GrandCru Tasting Notes

[PaulSheldon]

Just a few notes/views from last night's Grand Cru tasting in Perth. Format was 16 wines in 4 flights of 4, tasted blind but then revealed at the end of each flight. Dinner half way through with a dinner wine.

The varietals marked on the notes are what I thought they were (part of the game on the night, 2 cabs 2 shiraz per flight), a question mark means I wasn't sure, no question mark means I was positive. As you can see, its a good job I'm not a betting man...

1. Dark red/purple, fresh black berry fruit, earthy/spicy nose. Good length. Shiraz? VG (2nd in flight)

2. Purple, touch green but not unpleasant, sweetish fruit, menthol. Medium length.
Cab Merlot? VG- (3rd in flight)

3. Deep red/purple, very green nose, spices and herbs, slight hole in mid-palatte. Cab. G+ (4th in flight)

4. Deep red/purple, sweet black fruit, quite lush, palate of coffee, choc, good finish, very smooth, classy, a definite cut above the others. Shiraz. VG+ (1st in flight)

Wines revealed:
1. 2002 Penfolds Thomas Hyland Cabernet
2. 2003 St Hallet Faith Shiraz
3. 2002 Plantagenet Cabernet
4. 2002 Taylors Jaraman Shiraz

5. Purple/red, menthol, floral, plummy, nice nose. Good finish, lots of fruit, quite tannic. Cab? VG (3rd in flight)

6. Purple, red berries and plum. Palate of sweet plums, smooth but unexciting. Shiraz? G (4th in flight)

7. Purple. Restrained, black berries. Palate of blackberry, blackcurrent, smooth tannin, very good finish, classy. Cab. VG+ (1st in flight)

8. Dark red, sweet red berries, mocha. Great length, more sweet red berries, good tannins, good structure. Shiraz. VG+ (2nd in flight)

Wines revealed:

5. 2000 Yalumba The Menzies Cabernet
6. 2003 Sandalford Cabernet
7. 2003 Chalambar Shiraz
8. 2002 Kirribill Clare Valley Shiraz

Dinner of lasagna and salad, wine dinner (no notes but not overly impressed with it) was the 1997 Amberley Cabernet.

9. Dark red, tight nose, sweet plum. Powerful palate, lots of black fruits, long finish, smooth integrated tannins, yum. Shiraz? E+ (1st in flight)

10. Deep purple, sweet cherries. Smooth, good finish, plums and cherries. Shiraz? VG+ (3rd in flight)

11. Dark purple, blackberry, blackcurrent. Palate much the same, powerful, tannic with a very long finish, good stuff. Cab. E (2nd in flight)

12. Dark red, dusty. Blackberry, plum spice, earthy. Long finish. Cab. VG+ (4th in flight)

Wines revealed:

9. 2001 Voyager Cab Merlot
10. 2003 St Hallet Blackwell Shiraz
11. 2003 Taltarni Heathcote Shiraz
12. 1999 Gladstones Cabernet

The final flight we now knew contained the following wines:

1995 Penfolds Grange
2002 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet
1999 Rockford Basket Press
2002 Cullen Cab Merlot

Rather than just trying to pick the variety we tried to pick the wine...

13. Black red. Tight, brooding nose, touch of greeness, menthol. Massive palate, very rich mouthfeel almost creamy, huge tannins, very long finish. Bin 707. O but way too young. (2nd in flight) Was the Bin 707.

14. Purple red, noticeably lighter bodied than the rest. Ultra complex nose, earth, touch of rubber (which blew off), spices, herbs. Palate was smooth and sweet, integrated tannins, long length. Cullen? E. (4th in flight) would have done better but palate didn't match up to the nose. Turned out to be the Rockford.

15. Forgot notes on this one it was so good! All I had was purple colour, rating O, thought it was the Rockford? (1st in flight, wine of the night). Turned out to be the Cullen.

16. Dark red/brown. Rich sweet plum on the nose. Smooth palate, sweetish fruit, plums and cherries, longish finish with integrated tannins. Obviously the Grange, partly due to age compared to the others, partly due to it being a classic Grange style. E. (3rd in flight).

Overall an excellent evening. The Grange didn't show as well as I expected, about 1/4 of the group picked it as their favourite.

For me, my top 5 were:

1. Cullen
2. Bin 707
3. Rockford
4. Voyager
5. Grange

QPR picks were:

1. Seppelt Chalambar ($20)
2. Taylors Jaraman ($20)
3. Kirrihill ($17)

[bacchaebabe]

Very interesting tasting and notes. From the title I was expecting some french wines though.

Your'e a brave man to put out all your guesses although I often have problems picking shiraz form cabs blind. It's not easy at all and from some of your notes, I probably would have guessed the same way.

Sound like a good night.

[PaulSheldon]

Yes I can understand the confusion, Grand Cru is actually the cellar name for the premium cellar at Liquor Barons in Mt Lawley. Not a drop of French wine in sight on the night as it was an Australian Masterclass, or so they said.