TN: Blacktongues 2/3/05 - 2002 Barossa Cabernets

[n4sir]

You've seen Mark's take on the wines last week, now my 2c worth from the same tasting.

This was a much anticipated tasting for the Blacktongues, and the line-up didn’t disappoint. A couple of the panel were very surprised at how different the wines were considering they were all from the same region and vintage, and the votes were not surprisingly widespread, reflecting preferences for the different styles as opposed to faulting the wines. As a result you’ll notice some differences between Mark’s impressions and mine.


2002 Turkey Flat Cabernet Sauvignon $28.50 CD: Inky red colour with a hint of purple. A very earthy and slightly perfumed nose at first of chalk, mint, capsicum, and then turns rather ripe featuring raisins. The palate is powerful and elemental opening with stewed blackberry/red berry fruit, then black olives, finishing with grainy tannins and a hint of chocolate on the aftertaste. I got the feeling this needed a lot more time to show its best.

My ranking: =6th place
BTs: 0 most, 3 second, 2 least



2002 Kaesler Cabernet Sauvignon $25: Inky red/purple colour with a glowing purple hue. A very ripe and porty nose with varnish, raisins, paint and earth. The palate opens with a soft entry and ripe fruit, again with those raisin and varnish characters and hot alcohol. I found this too hot and extracted for my liking.

My Ranking: 9th place
BTs: 1 most preferred, 1 second, 1 least



2002 Rockford Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon $35: Dark to inky red/purple. Like the Kaesler the nose was very ripe at first with raisin and paint characters, the stewed blackberry fruit with hints of soap, then some capsicum. The palate likewise is ripe and raisiny at first with some heat, before finishing with green tannins. I was one Panelist who was surprised this bottle was nowhere near as good as in previous blind tastings.

My ranking: 10th place
BTs: 1 most, 2 second, 4 least



2002 Villa Tinto Cabernet Sauvignon $20: Inky purple/red colour. A very green nose of capsicum, flint, chalk, and some pepper with breathing. The balanced, mid-weight palate continues those green capsicum, mint and flint characters, finishing warm with a hint of chocolate.

My ranking: =6th place
BTs: 0 most, 4 second, 0 least



2002 Saltram Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon $22: Inky purple/red colour with an impressive glowing purple rim. Impressive oak driven nose of crushed ants, earth, vanilla, mint and saturated plum. The palate is complex, powerful and showy; a soft entry leads to a powerful concoction of vanilla, chocolate, olives and VA, with substantial tannins and oak and some heat, finishing with smoke, olives and chocolate. The obvious American oak polarized opinions, but on this form it’s easy to see how it would appeal to show Judges.

My ranking: 2nd place
BTs: 3 most, 1 second, 1 least




2002 Glaymond Wines Cabernet Sauvignon $30: Inky purple/red colour. The nose was very similar to the Villa Tinto at first, with capsicum, flint and chalk characters, before becoming quite perfumed with earthy deodorant/potpourri scents. The palate is deep and sweet, with milk chocolate/blackcurrant fruit, some heat, and massive slightly green tannins providing a long finish. Great cellaring potential.

My ranking: 5th place
BTs: 1 most, 3 second, 1 least



2002 Ross Estate Cabernet Sauvignon $25: Inky red/purple colour. Gorgeous, rich dark chocolate nose shot with spice, earth, tar, fireplace, raisin/prune and licorice. The mid-weight palate likewise is very ripe but suprisingly supple and persistent; a deep, dark chocolate entry, sweet, ripe blackberry fruit, and soft, grainy tannins finishing long and smoky. While this was ripe and oaky, there was no alcohol heat and the resulting wine was very regional, if not quite varietal in nature – great drinking now with a rich casserole or Osso Buco.

My ranking: 1st place
BTs: 1 most, 3 second, 1 least



2002 Charles Melton Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon $35: Dark to inky red colour. A sweet, ripe and slightly porty nose, with chocolate, roast coffee and earth/barnyard. The palate opens quite earthy and spicy, with coffee, olive, and chocolate on the aftertaste – I found many similarities with the Ross Estate, but this was a tad hotter, shorter and less sweet in direct comparison. I still thought it was excellent in it’s own right and will be better with a bit of time to round off those rough edges; overall it was the WOTN for the panel.

