Our general impression was that the quality was almost as good as previous years, just that some obvious noteables were missing. There was no 98 Grange (96 and 97 were there in previous years) although this was no surprise, but no Bin 707, RWT, or even Bin 389 or 407. In fact the only Penfolds in sight was the 99 St Henri. Also for Rosemount no Mountain Blue or even Traditional (surprising seeing as it had just won the Jimmy Watson), although the Balmoral was there, for Mosswood no Cabernet and there were a few others too. At the lower end I had hoped for the Voyager Shiraz and Chardonnay. But I'm complaining too much, as I said the overall quality was still very good.
Onto the notes (views actually), in some kind of varietal order. Most are only ratings, but some have some notes and comments included. As always with these shows, time was a limiting factor in taking notes.
Sparkling and Champagne
=================
98 Arras Chardonnay Pinot, E, burnt toast notes, great mouthfeel, long long finish, wow, every bit as good as the Moet&C (perhaps lacking just a touch of finesse)
99 Domaine Chandon Brut Vintage, VG
NV Domain Chandon Cuvee, VG
both well made but didn't excite me, unlike the Arras
NV Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial, E, very well made, classy
NV Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial Rose, VG, again well made but not for me
NV Moet & Chandon Nectar Imperial, VG+
Chardonnay
========
01 Amberley Estate First Selection - VG
01 Brookland Valley Vineyard Estate - VG+
02 Cape Grace Margaret River - VG+
01 Devil's Lair - VG
00 Evans & Tate Redbrook - VG-
00 Hay Shed Hill - VG+, nice fresh fruit
02 Houghton Pemberton - E-, subtle, laid back but complex, lots going on, great stuff
02 Howard Park - E+, second attempt at this and once again...wow! This is just about as good as the big guns for half the price or less.
01 Jacobs Creek Limited Release - VG
00 Leeuwin Estate Art Series - E, very well balanced, beautiful fruit but not the powerhouse of the 99 which is still my favourite.
01 Leeuwin Estate Prelude - VG, nice fresh fruity, but you can buy better for the price.
01 Petaluma - E, what more needs to be said, but I still preferred the Howard Park just slightly.
01 Rosemount Estate Roxburgh - VG, long finish but for me its lost that big buttery style but hasn't managed to take on the newer style as well as many others, seems to be a bit in no man's land.
02 Sandalford - VG-
02 St Hilary - G+, bit flat, not obviously faulty bit didn't have much going for it
00 Starvedog Lane - VG, great nose but the finish wasn't there
02 Xanadu - G, simple, fruit forward, forgettable
Riesling
=====
03 Ferngrove Cossack - O, this is every bit as good as the 02 in my humble opinion, masses of fruit, limes, nice citrus zing, wow. We were told there wasn't enough of it made this year to qualify for the big wine shows so it won't get the trophies etc of the last vintage. The good side of that is I might actually be able to buy some!
02 St Helga - E
As you can see from the above, we wasted far too much time on whites before getting to the real stuff
Shiraz
====
01 Amberley Estate First Selection -VG+
01 Bannockburn - VG+
00 Bests Great Western Bin 1 - VG, lacking tannin
00 d'Arenberg The Dead Arm - O-, this is a powerhouse of a wine. After being very disappointed with my first ever taste of this with the 99 vintage, I was unimpressed but this one has turned me around. The drastic drop in price (now $50) has helped too.
99 Eileen Hardy, E+, magic stuff, but a big pricetag to go with it.
99 Glaetzer, E+, second attempt and same opinion, great wine, every bit as good (although different) as the Eileen Hardy but at half the price.
00 Houghton Frankland - E
00 Houghton Gladstones - E+
The Gladstones, while being an excellent wine, just wasn't up there with other wines at the price, and was only marginally better than the Frankland at one third the price.
01 Howard Park Scotsdale, E+, glad I bought this, fantastic wine at a brilliant price, has everything you would expect from an MR shiraz
99 Knappstein Enterprise, E, massive wine, needs more time but will deliver the goods in time
99 Penfolds St Henri, VG+, very good wine but actually seemed to pale just a bit in the company of these other wines, perhaps just the disappointing 99 vintage from Penfolds
99 Rosemount Estate Balmoral Syrah, VG but somewhat lightweight compared to previous vintages
99 Seppelts St Peters Great Western, O, almost a contradiction in itself but a massive, powerful wine that is actually very approachable right now. Fantastic stuff, one of my favourites of the day.
