TN: AFWAC - Fortifieds with James Godfrey 26/10/09
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:31 am
This was the third tasting hosted by James Godfrey I've been lucky enough to get to: the first was a stunning selection of all Seppelt(sfield) fortifieds matched with food, and the second was under the Fosters banner when he was presenting the Penfolds brands while the sale of Seppeltsfield was happening.
Since the sale he's been a very busy man, handling the Penfolds portfolio of fortified wines while simultaneously on loan to the new owners of Seppeltsfield, passing on his knowledge of the treasures within. Luckily for us, be brought along pieces from both camps (most taken straight from the barrels/tanks) to present an absorbing tutorial on where our fortified wine industry is heading once the definitions are changed forever...
All of the wines/samples were presented under screwcap unless marked:
FLIGHT 1: AN APERA - SHORT FOR APERTIF?: Apera will be the new name for what were known as Sherries, and more importantly, we have (unfortunately) lost the use of the Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso descriptors, to be replaced by "Dry", "Medium", "Sweet" and "Creamy" classifications (which to me sounds like the the cheap, rubbish flagons of years gone by). The following wine was however, something else while in the Creamy description, a Luscious blend of four components with an average age of 25 years old:
Seppeltsfield Selma Melitta, Rare Luscious: Philip White's recent tasting notes seem to lean to a female S&M theme, so I figure I can get away with saying this: opening the tasting with this wine is like being whipped by Dita Von Teese: it's very inviting, elegant and intimidating all at once. Light, bright tawny with an equally bright olive rim. Lifted noise with light rancio characters and yet still a hint of flor yeastiness, with breathing some fruitcake & tealeaf, very interesting and falling somewhere between muscat & sherry. The palate's more oloroso-like, nutty with a hint of orange rind/creamy vanilla and a long, nutty aftertaste.
FLIGHT 2: A LESSON IN THE NEW CLASSICATIONS: What's labelled "Australian" is basically any tawny from this country, "Classic" is over five years in barrels, "Grand" more than ten, and "Rare" more than fifteen. The last wine was a ring-in from the club that James wasn't expecting:
Penfolds Club Tawny: Medium tawny. Freshly scrubbed fruit/fruitcake, very little in the way of any rancio but there is some sudsy freshness to it; the palate's equally bright in fruity characters but a little short and simple, especially compared with what followed.
Penfolds Club Reserve Classic Tawny: Medium tawny. A little richer than the standard Club, more chocolaty on the nose; the palate's longer, brighter/warmer on the finish, but there's still that freshly scrubbed fruit that's light on rancio characters.
Penfolds Bluestone Grand Tawny: A noticeably volatile nose, with hints of ginger and caramel; the palate's richer with more rancio/walnut characters, darker, longer and yet softer, and there's a hint of sour mash too. A major step up overall, a richer, and more complete wine.
Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny: Medium/dark tawny. This is a lot darker again on the bouquet, no noticeable volatility but rich, caramel/date and fruitcake characters; the palate's a mouthful of volatility and sweet rancio, powerful and very, very long, finishing with some coconut and nutmeg/mixed spices.
1951 Seppeltsfield Vintage Port (Group 68): Medium/dark tawny. An odd one of the bunch, a little cork-stink at first, then lifted fino/amontillado-like aromas on the bouquet, yeasty and light rancio/hazelnut followed by a burst of wildly floral, grated ginger and milk chocolate/caramel characters. The palate's lighter/brighter than the previous wines, a watercolour vs an oil painting, very attractive with a creamy/sherried flavour and a very long finish that becomes peaty with breathing.
FLIGHT 3: WHICH PART OF THE SOLERO?: Possibly the most fascinating part of the whole tasting: a single variety and vintage, aged the same amount of time, the only question is what barrel did it end up in and where on the stack did it age? Many would argue that without inside any inside information, it would be near impossible for someone to pick this was the same variety and vintage trying them completely blind:
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Puncheon at the top of the stack) : Light to medium tawny with an olive rim. Bright fruit and obvious lift on the nose, fruitcake/a little rum and ginger with breathing; freshly scrubbed fruit with a lick of caramel/sour mash on the finish.
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Hogshead at the top of the stack): Dark tawny with an olive rim. A darker/nutty nose with brown sugar and obvious lifted characters; the palate's equally richer/volatile but balanced.
