TN: Blacktongues - Sparkling Reds 7/12/05

[n4sir]

Okay, finally the tasting notes for the very last Blacktongues panel for the year, and just in a nick of time for New Years Eve. My special thanks go to Steve and the rest of the Blacktongues for throwing me a chair to almost all of the tastings this year, which has made this a very hectic but immensely satisfying twelve months. I’d also like to quickly thank everyone who’s read and commented on these posts, as your inputs make the typing worthwhile.

As usual all wines were tasted blind and served in the order listed, and after just less than an hour all participants voted for their most preferred, two next preferred and their least preferred drops.

As with the sparkling whites the wines weren’t opened (and poured) until everyone arrived so again the tasting was comparatively rushed, although the notes weren’t as brief this time.


2004 Schild Estate Barossa Sparkling Shiraz $20: Very dark purple/red with a vigorous mousse and fine bead. A breathtakingly young and regional wine that screams Barossa from the start, opening with fresh dark cherries, blackberry, dark chocolate and coffee. The palate was just as young, fresh and boisterous featuring succulent, ripe red fruits and slightly dry/green tannin on the finish, and developing rich chocolate and licorice characters with breathing. I was left with a real dilemma as to award my most preferred vote to this youngest wine of the flight or to the oldest, as while they were polar opposites I liked them equally. I went for the latter, while this still gathered enough votes for the panel’s top ranking. The usual Schild Estate “full throttle” Barossa Shiraz blueprint in this particular case worked exceptionally well - needless to say, outstanding QPR.

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

Votes: 5 most, 6 second, 1 least preferred



1995 Leasingham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz $35: Red/purple with a fair mousse and good bead. A very developed but rather simple nose, dominated by leather characters; likewise the palate featured those old leather/spice characters with appealing sweet cherry fruit, but dropped off notably on the finish. This was a nice enough old wine, but outclassed on this occasion.

My ranking: 8th place
Panel ranking: =7th place

Votes: 0 most, 5 second, 2 least preferred



2002 Brown Bros. Cellar Door Sparkling Shiraz $22: Red/purple with a good mousse and bead. I found the nose a touch stinky/bretty featuring a dominant smoke character and some coconut with breathing. The palate was just as unappealing, a very dry and tight structure with savoury black olives and later on some metallic characters. Despite my dislike of the wine it managed not to score least preferred vote from the panel, which helped to elevate its final group ranking.

My ranking: 9th place
Panel ranking: =4th place

Votes: 1 most, 4 second, 0 least preferred



Balnaves Coonawarra Sparkling Cabernet NV $30: Deep red with a good mousse and very fine bead. An incredibly classy, developed and complex bouquet of old leather, coconut, celery sticks and some butter. The palate gave a none-too subtle hint of it’s origins, opening with rich, buttery oak and tight/angular fruit before that familiar Cabernet hole appeared mid-palate, finishing long with a distinctive touch of dried herbs. This was a fantastic varietal/regional sparkling wine that I ranked a solid third, and it was equally well liked by the rest of the panel.

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

Votes: 2 most, 5 second, 0 least preferred



Charles Melton Barossa Sparkling Red NV $55: Dark red with a good mousse and bead. Like the Balnaves this was very much in that cooler climate/Cabernet mould, very herbal with dried basil and thyme characters, but very much closed with the structure ahead of the fruit. This one needs a lot more cellaring time to fully flower.

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

Votes: 2 most, 1 second, 1 least preferred



Langmeil Barossa Sparkling Shiraz NV $36: Dark red/purple with a good mousse and bead. Something was very wrong on the bouquet of this wine, featuring a dominance of burnt rubber that relegated any resemblance of leathery/sweet cherry fruit into the background. The slightly green palate was very closed fruit-wise, chewy with a layered structure and a long finish, but with rather ungainly exposed tannins. While there were some good things being hinted at, the negatives were severe enough for me to vote this my least preferred, and the rest of the panel thought little better.

My ranking: 10th place
Panel ranking: 9th place

Votes: 0 most, 0 second, 4 least preferred



1992 E&E Black Pepper Sparkling Shiraz $60: Dark red/brick with a good mousse and good bead. Superb, perfectly aged Barossa Sparkling Shiraz featuring leather, chocolate/coffee, celery and warm spices, balanced and seductive. The palate likewise featured finely balanced fruit and oak influences of leather, earth, coffee and some banana, all soft, supple and slippery with a haunting finish. This is at its absolute prime, beautiful drinking but I wouldn’t hold it any longer – could the 2004 Schild Estate possibly be this good in 12 years time?

