The Auswine Forum

Finally I made the shortlist to this esteemed group who meet on a regular basis and taste their way blind through various wines all revolving around a theme. Tonights theme was 2002 Barossa Cabernet.

10 tasting glasses, each with a 40 ml pour, served blind, an hour to taste through them making notes and at the end of the hour everyone (14 persons tonight) is asked to vote on thier favourite, least favourite and two others that would come in at equal second place.

I was suprised at how quiet the group was, with very little discussion/comments about the wines until the hour was up, although there was Wikos joke which I can't repeat here in mixed company

1. 2002 Turkey Flat Cabernet
A nice nose of sweet coffee, some capsicum and dusty blackberry. The palate was very nice with blackfruits, some toffee but with a slight greeness on the back palate. Good persistence and nice complexity.
(0/14 best, 2/14 Least, 3/14 - Equal second/Third)

2. 2002 Kaesler Cabernet
A milk chocolate nose with sweet blackberrys on the attack, finishing a little short and perhaps a bit simple for my liking, although still a nice wine.
(1/14 best, 1/14 Least, 1/14 - Equal second/Third)

3. 2002 Rockford Rifle Range
The nose was wound a bit tight with blackfruits/licorice flavours and a hint of greeness on the back palate. One of the controversial wines of the evening, I was quite suprised to hear this was the rifle range considering all the great things I have heard about it, as were others around the table who had voted this wine one of thier favourites at a previous tasting.
(1/14 best, 4/14 Least, 2/14 - Equal second/Third)

4. 2002 Villa Tinto
Nice intense licorice/chocolate fruit with some plum and berry characteristics, good persistence and tannins. Located next to Rockfords, this was a nice little suprise from a small producer.
(0/14 best, 0/14 Least, 4/14 - Equal second/Third)

5. 2002 Mamre Brook Cabernet
An outstanding nose that fairly jumped at you from the glass, blackberry liquer and sweet milk chocolate with nuances of malty oak. A plush palate of sweet, pure blackberries and nicely rounded tannins.
(3/14 best, 1/14 Least, 1/14 - Equal second/Third)

6. 2002 Glaymond Cabernet
This was one my favourites for the evening. An intense, savoury nose of roasted meat, nuts,fragrant violets and cassis. A gorgeous, silky palate of integrated tannins wound around a core of finely knit blackcurrant, licorice and smoke with great mouthweight, balance and a finish that lingered the longest of any of the wines.
(1/14 best, 1/14 Least, 3/14 - Equal second/Third)

7. 2002 Ross Estate Cabernet
Chocolate, licorice and some berry fruit aromas with a palate of milk chocolate, concentrated and intense blackfruits, good mouthfeel and tannins but finishes a bit short.
(1/14 best, 1/14 Least, 3/14 - Equal second/Third)

8. 2002 Charles Melton Cabernet
A savory nose that I first thought may have been bandaid, but it blew away over the course of the evening and became an iodine and seaweed aroma with nice fruits and coffee. The palate was smooth and silky with layers of espresso coffee, intense fruits and some sweet toffee characteristics. Good persitence and balance.
(3/14 best, 0/14 Least, 3/14 - Equal second/Third)

9. 2002 Greenock Creek Cabernet
There was a hint of orange underlying a nose of ground coffee, earth and sweet, intense black fruits. A silky smooth palate, with plush, pure fruits and integrated tannins.
(0/14 best, 3/14 Least, 4/14 - Equal second/Third)

10. 2002 Kabiminye Cabernet
Sweet nose of mocha, earth and grilled nuts with a lovely intensely fruit driven palate with coffee and spices on a somewhat short finish.
(3/14 best, 0/14 Least, 2/14 - Equal second/Third)


A great tasting, thank you to the Blacktongues for the invite, I look forward to being asked again

Good to see you got your notes in first this time Mark!

For some reason it seemed to be a smaller group tonight than normal - there were a few last second absentees, and you were at the less talkative end of the table - then again the other end can drift on to anything but the wines!