00 St Hallet Old Block, E
99 Tatachilla Foundation, E+, I almost gave this an outstanding, great power, structure and balance at a great price ($37), one I will buy for sure
99 Tatachilla McLaren Vale, E-, paled a touch compared to the Foundation but is still a great wine, I still have a bottle left
99 Taylors St Andrews, O, another brilliant wine at under $50 (see notes below on Taylors)
99 Tintara Limited Release, E-, very good flavour and structure, a touch lightweight compared to previous vintages I've tried
01 Ballast Stone, E, this was a ringin that we were asked to try. I almost didn't at only $20 but glad I did. New label I had never heard of, but very different and classy. Look out for this one.
Cabernet Sauvignon
=============
96 Amberley Estate, O, wow, massive tannic monster but balanced all the same, it just has masses of everything. Hard to believe it was a 96.
00 d'Arenberg The Coppermine Road, E, stereotypical cabernet, very nice
00 Devil's Lair, E
99 Hay Shed Hill, VG, not a patch on the superb 98 though
99 Hougton Jack Mann, O, I just love this wine, it is a powerful wine but perfectly balanced and perfectly drinkable now
00 Houghton Margaret River, O-, an MR cabernet this good has no business being $27, but while it is I am buying, fabulous stuff
00 Howard Park, E+, very nice wine but pricey and not that much better than their standard premium range
00 Howard Park Leston, E, big beautiful wine, lots of tannin
99 Lindemans Pyrus, E-
99 Parker Coonawarra Estate 1st Growth, E-
99 Peel Estate, E+, wow, my first attempt at a Peel Estate cabernet but won't be my last, big style
98 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains (USA), VG, quite Australian in style but too pricey for the quality
99 Scarpantoni, VG+
00 Scarpantoni, VG
99 Seppelts Dorrien Vineyard, VG, bit disappointed considering the big raps this gets, could have been a suspect bottle I suppose but nothing obvious stuck out
97 Taylors St Andrews, E, big powerful, still young but starting to develop
98 Taylors St Andrews, E+, more refined and laid back than the 97, this surprised me, I expected it to be the other way around
01 Wolf Blass Grey Label, VG+, well made cabernet, very typical of the variety
Merlot
====
00 Bests Great Western, VG+, big style, certainly not a softy
Red Blends
=======
00 d'Arenberg The Ironstone Pressings SGM, VG, a touch sweet but I still enjoyed it
02 d'Arenberg The Laughing Magpie Shiraz Voignier, VG+, very impressed with my first attempt at this style, very different and interesting
99 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cab, VG-, right at the end of the night so it could have been palate fatigue but it came across somewhat flat
00 Petaluma Coonawarra, E, top stuff as always
We also snuck in for a half hour vertical tasting of Richmond Grove riesling and shiraz, tutored by no less than Steve Clarkson, the winemaker himself.
97 Watervale Riesling - no thanks, dead and gone, Steve even said so himself that its not bottle variation or anything, one vintage to avoid
99 Watervale Riesling - yes please!, the best of the rieslings, still loads of fresh limes but with some nice development, E-
02 Watervale Riesling - VG+ powerful fruit but no development yet
03 Watervale Riesling - VG+ much more refined than the 02, more elegant but still as good
98 Barossa Shiraz - VG-, good nose but slightly short finish
00 Barossa Shiraz - VG, rich, good stuff
01 Barossa Shiraz - VG, very similar to the 00
02 Barossa Shiraz - ??, too hard to rate really, nothing but fresh fruit and masses of violets. According to Steve this is normal and what they look for, by the time its released to the market (some months away for this one) that has faded and the wine has developed as expected. Was very interested to try it though.
Overall my best impressions were:
Taylors range, all fabulous wines at realistic prices. I am also a big fan of their estate reds (the Shiraz and Cab) at only $13-15. We also had it on good authority that the upcoming 02 estate Shiraz is the best they have ever made for that label.
Hougton MR Cabernet, for the price this is an awesome cabernet, every bit as good as cabernets 2-3 times the price, big praise considering the range of cabernets on the night.
Hougton Frankland Shiraz, similar reasoning to the above (apart from different region and variety!), wasn't quite up to the cabernet though.
Peel Estate Cabernet simply because I had only heard praise of the shiraz which I have tried a couple of times, so I was surprised to be so blown away by it.
Overall a great night was had by all, but next year I am putting the stopwatch on the whites at 1 hour!