The theme for the 3rd 2005 Wine Club dinner was "Vintage Champagne". Each guest was asked to present at least two wines, with one being Vintage Champagne. The other wine may be of any style. All wines were tasted double blind or "Spot On". The goal of each attendee was to identify each wine's grape variety/ies, vintage and producer. Should all attendees fail, after open discussion, the presenter of each particular wine provided options and/or trivia about the wine.
Date: Saturday 9th July 2005.
Attendees: David, Steve, Neville, Attila, Danny, Adair.
Location: Attila's Place, Maroubra.
The wines presented were:
1979 G.H. Mumm "Cuvée René Lalou" (Danny)
50% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noirs.
Deep and smooth with great creamy mousse on the palate. Very buttery, touches of almond and brown sugar. Very aged White Burgundy, I thought that it would have had a larger proportion of Chardonnay. Very harmonious, balanced and elegant. Superb winemaking. Amazing fresh yet not crisp. However, it lacked complexity and flavour definition. Despite being a few years past its peak, I thoroughly enjoyed this wine and it was a great start to the evening. 17.1/20, 90/100.
1979 Bollinger RD: Dégorgement 1988 – 12% (Danny)
Dried apricots, light honey and pear yet with smooth aged sweetness. Great depth. Hints of aldehyde of the back. Fine yet powerful structure in total harmony. This structure continued to impress for many days. Gorgeous wine that makes we want to rate it higher the more I think about it. 18.1/20, 93/100 on the night, but 18.5/20, 94/100 after 5 days!
In the options I verbalised my thought "It's definitely not Bollinger"! Luckily I was able to make up for this. To their credit, both Attila and David picked the House spot-on.
1996 Perrier-Jouët “Belle Epoque†– 12% (Steve)
Full of fresh dough with florals and lime. Very, very tight with excellent power and abundant, powerful yet classy acidity. The palate is young but creamy. Needs 5 years. Looked great the following days. 18.6/20, 95/100.
1996 Louis Roederer “Cristal†(Neville)
Toast, a little char, lime and a multitude of florals jumping out of the glass and all over the palate. It reminded me of the 2002 Kilikanoon Mort's Block Riesling in its infancy, but more complex and more spectacular. Power with lightness, elegance, harmony and finesse. Heaps of mousse. Its amazingly fine but greatly abundant structure fills the whole palate. Great length. Great wine. I don't think this wine could provide me with any additional pleasure with age but will undoubtedly last decades. 19.3/20, 97/100. Wine of the night and equal wine of the year so far.
Danny identified the wine as 1995 or 1996 Cristal spot-on. Well done!
MV (1993/5/6) Egly-Ouriet Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru “Vielles Vignes†– Les Crayeres, Ambonnay – 12.5% (David)
Slightly copper in colour. Strawberries and raspberries rise from the glass. Obviously Pinot Noir dominant without tasting the wine. The palate is tremendously powerful and pure with the raspberries more dominant. Superb strong structure and a full, clean palate. More potential and age-worthiness than the 1996 Belle Epoque. So tight with great line. Needs 10 years in the cellar and looked great on the following days. David Lole mentioned that it was a blend of 1993, 1995 and 1996 vintages off this single vineyard. 18.7/20, 95/100.
The Evening's Three Greatest
1996 Joseph Perrier “Cuvée Royale†– 12% (Adair)
Ripe and broad, especially on the back palate showing its Pinot Noir. Ripe berry and peachy fruit nuances with barrel influence complexities. Harmonious and very enjoyable, its structure is classy enough to show its Champagne origin but still not classy enough in terms of elegance and length to compete with the previous wines. Nonetheless, very good value at $70 per bottle. One or two more years of peak drinking. 17.6/20, 91/100.
1998 Veuve Cliquot-Ponsardin (Attila)
Full of nicely judged barrel complexities as well as developed flavours, actually over-developed for its age, on a creamy palate but not offering much in terms of core flavour. The back finishes slightly astringent. Drink now. 16.7/20, 89/100.
2003 Kreinbacher “Szt. Margit†Olaszrizling – Somlo, Hungary (Attila)
Dry still white wine. Heaps of smooth banana from extremely high quality oak but unfortunately there was nothing underneath. Money does not make great wine, especially from varieties that are better without oak. 15/20, 82/100.
NV Rockford Black Shiraz (Disgorged 2000) – 13.5% (Adair)
Full of savoury and earthy complexities on top of sweet, dark fruit and youthful sweet oak. Seemed overdeveloped and unbalanced. Nonetheless I enjoy it, obviously more than others. 17.6/20, 91/100.
1996 Domaine George Roumier Chambolle-Musigny (David)
A beautiful nose of undergrowth, red fruit and earthy nuances but the palate is astringent, high in acid and low in fruit. 15.5/20, 85/100.
1994 Château Kirwan (Margaux) (Steve)
Absolutely awesome nose on dark depth, cedar and herbs. Despite some lovely gravel and leafy complexity, the palate is disappointingly thin and slightly green. 15.4/20, 84/100.
1989 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River) (Neville)
This wine quickly reminded me of the wonderful 1995 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon tasted 7 months ago, however this wine had even more dark depth but still with lovely Cabernet complexities although its darkness hid any cigar. Harmonious with excellent power and length. Definitely in its peak drinking window but with time on its side. 18.5/20, 94/100.
1997 Cape Mentelle Shiraz – 14.5% (Steve)
Complex and powerful. A lot of savouriness on a large base of chocolate and admirably restrained dark fruit. A fair whack of high quality oak and massive, ripe, chalky tannins contribute greatly to the wine, especially its length of great presence. I really like the structure! Tasting over a number of days confirms that this is an excellent wine. Needs another 5 years. 18.3/20, 94/100.
1996 Rockford “Moorooroo†Shiraz – 13.5% (Adair)
I previously opened a 1996 Rockford Hoffmann and promised myself not to open another for 5 years, and now the same goes for this wine. It was absolutely all over the place. Very dark with heaps of fruitcake spices. Tannins are very ripe and soft. The main reason why I opened this wine was to see whether other peopleÂ’s reports of this wine going savoury (like Hunter Shiraz) were correct. They are not but there might be larger problems. Given the quality of the producer, I will give this wine the benefit of the doubt; however it rates 16/20, 87/100.
1988 Parker Estate “First Growth†Cabernet Sauvignon (Neville)
Ripe base with aged complexities now slightly past its peak with the palate thinning out. Elegant and enjoyable. 17/20, 90/100.
2004 Stephen Tindall Shiraz – Mudgee (Steve)
Potentially not a bad wine with good power and depth on an adequate frame but needs some expert winemaking input to rectify a few faults. 14.5/20, 80/100.
1988 Château Rieussec (Danny)
Enjoyable in a surprising large and fat style, especially for the producer, but lacking any structural complexity and excitement, especially on the back palate as one would expect. 16.8/20, 89/100.
1972 Seppelt Vintage Port – Rutherglen (David)
An unusual blend of varieties: Touriga, Bastardo and Alvarelhao; leading presumably to some unusual but interesting nuances in the wine. A deep large base of sweet raisins, chocolate and spices, there were some bitter nuts and fine, quite nicely astringent tannins, especially on the back palate. I am not sure whether the wine should be considered short as the fruit sweetness lingered only for a short-medium period of time or whether it should be considered medium-long given the bitter nuttiness than covered the palate upon swallowing. Nonetheless, this was an enjoyable wine that provided much pleasure over a number of evenings. 17.3/20, 90/100.
Yes, it was a great night!
Kind regards,
Adair
