TNs from Southern Tasmania - predominantly PNs [long]

[PaulV]

Spent a week in Southern Tasmania in early March. Couple of days walking in Mount Field National Park, a couple of days at Woodbridge on the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and couple of days in Hobart. Went to a number of vineyards in the Huon Valley and Coal River Valley near Hobart and here are some TNs plus comments on a couple of meals.

Just some general impressions. 2001 vintage was pretty good but probably better in the North. The south got hit with some heavy rain a week before vintage causing some fruit split etc. As a consequence pinots in particular are more medium weight earlier drinkers than say 2000 and 1998 – it was more a year like 1999 but slightly better.

2002 was an excellent year for pinots just like the Yarra. The only problem was because it was so cool but sunny , the sugar levels had to rise significantly before flavour levels were at optimum. In some cases vineyards probably left the fruit too long and partly shriveled giving too many pinot a pruny flavour. If the winemaker and vineyard got it right then superb wines were made. The 2003 was drought affected and the Riesling really showed much broader fruit flavours than usual – you had to like the syle – generally I don’t.

Chardonnays on average were pretty ordinary with many over-oaked . Many whites seemed to lack varietal flavour and any complexity – may be due to young vines and over irrigation.

Many pinots were no better than luncheon wines – simple raspberry/cherry flavours and linear fruit dominated palates. At $30 - $35 they were way too expensive for what bang you received.

Only a small percentage showed much complexity with good structure , mouthfeel and long finish. My gut feel is the 2002 wines will be better – may be give a miss to most 2001.

Here is the url for the 2004 Tasmanian Wine Show which as JH and Huon Hooke as the main judges. Interesting to read some of the comments – I would reinforce particularly the whites comments

http://www.taswineshow.org/results.htm

I also have a couple of pictures (6) taken at a number of vineyards if you are interested , plus up at Mt Fields. See here

http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/album.h ... bum=620442


Panorama Wines, Glaziers Bay Huon Valley
Their 2000 Pinot was rated one of the best ever produced by Tasmania. The vines are getting older and the site is extremely pretty overlooking the Huon River. Much expansion going on.

2001 Chardonnay Reserve $25
Mid yellow already quite developed. Strong oaky, mealy nose, rich palate but lacking complexity and fruit depth.

2001 Pinot Noir $39
Mid red. Superb spicy, cherry rasperberry red fruits nose. Again quite rich palate although only medium weight. Some nice forest floor, spicy fruit withj a long palate and some complexity. Excellent wine and one of the best of the trip

2001 Rose “Joy” 100% pinot
Fresh raspberry, estery fruity nose. Light fresh fruity palate with no hardness. Not bad for what it is. Not too sweet .

2002 Late Harvest Riesling (+5% traminer)
Mid yellow – broadish citrussy nose, no apricot/botrytis character. Sweet palate but lacks acid bite so aquite cloying. Average

Home Hill Vineyard , Huonville

1999 Cuvee Kelly 60% pinot/40% chardonnay
Austere lemony, melony nose (like an unwooded chardonnay), nice mousse but absolutely no complesxity on nose. Palate follows nose – aperitif style, very high acid , simple bubbly. Needed more time on lees or else extended bottle maturation. Today like drinking a sparkling Chablis.

2001 Pinot Noir $25
Mid red, soft uncomplicated fresh red berry nose, Palate followed the nose, good fruit, nice acid some palate length , nice honest luncheon wine.

2001 Pinot Noir Reserve $35
Darker red than the standard and bigger in weight and depth, but more austere/closed down at present. Still in the red fruits on nose and palate , particularly cherries. Rich palate with some oak spiciness but maybe a bit extracted on the finish. Actually preferred the standard.

2002 Pinot Noir $30
Very dark black, red color more like a shiraz. More into the black fruits, blackberry, plum and some plumy notes – maybe even a bit of prunes. Rich palate, longish palate but a bit simple and forced. Lack pinot structure. Acceptable.


Meadowbank Wines Coal River Valley (near Hobart - Andrew Hood winemaker)

This winery is one of the largest in Southern Tasmania with 2 vineyards – the older up the Derwent. and the 10 ha vineyard at Coal River which look about 5 year old vines. Lovely reception tasting area with two galleries upstairs – one currently showing photography (Alice Bennett) and ceramic sculptures (Anna Williams) – both excellent, and the other marine landscape watercolours by Catherine Sandric which were just average.
General perception of the wines were commercial style but distinctly lacking definite fruit characters – obviously young vines and too much irrigation suggests they are really forcing the vines to maximize throughput , particularly for their standard wines. Distinctly unexciting.

