TN: Adelaide Offline with Franco at T-Chow 2/7/10

[n4sir]

There was a small turnout of six people for Franco d’Anna’s offline coinciding with his visit to Adelaide for a number of seminars, although many of the usual suspects attended and again contributed some very nice wines. My thanks to everyone for another enjoyable evening, and of course to the crew of T Chow for putting up with us until closing again – at least this time they got a sizeable tip for their efforts.

2009 Hoddles Creek 1er Cru Pinot Blanc, Yarra Valley (screwcap): Bright straw/green. Franco should be proud of this wine born from a hell of a vintage – when he asked what we thought it was like, not surprisingly things like Gewurztraminer & Sauvignon Blanc came up. It’s full of pears dusted in sugar, some lychee, kiwifruit and guava, while the palate has an added slice of lemon and a creamy yet crisp, mineraly and mouthwatering finish. The initial sulphur has settled down since bottling, but overall it’s as young and fresh when I first tried it as a barrel sample to open last year’s Hoddles Creek dinner at The Manse – if previous vintages are any guide it could last for decades too.

1996 Mount Pleasant Wines Lovedale Semillon, Hunter Valley (cork): Dark gold. Mark thought this was a lot better than the bottle at the Alehouse offline the previous week, but I thought it was just as heavily developed; very toasty/buttery with browning/banana cake characters, and quite a mineraly, dry finish.

2008 Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis 1er Cru, Vaillon (cork): Very bright, pale straw. Fat nose with loads of melon fruit and creamy/cashew oak; the palate’s tighter, spicy/flinty with bright acid and fruit more in the citrus spectrum, finishing very long and crisp with some bite. That palate structure and length is a noticeable step up on the 2007 Brocard 1er Cru Montmains at the Alehouse offline last week.

1998 Antonin Guyon Chambolle-Musigny, Clos du Village Monopole (cork): Attractive, complex bouquet with espresso/ meaty notes, sweet spices raspberry sticks; the velvety palate’s just as attractive, lightweight with more cherry cordial/stones and meaty characters and soft tannins that linger, sit and stroke the tongue, lasting a good minute or so. By the end of the night the last glass had faded, but it’s still great to try a good Burgundy at its peak – my favourite of the reds tonight.

1994 Charles Melton Nine Popes, Barossa Valley (cork): Medium brick red. Very similar to the 3L double magnum crusty2 opened for his 50th birthday last year at T Chow. Earthy and spicy with ripe red berries and earthy, dark/nutty Barossa chocolate, meaty pan juices & petroleum characters, maybe just a touch of herbs too this time; the palate’s medium-weight at most, spicy and peppery. Lovely drinking right now; it may keep a few more years but I’d say it’s at its peak.

1996 Eileen Hardy Shiraz, McLaren Vale & Padthaway (cork): Medium to very dark blood red. All of Steve’s patience paid off with this wine he initially thought might have been suspect, because by the time it reached the table it was singing; minty nose with sweet, saturated plums, liquorice and raspberry sticks. The palate’s grippy with dark berries and lashings of vanillin oak, a little bourbon creeping in on the finish with breathing. An old school, head banging Aussie shiraz with an impressive swagger, not exactly for the faint hearted – I’ve struggled with many vintages of Eileen Hardy, but this one was impressive.

1997 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Classico Riserva (cork): Even accounting for it coming after the Eileen Hardy, this was surprisingly light(ish) weight and short. It’s earthy and soupy/meaty characters were a pretty good match for the pork belly & scallions hotpot though, while the finish was a little metallic with breathing.

2003 Primo Estate Joseph Moda Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot (cork): Dark to inky purple. A dusty and inky bouquet, some black coal and perfume with ripe plummy fruit; the merlot seems fairly prominent and in that respect it made for an interesting pairing with the Barolo. The palate’s medium-weight and a little thin for the marque, but still youthful with jammy blueberries/plums and lashings of nutty/vanillin oak on the finish. Not one of the great Modas, and yet it will still age for a good decade or so.

2005 Ngeringa Syrah, Adelaide Hills (screwcap): Medium to very dark (almost inky) blood red. Incredibly perfumed nose, plums, tea roses/musk, smoked meats, chalk and a dash of white pepper; the medium-weight palate opens with a bang of tangy/smoky fruit, sarsaparilla and white pepper, there’s some liquorice in there too, finishing smoky and tannic with mouthwatering, fine acidity, but also noticeable bitterness. Promises a lot, yet I can’t help but feel it’s slightly disappointing…

1995 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon (750ml, cork): Very dark tawny amber/copper. Very reminiscent of the 1993 & 1994 Noble Ones a few years ago, very rich with butterscotch, caramelised sugar, crème brulee and some grilled nutty characters too, the fat mouthfeel and length exceptional. A fantastic way to finish, WOTN in my opinion; would have loved to have seen this next to those two earlier vintages, not to mention getting around to trying something of this age with Peking duck as suggested by Nick Guy.

Cheers,
Ian

[monghead]

Thanks for the great write up Ian. "headbanging Aussie shiraz with an impressive swagger" ....... mate, where do you pull these out from? Great work.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[Franco]

Thanks guys it was a great night.

Must say I thought the food was great, hit the spot and really cheap.

To me the stand outs where the Noble One, both the Chablis and Chambolle.
Cheers and thank you to Ian for organizing it.

Franco

[Steve]

Thanks for the notes, Ian. We had some very nice wines!

It was good to meet Franco and Seven - let's hope you both make it to more eating and drinking adventures in the future!

[ChrisV]

Good to see the 1995 Noble One still trucking along. I had a 1998 at Christmas and didn't think it was in great shape. It was still perfectly drinkable, but just quite confected and simple. Had shed complexity rather than gained it.

[n4sir]

Good to see the 1995 Noble One still trucking along. I had a 1998 at Christmas and didn't think it was in great shape. It was still perfectly drinkable, but just quite confected and simple. Had shed complexity rather than gained it.

Was this a 375ml or 750ml bottle Chris? (just edited my notes to say our 1995 was a 750ml)

The last time I tried a 1998 (750ml) was at the ten-vertical Noble One tasting (going on five years ago). Back then I thought it was caught in between the freshness of the 2000 vintage, and the glorious nutty/buttery characters of the 1993/1994 vintages - it sounds like it hasn't come out of its funk yet:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3654

Cheers,
Ian

[ChrisV]

It was a 375. It's possible it needed more time I guess. My experience with old stickies is near zero.