The Auswine Forum

Hi Good Peoples,

Last night I had a bottle of Dalwhinnie 1997 Shiraz.I wasn't that very impressed with the last bottle of this I tried a year ago, the tannins on that occasion were very pronounced and seemed to be out of wack. The bouquet on this bottle showed earthy musky mushroom, plums, chocolate and menthol that was clean and ripe. The powdery tannins are smooth but a little chewy and attractive, the acid fresh and balanced. The fruit fills the mouth with plum, blackcurrant, chocolate and mint that is not sweet but the wine does have a pleasant touch of sweetness which the tannins dry out on a long persistent finish. Muscular in weight, it is rated as Highly Recommended, its a good but not great Dalwhinnie and good result from a poor vintage. The wine was significantly better with food.

Now what have all you guys been drinking? (... and I am up early, not late )

I have had a couple of good Oz Sangioveses this week. De Bortoli's Windy Peak Sangiovese 2002 and a Yendah Vale 2002. Both were excellent. The Windy Peak is fuller, perhaps with a little sweetness and could be described as more Australian in style. The Yendah Vale was lighter, but it had plenty of fruit flavours and to my rather uneducated sangiovese palate seemed a bit more Italian. A few weeks ago I had a Garry Crittenden Pinocchio Sangiovese 2003, which I thought was fairly wonderful. I will crack another bottle for lunch today to refresh my memory and see how it stacks up.

2002 Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cabernet Sauvignon (13.5%)
This is my favourite Wolf Blass wine (obviously value for money comes into play here), and the 2002 is a good example of why I feel this way. Good quality, warm climate Cabernet fruit allowed to show itself without overt oak or ripeness. Not greatly complex but balanced and long. Tannins in harmony with the wine on a dry finish. A truly enjoyable wine that does not conform to the typical under $15 bargain of impressing in the "rich and ripe" way, although the wine has good intensity and no green Cabernet characters. Rated Recommended/Highly Recommended, a bargain for $12, and one that will take a few years age as well, as all good "Yellow Label" vintages do. Harmonious wine.

Adair

RWT 2001 - Nose, restrained. Not as sumptous and oppulent as the earlier vintages. A little tart, angular and tannic at this moment which will integrate given time followed by a long spicy finish. A clinically well made wine but for value look elsewhere. I rather have 2 btls. of Oscar Semmler anytime.

Veritas Shiraz 2001 - Riper and more forward. Not as profound as the earlier wine but couldnt complaint at less than a fifth of the price.

John Hongell Barossa Shiraz 01 92+/100 Very nice Getting better with every botttle.

Woodstock Stocks 98 Shiraz very rich dark fruits with some oak that will
soften and intergrate with time 93/100

Tried all the Noons CD the Rose very different but the Solare was as good
if not better than the Reserves.

Rockford 02 Basket Press and Cab at there best Black Shiraz needs time.

I am running out of cash so thats all for now.

“I’m creeping back to life…
…I’m wearing the inside out” (Pink Floyd, 1994)

From rebuilding the computer after a virus wiped it out and a week knocked up with the flu it’s good to finally contribute again. I’ve got a stack of notes to type up including the last two Blacktongues blind tastings – I Hope to have these up hopefully in the next couple of days.

1998 Kilikanoon Blocks Road Clare Valley Riesling: At an instore a few weeks ago I asked Kevin Mitchell how the 1998 Blocks Road Riesling & Cabernet Sauvignon were fairing: he thought they were past it, prompting me to crack one open. Light gold/dark straw-yellow colour. A very reserved nose at first, with some wax, Hessian, petroleum, toast, and lemon/lime characters. The palate was what you would expect from an aged Riesling just hitting its secondary drinking window; very spicy with touches of lime and some noticeable acid on entry, tingly lemon zest powering the middle, finishing with a lovely long, honeyed, almost malo-like finish. This bottle was far from past-it, prompting me to put the spare Riesling & Cabernets straight back into hibernation.

2002 Greenock Creek Apricot Block Shiraz: With all the talk of Greenock Creek’s latest releases, I grabbed one of these after the second last Black tongues tasting which featured some pretty big reds. Glowing inky purple colour. The nose is slightly soapy, with saturated plum and blackberry fruit that has completely soaked up the oak. With breathing there’s black cherry and blueberry, and eventually a hint of nail polish remover (EA?). The palate starts with rich syrupy blackberry/blueberry fruit with mocha oak in support, and hefty tannins on the finish. Strangely at this stage as I was drinking I could feel chunks/solids in the wine – there’s no obvious sign of crusting but maybe I should have decanted it. The 15% alcohol is very noticeable from the start with minty/cherry/sarsaparilla sweetness that borders on being very hot, and smoky/vegemite oak characters and a touch of black olives surface with breathing. At the moment this needs something equally sweet and spicy to match - perfect with spicy Chicken Teriyaki with noodles and Chilli oil.

1998 Jim Barry Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Dark to inky crimson, with a very bare hint of purple on the rim. A savoury/vegetal nose with fish sauce, earth and barnyard, some sweet cassis and tomato. The palate is equally savoury, with a spicy entry with olives, sour cherry/blackcurrants, some leather, and green biting tannins that take over the finish. This wine has lost that initial sickly green apple sweet edge it possessed on release, and yet still doesn’t seem that attractive to me. I can’t see it getting a lot better but it will hold, and needs food to bring out its best facets.

