TVs: Celebrating Australia Day with Aussie Shiraz

[Baby Chickpea]

- Given the amount of wines on offer in commemoration of Australia day on 26 January 2004, obviously these are more tasting vibes than detailed notes.
- In each category, wines are listed in alphabetical order
- Wines were not tasted blind
- Conclusion: some of more expensive wines disappointed big time whilst some of cheaper lines from established makers did very well (as expected).

<b><i><u>OUTSTANDING</u></i></b>

<b>2000 Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz $90</b> - Rich purple colour. Brilliant nose – floral, full, rich and intense. Clearly infanticide, needs years to open out. Nonetheless brilliant dark fruits sardined in, ready to implode with time. Deep black fruits. Heaps of tannin – dry, powdery chalk. Little hint of oak. Just lovely. An infant. One of first wines tasted and straight away I was impressed <i>and moved!</i>. Went back at the end for a final valedictory glass of wine to re-calibrate and re-confirm – and yes, it was still the wine of the tasting for me. Head and shoulders above the rest. A truly top wine from a top vintage. Pity the new release 2001 Graveyard was corked – would have made a great comparison!


<b><i><u>EXCELLENT</u></i></b>

<b>2001 Brokenwood Rayner $45</b> – A clear step up from the Wade Block, this possessed more power and Turkish delight spicy fruit intensity. Loved it!

<b>1999 Elderton Command Shiraz $65</b> – Rich and ripe nose. Excellent palate. Already seems seamless and very silky, surprisingly drinkable and vanilla oak (not a problem for me as I reckon it enhanced the wine) adds a nice touch. A major surprise for me.

<b>2001 Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz $25</b> – Closed nose. Very good – rich, sumptuous palate. Black liquorice fruits like digging into a bag of semi-dry allsorts. The pick of the Grant Burge range and a relative bargain at this price.

<b>2000 Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz $70</b> – Rick purple colour, huge ripe nose and youthful, less body than the Rayner, very dry, dusty tannins and less complex – way too young but promising and looking set for future stardom.

<b>1998 Mitchelton Print label Shiraz $45</b> – Dense but closed. Seamless. Balanced. Like resting on a hammock. Proud I bought this gem – clearly a star and great value. Lush stuff.

<b>1998 Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz $75</b> – the new release and what a tops wine too. Very closed nose but deep. Huge black liquorice and Barossa blackberry fruits. Huge tannins – very dusty and dry and fine. Fruit closed but its all there! I’ll be buying this. Note – open after 2015!

<b>1999 Seppelt Great Western St. Peters $38</b> – Rich and ripe nose, beautifully balanced, already excellent drinking but will go the distance, showing really well in this tasting.

<b>1999 St. Hallett Old Block Shiraz $55</b> – Closed but dense bouquet, silky, nicely integrated oak and fruit and good balance. Noted “top stuff!”.


<b><i><u>VERY GOOD</u></i></b>

<b>2000 Brokenwood Shiraz $18</b> - Good nose. Rich and dense palate that is nicely layered. Great value here!

<b>2001 Brokenwood Wade Block 2 Shiraz $35</b> – Upfront nose and palate, heaps of pepper and earth and spice and (most) things nice and very aromatic. Certainly very good, but not for all tastes given its proto-Mediterranean array of delights.

<b>2000 d’Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz $55</b> – Huge aromatic nose. Way too young and a little over-alcoholic. Clearly showing some class amid ripe fruit and abundant tannin. One of the best vintage 2000 reds from Oz I have tasted.

<b>1999 E & E Black Pepper Shiraz $65</b> - Nice wine, lovely integration of dark, spicy fruit, oak and tannin. Rich and dense with a dollop of oak thrown in. Good, quality package with heaps of finishing acidity.

<b>2000 Metala Original Plantings Shiraz $35</b> – Surprise here! Very closed nose and not very yielding but one can ascertain the underlying quality. Very dry, tannins need time but I liked it and will be quite a wine in at least five years.

<b>1999 Mitchelton Print label Shiraz $44</b> - More open nose than 1998 surprisingly! Not as ripe, fruit-laden and yielding though on palate. More structured and only a fraction below the lovely 1998 Print.

<b>1998 Saltram No. 1 Shiraz $53</b> – Closed nose, lovely chalk tannins, good balance, nice elegant fruit. All the components are here. Class act all the way.

<b>1999 Saltram No. 1 Shiraz $53</b> – very similar to 98 but easier and better drinking at this stage. Still very good though.

<b>1999 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz $17</b> – Good, abundance of tannin, surprisingly pretty good.

<b>2000 St Hallett Blackwell Shiraz $26</b> – big cherry ripe nose, some obvious viognier present rounding out palate, silky and smooth. I really liked this.

<b>2001 Voyager Estate Shiraz $24</b> – Uplifted nose which is big and spicy and inviting, no real forceful power and intensity on palate (compared to some wines in this line-up – not necessarily a derogatory thing either)) but pretty good medium-bodied drinking nonetheless and focusing on structure and palate elegance rather than brawn.