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

Votes: 4 most, 2 second, 0 least preferred



1996 Yalumba D Black 96/4 $26: Dark red/brick with a good mousse and fine bead. For a wine of this age it was incredibly closed and ungiving, eventually revealing some tight/clean raspberry fruit and some smoky olive highlights. While this fourth and last disgorgement of the 1996 vintage has shut down at present, I’m pretty confident it will blossom with a few more years cellaring time – wait for it.

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

Votes: 0 most, 3 second, 0 least preferred



Rockford Sparkling Black Shiraz (Sept. 2005 Disgorgement) $55: Bright red with a hint of purple, a good mousse and fine bead. This was quite different to the 2004 disgorgement on the nose with that wine’s rural characters replaced by lifted, slightly green tones of mint, ozone and fresh cherry with some hints of leather. The palate was quite strange to begin, with diesel/burnt toast characters matched to that relatively greenish fruit, but the structure was good and with breathing it became sweeter with bubblegum/vanillan characters.

My ranking: 7th place
Panel ranking: =4th place

Votes: 1 most, 4 second, 0 least preferred



2000 Settlement Wine Co. Langhorne Creek Sparkling Shiraz $25: Red/brick colour without much of a mousse, and a very fine bead. This was quite an unusual and developed wine, with distinctive licorice, earth, apricot and plum characters on the bouquet. The mid-weight palate was savoury, developed and relatively tired in this group, with some orange brandy characters and average weight/length. I thought this wasn’t going anywhere but at least it was different and wasn’t offensive; the majority of the panel disagreed, and voted it overall least preferred.

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

Votes: 0 most, 0 second, 7 least preferred



Cheers
Ian

[Mike Hawkins]

Thanks for the notes Ian - there were some interesting wines.

I was interested in your observations on the differences in the 04 and 05 disg. of the Rockford. Unfortunately, all mine are in Sydney, so I can't get to them !

From memory, up to half of the blend is from the vintage 3 years prior (Adair may be able to confirm / deny). That would give us the 01 and 02 - one really hot, the other quite cool - and as such, explaining those differences in the 04/5 disg.

I might put in a call to Schild at $20 pb. Are you confident it would see out another 8 or so years ?

Cheers

Mike

[n4sir]

I might put in a call to Schild at $20 pb. Are you confident it would see out another 8 or so years ?

Cheers

Mike

That's the $64 question that's tough to answer, the major stumbling block being the youth of the wine. It's a 2004 vintage, and would probably have only spent 12 to an absolute maximum of 18 months on lees off the top of my head (I'd have to do a little research to check this up). Compare that to the nearly 5 years of the 1996 Yalumba D Black 96/4 disgorgement, and it's a pretty fair difference.

The wine was rated extremely highly by all of the panel except for Barry who really disliked it (I didn't get a specific reason but his verdict was pretty solid). As a sparkling Barossa Shiraz to drink soon/now for A$20 it's bloody hard to ignore, but I would roughly guess 5 years would be its cellaring potential, hence the comment at the end of the E&E TN. It's a pity Steve wasn't there to pass on a second opinion - Martin can you add anything here?

Another fantastic wine that was unfortunately missing from this tasting was the Foggo Wines Black Myriah Sparkling Shiraz - incredible colour and freshness and a great example of Australian Sparkling Shiraz, but the same question applies as to cellaring ability. Then again if you enjoy drinking it as much as I do right now, who cares?

Cheers,
Ian

[GRB]

Anyone know where the Schild can be purchased other than CD, preferably in Sydney. I would love to try a bottle and Gavin doesn't list it.

Thanks

Glen

[markg]

Ian,

I have had the 1992 E&E Black Pepper Sparkling on a number of occassions and aggree with you and think it is superb and beleive it still has enough fruit, tannins and acid to last a few more years at the least.

[n4sir]

Ian,

I have had the 1992 E&E Black Pepper Sparkling on a number of occassions and aggree with you and think it is superb and beleive it still has enough fruit, tannins and acid to last a few more years at the least.

