TN: Random drinking over the summer
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 4:11 pm
Some random holiday season TNs...
Graeme
- [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7478266]2015 Dalrymple Vineyards Chardonnay Cave Block[/url] - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (20/01/2019)
{screwcap, 13%} Pale yellow. Enticing, youthful nose of fine oak, nuts, cashews, sourdough. They're present on the palate too, but it also has a bewitching texture of oyster shells, a salty/mineral kind of dimension, giving it a long fresh finish. Medium weight only, but wonderfully impressive. Vivid acid. Very impressive seaside chardonnay. Seems like it will age OK, but it's lovely now. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7473622]2012 Puddleduck Pinot Noir[/url] - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River (18/01/2019)
{screwcap, 13.7%} Pretty nose; soft red/strawberry fruit, gentle oak. Some development, but restrained. The palate is actually a bit wishy-washy, very light-on for flavour somehow, with only gentle red fruit, floral and soft with rose-like flavours, low/medium dusty tannins, low/medium acid. Just opened and poured; didn't seem to change much in the glass; low-key shortish finish. I was expecting something much more impressive I must say. Non-plussed by this. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7473624]2014 Kooyong Pinot Noir Haven[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Mornington Peninsula (18/01/2019)
{screwcap, 13%} Huge contrast to the flowery Tasmanian pinot before it; this was developing, dirty and earthy, in a clean (ie. not bretty) sense, but very much about earth and mushrooms and blackened fruits, not pretty and floral at all. Medium gritty tannins, medium acid, medium/full-bodied in a rustic, almost coarse way; likely to develop considerably further I suspect, but the result won't be 'pretty' in the conventional sense. Interesting; very much more old world than you might expect. Medium length finish, but a bruiser of a wine; don't come here looking for charm. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7467673]2014 Loveblock Vintners Ltd Pinot Noir[/url] - New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago (15/01/2019)
{screwcap, 13.5%} Good garnet colour with that pinot translucency. The nose is quite developed, all malty and smoky. Palate does have a hint of mushroom (thanks, back label) along with dark black fruit, iodine, medium acid and medium/high finely gritty tannins. It's actually a bit light on for fruit, given its age, compared to the astringent qualities on the palate. Medium weight; not much mid- or back-palate, medium length finish. Palate misses the mark somehow, whereas the nose is fairly attractive, if a bit oaky. Not sure about cellaring this further either, to be honest. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7454514]1999 Winstead Pinot Noir[/url] - Australia, Tasmania, Southern Tasmania (8/01/2019)
{cork, 13%} Great looking cork, terrific non-ullage. Still, 20-year-old Tassie pinot is always going to be a gamble. There's a hint of garnet about this, but it's largely orange-brick in colour. The nose is always fairly muted, even over a couple of hours, smelling largely of gentle composty leaves and healthy earth. Aged, rotting strawberries too. The palate is all tertiary flavours, similar to the nose, gentle and leathery, rather more generic aged light red than anything specifically pinot-like. Still it has a light-bodied translucence (so much for the full-bodied claim on the back label, fresh acid, almost totally resolved faintly dusty tannins, and a gentle astringent, dry, but quite even presence on the palate during the medium length finish. Rather reminds me of a top-notch pinot that would have been better 5-8 years ago. Still, gently satisfying, with perhaps more of a pinot twist the longer it sits. I wouldn't risk keeping this too much longer, although a decent cork might hold it 3-5 more years at most. But there's no upside in that... - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7459549]2018 Jim Barry Riesling Watervale[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Watervale (5/01/2019)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Pale straw. Moderately intense nose of lime juice and steely lemon. The palate is a bit watery in texture, with an initial hint of spritzy acid which fades very fast indeed, actually leaving a rather woolly impression on the palate, and adding to the sense of weight, but at the expense of freshness. Dense yet not hefty, it’s still pretty transitory on the palate, suggesting it’s not for aging, despite its dry character and sense of initial promise. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7459546]2018 Holm Oak Riesling[/url] - Australia, Tasmania, Tamar Valley (3/01/2019)