2002 d’Arenberg The Feral Fox Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir: Even at such a young stage there’s a huge amount of tannic crust in the wine at the bottom of the bottle so decanting is essential. Dark to inky crimson colour. A sharp acidic nose with blood/ammonia, celery and hints of cinnamon/coconut and some sweat. The palate features very ripe raspberry fruit and powdery tannins, in a complex but almost extracted/forced style. There are savoury hints of salted celery, sweat and nuts, but the minty and very warm 14.5% alcohol tends to dominate the picture right now.

2001 Leabrook Estate Adelaide Hills Reserve Pinot Noir: I loved this wine when it was released 18 months ago, so after hearing a disappointing report from 707 recently about the label it was a good time to check one again. Deep, clear red with a touch of brick, and unlike the Feral Fox absolutely no crusting. The nose was very sweet and perfumed, with ripe strawberry/strawberry jam, some smoke, and hints of nuts and celery. The palate is soft, sweet and savoury, with strawberry/raspberry, celery, roasted nuts, and vanilla and chocolate with breathing, finishing long and smoky. This seems to be at the beginning of a transition phase, but still falls within the narrow style of Pinot that I love.

Cheers
Ian

Adair wrote:2002 Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cabernet Sauvignon (13.5%)
This is my favourite Wolf Blass wine (obviously value for money comes into play here), and the 2002 is a good example of why I feel this way. Good quality, warm climate Cabernet fruit allowed to show itself without overt oak or ripeness. Not greatly complex but balanced and long. Tannins in harmony with the wine on a dry finish. A truly enjoyable wine that does not conform to the typical under $15 bargain of impressing in the "rich and ripe" way, although the wine has good intensity and no green Cabernet characters. Rated Recommended/Highly Recommended, a bargain for $12, and one that will take a few years age as well, as all good "Yellow Label" vintages do. Harmonious wine.

Adair

Uncomparable to Black or Platinum but i actually rate the 2002 Yellow Carbenet higher than the 2002 Grey Carbernet. This could well be different in time and many of you wouldnt agree with me on this.

Sorry Drew and others, but in my previous post I was talking about

the Eclipse at Noons CD.

I am missing the Solaire this year.

Cheers Martin

Saltrams Mamre Brook Cabernet 02 - This has been a long awaited gem. I took this to dinner over the weekend and all who had a taste loved it and wanted more. Sensational.

Moondah Brook Shiraz 98 - I'm almost finished my supply of these and they have been great. Only about a year left before they will start their decline. Glad I bought these.

Graham

Bannockburn Pinot Noir 1999- Light garnet-red. Lifted strawberry, herb and cherry aromas. Smooth, but not velvety, medium weight with gamey notes and a seamless transition to a finish of noted warmth. 87pts.

Bannockburn Shiraz 1999- Badly corked. I have had slightly arrogant correspondance previously with this vineyard. Any contemporary impressions?

Bannockburn Chardonnay 1999- Clear yellow-gold, green tinges. Mealy aromas. With glass warming, cool climate elegance evident- delicate melon and peach notes. Medium to full bodied, oily and untuous mouthfeel with peach melon fruit shining. Clean finish, warm but elegant.91pts

Green Pt Pinot Noir 2002- simple variatal definition. Clean. Fails on QPR.

1994 Henschke Keyneton Estate - Still youthful dark purple, red edges. Porty, VA nuances blew off quickly-good meshed mature fruit evident; dark plum and liqueured black fruits with coffee and spice of the background oak.
Medium bodied and in harmony. Fine but not thin palate weight, berry fruit with some sweetness. Finishes with dusty fine and unrevealing, until the drying finish, tannins with refreshing acidity. 89pts.

TORB wrote:Hi Good Peoples,

Last night I had a bottle of Dalwhinnie 1997 Shiraz.... its a good but not great Dalwhinnie and good result from a poor vintage. The wine was significantly better with food.

Saturday, Dalwhinnie Shiraz 1993, average result from a very poor vintage. Drinkable, but very green, a trifle thin and certainly their worst shiraz since the 80's. Not recommended.

Oddly, 93 shiraz is reasonably expensive at auction ($40+ by the time you add on buyer's premium), and considering you can buy $15 wines that are vastly better, this represents very poor value. Oddly it's no cheaper than (say) the '94 which is a vastly superior wine. Must be the retrospective-verticollectors out there. Go figure ...

How long will the 97's hold for ?

FB,

I can't see the 97 going anywhere in a hurry, it has loads of tannins, the acid is still good and the fruit should be OK for some time. Five years I would guess and it should still be OK.

1988 John Riddoch
Dark inky red that still poses plenty of power. Tobacco, cigar box and a hint of leather that a good aged wine should have. The palate still has plently of fruit with dark fruit, plum dominate. The finish is dry, the tannins is silky and the finish is long. Another enjoyable bottle

1989 Chateau de Fargues Lur Saluces Sauternes
golden colour that just looks so tempting. The aroma is tropical fruit, honeycomb and fields of perfumed flowers, you will never sick of sniffing it. The palate is medium, just right with excellent balance and prolonged lingering finish. Excellent wine