One of those occasions was at Cos last May, and when someone mentioned it was one of the Blacktongues wines it was pretty easy to pick as its form was near identical.

Cheers,
Ian

[markg]

Ian,

I have had the 1992 E&E Black Pepper Sparkling on a number of occassions and aggree with you and think it is superb and beleive it still has enough fruit, tannins and acid to last a few more years at the least.

One of those occasions was at Cos last May, and when someone mentioned it was one of the Blacktongues wines it was pretty easy to pick as its form was near identical.

Cheers,
Ian

Yes, thats right. Actually the 1992 can be found at most auctions for quite a discount. I picked up half a dozen last year for under $30 per bottle - Sweeet

[GrahamB]

Following on from this thread, I asked a friend to pick up a bottle of the Schild Sparkling Shiraz. The review read so well that I was keen to try a bottle.

While I thought it was a good $20 red bubbles, It didn't seem to rise to the level of the wine tried by the Blacktongues.

To be rated so highly in this company, I was expecting a lot more.

Has anyone else tried this wine and what are your thoughts.

Graham

[Andrew Jordan]

Graham,

Sorry a bit off topic but how did the Thorn Clarke Sparkling Cabernet measure up to the Rockford Black? I think you said in another tread before the holidays that you were going to compare the two.

Thanks in advance.

[GrahamB]

Graham,

Sorry a bit off topic but how did the Thorn Clarke Sparkling Cabernet measure up to the Rockford Black? I think you said in another tread before the holidays that you were going to compare the two.

Thanks in advance.

The comparison was not as easy as I had planned. Changes happen during this xmas period and you just have to go with the flow.

The T/C Cabernet was opened late morning and was exceptional in its own right. Lovely cabernet tones on the nose and a full, fruity palate which hung in the mouth for minutes.

The 05 disgourged Rockford black was the first of this years allocation I had tried. It had all the things I was expecting as far as layers of complexity but was somewhat muted. Just not in the same class as the 04 disgourge we drank last year. Considering the 05 should have had a high content of 02 fruit, I was expecting more and it didn't deliver.

Outcome of the comparison - The Thorn Clarke Cabernet gets the gong.

Graham

[Andrew Jordan]

Outcome of the comparison - The Thorn Clarke Cabernet gets the gong.

Thanks for the feedback Graham. Looks like I may have to track down a few bottles of the TC Cabernet!

[GrahamB]

Outcome of the comparison - The Thorn Clarke Cabernet gets the gong.

Thanks for the feedback Graham. Looks like I may have to track down a few bottles of the TC Cabernet!

Don't know if there is any left.

I think the next sparkling red from T/C will be an 02 Shiraz from some barrells of WIlliam Randall.

THAT could be an interesting effort.

Graham

[MartinJohnC]

Hello Ian

I did not reply earlier because I wanted to try the Schild sparkling red on its own first.
And it does not stack up to say the 02 Seppelt white lable and I have had the white lable Seppelt 08 and 09 recently and they where well above there class.
For me the best sparkling red this Summer is the 04 Rockord and the 05 as yet near as good.

Cheers Martin

[TORB]

I hate it when this happens! Here we have 11 people that rated the wine very higly in a blind line up and two that went out and bought their own bottles and thought it was ordinary.

Now why is that so?

Bottle variation? The Black Tongues got a "special bottle" or what?

Now I know its probaly a different curvee but the Sparkling Shiraz I tasted there in May was very ordinary. Schild Estate Sparkling Shiraz SAMay05 sells for $24 at cellar door. Like many at this price point, it is overly sweet and confected, but this one also showed, jammy, stewed fruit; it did finish dry. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value.

[Brucer]

I drank of bottle of the Schild Sparkling Shiraz last night.
I was disappointed, but I think with a couple more years bottle age, it will improve greatly. It reminded me a bit of Tattachilla Sparkling malbec, but with more balls.
Bruce

[simm]

I hate it when this happens! Here we have 11 people that rated the wine very higly in a blind line up and two that went out and bought their own bottles and thought it was ordinary.

Now why is that so?

Bottle variation? The Black Tongues got a "special bottle" or what?

