TN: Blacktongues VP Dinner 15/7/05

[n4sir]

Steve Norman arranged this dinner at Casa Mia on Melbourne Street after Winemaker Colin Cooter suggested to a few of the Blacktongues that an evening of Vintage Port tasting was long overdue. Colin and a few of the usual suspects brought along a selection of six VPs from the 1970s, while the rest of us brought along the standard “bloody good bottle of red”.

The reds were sampled with the superb Italian food prepared by the team at Casa Mia, while the flight of VPs were served blind and ranked as per the usual Blacktongues method of most preferred, second preferred (no third this time) and least preferred wines before unveiling.

This was the first time I had tried a flight of old ports, and have to thank Steve, Colin, the rest of the Blacktongues and of course the staff at Casa Mia for such a great experience. Like the evening the notes are presented in two fights.


FLIGHT 1 - THE REDS (SAMPLED WITH ENTREES & MAIN COURSES):

1991 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet: Dark red/brick colour. A very complex, opulent nose from the outset featuring a great balance of fruit & oak; bread dough, grilled nuts and a hint of mint, then concentrated tomato, cigar smoke and violets. The palate was velvety and rich from the entry of the first sip, with nutty oak and bright raspberry fruit, and some chocolate/coffee on the finish. This was an excellent bottle and although the oak was quite obvious (especially on the palate) it never seemed unbalanced.

1994 Lindemans Pyrus Cabernet Blend: Inky crimson/brick, darker than the previous wine. A very closed nose at first, with some cigar smoke, bread dough and mineral, and much later some green/menthol characters. The palate was spicy on entry followed by bright/tangy raspberry fruit, but the tannins really stood out through its whole length, especially the entry and finish. This seemed to lack the depth and roundness of the Limestone Ridge, but my tasting of this wine did seem a little rushed on this occasion.

1998 Tisdall Mt Ida Shiraz: Inky red colour with no sign of bricking. This seemed a natural follow-on from the first two wines, with opulent, complex bread dough, cool climate mint and milled pepper characters on the nose. In comparison to the Pyrus the palate seemed to have a better balance of rich and velvety fruit to match those substantial tannins, with lifted/spicy mint and some VA characters mid-palate, finishing sweet and long. There were two bottles of this during the night, and according to Barry this was the inferior one, but I was still impressed – unfortunately I didn’t try the other one!

1997 Coldstream Hills Merlot: Dark red/brick colour. An exotic nose with a mixture of leafy/mint, menthol and soy sauce. The palate features an acidic/spicy entry, with subtle/restrained fruit and dry tannins, finishing fairly long with a green tinge. This was my least favourite of the reds, and I can’t really see it improving; drink now.

1998 Barossa Valley Estate E&E Black Pepper Shiraz: Inky red/purple colour. Unlike the previous wines the nose was quite closed at first with a hint of toast, gradually opening up to reveal ground/roast coffee and earth. The entry of the velvety palate is bright and spicy featuring lively raspberry fruit supported by ample oak and powdery tannins in a very loose-knit style. This was a very ripe, forward wine in comparison to the following from the same vintage…

1998 Tintara Reserve Shiraz: Dark to inky red/purple colour. A tight, but complex and evolving nose of violets, licorice, smoke, boot polish, raspberry and some celery. The brawny palate builds slowly, with smoky, powerful fruit, and dusty tannins on the long finish, with hints of mint, menthol and tomato. The 1998 Tintara Reserve Grenache I was originally going to bring was corked, so this was double decanted through a breatheasy with an hour sitting in a Zerrutti turn decanter in between - the result was stunning, and my favourite of the reds.

2003 Lengs & Cooter Reserve Shiraz $40: Inky red/purple colour. Following the 1998 Tintara in such good form was going to be a tough ask for a new release wine, but this was impressive. Sweet blackberries lightly dusted in icing sugar at first, followed by creamy bisque characters wafted from the glass. The weighty palate is spicy/powdery on entry, with rich, primary blackberry fruit mesh with creamy vanilla oak, but finishing with noticeable heat from the 14.5% alcohol (on the label at least).



