TN: Blacktongues Very Good Shiraz 20/7/05

[n4sir]

All the following wines were tasted blind, and after about an hour all participants voted for their most preferred, two next preferred and their least preferred drops.

Steve promised a group of big hitting wines this time around, and as you can gather from his earlier posting they certainly delivered. There were a couple of hiccups along the way with one corked bottle replaced immediately, and one determined to be oxidized replaced halfway through which fortunately removed an easy least preferred candidate.

Not surprisingly the votes were very widespread which served to reflect the quality of the wines and how diverse the voters’ preferences were. The two clearly least preferred wines of the group still received two most preferred votes each, and the eighth place wine’s votes of two second and third and no least preferred is unusually strong for its low ranking. All this ultimately means is we sampled a fantastic group of diverse wines, which doesn’t really help Steve suss out what should be included in the next Super Shiraz tasting!


2003 Lengs & Cooter Reserve Shiraz $40: Glowing inky purple colour. The nose opened quite sweet with plum, dusty mocha/chocolate and traces of dry herbs, followed by concentrated blackberry. The entry of the palate was very dry and tannic with powerful but elemental blackberry fruit, finishing with quite hot alcohol that became more obvious with time. This wasn’t as good as at the VP dinner, but it was still very highly ranked by the panel.

My ranking: 7th place
Panel ranking: =2nd place

Votes: 2 most, 5 second & third, 0 least preferred



2002 Glaymond Distinction $100: Inky purple/black colour. Throughout the tasting the nose reeked of burnt rubber with some underlying very sweet confectionery/Turkish delight characters. The palate opened with deep/smoky blackberries and licorice, but fairly quickly that’s all overwhelmed by the terrifying 17.5% alcohol. I thought this would have been better suited to the VP dinner, but it still managed to gather solid positive votes among the many negatives; definitely a polarizing style.

My ranking: 9th place
Panel ranking: 9th place

Votes: 2 most preferred, 2 second & third, 6 least



2001 Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz $47: Inky purple colour. This opened with a salvo of sweet American oak matched to equally sweet fruit, featuring smoky chocolate/toffee, concentrated tomato and blackberry characters. The palate was quite spicy, with bright raspberry fruit and some ground pepper mid-palate, finishing with smoky chocolate and obvious tannins. Considering this was the replacement for the oxidized wine halfway through the tasting (with no breathing time) this was a good result in this strong group of wines. It certainly appeared a lot better here than a few months ago next to the 2002 Bin 61, which made it look very poor VFM.

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

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



2002 Three Hills Margaret River Shiraz $47: Glowing inky purple colour. An extremely lifted and green nose, with a wild mixture of floral and ozone characters that made me suspect this was either WA wine, a little Viognier was present, or possibly both. The lifted, green theme continued on the palate, with some sweet cherry/molasses characters that combined with the nose turned quite a few panelists off; I was very impressed with the layered, slow-crawling structure, and while the wine had two fans it was voted by the panel overwhelmingly least preferred.

My ranking: 6th place
Panel ranking: 10th place

Votes: 2 most, 0 second & third, 8 least



2003 Smythe Road Single Vineyard Pure Barossa Shiraz $30: Glowing inky purple colour. The alarm bells started going off in my head with that first whiff of apricot syrup matched to slightly green characters on the nose – Viognier alert! The palate was just as I expected with stewed blackberry fruit, a spicy mid-palate featuring a fair spike of alcohol heat, and finishing with razor-harsh tannins so common to those sloppy SV blends that I hate. The wine had many fans on the panel, but I make no apologies – I never liked this style of wine and I never will.

My ranking: 10th place
Panel ranking: 6th place

Votes: 0 most, 7 second & third, 1 least



2001 Seppelts St. Peters $50: Inky purple/black colour. This was one of my front-runners from the very beginning, featuring tightly wound fruit and equally massive oak that’s so shy and reserved right now. There’s some dusty, dark chocolate, caramel and toffee but it’s really shut down, even though you just somehow know it will explode when it reaches the end of its long fuse. The palate is just as reserved, with slightly tangy raspberry fruit and some lemon sherbet characters, followed by chalky/dusty tannins on the long finish. Voted most preferred by the panel in a close one, it still managed to attract one dissenter showing just how jumbled the voting results were this time. Considering how impressive this was in this strong group, it still doesn’t come close to the monster 2002 – that’s how good the latter really is.

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

Votes: 3 most, 5 second & third, 1 least



2003 Ulithorne Frux Fregus $44: Glowing inky purple colour. The nose reminded me of the Glaymond and Smythe Road featuring diesel and apricots, although not quite as funky or sickly sweet. The palate was just as unattractive, with burnt rubber, over-ripe stewed blackberry fruit and a hint of chocolate matched to hot alcohol, finishing with clumsy, dry tannins. This wine was voted very highly by the panel, but it’s just not the style I warm to.

My ranking: 8th place
Panel ranking: =2nd place

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



2002 Brown Bros. Patricia Reserve Shiraz $40: Glowing inky purple colour. A very sweet and powerful nose throughout the tasting featuring dark chocolate, rich fruit and a touch of VA, reflecting a delicate balance of ripe fruit extraction matched to sizable, but not overwhelming oak. The entry of the palate was just as sweet, with huge black olive tannins mid-palate and just a touch of alcohol heat, finishing long with chocolate, smoky tannins and a hint of bacon. For a Victorian wine, this was a pretty fair forgery of a big Barossa Shiraz!

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

Votes: 2 most, 5 second & third, 0 least



2002 Mt. Ida Heathcote Shiraz $40: Dark to inky purple/red. What struck me from the beginning was just how clean, young and fresh this wine was, with pure blackberry/plum fruit powering the nose without the slightest hint of oak or greenness. Just as pristine, the palate featured perfectly balanced tangy raspberry fruit and smoky tannins, finishing clean and sweet with that distinctive raspberry ripple. My amazing fascination with Victorian Shiraz continues, as evidenced by my top three placings in this vote.