Now I know its probaly a different curvee but the Sparkling Shiraz I tasted there in May was very ordinary. Schild Estate Sparkling Shiraz SAMay05 sells for $24 at cellar door. Like many at this price point, it is overly sweet and confected, but this one also showed, jammy, stewed fruit; it did finish dry. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value.

Hmmm, I was thinking along similar lines about the Balnaves NV Sparkling Cabernet. Ian, was the disgorge date on this one 2002? If so my notes came from a different angle:

Balnaves Sparkling Cabernet (disgorge 2002) - Dense colour with a smidge of clay around the edges. Mousse quite bubbly but the bead is fine and persistent. Such a pleasure to move away from the Shiraz fruit spectrum but for my tastes the liqueuring is a little heavy handed and detracts from what complexity the wine could have sending it too far into a simple Ribena sweetness. This combined with an almost cloying weight and a dip in the middle (even though it is a blend of 3 vintages) comes close to ruining what could be a very handsome profile. If they'd have done this to a Shiraz it would have been foul but thankfully the lack of a correct marriage between the liqueur and fruit elements allows you to see some semblance of the dignified Cabernet profile without it being completely smothered. Go figure. 88/100
Okay those aren't bad points and don't necesarily contradict it's Balcktongues third placement, but not what I'd call complex nor a real place winner. Oh well, it all come down to personal taste I suppose.

[n4sir]

I hate it when this happens! Here we have 11 people that rated the wine very higly in a blind line up and two that went out and bought their own bottles and thought it was ordinary.

Now why is that so?

Bottle variation? The Black Tongues got a "special bottle" or what?

Now I know its probaly a different curvee but the Sparkling Shiraz I tasted there in May was very ordinary. Schild Estate Sparkling Shiraz SAMay05 sells for $24 at cellar door. Like many at this price point, it is overly sweet and confected, but this one also showed, jammy, stewed fruit; it did finish dry. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value.

Hmmm, I was thinking along similar lines about the Balnaves NV Sparkling Cabernet. Ian, was the disgorge date on this one 2002? If so my notes came from a different angle:

Okay those aren't bad points and don't necesarily contradict it's Balcktongues third placement, but not what I'd call complex nor a real place winner. Oh well, it all come down to personal taste I suppose.

Okay guys, I've finally had enough time to do a bit of research and put together a response to your replies.

All of the Blacktongues wines are usually "off the shelf" apart from the occasional sample Steve gets, and given his rabid criticism of the wine show substitution racket he wouldn't stand for that to happen here - what's in the tasting is exactly what's sold to the general public. This particular time with his absence all the wines were from a retail source.

Simm, the Balnaves we had was the 2005 disgorgement (tiraged 2003) so it's a different wine. Similarly Ric the wine you would have tried back in May 2005 would have been the 2003 vintage (the 2004 wasn't due for release until August), which I might add is still being currently sold ex CD as well as the 2004. I'd expect there to be some differences, so check those vintages folks!

Now the main question, how could 11 diverse palates possibly get it wrong?

In the past Blacktongues posts where the results have been pretty inconclusive Ric has correctly pointed out that most information is to be gained from the tasting notes, and while they're just my impressions they give some clues as to why the wine did so well in that tasting.

Look at the other wines in the tasting - most were much older vintages or blends of older material, with the next youngest single vintage wine being a 2002. In that group something this fresh really stood out, and as I said in a previous reply it would have been good to have the Foggo Black Myriah there as a close comparison. In this environment (no food and ten glasses compared simultaneously over an hour) it was remarkably clean, varietal and regional which looked impressive at the time, but would it be the same story for a full bottle with food?

From Martin's comments (and considering he was sitting next to me at Blacktongues) about trying a full bottle afterwards and finding it to be a lesser wine than the Seppelt suggests otherwise. While the clean, big fruit and oak may be impressive in a small sample, a full bottle may really lack the structure and complexity to maintain interest and/or match rich food. This is where possibly other wines with a greater age base/possibly stronger fruit sources and more time on lees could come into their own, and why this wasn't as impressive. It's also why in an earlier reply I thought it's a relatively short cellaring prospect (up to 5 years) as a guess.

These possible reasons are by no means absolute, palates are different, and (regrettably) bottles can be just as different due to nobody's fault. Ultimately it comes down to one bottle at one point in time - I'll have to try another myself to see if I pick up any differences too.

Cheers,
Ian

[simm]

Cheers Ian