2002 bubbly
What is a 2002 Tasmanian champagne style doing being released at this early age??. Smelt and tasted like a bubbly unwooded chardonnay and with greenish fruit and biting acidity. Poor

2003 Riesling
Broadish nose – overdeveloped. Lacked acid on palate , very simple and broadish citrussy fruit finish. Average

2003 Pinot Gris
Why bother? Again broad and quite viscous on nose and palate due to high alcohol. Where’s the fruit? Lacked any varietal character, neutral soft finish. Poor

2003 Pinot Noir $30
Light red, simple raspberry , confected fruit nose -whole fruit maceration? Light palate simple fruit another expensive luncheon wine - a classic example of young vine overcropped fruit. Bad value for money

2002 Elizabeth Chardonnay (premium bottling).
Mid yellow. Way over-oaked nose – just spicy vanillan splinters with melon, white peach fruit struggling to appear. Palate showed much more nutty fruit with a nice structure , some complexity but oak still obvious. Released too early – actually may turn out ok if the fruit can get over the oak. Good and may turn out very good/excellent

Craigow (Julian Alcorso winemaker)

General perceptions were an excellent range of wines with very good depth of fruit and real complexity , quite complex structure and a vineyard to watch.

2003 riesling ($19)
green gold. Nice full body citrussy nose ., quite rich but balanced palate axcellent acid/fruit balance – in a bigger , richer style forced onto it by the vintage.

2001 Riesling ($25)
Mid yellow with green tinges. Spicy limey, citrussy nose with a touch of geranium. Very complex. Deep fruit palate with lots of depth and complexity , lovely long finish. Beatiful food wine – if you see it anywhere, buy it.

2003 Traminer ($24)
Not my favourite wine style, however lovely lychee, rose petal nose. The palate follows the nose with lots of spiciness and for once, no dreaded hardness nor residual sugar. Very well made wine and a beauty for asian food.

2002 Chardonnay ($22.50)
light to medium lemon colour. Lovely oaty, mealy nose with melon and white peach. Justy awhiff of spicy vanillan oak. Best chardonaty nose on the trip. Medium body palate with good richness but with balanced acidity. May lack a bit of complexity and that nice mineral quality in top end oz and French white burgundy wines but a great effort. I think it will be a drink early style but excellent for what it is.

2002 Pinot Noir ($28)
Again the 2002 signature of dark red colour – I wrote duck blood. Maybe too dark for a pinot - not sure. Slightly subdued nose but with rich dark spicy black fruits after swirling. Nice oak balance on nose and palate. Big palate, very rich with some fruit and oak spiciness and forest floory, mushroomy notes. Big wine - maybe too big to be a great pinot. I worry they may have left the fruit on the vines too long. If you like your pinots big , but still identifiably pinot rather than just another dry red this could be your wine. Could turn out to be awesome – just don’t have enough knowledge. Very good now and may end up excellent.

Coal Valley Vineyard (Andrew Hood winemaker)

Before I left for Tasmania I asked the board for interesting places to eat in southern Tasmania. JasonO mentioned the restaurant at Coal Valley wines. We popped in early one morning to check it out and looked great so booked for lunch. We weren’t disappointed. The chef was recently the sous chef at Pipers Brook and Strathlyn on the Tamar and was clearly enjoying having his own place.

Entrees we had were:
Tribunna scallops – pan fried with pureed cauliflower, cotechini sausage and chive oil. The nuttiness of the cauliflower puree worked beautifully with the scallops and the spiciness of the thin sausage.

Sliced and poached , milk-fed veal layered with tuna aioli and caper paste on a bed of rocket. An excellent take-off of the classic veal tonnata.

We shared a platter for main meal consisting of:
Poached scallops on a beetroot compote, veal and pear salad with salsa agresto, trout rilletes with a caper paste, white gazpacho shooters and pork sausage on pickled onion.

Now the wines – CVV I think only make 2 wines a riesling and a pinot noir on a 1.5 hectare vineyard that is in the process of doubling in size. Had a glass of each:
2003 Riesling ($21 a bottle)
Slightly confectionery nose, talc and lime as well. Palate has good structure but not a great deal of fruit depth. Average

2001 Pinot Noir (highest pointed wine in 2001 class at 2003 Tasmanian Wine Show)
Mid red – no browning. Lovely complex, spicy nose. Palate not quite as good as the nose –lacks the fruit complexity and depth of flavour of the panorama for example. However, lovely long finish – something a lot of Tasmanian pinots are chronically deficit in. Too expensive though at $40 a bottle.

Some other reds tasted at Richmond.
Clemens Hill (Coal Valley – Andrew hood winemaker)
2002 Pinot Noir
Mid red. Reduced nose. Thin palate for such a great year. Poor. Maybe a poor bottle for the 2001 pinot noir I tried last year was one of the stand out Tasmanian pinots of that vintage.

Pooley Wines
2002 Pinot Noir
Lovely rich vibrant red with a touch of purple. Nice spicy, red fruit nose . Nice medium weight palate with good depth of pinot fruit without a lot of complexity going on – soft, slightly short finish .but in all a well made and priced pinot ($22)

Glen Ayr Tolpuddle (Tea Tree area nort west of Richmond)
2002 Pinot Noir
Again rich dark colour, more depth and structure than the Pooley. Much more serious and depth of fruit. Firm finish, quite mascu;line styl compared to feminine pooley. Well made – very good.

