TN: Adelaide Magnum Oflline at Sah 17/5/12
Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 3:45 pm
Like last year, the first Adelaide offline for 2012 happened a little later than usual, but the wait was worth it for the ten people who went along. My thanks to everyone for sharing their magnums and equally fine company, Mark for organising it, and to John at Sah for accommodating us. All of the following wines were bottled under natural cork:
1995 Duval-Leroy Champagne Brut magnum: Bright straw with a vigorous mousse and abundant, fine bead. Very bready with brioche, yeast and stonefruit, then some grass and lemon sherbet; the palate has nice creaminess and length but also a touch of bitterness on the finish to be picky. It really needs finger food to match, but a lovely start to the evening all the same.
2009 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling magnum, Clare Valley: Bright straw, but not exactly what I would call pale. Showing some development already, it has lost all of its initial perfumed florals and fennel characters and is now pithy and waxy, Bickfords lime and mineral water, rather one dimensional with mouthwatering acidity and a slightly bitter finish. It's drinking okay, but its advanced state in a magnum format is surprisingly disappointing leaving a few of us wondering where it will go from here.
2000 Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir magnum, Macedon Ranges: Bright, light red. Still lovely and fresh, bursting with cherries and strawberries, white pepper, stalks without any overt greenness, sage and sandalwood. The palate's just as attractive, sweet strawberry jam and cranberry juice, tingly epsom salts and acidity mid-palate, finishing very long and mouthwatering with very fine tannins, grippy but never bitter. The freshness and balance of this wine reminds me of some 2005 Burgundies, and neatly slots right into the narrow style spectrum of Pinot Noir that I love; WOTN for me.
1992 Irvine Grand Merlot magnum, Eden Valley: Medium to dark blood red. Opens with a wallop of cedar oak (maybe not that surprising since it spent over two and a half years in it), plum and black cherry, a touch of lift/bite from some VA and EA in the background, green capsicum with breathing. The palate's sweeter with surprisingly delicate strawberry and cherry fruit and the oak well in the background, finishing with very fine, grippy tannins, slightly thicker than the Bindi. The more it breathed the greener and earthier it became, some black liquorice appearing too, almost getting into Coonawarra territory. A fine wine, but I don't think it's quite up there with the best Grand Merlots (despite its reputation as being judged the world's best at the prestigious 1997 International Merlot tasting in Switzerland directly against the likes of Petrus, Antinori, Modavi, etc).
2002 Kabminye Schliebs Block magnum, Barossa Valley: The inaugural vintage, a blend of Mataro, Carignan, Cinsaut and Black Frontignac from the 18 hectare property of champion pruner Ken Schliebs; made by Paul Lindner from Langmeil Winery, all the grape varieties were picked at once, then co-fermented and matured together. Light to almost medium red. At ten years of age and five years after I last tried it, little has changed; the nose is grapey at first, followed by chocolaty red berry fruit and smoked meats, rhubarb and vanilla custard. The palate's light to medium weight with slippery fruit, grippy, fine tannins and a little minty/peppery warmth on the finish; still drinking well, and no danger of it falling over anytime soon.
2008 Kalleske Greenock Shiraz magnum, Barossa Valley: Glass clinging, very dark to inky blood red. Huge, sweet nose full of honeycomb and peat, blood plums and cherry cola, a little blueberry and smoked meats with breathing; the palate's drier in style, full weight with meaty & tarry nuances, lovely length and tea-like tannins. It's a wine that hides its 15.5% alcohol devastatingly well giving it an illusion of elegance, a sledgehammer behind a velvet curtain that will smash your head in the following morning if you're not wary. Troy has come up with the goods again in what should have been a tough vintage, anyone who likes Kalleske as much as I do should love this.
Cheers,
Ian
1995 Duval-Leroy Champagne Brut magnum: Bright straw with a vigorous mousse and abundant, fine bead. Very bready with brioche, yeast and stonefruit, then some grass and lemon sherbet; the palate has nice creaminess and length but also a touch of bitterness on the finish to be picky. It really needs finger food to match, but a lovely start to the evening all the same.
2009 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling magnum, Clare Valley: Bright straw, but not exactly what I would call pale. Showing some development already, it has lost all of its initial perfumed florals and fennel characters and is now pithy and waxy, Bickfords lime and mineral water, rather one dimensional with mouthwatering acidity and a slightly bitter finish. It's drinking okay, but its advanced state in a magnum format is surprisingly disappointing leaving a few of us wondering where it will go from here.
2000 Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir magnum, Macedon Ranges: Bright, light red. Still lovely and fresh, bursting with cherries and strawberries, white pepper, stalks without any overt greenness, sage and sandalwood. The palate's just as attractive, sweet strawberry jam and cranberry juice, tingly epsom salts and acidity mid-palate, finishing very long and mouthwatering with very fine tannins, grippy but never bitter. The freshness and balance of this wine reminds me of some 2005 Burgundies, and neatly slots right into the narrow style spectrum of Pinot Noir that I love; WOTN for me.
1992 Irvine Grand Merlot magnum, Eden Valley: Medium to dark blood red. Opens with a wallop of cedar oak (maybe not that surprising since it spent over two and a half years in it), plum and black cherry, a touch of lift/bite from some VA and EA in the background, green capsicum with breathing. The palate's sweeter with surprisingly delicate strawberry and cherry fruit and the oak well in the background, finishing with very fine, grippy tannins, slightly thicker than the Bindi. The more it breathed the greener and earthier it became, some black liquorice appearing too, almost getting into Coonawarra territory. A fine wine, but I don't think it's quite up there with the best Grand Merlots (despite its reputation as being judged the world's best at the prestigious 1997 International Merlot tasting in Switzerland directly against the likes of Petrus, Antinori, Modavi, etc).
2002 Kabminye Schliebs Block magnum, Barossa Valley: The inaugural vintage, a blend of Mataro, Carignan, Cinsaut and Black Frontignac from the 18 hectare property of champion pruner Ken Schliebs; made by Paul Lindner from Langmeil Winery, all the grape varieties were picked at once, then co-fermented and matured together. Light to almost medium red. At ten years of age and five years after I last tried it, little has changed; the nose is grapey at first, followed by chocolaty red berry fruit and smoked meats, rhubarb and vanilla custard. The palate's light to medium weight with slippery fruit, grippy, fine tannins and a little minty/peppery warmth on the finish; still drinking well, and no danger of it falling over anytime soon.
2008 Kalleske Greenock Shiraz magnum, Barossa Valley: Glass clinging, very dark to inky blood red. Huge, sweet nose full of honeycomb and peat, blood plums and cherry cola, a little blueberry and smoked meats with breathing; the palate's drier in style, full weight with meaty & tarry nuances, lovely length and tea-like tannins. It's a wine that hides its 15.5% alcohol devastatingly well giving it an illusion of elegance, a sledgehammer behind a velvet curtain that will smash your head in the following morning if you're not wary. Troy has come up with the goods again in what should have been a tough vintage, anyone who likes Kalleske as much as I do should love this.
Cheers,
Ian