Capital Tasters #12 - Return to Aubergine

[Jordan]

Last night, we held our monthly Canberra tasting group dinner at the excellent Aubergine in Griffith. It was my turn to provide the 6 wines and throw in a bit of options skulduggery to keep everyone on their toes. The wines showed pretty well, particularly the whites, with the reds probably served a little warm. The food at Aubergine was excellent once again making for a great night.

We drank:

NV Primo Estate Joseph Sparkling Red (09 disgorged) - lovely way to kick the night off. Juicy red fruits with dry leathery notes balancing it out. Loved the complexity of this. Rich and creamy but balanced.

1998 Tyrell's Vat 1 Semillon - This was a bit weird on first approach. The table remarked it was a bit like two wines in one glass one half steely, acidic and young, the other toasty and more developed. As the wine breathed and warmed up, its complexities unravelled a little more. Some grassiness, pithy lemon, wet stones and toast. Quite good but needs much more time in the cellar - hard to believe it was 12 years old!

2002 Bouchard Mersault 1er - Les Boucheres - This was my WOTN. An excellent and beguiling chardonnay. Lovely nose showing white flowers, peach, burnt sugar and with more air and warmth, some toasty oak. The palate didn’t disappoint. Good intensity of fruit offset by a touch of savoury, spicy oak. Lemony acid running throughout. A very good, vibrant, focused wine.

1999 Katnook Estate Odyssey Cabernet Sauvignon - This was a bit if a bruiser of a wine. Full on, extractive style but a good wine in that style. Lots of blackberry cabernet fruit, with touches of green bean and dried herbs... but the powerful toasty, coffee tinged oak seemed to dominate the fruit a little too much. Still very enjoyable and was a good match to the rich beef bourguignon styled main that I had.

1999 Jacob's Creek Centenary Hill Shiraz - I really liked this and it was my favourite of the two reds on the night. Ripe nose of crushed berries, liquorice, fly spray and vanilla. Rich palate of plums, chocolate, aniseed, vanilla and some earthiness. What I liked the most about this wine was the salty/iodine like character that gave it a bit of complexity amongst its rich Barossa fruit. A good example of a 1999 Barossa Shiraz.

2009 Mt Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling - I remember this being pretty fine and a great match with Crepes Suzette and mango ice cream but not much else! Was very good.

[Michael McNally]

Nice notes thanks Jordan.

I had the Joseph 09 in my hand on Tuesday, but went for the Classic Clare 2004 (which was good but not spectacular). Wish I had chosen otherwise.

Cheers

Michael

[pstarr]

Forgot to reply to this. Another good night. The Mersault, the Joseph bubbles and the cordon cut were all good gear. Years to wait for the Vat1, I reckon. As for the food, excellent bread, didn't mind the pig's head croquette (but needed better clarity of flavours), liked my lamb main but it was blown out of the water by that stunning beef dish with the bourgignon sauce. Good value night, all up. Thanks Jordan for the wines.