The Auswine Forum

My notes are sparse so I'm looking forward to reading some of the opinions from other attendees. Here goes ...


Attendees: Mark AS (our fearless organiser), Mark D, Jennifer, Danny, Joseph, Shannon (who thoughtfully brought along 4 spare full bottle decanters in case we needed them), Kris, Brownyn (the new Brett police), Neville and myself.

The Wines: All 1999 vintage and Shiraz based unless stated otherwise.



Flight One : A couple of sparklings to kick the night off ...

Le Bernard Pitois Brut Reserve NV - A nice, fresh citrusy nose. Good length. Restrained toasty bread and yeasty characters. Nice, but not overly complex. 87/100

Rockford Black '99 Disgorgement - Cherries, plum and hints of tobacco on the nose. Quite balanced and shows some elegance on the palate. 88/100



Flight Two : The start of the main event ...

Turkey Flat - Closed for business on the nose initially which did open up slightly after some time to show some peppery oak. A bit thin and weak on the palate with some acid protruding on the front. Not a whole lot of interest, and for me, the weakest of this flight. 83/100

Burge Family Draycott - A bit of charred oak on the nose. Smooth palate lacking in complexity. Pulls up a touch short on the finish. 85/100

Greenock Creek Seven Acre - The most full-bodied of this flight. Liquorice and berries on the nose. Grippy tannins on the palate. Lovely long finish. Powerful but still has poise and balance, not over the top. Wine of the flight. 89/100

Henschke Mt Edelstone - This did stand out as the odd one out in this flight on the nose. I got a whiff of spearmint and menthol and yes there were some earthy, horsy, savoury aromas and flavours, but in this case I though they added rather than detracted from the wine. 87/100



Flight Three : A step sideways ...

Grant Burge Meschach - Concentrated blueberry jam on the nose. Good length and balance on the palate. 87/100

Viking Grand - Vegetable nose. Clunky, disjointed palate with some sharpness on the front palate and oak and over-ripe fruit sticking out. Thanks but no thanks. 82/100

Peter Lehmann Stonewell - Lots of chocolaty oak on the nose along with ripe fruit. The oak does receed a little on the palate though to show some better balance but still fails to impress. 85/100

Langmeil The Freedom - This may sound strange but I found vanilla soap the predominant character on the nose. Powerful fresh, ripe fruit. Good length. Nice but needs time to come together fully. 87/100



Flight Four : and now a step up ...

Rockford Basket Press - A bit muted on the nose but much nicer on the palate of ripe berry fruit with good balanced oak providing structure. Smooth finish and good length. 89/100

Yalumba Octavius - I did not at all like the 1990 of this that I had recently due to the over the top oak. However I found the '99 to be more restrained. I did find it to be a bit too tannic for my liking at this stage. 87/100

Torbreck The Factor - Alright, now we are getting serious. The best nose on any wine this evening with a beautiful floral lift that made me mistake that this has the slightest dash of viognier in it (apparently not). Powerful but totally balanced palate. Wonderful length. Super stuff. 94/100



Flight Five : The big guns ...

Veritas Hanisch - I decided to save this for the last flight due to its power but it ended up being out classed. Deepest colour wine that I noticed tonight. Powerful, concentrated, still youthful fruit ... but too simple at this level. 88/100

Greenock Creek Roennfeldt Road - Supremely powerful nose and palate. A touch spirity and a touch oaky but otherwise I enjoyed drinking this, but didn't feel challenged by it. 91/100

Penfolds Grange - Closed, closed, closed initially. Was allowed to sit in the glass for a few hours and started to open a little and show a bit more of that typical Grange nose. Elegant, smooth, balanced and structurally complete palate with lovely mouth-feel. Really shows that elusive spark of something special over the other wines so far. In my notes I underlined twice "Come back in 15 years" when I think it'll be spectacular. 96/100

Chris Ringland - Went blow for blow with the Grange in the battle for wine of the night and came out with a respectable result against the champion. Danny found a candy like element to the nose and we both agreed that it provided a very nice floral perfumed element rather than being confected. Savoury, spicy, earthy and slightly meaty palate along with some wonderful concentrated berries. Breathtakingly long finish. Based on this tasting I feel it deserves its place among the top Australian Shiraz. 96/100



The conclusion : My top three for the night were the Grange and the Ringland as equal Wines of the Night, with the Torbreck Factor coming in third.

