The Auswine Forum

[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=44910]NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - MOUNT MARY - Fix, St James, Sydney (8/07/2020)[/url]

A night of firsts. First restaurant dinner since the pandemic. First night at Fix. And although single maker nights aren’t uncommon (cue Penfolds, Henschke), an all Mount Mary night is a first for us. I’ve been buying small quantities of Mount Mary (mostly the reds) over twentyish years and never quite finding the occasions to drink them. I remember thinking of my first few Quintets (1996/97/98) as being very expensive, priced as they were then around $60-65 a bottle. That was three times the cost of say, Bin 389 as a price benchmark. Nowadays, Quintet sets you back ~$120, whereas most of the more commercial offerings (like Bin 389) have trebled or worse in price – last time I saw Bin 389 it was ~$90, which is laughable. And compared to a lot of other flagship Oz cabernets - Cullen’s Diana, Bin 707, Moss Wood, John Riddoch, Cyril Henschke, Jack Mann, Domaine A, Yering No 1, all the Margaret River wannabees - the price is very competitive, verging on a bargain. No cork failures tonight. Quintets all double-decanted at 5pm, the rest were opened at the start of the dinner. Triolet and Merlot were auction buys; the rest were straight from the winery over the years. Gordon was responsible for the excellent champagne and the very classy port. Notes are in tasting order, as usual.

• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553643]2008 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année[/url] - France, Champagne
  {cork} In the usual style: yeasty, bakery-influenced, quite hefty nose, with roasted nuts all showing some development. The palate is solid and punchy, big but surprisingly youthful, dominated but ripe chardonnay fruit, medium/full weight, with medium-sized and quite powerful bubbles. Dry, with a medium length finish. Can stand a fair bit more age I’d say.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553646]2009 Mount Mary Triolet[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {diam, 12.6%} Still a surprisingly light yellow/green colour. Slightly developing nose of grass and straw; oak is very subtle here; barely a seasoning. No pungent kiwi-like aromas either. The palate offers a mixture of straw and seashell flavours, fine sandalwood oak, integrated acid and generally subtle flavours. A bit heftier than light/medium in weight, with medium acidity and an even palate with a medium length finish. Still has plenty of time to evolve tertiary flavours. Classy effort. May have been a bushfire-tainted vintage but there’s no sign of it here.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553647]2004 Mount Mary Chardonnay[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {cork, 13.5%} Slightly lower level than the 2000 (I was a touch trepidatious) although a lighter colour. No sign of leakage so maybe it was just the fill. Advanced nose, buttery, with aged oak characters. Palate was similar, with nuts, and a little bit of sherry-like oxidative flavour. Savoury and grainy; not much fruit but all texture and tertiary flavours. Still has fresh medium acidity and an even, if low key palate. Nice wine, but seems to miss the mark just a little, and the short/medium finish confirms.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553648]2000 Mount Mary Chardonnay[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {cork, 13%} Lemon yellow colour. Looks aged, although not really twenty. Cheesy, sandalwood/oak nose, a little bit gluey. Certainly quite mature. Possibly should have decanted this. Medium weight palate triumphantly carried by the nicely etched acid; even presence along the tongue, yellowing fruit flavours are tending a bit generic rather than pointing to specific fruit, but it’s still very enjoyable. Medium length finish. Has the complexity to hold the attention but I think the end is in sight for this.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553651]2004 Mount Mary Pinot Noir[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {diam, 12.5%} Developing but mild and subtle nose. Compost, brown leaves. Tending to the vegetal without being green or unripe. Fascinating palate, light/medium in weight, with a velvety texture where the acid is the stand-out feature. It has a textural balance and subtlety to it; there aren’t obvious fruit flavours here; saying ‘old pinot’ sounds like a cop-out but it has that subtle balance where the overall integrity and unity is what impresses. Middle-aged only; wouldn’t hesitate to hold this longer. May have had less attention from us than it deserved with the line-up of reds still to come. Love to taste a vertical of this wine one day.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553649]1992 Mount Mary Merlot[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {cork, 12%} Garnet/orange-ish colour, but not too faded. Aged but fabulous nose, all dressed up in St Emilion garb, with intense cigar notes everywhere. Beautiful, refreshing, yet mature chocolatey palate, rich with old plums but not over-the-top by any means. Cedary oak fits in, doesn’t dominate. Medium weight, with low/medium chalky tannins, medium acidity and just perfect balance; even palate, cool and refreshing with a lingering medium/long finish. Startlingly good wine which will presumably hold longer; it’s nowhere near falling over on this showing.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553652]2006 Mount Mary Quintet[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {diam, 12.9%} Almost absurdly young; this has hardly developed – tasting anything under fifteen years old might have been a waste. Dark currant notes; it dominated by pure fruit, but not overtly so. Vigorous palate, with youthful currant fruit. Has a tight yet assertive feel to it still; medium dusty tannins, medium acid, medium long finish. Not heavy or clunky, but coiled. Needs another decade at least.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553653]2003 Mount Mary Quintet[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {cork, 13%} Developing nose of cigar box, leather and black fruit. The palate tasted much darker and more malty after the ‘06. Vigorous fruit but a softer back palate. Biggish – tending to medium/full weight. Medium powdery tannins, medium acidity. Medium long finish. A ripe style. Warm vintage? Attractive medium/long finish suggesting more cellar time is needed here too.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553655]2001 Mount Mary Quintet[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {cork, 12.5%} There is more maturity here than in ’03 or ’06. A beautiful nose of aging currants, cigar-oak; it’s very much in a Bdx style, but one with quality ripe fruit. The balance on the palate is impressive; intense despite just medium weight, it’s delicate in some ways yet has a laser focus. Deliciously poised wine; a melange of red and black fruit flavours, neither old nor young but developing beautifully. Hold longer for more treats.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553657]1998 Mount Mary Quintet[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {cork, 12.5%} True development on show here; currants, a twist of exotic sweetness and cedar on the nose. The extra maturity gives it a luxurious, decadent air; not that it’s showing any structural strain. The palate is all molten currents, black plums, seductively laced with cedar, always shot through with ripeness, perfectly judged. Medium/full body, with medium dusty tannins and medium acidity. The trademark even palate; engaging the full length of the tongue. Lingering, long and gentle finish. Spectacular but not showy; just beautiful. Melds the best of Bordeaux and the best of Oz into a truly impressive package which can age plenty longer still.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553659]1996 Mount Mary Quintet[/url] - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {cork, 12.5%} Some bricking to the garnet red here; the first Quintet that’s looked truly aged in any way. A touch malty on the nose, a little bit of sharpness. A bit finer, perhaps bonier than the last couple of bottles. You know how a supermodel flirts with anorexia but survives? A hint of that, only a little. Mature blackcurrant fruit on the palate is leavened with a little strawberry, but still with balancing acidity. Medium weight, medium chalky tannins. The same even plate we’ve seen throughout the night. I don’t see any improvement left here, but holding another five years or so won’t hurt.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=8553662]1994 Fonseca Porto Vintage[/url] - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  {cork, 20.5%} Double decanted three hours earlier. Black malt, liquorice. Pungent, voluptuous palate. Tarry blackberries, warm and present, medium/high acidity, all very drying in character; a long way from a sweet style of fortified. Medium/full weight, medium warm finish. Hefty wine. Wants more time I think.

