Re: Coonawarra Cabernet Celebrations 2019
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 10:28 am
by phillisc
A bit of an epistle…
3 days in Coonawarra and great to meet Malcolm, Geoff, their partners and other respective members of their large party…we criss-crossed all weekend, but somehow never managed to quite meet up. Should make it a 10-day trip, judging finishing today at Limestone Coast Wine Show, awards dinner tonight, public tasting tomorrow morning…will do this next year.
Friday obligatory lunch in a Naracoorte café before arriving at the lovely Georgie’s Cottage on the edge of Penola, great accommodation full breakfast provisions and roaring fires, thanks again Helen.
First up the [Decade]nce tasting at Raidis estate, good venue in a new large shed, and a small crowd, approx. 100 and could have had twice that many, but no queues. Media hacks on a junket, never seen so many taking photos doing interviews, good to promote the region I suppose.
17 wineries with winemakers in attendance showing a 09 and a current release cabernet.
In no particular order:
Balnaves, great to chat to Pete Bissell, who I haven’t really caught up with since he left Wynns, (25 years ago!) and who is retiring after next year after 40 vintages in Coonawarra. 09 Tally looking really good, 15 very smart.
Bellwether wines, 2009 superb, and in the top five for the weekend, but more on that later, 15, exceptional and got a couple.
Bowen, 09 very good, ‘17 which I have been raving about for months now, plush, sweet, rich seamless, great wine and got a dozen. Doug said never say never, but there might be another Ampelon in the wings…David L. watch out!
DiGorgio, 09 seemed a little out of place, winemaker said it was quite a difficult vintage, ’16 was excellent, got a couple.
Hollick, a winery that is really out of sorts (sorry), I have thought this at the last 2 Coonawarra Rd shows and again on the weekend. New ownership so far has not been kind…Ravenswood two decades ago was a beacon for the region, sadly not now, 09 green and thin, not just my opinion, 15 like water…not sure what’s going on here.
Katnook, 09 really solid great drinking, reminds me of the 99, the 16 is fantastic, again plush rich fruit core, will get some, ‘16 Odyssey should be a belter.
Lindemans, I have said it before the most maligned brand in the country, no marketing, no presence, yet Brett Sharpe forges on, 08 St George fantastic, have a few of these, 16 will be very long lived, fantastic, will look at for the specials.
Majella, doing good things under Bruce Gregory and as Prof freely admits, he has never made a bottle of wine, “leaves it to the experts”. 16 magnificent and got a few, 09 in really good spot, more on them later.
Parker, a real star and with Andrew Ox Hardy now at the helm, this winery will certainly take on the main players. Tried 6 vintages of First Growth over the weekend, don’t know why I don’t have more of them, too much bloody Riddoch!! But 09 beautiful and 14 has a fabulous fruit profile, and a 04 was exceptional…top stuff.
Redman, this winery is a bit of an enigma for me, does great things, and then fall off a bit, think however, its on the rise again, 09 tiring, 16 much better, everything in balance.
Wynns, good to see something other than BL, two single vineyards, 09 Glengyle, fabulous and still inky black, has decades left. ’16 O’Dea’s Bordeaux blend, steely silky core, very good, much cellared away. Sue Hodder never gives anything away, but 18 JR and Michael will return for the 2018 vintage
Zema, rolled out four wines, have always found them to be beyond generous. 09 cab, great example of an aged wine, lovely, 15 also very good.
08 Family selection very good spot, probably peaking, 14 FS lovely, cool black blue fruits, very well balanced.
Picks, 09 Zema, 17 Bowen, 04 Parker, 16 Katnook, 16 Majella. Catering with cheeses, meats, nuts etc really good.
Lovely dinner at the revamped Royal Oak (now ROak, formerly Heyward’s), place packed, a cleansing lager followed by a G&T, hour wait past booking, for a table, staff doing a good job, but need a few more very nice eye fillet washed down with a couple glasses of Zema 14 shiraz.
After a good breakfast and a daily heart starter of a glass of Wynns Pedro X it was time to hit the CDs…after a double expresso to shake off the night before and a fab vanilla slice from the local bakery.
Katnook 5 flight retrospective, 09 Merlot, cab, shiraz, odyssey and prodigy, nice wines, Prodigy the absolute standout. The 12s of the premiums are much better wines than the 13s and 14s, time will tell, but current release Caledonian very good.
