Oz Shiraz vs Napa Cabernet- Masterclass
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:34 pm
OZ Shiraz vs Napa Cabernet
Another great tasting held on the weekend, hosted by the two Chief Winemakers for Beringer Blass, Chris Hatcher (Aust), and Ed Sbragia (U.S.) I‘m not sure that the theme was intended to competitive, but in reality it was more of an opportunity to show what the company was doing with its best wines, which in this case are the Napa Valley Cabs and South Australian Shiraz.
I should preface this by saying that my experience with Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is very limited. Such wines get little exposure down under, as they are generally priced aggressively to start with, and once you add in exchange rates and transport they start to look very costly in comparison to the best of our offerings. Plus, no-one down here is championing them , so the public consciousness of their value and quality is very low. Nonetheless, I really looked to this tasting as an education, there were some solid wines on show on both sides of the fence so there was much to look forward to.
The tasting opened with Ed Sbragia showing that he would make an honorary Aussie quite easily with his adeptness at self deprecation, easily mixing in a touch of humour with some acute and knowledgeable assessments of the sub regional aspects inherent to the Napa. There were a lot of wines to get through, and nowhere near enough time( 1 hour) to take enough notes, but here is a brief run down.
One thing I would say is that there was a consistency in the wines in terms of style, all were way too young to drink and in general had bundles of tannin, in the main, well handled and purposeful. IÂ’m told that the wines sell for @$75 US, except the Private Reserve which is @$100 US. The real purpose was to show us the individual components for the Private Reserve, which is an impressive wine. I chose not to rate the Napa wines, as I didnÂ’t feel that I had enough knowledge of the style. The notes are a touch staccato, as I explained, trying to do justice to over a dozen wines in less than hour while attempting to take in a masterclass at the same time is hard work!
Beringer Spring Mountain Marston Cab Sav 2001
10 year old vineyard, grippy tannin, dark fruit(plum cherry), dense, powerful, uncompromising. Liquorice and black fruits.
Beringer St Helena Home Cab Sav 2001
Quite herbal, despite the deep colour, mint, sweet and ripe, fine grippy tannin. Liquorice
Beringer St. Helena Chabot Cab Sav 2001
The dark soil origins seem to come through, a black dense wine , quite pretty too, violets ; powerful.
Beringer Howell Mountain Rancho Del Oso Cab Sav 2001
Lovely wine, tannic, grippy, floral ,plums and blackcurrant. A colder sub region, above the fog layer, but more sunshine because of it. Chocolate notes evolving. My favourite of the single vineyard wines.
Beringer Howell Mountain Bancroft Cab cav 2001
Young exuberant tannins, herbal, menthol, ground spice, currants
Beringer Howell Mountain Steinhauer Ranch Cab Sav 2001
Very tannic with fleshy fruit. Powerful, multi directional tannins, concentrated, a long term wine.
Beringer Private Reserve Cab Sav 2001 [/b]
Youthful, with swathes of fine, firm, grippy tannins. This is no shrinking violet. Hints of liquorice accompanied by a wall of dense, dark fruits ( dark plum, dark cherry) and ground spice; a powerhouse cabernet sauvignon. An impressive wine, but a definite long term prospect. DonÂ’t buy unless you are willing to be patient.
Beringer Third Century Howell Mountain Cabernet Franc 2001
Vicious tannins, aggressive and powerful, will take a lot of taming.
OZ SHIRAZ- all wines from the Beringer stable.
Mt Ida Heathcote Shiraz 2002 93
Tannic, intense and ripe dry grown fruit, concentrated and rich in the full Heathcote mould, quite perfumed. Looking good, an impressive return to form.
Jamiesons Run Mc Shanes Block Shiraz 2002 89
Some herbal issues here, a touch of over cropping maybe ?, some greenness too. Struggled in this line up.
Ingoldby Golden Vine Reserve Shiraz 2002 93
Quite intense and concentrated, sweet fruit, spice and abundant tannin. Needs time, nice wine though.
Wolf Blass Platinum Shiraz 2002 96
A revelation to me. Close to my best Australian wine of the year so far. Gone are the overt, vanillan American oak overtones that have kept me away from Wolf Blass wines for years, replaced by fine grained French barrels and deliciously intense, floral Eden Valley fruit. Nothing like what I expected this to be. Concentrated but not cloying, powerful and long, this is a benchmark wine for Wolf Blass, destined to be seen as a classic for many years to come.
Saltram No 1 Shiraz 2002 94
Valley floor fruit, ton to the acre, butch, ripe, muscular, choc and liquorice. The intent is to show more of the individual vineyard notes, and moving all towards 100% French oak in this wine too. I like the intent, and the vision. Lots going on here, much to like.
Overall, there were some real high points. We didnÂ’t have time to compare and contrast the Oz vs US style, I think I would like to know just how much the Napa Cab style has changed over the last decade or so, no doubt IÂ’ll find out eventually. I really liked what I was hearing though from both guys, and especially Chris Hatcher in relation to his vision for the top end Beringer wines from Aust. The proof is in the pudding too, the Platinum Shiraz 2002 is a cracker, seriously priced , by the way , at $160. Many thank to the guys for a fine tasting.