My notes to come later on this week (when I get my act together).

Cheers
Ian

Ps. What were YOUR votes for.

One thing that is always interesting to see with the Black Tongues is many of the wines have, say 4 people, rating wine "x" in the top three spots and then there will be four people rating that same wine as last.

I don't have a black tongue but does a little soot count? Below are notes on two of the wines from our Barossa trip. I though both pretty good examples of CS. Now that I see the notes together, almost identical - that can't be right!!!

The Turkey Flat 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon was cherry red and had the unmistakable wintergreen mint aroma of a young Cabernet; no eucalyptus here. Medium weight and very well balanced it finished with a solid display of tannins. (2, 2, 4.1, 10.2 =18.3/20, 14.0% alcohol).

The Rockford 2002 Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon was cherry red with the wintergreen mint aroma of young Cabernet. Medium weight and well structured with clean acid on the finish. My notes say “beautiful CS character” and I bet I was trying to avoid being influenced by all that smoke! (2, 2, 4.1, 10.2 = 18.3/20).

The smoke comment refers to the fireplace in the Stonewall Cellar. My comments written on the eBlog were With John being a member of the Stonewallers we were ushered into the Stonewall Cellar to taste in relative seclusion away from the usual throng that gathers at Rockford. Well OK, there were just one or two other cars there when we pulled up. Everywhere you look at Rockford there are stone walls. Its all very quaint, and nowhere more so than the Stonewall Cellar. IÂ’m sure in winter the fireplace is a great attraction, but when was it last cleaned out? The whole room just reeks of smoke. The only way to avoid its influence was to stick your nose deep into your tasting glass. And leave it there!

Mike

KMP wrote:The smoke comment refers to the fireplace in the Stonewall Cellar. My comments written on the eBlog were With John being a member of the Stonewallers we were ushered into the Stonewall Cellar to taste in relative seclusion away from the usual throng that gathers at Rockford. Well OK, there were just one or two other cars there when we pulled up. Everywhere you look at Rockford there are stone walls. Its all very quaint, and nowhere more so than the Stonewall Cellar. IÂ’m sure in winter the fireplace is a great attraction, but when was it last cleaned out? The whole room just reeks of smoke. The only way to avoid its influence was to stick your nose deep into your tasting glass. And leave it there!

Mike

Ohhhh noooo....now youve done it...youve criticised the Stonewall Club, run for cover!!

markg wrote:6. 2002 Glaymond Cabernet
This was one my favourites for the evening. An intense, savoury nose of roasted meat, nuts,fragrant violets and cassis. A gorgeous, silky palate of integrated tannins wound around a core of finely knit blackcurrant, licorice and smoke with great mouthweight, balance and a finish that lingered the longest of any of the wines.
(1/14 best, 1/14 Least, 3/14 - Equal second/Third)



A great tasting, thank you to the Blacktounges for the invite, I look forward to being asked again

Hmm

Good isn't it!

Gavin Trott wrote:

markg wrote:6. 2002 Glaymond Cabernet
This was one my favourites for the evening. An intense, savoury nose of roasted meat, nuts,fragrant violets and cassis. A gorgeous, silky palate of integrated tannins wound around a core of finely knit blackcurrant, licorice and smoke with great mouthweight, balance and a finish that lingered the longest of any of the wines.
(1/14 best, 1/14 Least, 3/14 - Equal second/Third)



A great tasting, thank you to the Blacktounges for the invite, I look forward to being asked again

Hmm

Good isn't it!

Yes, it was my choice of best for the evening, with Mamre Brook and Greenock creek coming in Equal 2nd/3rd and the Rifle Range my least favourite.

If you want to get another invitation Mark, you'd do well to spell it correctly and as one word - Blacktongues!

Ric, you're correct, when you have a very even line up there's often several wines that some tasters have as their best and others their least preferred.

I've been looking forward to this tasting for some time and it didn't disappoint, here's a few brief thoughts on what I found.

