TVS: Torbreck Cellar Door – Monday 19th January 2004

[Adair]

2002 Torbreck Woodcutters White: Semillon: 13.5%
I did not expect much of this wine as I had read negative reviews but to its credit it combined fresh lemon Semillon characters with very subtle oak flavours and a smooth palate and a long finish with fine acidity. Complex enough and very well made. Rated as Recommended/Highly Recommended and very good value at $15.50.

2002 Torbreck Juveniles: Grenache / Shiraz / Mataro: 14.4%
Long, silky palate of ripe dark, somewhat jammy, fruits unhindered by oak or tannin with a confected aspect. Fine acid backbone. Jammy characters of the Grenache are well controlled. Very good for what it attempts to be but too simple for $27.50. Rated as Recommended.

2001 Torbreck The Steading: Grenache / Shiraz / Mataro: 14.7%
Quite similar to the 2002 Juveniles in flavour, still with a confected aspect, but with a sweet oak spices. Long finish but again too simple for $32.50. Rated as Recommended.

2002 Torbeck The Struie: Shiraz (67% Barossa / 33% Eden Valley): 14.5%
Very well controlled ripe Shiraz fruit of significant power and depth in typical Barossa mould on the front palate. The fruit is more powerful and more layered than that of The Steading and Juveniles yet is much better controlled. Great oak handling provides sweet spice and charry complexity. Cooler spices and pepper become apparent from the Eden Valley fruit further on the palate and combines with tannins that are ripe, fine and creamy to provide length to the already deep wine. Rated as Excellent. This wine stands out in the Torbreck range considering its price of $46. I bought a bottle.

2002 Torbreck Descendant: 92% Shiraz / 8% Viognier: 14.5%
This is a beautiful Shiraz Viognier and the winemaker is obviously a specialist in this style creating a wine of deep set black fruits with violets and apricots on a long silky mouthfeel. However, it stands in the shadow of RunRig in terms of price as well as complexity, interest and depth, and it is very hard to justify the $125 price tag when tasted next to the RunRig. Rated as Highly Recommended. Maybe my impressions of the RunRig affected this rating.

2001 Torbreck The Factor: Shiraz: 14.2%
This is obviously TorbreckÂ’s typically Barossa Shiraz. Excellent ripe Shiraz fruit, charry French oak characters, great length, ripe tannins, etc, etc, etc. Although I rated this wine as Excellent, at $125 this wine represents terrible value. I can buy a wine of similar quality in as close a style as the art of wine allows from 10 other nearby producers for less than half the price! Â… and I prefer the cooler complexities of The Struie better.

2001 Torbreck RunRig – Shiraz Viognier (97% Shiraz/3% Viognier)
This wine is $187.50 per bottle and it needed to greatly impress me not to disappoint, and it did not. This wine is amazing. It absolutely blew me away. The nose is powerful but the palate is awesome. The wine is amazingly ripe yet does not cloy. I struggled to remember a wine of such depth and of such width on the palate. I did not know my palate could be so filled with flavour. Black fruits, dark cherries, sweet spices, even a hint of pepper that goes as long as any wine previously thanks to ripe, silky, creamy tannins. The wine is so ripe that I find it hard to distinguish any apricot sweetness from the Viognier but it probably has attributed to the smooth mouthfeel. I must state again, this wine does not cloy. So many wines of this price do not provide the taster with something special, unique or unusual. This wine does. The difference between good and great is not much yet is very rare, so determining whether this wine represents good value is quite pointless. Rated as Outstanding/Ultimate, I bought a bottle.

I then discussed whether this wine would age well. The person at the cellar door said yes but I donÂ’t know whether I will be able to enjoy it any more that it is now. I donÂ’t know whether I will ever find out.

2002 Torbreck The Bothie: 14.5% (lightly fortified with brandy)
I nearly did not try this wine after the ecstasy of the previous wine but I am most happy that I did. This wine has many different layers, all of whicj lightly dance on the tongue, starting with lemon and floral aromatics to deeper lime, honey, nuts and marmalade balanced perfectly with the wineÂ’s fine acid. The fortification is very mild and balanced, as is the residual sugar, both adding to the wine's interest. Very long. Quite light yet of powerful flavour. Rated as Excellent and excellent value at $25 if you like the style.

I should note that there was a “$5 tasting – fully refundable on purchase” message written on the blackboard within the cellar door. However, I was not asked for $5 and I confidently assume that the sign’s purpose is to scare away wine drinkers as opposed to tasters, and it did the trick. As I was in my state of ecstasy whilst tasting the RunRig, a couple came in, had a look at the wine tasting list including the $125 and $187.50 wines, saw the $5 tasting charge, and left. Worked a dream! Avner, another greatly hospitable cellar door dweller, and I had a considerable chuckle.

