TN: Blacktongues More Funky Shiraz 27/7/05
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 8:39 pm
As usual all the following wines were tried blind, and after about an hour all participants voted for their most preferred, two next preferred and their least preferred drops.
I’ve included my own impressions and rankings, the group votes, and a group ranking based on most preferred votes counting for double, second and third one vote, and least preferred minus one vote.
The first thing I must mention that while these wines didn’t reek as badly as the “funky bunch” two months ago they were still difficult to assess, and I was quite happy to pour my leftovers down the sink. My top ranked wine was very much on the oaky side, and would have struggled to make a good impression in a top line up like the previous week.
2001 Tait Barossa Valley Basket Press Shiraz $33: Inky red/purple. A good start to the night with a complex nose of mint, tomato, some charred oak, cherry and some coffee. Unlike the nose the mid-weight palate was distinctly ripe while also retaining a touch of green, with spicy/smoky blackberry fruit, then some raisin, menthol, cough drops and cherries on the finish. This was up with my top wines all night and scored a minor placing, while it was on votes equal WOTN by the panel.
My ranking: 3rd place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 4 most, 4 second & third, 0 least
2002 Warrabilla Reserve Shiraz $25: Inky purple/red colour. The nose was quite stinky most of the tasting with muddy/diesel fumes and charry oak, with touches of ripe apricot with breathing. Likewise the palate wasn’t particularly appealing, with spicy/lean fruit and finishing with very sharp tannins. Sorry Smithy but I didn’t like this as much as the Shiraz Durif, although it did hide that 16% alcohol very well - maybe it needed a lot more breathing time to fully flower.
My ranking: 7th place
Panel ranking: =6th place
Votes: 0 most preferred, 4 second & third, 0 least
2002 Font Hill Silk Shiraz $30: Inky red/purple. An extremely sweet and slightly savoury nose, with cherry, some lanolin, dried herbs, paint, enamel and some green leaf characters. The palate was also extremely sweet at first, with raspberry/cherry fruit, and some mud chocolate, finishing long and soft. This was a lot better than at the “funky bunch” tasting a couple of months ago, but likewise started strongly and again began to drop off with breathing.
My ranking: 4th place
Panel ranking: 5th place
Votes: 2 most, 2 second & third, 0 least
2002 Maxwell Ellen Street McLaren Vale Shiraz $30: Dark to inky purple/red colour. Very stinky at first with muddy diesel fumes/charry oak at first with some underlying chocolate/coffee aromas, sweetening up with some tomato characters with breathing. The palate featured rich/spicy raspberry/blackberry fruit, but had very little complexity, and an average weight and finish. I’ve tried this a couple of times now, and it’s a bit of a disappointment compared to the Lime Cave Cabernet, which is excellent.
My ranking: 5th place
Panel ranking: 8th place
Votes: 1 most, 1 second & third, 2 least
2003 Tyrrells Vat 9 Hunter Valley Shiraz $30: Glowing dark to (almost) inky purple. A disgusting nose of roadkill, diesel fumes, over-charred oak and burnt rubber tyres that didn’t show any hint of improving. I hopefully thought the palate couldn’t be as bad – I was wrong, with all the disgusting characters above replicated with course, bitter tannins to match. At a previous BTs I ranked this wine very highly while the panel voted it their clear least preferred; that time my impressions were pretty close to Attila’s when he raved about the first bottle he tried. This bottle was nothing like that and I found it just as awful as the majority of the panel, in fact one of the worst wines I’ve tried this year.
My ranking: 10th place
Panel ranking: 10th place
Votes: 0 most, 0 second & third, 8 least
2003 Tyrrells Rufus Stone Heathcote Shiraz $26: Inky purple colour with a glowing hue. A fresh nose at first with soap/potpourri characters and ripe blackberry fruit, before some diesel and charred oak characters kicked in. Similarly the palate began with pure, ripe, spicy blackberry characters with a hint of mint, but lost its way with breathing as alcohol heat became quite noticeable.