FLIGHT 2 - THE VPs (SAMPLED WITH CHEESE PLATTERS):

1975 Quelltaler Wyatt Earp: Inky crimson/brick with a bright orange rim. A ripe, sweet nose of raisins and deep/dark prune fruit, becoming even sweeter with breathing developing rancio and toffee characters. The palate opened with sweet toffee/coffee and licorice, but became very ripe with raisin characters and very hot alcohol lingering on the finish; Colin thought this was slightly oxidized, which may explain the slightly disappointing form.

My ranking: 4th place
Panel ranking: 5th place

Votes: 0 most preferred, 0 second & third, 3 least



1978 Hardys Vintage Port: Inky red/brick with an orange rim. This was more savoury than the Wyatt Earp at first, with wheaty/nutty licorice, lifted green/menthol characters, some fish sauce, then coffee, toffee and a touch of dry herbs. The palate like the Wyatt Earp was very ripe with licorice on entry and noticeable alcohol, but the long finish was less hot, with nice touches of licorice, mint and herbs. This was a great VP, but I thought it wasn’t in the same league as the two stars following it.

My ranking: 3rd place
Panel ranking: 3rd place

Votes: 2 most, 4 second & third, 0 least



1972 Stanton & Killeen Vintage Port: Inky red with a dark tawny rim. A classic nose of rich dark licorice, raisins and rancio/toffee, grilled nuts, toast and eventually smoky bacon. Likewise the palate is soft and deceptively rich, with deep, thunderous licorice characters and perfect length without any sign of alcohol or over-ripeness, again finishing with those unique smoky bacon characters. I could have sat back and hogged into this happily the rest of the night; priceless little gems like these are worth every effort to seek out.

My ranking: 1st place
Panel ranking: 2nd place

Votes: 3 most, 3 second & third, 0 least



1975 Reynella Vintage Port: Amazingly thick, viscous, inky brick/orange with a tawny rim. The complex nose was more exotic than the three previous wines, constantly evolving with footy liniment/deep heat, dried herbs, lifted and intensifying ozone, old book paper, black olive, paint fumes and white pepper. Like the nose the palate was just that little bit kinky, with star anise characters (as opposed to dark licorice), liniment and dried herbs. This grew on me throughout the tasting as it slowly built in complexity, and somehow I thought I was selling it a little short – that was until I tried the Stanton & Killeen again! Not surprisingly this was the most preferred VP of the panel - what an amazing couple of wines!

My ranking: 2nd place
Panel ranking: 1st place

Votes: 6 most, 3 second & third, 0 least



1976 Seaview Vintage Port: Inky brick colour. The chemical-like nose of this put most of the panel off immediately, dominated by lifted scents of wool carpet/lanolin, with hints of dried herbs and toffee. The palate was relatively simple in this group, and dominated by powdery/dusty tannins leaving the fruit characters behind. This was the least preferred of the panel, and pretty close to mine too.

My ranking: 5th place
Panel ranking: 6th place

Votes: 0 most, 0 second & third, 4 least



1977 Reynella Vintage Port: Inky brick colour. Like Ray I really had my suspicions about this wine, as there just seemed to be something amiss at times on the nose and palate; one moment turning it on with lifted scents of licorice allsorts, dried herbs, mineral, liniment, and menthol, and then turning quite flat. The entry of the palate was extremely course, and seemed to vary between sweet licorice/cherry characters and relative flatness, although the overall structure and finish were quite good. This was the polarizing VP of the night, and my least favourite.

My ranking: 6th place
Panel ranking: 4th place

Votes: 0 most, 2 second and third, 4 least




Cheers
Ian

[707]

Good notes Ian. You have really been burning the "midnight oil" looking at the time of your post.

Having drunk a substantial amount of VP over many years I must say the two top wines here were stunning.

The 1975 Reynella was as good as it gets, superb form from this bottle and baccking up it's hefty show record admirably.

The 1972 Stanton & Killeen shows this maker isn't new to making top flight VP. No wonder their current VPs are on allocation.

The 75 Wyatt Earp and 77 Reynella were not the best examples of these I've seen. Bloody tree bark strikes again!