TN: Catching up - new releases, dead wines...
Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 9:15 am
Just catching up on a few notes from recent weeks...
The 1999 Leo Buring Special Reserve Riesling (Clare), part of the stash of apparent Leonays-in-waiting when the Southcorp-Rosemount fiasco lifted off the ground (much like the Hindenburg), is growing a little darker now - perhaps mid-straw covers it. That primary zest of fruit is gone, but true secondary flavours are some way off. There's some petroleum-like development, together with some broadening of the acid, but the palate is quite fresh still, if a little heavy. Lemon and a little honey are the predominant flavours. Plenty of time left - not sure that it'll ever be a great wine.
My remaining bottle of 1997Alfieri I Fuedi de Romans (Isonzo del Friuli) was a pleasure to drink, and a terrific bargain at $21 last year. Slightly earthy, somewhat dry and peppery, the fruits seem all toward the blacker end of the spectrum. Medium bodied, the light dusty tannins balance beautifully the ripe, slightly developed fruits (12.5%). Super length for a wine of this price, and attractively devoid of simple sweetness. The best of my research suggests this wine is largely Merlot, which I would never have guessed.
2002 Shadowfax Chardonnay is cobbled together with fruit mostly from Victoria, with a one third Adelaide Hills contribution. Mid-straw in colour, the primary aromas are of nuts, grapefruit, stones and some fine French oak. There's good palate coverage, though the remains oak is in the foreground, despite its quality. With fine acid and a moderately long finish, this is a very good modern chardonnay which will benefit from at least a couple of years in the cellar.
2002 Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon (Barossa)
Goodness! Very dark, this fairly leaps out of the glass with warm climate chocolate/coffee/blackberry aromas. It's powerfully fruity on the palate, verging on sweet, but only repeated mouthfuls show any evidence of much in the way of tannin. I would call this a fruit bomb - it's very attractive to drink now, but I'd be dubious about cellaring it for very long, as I think it lacks much in the way of structure. Ripe, warm, cuddly, but don't push your luck!
Also, the1998 Gauthier Brut (Champagne), imported by a Sydney retailer, has some quite developed aromatics - biscuity notes, with nuts and a little earthiness. Semms largely chardonnay-dominant, though. Fine bead, lovely mouthfeel and respectible length.
And at a friend's, we exhumed some ancient bottles from highly unsatisfactory passive storage. Opened in the interests of science, just to see how bad they were, they didn't disappoint. With all levels at mid-shoulder, and some evidence of cork weeping, I concluded the 1975 Seaview Cabernet-Shiraz 'Claret' would be the most palatable and opened it first. Not really drinkable, this was a dark tawny colour, and showed plenty of fierce volatility on the nose. Toxic flavours on the palate, with no real resemblance of tannin or fruit, this was best spat out as soon as possible. Still it was better than 1970 Tyrrells Vat 60 Dry Red (Hunter). Damage precluded the label information being readable - I'll assume shiraz. In any event, it was fiercely astringent - perhaps it had absorbed whatever tannins the Seaview once had! Too rotten to drink. Which put it in fine company with the 1974 Yalumba FDR 1A Claret (Barossa), which, surprisingly revealed on the front label just how bad the 74 vintage was for South Australia, but nevertheless proclaimed this wine's winning of the Stoddart Trophy in 1975. The colour of used motor oil, this was all ethyl acetate on the nose. I tasted a mouthful, but spat at once. Vile. In view of all this, we've saved the high-shoulder 65 St Henri for another time...
My bad news is that Internet Nazification at work will likely see me posting here less often - but I'll try and keep up in the evenings...
Cheers,
Graeme
The 1999 Leo Buring Special Reserve Riesling (Clare), part of the stash of apparent Leonays-in-waiting when the Southcorp-Rosemount fiasco lifted off the ground (much like the Hindenburg), is growing a little darker now - perhaps mid-straw covers it. That primary zest of fruit is gone, but true secondary flavours are some way off. There's some petroleum-like development, together with some broadening of the acid, but the palate is quite fresh still, if a little heavy. Lemon and a little honey are the predominant flavours. Plenty of time left - not sure that it'll ever be a great wine.
My remaining bottle of 1997Alfieri I Fuedi de Romans (Isonzo del Friuli) was a pleasure to drink, and a terrific bargain at $21 last year. Slightly earthy, somewhat dry and peppery, the fruits seem all toward the blacker end of the spectrum. Medium bodied, the light dusty tannins balance beautifully the ripe, slightly developed fruits (12.5%). Super length for a wine of this price, and attractively devoid of simple sweetness. The best of my research suggests this wine is largely Merlot, which I would never have guessed.
2002 Shadowfax Chardonnay is cobbled together with fruit mostly from Victoria, with a one third Adelaide Hills contribution. Mid-straw in colour, the primary aromas are of nuts, grapefruit, stones and some fine French oak. There's good palate coverage, though the remains oak is in the foreground, despite its quality. With fine acid and a moderately long finish, this is a very good modern chardonnay which will benefit from at least a couple of years in the cellar.
2002 Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon (Barossa)
Goodness! Very dark, this fairly leaps out of the glass with warm climate chocolate/coffee/blackberry aromas. It's powerfully fruity on the palate, verging on sweet, but only repeated mouthfuls show any evidence of much in the way of tannin. I would call this a fruit bomb - it's very attractive to drink now, but I'd be dubious about cellaring it for very long, as I think it lacks much in the way of structure. Ripe, warm, cuddly, but don't push your luck!
Also, the1998 Gauthier Brut (Champagne), imported by a Sydney retailer, has some quite developed aromatics - biscuity notes, with nuts and a little earthiness. Semms largely chardonnay-dominant, though. Fine bead, lovely mouthfeel and respectible length.
And at a friend's, we exhumed some ancient bottles from highly unsatisfactory passive storage. Opened in the interests of science, just to see how bad they were, they didn't disappoint. With all levels at mid-shoulder, and some evidence of cork weeping, I concluded the 1975 Seaview Cabernet-Shiraz 'Claret' would be the most palatable and opened it first. Not really drinkable, this was a dark tawny colour, and showed plenty of fierce volatility on the nose. Toxic flavours on the palate, with no real resemblance of tannin or fruit, this was best spat out as soon as possible. Still it was better than 1970 Tyrrells Vat 60 Dry Red (Hunter). Damage precluded the label information being readable - I'll assume shiraz. In any event, it was fiercely astringent - perhaps it had absorbed whatever tannins the Seaview once had! Too rotten to drink. Which put it in fine company with the 1974 Yalumba FDR 1A Claret (Barossa), which, surprisingly revealed on the front label just how bad the 74 vintage was for South Australia, but nevertheless proclaimed this wine's winning of the Stoddart Trophy in 1975. The colour of used motor oil, this was all ethyl acetate on the nose. I tasted a mouthful, but spat at once. Vile. In view of all this, we've saved the high-shoulder 65 St Henri for another time...
My bad news is that Internet Nazification at work will likely see me posting here less often - but I'll try and keep up in the evenings...
Cheers,
Graeme