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Quarter Cask at the top of the stack): Impossibly even darker, sweeter, almost like toffee with sticky, sweet sugar and caramel and a hint of fig; chocolaty, slippery palate, with sweet banana cake on the finish. I had a bit of fun at the end blending this with the following, much more backward barrel samples!
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Hogshead in the floor bond) Bright tawny with an olive rim. It's lighter weight/less fat than the previous wine, yet more creamy/vanillin, with some light rancio, hazelnut in the distance; the bright acid and alcohol also seems more obvious than the previous wines in the bracket, but there's still obvious rancio characters and a long finish.
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Hogshead at the bottom of the stack): Medium tawny with an olive rim. Very fresh with freshly scrubbed flesh, becoming more flor/yeasty with breathing; very minty, but there's still the bright acid and alcohol of the previous sample, with rich fruitcake and pepper characters, and a yeasty finish. 21 years old, and still a toddler in this group.
FLIGHT 4: FROM THE TAWNIES TO THE VPs:
1998 Seppeltsfield Vintage Port Cleanskin (375ml, cork): Medium to very dark crimson. Lifted/herbal nose with black liquorice but also some attractive cinnamon characters; sweet, scrubbed currants, fresh with sudsy detergent characters and a minty/herbal finish. Fresh, youthful and very good.
2001 Seppeltsfield Vintage Port (375ml, cork):. The other half bottle on the other side of the room apparently wasn't as good, and yet this was the weakest of the flight (and not a cleanskin!). Light to medium crimson. Sweaty socks, potato skins and sweet sweat on the nose; ripe raspberry jam, red liquorice and savoury characters lead to on oily finish. It seems a little ironic the only wine in this flight with a label was clearly the most inferior.
2006 Seppeltsfield Vintage Port Cleanskin (750ml): Medium to very dark red/purple. Gorgeous, creamy blackberries/blueberries and creamy vanilla, reminding me or all things the 2002 Seppelts St Peters Shiraz; the palate's equally young with bright/sweet/slurpy fruit with creamy well balanced oak and spirit, very long and perfectly balanced. This was the pick of the VPs for me tonight by a long margin, with enormous potential.
FLIGHT 5: THE NIGHT CAP:
Seppelt DP63 Grand Muscat Cleanskin (750ml): Light to medium tawny. Sweet, scrubbed flesh and fruitcake characters, becoming creamy with a little savoury fish sauce/green curry paste appearing breathing. A lovely finish to the night
Cheers
Ian
Since the sale he's been a very busy man, handling the Penfolds portfolio of fortified wines while simultaneously on loan to the new owners of Seppeltsfield, passing on his knowledge of the treasures within. Luckily for us, be brought along pieces from both camps (most taken straight from the barrels/tanks) to present an absorbing tutorial on where our fortified wine industry is heading once the definitions are changed forever...
All of the wines/samples were presented under screwcap unless marked:
FLIGHT 1: AN APERA - SHORT FOR APERTIF?: Apera will be the new name for what were known as Sherries, and more importantly, we have (unfortunately) lost the use of the Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso descriptors, to be replaced by "Dry", "Medium", "Sweet" and "Creamy" classifications (which to me sounds like the the cheap, rubbish flagons of years gone by). The following wine was however, something else while in the Creamy description, a Luscious blend of four components with an average age of 25 years old:
Seppeltsfield Selma Melitta, Rare Luscious: Philip White's recent tasting notes seem to lean to a female S&M theme, so I figure I can get away with saying this: opening the tasting with this wine is like being whipped by Dita Von Teese: it's very inviting, elegant and intimidating all at once. Light, bright tawny with an equally bright olive rim. Lifted noise with light rancio characters and yet still a hint of flor yeastiness, with breathing some fruitcake & tealeaf, very interesting and falling somewhere between muscat & sherry. The palate's more oloroso-like, nutty with a hint of orange rind/creamy vanilla and a long, nutty aftertaste.
FLIGHT 2: A LESSON IN THE NEW CLASSICATIONS: What's labelled "Australian" is basically any tawny from this country, "Classic" is over five years in barrels, "Grand" more than ten, and "Rare" more than fifteen. The last wine was a ring-in from the club that James wasn't expecting:
Penfolds Club Tawny: Medium tawny. Freshly scrubbed fruit/fruitcake, very little in the way of any rancio but there is some sudsy freshness to it; the palate's equally bright in fruity characters but a little short and simple, especially compared with what followed.
