TN: Wickman's Wines of Distinction at The Manse 21/9/10

[n4sir]

It was a bit of a squeeze to sandwich this event the night before another offline, but with the proposed BYO shortlist of the following it was too good to refuse:

PENFOLDS Bin 95 Grange Shiraz
BASS PHILLIP WINES Reserve Pinot Noir
CULLEN WINES Diana Madeline Cabernet Merlot
CHRIS RINGLAND Shiraz
GIACONDA Chardonnay
HENSCHKE Hill of Grace Shiraz
LEEUWIN ESTATE Art Series Chardonnay
PIERRO Chardonnay
MOSS WOOD Cabernet Sauvignon
JIM BARRY WINES The Armagh
MOUNT MARY Quintet Cabernets
PENFOLDS Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon

At one stage there looked like there would be a 1966 Grange to sample, but unfortunately the group that had it and other goodies had to pull out due to a family tragedy. I'd like to thank Mark for organising all of this, and everyone who attended for their generous contributions and their great company. I should add though I was very disappointed with The Manse on this occasion for a number of glitches that were unacceptable for a restaurant that took out a recent major award as the best restaurant in Adelaide:

- Climate control A/C was preset to a ridiculous 30C (this also happened last year at the Hoddles Creek dinner; someone had to resort to go and turn it down themselves),

- Despite a specific request by the owner on their very early arrival (before zipping back out), their 1998 Krug was not placed in the ice bowl for chilling prior to the dinner,

- The lack of at least one suitable red wine glass per person for all 10 people who attended; they may have been busy this night, but for an event like this there is no excuse,

- The beef sirloin course was served cold,

- The whole menu itself was puzzling. I had issues with a number of things, like why would they suggest/design a menu which inevitably matched a barramundi dish with some of the biggest reds of the evening? (maybe they were expecting more chardonnay)

Maybe I'm fussy, but on this form I have my doubts about the Manse as a future offline/dinner venue; I think their reputation is overrated, and for $110/person there's much better value elsewhere.

All of the wines were 750ml bottles under natural cork unless stated otherwise:

PRE-DINNER:

1998 Krug: Bright straw with an excellent mousse and fine bead. A stunning, complex bouquet to begin the tasting, full of strawberries and ever changing, at times tangy, then bready, then cheesy; the palate's extremely long with mouthwatering fine acidity, some biscuit, peach and caramel appearing with breathing. It had one notable vocal detractor, but this was WOTN for someone else and damn close to it for me too.

THE DRY WHITES:

2005 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay (screwcap): Bright straw/green. Tight, mineraly/flinty nose, revealing with some air melon and pith; the palate's immediately sweeter, an entry full of melon leading to a big mid palate with touches of marmalade, finishing quite peaty and smoky with a slice of vanilla. Easily best of this bracket.

2001 Giaconda Chardonnay: Bright gold. Smoky nose with some gunpowder, mineral and lemon, just a touch of lanolin too; likewise the palate's more developed than a bottle I tried last year, fat and buttery with lemon drop characters, and a smoky/milky finish with some hazelnut. I wasn't as impressed with this as others at the dinne; unfortunately something about it reminded me of a comment by Jamie Sach: “chardonnay doesn't get better with age, it just gets older".

1968 Lindemans Bin 3455 Hunter Valley 'Riesling' (sic): 100% semillon, from back in the days when the wine industry could get away with this kind of inaccuracy on their labels. Bright amber colour. A little mousy at first, but some dried flowers and overripe banana appear with breathing; the palate's better, a soft entry of caramel followed by a slight, nutty palate that's short and devoid of fruit. An old relic that's well past its prime, but I still found it drinkable in contrast to one or two people; it's a privilege to try something as old, renowned and rare as this, even when it doesn't quite live up to its glory days.

PINOT ANYONE?:

1998 Bass Phillip Wines Reserve Pinot Noir: Murky, medium to very dark cherry red. Rich, sweet nose of cherry jam, stalks and tea chest, later on some mushroom; the palate's a touch more developed but still powerful, stalky/minty with sous bois and leather, excellent length, balance and acidity. Probably the most convincing Australian pinot I'¢ve tried at this age that wasn't in a magnum format; it's got quite a few more years ahead to look forward to on this form, and was a great match for the Boudin Noir. Thanks Chi!

CONTRASTING CABERNETS:

1986 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon: Medium to dark blood red. My first impression is there's a fair amount of Coonawarra material in the blend, as the nose opens with a salvo of ground paprika and dried chillies, blackcurrant and ash, just a trace of banana and later on some tomato leaf. The palate is much riper in comparison, a rich, chocolaty entry that's Barossan in nature, followed by cherry cola and sour mash bourbon characters on the finish. I was very impressed with the bouquet, although the American oak lives up to its fierce reputation with the palate.

