The Auswine Forum

A few weeks ago I went to a mixed tasting of the iconic Wendouree label, all of the wines coming from a long time Adelaide member who purchased the wines on release and has cellared them impeccably. The majority of the wines were breathed about 2-4 hours prior to serving.


Some Warm up wines to break the ice, the final one chosen to get us used to the level of tannins to expect:

2013 S.C. Pannell Syrah, Adelaide Hills (screwcap): 14% alc. 2014 Jimmy Watson Trophy Winner. Dark to inky red/purple. Sweet, plummy and dusty with black liquorice and seemingly obvious vanillin oak, black liquorice on the finish; a solid commercial wine, nicely perfumed but it doesn’t seem particularly special either.

2013 Honey Moon Vineyard Shiraz, Adelaide Hills (screwcap): 14.5% alc. Medium to very dark red. It visually looks older than the Pannell and drinks like it too, tart and a little closed, quite dusty, savoury and a little cheesy with molten liquorice, finishing with black olive, drying tannins and some minty warmth. Hylton McLean said this seemed like an odd bottle, not exactly what he was expecting.

2011 Luigi Pina Barolo Marcena, Piedmont (cork): 14.5% alc. Medium red with a hint of brick. Light on fruit and heavy on tannins, meaty and savoury, strawberry cordial, some black tea and roast meats on the finish, some minty heat appearing with breathing; nice structure, but it really needs more fruit.




FLIGHT 1: SHIRAZ MATARO

2012 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro, Clare Valley (screwcap): 80% Shiraz, 20% Mataro from the 1893 Central, 1919 and 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. 13.4% alc. Medium red. Bright cherries and rhubarb with hints of roast meats and black tea with subtle, spicy/lemony oak, more than a little Pinot-like; the medium-weight palate opens with thick, velvety tannins from start to finish, finishing long and meaty, slightly minty. Bright, breezy and attractive at this young stage, it will never be a blockbuster but then I don’t expect it to be either.

1998 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro, Clare Valley (cork): 85% Shiraz, 15% Mataro from the 1893 Central, and 1920 Eastern & Central vineyard plantings. 13.7% alc. Medium garnet. Meaty and developed, black and green liquorice, camphor wood and boot polish. The tannins have softened nicely as this wine has developed; I would say this is at its peak but will hold a good few years.

1975 Wendouree Claret, Clare Valley (cork): First bottle was badly corked and not presented – unfortunately the replacement wasn’t much better. Dark garnet/brick with an olive rim. The first whiff is damp cardboard followed by oxidised, leathery/gunpowder with a backdrop of dirty socks, a little black liquorice and bitter chocolate remaining on the palate.




FLIGHT 2: SHIRAZ

2012 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley (screwcap): 13.6% alc. From the 1919 Eastern Vineyard & 1893 Central bush vines. Medium to darkish red. Bright, minty and minerally with cherry pie and rhubarb, red liquorice, black tea, tea roses and subtle spicy oak, a lot like the Shiraz Mataro and again Pinot-like. The palate is again very similar to the Shiraz Mataro with a little more weight, bright and breezy with thick, black tea tannins from the start with a long, soft finish.

2001 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley (cork): 13.9% alc. From the 1919 Eastern vineyard & 1893 Central vineyard bush vines. Medium to darkish red/garnet. Savoury, developed nose with black tea, black liquorice, mint, camphor wood, mothballs, spices and noticeable VA lift. The palate’s spicy and peaty with notably fine tannins but also an odd structure, the acidity sticking out mid-palate finishing meaty but a little short.

1991 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley (cork): 13.5% alc. Medium garnet/brick. Lifted nose with seemingly obvious honeyed/American oak, mint and menthol ahead of bright red fruits; the palate is beginning to fade, finishing sweet but with bright acidity. It’s okay, but nowhere near as good as previous bottles I have tried over the last few years.




FLIGHT 3: MALBEC

2011 Wendouree Malbec, Clare Valley (screwcap): 13.5% alc. From the 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium to dark red with a hint of purple. Sweet perfumed nose full of black tea and liquorice, mint and sweet, smoky deli meats; the entry of the palate is fat, jubey and exotic, boysenberry, dark chocolate and pastilles leading to thick black tea tannins mid-palate, finishing minty, jammy and a little sweet. An unusual and fun wine as a youngster, an excellent result from the tough vintage.

2005 Wendouree Malbec, Clare Valley (cork): From the 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium to dark red/garnet. Minty, jammy and showing some age already, with meaty/black liquorice characters; the palate is quite odd, despite possessing a huge mid-palate it lacks structure and balance, finishing short. Dunno about this, maybe in a hole or maybe a poor bottle?