I left Torbreck a happy taster, even with my pockets $233.50 lighter, as I drove down to the Holy Barossa Mecca, Rockford.

The 2002 Torbreck Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne ($32.50) and 2002 Torbreck Woodcutter's Red Shiraz ($18.50) were sold out.

Kind regards,
Adair

[simm]

2002 Torbreck Juveniles: Grenache / Shiraz / Mataro: 14.4%
Long, silky palate of ripe dark, somewhat jammy, fruits unhindered by oak or tannin with a confected aspect. Fine acid backbone. Jammy characters of the Grenache are well controlled. Very good for what it attempts to be but too simple for $27.50. Rated as Recommended.


Kind regards,
Adair

Hi Adair,

I tried this one recently as well. My thoughts at the time were that they seemed to be trying too hard on the flavour profile without paying enough attention to the complexity. It's generally thought to be a drink now wine isn't it? Unlike you, I found the jammy, confectionary state of it didn't appeal.

cheers,

[Adair]

The Differences in Shiraz Viognier

I thought I should write this little post (maybe I should put it in general forum) as I am worried that I might have underrated the 2002 Torbreck The Descendant due to not understanding the wine and having incorrect expectations. This train of thought has risen out of correspondence with Tim Kirk (from Clonakilla) and reading Jeremy Oliver's review of the wine.

As you might have read, I was absolutely blown away by the RunRig, but was not as enthused about the The Descendant. However, these 2 wines were made in totally difference moulds and I know, as it was alluded to in my tasting note, that I was judging The Descendant on the same terms as the RunRig. The RunRig is a big and muscular wine and the Shiraz in the wine, 97% of the wine, was creating using quite traditional Barossa Shiraz techniques. This is what I was expecting.

However, a comment in that recent correspondence with Tim Kirk made my mind tick over. Tim stated that "At Clonakilla we co-ferment the Shiraz and Viognier. I think that is important as many of the aromatic compounds are associated with the skins" and continues that "in Cote Rotie it is traditional to co-ferment the Shiraz and Viognier".

Well, this is exactly how The Descendant is made. Did I pay enough attention to the aromatic aspects of the wine? I don't know. The next time I get back to Torbreck (shouldn't be too long ), I will tell you. Otherwise, if anyone else gets to taste the RunRig and The Descendant side by side before I do again, please post your thoughts.

... and with regard to Jeremy Oliver's comments about the 2002 Torbreck The Descendant, he rates it 19/20 with the following comments: "Here's some truly magnificent fruit that entirely belies the tender age of its vines. Musky, meaty undertones give pleasing complexity to a fragrance laced with dark berries, plums and violets, backed by lightly smoky oak. Pleasingly, the viognier is difficult, but not impossible, to spot. Slightly jujube-like dark fruit saturates the smooth, silky palate whose tight-knit, drying tannins provide excellent structure and texture. Finely balanced, and certain to satisfy in the cellar. Rated at 19.0. best drinking 2010-2014+"

Aside (my opinion): Jeremy Oliver seems to be one wine writer who always looks for aromatics and subtle complexities and tends to rate such wines very favourably. I tend to like his work.

Just my thoughts,
Adair

[simm]

Thanks for the astute and humbling reminder Adair

It is all too easy to keep judging wines on the basis of the style you really like or are used to, or what you are expecting it to be, without actually letting the wine have the first say.

cheers

[George Krashos]

Hey Adair

I'm just wondering whether you picked up any "brett" characters in any of the reds you tasted? I had a Domaine Tampier Bandol a while back and it had this odd (what I described as "like plastic" nose character coming through faintly) and was advised by people with vaster tasting expertise to me that it was "brett". It was the same smell I'd picked up in some of the Torbreck Wines I'd tried last year on a trip to cellar door. When I made that observation, one of my co-tasters said, "Yep, they're wines are riddled with it ..."

-- George Krashos

[Mishy]

Well, this is exactly how The Descendant is made. Did I pay enough attention to the aromatic aspects of the wine? I don't know. The next time I get back to Torbreck (shouldn't be too long ), I will tell you. Otherwise, if anyone else gets to taste the RunRig and The Descendant side by side before I do again, please post your thoughts.

If I ever see the Decendant and the RunRig side by side I'll certainly need a heart monitor as backup .
Cheers,
Mishy

[Adair]

Hey Adair

I'm just wondering whether you picked up any "brett" characters in any of the reds you tasted? I had a Domaine Tampier Bandol a while back and it had this odd (what I described as "like plastic" nose character coming through faintly) and was advised by people with vaster tasting expertise to me that it was "brett". It was the same smell I'd picked up in some of the Torbreck Wines I'd tried last year on a trip to cellar door. When I made that observation, one of my co-tasters said, "Yep, they're wines are riddled with it ..."