Penfolds Club Reserve Classic Tawny: Medium tawny. A little richer than the standard Club, more chocolaty on the nose; the palate's longer, brighter/warmer on the finish, but there's still that freshly scrubbed fruit that's light on rancio characters.
Penfolds Bluestone Grand Tawny: A noticeably volatile nose, with hints of ginger and caramel; the palate's richer with more rancio/walnut characters, darker, longer and yet softer, and there's a hint of sour mash too. A major step up overall, a richer, and more complete wine.
Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny: Medium/dark tawny. This is a lot darker again on the bouquet, no noticeable volatility but rich, caramel/date and fruitcake characters; the palate's a mouthful of volatility and sweet rancio, powerful and very, very long, finishing with some coconut and nutmeg/mixed spices.
1951 Seppeltsfield Vintage Port (Group 68): Medium/dark tawny. An odd one of the bunch, a little cork-stink at first, then lifted fino/amontillado-like aromas on the bouquet, yeasty and light rancio/hazelnut followed by a burst of wildly floral, grated ginger and milk chocolate/caramel characters. The palate's lighter/brighter than the previous wines, a watercolour vs an oil painting, very attractive with a creamy/sherried flavour and a very long finish that becomes peaty with breathing.
FLIGHT 3: WHICH PART OF THE SOLERO?: Possibly the most fascinating part of the whole tasting: a single variety and vintage, aged the same amount of time, the only question is what barrel did it end up in and where on the stack did it age? Many would argue that without inside any inside information, it would be near impossible for someone to pick this was the same variety and vintage trying them completely blind:
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Puncheon at the top of the stack) : Light to medium tawny with an olive rim. Bright fruit and obvious lift on the nose, fruitcake/a little rum and ginger with breathing; freshly scrubbed fruit with a lick of caramel/sour mash on the finish.
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Hogshead at the top of the stack): Dark tawny with an olive rim. A darker/nutty nose with brown sugar and obvious lifted characters; the palate's equally richer/volatile but balanced.
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Quarter Cask at the top of the stack): Impossibly even darker, sweeter, almost like toffee with sticky, sweet sugar and caramel and a hint of fig; chocolaty, slippery palate, with sweet banana cake on the finish. I had a bit of fun at the end blending this with the following, much more backward barrel samples!
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Hogshead in the floor bond) Bright tawny with an olive rim. It's lighter weight/less fat than the previous wine, yet more creamy/vanillin, with some light rancio, hazelnut in the distance; the bright acid and alcohol also seems more obvious than the previous wines in the bracket, but there's still obvious rancio characters and a long finish.
1987 Seppeltsfield Fortified Grenache (A Hogshead at the bottom of the stack): Medium tawny with an olive rim. Very fresh with freshly scrubbed flesh, becoming more flor/yeasty with breathing; very minty, but there's still the bright acid and alcohol of the previous sample, with rich fruitcake and pepper characters, and a yeasty finish. 21 years old, and still a toddler in this group.
FLIGHT 4: FROM THE TAWNIES TO THE VPs:
1998 Seppeltsfield Vintage Port Cleanskin (375ml, cork): Medium to very dark crimson. Lifted/herbal nose with black liquorice but also some attractive cinnamon characters; sweet, scrubbed currants, fresh with sudsy detergent characters and a minty/herbal finish. Fresh, youthful and very good.
2001 Seppeltsfield Vintage Port (375ml, cork):. The other half bottle on the other side of the room apparently wasn't as good, and yet this was the weakest of the flight (and not a cleanskin!). Light to medium crimson. Sweaty socks, potato skins and sweet sweat on the nose; ripe raspberry jam, red liquorice and savoury characters lead to on oily finish. It seems a little ironic the only wine in this flight with a label was clearly the most inferior.
2006 Seppeltsfield Vintage Port Cleanskin (750ml): Medium to very dark red/purple. Gorgeous, creamy blackberries/blueberries and creamy vanilla, reminding me or all things the 2002 Seppelts St Peters Shiraz; the palate's equally young with bright/sweet/slurpy fruit with creamy well balanced oak and spirit, very long and perfectly balanced. This was the pick of the VPs for me tonight by a long margin, with enormous potential.
FLIGHT 5: THE NIGHT CAP:
Seppelt DP63 Grand Muscat Cleanskin (750ml): Light to medium tawny. Sweet, scrubbed flesh and fruitcake characters, becoming creamy with a little savoury fish sauce/green curry paste appearing breathing. A lovely finish to the night
Cheers
Ian