Down to Wynns next as I felt there might be some action here with the master class taking place. Looked at the 13 and 17 BLs, 13 very clunky and needs a slap and sleep, really angular and disjointed, will be much better in 5-10, ’17 a great wine for a tricky vintage, a case or two tucked away. 16 JR will be magnificent and long lived…yes a few tucked away. 16 Michael is the star, and finally great to see Shiraz step out of the shadows, only got to try this because one of the winemakers needed a photo op for the press pack and then kindly pour myself and significant other a very generous half glass. A beautiful wine, spice, fruits, plums, good oak handling, will go 40 years.
A quick observation on the Master class and not really in the position to comment, as I did not attend, however…Matthew Jukes, great bloke fantastic ambassador for Aussie wines, particularly red blends and have met him several times and 3-4 times in the last week was the MC. What struck me as a little odd and again not just my opinion but shared by a few punters i spoke to across the weekend, is that this is a Cabernet master class, not a Coonawarra Cabernet master class, and two; apart from 1 lonely wine that few can afford to buy , all others were blends and two relatively cheaper wines (great in similar company) from outside the region, were probably outclassed, as I have tried all of the wines at other times. Matthew champions the great Australian red blend of Cabernet Shiraz, and this is good, however, these events are held just a few days after the Coonawarra one. My comment would be if the organisers decide to go down this road, pick red blends from Coonawarra, where is the greatest blend made in the last 3 decades, Wynns Centenary, or get back to some great old Coonawarra cabs, rouge homme’s, St George, Mildara etc. Just say’n.
Onto Majella where a 10-year Cabernet vertical was on offer, 19 and 18 barrel samples, fruit+++ in your face, but both showing great potential, 17, 15, 14, 13 all solid. 11 despite the kindness of time should never have been made. After 8 years still has that great acidic twinge and uncomfortable heat. 16, 12 and 10 all magnificent. Got to try the 14 Mallea, and again on Tuesday at TGAR, fantastic wine and got a few, also tried the inaugural release of the 14 GPL68 (George Patrick Lynn, first vines planted in ’68). Had this wine a few times now, a bit clunky to be honest and bettered by the Mallea. Apparently will be a 16 release, but at $130 not convinced.
Then two surprises. Made the effort to get to Bellwether with the delightful Sue Bell. The most intimate, relaxed and informative tasting of the weekend, in a beautiful old 1860 stone shearing shed at Glenroy. 90 minutes, in among the barrel's just the three of us and a dozen wines tried. Sue cut her teeth at Hardy’s Stonehaven at Padthaway (a winery sadly defunct, but a bit of activity noted when we drove back to Adelaide). 06, 08, 09, 10, 12, 13 and 15 cabs, plus a range of other wines from Victoria and Tasmania. Purchased a mix six of the cabs, they are all stunning and will all be long lived. Thanks again.
Then onto Parker, the next gem of the weekend
Went through the range of current wines, 95 block looking good, and hosted by the beautiful Erica who had worked at Coonawarra CDs since the 80s, she is fantastic. Sat down at a table with just a couple of others and pre poured in Riedels, the 08, 09, and 10 FG, plus complimentary platter of cheeses and nuts. All good, but 10 drinking beautifully, so much so that I had a rush of blood and brought a magnum. Fantastic tasting and setting, Thanks Erica
5 X 5 dinner at Pipers Penola, best SA country restaurant by a street…eaten here 5-6 times now, just better and better. Thank you so much Simon and Erika Bowen and well hosted by Doug.
Two wines each from Leconfield (a Riesling, which was good) Majella, also a Riesling offered, Redman, Bowen and Yalumba. Yalumba’s Natalie Cleghorn skillfully negotiated having the 14 Caley present and great to get a couple of generous pours. It’s a very interesting and well-made wine, and so delicate and balanced at five years, and will certainly age well. Debate on the price, Nat said that Yalumba is perceived poorly overseas (I respectfully disagree) largely due to making everything from casks though to top shelf. RH-S decided that they needed a super-premium to change image and agonised for 2 years on the price point. Would I buy some, yes, but at $350 a bottle...umm.
Fantastic 5 course dinner, as always, and after 4 hours of great eating, drinking and talking rolled home to bed and Aus. lost the rugby!
Sunday a leisurely day, kept criss-crossing with mjs/grb and crew. First stop Bowen, tried current releases again, then a 07 cab and a 97 cab, 97 brilliant, and have 8 or so left, child’s birth year. Another decade easily. Bowen doing good things, 18s to be bottled next week.
Dropped into Balnaves, just to try the William Wilson (more on that later).
