Pared with some superb dishes, over lunch this week, eight of us worked our way through the Triolet, two Chardonnays, four Pinots and five Cabernets/Quintets. I didnÂ’t take any notes; these are my recollections/impressions.
93 Mount Mary Triolet
Thrown in to start proceedings and create the ‘Fourth Dimension’. I must confess, I’m not a Sauv Blanc fan, so I was expecting to dislike this wine from the start and made many a disparaging remark before I even tried it. As it turned out, the wine wasn’t too bad, still fresh and lively. 16.0
99 Mount Mary Chardonnay
Gone, shot, oxidised, awful. Not sure what happened to this but in any event, not rated.
2001 Mount Mary Chardonnay
Fresh and lively, flinty, crisp, very youthful and will develop into something much better. I really liked this wine. 17.0
Matched with the two whites was an awesome seafood dish of scallops and an avocado and crab mix. A dish full of flavour and a great match for the whites. That said, I couldn't hang out and grabbed some Pinot to finish off with
83 Mount Mary Pinot
This was truly sensational, despite its 21 years of age it had the most beautiful perfumed nose, of violets, old aged ‘cedar’ and sweet forest scents. I loved ‘sniffing’ this wine and did so on and off for about an hour, comparing it with the other vintages. It was simply in great shape, only slightly browning at the edge; it drank so well, wonderful mouth feel and a great finish. 18.5
91 Mount Mary Pinot
The most preferred Pinot by one of the party, but my least preferred of the 4. Just didnÂ’t have the same perfumed nose as the other 3 which is what I always look for in a good pinot. If you canÂ’t get the olfactory senses working then the palate has minimal expectations - and is not usally dissapointed
Nothing wrong with the wine, just not as exciting as the others. 16.5
94 Mount Mary Pinot
Wow, back on track. So reminisant of the 83, some evidence of terrior perhaps. Every 94 IÂ’ve had has been great, and this was no exception. Again a lovely perfumed nose with great fruit to match once the wine hit the palate. Loads of flavour and a long finish. This and the 83 were my equal favourite Pinots on the day. 18.5
2000 Mount Mary Pinot
Opened at the request of one of the party to have a look at how 2000 YV Pinots are travelling. Way too young but displaying all the hallmarks of what will ultimately be a great wine. So similar in so many respects to the 83 and 94. Three very consistent and very good wines. If you have any, wait! 17 now, will be 18.5
The Pinots were matched with the best qual/truffle dish IÂ’ve ever had. Sensational flavoured dish and the perfect match for the Pinots
84 Mount Mary Cabernets
How youthful is this! Excellent wine, this blew the sommelier, and a couple of us, away with its sheer quality, and itÂ’s still probably got another decade or more ahead of it
A great start to the cabernet flight. Mount Mary Cabernets have often been described as elegant. Interestingly, compared to a big, young Barossa Shiraz, young Mount Mary Cabs could be so described, but I reckon at 20 years of age, these wines more than hold their own, they simply donÂ’t fall apart. To the contrary, they seem to develop, holding onto their fruit so remarkably well. This wine was great. 19
87 Mount Mary Cabernets
This was included to compare so called poor vintages to better vintages. I think what was proven was the consistency of the line, certainly not as good as the 84 or 94, it nonetheless held up beautifully and was still a joy to drink, which a couple of us did late in the afternoon after having discovered there was still half a bottle left on the shelf
18.0
88 Mount Mary Cabernets
It was at about this stage that I was unfortunately distracted by a work commitment and my recollection of this wine and the next are a little ‘fuzzy’. Another very good wine, but not as good as either the 84 or 94 which surprised me as I was expecting it to be one of the best. Nonetheless a great wine. 18
91 Mount Mary Cabernets
This is terrible, but I canÂ’t really recall much about this wine, too much of a good thing perhaps? IÂ’d love to rate it, but in fairness wonÂ’t given I canÂ’t remember much about it.
94 Quintet
This was without doubt my favourite Cab. Glorious. It had it all, great aromas, brilliant fruit and exceptional length. My words will never do this wine justice, it was fantastic. The nose on this was just so good, and that was merely the beginning, itÂ’s full of flavour and finishes superbly. If you have any, try one, if you only have one try it, then buy another! 19.5
The cabs were matched with a lamb dish which whilst fine, didnÂ’t quite match the quality of the first two dishes.
All up a pretty good lunch really