1997 Wendouree Pressings, Clare Valley (cork): Blend of pressings from Shiraz and Cabernet fermentations in combination with an equal quantity of Malbec from the 1920 & 1940 Eastern vineyard plantings. First bottle was corked and not presented. Medium garnet/brick. Opens with obvious VA and crushed ant/American vanillin oak, followed by camphor wood and old leather, fresh paint and mothballs; the fruit’s fading on the palate, led by secondary characters of sous bois, tea chest, earth and chocolate bullets, finishing minty and slightly hot. The 1997 vintage has become notorious for widespread levels of cork taint - better bottles are hanging in there, but the time to drink is now.




FLIGHT 4: SHIRAZ MALBEC

2013 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec, Clare Valley (screwcap): 14.0% alc. 50% Shiraz, 50% Malbec from the1919 & 1920 eastern vineyard plantings. Medium red/purple. Wildly perfumed, exotic and slightly jammy like the straight Malbec, black tea and black jubes; the palate’s medium-weight and fruity, full of black tea and rhubarb with thick tannins mid-palate that flow through the long, velvety finish. Quite yummy right now.

2001 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec, Clare Valley (cork): 70% Shiraz, 30% Malbec from the 1893, and 1898 Central and 1919 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium garnet/brick. Smoky and meaty, black liquorice, cough lollies, mothballs, mint, menthol and umami; the palate’s smoky and meaty, the thick tannins have softened a little, the finish minty. Overall it’s fatter and far better balanced than the straight Shiraz.

1998 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec, Clare Valley (cork): 75% Shiraz, 25% Malbec from the 1919 and 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium to very dark garnet. Fully developed with lovely jubey fruit matched with lovely cedar oak and a touch of lavender, those familiar mothball/mint characters in the background; the palate is the fattest of the entire tasting, coating the mouth with chocolatey fruit and thick, velvety tannins, the length and balance excellent.


Cheers
Ian

2011 Luigi Pina Barolo Marcena, Piedmont (cork): 14.5% alc. Medium red with a hint of brick. Light on fruit and heavy on tannins, meaty and savoury, strawberry cordial, some black tea and roast meats on the finish, some minty heat appearing with breathing; nice structure, but it really needs more fruit.

This wouldn't be untypical of Serralunga fruit which is the longest living and initially most backward of all the Barolo communes. That said, Pira does use small barrels so some more fruit and oak notes should have been picked up? It is a little mysterious the wine lacked more fruit as it's too early for the nebbiolo fruit to go to sleep. Wine transport out of Italy is very problematic. As is decanting young Barolo.

How was the Barolo received by those who like Wendouree incidentally?

JamieBahrain wrote:2011 Luigi Pina Barolo Marcena, Piedmont (cork): 14.5% alc. Medium red with a hint of brick. Light on fruit and heavy on tannins, meaty and savoury, strawberry cordial, some black tea and roast meats on the finish, some minty heat appearing with breathing; nice structure, but it really needs more fruit.

This wouldn't be untypical of Serralunga fruit which is the longest living and initially most backward of all the Barolo communes. That said, Pira does use small barrels so some more fruit and oak notes should have been picked up? It is a little mysterious the wine lacked more fruit as it's too early for the nebbiolo fruit to go to sleep. Wine transport out of Italy is very problematic. As is decanting young Barolo.

How was the Barolo received by those who like Wendouree incidentally?

When I put together this tasting I wanted something to calibrate the palate away from thinking "aussie fruit bomb" thus choosing the Pira Barolo. I did not know the first 2 wines were being presented but seeing the Barolo after them was a severe shock to the palate to all of those present. All the wines were presented masked and only revealed at the end of each bracket after some discussion. I was asked why a Barolo and explained that many people not used to the Wendouree style come to them expecting lots of fruit when they should be looking at the whole wines structure and balance and not look for fruit first.
The Barolo was to shock the palate with the high tannins and the lack of up front fruit was, I think, exacerbated by the 2 previous fruit driven wines shown. It certainly generated some discussion around the table. At $140AUD it was disappointing.

cheers
Phill

..but it really needs more fruit.

OK, I didn't taste it, but I can't help thinking... "Spoken like a true Barossan"

Fruit is way overrated anyway, of course you need some but for my tastes, bring on more acid, more tannins, less upfront fruit.

Thanks for the Wendouree notes, always a roller coaster ride.