Decided to do the Coonawarra walking trail, six CDs and a restaurant in the middle, a lovely way to spend an afternoon, the walk is a doddle, pancake flat, a quiz at each winery to win a few bottles, good fun! First stop Brands, good CD only Riesling, old vines, Stentiford and 171 all purchased. Obligatory photos in Eric’s cellar, some marvellous old curios in there.
Then Redman, great tasting hosted by Bruce, went through 8 reds and finished with the ‘12 William Wilson. Story is one of the Redman and Balnaves families, where marriages between the two saw this wine being developed, Balnaves provide the cab, Redman’s the Shiraz, a 55/45 Shiraz cab split. The bottle at Balnaves showed quite well, the one at Redman less so. I found this wine to be rather muted and perhaps the bottle had been open from the day before…not 100% convinced that it is a $300 wine…apparently there will be a 16 release.
Lunch at Fodder/Otelia, good cab, Riesling and Shiraz, had a glass of each with lunch, with nice pizza’s (if a little on the small side), so a few more things ordered off the menu…very nice.
Onto DiGiorgio, a winery that took over the old Rouge Homme, in the early 2000’s. First time back to the CD, and it hasn’t changed one bit. Large range of wines, from all over the place, Lucindale, Robe and Coonawarra. Most of the old RH vines are gone. Nice sticky semi and a fortified Shiraz brought some of the Emporio Cabernet and the sweeties.
Next, Zema, a solid range of current release wines, will have new labeling next year to jazz things up, personally the old labels are good and the new one’s…well. Got to have at look at Barrell series 1 and 4 cabs…many moons ago, there was a barrel auction at this event, but not now. 01 looking tired and a bit sharp on the finish, 04 much better. Brought some chilli sauces.
Lastly Wynns (again) as if I needed to go, but another look at the range, and the JR worth it. Finished with some more Pedro X.
Meeks (local butcher, very good) rib eye on the BBQ for Sunday dinner with a 90 Wynns OV Shiraz, perfect bottle Con, another 10 easily.
To sum up, most 16s and 17s very good…for Shiraz and Cabernet. Parker and Bellwether killing it, Wynns Michael and Riddoch very sharp as were Majella and Bowen. Great weekend and bring on 2020, for a 2010/2018 retrospective tasting.
There you go.
Cheers Craig.
Re: Coonawarra Cabernet Celebrations 2019
Posted: Sat Oct 26, 2019 3:41 pm
by mjs
Well, Cabernet Celebrations in Coonawarra for 2019 finish this weekend. Two of us from Adelaide and five of us from Melbourne managed to meet halfway in Penola last weekend to continue the tradition from the last few years and immerse ourselves in the main technical weekend of the month long cabernet celebrations. We booked out half of Must@Coonawarra which is a great place to stay in the Coonawarra end of Penola.
A couple of different things this year, but many familiar events. Cellar doors on Friday afternoon (Balnaves, Leconfield, Bowen Estate), followed by the Retrospective tasting (now rebadged as the [Decade]nce tasting, hi Craig), dinner at the Royal Oak Hotel (hi Craig), breakfast on Saturday in the Balnaves winery (with the obligatory sparkling cabernet), the Masterclass, held in the John Riddoch room at Wynns (more on that below, and another hi to Craig at Wynns CD), a ten year vertical tasting of Majella cabernet in the winery, quick look at Yalumba in a tasting with Natalie Cleghorn, dinner in the restored barn at Katnook with Tim Heath, featuring all 2009 Katnook wines. More cellar doors the next day, Bowen again for three decades of cabernet (hi Craig), then Wynns, Laira and Redmans, all on the walking trail, with lunch at Fodder in between (hi Craig). BBQ dinner that night back at Must, with some great steaks from Meeks, the local butcher, washed down with copious amounts of red. A full and very enjoyable three days.
Lots of highlights and fun had by all, but other than the Masterclass, a number of wines stood out at tastings and are worthy of mention, ’16 Lindemans St George, 16 Wynns O’Deas Single Vineyard, ’16 Wynns JR, ’17 Bowen Cabernet (as well as the 07 and 97 cabernets), ’10 Balnaves The Tally, ’16 Redmans Cabernet, ’15 Majella The Malleea, '08 Yalumba The Menzies, ’09 Majella Cabernet. A big shoutout though to two of the wines at the cheaper end of the spectrum, Majella Musician and Balnaves The Blend. These are sub $20 wines and in the case of the former, sub $15 at CD. Both very well made blends, drink now or age for a few years, excellent value.
