The Auswine Forum

Chow Chow wrote:Hi Mike,
When u were @ Hutton Vale, did u try their Shiraz '99?

Yep.

TN: Hutton Vale 1999 Shiraz. This is a dense cherry red with a red edge and had been opened for several hours before we tasted it. It gave up a bouquet of cedar and fountain pen ink. Well structured it has a solid backbone of tannins and flavors that carried through on retronasal. John Angus in a disappointed tone, said it was still too closed and needed hours more to open. Later my brother John said “If that Shiraz was closed, then its going to be bloody great when it does open”. (2, 2, 4.1, 10.1 = 18.2/20, 14.0% alcohol).

I take John Angus at his word as he clearly knows his wines. In the first bottle of the 2001 GM opened he detected some cork taint; I got a slight "funkyness" but I would not have called it corked. The second bottle was pristine. Notes on all the wines we tasted are here.

Mike

1996 Dom Perignon - all class. I think I like this better than the 1990 and the Krug 1990. Pears, apples, great acid, tiny bead. My WOTY so far.

1996 CNdP La Crau de Ma Mere - too many confectionary notes for my liking.

1998 Wolf Blass Black Label - oak is no longer as evident as it once was. Blackberry, malt and tar notes with only a hint of vanilla. Decent length and a decent, but not great, wine.

Gavin Trott wrote:

KMP wrote:

Chow Chow wrote:Hutton Vale Gre/Mataro 2002 - Perfumed lifted aromas. plusher & richer than their 2001. Quite a mouthful for a mid-weight wine, it has good persistency of flavours and a decent finish. Very stylish, not the usual jammy/sweet Grenache blend fr OZ. Reminded me of a highend CdPape.

Agree. We tasted both in at the vineyard in December '04. The 2002 Grenache/Mataro was again cherry red, but with aromas of spices and lychees. Softer and suppler that the 2001, it was clearly the more elegant wine. Very well balanced with an excellent finish. My notes end simply with “great wine”. (2, 2, 4.2, 10.2 =18.4/20, 14.5% alcohol).

Hope the '02 makes it over here,
Mike

Mike

Your favourite Australian e-tailer sells it.

Hi Gavin,

You have 2002 GM? I can find the 2001 on your site.

What about the 2004 Red Nectar Shiraz and Cabernet, will you have those?

Mike

n4sir wrote:2001 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Harold Cabernet Sauvignon: Dark to (almost) inky red/purple colour. A tight and classic nose reflecting quality fruit and classy French oak; blackcurrant, black olive, some herbs, violets and a touch of soy sauce, with the oak changing between fresh cedar, tight spicy/lemon accents, and charred/fireplace toast. The palate opens with spicy oak and deeply set cassis/blackberry fruit that sweetens with air to become almost cherry-cola like. The structure is tight and rather ungiving at this stage, with black olive on the finish and dry tannins hanging off the end, making the wine appear a tad disjointed at this early stage. A few years should sort this out, but IÂ’d still consider this a medium-term-cellaring prospect.

Ian,

What is this wine and where does it sit in the Wynns portfolio? I've never heard of the Harold.

KMP wrote:

Gavin Trott wrote:

KMP wrote:

Chow Chow wrote:Hutton Vale Gre/Mataro 2002 - Perfumed lifted aromas. plusher & richer than their 2001. Quite a mouthful for a mid-weight wine, it has good persistency of flavours and a decent finish. Very stylish, not the usual jammy/sweet Grenache blend fr OZ. Reminded me of a highend CdPape.

Agree. We tasted both in at the vineyard in December '04. The 2002 Grenache/Mataro was again cherry red, but with aromas of spices and lychees. Softer and suppler that the 2001, it was clearly the more elegant wine. Very well balanced with an excellent finish. My notes end simply with “great wine”. (2, 2, 4.2, 10.2 =18.4/20, 14.5% alcohol).

Hope the '02 makes it over here,
Mike

Mike

Your favourite Australian e-tailer sells it.

Hi Gavin,

You have 2002 GM? I can find the 2001 on your site.

What about the 2004 Red Nectar Shiraz and Cabernet, will you have those?

Mike

I can get the wine, had some and sold out, but you're right, its not on the site.

2004 Red Nectars, yes.

michaelw wrote:

n4sir wrote:2001 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Harold Cabernet Sauvignon: Dark to (almost) inky red/purple colour. A tight and classic nose reflecting quality fruit and classy French oak; blackcurrant, black olive, some herbs, violets and a touch of soy sauce, with the oak changing between fresh cedar, tight spicy/lemon accents, and charred/fireplace toast. The palate opens with spicy oak and deeply set cassis/blackberry fruit that sweetens with air to become almost cherry-cola like. The structure is tight and rather ungiving at this stage, with black olive on the finish and dry tannins hanging off the end, making the wine appear a tad disjointed at this early stage. A few years should sort this out, but I’d still consider this a medium-term-cellaring prospect.

Ian,

What is this wine and where does it sit in the Wynns portfolio? I've never heard of the Harold.

The Harold is a limited single-vineyard release by Wynns - Harold is one of the vineyards that normally supplies fruit for John Riddoch, but no JR was made for 2001. It's priced in the $30-$40 range, between the Black Label and the JR, and I'd say the wine itself is around the mark.

Here's a link to Wynn's page on it: http://www.wynns.com.au/wines/harold.asp

With the well noted problems of Wynns sources of fruit Sue Hodder is trying to shift the focus to the best individual vineyards they have, so don't be surprised if there's more releases like this in future.

Cheers
Ian

Ian,

Apparently Wynns are working on a cab / shiraz blend in the mould of the 1991 Centenary (a superb wine).A mate suggested the 2003 vintage will be the first release.

Mike

KMP wrote:

JohnP wrote:

KMP wrote:2002 Heathvale Shiraz - one of the "finds" of our December '04 tour of the Barossa, this bottle had been sitting in the cellar since August when it came with a bunch of other 2002 Shiraz! Definitely not the same wine we tasted at the vineyard. Wonderful aromas but way more acidity than I remembered, and not the same depth to the structure. Travel or storage problem? Hope the 6-pack I just bought from the same retailer does not have the same problems.

Ditto.
Had one last night and while the nose and front palate were excellent the mid palate and finish were different enough to be obvious. Have the remaining half bottle sitting at home to see if 24 hrs does anything to it. Do you remember if Trevor opened the wine when we arrived, or had it been opened prior - which might explain some of the difference.

All the wines were opened while we were there.

The bottle we opened, the acidity on the mid-palate and finish were so pronounced in the taste I had after pulling the cork that I actually broke a rule and poured it into a decanter to get some air into it to see if that would help fill it out a bit. It helped so I whacked it back into the bottle and took it to the restaurant and it did improve over about an hour, but still not like I remember. I'll probably pull another bottle in a few weeks.

Glad to see that the Chardonnay is holding up!

Mike

Have been drinking the Heathvale shiraz nightly since Monday (now Friday) and unbelievably (sp?) it has stayed the distance, The fruit has remained to the fore with the acid and oak tannins mellowing nicely. The palate remains unbelievably (that word again) sweet and almost thick. This is a wine that will last and I would say leave the 6 pack for 12 months before tasting. Sometime 8-10 years from now this will be a fantastic wine.

Have been drinking it alongside the McIvor 2002 Shiraz (Heathcote) another great shiraz with such an abundance of white pepper on the nose and palate it is remarkable to see the difference between Eden Valley and Heathcote friuit, with both still delivering excellent wines.