I though this might be a very satisfying night with some hits and misses. Apart from the observation that the chardonnays may hold more interest at age ten than twenty, the rest of the wines were staggeringly good. I do think that the Yarra produces the best cabernet blends in the country; a mile ahead of Margaret River and a bit ahead of Coonawarra. My first time to taste a few Quintets together; the consistency across a decade is also pretty good, given a single vineyard and the conditions across vintages. And more impressive, given a production level that barely a fraction of the level that lets the finer Bordelais maintain a quality benchmark. Wine-of-the-night is such a tawdry concept; but given five variants of the same label I’m confident to say the 98 was the pick of the Quintets, with 01 and 96 just a little behind; 06 too young, and 03 perhaps at a slightly lesser level. But still, impressive enough. Have to find something from the mid-80s to see what they’re like with some real age. And the pinot – it sails under the radar a bit but is worth some attention too. Overall, an unqualified triumph – let’s hope COVID doesn’t kill off wine dinners for good.
cheers
Graeme

Hi Graeme, thanks for the great notes. Always loved MM Quintet. Really enjoyed your description of the 1996! I agree it is a bit leaner and bonier than other vintages but still very good. Also a big fan of the MM Pinot as well.

Cheers brodie

Thanks for the notes Graeme....I've only had one quintet (2001) but it nowhere near matched your notes so you've inspired me to seek out more and try again, the bottle gods may have served me a duffer.