My ranking: 6th place
Panel ranking: =6th place
Votes: 0 most, 4 second & third, 0 least
2003 Pondolowie Shiraz Viognier $30: Inky purple colour with a vivid glowing purple hue. This was a really weird one from the start, with overly sweet chocolate, ozone, paint, mothballs, pool chlorine, ozone and glacied cherries. The palate was just as contrived, with bright cherry and molasses characters and huge alcohol heat. Even allowing for it being a last second replacement for a corked wine, this probably would easily have been the least preferred if the Tyrrells Vat 9 wasn’t in the line up.
My ranking: 9th place
Panel ranking: 9th place
Votes: 0 most, 0 second and third, 4 least
2004 Smidge Wines Adamo Barossa Valley Shiraz $25: Inky purple/red colour. An extremely ripe and lifted nose with apricots/stewed blackberries, and some green/ozone characters with breathing. Like the nose the palate resembled the style of Shiraz Viognier blends that I despise, with ripe apricots on the entry, sweet cherry/stewed blackberry fruit, and an extremely dry, tannic finish. My voting was pretty close with the rest of the panel with the exception of this one, as I simply just don’t like this style of wine.
My ranking: 8th place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 2 most, 8 second & third, 0 least
2002 Dog Ridge DV7 McLaren Vale Shiraz $28: Dark to inky red colour. A sweet, earthy nose with coffee, chocolate, formic acid and vanilla characters suggesting this has had a fair amount of time in new oak. The palate again pretends to be a heavyweight contender, with a slow build up of spicy blackberry fruit with hints of VA, finishing slightly green with some chocolate and alcohol heat. In a group of ordinary wines it’s not so surprising to see me pick an oaky wine as most preferred, but it is unusual to see Steve pick it too – the odds of that happening are as slim as the Swans winning an AFL Premiership!
My ranking: 1st place
Panel ranking: 4th place
Votes: 2 most, 3 second & third, 0 least
2002 Morambro Padthaway Shiraz $22: Inky red/purple colour. An interesting nose of smoky bacon with hints of green/herbs and smoked anchovies that drew mixed comments by the panel. Those sweet smoky characters are on the palate too, which features tight, grainy tannins and a long smoky finish. This was pretty close to being my most preferred, and it seemed to have a lot more to give given its general tightness – possibly one to watch.
My ranking: 2nd place
Panel ranking: 3rd place
Votes: 4 most, 3 second & third, 0 least
Cheers
Ian
I’ve included my own impressions and rankings, the group votes, and a group ranking based on most preferred votes counting for double, second and third one vote, and least preferred minus one vote.
The first thing I must mention that while these wines didn’t reek as badly as the “funky bunch” two months ago they were still difficult to assess, and I was quite happy to pour my leftovers down the sink. My top ranked wine was very much on the oaky side, and would have struggled to make a good impression in a top line up like the previous week.
2001 Tait Barossa Valley Basket Press Shiraz $33: Inky red/purple. A good start to the night with a complex nose of mint, tomato, some charred oak, cherry and some coffee. Unlike the nose the mid-weight palate was distinctly ripe while also retaining a touch of green, with spicy/smoky blackberry fruit, then some raisin, menthol, cough drops and cherries on the finish. This was up with my top wines all night and scored a minor placing, while it was on votes equal WOTN by the panel.
My ranking: 3rd place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 4 most, 4 second & third, 0 least
2002 Warrabilla Reserve Shiraz $25: Inky purple/red colour. The nose was quite stinky most of the tasting with muddy/diesel fumes and charry oak, with touches of ripe apricot with breathing. Likewise the palate wasn’t particularly appealing, with spicy/lean fruit and finishing with very sharp tannins. Sorry Smithy but I didn’t like this as much as the Shiraz Durif, although it did hide that 16% alcohol very well - maybe it needed a lot more breathing time to fully flower.
My ranking: 7th place
Panel ranking: =6th place
Votes: 0 most preferred, 4 second & third, 0 least
2002 Font Hill Silk Shiraz $30: Inky red/purple. An extremely sweet and slightly savoury nose, with cherry, some lanolin, dried herbs, paint, enamel and some green leaf characters. The palate was also extremely sweet at first, with raspberry/cherry fruit, and some mud chocolate, finishing long and soft. This was a lot better than at the “funky bunch” tasting a couple of months ago, but likewise started strongly and again began to drop off with breathing.