Now, to the Masterclass, the theme this year was “The Great Australian Red Blend”, wines that are a blend of cabernet and shiraz. A two hour session tasting ten wines, mc’d by Matthew Jukes, the UK wine writer who has a passion for Australian wines, particularly cabernet shiraz blends, and Brett Sharpe, Lindeman’s tireless winemaker of the Coonawarra Trio wines. Brett usually ends up on the MC table at these tastings.
There were ten wines across a wide price range from 2008 Penfolds Bin620 at $1474 to the 2016 Bleasdale Wellington Rd at $32. Many of the winemakers were in the room, so there was a lot of good informed discussion about each wine. The wines were tasted known, one at a time. Here are some impressions, in order of tasting.
2008 Penfolds Bin 620 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz $1474
51% Cabernet 49% Shiraz
100% Coonawarra fruit
deep dark core, attractive red garnet rim, dark aromas, undoubtedly Penfolds, tongue coating red black fruit, plenty of oak matching the power of the fruit, Jukes described this as Latour-like. Youthful still after 11 years (under screw cap)
2012 Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Shiraz Malbec $130
54% Cabernet 41% Shiraz 5% Malbec
60% Langhorne Creek 37% McLaren Vale, 3% Adelaide Hills
dense core slightly purple rim, closed, some savoury elements, I couldn’t get away from the work “black”, black colour, black aroma, black taste. Some leather, tannins, slight saline character, opulent, linear
2012 Wynns V&A Lane Cabernet Shiraz $60
68% Cabernet 32% Shiraz
100% Coonawarra
medium dense core, slightly broader rim, very different to the previous two, bright fruits, medium weight, was beautifully integrated and had a freshness to it. Fine tannins, elegant.
Interestingly for this V&A Lane wine the cabernet and shiraz grapes are co-fermented, only made possible by the fact that both varieties ripen at similar times in this vineyard
2013 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet $69
75% Shiraz, 25 % Cabernet
100% Coonawarra
dense core, purple rim, screams Coonawarra and Limestone Ridge to me, rich dark fruits, mulberry, fine tannins, long finish
2014 Yalumba The Caley $350
82% Cabernet 18% Shiraz
82% Coonawarra 18% Barossa
Interestingly, mainly Coonawarra cabernet
Broader garnet rim, rich red black fruits, cedar, fine tannins, very approachable, beautiful to drink now, would be wonderful in five years. Jukes described this wine as Lafite like, less powerful than the Bin 620, but still a wonderful wine.
2015 St Hugo Coonawarra Barossa Cabernet Shiraz $50
60% Cabernet 40% Shiraz
60% Coonawarra 40% Barossa
impenetrable core, unmistakeable St Hugo eucalyptus mint, but very attractive, plums, youthful, somewhat brutal even, needs time
2015 Majella The Malleea Cabernet Shiraz $80
55% Cabernet 45% Shiraz
100% Coonawarra
dense with a purple rim, wonderful mulberry bouquet, red fruits, sour cherry, lush plums, fine tannins
2016 Bleasdale Wellington Road Shiraz Cabernet $32
51% Shiraz 49% Cabernet
100% Langhorne Creek
impenetrable, purple rim, floral, candied fruits, liquorice, tar, seaweedy notes, perhaps a little simple in present company
2016 Pepperjack Certified Shiraz Cabernet $38
71% Shiraz 29% Cabernet
50% Langhorne Creek 50% McLaren Vale
impenetrable core, purple rim, fragrant, plums, blackberries, tannins, but I described this as seamless, a well made wine
2016 William Wilson Shiraz Cabernet $300
55% Shiraz (from Redman) 45% Cabernet (from Balnaves)
100% Coonawarra
medium dense, red purple rim, dark fruit aromas, complex, herbs, red black fruits, intense long palate, great structure, a wine for keeping
The William Wilson was made jointly by the Redman and Balnaves families to honour the 200th anniversary of the birth of William Wilson, who was a Scottish horticulturalist who settled in Coonawarra in the 19th century. He advised John Riddoch as to where to plant his fruit colony and is an ancestor of both the Redman and Balnaves families. A great story and great tribute wine.
My personal favourites were the Bin 620, would love to try this again in five and ten years, my kind of wine; the William Wilson, such a solid wine, needs more time; the Malleea (but hey, I’m a big Malleea fan), ditto the Limestone Ridge; and the Caley was impressive as well.
All in all a very enjoyable weekend. We will no doubt return again next year, the accommodation is already booked!
Here are some pics from the Masterclass, starting with the room:
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Then the wines
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