<b><i><u>GOOD</u></i></b>

<b>2002 d’Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz Viognier $26</b> – Quite striking perfumed nose – apples, floral, pears. Bit short on palate. I like this style but against a line-up of classic Oz shiraz it was the black sheep. Better on its own no doubt.

<b>2001 Bowen Estate Shiraz $23</b> - Big, dense nose. Quite sweet palate and appears prematurely yielding. Good flavour profile. Overall in this tasting a tad simple.

<b>2001 Brookland Valley Verse 1 Shiraz $15</b> – Mute nose, good sweet fruit. Very dry, needs some time but not a lot of concentrated fruit so will only improve marginally.

<b>1998 Hardy Eileen Hardy Shiraz $80</b> – Dark red colour. Deep, concentrated nose of huge black fruit essence. A lot of oak and tannin and slightly unbalanced at this stage. Enough fruit??? Almost too much chalky, dusty tannins. Far too young with many years to go but will it ever come into perfect balance? Perhaps a little short on palate too for this icon. Time will tell. Not impressed at all.

<b>1999 Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz $80</b> – Very closed nose. Needs time. Structurally very good but on this showing is a bit short on palate and far too much tannin for the enclosed fruit. Too closed and unfriendly. Way out of balance. Despite ooh-ahs from others (no doubt influenced by the price), this was a major disappointment for me.

<b>2001 Grant Burge Miamba Shiraz $16</b> – Not a bad nose at this price point. Sweet liquorice. However not a lot of fruit verse the oak and tannin. Not bad for the price but nothing too excite either! Clearly outpointed the fading 1999.

<b>2001 Hardy Oomoo Shiraz $11</b> – A new label for me and not very impressed. Skeleton wine. Quaffable and simple and riper fruit than Tintara.

<b>2000 Hardy Tintara Shiraz $10</b> – Light fruit on bouquet, good palate but short in this company.

<b>2001 Howard Park Leston Margaret River Shiraz (Stelvin) $27</b> – Good nose. Closed. Liquorice. More open on palate that Scotsdale but not the structure and flavour profile. More one-dimensional too.

<b>2001 Howard Park Scotsdale Shiraz (Stelvin) $27</b> – Richer nose than Leston – quite uplifted and nice. Very young and has greater potential compared to Leston. I liked this better slightly and was pleasantly surprised.

<b>2001 Mitchelton Central Victorian Shiraz $16</b> - Medium bodied. Quite good but not transcendental in any way.

<b>2001 Penfolds Thomas Hyland Shiraz $14</b> – Good nose. Unfortunately that’s about it as palate is merely good and innocuous.

<b>2001 Petaluma Mount Barker Shiraz $39</b> – looked forward to this but was ultimately disappointed. Nose a bit mute. Palate soft and simple. Not really going anywhere. Expensive too.

<b>1998 Seppelt Original Vintage Sparkling Shiraz $16</b> – Too sweet for me in this line-up although it has good balance and is quite refreshing.

<b>2000 Tahbilk Shiraz $14</b> – Average nose. Short palate. Not showing much of anything at moment. Disappointing.

<b>2001 Thorn Clarke Shotfire Ridge Shiraz $18</b> – Very rich nose, hint of volatile acidity, palate OK but not enough power in this line-up and also lacking some fruit intensity. Not sure what all the fuss is about.

<b>2001 Warburn Estate Shiraz $10</b> – Forward and fruity and not much else.

<b>2001 Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz $75</b> – Expressive nose, notable hint of VA, some sweet nose on nose, palate average weight and short. Grossly overpriced.


<b><i><u>AVERAGE</u></i></b>

<b>1999 Grant Burge Miamba Shiraz $16</b> – similar to 2001 Miamba above but clearly inferior. Nose similar but palate even shorter.

<b>2001 Lindemans Reserve Shiraz $9</b> – Reserve? Pretty shonky I reckon! Simple nose and palate – BBQs only.

<b>2001 Water Wheel Bendigo Shiraz $14</b> – Abundance of average-ness in every respect. Certainly no pretension, but nothing of anything. Worst wine of the tasting.


<b><i><u>CORKED</u></i></b>

- 2001 Bannockburn Shiraz $45
- 2001 Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz $90
- 2002 Montrose Black Shiraz $21

[ChrisH]

Following Gavin's lead, thanks for the notes Danny. It is always good to taste comparatively like that, as it brings perspective to just how good (or not so good) comparative wines are.

regards
Chris

[simm]

Geez Danny, you must have a mechanical liver

I too have had wonderful surprises with the 'Fil'

Never even thought to open the 98 Stonewell and glad you did it for me!

Agree with the St. Peters 98 and have three bottles that will have a nap quietly for a few years. Haven't tried the 99.

Never tried the Chalambar but was mightily impressed with the Victorian Shiraz Seppelts have been releasing, especially on special for $13.

...and yes Tahbilk can be a bit like that, sadly. I'm surprised you haven't hopped into a bottle of the Reserve Range, knowing your tastes.

Thanks for the notes and have a better one,

[Rob]

Thanks Danny. Got quite a lot of wine you tasted in th cellar. Now I will not open some based on your note. Thanks

[bacchaebabe]

Who's a thirsty boy then? And I thought I drank a lot on Australia Day!

Been enjoying the notes, cheers.