Camw my man, you are one hellof a tough marker

Camw my man, you are one hellof a tough marker

Camw,
Were the wine serviced blind ?

Some seriously good booze there. I'm looking forward to reading the other punter's comments. Thanks for the notes Cam - I'm just about to pluck the cork on a half bottle of 99 Basket Press before I go out...


Mike

Thanks Cam for the notes, i only wish i had been a little more organised on the evening and taken notes myself. A serious array of seriously good Shiraz . Was great to meet everyone on the evening and share perceptions and opinions on these wines. Looking forward to the next offline.

Geoffrey,

Not served blind due to logistical considerations.

MT,

Don't like too much bunching at the top end, it gives you a bit of room to move if everything isn't 90-100. I did feel that the Grange, Ringland and Factor were a step above everything else and deserved to be at least a couple of points clear.

Shannon,

Sorry I didn't get to have much of a chat with you, hopefully next time. Any thoughts on your favourite wines on the night?

I had the Rockford BP, Lehman Stonewell, and Grange in a blind tasting last month.

The Stonewell was well below the best I have tasted in this range and rated poorly. I rated the Bp 1/2 a point ahead of the Grange, 19 to 18.5.

The result is always interesting when there is no label to influence your thoughts, and they do, no matter how unbiased we think we can be.

Thanks for the notes.

Camw,

In the first block of 4 shiraz i found the Turkey Flat very approachable although perhaps a little short. The Draycott i think was showing more than all 4. The Henschke seemed a little flat with a touch of brett rearing its ugly head. The Greenock Creek quite full of vanilla oak with the fruit slowly starting to show the longer it sat in my glass. To be fair all 4 of the above were not decanted. On conclusion for this block the Greenock Creek has my vote.

On the second flight the Meschach while very good just didnt seem to stand out and i think was still a little closed. the Viking i didnt particularly like as i found it a little disjointed. The Peter Lehman Stonewell i found very enjoyable with its dark berries and plush feel. The Langmeil with its Deep dark set fruit and subtle vanilla was superb and my favourite for the flight.

On the third flight the Octavious just didnt seem upto scratch amongst the other wines it was served with. The Rockford BP was a very harmonious wine with great balance and lovely fruit. The Veritas While good certainly showed a more personal expression of Shiraz and for that reason i quite liked it. Torbreck The Factor without doubt topped this flight by leaps and bounds, with ample ripe berry fruits and long silky finish this is terrific stuff.

The final round of big guns, the Greenock Creek Roennfeld Rd while a glorious wine it just didnt seem to cut it against the contenders. The Grange i found typical in charachter although quite closed and this really needs some time to really shine. The Chris Ringland i felt was certainly showing more than the Grange. Big and aromatic with ample ripe berry fruit, eucalypt, spice and forest floor and considering the amount already tasted it still had the power to overcome all that came before it. The Chris Ringland was my favourite of this flight a massive shiraz.


I think in all fairness we need to establish that we really were comparing the best with the best in each flight thus it should be said that all wines are high quality examples of the fine and personal expression that is the art of making premium wine. In conclusion Torbreck The Factor was the big stand out for me as it shines in the value for money category when compared with the big guns. Never the less the quality of the Grange can not be overlooked nor can the stand out Chris Ringland which i thought was in a class of its own.

Nice to meet you Cam perhaps i will catch you on Same Time...

Been a very busy week for me so haven't had much time to post. At this tasting too and won't go into details as I largely agree with everything Cam and Shannon said - great tasting, great night, great company, slightly average food though which was disappointing as I'd been to this restaurant before and had a great meal.

I guess the overwhelming impressionI was left with though was the impact of drinking so many quite alcoholic wines. This isn't usually a problem for me as it's usually just one or two with dinner. When you have 15 in front of you, and are trying to taste all of them and give them due consideration, it knocks you around a little. I'm not a big one for spitting and almost without excption, each wine was fantasic in its own right. The excpetions here being the turkey flat which was a bit simple in that company and the Mt Edlestone which was brett affected and was just wrong and got worse with time.

The other striking thing was the jump up in quality, depth and structure through each flight. The factor which was stunning in its flight looked dull and simple compared to the next flight.

My WOTN was the Roennfeldt Rd, simply as it was a little more approachable than the other two on the night. I suspect in ten years, it would be a diffrent story. I found the Grange and Ringland a bit hard to assess, both from the infanticide side and the falling off my chair by that stage side. Big wines but very closed and it was almost hurting to drink them. It was certainly hurting the next day!