Grand Cru Perth - Great Australian Red Tasting (17 May 2017)
Posted: Tue May 23, 2017 9:20 am
In addition to the fabulous write up by Waiters Friend here are the group “consensus” tasting notes from the Great Australian Red night. The rules for this tasting were that the wine must be a blend of Cab Sav and Shiraz and come from Australia (followed in all but one instance! There is always one….).
Wines were tasted blind, in brown paper bags, with the only information about the wine being the vintage. We generally taste from youngest to oldest, and tonight followed that pattern.
Before we get into the details, some general outcomes from the tasting were as follows:
• The group successfully identified the dominant grape with 75% accuracy. The more age on the wine, the less likely members were to be able to pick the dominant grape in the blend which is an interesting observation about how Cab Shiraz blends age.
• The group thought that secondary characteristics were generally showing up earlier in the blend than they would in a straight varietal.
• All the wines were pretty bloody good with the unfortunate exception of the 2000 Rockford Rod and Spur Shiraz Cabernet which was suffering from a considerable dose of cork taint.
2015 Wirra Wirra Church Block Cabernet Shiraz Merlot (McLaren Vale). Strictly speaking, this did not meet the criteria for the tasting as it contains Merlot which was expertly detected by our resident Diploma candidate (and a few other members had suspicions). The nose is of tobacco, cedar, dark berries, a hint of vanilla and a bit of a dusty aroma. The palate is smooth and silky with a medium finish and medium acidity and plenty of tannins. Well integrated for such a whipper snapper. McLaren Vale was touted as a possible region however as was Coonawarra (which incidentally the spell check is suggesting should be Goonawarra!).
2014 Penfolds Max Shiraz Cabernet (South Australia). Described as a “leggy” red, this wine had an interesting nose of dried Italian herbs, tomato leaf, some savoury oak, green capsicum and is slightly peppery. The palate was described as having high glycerols, medium plus length and a good dose of tannins. Again we weren’t too far off for the region guessed as a South Aussie however it is from a little further south.
2012 Burrowing Owl Shiraz Cabernet (Canada). The “ring in” or “cat amongst the pigeons”. Incidentally, this wine was brought by the same member who surprised us with the Japanese Cabernet also served blind at the last tasting. We should have known this would be interesting. Deep purple in colour. This is a big wine. Lots of ripe dark berries, leather and mocha on the nose. There were some discussion of the slight detectable alcohol heat on the palate and there was also some descent in the group about the possibility the acid may have slightly outweighed the fruit and tannin. The tannins though were slinky and chunky and again glycerols were evident. All of this led to a long, full finish.
2012 Metala Shiraz Cabernet (Langhorne Creek, South Australia). This was the wine that took out the honours for the tasting. A lovely savoury nose with dark fruits and a little black pepper. The palate has a good line and length with lovely dark fruit, super integrated tannins and some slight secondary characteristics emerging (tar). It was a ripper.
2010 Tahbilk Old Vine Cabernet Shiraz (Nagambie, Victoria). Red / purple in colour. Plump, soft red fruits, over-ripe plums, slight alcohol heat. A touch of smoke (bushfire) and slightly medicinal on the nose. We thought perhaps there might have been a tiny touch of VA? The palate is soft with smooth tannins and fruit with moderate acid and body, leading to a short-ish finish.
2009 Rockford Rod and Spur Shiraz Cabernet (Barossa). Red / purple. At first perhaps this wine was a little shy with some light red fruits, iced tea, mocha, nougat and a touch of a medicinal air. The palate has some alcoholic heat, and stewed / jubey fruit, some good acid and modest tannins.
2007 Millbrook Shiraz Cabernet (Perth Hills, WA). Purple, slightly red on the rim. This wine has a super interesting nose described as “deliciously funky” with a slight barnyard and earthiness to it. The palate has grippy tannins and noticeable acid, alongside primary fruit and some secondary characteristics like dark chocolate. Will be great to see how this wine develops.
2001 Metala Shiraz Cabernet (Langhorne Creek, South Australia). Again this was the second vintage of the same wine, brought along by different people. Red / garnet in colour. Spicy oak, with savouriness and developed plumy fruit. The palate is slightly sharp, although the tannins are silky. This wine has good length. Personally I wondered whether this bottle unfortunately had a bit of TCA.
2000 Rockford Rod and Spur Shiraz Cabernet (Barossa). Again this was the second vintage of the same wine, brought along by different people (who incidentally also brought both vintages of the Metala!). Unfortunately this was the wine suffering from a considerable dose of cork taint and was not assessed.
1999 Penfolds 389 Cabernet Shiraz (South Australia). What a stunning wine this is. Distinctively Barossa even blindfolded. The nose is full of mocha, vanilla and delicious and some remaining fruit poking out every now and then. The palate has beautiful fruit richness with lots of earthy secondary notes. This wine is super balanced and nicely integrated. A bit of supporting acidity is remaining.
The wines that took out each bracket were:
Bracket 1 – 2015 Wirra Wirra Church Block Cabernet Shiraz Merlot
Bracket 2 – 2012 Metala Shiraz Cabernet
Bracket 3 – 2007 Millbrook Shiraz Cabernet
Bracket 4 – 1999 Penfolds 389 Cabernet Shiraz
Wine of the night was the 2012 Metala Shiraz Cabernet. Available for around $12 bottle, that’s a Great Australian Red!