1998 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon: (My bottle) An incredible, impossibly young, inky purple/red colour with legs on the glass, much darker than Grange and looking more like a current release than something 12 years from vintage. The concentration, power and complexity of the nose can't be faulted, full of cherry cola, coal dust, meaty pan juices, star anise and red liquorice. The palate has a sweetness and intense concentration of fruit and oak that's much more powerful than the 1986 before it, much better integration, although by the end of the glass some traces of bourbon are beginning to show, finishing extremely long and minty. It's easy to pick this as an excessive, love-it-or-hate-it style: I loved it, while some others slammed it as being over the top. It was a little ironic that it ended up matching the strong cumin/caraway spice present in the course, while the following Quintets were totally wiped away by it.

1983 Mount Mary Quintet Cabernets: Light to medium red. Mineraly nose that's a touch damp and metallic at first, but with breathing it kicks into life with meaty/toffee and coffee characters; sadly, it was really only just getting going when we had to empty our glasses for the next flight. The palate's soft and delicate, only light to medium weight with bright cherries/raspberries and silky tannins, the sweet fruit and excellent length very seductive in nature. Clearly a WOTN contender - I might have liked it even more if the owner wasn't continually talking it up and bagging other peoples' wines.

1996 Mount Mary Quintet: Light to medium red. Initially a more attractive nose than the 1983 although it's also a bit suspect, full of medicinal/cherries and cloves, leather and caramel, very sweet and herbal; the palate's initially much sweeter than the 1983 too, quite bight but medicinal and notably a lot shorter. It could be in a flat spot at the moment, and the prospect of a lesser bottle can't be ruled out either; on this form though, I have my doubts this will end up as good as the 1983 vintage.

PENFOLDS' TOP SHELF:

1996 Penfolds Grange: (Mark's bottle) Medium to dark blood red. It smells a lot like the 1998 Bin 707, cherry cola, cherries dusted in cocoa, star anise/umami, and black liquorice with more breathing, each whiff brings something new. A tannic/chalky entry leads to surprisingly young, full-weight blueberry/cherry fruit mid-palate, the chalky tannins flowing through to the extremely long finish with just a touch of vanillin oak. It's tighter, “higher pitched" and more obviously tannic than the 1998 Bin 707 which has resulted in the oak being much less obvious, but the house-style is still there. WOTN for me tonight, yet I know this is only a glimpse to much greater things further down the track; someone mentioned this was very unlike Grange as a whole, yet I think this isn't such a bad thing considering it has similarities to 1986 and 2004 which buck the trend.

1982 Penfolds Bin 820 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz: Medium, blood red. An initial, startling salvo of beetroot, cherry syrup and greens on the nose give way to more house-style star anise and dill oak, although there's always a cooler edge, some tomato concentrate and mushroom appearing with breathing. The palate is riper, very similar to the 1998 Bin 707 without the weight, very sweet cherry cola fruit with a bourbon/banana oak chaser; it lacks the power of the top wines of the Penfolds stable, but it's enjoyable all the same. Drinking well now, but well cellared bottles should hold a few more years too.

1966 Penfolds Bin 620 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz: A heavily ullaged bottle that was intended to go to this year's wine clinic but missed out due to unforeseen circumstances. Medium, blood red. The nose is heavily developed, rather sharp and austere, the main characters being gunpowder and tomato leaf; the palate's better, there's some remnants of sweet fruit and a gorgeous, silky structure still remains, a hint of aniseed on the finish. This certainly gave enough clues as to what a good bottle could be - the fruit's almost gone but the structure left behind is outstanding.

DESSERTS:

1966 Chateau Augey Grand Vin Sauternes: We'd done a fair job demolishing everything before the desserts, so I decided to take the chance opening this unknown quantity bought at one of Mark's auctions. Bright amber colour. The first impression is that it's alive, full of caramel, plastic, banana and dried flowers; the palate's also in good shape for something 44 years old, with marmalade, creme brulee and bright acid mid-palate, the short finish the only let-down. It's not d'Yquem, but still a very pleasant surprise.

1998 Duca di Castelmonte Passito di Pantelleria NES (375ml): Scrubbed, soapy, sweet grapey fruit on the nose rather like a Seppelt Muscat; the palate's significantly lighter though, appearing less fresh and more spirity, lacking weight and length. It's caught between two much better wines, but disappointing all the same.

2005 Noon McLaren Vale Vintage Port (500ml): Creamy vanilla, black liquorice and blackberries, the balance, length and fine spirit aren't out of place in a line up like this. Great stuff to finish the evening.


Cheers
Ian

Edited for: my lousy spelling.

[Seven]

Hi Ian,

Agreed with the comment about the Manse. Both food and service could have been better.

