The Auswine Forum

A tasting with Ben Glaetzer at Wineaway in Brisbane last night. Tasted in order listed. Plate after plate of canapés were being offered to give us a chance of getting through all the wines in about 2 hours. Not all of the food matches were good, but they reduced palate fatigue somewhat.


Heartland wines
The thing that stood out in these wines was the brightness of the fruit. Very clean and expressive.

2005 Heartland Viognier Pinot Gris
Wow, really different. Apparently the first of its kind. Rich Viognier perfume (read apricot and spice) on nose, alongside some passionfruit/tropical aromas which is different to most Viognier I’ve tasted. Usually I detest the thick, viscous style of V, but the Pinot Gris added an acidic punch that really carried the wine and balanced it out. Ideal quaffing wine for those who are bored with the usual aromatic whites. A ‘back deck in summer’ style.

2004 Heartland Dolcetto Lagrein
Sweet perfumed berry lift on nose. Darker fruits on light/medium bodied palate. Reasonable length, chalky tannins, and little oak influence. This was an enjoyable quaffing style.

2004 Heartland Cabernet Sauvignon
Ripe dark fruit. I didn’t find this particularly varietal, but it was well structured with controlled oak and reasonably easy drinking. Perhaps a little closed, but not really one that I would cellar for too long.

2005 Heartland Shiraz
Sweet, ultra ripe fruit nose, almost a little confected. Is there any Viognier in this? Seemed a little light-on on the palate, compared with the expressive nose. Didn’t really do it for me. Drink now.

2004 Heartland Directors Cut Shiraz
Best of the wines so far. Classy, deep set fruit, medium bodied and full of flavour. Fair dollop of oak, but overall, the wine felt squeaky clean. Firmish tannins. I would happily cellar this for a few years to see it come together, but good value drinking now, nonetheless. Quality wine for the money – surprise at this tasting.

Glaetzer wines
In summary, the high point of the Glaetzer wines (particularly the Godolphin and Amon Ra) was the combination of power and elegance.

2004 Glaetzer Wallace Grenache Shiraz
Most interesting wine so far. An amalgam of rich dark fruit with a touch of chocolate and earthiness. Also a little confected compared with the 2003 that I had last year (and on reflection, preferred). Quite full across the palate. Oak usage was questionable, and not as clean as the previous wine. Nevertheless, good value for money.

2004 Glaetzer Bishop Shiraz
A touch volatile on nose. Dark, intense fruit. A lot of stuffing here, and needs time to settle.

2004 Glaetzer Shiraz
The last vintage of this wine. Intense perfumed nose. Dark, powerful fruit on heavy palate. Rather elegant despite the intensity and weight. For some reason I didn’t really enjoy this wine as much as I thought I would. Good quality, but not really for me. Preferred the Heartland Directors Cut.

2004 Glaetzer Godolphin Shiraz Cabernet
Absolutely gorgeous. Clean, bright, beautiful wine. Full in the mouth, Cabernet adding tight structure. Complete and very elegant. Very good value for money, and a brilliant wine too. Contender for my wine of the year.

2004 Glaetzer Amon Ra Shiraz
Clean, pure, beautiful, mouth filling fruit. Not as tightly structured as the Godolphin, however finished with lovely powdery tannins. Well-judged oak use. Elegant despite massive power. Technically exceptional, however didn’t bring me the same enjoyment as the Godolphin.

2003 Glaetzer Amon Ra Shiraz
Almost black in colour. More tannic and less clean than ’04, and perhaps stronger and less elegant. It was a bit more expressive though. Solid wine, but not up to the previous two.

2005 Godolphin (Barrel sample)
Would have preferred to taste this directly after the 04 Godolphin, but logistical problems didn’t allow this. Lovely, focussed wine. Firm structure, but palate a touch lighter than the 04. Too early to call for me – I don’t have enough experience with big wines this young.

2005 Amon Ra (Barrel sample)
Supposedly RPJ was the only one to taste these barrel samples before us – I wonder what he thought of this? More powerful, tannic, and muscular than the 04. Black in colour. Deep, strong flavoured fruit. Still retains elegance, but not as graceful or perfumed as the 04. I’m guessing he liked it?

Thanks for taking up the time to write this up. I have some of the 2004 Glaetzer wines in my cellar.

I had a bottle of Bishop 2004 last weekend while I was watching the Tri-Nations match between the ABs and the Boks on TV. I found it a lovely drink with loads of fruit on the nose (dark berries and blackcurrants) and soft tannins. For my palate, I felt it was drinking nicely now, but did find some VA beginning to poke through the nose after 20 minutes in the glass.

Cheers,

Raymond

I can now say that I have tried all of the 04 Glaetzer wines (except for the Glaetzer 04 Shiraz) ALL wines from the Wallace the the Amon Ra, exceptional and all good value for money. The stand out for me was the Amon Ra - a beautiful wine now to my last dozen! All wines a beautifuly structured and everything seems to be going right in the palate (for me anyway) a HUGE fan of Glaetzer wines.

Now I cannot wait for the 05 vintage release.

Raymond, TCD,

I was fortunate enough to try a couple of these again over the weekend, but with a bit more 'air-time'.

The Heartland Directors Cut was still looking good, holding up well with plenty of fruit and good structure from a wine that was opened many hours earlier.

The Glaetzer Bishop was showing much better than on Thursday night. It seemed much less volatile with beautiful, perfumed fruit, luscious mouthfeel and excellent palate weight.

The Godolphin 05 barrel sample was looking a little tired (admittedly opened probably 30+ hours earlier, and down to the last 100mL), and lacked the vibrancy of the same wine at the previous showing. Going on this alone, I would back up some of the comments on the 'cult wine' thread regarding this wine being best suited for short-medium term consumption. I don't think it will fall away too quickly, though it is looking so gorgeous at the moment that I see little point in waiting.

The Amon Ra 05 barrel sample was much more integrated than in the earlier tasting. As with the Godolphin, the level was down to the last glass and had been opened for a long time. Less angular and with much more finesse, while still retaining brilliant fruit, weight and aroma. A class wine. On this tasting, rated Excellent-Outstanding on Torb's scale.

"2004 Heartland Directors Cut Shiraz
Best of the wines so far. Classy, deep set fruit, medium bodied and full of flavour. Fair dollop of oak, but overall, the wine felt squeaky clean. Firmish tannins. I would happily cellar this for a few years to see it come together, but good value drinking now, nonetheless. Quality wine for the money – surprise at this tasting. "

Agree completely. For very little more money than the usual Heartland but half the price of the Godophin/Glaetzer Shiraz, this provided exceptional quality for its price.

Both the Directors Cut and normal Heartland shiraz were slightly savoury fruit to me, the D.C. much more intense in the fruit department.