TN: Melbourne tastes young Shiraz 13/04

[mychurch]

Just incase there are some lurkers out there, the next get together for the Melbourne group will be current vintage Shiraz ( well current or the previous).

Please send a pm of you are interested in coming along.

[cuttlefish]

MBHB, I've PM'd you a couple of times about today's tasting. Check your PM's.

[mychurch]

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What a great tasting. More notes to follow of course, but there was much more variety to the wines than I was expecting.

NV Sepplt Sparkling Shiraz 3*
2020 Finestra Shiraz 3*
2017 Melissa’s Paddock, Levantine Hill 2*
2020 Le Grand Cock, Bress 4*
2021 Pyrette Shiraz, Bindi 3.5 *
2019 J C Block, Koomila 3*
2019 Basket Press Shiraz, Rockford 3.5*
2022 Theels Handfibal Shiraz, Agricola 3.5 *
2022 Flaxman Syrah, Setiono 3*
2021 Hoffman Dalawitz, Sami Odi 3.5*
2020 Shiraz Mataro, Wendouree 4*
2014 Shiraz, Wendouree 4*

[mychurch]

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We also had a nice selection of sweet wines at the end.

Missing from the photo is the 2014 Suduiraut, which was a fantastic wine. Proper Sauternes with a lushness and a weigh of fruit that made it very different to the others. Glorious and one of the best wines of the day.

Just as good though was the 95 Brown Brothers Auslese Riesling. It has that old Tokaji colour and like a Tokaji it has that spellbinding combination of acidity and fruit. Cuttlefish introduced me to older versions of this wine and I would love to see a vertical of this against Noble 1.

Fact of the day is that Rutherglen has a lot of Trebianno and that it used to be called White Hermitage. This is in the bottle of Morris Sauternes, along with Semillon. Not at the level of the other 2, but it’s still drinking well and has not dried out. Plenty of orange and enough acidity. Yum.

After most had departed Bruce, was saying he did not drink German Sweet Riesling and so I opens up the Diel. Needs years to be at its peak, but it will never get there as it’s too nice now. Sweet German Riesling: best wine style I’m the world

[mychurch]

With the benefit of hindsight I served the reds in the wrong order. They were sorted by region, starting with Vic, and then moving onto South Australia. That meant the more modern wines - Agricola, Setiono and (to a lesser extent) Sami Odi - came after some more traditional wines. These in vogue new style Shiraz wines through a lot of the tasters and divided opinion. This was especially true of the Agricola. I liked it a lot - it was the most complex - but it the was not warm, round and inviting like some of the others, with some VA, blue fruits and high a acidity. The Setiono was similar and came with some stalkiness and some dry tannin on the finish. Tasting both the morning after, they are both great wines and showed much better than yesterday.

The Sami-Odi was endowed in rich fruit and had more warmth. Fraser says these wines air designed to age, but it was not clear to everyone how that would happen. The tannins must be super ripe as they were hard to find.Acidity was low. It has amazing presence though - probably the most concentrated red of the day.

[mychurch]

Don’t remember ever drink the Basket Press before. I thought it was meant to be an old school Parker style wine with a lot of oak and extract, but it was actually reasonabley elegant. Good fruit and acidity, this was the first bottle to be finished on the day, which tells its own story.

The Koomila was fine and had some boot polish, which I generally find in McLaren Vale. It got lost a bit against the Rockford though.

Flight of the day was actually the Bindi and the Bress. The Bindi was the classiest wine of them all, having red fruit and pepper, with a layered structure and a delicate mouth feel. Classy stuff. My favourite wine was the Bress - a new name for me. This was the Shiraz the world wants - it caresses the tongue, is warm and comforting, almost weightless and had plenty of red fruit and gentle oak. Lovely and the antithesis of the modern style wines we had later. One for the Penfolds fans.

As per an earlier tasting, the Levantine Hill was the worst wine of the day. It was one of these manufactured wines with all the elements being larger than life and not fitting together. We all agreed they had reasonable fruit and quality oak, but 1 sip was enough for me. The more gentle Finestra it was drunk against was the much better wine. Purple, a little bit fleshy, this was not trying too hard and came across well - 2nd wine I have had from them and it’s another bistro classic

The 2 Wendouree wines were of course exceptional. No idea what happens to these wines after 20 years, but all these stories about them needing to be left forever are no longer true. Both were open for business and there was not much to choose between them. The 14 was added at the last minute due to some drunken exuberance and was sitting well in the glass. It was older than the other and had a bit more calm and personality about. Class and elegance were the 2 elements that caught my eye. The blend is probably my favourite Wendouree wine (along with the Cab/Malbec). This was nice and did not last long, but I’ll let cuttlefish give his impressions as it’s gone from my memory.

Lovely day. Next tasting will be organised in a few months by Cuttlefish with maybe Sauv Blanc and Fortified as the theme.

[kenzo]

I note that Bress are currently offering a vertical of 2018, 2020, and 2022 at a reduced price.

[VinoEd]

I note that Bress are currently offering a vertical of 2018, 2020, and 2022 at a reduced price.

Well, I’m sold! Haven’t tried this label before either - but a solid review and a bit of charm about their very old school website. $50 a bottle - seems worth a punt.

Thanks for the notes - looks like a great tasting. One day I will make it (maybe not in the near term with a very young bub at home).

Cheers Ed

[mychurch]

I noticed the Bress offer as well. No real room for another 6 bottles though. Just finished the end of the bottle tonight and it was still drinking well