-- George Krashos

Hello George,

Although I was not looking for it, I did not notice any characters that could be the result of brett. However, bottle variation is definitely one thing for which Torbreck seems to be getting a reputation.

Adair

[Gary W]

Hey Adair

I'm just wondering whether you picked up any "brett" characters in any of the reds you tasted? I had a Domaine Tampier Bandol a while back and it had this odd (what I described as "like plastic" nose character coming through faintly) and was advised by people with vaster tasting expertise to me that it was "brett". It was the same smell I'd picked up in some of the Torbreck Wines I'd tried last year on a trip to cellar door. When I made that observation, one of my co-tasters said, "Yep, they're wines are riddled with it ..."

-- George Krashos

Yep. Had the 02 Woodcutters on the weekend - positively seething with Brett and bound sulphide characters. Plastic, bandages, rubber, cabbage water - all there. Very continental indeed.
GW

[Adair]

Had the 02 Woodcutters on the weekend - positively seething with Brett and bound sulphide characters. Plastic, bandages, rubber, cabbage water - all there. Very continental indeed.
GW

And this was one of the wines sold out at the cellar door!

[Gary W]

Had the 02 Woodcutters on the weekend - positively seething with Brett and bound sulphide characters. Plastic, bandages, rubber, cabbage water - all there. Very continental indeed.
GW

And this was one of the wines sold out at the cellar door!

Well some people obviously like faulty wines. Cheaper to simultaneously burn small plastic toys and drink cask wine to re-create the experience.
GW

[Josephine]

Had the 02 Woodcutters on the weekend - positively seething with Brett and bound sulphide characters. Plastic, bandages, rubber, cabbage water - all there. Very continental indeed.
GW

And this was one of the wines sold out at the cellar door!

Well some people obviously like faulty wines. Cheaper to simultaneously burn small plastic toys and drink cask wine to re-create the experience.
GW

That was the Juvenilles wasn't it ?

JP

[Gary W]

Had the 02 Woodcutters on the weekend - positively seething with Brett and bound sulphide characters. Plastic, bandages, rubber, cabbage water - all there. Very continental indeed.
GW

And this was one of the wines sold out at the cellar door!

Well some people obviously like faulty wines. Cheaper to simultaneously burn small plastic toys and drink cask wine to re-create the experience.
GW

That was the Juvenilles wasn't it ?

JP

Whoops. Juvenilles...the 02 woodcutters is clean.
GW

[Adair]

Had the 02 Woodcutters on the weekend - positively seething with Brett and bound sulphide characters. Plastic, bandages, rubber, cabbage water - all there. Very continental indeed.
GW

And this was one of the wines sold out at the cellar door!

Well some people obviously like faulty wines. Cheaper to simultaneously burn small plastic toys and drink cask wine to re-create the experience.
GW

That was the Juvenilles wasn't it ?

JP

Whoops. Juvenilles...the 02 woodcutters is clean.
GW

You two really should just pick up the internal intercom to get your facts straight!

Adair

[Josephine]

Hey Fluffy, there's only one of who didn't have the facts straight.

JP

[Guest]

Interesting stuff.

Is it a general thought the wines are full of Brett? I have noticed it a lot, but the fault (it is a fault when it overwhelms the fruit and dries out the palate, I understand) is not deemed offensive to many and actually enhances the wine to some people.

Why is it a fault? When, it is a wine spoilage yeast. When it does a full on job it is deemed to have spoiled the wine, thus making it faulty.

But often the wine just tasted like it has extra character. Like some oxidised reds have extra smoothness, just not much fruit.

Interesting to observe it in the wine. It's up to each to decide if it is faulty to their enjoyment.

[Gary W]

Interesting to observe it in the wine. It's up to each to decide if it is faulty to their enjoyment.

Precisely. i.e. if you like drinking wines that taste and smell of plastic and bandages then that is your choice. Regardless of whether you like it or not by Australian show standards most would class this wine as "faulty". It is quite overwhelming in this wine and subdues the good fruit underneath.

GW

[Adair]

I personally think the test whether it is a fault is whether the winemaker wants the level of it that is present in the wine, in the wine. (sorry for the bad grammar - in a rush)

Adair

[Josephine]

Agree with you Fluffy, oh ok.. and you GW . Some people love the brett characteristics and seek them out. If the winemaker meant the wine to taste like slimy salami and you happen to like that also then everyone wins, although I probably wouldn't like to have dinner anywhere near you.

I happen to think that if you find tremendous bottle variation (so far as brett goes) then it is a fault. There are a few classic examples of this.

JP