Vintages ending in "2"

[cuttlefish]

Seven of us got together in Melbourne's inner west for a themed tasting where the vintage of the wine had to end in "2".
Seventeen bottles in all, with quite sensibly a bit left undrunk, but, thankfully, very, very few faulty wines.
We tasted in flights of two the following:
1. Cos Rami 2022
An orange wine. Excellent earthy qualities here, and really very clean. Among the best of this style of wine that I've tasted.
2. Gerovassuliou Malagousia 2022
Smells like gewurztraminer; all Turkish Delight exotic lychee and rose, but the palate is far, far more savoury. This was an eye opening wine, and really pleased to try.

1. Soho Road Barrel Select Chardonnay 2012
Detected a faint fusal note at first, but peachy stonefruit pushed through making this Bellarine Peninsula wine quite enjoyable.
2. Leo Buring Leonay Riesling 2012
Touch fusal, but blew off to reveal nice bickford lime and talcy spice as a supporting note. Travelling nicely.

1. Ch. Sociando Mallet 2012
A real density to this. Many thought this wine right in a good spot for drinking. Lots of cedar/pencil-shaving aromas, some roasting-pan. Looking really good. Excellent mouthfeel.
2. Saltram Vin 88 Claret 1982
A pretty good companion to the Bordeaux; showing maturity, with some greenish cabernet elements. One taster (Con) absolutely nailed this bracket, and picked this as Barossa and a cab-blend almost immediately.

1. Vinea Marson Nebbiolo 2012
Really ferrous/rust notes on the nose, faint wood-spice, and a hint of EA, and perhaps a whisper of creosote. Fruit-wise it's almost red-curranty, but really as a back-note as this wine is overall very savoury.
Firm, fine, dry tannins on the palate mark this almost unmistakeable as nebb.
2. Milton Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012
This threw just about everyone present. There was a tendency here to play the man and not the wine, and once people began guessing Italian, it was all over. This was the bracket that I thought could be the most interesting being tasted blind, and it eventually exceeded my expectations.
No-one guessed pinot noir. There is a macerated berry quality to this that reminds me so much of my time spent in the winery directly across the road (Spring Vale), so I wonder if that is a specific quality of this geographical area? That I would be so arrogant to claim I can recognise some aromatic quality of two different, albeit close to one another wineries, but it does make me wonder.

1. Tyrrells Vat 9 Shiraz 2002
One taster guessed this as Hunter. A really sound, quite clean and quality shiraz. Just so even and graceful, and truly medium-bodied and an absolute drinking pleasure
2. Tyrrells Vat 9 Shiraz 1992
This looked good, relatively clean and in good condition. This bracked showed very clearly their family resemblance. The '92 simply further along the development curve. Lovely, lovely wines both of them.

1. Seppelt St Peters Shiraz 2002
Again, the family resemblance here was clear to see, but the depth of fruit on this '02 is extraordinary. This is an awesome example of central-Victorian shiraz.
2. Seppelt Great Western Shiraz 1992
Ageing magnificently, and once again showing clearly a wine further along in its development than the '02, but unmistakeably from the same place. A very good bottle.

1. Bannockburn Shiraz 1982
This was a bit of a rarity, and a real surprise to how well it has held up. Not entirely different in nature to the central Victorian shiraz's that preceeded it, with aged dark red fruits and pepper/spice elements. I was very pleased with how well this wine has held up after 42 years!
2. Faustino I Gran Reserva 1972
A recent pickup from auction, which fit the theme, but represented a bit of a curio, due to its age. There are vestiges of fruit here, and a balsamic note. By no means dead, but perhaps vaguely tainted by TCA, which was a pity. It gave me enough to repay me for having removed its cork.

1. Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling 2022
Very alluring aromatics. Gorgeous, and a very suitable match to the hand-made lemon tart we enjoyed with it.
2. Mount Pleasant Bin 92 Late Harvest Dessert Wine
Drying out, but with still enough sugar to satisfy. Lots of butterscotch and marmalade aromas

1. The Wine Society Penfolds Vintage Port 1982
Some almost sweet-biscuity aromatics here,
2. Houghton Vintage Port 1965

I'll try to form some recollections in the form of notes shortly, but other forum members who were present can feel free to post their impressions here..

[mychurch]

Great notes and a real shame I had to miss this.

[GraemeG]

Nice notes. I'd certainly have bet against both Vat 9s being drinkable at that age (brett, etc) yet not surprised about the St Peters'.

[Chuck]

Last number 2 seems to work in SA. 2002 probably the best vintage I've experienced. 2012 simple stunning and 2022 shaping up as a classic so far.