Gotham Langhorne Creek Shiraz 2004?

[Jakob]

Has anybody tried this yet? I remember hearing that it was made by Troy Kalleske, so it can't be all bad Anybody?

[JohnP]

Had a quick taste a week or so ago - was not that impressed. Simple fruit flavours and too many oak tannins. Not something I would buy.

[707]

You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear so the saying goes.

The more wines I try the more it's driven home to me how important the viticulture is in making good wine. Good wine is made in the vineyard, in very simple terms the winemaker is there not to stuff up good fruit.

Troy may well have been the maker but if he was given a lot of sow's ears then what's in the bottle may not reflect his talents as a winemaker which is what John P seems to be saying.

I haven't seen the wine myself yet, what price point is it at?

[Latitude]

The wine was made by Troy Kalleske according to Heritage who were flogging it for well over $30 per bottle

Nice wine, not $35 worth but perhaps $20-25 worth

[lantana]

I had it recently and I agree that the Heritage price was a little over the top. However, it is a STAR at $20, which is retail in Sydney. Ideally buy a dozen put it in the cellar and watch, is my prediction. I loved it!
The fruit is amazingly deep, dense and layers and layers of spices.... cinamon, cloves, annise... I do not see the oak trannins at all... I would guess it has not seen much oak at all???
Confused over the sow's ear comment. Troy is a great winemaker and I think it has his fingerprint all over it. It is interesting that at $20 a wine could attract so much attention. I analysed this wine far more than I have any other $20 wine lately and cannot fault it. kalleske has released his new batch just recently and only his red quatter is anywhere near the price of Gotham.

[DaveL]

I *need* to find a bottle of this wine to drink before the new Batman movie is released.

[707]

Confused over the sow's ear comment. Troy is a great winemaker and I think it has his fingerprint all over it.

I was defending Troys winemaking capabilities if indeed the wine was as described by John P - "was not that impressed. Simple fruit flavours and too many oak tannins. Not something I would buy."

I've seen too many of Troy's wines to believe that if John P's comments are close to the mark then the fruit may not have been as good as it should have been.

[JohnP]

I had it recently and I agree that the Heritage price was a little over the top. However, it is a STAR at $20, which is retail in Sydney. Ideally buy a dozen put it in the cellar and watch, is my prediction. I loved it!
The fruit is amazingly deep, dense and layers and layers of spices.... cinamon, cloves, annise... I do not see the oak trannins at all... I would guess it has not seen much oak at all???
Confused over the sow's ear comment. Troy is a great winemaker and I think it has his fingerprint all over it. It is interesting that at $20 a wine could attract so much attention. I analysed this wine far more than I have any other $20 wine lately and cannot fault it. kalleske has released his new batch just recently and only his red quatter is anywhere near the price of Gotham.

Sounds like you tried a completely different wine!!
There were no layers of fruit in the bottle I tasted. It does not seem to be causing much of a stir up here as the the other 11 are still sitting in the shop. I have also tasted most of Troy's wines and would not have identified the bottle I tasted as being in the Kalleske mould - very far from it in fact. If the wine really is of such quality then I doubt it would have ended up with The Gotham Wine Company - the story sounds like it should be a wine just a step above a 'clean skin' as it was obviously surplus to requirements prior to Gotham picking it up.

Gotham says:
"There is a long story behind this wine and how it ended up under the Gotham label. Legend has it that this wine was earmarked for an Australian Wine Export brand and a premium one at that. We were astounded when they passed it up, since we thought it was the best material available from the 2004 vintage. The fruit was snapped up by Gotham immediately. The fermentation was completed and the wine spent about 8 months in a combination of different oak barrels."

"Legend has it..." - and this from the people who bought it!!!!!!