My ranking: 3rd place
BTs: 3 most, 3 second, 0 least



2002 Greenock Creek Cabernet Sauvignon $43: Dark to inky red colour with a hint of purple on the rim. A bizarre, tangy nose of over-ripe oranges and varnish, rather like citrus-based furniture polish, with hints of capsicum and VA. The palate flavours are just as ripe and exotic as the nose, but the structure is impressively big and elemental with great power & length. I really didn’t know quite what to make of this one.

My ranking: =6th place
BTs: 0 most, 4 second, 3 least



2002 Kabminye HWG Cabernet Sauvignon $35: Dark to inky red/purple colour. The nose was a little closed at first, before settling into an elegant mix of mint, earth, chocolate, deodorant/potpourri and licorice. The palate like the nose is rather closed at first with a bare hint of chocolate, then opens up with some mint and olive, finishing long and smoky. The structure like the Greenock Creek feels impressive, with ripe, grainy tannins and a touch of alcohol heat – another wine with good cellaring prospects, and voted second best overall by the panel.

My ranking: 4th place
BTs: 3 most, 2 second, 0 least




Cheers
Ian

[Maximus]

Impressive oak driven nose of crushed ants, earth, vanilla, mint and saturated plum.

Crushed ants Ian???

[Granger]

cRUSHED aNTS = Folic Acid. A distinctive characteristic of a Grange.

[Maximus]

cRUSHED aNTS = Folic Acid. A distinctive characteristic of a Grange.

I stand corrected, although I've never crushed ants and smelt them. Memories of a misspent youth perhaps?

[707]

It just shows how we all have different tastes. Seven out of ten wines got at least one Least Preferred vote but they all got Best or Next Best votes as well. This is to be expected as the wines in the lineup are hand picked for their quality, it's not as if a Blacktongues lineup contains lesser rated wines just to give something to vote as our Least Preferred.

This tasting showed a liking and dislike of the same characteristic by different tasters, eucalypt/mint in the Turkey Flat, overripeness in the Ross Estate, oakiness in the Mamre Brook.

I'll repeat what I said in Mark's write up of this tasting -

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. Both of these wines drink well now but will be even greater with cellar time.

[n4sir]

cRUSHED aNTS = Folic Acid. A distinctive characteristic of a Grange.

You're pretty close - it's Formic acid, and as TORB will attest it is very characteristic of Grange.

I was the only one of the panel to pick this up - everyone else described it as vanillan or overblown American oak. Very showy - not surprising that it took out a trophy on this form.

Cheers
Ian

[n4sir]

I stand corrected, although I've never crushed ants and smelt them. Memories of a misspent youth perhaps?
_________________
Max

Yes some pleasant sadistic memories of childhood indeed. We had quite a lot of black ants around the place, and the formic acid was the classic smell omitted by them when they were distressed or when I crushed the little buggers.

It was also fun to fry them under a magnifying glass in the hot sun, and listen to them explode under the heat with the foul stench of black smoke fuming from their incinerated bodies.

Cheers
Ian

[Psychiatrist]

You're a sick man Ian !

[Guest]

Jugdging fr this exercise, with none Cabernet really impressed...if I'm the grower, I'll graft all the Cabernet rootstock with the best Shiraz clones.

I support the AOC Barossa.
http://www.harpers-wine.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=1731

[Maximus]

Jugdging fr this exercise, with none Cabernet really impressed...if I'm the grower, I'll graft all the Cabernet rootstock with the best Shiraz clones.

I support the AOC Barossa.
http://www.harpers-wine.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=1731

Interesting article guest. I'm not sure I support the whole idea with fresh exuberance, given the disastrous political problems the French have encountered. Banning a variety from a certain region doesn't sound very Australian to me either.

However, I was fond of the last sentence in the article. A Torbreck Les Amis Imperial fetching $70,000 at a charity auction is interesting news indeed. I wonder who Torbreck knocked off the top? Surely something that said Grange...

[707]

Think the points been missed, most of the wines at this tasting impressed, it was just that none of them stood head and shoulders above the rest.

Take it from me, the Glaymond Cabernet and Charles Melton Cabernet are terrific wines by any standard and have both found a welcome home in my cellar.

There is a place for Barossa Cabernet on the stength of this tasting, it's just that it may be more variable than the Shiraz.

[707]

Just bringing this onto todays page