Grand Cru (Perth WA) Fortifieds Tasting 4 May 2016

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

This month’s Grand Cru tasting was one with a difference. This time, we looked at fortified wines for the first time. A bunch of us converged on the Terrace Hotel in Perth (as usual) to try a range of styles and vintages.

The first realisation, of course, was the difficulty of pairing these wines with dips and charcuterie plates. We had more success with main courses, but generally these remain end-of-meal wines.

We opened up with a pair of Victorian wines:

Baileys of Glenrowan (Rutherglen) Topaque NV (17% alc). Who invented these names, topaque, apera, etc. I agree with not using the European places names, but there’s better substitutes, surely. Notwithstanding, this wine is caramel / orange in colour. The nose is typical cold tea, burnt caramel and toffee, with juicy sultana and golden syrup. The palate is luscious, with slippery glycerols that coat the palate like ‘glosy butter’ (according to one enthusiast) – viscous and with good length.

Baileys of Glenrowan (Rutherglen) Muscat NV (17% alc). Chocolate brown in colour. The nose shows slight alcohol heat, treacle, molasses, and burnt sugar (like on a crème brulee). The palate is rich, full and velvety, with lots of molasses / golden syrup and a little candied orange peel. It’s more complex than the Topaque, with supporting acid, and the alcohol providing a lift.

Barbadillo Pedro Ximenex (Herez, Spain) (19% alc). Similar colour to the Topaque. The nose has a metallic tinge (iron / steel), followed by raisins, stewed prunes, pipe tobacco, and sharp sherry-like notes (ethyl acetate). The palate has rich raisin, some alcohol heat, and the prominent acid softens into golden syrup and toffee.

Inkwell Fortified Primitivo (McLaren Vale, S.A.) (21.5%). This wine has ‘2012’ on the label, but I am reliably informed that this is when the whiskey barrel solera was started. The wine is a really deep purple with green olive tinges, and is translucent with fine sediment. The nose has stewed rhubarb, blueberries, coffee grounds and Christmas cake. The nose hairs are also singed by the alcohol, which translates to the palate also. There’s also more blueberries and red fruits (cherry, raspberry) coating the palate.

R.W. Oliver& Sons Liqueur Muscat (McLaren Vale S.A.) (19%alc). R.W. Oliver & Sons is apparently one of the labels of Olivers Taranga. It’s orange / light toffee in colour with slight green tinges. There’s caramel, Christmas cake, honeyed raisins, burnt sugar and treacle on the nose, and some of these flow through the palate as well, along with a touch of burnt orange peel, and orange marmalade. There’s a touch of oak, and the wine has a rich, smooth mouthfeel.

Then we finished up with a trio of vintage ports (I know we cannot call them these, but you know what I mean):

Rockfield Shiraz 1999 (Barossa S.A.) (18.5% alc). Purple in colour and slightly cloudy. Smells (not surprisingly) like, well, a Barossa shiraz. Savoury, with some meat fat, herbs and tomato leaf. The palate is chocolate and mocha, only moderate sweetness (perhaps this comment is relative to the preceding wines, some tannins and supporting acid. It’s balanced, but not overly rich or portly, with some dark chocolate and raspberry. Still too young.

Peel Estate 1990 (Geographe, W.A.) (19% alc). Purple in colour and lots of fine sediment (the coarse sediment came out in droves through a mesh filter earlier that afternoon). Lots of coffee and mocha, and according to two tasters ‘espresso martini’. The wine coats the palate like rich drinking chocolate. It has good acid creating some apparent spritz, some blackberry and a little tannic grip. The taster who waxed lyrical about espresso martinis also reckoned this was ‘madly good’.

Wrights 1988 (Margaret River W.A.) (18% alc). Wrights? Yes, this was the original winery (and vineyards) which now make up Juniper Estate. Wrights used to make a white hermitage amongst other wines, so I suspect this wine was almost made from shiraz. Deep purple, and clear as a bell. The nose shows cherry cola, vanilla and alcohol heat. The palate is somewhat vegetal, earthy and slightly medicinal. There’s prominent and linear acid, sour cherries raspberries and red fruits – the fruit is holding really well for a 28 year old wine.

Wine of the night was the Olivers Muscat (by a significant margin). It was fascinating (for me, at least) to look at the variety of styles, and the older wines especially. An interesting tasting indeed.

Cheers
Allan

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