The Auswine Forum

The 13th Peel Shiraz tasing was held on Saturday the 11th of September. Guest speaker this year was Robert O'Callaghan and he gave a very interesting after dinner talk and gave some enlightening answers to the questions put to him.

As usual 20 6 year old shiraz, thats 1998 vintage for the poor mathematicians, were presented blind, offered in flights of 5 wines with a break for bread and cheese and a discussion about the flight. The identity of the wines is only revealed after all 20 have been tasted. Although you are presented with a list of the 20 wines to be tasted prior to the tasting you have no idea as to the order of the tasting.

As usual there are plenty of oohs and aaahs when the wines are unmasked.

The flights were:-

1.
Plantagenet
McWilliams Maurice O'Shea
Mount Langi
Scarpantoni Block 3
Jaboulet Anie

2.
BlackJack
Peel Estate
Tyrells Stevens Reserve
Turkey Flat
Majella

3.
Rockford Basket Press
Henschke Hill of Grace
Guigal Hermitage
Eileen Hardy
Seppelt St Peters

4.
Torbreck Run Rig
Jim Barry Armagh
Penfolds Grange
Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis
Peter Lehman Stonewell

For what it is worth my scores were:-

14.5
Jaboulet Anie

15
Scarpantoni Block 3

15.5
Mount Langi
McWilliams Maurice O'Shea

16.5
Plantagenet

17
Guigal Hermitage
Eileen Hardy

17.5
Majella

18
BlackJack
Peel Estate
Peter Lehman Stonewell

18.5
Rockford Basket Press
Henschke Hill of Grace
Tyrells Stevens Reserve
Turkey Flat

19
Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis

19.5
Seppelt St Peters
Torbreck Run Rig
Jim Barry Armagh
Penfolds Grange


Before the wines were revealed you were asked to nominate your best 3. My choice was the St Peters, Torbreck, and Armagh in that order.

Others I spoke to on the day put the Rockford (an anagram of Krondorf with the "n" changed to a "c" by the way) as their favourite for the day, and it certainly was a pretty smart wine, however just lacking in that opulence demonstrated by the the wines I placed higher for mine. A great wine but just lacked the lust factor in this lineup if you know what I mean.

I guess that would make the St Peters definitely the best value for money by miles, and it is also readily available in comparison to some of the others in the lineup.

A great tasting was followed by a sparkling shiraz, Peel of course, a cleansing ale or 2 and then lunch where the left overs form the tasting were augmented by Peel 1999 Shiraz. A few more cleansing ales in the stretch limo on the way home completely closed out the day.

Surprises:-

The Grange was not the standout I expected it to be. It was tasted 3rd in the last flight following the Torbreck and the Armagh and as a tasting note I had simply written "Ditto".

How well the Peel showed considering the poor year in WA and the superb year in the SA and most of Victoria.

How stunning the St Peters 98 was.

BlackJack - never heard of it before, and it certainly held it's own in this company.

How much I liked the d'Ampuis despite it's lack of fruit. Very nice oak but, and lots of it.

Disappointments:-

I was really looking forward to the Maurice O'Shea and Scarpantoni, and while they were not complete crap I certainly would not be seeking them out after this.

The Jaboulet Ani was crap.

The HOG and Eileen continue to disappoint considering their market position.

I am already looking forward to next year.

Thanks for your scores. Although it was not your No.1, I like the fact that the 1998 Rockford Basket Press was not your favourite because it was "just lacking in that opulence demonstrated by the wines I placed higher". Sounds perfect!

Thanks again,
Adair