Three wines I didn't really like in this line up. Turkey Flat has too much eucalypt in this vintage, Mamre Brook's oak stuck out and looked a bit clumsy in this company, Ross Estate was too ripe and jammy.

The surprise packet was Villa Tinto, very good wine and only around $20.

At the top end I had real trouble deciding early but after an hour a couple really stood out for me as class acts, Charles Melton and Glaymond. Both of these are high class wines by any measure and really show what Barossa can do with Cabernet in the better vintages.

In a bunch behind these were the Kaesler, Villa Tinto and Greenock Creek.

All of these wines will benefit from more bottle ageing, well worth adding to the cellar as I've done with several of these.

707 wrote:If you want to get another invitation Mark, you'd do well to spell it correctly and as one word - Blacktongues!

Uh, oh. Does this mean you are delaying the order for one of those fancy shirts for Mark?

Three wines I didn't really like in this line up. Turkey Flat has too much eucalypt in this vintage, Mamre Brook's oak stuck out and looked a bit clumsy in this company, Ross Estate was too ripe and jammy.

Steve, interested to see you think the Turkey Flat has eucalypt. I wonder if its also the greenness that Mark describes? Be interested to hear any other Blacktongues who found eucalyptus?

The presence of eucalyptus, especially in Cabernet, was a point of "discussion" during our recent Barossa trip. I did not find it in the Turkey Flat when we tasted it at the vineyard CD. I get a character I call wintergreen mint in some young Cabernets both in Oz and here in the USA. Its not eucalyptus, to me anyway. The biggest eucalyptus I got from any Cab was from The Willows, where it is completely obvious.

I am always telling my American friends "Go outside, rip a leaf off a tree, crush it between thumb and forefinger, smell it and then come back and tell me that what's in that glass is eucalyptus". What they usually confuse eucalyptus with is mint. But its not quite that simple as mint is one of the smells from gum trees just like lemon (citronella), etc. Let me blind you with science!

Within the Eucalypt family there may be up to forty different essential oils, each with its own distinctive perfume. Some species contain heavy concentrations of a single oil while others contain complex mixtures. Young leaves have the strongest concentration of oils but oil can be found in many parts of the Eucalypt trees. The familiar eucalyptus smell comes from Eucalyptol or more correctly Cineole. Pinene has the smell of turpentine. Piperitone is a combination of Thymol and Menthol and provides a peppermint aroma while Citronellal is lemon-scented. Geranyl Acetate and Eudesmol smell like roses. These are the most common essential oils but there are many others and they occur in various combinations. See here.

1,8-cineole, also called eucalyptol, is a major component of camphor-scented essential oils found in eucalyptus leaves, bay leaves, and other aromatic plant foliage. So did the Turkey Flat smell like camphor or bay leaves?

Piperitone would be very evident in Peppermint Gumtrees with the aroma being described as a Distinctive peppermint scent on a eucalyptus undertone. That's it! You've got to stop smelling that Peppermint gum tree and get yourself a real eucalypt!!

Mike

Do Villa Tinto make a Tinto Fino?

Tempranillo isn't unheard of in that part of the country and it could be good to cash in on the namesake...

Mike, I'm not sure we have Blacktongues shirts big enough to fit Mark! He's in the clear for another invitation as he edited the spelling!

Eucalypt/peppermint/spearmint/mint is an interesting character that tends to polarise tasters. When is it mint and when is it eucalypt? Sometimes I think they are just degrees of concentration but othe times mint/spearmint is definitely the aroma even at higher levels. Once that character reaches a certain threshold I find myself having trouble seeing anything else in the wine, a bit like overt oak which marred the Mamre Brook Cabernet this time whereas previous bottles I've enjoyed much more.

Several Blacktongues described it as eucalypt in the Turkey Flat and didn't like the level of concentration, it really was so like Willows. It suffered in this company too with several wines being rated excellent, it got relegated very quickly by those not enjoying the overt character.