Grand Cru (Perth) tasting group – Spring Into Summer

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

As regular forumites will know, we pick a different theme every month for our tastings. This month was a little unusual, in that “Spring Into Summer” left the field wide open in terms of grape varieties, blends, region, country of origin, and vintage. The wines were tasted blind (our usual practice), but it made determining the order of tasting quite challenging. We went for the following categories:
• Sparkling white
• Still white
• Sparkling and still reds.
We then tasted from youngest to oldest within those categories. It made for an interesting tasting, to say the least, with no pre-conceptions of what might be in the glass.

We opened with two sparking whites:

Pol Roger NV: Yellow / gold in colour, with a good mousse. Yeasty nose, Meyer Lemon, cashew, peach blossom, brioche, and some oyster shell minerality. There’s lively acid on the palate, alongside some brine, crushed wet rock; i.e. more minerality, lemon sherbet, stone fruits. There’s a chalky finish, and the majority of the group picked it as a Champagne. Highly regarded by the group.

Dukes “The Duchess” Sparkling Riesling 2020 (Porongorup, WA): Pale straw in colour, almost transparent. A burst of orange and lemon blossom hits the nose, with some musk stick and Granny Smith apple. The palate has a touch of tangy lime, under-ripe green apple, and the acid is prominent, almost piercing. A medium long and exceptionally dry finish. This would make a great spring aperitif. We also considered whether this is a ‘zero dosage’ i.e. the finished bottle topped up with more of the same wine, rather than an expedition liqueur.

20211117_203604.jpg

Antonella Corda Vermentino 2020 (Sardinia, Italy): Straw colour. Tropical fruits, including tinned pineapple, apricot, peaches, and some barley water. Cleansing acid on the palate, more tropical fruits, grapes (yes) and a hint of ginger. Good palate weight, short to medium finish.

Carl Loewen Herrenburg Kabinett Riesling 2019 (Mosel, Germany): 9% alcohol, from 100 year old vines. Pale straw. On the nose: citrus, red apple, lime zest and some sweetness. There’s palate sweetness as well, with lots of fruit intensity. Kiwi fruit. The wine is luscious without being heavy, and there’s a clean, dry-ish finish. Most of us picked this as an off-dry Riesling, andit was well regarded by the group.

Redgate Ullinger Sauvignon Blanc 2019 (Margaret River, WA): Very pale straw. The nose is herbaceous, with pot pourri, rosemary, oregano and sandalwood, along with a little passionfruit. The palate has unrip or stewed apples. There’s prominent acid, and the wine shows some textural complexity. One taster described it as “Granny’s Bottom drawer”.

20211117_203608.jpg

Cherubino “Laisse Faire” Arneis 2018 (South West WA): Straw in colour. There’s immediate similarity to a Riesling on the nose, with citrus – but not as intense as many Australian Rieslings. There’s also lemon pith, jasmine, pear, and lemon meringue pie. The palate shows good but not overpowering acid (which reinforced the impression that it wasn’t a Riesling). There’s a slight oiliness, lanolin, and some apricot kernel. A slightly astringent finish, reasonable length. This might be better with food.

Yangarra Roussanne 2017 (McLaren Vale SA): Yellow in colour. The nose shows barley sugar, tinned lychees, apricot, cumquat, and marmalade. The palate is spicy, savoury and with some orange pith. The wine is a little flabby and flat, with a slight bitterness, nevertheless, reasonably well regarded by the group and might be better with food.

Kosovich Verdelho 2017 (Swan Valley WA): Pale yellow. Nectarine (unripe), sweat, lemon and honeysuckle on the nose. The palate is tart and with a touch of sweetness, with lemon the predominant flavour. The wine shows an oily or syrupy texture.

20211117_203610.jpg

Then onto the few reds:

Domaine de la Grosse Pierre Chiroubles “Aux Craz” Gamay 2018 (France): Crimson colour. Initially muted nose, with smoky, medicinal notes. It opened up a little to brambles, cherry ripe, asphalt, with dusty and stemmy characters. The palate is savoury, with tar, sour cherry, black tea, a little licorice. It’s tannic and has a medium finish.

Bel Colle Pellaverga 2018 (Verduno, Piemonte, Italy): Garnet in colour. There’s fresh cherries and ripe strawberries on the nose. Marascino cherry hits the palate. Tannins are light, with moderate acid. Some considered this might be Beaujolais, but we were mistaken. The wine could also take a chill for a spring or summer afternoon.

Monterra Elevage Sparkling Shiraz NV (McLaren Vale SA): Ruby in colour, subtle but persistent mousse. Ripe juicy plums and blueberries on the nose. Lots of sweet juicy fruits on the palate, with milk chocolate and soft acidity. A very slight bitterness on the back palate was the only minor fault noted in a delicious medium bodied and quaffable sparkling red. Well regarded by the group.

Wine of the night was the Pol Roger NV. However, the variety and quality of the wines was such that this was a fascinating tasting, covering a wide range of styles.

Cheers
Allan

[Waiters Friend]

A couple more pics

20211117_203613.jpg

20211117_203557.jpg