Phill

Great plan! And it's a shame it didn't come off as well as it should have. To be fair, it is realistically a $40 to $50 Barolo, though granted, it should have presented better in my opinion. To follow after a few bottles of one of the most extreme wine styles in the world, screw capped Aussie shiraz, could have been a factor as you stated.

JamieBahrain wrote:To follow after a few bottles of one of the most extreme wine styles in the world, screw capped Aussie shiraz, could have been a factor as you stated.

Ok, with all due respect for a fellow wine lover, I'll bite... Would you rather see Aussie Shiraz under cork?

If yes, why?

If no, then why add mention SC?

JamieBahrain wrote: To follow after a few bottles of one of the most extreme wine styles in the world, screw capped Aussie shiraz, could have been a factor as you stated.

That's not really the case anymore..unfortunately...

Not sure if you've cracked some of your younger Wendouree but they're just not the same as they used to..far more approachable..very un-Wendouree like IMO...

Texture profile is different..flavor profile as well...I actually prefer it the older way...

Polymer

I didn't mean the Wendouree though I always felt they'd be better under cork- a good one

Tigger

I drink quite varied daily and screw capped Aussie Shiraz often extreme when overly fruit driven and with a jammy primary fruit dominate made worse when reductive . It's extreme and the contrast with a young Barolo is obvious.

iPhone brevity

Yeah I get the whole Barossa extreme fruit/jammy style thing, my beef is that old chestnut that reductive qualities are because of (or made worse by) the screwcap closure, which I mostly disagree with. Maybe a faulty cork might have slightly softened some reductive winemaking characteristics via unnaturally high air ingress, but I feel the SC itself is a very minimal component of reductivity in a wine these days.

And FWIW, 'a good one' in terms of cork for me conveniently ignores all the bad ones. And we've all had plenty.

Thanks for the TNs Ian and particularly the heads up on the 1997 Pressings. I have a bottle and thought it would be another 5-10 years before it would be remotely ready. Guess it's on the tasting bench soon.

Also the many references to menthol and camfor bring back memories of Sparky's comments on her dislike of this theme within Wendouree wines. On the same night in Adelaide (Leigh street?) remember the very old Wynns Black label? Both Sparky and I loved it despite its obvious flaw.

Carl

Chuck wrote:Also the many references to menthol and camfor bring back memories of Sparky's comments on her dislike of this theme within Wendouree wines. On the same night in Adelaide (Leigh street?) remember the very old Wynns Black label? Both Sparky and I loved it despite its obvious flaw.

I remember that night alright - that was one of the bottles of the 1991 Wendouree Shiraz I had tried that I thought was far superior to the one at this tasting, there was one other that was even better again at a vertical two and a half years ago:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13452

TiggerK wrote:Yeah I get the whole Barossa extreme fruit/jammy style thing, my beef is that old chestnut that reductive qualities are because of (or made worse by) the screwcap closure, which I mostly disagree with. Maybe a faulty cork might have slightly softened some reductive winemaking characteristics via unnaturally high air ingress, but I feel the SC itself is a very minimal component of reductivity in a wine these days.

And FWIW, 'a good one' in terms of cork for me conveniently ignores all the bad ones. And we've all had plenty.

I don't think you get my point at all. It's an extreme style more than ever and jamminess is just one of a number of factors. So is screwcap. Ripe, primary fruit suspended in time in a screwcap closure is bracing unless you drink this style all the time. And placing a young Barolo immediately at the end of the flight was never going to be pretty. Fine wine is 90% preparation .

Without turning this I not a cap versus cork debate on return to Aussie wines via the auction scene reduction still seems to be a variable issue.

My point was not the extreme style aspect (that's subjective), but rather that reductivity is a winemaking issue far more than a closure issue.

A screw-capped , ripe new-wave like Aussie Shiraz in a flight of Barolo would present as a mouthful of mixed lollies. Sure, it's subjective, but I try to present Aussie wines abroad in their best light and I'm aware of the limitations of how they show.

I still think there are issues with reductive capped wines- though it's better lately. Also, The slowing of development and the preservation of primary fruit has made for some oddly evolving wines under screwcap. Texture is another issue under screw-cap and Polymer mentioned this with Wendouree .

Looking at Ian's notes some of those wines look superb and I'd have no reservations showing them in a line-up of the greatest Shiraz based wines in the world. That 2012 could also be parked at the back end of a Barolo tasting .

Consumed a 2013 shiraz mataro last night. Very impressed. I was expecting a hit in the face from a V8. Instead, elegant mouth feel. Loads of tannin ovcourse..
And thoughts about the 14 vintage to be released this year ?

Jamie - Have you had any of the recent Wendourees? What are your thoughts?