TN: API Wine Club options night 6/5/05

[n4sir]

As well as being the President of the Blacktongues, Steve Norman (707) is also the President of the API wine club in Adelaide, who last month had their wine options night.

The fun challenge for the 55 participants was to try and identify each of these six wines from the following options in a very short period of time (for each). Prizes were awarded for correct guesses, so a label and alcohol percentage was also required in the event of a tie.

This was the first one of these events I’ve gone to, so I roughly expected to be either very close or way off the mark each time – that was pretty much the case. It turned out to be pretty tough, with the overall winner of the night picking a total of ten options out of eighteen - I picked eight, and a few other Blacktongues did a lot worse than that!


Wine 1 Options:
McLaren Vale/Clare Valley/Eden Valley
Semillon Chardonnay/Chardonnay/Riesling
2000/2001/1999

Mid straw-yellow colour. The nose is typical Eden Valley Riesling with some hessian sack/beeswax and mineral characters, and some light toast/citrus with breathing. The palate opens with lime, lemon and spice, and a slight hint of honey, finishing extremely long with mineral and green apple characters. I had no doubt about the wine and region, but was it a 1999 under screwcap, or a 2001 under cork? It was very good so I picked the stronger vintage, which was the wrong guess.

My Guess: 1999 Pewsey Vale Eden Valley Riesling (Screwcap) 11.5% Alc
The Wine: 2001 Rockford Eden Valley Riesling (Cork) 11.5% Alc



Wine 2 Options:
Sangiovese/Tempranillo/Pinot Noir
Coonawarra/Adelaide Hills/Mornington Peninsula
2003/2002/2004

Bright purple/red colour. A very sweet and spicy nose at first, with cracked pepper, sweet cherry and vanilla oak. The spicy palate was light to mid-weight, again with those breezy sweet cherry characters matched with vanilla oak. No one on our table considered this could possibly be Pinot from the Coonawarra – most guessed it was Tempranillo. It’s a fruity-style lightweight wine for slurping with fast food, but as a Pinot it’s a complete runt. That 1% Chardonnay in the mix is a worry too. Pure options bastardry this one!

My Guess: 2003 Brown Bros(?) Mornington Peninsula Tempranillo 14% Alc
The Wine: 2004 Penley Estate Coonawarra Pinot Noir 13.5% Alc



Wine 3 Options:
Shiraz Cabernet/Shiraz/Shiraz Grenache
Coonawarra/Yarra Valley/McLaren Vale
2001/2003/2002

Inky red/purple colour. Obvious heavy American oak treatment on the nose with coconut and vanilla characters with a hint of mint, suggesting this was possibly a cooler climate Shiraz. The palate is very jammy on entry, with a spicy/peppery mid-palate and some mint on the finish. I ended up picking Coonawarra because of the mint characters, but that jammy fruit on the entry should have made me realise it was a Victorian job.

My Guess: 2001 Majella Coonawarra Shiraz 14% Alc
The Wine: 2001 Seville Estate Yarra Valley Shiraz 14% Alc



Wine 4 Options:
Shiraz Cabernet/Shiraz/Cabernet
Clare Valley/Barossa/McLaren Vale
1999/1998/2000

Very inky red/black colour with a touch of purple on the rim. A gorgeous nose of choc-mint/menthol, slightly porty blackberry, cedar, coffee and some dried herbs. The mid-weight palate was just as rich, featuring ripe blackberry fruit with hints of soy sauce and black olive, and a long dry finish with pepper/mint on the finish. The wine seemed very familiar and I was lucky to be the only one to pick the 1998/Clare/Shiraz combination, as I got both the label and alcohol tiebreakers wrong! I drank my last 1998 Bin 61 just a few weeks before which was unfortunately very slightly corked, so while I recognized the style I didn’t associate it with the label – luckily that didn’t matter.

My Guess: 1998 Tim Adams Clare Valley Shiraz 14.5% Alc
The Wine: 1998 Leasingham Bin 61 Clare Valley Shiraz 14% Alc



Wine 5 Options:
Adelaide Hills/Central Victoria/Coonawarra
Cabernet Merlot/Cabernet/Cabernet Shiraz
1999/1996/1998

Dark to inky red colour, with no sign of purple. A very stalky and slightly vegetal nose, with an element of green and some cedar accents. The palate was again slightly green, and while having a powerful tannin structure seemed quite advanced. While I got the region right, the seemingly advanced characters and colour really threw me out; I never would have guessed this as a 1998 Black label from my last few bottles, as it seemed just too advanced and vegetal – maybe it’s time to try another to check? Well done Harry for picking this one.

My Guess: 1996 Brands Laira Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot 13.5% Alc
The Wine: 1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 13.5% Alc



Wine 6 Options:
Shiraz Mourvedre/Shiraz/Shiraz Cabernet
Clare Valley/Langhorne Creek/Central Victoria
1998/2000/1999

Inky red colour. A quite minty nose with blackberry fruit and some menthol – at this stage I was suspecting Langhorne Creek, and to my peril started listening to Peter who was thinking the same at the time. The palate again featured those mint/menthol characters with some mud chocolate, and I thought it did remind me of the Metala white label which I haven’t tried for many years. Completely wrong on all counts, and as for Peter – well his wife Sue ignored him got it completely right!

My Guess: 1998 Metala Langhorne Creek Shiraz Cabernet 14% Alc
The Wine: 1999 Summerfield Pyrenees (Central Victoria) Shiraz 15% Alc



Cheers
Ian

[markg]

An interesting read Ian, thanks for the notes.