{screwcap, 11.8%} Green apples, sherbert aromas. A touch steely and minerally, on the palate but with those same generous apple fruit and lime juice character. Quite high acid, but light-bodied otherwise; tangy and refreshing with a medium length finish. Very drinkable, might age nicely in the shorter term. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7459539]NV Heemskerk Georg Jensen Hallmark Cuvée[/url] - Australia, Tasmania (31/12/2018)
{crown seal, 12%, A$33} Nifty but minimalist packaging, with a ‘free’ pressure stopper covering the crown seal. Mild aromas of white flowers, barest hint of melon. Rather closed. The palate remains rather light for flavor, but with nicely creamy bubbles and a bone-dry, crisp, light but short/medium length finish. Seems like it needs much more time on lees, as all that autolytic complexity is missing. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7459535]2015 Nocton Vineyard Pinot Noir[/url] - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River (30/12/2018)
{screwcap, 13.8%} Rather closed nose of liqueured plums and subtle strawberries with the barest hint of oak. Becomes a little fumey sitting in the glass. The palate has a sharp, hint-of-spritz quality about it, with rather leaner and more tart flavours than the nose implies. Light body, with low levels of evident oak. Not a lot of development at three years – if anything it seems in a bit of a slump, as the flavours die rather quickly on the palate. But, it may be that at $32 at a Hobart bottleshop, it’s a drink-early proposition without much true development in front of it. Yes, I think so. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7459533]2008 Burge Family Olive Hill[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (28/12/2018)
{15.5%} Acetic and alcoholic. Portlike nose. Raw aged palate with low tannin and lots of bacterial spoilage; full-bodied, but in a collapsing ruin kind of way. Warm, alcoholic palate, but way too port-like. May have had dubious storage (if not, this is out-and-out faulty), but not convincing for a decade’s aging in any way. Pass. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7456721]2014 Bakkheia Cabernet Sauvignon Priapus[/url] - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Geographe (26/12/2018)
{screwcap, 14.3%} Youthful nose of currants, dark chocolate, hint of basil. Deep iodine character too, intense. The palate is medium weight, with great depth of flavor per the nose, medium acid, super-fine medium dusty tannins, and a polished and balanced medium length finish. No green character. This is very tidy, and for me just needs a bit more depth of tannin to be great. A classy wine at any rate. An impressive find; just 568 bottles made. Curious winery; pricing seems to be dependent on what the mail list (patrons) offer. Odd to find a local website that doesn’t offer wine for sale. I’d still be confident about a decade in the cellar though. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7469333]2014 Delamere Vineyard Cuvée[/url] - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (1/12/2018)
{cork} Chardonnay & pinot; mild nose, big bubbles, not a lot of yeast character. Medium body, a slight sherbert character to the flavours. Medium acid, dry, crunchy. Needs more time on lees for complexity. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7453149]2015 Waimea Estate Trev's Red[/url] - New Zealand, South Island, Nelson (7/01/2019)
{screwcap, 13%} A pink/crimson type of garnet. The nose is full of exotic franc-like spices and tobacco; very seductive - not overtly fruity, but with a malty, exotic character, which becomes sweeter as times passes. The palate has a distinct tobacco note in additiion to the franc spices; whatever syrah and other exotics are here. Mid weight, quite loose and open in texture, with medium gritty tannins and medium/high acid. The back label reveals that there's co-fermented viognier in the blend. Aha! Explains a great deal. First new-world example of red-blended-with-viognier that I thought was convincing. Medium length finish. This has loads of character and should be a lovely drink in the shortish (3-5yr) term. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7411704]1999 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau[/url] - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (22/12/2018)
{cork, 14%} Good cork, reassuring ullage. Brick red; looks its age. Nose was initially quite forward and intense, became less so in the glass. Old earth/leather/spice aromas. Gentle leathery flavours too; the tannins are only the faintest dusty memory, medium acidity remains. Does rally a bit for a while, with a dusty, smokey, pungently earthy quality. Actual fruit is rather reticent though. I get why the northerners - Bdx, burg - might have looked down on this region as rube/bogan country wine as opposed to their aristocratic offerings. Medium weight, but with an alarmingly short finish, which makes me question maybe provenance more than the inherent wine itself; I bought this at auction back in 06, so maybe its early life compromised its condition given other tasting notes here. Not that it showed overt signs of poor storage. On this tasting overall, I'd say drink up now. Odds of a great wine experience must be shrinking to one in a case... - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7409887]2014 Zerella Vineyards Sangiovese La Gita[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (21/12/2018)