Another great tasting held on the weekend, hosted by the two Chief Winemakers for Beringer Blass, Chris Hatcher (Aust), and Ed Sbragia (U.S.) I‘m not sure that the theme was intended to competitive, but in reality it was more of an opportunity to show what the company was doing with its best wines, which in this case are the Napa Valley Cabs and South Australian Shiraz.
I should preface this by saying that my experience with Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is very limited. Such wines get little exposure down under, as they are generally priced aggressively to start with, and once you add in exchange rates and transport they start to look very costly in comparison to the best of our offerings. Plus, no-one down here is championing them , so the public consciousness of their value and quality is very low. Nonetheless, I really looked to this tasting as an education, there were some solid wines on show on both sides of the fence so there was much to look forward to.
The tasting opened with Ed Sbragia showing that he would make an honorary Aussie quite easily with his adeptness at self deprecation, easily mixing in a touch of humour with some acute and knowledgeable assessments of the sub regional aspects inherent to the Napa. There were a lot of wines to get through, and nowhere near enough time( 1 hour) to take enough notes, but here is a brief run down.
One thing I would say is that there was a consistency in the wines in terms of style, all were way too young to drink and in general had bundles of tannin, in the main, well handled and purposeful. IÂ’m told that the wines sell for @$75 US, except the Private Reserve which is @$100 US. The real purpose was to show us the individual components for the Private Reserve, which is an impressive wine. I chose not to rate the Napa wines, as I didnÂ’t feel that I had enough knowledge of the style. The notes are a touch staccato, as I explained, trying to do justice to over a dozen wines in less than hour while attempting to take in a masterclass at the same time is hard work!
Beringer Spring Mountain Marston Cab Sav 2001
10 year old vineyard, grippy tannin, dark fruit(plum cherry), dense, powerful, uncompromising. Liquorice and black fruits.
Beringer St Helena Home Cab Sav 2001
Quite herbal, despite the deep colour, mint, sweet and ripe, fine grippy tannin. Liquorice
Beringer St. Helena Chabot Cab Sav 2001
The dark soil origins seem to come through, a black dense wine , quite pretty too, violets ; powerful.
Beringer Howell Mountain Rancho Del Oso Cab Sav 2001
Lovely wine, tannic, grippy, floral ,plums and blackcurrant. A colder sub region, above the fog layer, but more sunshine because of it. Chocolate notes evolving. My favourite of the single vineyard wines.
Beringer Howell Mountain Bancroft Cab cav 2001
Young exuberant tannins, herbal, menthol, ground spice, currants
Beringer Howell Mountain Steinhauer Ranch Cab Sav 2001
Very tannic with fleshy fruit. Powerful, multi directional tannins, concentrated, a long term wine.
Beringer Private Reserve Cab Sav 2001 [/b]
Youthful, with swathes of fine, firm, grippy tannins. This is no shrinking violet. Hints of liquorice accompanied by a wall of dense, dark fruits ( dark plum, dark cherry) and ground spice; a powerhouse cabernet sauvignon. An impressive wine, but a definite long term prospect. DonÂ’t buy unless you are willing to be patient.
Beringer Third Century Howell Mountain Cabernet Franc 2001
Vicious tannins, aggressive and powerful, will take a lot of taming.
OZ SHIRAZ- all wines from the Beringer stable.
Mt Ida Heathcote Shiraz 2002 93
Tannic, intense and ripe dry grown fruit, concentrated and rich in the full Heathcote mould, quite perfumed. Looking good, an impressive return to form.
Jamiesons Run Mc Shanes Block Shiraz 2002 89
Some herbal issues here, a touch of over cropping maybe ?, some greenness too. Struggled in this line up.
Ingoldby Golden Vine Reserve Shiraz 2002 93
Quite intense and concentrated, sweet fruit, spice and abundant tannin. Needs time, nice wine though.
Wolf Blass Platinum Shiraz 2002 96
A revelation to me. Close to my best Australian wine of the year so far. Gone are the overt, vanillan American oak overtones that have kept me away from Wolf Blass wines for years, replaced by fine grained French barrels and deliciously intense, floral Eden Valley fruit. Nothing like what I expected this to be. Concentrated but not cloying, powerful and long, this is a benchmark wine for Wolf Blass, destined to be seen as a classic for many years to come.
Saltram No 1 Shiraz 2002 94
Valley floor fruit, ton to the acre, butch, ripe, muscular, choc and liquorice. The intent is to show more of the individual vineyard notes, and moving all towards 100% French oak in this wine too. I like the intent, and the vision. Lots going on here, much to like.
Overall, there were some real high points. We didnÂ’t have time to compare and contrast the Oz vs US style, I think I would like to know just how much the Napa Cab style has changed over the last decade or so, no doubt IÂ’ll find out eventually. I really liked what I was hearing though from both guys, and especially Chris Hatcher in relation to his vision for the top end Beringer wines from Aust. The proof is in the pudding too, the Platinum Shiraz 2002 is a cracker, seriously priced , by the way , at $160. Many thank to the guys for a fine tasting.