TN: Auswine Offline in Bacchus Marsh 06/03

[mychurch]

So 5 of us got together on Sat 6th at Softies place for a relaxed afternoon. The theme for the afternoon was Riesling and Shiraz, with the Rieslings dominating. The dry Rieslings and the 2 reds were served blind. My Notes in order of tasting are

2016 Renaissance VRM, Rutherglen Estates
The palate warmer. Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne, so pretty much a white Rhone Blend. Lovely wine, drinking at its peak. The secret of this blend is to get the components to work together and that’s on show here with none of the 3 components dominating or poking their head out. Nice yeasty sur lees tones on the nose, stone fruit, good purity, touch of spice on the finish. Good wine, which would probably have rated higher with a meal (3*)

2019 Riesling, Express Winemakers
My back up wine, but as is usual, we drank it. I would not have brought this to someones house as a dinner wine, but amongst wine friends I thought I’d give it a go. Young colour of course, but this was fermented under flor for 10 months and the nose is as funky as you can imagine with hints of fino and tequila (Sour beer was another call) . Its dry, lots of citrus and there is an interesting mid palate weight – not sure if that’s the flor or not. Experimental wine and I think it passed – will happily drink the rest of a half case, but not sure I’d purchase another vintage. 2.5 *

2004 Wigan Riesling, Peter Lehman
This looked a lot older than the Express Winemakers it was served with. Nose is back in familiar territory with plenty of petroleum and stone fruit on the nose. I think a lot of people would have preferred this 4 or 5 years ago, but for me its at its peak. Its richer than expected in the mouth, carreses the tounge and has the expected acidity and citrus fruit. Very nice example. I guessed Pewsly Vale 2002, so I was in the right area. 3.5*

2005 Blackwood Park Riesling, Mitchelton
In my somewhat limited experience, its hard to find gripping aged Auz Riesling, but this is great. It again looks like mature and is probably of a similar age to the Wigan. The nose has a lot of petrol to start off with and it smells a bit lean. In the glass though this takes off, the petrol disappears and a warm, creamy well endowed Riesling sprouts. More peach and appricots in the mouth, good texture. Apparently it was a warm year and the sunshine does come through. No need to hurry if you have any of this. Yum. 4*

2016 Quomodo, Ruggabellus
This was my main wine and I had double decanted it off a lot of sediment 24 hours beforehand. Probably should have been 48 hours. Michael had noted in earlier conversation that he really was not a fan of Orange wines, so I was surprised to see he was so taken with this. 95% Riesling with a splash each of Semillon and Muscat. Orange colour, tangerine spectrum fruit and immense power. Nothing really in common with the other Rieslings, but there is something noble about this wine. Its still young and I found it just a bit disjoined – a quick tasting as I type confirm that its better today. Think Oude Gouze Lambic beer meets Vouvray. Yum, but not for everyone. 3.5*

2000 Maurice O’Shea Shiraz, Mount Pleasant
This was a troubling wine. You could immediately tell that it was old, but it was hard to say where it came from due to the almonds, nail varnish and VA on the nose. Very angular and austere. At this point my mind is heading towards Italy, but then that friend of old wine wine kicks in: air. After 20 mins the VA had gone and some lovely delicate berry fruit appeared. Quality and terroir did kick in and we ended up with a lovely old hunter Shiraz. If you have this then I’d recommend opening at lunch time and letting it Audouze for the rest of the day. Reminded of an aged La Peyre Rose, so more Syrah than Shiraz. Thanks to Tom for bring this. 3* (2* to start, 4* by the finish)

2016 Fallen Giants Vineyard Shiraz
Obviously a lot younger than the Maurice. Raspberry liqueur on the nose. Round, voluptuous, Moorish. Easy drinking Bistro style wine with bags of savoury fruit. Would be great with a big stew, but it gets a bit lost here after the older wines. 3*

Served with Sherri’s lovely lemon tart

2006 Noble Riesling, John Forrest Collection
BA style Riesling. Dark and rich, with burnt sugar and ripe stone fruit. Just enough acidity to keep it fresh. Yum – I could have skulled the half bottle all by myself. 3.5*

2009 Botrytis Riesling, Joseph Chromey
Another sweetie. More in a late harvest style, so a lighter colour. Less sweet than the 06, this is fruitier with plenty of baked pineapple and peach. Good streak of acidity to keep it fresh. Again its gorgeous, but if I had to choose it would have been for the 06 (sugar always wins). 3.5*

At the end of the day, the general favourite was the Maurice O’Shea, although for me it was clearly the Mitchelton. Thanks to John and Sherri for the hospitality and for Tom and Micheal for bring such lovely old wines. Lets hope we can have a few editions for the next tasting, due to be held in Fairfield on 22nd May.

[Con J]

Looks like a fun day, I’m sure there’s a couple of headaches today.
Can’t say that I’ve tried any of them.

I’ll try and make the next one.

Cheers Con.

[cuttlefish]

Thanks for your notes, Cameron!
I really enjoyed the afternoon, and I must say, on reflection, that the Quomodo is the one that really stayed with me after the event, despite my sentimental vote for the Maurice O'Shea on the day.
Thanks must also go to John and Sherry for inviting us into their home, and their generosity filling the gaps around the wines we'd brought with wines of their own.
Looking forward to the next installment in May!

[I Love Shiraz]

Thanks for posting the tasting notes Cameron. It was a fun tasting with nice wines and even better company.