My ranking: =2nd place
Panel ranking: 8th place

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



2001 Bremerton Old Adam $40: Dark to inky purple/red colour. The nose was similar at first to the Three Hills, although not quite as lifted and green but more complex with some tomato, mint and lemon sherbet characters. Sweet on entry, the palate had that tinge of green like the nose, matched to tangy raspberry fruit and a hint of chocolate, finishing with very dry tannins. This had less dissenters than the Three Hills, but it was still perceived as a polarizing style by the panel.

My ranking: 5th place
Panel ranking: 7th place

Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 1 least







Cheers
Ian

[707]

As often is the case, Ian & I disagree markedly on a few of these, most notably the Smythe Road which I and a number of others rated highly. Good job we're a friendly lot and happily agree to disagree eh Ian?

Here's a copy of my brief TVs from an earlier post.

Voting was very even reflecting the even and high standard of the wines. Seventeen tasters voted an no wine got more than three Most Preferred votes, we think that may be a record. Only two wines didn't get a Most Preferred and both of those were in my placings!

2003 Lengs & Cooter Reserve Shiraz - 2 Most, 5 Next, 0 Least. Excellent wine from this small producer, this wine shows what some people have done from the 2003 vintage.

2002 Glaymond Distinction - 2 Most, 2 Next, 6 Least. A single barrel production of late picked Shiraz made for the US market. Robert Parker pointed it 95+ from memory.

2001 Classic Clare Shiraz - 2 Most, 4 Next, 0 Least. First bottle was corked, this showed typical of the line.

2002 Three Hills (WA) - 2 Most, 0 Next, 8 Least. Didn't do it for me and not a patch on the sensational 1999 wine from this producer that wowed Parker.

2003 Smythe Road - 0 Most, 7 Next, 1 Least. This bottle was wheeled in late to replace something else that was oxidised so it had much less air time than the other wines. Very impressive for a first up wine, chock full of all things Barossan. I be chasing this down.

2001 Seppelt St.Peters - 3 Most, 5 Next, 1 Least. Shows that 2002 was not a flash in the pan, this prior vintage was excellent.

2003 Ulithorne Frux Frugis - 3 Most, 3 Next, 0 Least. Continues this line in impressive fashion, another standout wine from the 2003 vintage.

2002 Brown Bros Patricia - 2 Most, 5 Next, 0 Least. Fine effort that I noted needs time. How long have they been making stuff this good?

2002 Mt.Ida - 0 Most, 2 Next, 0 Least. JUst brooding in the bottle, it all in there but needs lots of time to show it's wares. Buy up and be patient.

2001 Bremerton Old Adam - 1 Most, 2 Next, 1 Least. Good wine that has come down in price recently making it a buy.

[707]

[quote="n4sir"]2003 Smythe Road Single Vineyard Pure Barossa Shiraz $30: Glowing inky purple colour. The alarm bells started going off in my head with that first whiff of apricot syrup matched to slightly green characters on the nose – Viognier alert! The palate was just as I expected with stewed blackberry fruit, a spicy mid-palate featuring a fair spike of alcohol heat, and finishing with razor-harsh tannins so common to those sloppy SV blends that I hate. The wine had many fans on the panel, but I make no apologies – I never liked this style of wine and I never will.

My ranking: 10th place
Panel ranking: 6th place

Votes: 0 most, 7 second & third, 1 least

As Mark Williams said after last years AFL Grand Final "Alan Scott you were wrong" only this time it's me saying "Ian Vader, you were wrong"

I know TNs are just opinion but five good palates had this wine again tonight and just can't find what you found. Maybe you were having one of those nights or a dirty glass, something like that because we thought it excellent wine

We thought it excellent Barossa Shiraz, no apricot syrup although there is plenty of lifted fruit on the nose. Spikes of alcohol heat or razor sharp harsh tannins were absent. This was one of only two bottles amongst six opened that we polished off completely indicating how popular it was.

[n4sir]

As Mark Williams said after last years AFL Grand Final "Alan Scott you were wrong" only this time it's me saying "Ian Vader, you were wrong"

I know TNs are just opinion but five good palates had this wine again tonight and just can't find what you found. Maybe you were having one of those nights or a dirty glass, something like that because we thought it excellent wine

We thought it excellent Barossa Shiraz, no apricot syrup although there is plenty of lifted fruit on the nose. Spikes of alcohol heat or razor sharp harsh tannins were absent. This was one of only two bottles amongst six opened that we polished off completely indicating how popular it was.

Steve, you've been hanging around those feral Port Power supporters for way too long. You should know by now that Crows fans couldn't give a toss about what he says!

On a more serious note, the Smythe Road TN at Blacktongues was unusual for various reasons.

I had tried the 2004 Mr Riggs SV the previous week, and for some reason it really did remind me of that particular wine. That was made with a mixture of co-ferment and free run juice, making up an estimated 9% of the blend (they don't exactly know how much). It may have just won a small Winemakers award for best Shiraz, but frankly I hate the style which resembles the straight Viognier (which I tried a few glasses earlier) more than actual Shiraz.

During the Barossa trip we tried a few SV blends, and the trend was to really tone down the effect of the Viognier, to the extent that there were no apricot characters at all but more complex Shiraz to the fore. Tasting this blind it looked to be the opposite.

At the end of the evening trying to suss out least preferred I went back to it, but just came up with the same things over again. Maybe it was a dirty glass, maybe I was having an off night. I'll have to try it again to see if it's much different.

Cheers
Ian