My ranking: 4th place
Panel ranking: 5th place
Votes: 2 most, 2 second & third, 0 least
2002 Maxwell Ellen Street McLaren Vale Shiraz $30: Dark to inky purple/red colour. Very stinky at first with muddy diesel fumes/charry oak at first with some underlying chocolate/coffee aromas, sweetening up with some tomato characters with breathing. The palate featured rich/spicy raspberry/blackberry fruit, but had very little complexity, and an average weight and finish. I’ve tried this a couple of times now, and it’s a bit of a disappointment compared to the Lime Cave Cabernet, which is excellent.
My ranking: 5th place
Panel ranking: 8th place
Votes: 1 most, 1 second & third, 2 least
2003 Tyrrells Vat 9 Hunter Valley Shiraz $30: Glowing dark to (almost) inky purple. A disgusting nose of roadkill, diesel fumes, over-charred oak and burnt rubber tyres that didn’t show any hint of improving. I hopefully thought the palate couldn’t be as bad – I was wrong, with all the disgusting characters above replicated with course, bitter tannins to match. At a previous BTs I ranked this wine very highly while the panel voted it their clear least preferred; that time my impressions were pretty close to Attila’s when he raved about the first bottle he tried. This bottle was nothing like that and I found it just as awful as the majority of the panel, in fact one of the worst wines I’ve tried this year.
My ranking: 10th place
Panel ranking: 10th place
Votes: 0 most, 0 second & third, 8 least
2003 Tyrrells Rufus Stone Heathcote Shiraz $26: Inky purple colour with a glowing hue. A fresh nose at first with soap/potpourri characters and ripe blackberry fruit, before some diesel and charred oak characters kicked in. Similarly the palate began with pure, ripe, spicy blackberry characters with a hint of mint, but lost its way with breathing as alcohol heat became quite noticeable.
My ranking: 6th place
Panel ranking: =6th place
Votes: 0 most, 4 second & third, 0 least
2003 Pondolowie Shiraz Viognier $30: Inky purple colour with a vivid glowing purple hue. This was a really weird one from the start, with overly sweet chocolate, ozone, paint, mothballs, pool chlorine, ozone and glacied cherries. The palate was just as contrived, with bright cherry and molasses characters and huge alcohol heat. Even allowing for it being a last second replacement for a corked wine, this probably would easily have been the least preferred if the Tyrrells Vat 9 wasn’t in the line up.
My ranking: 9th place
Panel ranking: 9th place
Votes: 0 most, 0 second and third, 4 least
2004 Smidge Wines Adamo Barossa Valley Shiraz $25: Inky purple/red colour. An extremely ripe and lifted nose with apricots/stewed blackberries, and some green/ozone characters with breathing. Like the nose the palate resembled the style of Shiraz Viognier blends that I despise, with ripe apricots on the entry, sweet cherry/stewed blackberry fruit, and an extremely dry, tannic finish. My voting was pretty close with the rest of the panel with the exception of this one, as I simply just don’t like this style of wine.
My ranking: 8th place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 2 most, 8 second & third, 0 least
2002 Dog Ridge DV7 McLaren Vale Shiraz $28: Dark to inky red colour. A sweet, earthy nose with coffee, chocolate, formic acid and vanilla characters suggesting this has had a fair amount of time in new oak. The palate again pretends to be a heavyweight contender, with a slow build up of spicy blackberry fruit with hints of VA, finishing slightly green with some chocolate and alcohol heat. In a group of ordinary wines it’s not so surprising to see me pick an oaky wine as most preferred, but it is unusual to see Steve pick it too – the odds of that happening are as slim as the Swans winning an AFL Premiership!
My ranking: 1st place
Panel ranking: 4th place
Votes: 2 most, 3 second & third, 0 least
2002 Morambro Padthaway Shiraz $22: Inky red/purple colour. An interesting nose of smoky bacon with hints of green/herbs and smoked anchovies that drew mixed comments by the panel. Those sweet smoky characters are on the palate too, which features tight, grainy tannins and a long smoky finish. This was pretty close to being my most preferred, and it seemed to have a lot more to give given its general tightness – possibly one to watch.
My ranking: 2nd place
Panel ranking: 3rd place
Votes: 4 most, 3 second & third, 0 least
Cheers
Ian