Jon and Sherry were wonderful hosts.

I look forward to our next testing.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Thanks for the notes, sounds like it was a fun afternoon. I have an interest in the Blackwood Park and the Maurice O'Shea. The Maurice O'Shea is one that I have had, with another bottle still remaining in the cellar, while the Blackwood Park is something I brought back from Australia but have yet to open.

Cheers ............... Mahmoud.

[mychurch]

If they are the same vintages Mahmoud, then you should be planning a dinner for them. They may keep longer - hey it’s colder up in Canada, but I am not sure how much more there is to gain. As a pair, they’d make a great dinner for 2

[Mahmoud Ali]

Mychurch,

You'll roll your eyes when I tell you, but the Maurice O'Shea is from 1993 and the Blackwood Parks are 1998 and 2000. I bought a pair of the 1993 O'Shea in Tanunda back in 2001 and opened the first bottle in 2009 - and it was lovely. A decade later perhaps it is time to open the other bottle. Regarding the Blackwood Parks back in 2001 I thought I was buying a pair of '98s but somehow ended up with a different vintage.

Right now I have a 1999 Plantagenet in the wine fridge ready to go so the Blackwood Park will have to wait a little longer. By the way, a couple of months ago I opened a 2000 Wirra Wirra 'Hand Picked' Riesling (Fleurie, Coonawarra, Grampians) and it resembled an old, German riesling, and if I had to pin it down, more like an off-dry Spatlese that lost it's sweetness.

Cheers ........................ Mahmoud.

[phillisc]

Encouraged by the note on the O'Shea, the only vintage I have, must open one. Remember fondly going to a large store on Anzac Highway and picking these up for about $25 already on clearance and then another 30% off ('bout the price of a Philip Shiraz).
Similarly the first release of the Wynns single vineyard range, 01 Harold Cabernet was down to $20, 'cause it was so poorly marketed and convinced that the punters thought it was an equivalent to the white label shiraz (only single vineyard release to ever sport a white label). Very happy days!!

Cheers Craig

[cuttlefish]

Encouraged by the note on the O'Shea, the only vintage I have, must open one. Remember fondly going to a large store on Anzac Highway and picking these up for about $25 already on clearance and then another 30% off ('bout the price of a Philip Shiraz).
Similarly the first release of the Wynns single vineyard range, 01 Harold Cabernet was down to $20, 'cause it was so poorly marketed and convinced that the punters thought it was an equivalent to the white label shiraz (only single vineyard release to ever sport a white label). Very happy days!!

Cheers Craig

Love the Harold '01

I have one bottle left.

[ticklenow1]

Encouraged by the note on the O'Shea, the only vintage I have, must open one. Remember fondly going to a large store on Anzac Highway and picking these up for about $25 already on clearance and then another 30% off ('bout the price of a Philip Shiraz).
Similarly the first release of the Wynns single vineyard range, 01 Harold Cabernet was down to $20, 'cause it was so poorly marketed and convinced that the punters thought it was an equivalent to the white label shiraz (only single vineyard release to ever sport a white label). Very happy days!!

Cheers Craig

Love the Harold '01

I have one bottle left.

I had a bottle a the '01 Harold a few years back with Luke W and I thought it was exceptional. I'm not a huge fan of Coonawarra either. Striking wine.

Interesting about the orange wine in the OP. I remember having a conversation with one of Barossa's leading winemakers over a glass of red about orange wines. He was none to complimentary about them. I had to laugh. Then I tried one. I saw his point. Horses for courses I guess.

Cheers
Ian

[cuttlefish]

Encouraged by the note on the O'Shea, the only vintage I have, must open one. Remember fondly going to a large store on Anzac Highway and picking these up for about $25 already on clearance and then another 30% off ('bout the price of a Philip Shiraz).
Similarly the first release of the Wynns single vineyard range, 01 Harold Cabernet was down to $20, 'cause it was so poorly marketed and convinced that the punters thought it was an equivalent to the white label shiraz (only single vineyard release to ever sport a white label). Very happy days!!

Cheers Craig

Love the Harold '01

I have one bottle left.

I had a bottle a the '01 Harold a few years back with Luke W and I thought it was exceptional. I'm not a huge fan of Coonawarra either. Striking wine.

Interesting about the orange wine in the OP. I remember having a conversation with one of Barossa's leading winemakers over a glass of red about orange wines. He was none to complimentary about them. I had to laugh. Then I tried one. I saw his point. Horses for courses I guess.

Cheers
Ian

Regarding the orange wines, there are plenty of very average ones around, so (and I'll freely admit that I'm only really just learning the orange wine caper) you've got to pick your producers!
I've certainly recognised a higher level of quality in this Ruggabellus, and with the Dr Edge label wine that I've had in the past.

[kenzo]

I hear good things about Latta, but not tried any of his orange wines. Lucy Margaux also springs to mind.
They seem to be comparatively expensive over here in Japan so I haven't dabbled too much. Purchases for my Australian cellar need to be able to age, so likewise not bought any for cellaring there either...

[mychurch]

I reckon the Ruggabellus whites will age a very long time - I got to take the bottle home and it improved over 4 nights. On the last night the Orange notes had dissipated and it reminded me a lot of a aged Breze Chenin. I agree that when it comes to the natural and orange wine movement, there are a lot of duds and very expensive bottles of vinegar, but look hard and there are some jewels out there.