[Seven]

1983 Mount Mary Quintet Cabernets: Light to medium red. Mineraly nose that’s a touch damp and metallic at first, but with breathing it kicks into life with meaty/toffee and coffee characters – sadly, it was really only just getting going when we had to empty our glasses for the next flight. The palate’s soft and delicate, only light to medium weight with bright cherries/raspberries and silky tannins, the sweet fruit and excellent length very seductive in nature. Clearly a WOTN contender - I might have liked it even more if the owner wasn’t continually talking it up and bagging other peoples’ wines.

And I was glad that my bottle became the PINOT OF THE NIGHT...

[Roscoe]

Thanks yet again for the extensive notes, Ian.

[markg]

Yes, thanks for the notes Ian and I think that we all thought that Manse didn't live up to their reputation.

All in all though a great night with great company.

[Wayno]

Good notes Ian, very enjoyable reading... sounds like a fair selection...

[crusty2]

An interesting evening. Nice to meet all the people and put faces to names.
I thought the venue was not what we needed for a wine dinner. The lighting was very dim, great for couples but crap for wine seeing the wine colours (and food). The 30C temperature was unacceptable. Imagine bringing your wines several hours early and having the effectively cooked by the time you have dinner? Would you taste your 707 or MM at 30C, I think not.
I have not participated in degustation menu prior to this event and if degustation means "no serve bigger than a tablespoon in size/volume" then I will have to have second thoughts about participating in another.
Then we had a young waiter that clapped his hands and demanded attention so he could explain the next dish (even though we had a menu in front of us). Mind you he was probably annoyed we were not paying him the attention he thought he deserved, bloody pesky wino's talking while I am.

on to the wines

1998 Krug: quite delicate, a nice start (purchased at Hong Kong? Airport)

2005 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay: young and showing the wood at the start, but filled out as it breathed, nice wine.
2001 Giaconda Chardonnay: quite fat by comparison, rich viscous in weight and better with the food. quite broad when warmer.
1968 Lindemans Bin 3455 Hunter Valley ‘Riesling’: light amber in colour, camphor on the nose, palate had lost fruit. dead

1998 Bass Phillip Wines Reserve Pinot Noir: lovely weight on palate and got forgotten with the next bracket, certainly a wine i would like to try again

I placed these in order of what i would think, palletwise, lightest to heaviest

1983 Mount Mary Quintet Cabernets: leafy complex drinking at its best, lightweight but showing its class
1996 Mount Mary Quintet: fuller than prevoius wine, probably needed a good decant to lift palate, nice wine (but then I buy every year and biased)
1986 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon: coming after the MM seemed like an oak bomb, nice fruit under the oak
1998 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon: big fruit and bigger oak, destined for the long haul

I placed these in order of oldest to youngest

1966 Penfolds Bin 620 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz: nice palateweight, lovelly tannin structure, just spoilt by the oxidised overlay, have had better bottles in the last 2 years
1982 Penfolds Bin 820 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz: looked a bit sweet and soupy
1996 Penfolds Grange: the best bottle I have had in the last 18 months, rich complex fantastic drinking, the decant helped a lot.

too much wine and a lack of food had me struggling at this stage

1966 Chateau Augey Grand Vin Sauternes: caramel and simple
1998 Duca di Castelmonte Passito di Pantelleria NES : aldehydic palate, this is a style I have yet to come to terms with
2005 Noon McLaren Vale Vintage Port: sweet blackcurrant juice

nice to meet everybody and look forward to another event (but not at the Manse)

cheers
phill

[daz]

There were a number of wines mentioned in the list of "Wines of Distinction" that seem not to have been presented at the dinner, the Cullen being one. That said, it's just as well I hadn't planned to any time soon open my 2nd (and last) bottle of Bin 707 1998 nor the only Grange 1996.

[markg]

There were a number of wines mentioned in the list of "Wines of Distinction" that seem not to have been presented at the dinner, the Cullen being one. That said, it's just as well I hadn't planned to any time soon open my 2nd (and last) bottle of Bin 707 1998 nor the only Grange 1996.

Hey Daryl,

The list was only meant as a guideline to bring along on the night, not as a definative list.

[daz]

There were a number of wines mentioned in the list of "Wines of Distinction" that seem not to have been presented at the dinner, the Cullen being one. That said, it's just as well I hadn't planned to any time soon open my 2nd (and last) bottle of Bin 707 1998 nor the only Grange 1996.

Hey Daryl,

The list was only meant as a guideline to bring along on the night, not as a definative list.

Fair 'nuff Mark. Thanks for the clarification. The wines sound spectacular but the venue seems to have disappointed.

Cheers

daz

[n4sir]

I still can't believe The Manse was awarded as the best restaurant in SA last night. It's pretty obvious the judges certainly didn't go there when we've gone a couple of times in the last year; that said, I tend to agree with the rest of the awards list on what I've tried and heard:

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle ... 5962948514

My 2c,
Ian