Brisbane Wine Club - Barossa Shiraz Report

[Michael McNally]

Brisbane Wine Club members met for the second time on Friday night at Isis Brasserie in the Valley. The event was kindly organised by Graham, who chose the venue and Barossa Shiraz theme, and was a great success. My opinion only below.

We were at a private table downstairs, seated next to some (disturbingly warm?) racks of wine. Great atmosphere. Plenty of good glasses and decanters (though I had taken the forum’s advice and decanted the Old Block at home). When we arrived, there were staff hovering everywhere, but my wife noticed that by the end of the night we were being left alone more than was desirable, and the desert did come out quite late. We were still wondering at the end of the evening what had become of peterk.

The first three wines of the night were bubbly ones consumed while waiting for and with the first course of farmed white rabbit minestrone w parmesan oil. The NV Pol Gessner Champagne was fresh and yeasty, though I fear not served cold enough, and it was gone by the time the soup was served. The Seppelts 1994 Show Reserve Sparkling Shiraz went nicely with the food, complexity and dried herbs standing up to the rich bunny flavour. The 1998 Yalumba D Black Sparkling had more up front savoury fruit flavour, and perhaps the structure was firmer, but it lacked the complexity of the Seppelts by comparison.

Into the still Shiraz then, a majority of which were from the 98 and 02 vintages. In the 02 vintage the Saltram No.1 Shiraz was the standout for me. Quite soft and displaying a range of dark and red fruits it was already drinking well. The most muscular of the group it ranked for me ahead of the nevertheless impressive Dutschke ‘Oscar Semmler’ Shiraz, which probably needs a little more time. I fear that for me at least the Turkey Flat Shiraz may have been lost in the ‘decanter confusion’. I am not sure I even tasted it, and certainly have no distinct recollection of the wine.

There was one 99, a Rockford Rod and Spur Shiraz/Cabernet. This wine is huge and still needs some time to come together IMHO. I would love to try this in another 5 years’ time.

In the 98 section there were some problems with the line up. The Grant Burge Meshach was apparently ‘gone’ and hadn’t made it to the table, being replaced at the last minute by a McLaren Vale ring-in, the 98 Fox Creek Reserve. Despite having just arrived from ‘down south’ that day, the Fox Creek held its own against the 98 Saltram No.1. The former had some typical McLaren Vale white pepper and spice, though clearly could have done with a rest after its travels. The Saltram on the other hand, while a very nice wine, lacked any distinctiveness and didn’t really appeal to my palate. The other GB, a 98 Filsell, had been branded as ‘gone’ at the beginning of the night, but when I tried it later, seemed fine with the fruit there hiding behind what might have been a bit of brett.

The other Shirazes of the evening were older. The 97 Rockford Basket Press was delicious, with lovely small berry fruit, nice balance across the palate and great aged characteristics. Absolutely brilliant with the food. The 91 St Hallett Old Block still had both red and dark sweetish fruit at the front and had great structure, being supported by tannins that will still keep the wine going for a while (but why wait!). There was nothing to split these two and they will have to be joint WOTN for me.

A great night. I believe that the next was already being organised at the other end of the table and I heard the words ‘Tapas’, ‘Pinot Noir’ and ‘we should have some white wine next time’ at different stages. Should be interesting to see what comes out of that.

Michael

[chillwrx]

NV Pol Gessner Champagne

Yeasty, Yeasty but still very nice

1994 Seppelt Show Reserve Sparkling Shiraz

Great but sweeter that others that I can remember

1998 Yalumba D Black Sparkling

Very savoury in a really nice kind of way. Great with food.

02 Saltram No.1 Shiraz

Pure sweet dark fruits, fine tannins and absolutely fantastic! WOTN for me.

Dutschke ‘Oscar Semmler’ Shiraz

Lots of time ahead of it – needs some time. Good fruit but probably a bit disjointed – did not show as well as it might in a few years.

02 Turkey Flat Shiraz

Under rated by everybody on the night – the bottle was only half drunk so I took it home (nobody else put up their hand) and it was awesome 24 hours later. WOT(next)N for me.

Rockford Rod and Spur Shiraz/Cabernet

Great fruit, firm tannins but is very young – will get better for years.

98 Fox Creek Reserve

Just delivered by fox creek that day as a replacement for a corked bottle from another dinner. As expected it did not show it’s best due to the travel shock but it was still very good. Thanks to Fox creek for a very quick turn around and service.

98 Saltram No.1.

Good fruit but a bit boring when compared to the others. Drink now.

98 Filsell

Heat affected – fruit a bit scalped and acid very strong. OK but I was in the minority as everybody else thought it was drinkable. Maybe bretty.

97 Rockford Basket Press

Great fruit and superb drinking right now. R/U for WOTN.

91 St Hallett Old Block

A really good example of an older Barossa shiraz in it’s prime. Tannins softened and integrated with other bottle aged characters but still with a core of black fruits. Drink up.

99 Noble one

Awesome as usual. Strong stone fruits on the nose, sweet without being cloying as there is enough acid to see it survive for years.

White wine and Pinot were mentioned in the same breath as a Spanish themed night. It will be a good contrast considering the first two shiraz dinners. Miros at New Farm was mentioned. Any other thoughts?

The service for the night was friendly but I think the hint we gave them (to let us pour our own wines) was a bit strong as they did not come back after that.

Great company though – A couple of new faces was great to see. Hope the rotary do went down well on Saturday Morning Trev.

Cheers

Craig

[trev]

[quote
Great company though – A couple of new faces was great to see. Hope the rotary do went down well on Saturday Morning Trev.
[/quote]

Yes, the Rotary conference was a long day, and I had to back-up for the dinner that night. The wine was certainly a step down from Friday nights.

I don't have much to add from your and KT's notes (I really need to arrive to these things sober!), except that I also got confused amongst all of the decanters. A trap for young players that we'll have to think about next time.

I would say that the food was again outstanding, Isis is one of my favourite 'special occasion' resturants.

KT - I hope everything goes well for you this week.
CH - I'll get that Moet bag from you at the next o/l.
Graham - Thanks again for organising.

See you at Miros.

Trev