Last night in Hobart ate at Lickerish (North Hobart)
A warm friendly restaurant , quite casual but with serious food pretensions. On a Tuesday night all tables full, which suggests a good cook. Baltic pine timber floors, with whimsical collection of teapots at the entrance and random collection of mirrors and other objectd’art give it a sort of chabby chic feeling.
Food is an eclectic mixture of Spanish tapas , Asian/French fusion and straight out French/oz food.

Can BYO at $10 a bottle but why bother when there are over 14 wines by the glass and bottled wines such as 1999 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon at $77 a bottle!

Started with a couple of tapas
Spring Bay scallops on half shells grilled with black rice vinegar and ginger juice dressing. Yum – love ginger with scallops.

Fried eggplant with toasted walnuts and a pomegranite dressing – the eggplant and walnuts were a match made in heaven.

Had a glass of 2001 No Regrets Pinot Noir $8 a glass (Glaziers Bay – Huon Valley
This wine is from the superb Elsewhere vineyard which the owners use to own and until their new vineyard comes into production they utilize some of the grapes off theor iod vineyard).
Mid red with slight orange rim. Dark morello cherry , sour cherry nose with hint of oak spiciness. Light to medium weight palate with a soft finish. Lacks a bit of complexity and structure. If you have any its ready to drink. The effect of rain just before vintage is all too obvious. Not a patch on the 2000 but nevertheless a nice quaffing pinot.

Main course
Slow cooked beef shin with Sichuan flavours on asian greens with steamed ginger and spring onion buns.

Duck breast with pink-eye potatoes roasted in duck fat, rocket salad, cherry and cumquat pickle.

Both were competently made meals but lacked finesse. Too rich and too much without enough contrasts to lift the meal. If I see another plate of rocket used as a bed for the main ingredient I’ll scream!

Drank a bottle of Winstead 2001 Pinot Noir ($44) One of my favorite Tasmanian wines made at Bagdad about 15 kilometres north of Hobart, off 10 year old pinot vines - the vineyard itself only has 2000 pinot vines and 2000 riesling vines on 1.5 hectares.
Rich vibrant mid red with no browning. High tone cherry, earthy foresty nose. Only just medium weight palate but with long finish and nice red fruits . An excellent 2001.

For dessert, they has run out of the chocolate/coffee panacotta but in its place they were able to whip up a:

Orange panacotta with candied cumquats, pistachio glaze syrup.
An absolute highlight – the intensity of the orange citrus jelly sitting on top of the panacotta was superb as was the cumquat/pistachio glaze. As a bit of trivia and to show how remarkable home made a lot of Tasmanian produce was the cumquats had actually come out of Peter Gees (ABC sports commentator fame) backyard. He had even supplied the restaurant with oregano a couple of weeks earlier when there was a shortage.

With the dessert 1997 Chateau Filhot – Barsac sauternes ($18 a glass)
Probably the boo boo of the night. I remembered that 1997 was an excellent year in Sauternes and while I knew Filhot was a 2nd grand cru, I remember a couple of decades earlier I had really liked their 1976 so thought it was worth risking.

Pale yellow, limely, lemon with little botrytis (grrrr), even a bit of anise on the nose. Slightly broad palate, lacked richness and bite with little sweetness . A disappointment.

That’s it for our week in southern Tassie. Went on a wonderful 6 hour walk along the tarn shelf with myriad small lakes (tarns) from the last ice age in the Mt. Fiels national Park about an hour up the Derwent from Hobart. Can thoroughly recommend.

Paul

[JasonO]

Sounds like you got around and had a great time Paul, esp Coal Valley which I unfortunately haven't been make it back to since my return from a working in Adelaide for a while. Hoping the autumn menu is now kicking in so I have some new nibbles to try.

And totally agree about the Craigow Riesling (2001). I have been stocking away as much of this as I can afford in recent times.

Just a shame you didn't get the warmest weather

[PaulV]

JadonO, I have a feeling the menu at Coal River vineyard was their new autumn menu - also Lickerish was changing to their autumn menu this week.

I think one of the reasons for the quality of the criagow wines is the age of the vines -now 15 years old - which is critical for pinot in order to get that silky mouthfeel quality and long length. The effects of young vines is all too obvious with pinot and shows up in many of the Tassie vineyards.

Are you from Tassie?

[JasonO]

Yes, I live in Hobart although my interest in wine grew greatly whilst living in the big smoke (Sydney). Since I arrived back here 2 years ago I have been pleasantly surprised by the increase in quality of wines down this way, so much so that I do actually purchase now.

I did enjoy my time in Adelaide recently though. Finally got to make use of my Stonewallers membership and spent quite a few lunches at the Wine Underground as i was working just around the corner.