble is, that one aspect can be a genuine dealbreaker.

[Waiters Friend]

And so to Wine of the Night. It surprised me that it was the Brash Higgins Mataro, Cinsault, Carignan, with myself as the only dissenting voter. I still think everyone else was wrong.

Cheers
Allan

The one element that stood out for me in your note was 'confected nose' and I very much empathise if that was the thing that turned you right off it (there is a little genie sat on my shoulder at such moments shouting "That is the nose of a CHEAP & NASTY wine!"). There seemed enough postives beyond that - the rest of the note sounding very appealing to me (and I've no problem with a little VA, nor indeed a little brett). The trouble is, that one aspect can be a genuine dealbreaker.

You're 100% correct, Ian. I'm generally not a fan of Grenache for precisely that reason - the confectionery nose gets to me every time, to the detriment of any other characters in the wine. This wine, although not carrying Grenache, had it in spades.

Cheers
Allan

[Mahmoud Ali]

I quite agree with both you and Ian regarding the confected nose, however you don't say which wine was your favourite. To me, from your notes, I would prefer the Bila Haut or the 2013 Avatar. I have had both the '12 and '13 Bila Haut a few years ago and quite fancied the latter, even putting away a couple of bottles to see what will do with a few years of cellaring.

Mahmoud.

[Waiters Friend]

I quite agree with both you and Ian regarding the confected nose, however you don't say which wine was your favourite. To me, from your notes, I would prefer the Bila Haut or the 2013 Avatar. I have had both the '12 and '13 Bila Haut a few years ago and quite fancied the latter, even putting away a couple of bottles to see what will do with a few years of cellaring.

Mahmoud.

Hi Mahmoud. The 2013 Avatar was my pick.

[WAwineguy]

G’day

A few of us got together at Mayfair Lane in West Perth to share a few bottles.

Did you hire the room out the back, or did Foni let you drink your wines in the pub?

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

A few of us got together at Mayfair Lane in West Perth to share a few bottles.

Did you hire the room out the back, or did Foni let you drink your wines in the pub?

We hire the private room at the back.