{screwcap} Wine show sample; I guess it's under screwcap at retail? A new wine to me; the colour lacks that purple character you get from the usual big Oz reds, although it's still a deep garnet red. The nose is just a little evolved; it has a lovely liqurice character to it: little oak, but bit plummy fruits, although not sickly-sweet smelling. The texture is a bit soupy, I must say; but the combination of soft dusty tannins, ripe plum/purple fruit and gentle medium acid is quite beguiling. There's a depth of flavour that foes some way towards justifying the (what!) $60-price tag that the internet offers for this. It's certainly speaking the brunello language rather than chianti, but still... Medium-full body, with a still savoury-style medium long finish. Pretty nice wine all round. Cellaring? Seems like it has the goods; the acid makes itself felt towards the end of the finish, so that speaks well. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7408421]1997 Tahbilk Shiraz 1933 Vines Reserve[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes (20/12/2018)
{cork, 13.5%} Fermented in ancient open oak vats, with 18 months aging in French oak (big, small, old, new?) Looks right for a twenty-year-old red, with its brick colouring around the rim. Did they top putting '1933 vines' on this in subsequent vintages? Increase production without changing front label... Anyway, this has a faintly musty, old leather nose to it. Rotting old strawberries. The palate follows expectation; it has a new-world fruity twist (compared to a similar vintage Bdx) but also with a savoury dryness, an aged and decadent sweet character that surfaces in so many old Oz reds. Low dusty tannins, medium acid, medium weight. Finish is just medium length, a bit one-dimensional and hollow, although without obvious fault. Nearing (or just past) the end of its plateau I reckon. Drink now! - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7404704]2015 Coward and Black Chardonnay[/url] - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River (17/12/2018)
{screwcap, 13%} Clean MR chard; a bit oaky, with melon-like fruit. Polished acid, light/medium body, pleasant but a bit bland. Although quite drinkable. Perhaps I should have paid it more attention! But doesn't seem a cellaring style. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7404718]2010 Domaine A Petit 'a'[/url] - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River (15/12/2018)
{diam, 14%} Slightly eucalypt-like cabernet, with mild dusty tannins and medium acid. Ripe, not a fruit-bomb, with a greenish, minty touch, although not unripe. Tomato leaf, basil. Almost medium weight. Medium finish. Close to peak I think but may hold a while. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7402916]NV G.H. Martel & Co. Champagne Duperrey Brut Rosé[/url] - France, Champagne (15/12/2018)
{cork} Average rose, dry, rose-petal aromas, medium sized fairly refined bubbles; a bit sparse for fruit flavour, not a lot of autolysis character; medium weight, shortish finish; in all a fairly unexciting rosé fizz. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7389337]2016 Cumulus Chardonnay JT The Patriarch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills (9/12/2018)
{screwcap, 13%} Soft nutty/buttery nose; melon/peach aromas. Similar flavours; gentle and even a touch tropical in its fruit-dominated flavours. Has a touch of steely minerals too. Yet only light-bodied, lowish acid, a bit high-yield in character; sound in many ways but finishing just a bit short. A couple of years aging might help, but I wouldn't keep it longer than that. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7389335]2002 Highbank Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc Merlot[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (8/12/2018)
{cork} Every bit as lovely as previous bottles; sweet tangy fruit, soft dusty tannins, medium acid. Medium weight, leafy and cabernet-like, but with dark currant and raspberry flavours. Oak seems to have disappeared; it's very much driven by the fruit. Enchanting wine, very drinkable indeed, but not massively complex. - [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=7383597]2015 Blind River Pinot Noir[/url] - New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough (5/12/2018)
{screwcap, 13.5%} Pale garnet. Light-ish looking. Nose of sour cherries, faint dusty oak. The palate is lean and tart; not unripe but hard and a touch bitter. Sour cherry pip fruit, low grainy tannin, high and pointed acid, light-medium body, short finish. Has a high-yield, early-pick feel to it. Not a wine of charm, but seems to lack the underlying fruit to age well.
Graeme