PART 2 – REDS
Refer to the disclaimer at the beginning of part 1.
AustinÂ’s Barrabool 2004 Six Foot Six Pinot Noir
Very pleasant cherry aroma and flavour. Nothing special, but good value for money at the lower end of the price spectrum.
AustinÂ’s Barrabool 2003 Pinot Noir
Dark cherry and spice on nose. Cherry strawberry and blackberry flavour. Nice length. Ended up with half a bottle of this after the tasting. Not a bad wine, on the lighter side.
AustinÂ’s Barrabool 2002 Reserve Pinot Noir
Less transparent and more developed than the cheaper wines. However still a fairly sweet fruit style with some earthy characters on nose. Greater complexity in the mouth, but with less sweet primary fruit.
Brokenwood 2004 Beechworth Pinot Noir
Very dark purple/red. Surprisingly subtle on nose given enormous colour. Grippy but silky tannins. Forest earth and fruit flavours. Seems a little closed at this time. Potential here.
Caledonia Australis 2003 Pinot Noir
Light red strawberry and cream style. Simple and boring.
Caledonia Australis 2001 Reserve Pinot Noir
Young muscat colour. Complex earthy/forest floor/spicy and concentrated briary aromas. Lacks the same intensity on the palate. Quite developed for its age. Drink now for $40. OK value.
Coldstream Hills 2003 Pinot Noir
Transparent red. Strawberry and cherry. Lighter style on the palate. Non-distinct red fruits. Not particularly interesting.
Crittenden 2004 Crittenden Pinot Noir
Powerful nose and palate. Dirty taste. DonÂ’t like.
Curlewis 2002 Reserve Pinot Noir
Dark brick red. Lovely sweet fruit definition with earthy characters. Ripe fruit flavours on palate. Silky but plentiful tannins. Great length. Lots of class. A pleasure to drink. One of the best on night.
Dromana 2003 Mornington Estate Pinot Noir
Intense fruit. Reasonably complex for price ($20). Grippy tannins. Good VFM
Dromana 2003 Pinot Noir
More forest floor aromas that Mornington Pinot. Strong acidity and flavours. Somehow not that appealing though.
Paringa 2004 Peninsula Pinot Noir
Transparent red. Strawberry&cream and spice on nose. Powerful dark cherry and spice on palate. Simple, but nice
Paringa 2002 Estate Pinot Noir
A step up. Much more powerful dark cherry/coffee/touch of dark chocolate. Slight compost aromas hint at what is to come. Powerful tannins. Beautiful oak management. This is serious stuff. Needs some time. Should be a ripper. Pinot of the night.
Paringa 2003 Reserve Pinot Noir
Lighter in colour than the estate. Closed on the nose. Complex. Great depth on palate even at this early stage. Less fruit, more earth. Needs a lot of time. High quality wine. My only question mark on this wine is possibly too much oak. Perhaps it is more apparent because the fruit is not coming out. It is not a problem at the moment, but if too much fruit died away with time, it could be unbalanced. I discussed this with the winemaker and he quickly told me that Halliday chose this wine to represent Australia in some upcoming Pinot Challenge. Yes, it is a quality wine with quality fruit selection (from what I could tell), but the simple fact of the matter is that the cheaper ($60?) estate Pinot is showing much better at this time.
Scotchmans Hill 2004 Swan Bay Pinot Noir
Bright cherry and bubblegum aromas. Not for me.
Scotchmans Hill 2003 Pinot Noir
More intense than the Swan Bay. Some complex/earthy flavours Grutty tannins and high acidity. Come back and try in 5 years. Not a bad VFM wine.
Seville Estate 2003 Yarra Valley Reserve Pinot
Dark red. Fruit and compost. Initial intensity but seems a bit flabby on the palate, then dies away quickly. Seemingly too much oak.
Dalwhinnie 2003 Moonambel Shiraz
Powerful cherry and blackberry, pepper and cloves. Quite extracted. Too much oak?. Firm acidity and tannins. Quality fruit. Nice wine. Needs time to settle down, but question mark remains on oak.
