Waaaay too many wines! Under or over $40 blind tasting was the theme, leavened with another near-case of novelty samples from Andrew. So many bottles that animated fights seemed to break out over table at various points. And I missed alcohols, possibly other wine details. Plus a lot of prices, which was kinda the point. But I was slightly under the weather anyway, with some kind of ‘long-cold’ over the last two weeks (not covid though), so these notes are even less coherent then usual. Oh well. Just a frantic night, either way.
- NV Tatelbaum Prosecco di Conegliano - Italy, Veneto, Prosecco di Conegliano
{cork, 11%} [Andrew] Blind note. Citrus, apples. No yeast evident. Light weight, medium-sized bubbles. Nearly dry on the palate. Shortish finish. Crowd pleaser but hardly profound. Apparently $20-something, so fair enough. - NV Jean-Noël Haton Champagne Extra Brut Intense - France, Champagne
{cork, 12.5%} [DavidM] Chard & pinot 50/50. Yeast and cheese nose, but not in a bad way at all. A bit of browning apple too. Medium bodied, with fine vigorous bubbles. Austerely acidic, and crunchingly dry. Palate seems more about structure than flavour. No charm, but a pointed sort of power. Lean and almost pushy. Serious aperitif style which might evolve interestingly with cellar time. - 2017 Tyrrell's Sémillon Single Vineyard Belford - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Belford
{screwcap, 11%} [Aaron] Blind note. Straw, grass. Not a new wine, but hardly aged. Grassily dilute flavours, with only a little maturity on the light/medium-bodied palate. This is OK, but the acidity seems a bit reticent to allow great evolution. Fairly even palate presence, even if quite low-key. Seemed very Hunter to most of us. No real surprise when revealed. Think the vintage was a bit ripe and full to make truly great Semillon, despite the sensible alcohol. Normally around mid-$30s. - 2022 Rusden Chenin Blanc Christian Barossa - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
{screwcap} [Glenn] Blind note. Citrus, floral, aromatic nose. Vibrant palate, semi-tropical fruit flavours, but always dry. Light/medium weight, medium/high acid. Medium length finish. Fooled most of us as a blind wine. Little bit of oak aging gives weight rather than flavour to the palate. Attractive surprise, especially at the current release price of only A$27. - 2018 Gérard Villet Arbois "Ouille" - France, Jura, Arbois
{13%} [Andrew] Almost clear appearance. Confrontingly sherry-like, fino-style nose. Flor character palate, with grapefruit and rockmelon under the nuts and yeast. Medium/high acid, medium weight, bone dry, medium length finish. If you like the oxidative style, this is terrific. Not quite in my wheelhouse, though. - 2021 Les Trois Clefs Côtes du Rhône - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
{13.5%} [Geoffrey] Blind note. Purple colour, plum aromas, but with a pointy tang of cranberry. Palate is lightly earthy, with tobacco, low gritty tannins, not much oak. Marginally ripe ripe, fairly low intensity of flavour. I thought some kind of malbec initially, but the reveal wasn’t really such a surprise. Dusty, slightly astringent short finish. - 2022 Tenuta Gorghi Tondi Sicilia Dumé - Italy, Sicily, Sicilia
{12.5%} [Andrew] A new grape for me. Ruby colour, but quite translucent. Looks a bit like one of those obscure Asian red fruit juices. Cherry sort of aromas, with a hint of fermentation esters about it. Light spritz on the palate. Light-body, low grape-skin tannins, no oak. There’s something about it that feels like drinking from the vat, somehow. Like a well-made peasants’ wine, the sort you’d quaff a litre of at lunch, and then head back to work. I wrote A$22 for current release, which is pretty amazing. - 2014 Elderton Shiraz - Australia, South Australia, Barossa
{screwcap, 14.5%} [DavidH] Blind note. Developing nose. Big, jammy, fruit-sweet with blackberries and yummy oak richness. Very sweet fruit on the palate, with a purple/violet character to add to the blackberry and chocolate. Lowish acidity, medium powdery tannins, medium/full weight. Medium length finish. I don’t remember any of the Options questions but it’s a pretty obvious character. Think the current vintage is still sub-$40. - 2020 Miles from Nowhere Shiraz Best Blocks - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
{screwcap, 14.5%} [Andrew] Youthful. White pepper nose. More red fruit on the palate, but it’s always very savoury and dry. Medium weight, subtle oak. Medium acidity too, medium length finish. Winery website for A$32 current release. That’s pretty good value for a decently savoury shiraz. - 2009 Mount Pleasant Wines Shiraz Rosehill - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
{screwcap, 14%} [Greg] Blind note. Richly developed red. Stewed sort of blackberry flavour, although for some reason I thought it might be cabernet. Ripe and seductive medium/full-bodied palate. Medium powdery tannins, medium/high acidity. Still with plenty more development to come. Evenly balanced palate, medium/long finish. Normally around A$50 on release these days. Most impressive Rosehill I can recall for years. Not quite classic Hunter in style perhaps, but very good anyway. - 2020 Miles from Nowhere Cabernet Sauvignon Best Blocks - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
{screwcap, 14.5%} [Andrew] Youthful. Curranty character, with minimal oak. A little asparagus on the palate, but never offensively green. Black fruit flavours, low/medium chalky tannins, medium acid. Medium weight, but the flavours seemed a bit dilute and hollow. Winery website for A$32 current release. I think the equivalent label shiraz is the better wine. - 2016 Kanonkop Paul Sauer - South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch
