Some notes from a couple of committee meetings, all wines presented blind:
1991 Mitchelton Reserve Marsanne, Nagambie Lakes (cork): 13% alc. Dark gold/light amber. Quite a lot of acid and toast on the nose, at times like an old Semillon, some butter, French vanilla, almond, but also a touch of cork; the palate’s dry, toasty and predominantly sherried, with a very dry finish. Barely hanging on by a thread.
2006 Leasingham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz, Clare Valley (cork): 14% alc. Dark red/purple with a good mousse. The nose is very weird and stinky, sweet raspberries and redskin/confectionery sticks, BBQ meats, banana oak, corn on the cob and camphor wood; the palate’s just as strange, sweet and sour cherries with funky/charred oak, mushroom and herbal touches, finishing very dry. Dunno about this one.
2010 Mount Langi Cliff Edge Shiraz, Grampians (screwcap): 13.5% alc. Medium blood red with just a hint of purple on the rim. Young and jubey, more than a little Pinot-like with red cherries, white pepper, a little blue metal and kirsch; the palate’s tangy and light to medium-weight, with bright cherries and white pepper, finishing minerally. Not bad, but compared to recent vintages it seems on the very light side for Langi – a future change in direction?
2003 Ashton Hills Mount Lofty Ranges Shiraz, Burra Burra (screwcap): 14% alc. Medium to dark red. Very spicy, slightly hot and unusual nose, black cherries and espresso, spice, vanilla, smoked meats and BBQ pork; the palate’s medium to full weight with sweet cherries mid-palate, some warmth on the quite dry, tannic and slightly bitter finish. At one stage I was wondering if there was possibly some viognier in this, but it’s supposed to be from the Lonestar Vineyard which I think automatically rules that out.
2002 R.L. Buller & Son Calliope Limited Release Durif, Rutherglen (cork): 16.0% alc. Dark to inky blood red, still a hint of purple at a mere 12 years of age! Porty nose, slightly stocky at first, becoming sweeter to show blackberry, prune, black liquorice, wintergreen, sarsaparilla, bitter chocolate and boot polish; a soft entry quickly builds in the mouth, filling it with sarsaparilla, black liquorice and menthol, but its’ also refreshingly dry and hides its 16% alcohol disarmingly well, no sign of any minty heat or glycerol here. Impressive now, it should outlive most of us, cork permitting.
2000 Claude Carré et Fils Champagne Cuvée Passion (cork): 12% alc. Medium straw/yellow with a good mousse and medium to fine bead. Quite yeasty and a touch green and sweet, apple cider characters with good creaminess up-front, a yeasty, crisp mid-palate and very dry finish. Seems to have obvious age on lees and high dosage, perhaps it’s Pinot dominant? Not bad, but not really my thing either.
2006 Rothbury Estate Gerry Sissingh Selection Limited Edition Semillon, Hunter Valley (screwcap): 11.5% alc. Bright straw/green. Grassy and lemony, quite herbal too, soap suds and glossy magazine print scents with breathing; the palate’s spicy and lean at first, but gets fatter with breathing, finishing dry and slatey. In between phases right now, but there’s some promising signs here.
1998 Rymill Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra (cork): 14.3% alc. Dark to inky red/purple. Surprisingly green nose, a huge wallop of capsicum, tomato leaf and tomato skin, then blueberry, musk and peppermint, obvious banana/vanillin oak with more breathing. The palate’s just over medium weight and is sweet and sour with lots of charred oak, peppermint and a hint of barnyard; the tannins are chalky and fine, lingering on the finish. I had this pencilled in as an early drinker until I saw the vintage – while the colour is strong it’s a little disappointing compared to what it was like on release: the 1998 Shiraz was up and down like a yoyo, so maybe this will come around with a few more years.
Finally to round out the month, a small birthday dinner at Park Lok with Seven & Mark Jappe:
1999 Ayala Champagne Blanc de Blancs (cork): 12% alc. Bright straw with a good mousse and fine bead. Yeasty and bready with good creaminess and a crisp, dry finish; a good start to the night.
1997 Müller-Catoir Haardter Bürgergarten Riesling Auslese, Pfalz (cork): 10.5% alc. Medium gold. Quite soapy and sweet nose, some banana cake, candied pineapple and sugared biscuits; the acidity is quite soft but still big in scale mid-palate, finishing sweet and sugary. Overall, pleasant enough but a little too simple/one-dimensional.
1969 d’Arenberg Gold Medal Burgundy (sic), McLaren Vale (cork): alc unknown, a blend of Shiraz & Grenache. Good light brick/mahogany colour. A famous wine critic once said “good Burgundy smells like shit†– well this has the word on Burgundy the label, and it certainly smells like it’s come out the back end of a horse! It’s also smoky and green, slightly metallic, green capsicum, pepper and geraniums; the palate’s also metallic and herbal, but is surprisingly well balanced with silky tannins. A bit too feral for our table, but the Burgundy group the other side of the restaurant loved it!
1999 Pipers Brook Vineyard The Blackwood Single Site Pinot Noir (cork): 14.4% alc. Medium to dark brick/red. Starts off smoky and savoury, some bacon, dried herbs, but also some sweaty socks; the palate’s sweeter at first, jubey with some mulberry and blueberry, but the finish is stripped by faint cork taint which becomes more obvious with breathing.
2008 Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz Malbec, Langhorne Creek, Barossa Valley & McLaren Vale (screwcap): 15% alc. Glowing, dark to inky purple. Lots of attractive sweet timber and fruit on the nose, cedar, blueberries, spice and boysenberry; a fruit-sweet entry leads to a full-weight palate of black cherries and raspberries dusted in castor sugar, the mid-palate a touch warm with obvious cedar oak, finishing dry and grippy with chalky tannins. One for the hedonists right now, although the magnum of 1985 at the beginning of the year is a good clue as to where this will head.
2008 Dupont-Tisserandot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers (cork): 13.5% alc. Very cloudy, murky plum/red colour. Surprisingly medicinal and herbal, weak cherry cordial with white pepper, fresh parsley and geranium; the palate’s riper, strawberry and zippy/tingly acidity mid-palate, finishing minerally. It’s tough to follow a big Wolf Blass Black Label, this was okay.
Cheers,
Ian