Dalwhinnie 2003 Moonambel Cabernet
Nothing special. Not for that price anyhow.
Dalwhinnie 2001 Eagle Shiraz
DidnÂ’t know what I was tasting here because I had never heard of it before. The winemaker was off talking to someone else (as he was for most of the night) so the person serving it too me did so without saying anything about it.
Initially closed. More vibrant ripe fruit straining through (compared with Moonambel). Voluptuous mouthfeel and better balanced than Moonambel. Powerful tannins. Needs time for these to soften. Overall, a much better wine that the normal shiraz. Then they told me the price. $200. Needless to say, I wasnÂ’t thinking Grange/ HOG/Armagh competitor when tasting this, but was thinking around the Octavius/ Stonewell/ WB Black price range. Potential to be a great wine. Not so good VFM (compared to other wines at its price).
By this stage, my tastebuds were dying, and my teeth were dyeing. I needed a good drinkÂ… so I turned to the fortifieds. For some reason, I had never taken a moment to do a Morris Vs Seppelt tasteoff, but the moment presented itself here and I took it.
Seppelt DP59 Vs Morris Old Premium Tokay
The Morris is sensational. Rich beyond belief, layer and layer of sweet fruit and tea-leaf flavours. Incredible complexity. The Seppelt was lighter in flavour with more noticeable spirit impact leaving a lovely warmth on palate. Not as intense as the Morris. If I was trying to impress the hell out of someone new to Tokays, I’d give them the Morris, but for my own tastes, I’d give the edge to the Seppelt. David Morris welcomed the comparison, and in contrast to my opinions on southcorps philosophy of world domination, David was happy for all of the fortified producers to ‘share the love’, offering different products for different people. Good on you David. I have been a Morris supporter in the past and I will continue to be in the future… especially after the next comparison.
Morris Old Premium Muscat Vs Seppelt DP63
Now OK, I know this is not totally fair, and the DP63 is the Grand level wine compared with Morris which is twice the price. Nevertheless, the Seppelt Rare Muscat wasnÂ’t on tasting, so I had to use what was given. DP63 is my staple Muscat drink at home. It was when it was in the small bottles, and still is in the new format. I have tasted both since the format change, and like TORB, I believe that that wine has changed slightly.
The Morris simply blows the DP63 away. I have enjoyed the Morris many times before but never realised how overwhelmingly better than the Seppelt up until now. The Morris shows more spirit, incredible length and concentration. This is phenomenal stuff.
Victorian Winemakers Expo, Brisbane 2005. Part 2
Thanks for the TN's and warning at the start of Part One. 
The TN's are a mammoth effort for one tasting. Interesting to see how many Pinot's you have to go through to find the good ones, its hard work.
I loved reading your fortified comparisons. Now for a little secret just between you and me. My house sticky has now become the Morris CD Tokay. Its $30 for a 500 ml and only available from CD (you can ring up and order it) but the quality is well above its price point.
The TN's are a mammoth effort for one tasting. Interesting to see how many Pinot's you have to go through to find the good ones, its hard work.
I loved reading your fortified comparisons. Now for a little secret just between you and me. My house sticky has now become the Morris CD Tokay. Its $30 for a 500 ml and only available from CD (you can ring up and order it) but the quality is well above its price point.
TORB wrote:Thanks for the TN's and warning at the start of Part One.
I loved reading your fortified comparisons. Now for a little secret just between you and me. My house sticky has now become the Morris CD Tokay. Its $30 for a 500 ml and only available from CD (you can ring up and order it) but the quality is well above its price point.
Thanks Ric. Yes, tasting my way through a lot of rubbish Pinot was hard work (there were even more tasted, but not included in the notes). But in the end, the best examples were very seductive.
Regarding the fortifieds, thanks for the tip. About a year or two ago, I attended a 'Morris Fortifieds tasting with David Morris', put on by VC. Their standard and Old premium range was on show (with other non-fortified reds), and interestingly, it was their VC-labeled muscat that was the best value for money. I'm not sure whether Morris still does a VC-only Muscat, but I'm pretty sure it was around the same price (and format) as the CD Tokay you mention. Interesting...