{cork, 13.84%} [Paul] Per winery data sheet, cs/merlot/cf ratio 62/25/13. Two years in all-new French barriques. And a very precise alcohol reading. Blind note. Still only semi-developed. Dark earth nose; restrained and polished. Dark chocolate, fine oak, hint of mushroom. Very ripe fruit but not too raisiny. Dry palate, a bit austere, medium/full weight, medium chalky tannins. Warm finish. Classy effort. Well over $40, no doubt. - 2017 Mount Mary Quintet - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
{cork, 13%} [Geoffrey] Blind note. Seemed very evolved. But a light, spaced-out kind of nose; floral even. Barely medium-weight palate of oddly stewed red fruit, but with a carpet/leather aged character. Low/medium dusty tannins, medium acid, dry palate. But a short finish, and not much presence beyond the mid-palate. Shocked faces all round when this was unmasked. From the winery around A$140, +50% in a specialist shop! - NV Chambers Rosewood Durif Hayshed Red - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen
{screwcap, 14.5%} [Graeme] I didn’t seem to take a detailed note on this, due to first tasting it in Jan. It’s a 2019 durif, despite the nv labelling. It’s plummy and liquorice-like, but a bit dilute. Soft structure, but being sold as a drink-now quaffer, so no surprise. I intended this as a contrast to my following wine at twenty times the price, but neither wine turned out to be especially impressive, nor value for their respective prices. Current release A$12; cheapest of the night, but no prizes for that if it’s the least liked too. - 2010 St Hugo Shiraz Vetus Purum - Australia, South Australia, Barossa
{cork, 14.9%} [Graeme] This inaugural – and so far only - vintage was released a few years ago for ~A$240 as some kind of duty-free-market, ultra-premium cuvee. Despite the high alcohol, it’s lean and peppery on the nose. Its full-bodied weight seems to derive mostly from alcohol, as the black fruit is baked and over-ripe. Medium chalky tannins and medium acidity can’t save it either. It’s not sweet as you might otherwise expect, but finishes only medium length and without promise of much improvement. Maybe a decant would have helped? Maybe not… - 2021 Curator Wine Company Shiraz - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
{screwcap, 14.5%} [Gordon] Blind note. Big ripe nose. Velvet, black chocolate. Blue/black fruit. Sweet and ripe, full-bodied, soft powdery tannins, medium acid. Modern version of Barossa-shiraz-from-central-casting. More freshness than at the peak of Parker-mania. Medium length finish. The style tells me this is best as an early drinker, but at <A$40 it’s terrific value. - 2015 Handpicked Shiraz No. 1 - Australia, Victoria
{cork, 14.2%} [Andrew] I struggled to put too many specifics to the flavours and aromas here. However, it’s polished, beautifully made and screams class. Savoury black fruit, medium powdery tannins, finely-judged french oak build the palate. It’s medium/full weight, but impeccably balanced, with a medium long finish. Lots of development still to come. Really outstanding. Probably the best red of the evening. Shame it came so late in the night – it might have slipped under the radar a bit. From Handpicked’s website today for A$400, limit of 12; restrain yourself! - 2021 Miles from Nowhere Shiraz Origin of Now - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
{cork, 14.5%} [Andrew] Savoury shiraz fruit, lifted with 5% viognier. Black fruit on the medium/full palate, with medium chalk tannins and medium acidity. Gentle structure, medium acid, even palate, medium length finish. Should be at peak over the next decade or so. Now sold out on the winery website @ A$100. - 2021 Miles from Nowhere Cabernet Sauvignon Origin of Now - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
{cork, 14.5%} [Andrew] Youthful, oak-tinged nose of black fruit. Blackberry purity on the medium/full palate, with medium-high chalky tannins and medium acidity. A bit of a vanilla aspect on the palate, with plenty of astringency pushing through on the medium/long finish. Will certainly benefit from a few years’ cellaring. Still on the winery website @ A$100 - 2021 Bel Colle Langhe Nebbiolo - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
{screwcap, 14%} [Aaron] Tight, cherry fruit. Savoury palate, peppery and dry, with lean cherry fruit. I seem to have taken little note of the structure here for some reason. In line with expectations? A bit young, in any case. - 2016 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Sémillon - Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina
{375ml, screwcap, 10.5%} [DavidM] Standard sort of Noble One – apricot, vanilla, rich and coppery. Full weight and sweetness. A little more evolved than the 750ml we had back in July, which makes sense. Halves should be drunk now. - 2018 Austins Late Harvest Riesling Moorabool Valley - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong
{375ml, screwcap, 12%} [DavidM] Luminously beautiful Riesling. Lime-tinged, clean fruit, medium dry. Lots of acidity, even palate, citrus fruit, medium weight, medium-long lingering finish. Should evolve further. A joy to drink.
And for the record, we should commemorate Greg’s OAM, not for services to wine drinking (yet), but for nearly 40 years of medical service in rural NSW. A week per month in the boondocks, suffering two-way flights on balsa-wood planes with elastic-band engines, nowhere to eat, charging cut-down fees, treating gawd-knows how many people for a pittance. And why? ‘cause there’s no-one else there to do it, and people – sun-burnt farmers – will die otherwise. In my experience, most OAMs are well over-earned (as opposed to the useless celebrities & noteworthy parasites who normally get the AO), and this one particularly so.