TN: A Couple of Kalleskes
Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2004 6:41 am
Kalleske Greenock Shiraz (Basket Pressed) 2002 $54.99USD
Dense cherry red with red edge. Jumps out of the glass with an initial aroma of intense chocolate, changing to smoked meat, vanilla and a slight mint flavor. Developed a pepper note over several hours. Full bodied with big astringent tannins and a clean acid finish – still too young. Although a little rough on the edges and somewhat closed on retronasal, it’s a well structured wine. But its not a food wine, the high alcohol content gave the wine an unpleasant hotness with the beef stroganoff we tried it with. After about 8 hours in the glass (a la TORB) the wine was still full bodied, jammy and astringent, and now the retronasal was heavy with chocolate and dusty oak. A glass or two tried the next day gave blackberry, vanilla, mint and was still full bodied. This is a wine with a long life but, in my opinion, is really too young to be drunk now. 2, 2, 4.5, 9.6=18.1. 15.5% alcohol. Tasted September 15-16.
Kalleske Old Vine Grenache (Basket Pressed) 2002 $54.99USD
Dark cherry red with red edge. An intense floral note that quickly faded to eucalyptus, pepper and blackberries, plus a host of other complex aromas. In the mouth itÂ’s a medium weight wine with acidity that dances across the palate to merge with equally evident firm tannins backing up the finish. IÂ’ve heard this wine described as smelling like a fruitcake. I didnÂ’t get those flavors. But it is a wine that is a delight to hold in the mouth while gently sucking in air over the wine and breathing out through the nose. This is an excellent wine. After 24 hours there was licorice and black fruits and that finish just lingers and lingers. At 48 hours the wine was showing just the faintest hint of getting a little tired. 2, 2, 4.7, 10.3 = 19.0. 15.5% alcohol. Tasted September 18-20.
So far there really aren’t any formal tasting notes on these wines in the US, at least that I can find. The Wine Spectator has given the Grenache 92 and the Shiraz 88 points, but I can’t find any TNs in my copies of WS (perhaps they are available to online subscribers). I don’t know if Parker has seen the wines. Eric Anderson did give a good review to the Grenache. Price wise they sell for $55 -70USD/bt, and for that sort of money they are really not great value. The Grenache may be worth it, simply because its such an unusual wine. The shiraz, well I’d like to see it in a line up with others around $55 before I buy more – but then my source was sold out last time I looked anyway!
Mike
Dense cherry red with red edge. Jumps out of the glass with an initial aroma of intense chocolate, changing to smoked meat, vanilla and a slight mint flavor. Developed a pepper note over several hours. Full bodied with big astringent tannins and a clean acid finish – still too young. Although a little rough on the edges and somewhat closed on retronasal, it’s a well structured wine. But its not a food wine, the high alcohol content gave the wine an unpleasant hotness with the beef stroganoff we tried it with. After about 8 hours in the glass (a la TORB) the wine was still full bodied, jammy and astringent, and now the retronasal was heavy with chocolate and dusty oak. A glass or two tried the next day gave blackberry, vanilla, mint and was still full bodied. This is a wine with a long life but, in my opinion, is really too young to be drunk now. 2, 2, 4.5, 9.6=18.1. 15.5% alcohol. Tasted September 15-16.
Kalleske Old Vine Grenache (Basket Pressed) 2002 $54.99USD
Dark cherry red with red edge. An intense floral note that quickly faded to eucalyptus, pepper and blackberries, plus a host of other complex aromas. In the mouth itÂ’s a medium weight wine with acidity that dances across the palate to merge with equally evident firm tannins backing up the finish. IÂ’ve heard this wine described as smelling like a fruitcake. I didnÂ’t get those flavors. But it is a wine that is a delight to hold in the mouth while gently sucking in air over the wine and breathing out through the nose. This is an excellent wine. After 24 hours there was licorice and black fruits and that finish just lingers and lingers. At 48 hours the wine was showing just the faintest hint of getting a little tired. 2, 2, 4.7, 10.3 = 19.0. 15.5% alcohol. Tasted September 18-20.
So far there really aren’t any formal tasting notes on these wines in the US, at least that I can find. The Wine Spectator has given the Grenache 92 and the Shiraz 88 points, but I can’t find any TNs in my copies of WS (perhaps they are available to online subscribers). I don’t know if Parker has seen the wines. Eric Anderson did give a good review to the Grenache. Price wise they sell for $55 -70USD/bt, and for that sort of money they are really not great value. The Grenache may be worth it, simply because its such an unusual wine. The shiraz, well I’d like to see it in a line up with others around $55 before I buy more – but then my source was sold out last time I looked anyway!
Mike
well that signed bottle is going to my brother as an Xmas pressy so your stash might be the only available! 
I really would like to taste the wine again but without knowing what it is - there was a lot of expectation on my part and when I opened the bottle and got that first wiff I thought "Oh, they might be right". But it just never seemed to be well integrated. I still have one bottle left but I'm saving that for a visit from a winemaker friend in the new year. I want to put together a tasting of high and low alcohol shiraz from the 2002 vintage for him just to get his take on the vintage. His syrahs run from 13.3 to 15.6% and are from high and low altitude vineyards. And I want to see if a winemaker can actually pick alcohol differences, 'cause I think most folks can't unless they read the label - I know I have probelms.