The Auswine Forum

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - SANGIOVESE & TEMPRANILLO - Glass Brasserie, Sydney (1/05/2024)

Sangiovese & Tempranillo - odd sort of a theme; I’m not sure in what way these two grapes are related, except they might be regarded as the premier grapes of Italy & Spain respectively. Unless, of course, Spain ‘wins’, in which case Italy mumbles “should have been Nebbiolo…” Anyway, in keeping with the presumed intent, most Rotters indeed brought wines from those countries. Most wines were decanted at the start of the meal (my Brunello 2 hours earlier) and all were served in pairs.

• NV Veuve Clicquot Champagne Brut - France, Champagne
  {cork} [Geoffrey] Quite a dark colour, with an aged and cheesy nose. Distinct oxidative characters on the palate; it’s flat and short, yet the medium-sized creamy bubbles are in fine form. A fairly recent buy apparently, but clearly sub-par for packaging or some other random reason. I’m always a bit leery of VC for exactly this reason – it happens way too often.
• NV Drappier Champagne Carte d'Or Brut - France, Champagne
  {cork} [Geoffrey] Back-up fizz. Aromas of stonefruit and a little yeast, with just a hint of maturity. The palate offers ripe fruit, getting almost tropical in flavour and richness, to the point where it seems to be at the upper edge of ‘brut’. Medium/full in weight, with medium/large creamily aggressive bubbles. Medium length finish that sits a bit on the front palate.
• 2021 José Gil Rioja Labastida - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja
  {cork, 13.5%} [guest - Matti] Vivid purple fruit initially, turns more red with air. Medium weight palate, dry, medium acid, lots of powdery tannin although not oaky. Light cherry fruit flavours. Bit workaday, needs food. Short/medium finish. Hardly compelling though.
• 2019 Tenuta di Arceno Chianti Classico - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG
  {cork, 14.5%} [Greg] Initially mild nose, with faint red berry overlaid by tobacco aromas. Palate is similar; tobacco and earth, with a savoury but generic red fruit quality that I invariably associate with the CC appellation. Medium weight, not too oaky, low/medium tannins, short/medium finish. Hock into it with your pasta!
• 2017 Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico Riserva - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG
  {cork, 13.5%} [Andrew] Big, stewy, lifted red fruit nose, edging almost toward volatile. Palate has lots of ripe, even rotting fruit flavours. Very lavish, tending to new world in style. Full-bodied, with medium-high chalky tannins and medium acidity. Not especially oaky. Odd thing is, after all this impressive presence, the finish is barely medium length, with little taste beyond the mid-palate. Nice enough, but not profound.
• 2019 Nick O'Leary Tempranillo Seven Gates - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
  {screwcap, 13.5%} [Glenn] Bit of a fish out of water, this local offering tonight. Darkly sweet nose, blackberry compote, minimal oak. Vivid fruit on the palate. Soft blackberries, black cherries, quite drying and almost astringent despite the lack of oak. Dusty grape skin tannin give a frame, medium acidity contributes. Dry and fairly short, but nicely even palate. Ready to drink.
• 2016 Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico Gran Selezione - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG
  {cork, 13%} [DavidH] Slightly muted, dusty sort of wine, with a faintly oxidative quality, although nothing extreme. This seems very old school CC, with plenty of astringent grape-skin tannin, medium/full weight, but a narrow presence down the palate, tending toward the front of the tongue. Standard flavours; red, dusty, although does embody what I think of as the ‘narrowness’ of this grape in its normal Chianti guise. Needs food to shine properly I think; no rush to drink otherwise.
• 2017 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Reserva Finca Ygay - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja
  {cork, 14.5%} [guest - David] Sweet oak and red aromas, in the nearest we came to classic old school Rioja tonight. Lots of flamboyant blackberry flavours, fine medium chalky tannins, medium/full weight. Not obviously oaky though. Sweet-tinged medium-length finish. Tidy stuff probably at peak, or at least, unlikely to improve much.
• 2015 Paolo Scavino Barolo Cannubi - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
  {cork, 14.5%} [DavidM] In the tradition of the late Bruce, a wine not on theme but somewhere in between. But really good nonetheless. Violets and roses with a vanilla sheen. Some development apparent. Pungent, pumped up palate. Medium weight and acidity – ticks all the medium boxes really. Way better with food, but I think this is still on the upslope of development.
• 2001 Bodegas Roda Rioja Cirsion - Spain, La Rioja, Rioja
  {cork, 14.5%} [guest - Adam] Nearly a quarter-century on, and phenomenally young still. Choco-liquorice nose; rich, iodine-like. Medium/full in weight, but now with maturing low/medium powdery tannins. Very ripe palate, almost a new-world style, with confectionary-like, stewed fruit, but not over-ripe, and still with enough acidity to hold it together. Quite a mouthful. Medium/long, balanced finish. Has come together very nicely, unless you are unreconstructed traditionalist, and shows no sign of falling over.
• 2014 Castelgiocondo (Marchesi de' Frescobaldi) Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
  {cork, 14.5%} [Graeme] A mix of floral, perfumed notes with dark cherry and plum jam characters underneath. Palate isn’t quite as fresh as the nose; despite medium acid and medium chalky tannins it finishes just a little short with a hint of astringency. Still OK, but time to drink up I’d say.
• 2015 Bodegas Valdemar Rioja Conde de Valdemar Reserva - Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
  {cork, 14%} [Stephen] Liquid cherry nose, fumey/smoky quality, but not obviously oaky. Big ripe flavours on the palate; black & purple fruits pumped up; could pass for 15% alcohol, not 14%. Also very new world in style. Medium weight in the end though, with lowish chalky tannins and low/medium acidity. Finishes a fraction short of medium length. Not needing further aging.
• 2021 McLeish Estate Sémillon Jessica's Botyritis Sémillon - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
  {375ml, screwcap, 11.2%} [Geoffrey] Pointed lime fruit nose, with only a smattering of botrytis. Light/medium weight, medium dry for sugar, with some mandarin sweetness adding to the lime on the short/medium length palate. A gently beguiling sort of wine better in the short term I think.
• 2016 Château Filhot - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
  {375ml, cork, 13.5%} [Geoffrey] Plenty of vanilla, marzipan, nougat. Some development going on here. Has richness rather than overt sweetness on the palate. It’s beyond ‘off-dry’ but not much. Quite full weight, or at least with denseness of texture, and an even, medium length finish. Suspect this will peak earlier rather than later too.

What was odd about this dinner is that there was just the one Brunello among a mass of Chianti, and not a single Ribera del Duero to leaven the Riojas. So we didn’t even really get a fair representation across both countries! Also I’d call nearly everything ready to drink tonight; very little needed further cellaring (except maybe the Barolo). And with so many corks on the table, something was bound to be suspiciously off-target tonight, even if it was the champagne!