Amy
Wines were tasted blind, in brown paper bags, with the only information about the wine being the vintage. We generally taste from youngest to oldest, and tonight followed that pattern.
Before we get into the details, some general outcomes from the tasting were as follows:
• The group successfully identified the dominant grape with 75% accuracy. The more age on the wine, the less likely members were to be able to pick the dominant grape in the blend which is an interesting observation about how Cab Shiraz blends age.
• The group thought that secondary characteristics were generally showing up earlier in the blend than they would in a straight varietal.
• All the wines were pretty bloody good with the unfortunate exception of the 2000 Rockford Rod and Spur Shiraz Cabernet which was suffering from a considerable dose of cork taint.
2015 Wirra Wirra Church Block Cabernet Shiraz Merlot (McLaren Vale). Strictly speaking, this did not meet the criteria for the tasting as it contains Merlot which was expertly detected by our resident Diploma candidate (and a few other members had suspicions). The nose is of tobacco, cedar, dark berries, a hint of vanilla and a bit of a dusty aroma. The palate is smooth and silky with a medium finish and medium acidity and plenty of tannins. Well integrated for such a whipper snapper. McLaren Vale was touted as a possible region however as was Coonawarra (which incidentally the spell check is suggesting should be Goonawarra!).
2014 Penfolds Max Shiraz Cabernet (South Australia). Described as a “leggy” red, this wine had an interesting nose of dried Italian herbs, tomato leaf, some savoury oak, green capsicum and is slightly peppery. The palate was described as having high glycerols, medium plus length and a good dose of tannins. Again we weren’t too far off for the region guessed as a South Aussie however it is from a little further south.
2012 Burrowing Owl Shiraz Cabernet (Canada). The “ring in” or “cat amongst the pigeons”. Incidentally, this wine was brought by the same member who surprised us with the Japanese Cabernet also served blind at the last tasting. We should have known this would be interesting. Deep purple in colour. This is a big wine. Lots of ripe dark berries, leather and mocha on the nose. There were some discussion of the slight detectable alcohol heat on the palate and there was also some descent in the group about the possibility the acid may have slightly outweighed the fruit and tannin. The tannins though were slinky and chunky and again glycerols were evident. All of this led to a long, full finish.
2012 Metala Shiraz Cabernet (Langhorne Creek, South Australia). This was the wine that took out the honours for the tasting. A lovely savoury nose with dark fruits and a little black pepper. The palate has a good line and length with lovely dark fruit, super integrated tannins and some slight secondary characteristics emerging (tar). It was a ripper.
2010 Tahbilk Old Vine Cabernet Shiraz (Nagambie, Victoria). Red / purple in colour. Plump, soft red fruits, over-ripe plums, slight alcohol heat. A touch of smoke (bushfire) and slightly medicinal on the nose. We thought perhaps there might have been a tiny touch of VA? The palate is soft with smooth tannins and fruit with moderate acid and body, leading to a short-ish finish.
2009 Rockford Rod and Spur Shiraz Cabernet (Barossa). Red / purple. At first perhaps this wine was a little shy with some light red fruits, iced tea, mocha, nougat and a touch of a medicinal air. The palate has some alcoholic heat, and stewed / jubey fruit, some good acid and modest tannins.
2007 Millbrook Shiraz Cabernet (Perth Hills, WA). Purple, slightly red on the rim. This wine has a super interesting nose described as “deliciously funky” with a slight barnyard and earthiness to it. The palate has grippy tannins and noticeable acid, alongside primary fruit and some secondary characteristics like dark chocolate. Will be great to see how this wine develops.
2001 Metala Shiraz Cabernet (Langhorne Creek, South Australia). Again this was the second vintage of the same wine, brought along by different people. Red / garnet in colour. Spicy oak, with savouriness and developed plumy fruit. The palate is slightly sharp, although the tannins are silky. This wine has good length. Personally I wondered whether this bottle unfortunately had a bit of TCA.
2000 Rockford Rod and Spur Shiraz Cabernet (Barossa). Again this was the second vintage of the same wine, brought along by different people (who incidentally also brought both vintages of the Metala!). Unfortunately this was the wine suffering from a considerable dose of cork taint and was not assessed.
1999 Penfolds 389 Cabernet Shiraz (South Australia). What a stunning wine this is. Distinctively Barossa even blindfolded. The nose is full of mocha, vanilla and delicious and some remaining fruit poking out every now and then. The palate has beautiful fruit richness with lots of earthy secondary notes. This wine is super balanced and nicely integrated. A bit of supporting acidity is remaining.
The wines that took out each bracket were:
Bracket 1 – 2015 Wirra Wirra Church Block Cabernet Shiraz Merlot
Bracket 2 – 2012 Metala Shiraz Cabernet
Bracket 3 – 2007 Millbrook Shiraz Cabernet
Bracket 4 – 1999 Penfolds 389 Cabernet Shiraz
Wine of the night was the 2012 Metala Shiraz Cabernet. Available for around $12 bottle, that’s a Great Australian Red!
Amy
