Saltram current release wines in brief.

MartinC · Post by **MartinC** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:56 pm

Hi all,

Tasted these during a winemaker's dinner with Nigel Dolan.

Sauvignon Blanc 2001 - Uninspiring, God forbid - it shouldnt be grown in Barossa at all. Should all be grafted to Semillion.

No 1 1999 - A compact wine but don't expect another '98. With the price hike, who are they trying to kidd??? (Clearly living out of the reputation of their previous vintage)

Metala Black 2000 - A well made wine short of being excellent reflective of a lesser vintage in Langhorne Creek.

Mamre Brook Shiraz 2001 - Slugged out toe to toe with the earlier wines and very little to separate btwn 'em. The smart money will go for this wine @ a fraction of the $$$. The real winner considering what it's worth.

Conclusion: Vintage preceeds reputation.

Rgds,

TORB · Post by **TORB** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 5:36 pm

MartinC wrote:No 1 1999 - A compact wine but don't expect another '98. With the price hike, who are they trying to kidd??? (Clearly living out of the reputation of their previous vintage)

Martin,

Personally I didn't like the flavour profile of the wine but I am sorry, I don't agree with your conclusions. Does a wine have to be a huge overbearing monster to be considered up to the mark? Also the wine has a s**t load of trophies and whist they in and of themselves don't impress me when a wine has so many from major shows it must have something going for it. Here is my Tn FWIW.

This wine has got more medals on it than a war hero on Anzac Day. Fruit quality is obvious with persistent pure medium fruit of great intensity going from prune all the way through the black flavours into a forest of berry flavours which are impacted by some charry oak. The char is not overbearing and there should be enough fruit to absorb it in the longer term. The wine is still tight and shows some elegance. It has a diverse and sophisticated flavour profile and its well constructed and balanced with the ultra fine grained drying tannins beefing up the fruit weight to make the wine ample weight. A reasonably clean wine, its rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value but that rating should improve as the wine matures around 2008. I am sure it will fly off the shelfs despite its price tag; the obvious class will make it worthwhile in many peopleÃƒâ€šÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s eyes.

I do agree with you about the price.

Mike Hawkins · Post by **Mike Hawkins** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 6:06 pm

IMO, the 98 was marginally ahead of the 99, but several postcoides in front of the 2000. At nearly $60, I can see it sitting on the shelves for some years !!

It will be interesting to see how future releases compare. I imagine the best grapes will go into the Eight (or 7 - can't remember) Makers label which will likely be $100+ a pop when it comes out.

Gerard Connors · Post by **Gerard Connors** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 9:23 pm

Agree on the Mamre Brooks - great value, but watch out even more for the 02s. Tried both of them at the RQWS last year and they are stunning! I was more excited about the 02 MB Cab than I was about the Eighth Maker - both of the above won top trophies. Hopefully they will be available for the $16.99 on special.

Ged

GrahamB · Post by **GrahamB** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 10:44 pm

Gerard Connors wrote:Agree on the Mamre Brooks - great value, but watch out even more for the 02s. Tried both of them at the RQWS last year and they are stunning! I was more excited about the 02 MB Cab than I was about the Eighth Maker - both of the above won top trophies. Hopefully they will be available for the $16.99 on special.

Ged

Ged

Someone, who I can't remember got to sample the 02 Mamre Brook Cab Sauv when it was still in the barrell and told me - See it, Buy it as this will be a stunner. I am waiting to taste it.

Graham

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 4:54 am

TORB wrote:
MartinC wrote:Does a wine have to be a huge overbearing monster to be considered up to the mark?

For Martin it seems it does.

MartinC · Post by **MartinC** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 2:39 pm

You are wrong my friend,

I do enjoyed subtley. Some of the more memorable examples were the Cyril '94... the glorious texture was like a painter during sunset, stroking and carressing my palate and the ultra-refined Lindeman Bin 6600 a prime example of a youthful elixir withstand the test of time for intellectual stilmulation. Wine at best is an art-form, it can seduced and tantalised our tastebuds into an odyssey of sensory experince. Dislike Mt.Mary for being underfruited, IMO an overhyped wine lacking in personality.

If I'm paying top dollar, I expect character in a wine be it an epic blockbuster or a theatrical drama. It must aroused my emotion, enticed my desire and heightened my excitement. Taste, again...it's very personal, it's a perception associated with each individual olfactory sensation.

TORB · Post by **TORB** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 4:09 pm

OK Martin, good answer and I agree with you on the price. We both think its not worth the dosh but are you caning it just because of value or is it something else. You mentioned "compact" care to elaborate a bit more please?

Gary W · Post by **Gary W** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 4:31 pm

MartinC wrote:You are wrong my friend,

I do enjoyed subtley..

MC,
Isnt it just awful having people stereotype your wine preferences? I for one only really enjoy wimpy wines and hunter shiraz....

GW

TORB · Post by **TORB** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 4:54 pm

Gary W wrote:I for one only really enjoy wimpy wines and hunter shiraz....
GW

Tautology! :shock:

MartinC · Post by **MartinC** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 5:30 pm

Hi Ric,

Compact - tightly wound and latent. Not as fleshly and expressive as their previous vintage. For top wines I expected it to deliver multiple layers of flavour in masses(another plus point)

Do try the Mamre Brook Shiraz, it over delivered for what it's worth and I'm more than happy to commit my hard earned dosh

Cheers,

TORB · Post by **TORB** » Sat Feb 21, 2004 5:49 pm

Martin,

Agree its tight and not as fleshy as the previous vintage but many will see that as a positive. In terms of technicalities of the wine, as to the complexity or of multiple levels of flavour, it seems that is about the only point we don't agree 100% on.

I didn't try the Mamre Shiraz, possibly next trip if its still available.

GrahamB · Post by **GrahamB** » Mon Feb 23, 2004 3:38 pm

TORB wrote:
Gary W wrote:I for one only really enjoy wimpy wines and hunter shiraz....
GW

Tautology!

Ric

If that is Tautology

what is Torbology?

Graham