Decanter London Fine Wine Encounter - highlights

[Phil Shorten]

A quick snatch and grab from last weekend's London Fine Wine Encounter. 100+ wineries presenting several hundred wines. My comments on the stand outs....

Whites

Weingut Jurtschitisch Sonnhof Gruner Veltliner Spiegel Reserve (Kamptal, Austria)

Lovely viscous mouthfeel - rich, silky and elegant. Buckets of slightly creamy spicy GV fruit. Well handled oak (50% was fermented in French oak and blended with the balance, which was fermented in stainless steel). Good acidity. Warm, but not hot. I did not believe that this wine is 15.0% ABV, so easily does it carry its alcohol. Taste a wine like this and you can see why GV's regularly beat white Burgundy in blind tastings.

Mas Daumas Gassac - Gassac Blanc (Languedoc, France)

Tasted both the 1992 and 2002 vintages. Very interesting wine - perfumed (the Viognier coming through) and elegant. Quite rich and nutty with age, almost like a dry botyrtised wine.

Mas Daumas Gassac - Gassac Rouge (Languedoc, France)

Tasted both the 1985 and 2001 vintages. 80% Cabernet Sauvignon plus a myriad of other varieties. Very elegantly structured, but holds up remarkably well with time. A bit like a very good Claret, but with distinctly sweet fruit. Very good indeed. though whether the wines live up to the "Lafite of the Languedoc" quote is another matter!

Perhaps the 2001Cuvee Emile Peynaud does - 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from the oldest and best grapes. Very good wine, more approachable than young Left Bank Bordeaux, but with the structure to age. At £90 a bottle in ain't cheap.

Miguel Torres 2000 Marimar Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley, California)

Pinot Noir made in the US by a Spanish producer, and very good indeed - savoury and structured. Good quality wine.

2000 Gersemi - Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Fazi Battaglia (Tuscany, Italy)

Deep purple black in colour. Dry, elegantly structured. Nice meaty nose. Akin to a good quality Bordeaux but silkier. I now know why I love Sangiovese based wines!

Also tasted the 1999 Salarco - Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva - the Gersemi's older brother that spends 3 years in oak. Very tight and closed up, but one can see the enormous potential.

1999 Monte del Drago, Azienda Agricolla Musella (Veneto, Italy)

An IGT wine made from 50% Corvina and 50% Cabernet Sauvigon. Made from semi-dried grapes. Medium-full bodied, plenty of really nice dry fruit framed by good ripe tannins. Finishes pleasantly bitter. For mine, a better wine than their Amarone.

2001 Turkey Flat Shiraz (Barossa Valley, South Australia)

Winner of the GASC. Nice full bodied balanced wine, ripe with typical Barossa softness and some glycerol filling the mouth. Good wine that is definitely not OTT, but lacking something special IMHO.

1999 Grant Burge "Meshach" (Barossa Valley, South Australia)

Deep crimson in the glass. Youthful nose of stewed fruit and plums with a touch of spice. Quite medium weight in structure. Not OTT at all - ripe, silky with sweet fruit. Good - yes, worth the price - No.

2002 Jasper Hill "Emily's Paddock" Shiraz/Cabernet Franc (Heathcote, Victoria)

Almost the best red wine on show IMHO, with extra marks for Ron Laughton's laid back manner! Deep inky purple, clean "meaty" nose also yielding pepper. On the palate dry, with the Cabernet Franc coming through. Nice gravelly tannins (almost Bordeauxesque!). As is the case with all Jasper Hill wines, beautifully silky (before the tannins kick in). Superb, and better than the extremely good Georgia's Paddock.

Diamond Creek Vineyards (Napa Valley, California)

Three different wines up for tasting, from different vineyards (Volcanic Hill, Red Rock Terrace, Gravelly Meadow), all from the 2000 vintage. These are not cheap wines - all sell for £90+ in the UK. Interestingly, all weigh in at a mere 12.5% alcohol. These are wines made to emulate Bordeaux and do so very well.

All of these wines are very young and yield very little other than being tightly wound, unyielding with firm tannins.

Wines like this demonstrate that California is capable of producing stunning wines, but as you would expect, like Bordeaux, the prices are very high.

Quinta do Noval (Douro Valley, Portugal)

Of the Tawny Ports, the 20 year old Tawn Port is immeasurably better than the 10 year old - worth the extra price (£14.99 vs £39.99). Two Colheitas, a 1974 and a 1986 were also very good.

As to the Vintage stuff, the 1997 is a very good value drink now value for money wine - rich ripe and spicy.

However, the Quinta do Noval Vintage Port from the much heralded 2000 vintage is a real glass stainer - impenetrable black in colour. It was therefore much to my surprise to taste the wine - full bodied++, sweet but not overtly so, and the tannins are ooooh sooooo, so fine, so fine in fact that you could almost drink the wine now even though it would be a waste of money as this wine is going to improve with 20 or so years in the bottle.

Well, that's the highlights, some disappointments as well, but best focussing on the positive.

Cheers
Phil

[Phil Wilkins]

Nice notes, thanks. Pity I missed it.

Phil

[Guest]

Sounds a great tasting.

What type of money for the 2000 Noval?

Ed

[Popov]

Hi Phil,

Tasting sounds great

1999 Grant Burge "Meshach" (Barossa Valley, South Australia)
Good - yes, worth the price - No.

At what price do you see this then I am considering buying that's all.

Cheers
Popov

[Phil Shorten]

Sounds a great tasting.

What type of money for the 2000 Noval?

Ed

Ed

As the 2000's have been out for some time now, you'd be looking around £50 here in the UK - probably would have been best bought in bond as most houses declared in 2000 given the quality of the vintage.

Cheers
Phil

[Phil Shorten]

Hi Phil,

Tasting sounds great

1999 Grant Burge "Meshach" (Barossa Valley, South Australia)
Good - yes, worth the price - No.

At what price do you see this then I am considering buying that's all.

Cheers
Popov

Popov

My understanding is that the Meshach goes for AUD80-90. IMHO, there are Barossa wines around which represent better value for money - such as the Rockford Basket Press and Charles Melton Shiraz. So I'd have to say the Meshach is worth it at AUD50, but not for 30 or 40 bucks more.

FWIW, I tasted the 99 Basket Press last week and was mightily impressed. I have a feeling this wine might turn out better than either the 96 or 98.

Cheers
Phil

[Stewart Plant]

Can you provide any more info on the Diamond Creek wines (e.g. vintages, tasting notes etc). I've been a big fan of these wines for many years, although no longer buy due to the extraordinary prices asked ex winery.

[Phil Shorten]

Can you provide any more info on the Diamond Creek wines (e.g. vintages, tasting notes etc). I've been a big fan of these wines for many years, although no longer buy due to the extraordinary prices asked ex winery.

Stewart

It was the first time I have tried these wines and I though they were very good, albeit very tightly wound being so young. Pricewise, out of my range I'm afraid. I took a cursory glance at the tasting table and saw a sheet with prices of the three wines all listed above £90 per bottle. I'll let you translate that into Oxford scholars (Aussie dollars)!

Cheers
Phil