TN Longview Wines
Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2004 7:06 pm
Longview wines based near Macclesfield in the Adelaide Hills is another promising new label that I had the chance to try last night. The wines are made by Martin Shaw, and fall into the riper category of what the Adelaide Hills can do.
2003 Iron Knob Riesling I was warned in advance by a fellow Taster that the wine does have a fair amount of Sulphur, which is common to a few of the range. Very intense mineral characters, with hints of orange-peel and toasted almonds, and with breathing extended lime characters on the palate, and some pungency. Given that 2003 produced some unusual Rieslings, strangely this seemed to fit the mould of seemingly having both youthful and aged characters on release.
2003 My Fat Goose Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc The nose and palate seems to really reflect the Sauvignion Blanc aspect of the blend, with crisp passionfruit dominating. Again there seems to be those pungent, slightly sweaty characters lurking in the background, through some extended skin contact maybe?
2003 My Fat Goose Whippet Sauvignon Blanc My favourite of the whites, with familiar elegant Adelaide Hills characters of passionfruit, some grassiness and fresh tropicals which flow onto the palate. There’s no pungency this time around, only rich elegant juice, ideally suited to the best seafood you can get your hands on.
2003 Blue Cow Unwooded Chardonnay A real unusual wine, in at first it almost smells slightly nutty, like there’s some aged French Oak in the background. The palate is firmly structured, with tight citrus, but really there isn’t enough fruity freshness or powerful richness to get my attention.
2003 Blue Sea Viognier The nose is an unusual mix of peach, dried apricot and brandy spirit, which flows onto the palate. They were aiming for a different style of the grape, but to me this seems to be over ripe and alcoholic.
2002 Devil’s Elbow Cabernet Sauvignon Deep, inky red. Gorgeous French oak barrel ferment characters really dominate the nose on pouring. The wine develops a bit of a flat spot, but this does blow off after a while, with structured mint and capsicum fruit to the fore. Somewhat bigger and riper than I expected for an Adelaide Hills red.
2002 Yakka Shiraz Viognier Brilliant deep, clear purple colour. Quite an earthy, rustic wine, with oil/diesel characters, some blackberry, sweet plum, and soy and fish sauce, and not a sign of the American oak. The palate is remarkably soft and smooth, with great length; not the sweet aromatics I would expect for the blend, but none the worse for it either.
Black Crow Nebiollo Bright brick red. Very ripe, extracted cherry, pepper and tea-leaf characters, but not quite enough to match the powerful combination of the 14% alcohol and the natural acid of the grape.
2002 The Mob Zinfandel Deep, inky brick-red. A huge nose with an unusual mix of earthy, old wood (as in unearthed tree roots, not oak), ripe red berries, green leaf characters, dried out coffee and a lick of apricot syrup to boot. The palate perfectly replicates the nose, and at 14%, without the excessive alcohol of a couple of recent Monsters I’ve tried. The Winemakers at Cape Mentelle should get hold of a bottle and take notes – this is more like it!
Cheers,
Ian
2003 Iron Knob Riesling I was warned in advance by a fellow Taster that the wine does have a fair amount of Sulphur, which is common to a few of the range. Very intense mineral characters, with hints of orange-peel and toasted almonds, and with breathing extended lime characters on the palate, and some pungency. Given that 2003 produced some unusual Rieslings, strangely this seemed to fit the mould of seemingly having both youthful and aged characters on release.
2003 My Fat Goose Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc The nose and palate seems to really reflect the Sauvignion Blanc aspect of the blend, with crisp passionfruit dominating. Again there seems to be those pungent, slightly sweaty characters lurking in the background, through some extended skin contact maybe?
2003 My Fat Goose Whippet Sauvignon Blanc My favourite of the whites, with familiar elegant Adelaide Hills characters of passionfruit, some grassiness and fresh tropicals which flow onto the palate. There’s no pungency this time around, only rich elegant juice, ideally suited to the best seafood you can get your hands on.
2003 Blue Cow Unwooded Chardonnay A real unusual wine, in at first it almost smells slightly nutty, like there’s some aged French Oak in the background. The palate is firmly structured, with tight citrus, but really there isn’t enough fruity freshness or powerful richness to get my attention.
2003 Blue Sea Viognier The nose is an unusual mix of peach, dried apricot and brandy spirit, which flows onto the palate. They were aiming for a different style of the grape, but to me this seems to be over ripe and alcoholic.
2002 Devil’s Elbow Cabernet Sauvignon Deep, inky red. Gorgeous French oak barrel ferment characters really dominate the nose on pouring. The wine develops a bit of a flat spot, but this does blow off after a while, with structured mint and capsicum fruit to the fore. Somewhat bigger and riper than I expected for an Adelaide Hills red.
2002 Yakka Shiraz Viognier Brilliant deep, clear purple colour. Quite an earthy, rustic wine, with oil/diesel characters, some blackberry, sweet plum, and soy and fish sauce, and not a sign of the American oak. The palate is remarkably soft and smooth, with great length; not the sweet aromatics I would expect for the blend, but none the worse for it either.
Black Crow Nebiollo Bright brick red. Very ripe, extracted cherry, pepper and tea-leaf characters, but not quite enough to match the powerful combination of the 14% alcohol and the natural acid of the grape.
2002 The Mob Zinfandel Deep, inky brick-red. A huge nose with an unusual mix of earthy, old wood (as in unearthed tree roots, not oak), ripe red berries, green leaf characters, dried out coffee and a lick of apricot syrup to boot. The palate perfectly replicates the nose, and at 14%, without the excessive alcohol of a couple of recent Monsters I’ve tried. The Winemakers at Cape Mentelle should get hold of a bottle and take notes – this is more like it!
Cheers,
Ian