The Auswine Forum

...did anyone attend today's Coonawarra Wine Tasting at the Stamford Plaza, Brisbane?

any impressions please?

thank you

ok, I know its starts at 5:30pm but I just wanted to post my question early

http://www.coonawarra.org/events/index.html

Cheers,
Vickie

Wow Vickie, you're quick off the mark!

I attended the public tasting which started at 5.30, there were apparently invitation only functions earlier in the day. A good tasting, with almost everyone showing their premium labels.

I ignored the whites completely. As a whole the 01 reds showed as ripe and full, the 00's and earlier were more elegant as a group. A whirlwind tour of my picks (not necessarily in order):

00 Balnaves Tally, big and brooding, lock away for some time
00 Parker First Growth, very coonawarra. tightly knit, should reward cellaring
00 Jamesons Run Reserve, acid a little disjointed for the moment but very good indeed. Aproachable but should keep well I think
99 Penley Reserve. bit of EA on the nose. integrating nicely, more elegant than most on the night
00 Zema Family Selection. Coffee and Cassis. Rich and ripe.
00 Parker Merlot, dusty perfumed violets, fleshy and supple. Very good.
01 Parker CS cassis eucalypt spice. approachable now, keep for 5 yrs
01 Majella CS also approachable now, keep longer
00 Balnaves CS nice structure but still closed. Put away for 5 yrs and then retry.
01 Highbank Blend, much more elegant than most 01's, very subtle and complex.

Other comments:

The Jamesons Run Red Terra Cab as also very good as a new release.
Lindemans were showing the 98 St George - gotta ask why, wheres the 99? Having said that, this has a long, long way to go.
The 98 John Riddoch was on show (where's the 99?), and is locked up tight. This has to be a hard wine to buy next to others at the same price, as I cant see it yielding inside 10 years.
The 01 Majella Shiraz showed badly, sweet coconut vanilla oak & not much else, and the 00 Malleea also showed surprisingly poorly. Given good showings on previous occasions, I'm puzzled by this.

A lot of the 01's seem to be showing well early, but I'm wondering how long lived these will be. Time will tell I guess. Ric has aired his concern over longevity of the 01's out of Barossa and McLaren Vale and I've heard others share this concern. My feeling is the Coonawarras wont fall in a heap, but on the whole they will drink earlier rather than later.

going to sleep now.

Cheers

Andrew

Wizz wrote:A lot of the 01's seem to be showing well early, but I'm wondering how long lived these will be. Time will tell I guess. Ric has aired his concern over longevity of the 01's out of Barossa and McLaren Vale and I've heard others share this concern. My feeling is the Coonawarras wont fall in a heap, but on the whole they will drink earlier rather than later.

Andrew,

Good tasting notes for a quick event. To put the above in perspective, I have just had a look at the RB Data Base and it shows the following:-

Bottles of 2001 - 188
Bottles of 2000 - 146 Both of these years are the mainly the likes regular buys like Noons, Kays, Petaluma, Wendouree, Veritas etc.
Bottles of 1999 - 331
Bottles of 1998 - (You dont want to know but its a lot)
Bottles of 1997 - 191 - some of which has already gone to auction.

So from this you can see I have put my money where my behind the better years.

TORB wrote:

So from this you can see I have put my money where my behind the better years.

Thanks Ric. Erm, where are you putting your behind?

Wizz wrote:Thanks Ric. Erm, where are you putting your behind?

In a chair where it belongs, I am not at my most accurate at 5.02 am.

Wizz,

I was told there are no John Riddoch's until the 2002 vintage by a friend in Southcorp. As for the 1999 St George, there was (apparently) only 300 cases made and it has sold out quickly. Having tried it, I would thank my lucky stars they have the 1998 on at the tasting ! It was quite disappointing.

Mike Hawkins wrote:Wizz,

I was told there are no John Riddoch's until the 2002 vintage by a friend in Southcorp.

Mike,

I guess they may have decided to decommission it but I tried the 99 when I was at CD last May. In terms of quality and style the 99 was so close to the 98 it was not funny, I had difficult telling them apart so I don't know what gives because it doesn't make sense to ditch it when it was so good.

Wizz wrote:
going to sleep now.

Hi Andrew,

Many thanks for posting a detailed update before heading off to bed.

Cheers,
Vickie

The SouthCorp rep that visits my work said that as there was no Riddoch or Michael bottled the Coonawarra Shiraz and Cabernet scored much of the premium fruit normally reserved for those wines..the 2001's in both of those cheaper wines should show a decent lift in value for money..but we are still on the 99's at work atm.

" I am not at my most accurate at 5.02 am."
I say Ric, when are you at you most accurate? I have yet to see it!
MM.

Muscat Mike wrote:I say Ric, when are you at you most accurate? I have yet to see it!
MM.

Mike,

The answer is simple! When Marion or Brian proof reads my work.

Just a quick one. It seems that Zema is making more and more of the Family Selection Reserve wines.

Do you think it has had a detrimental effect on the qulaity of the standard releases?

cheers
anthony