Tower Estate Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2001
A real surprise. I've generally been disappointed with the 2001 whites from this region,but this is drinking beautifully and gives more weight to my feeling that most Oz chards are at their best around two years of age. Pear,peach and cashew flavours, very balanced acidity and subtle oak characters,a lovely food wine at the moment. Drink up now and for the next couple of years.
Coopers Creek Reserve Merlot 1998 (NZ)
The back label says "This was the best fruit we had ever seen from the Hawkes Bay region". My question is,what happened to it?? A disappointing wine, lacking distinction,body,fruit and length. It appeared to be on a downhill slide because if there had ever been a degree of ripeness in the picked fruit,it didn't show in the wine at 5 years of age.My experiences with Merlot's of late have been less than rewarding,it seems that we have a way to go in the New World with this variety.
Dom Perignon 1995
A friend opened this at dinner,and my wife,who isn't a wine nerd like me,said, Mmmm, this is nice,we should get some. I agree wholeheartedly with her, I may have to rob a bank though given my recent splurges on mailing list wines! Gorgeous champagne,so mouthfilling,fine and long. I had an 83 about a year ago that was an eye opener to me as to how good this stuff gets with a bit of age.This will no doubt be every bit as good. Outstanding.
Chateau D'Angludet 1985
Late in the evening,after a truckload of wine, I proudly proclaim that this wine(served blind) is a lovely Burgundy. Go directly to jail,do not pass go. Perhaps a little more thought and a lot less bravado might have allowed me to ascertain that cigar box/herby/earthy aged characters are not really that prevalent in Burgundy! It was actually the colour that got me the most,and the softness in the mouth. Very resolved tannins,quite a lovely wine drinking very well now and with 5-10 years still in front of it.
Meursault-Perrieres (Chouet-Clivet) 1999
I was impressed by the fineness and length of this wine,not having experienced much Meursault before. It was probably a bit young but it had an impressive power to it as well,the promise of great things to come,minerality,chalk,a lingering mouthfeel. Wish I'd paid greater attention to some notes, but a very nice wine.
Chambers Rare Muscat
Notes are a bit superfluous about a wine such as this. What could you say other than that it is a special experience that just fills your mouth in every direction and just dances on each and every sensory perceptor that you have. Just sip and enjoy.
Cheers
TN's
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Grant Dodd
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Re: TN's
Grant Dodd wrote: Coopers Creek Reserve Merlot 1998 (NZ)
The back label says "This was the best fruit we had ever seen from the Hawkes Bay region". My question is, what happened to it?
Grant,
Indeed what happened to it. I think you may hear this question being asked of many HB 1998's not just this wine as people pull them out of their cellars.
Had several the other night at an informal dinner when I decided to take no notes but there were a few HB winemakers at the table and we were discussing this very topic. Either some of the wines are going through a 'closed' stage or tunnel right now or they have lost it altogether.
Cheers,
Sue
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Grant Dodd
- Posts: 135
- Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2003 2:50 pm
- Location: Queensland
- Contact:
Coopers Creek
Sue,
I guess that "closed" period question is one of the hardest ones to answer,because you are sitting in front of a glass that mystifies you. Should be better than it is. You want to like it more. Everything points towards the fact that you should have a pretty good wine in your glass,but it's not. I need more experience on the matter to be able to say for sure in realtion to the CC,but I would also add that the colour and density of the wine was disappointing. Even if it was going through a dumb phase,I feel that the basic qualities of a good wine would still be evident,but that the fruit would be slightly suppressed(as in when a wine changes from primary to secondary fruit characters). This wine also showed no real change in colour at the rim,telling me that it really wasn't in an evolutionary phase and hadn't aged a great deal. Wasn't corked either,but if you do get to taste this wine I would be interested to hear if you have a different experience.
Cheers
I guess that "closed" period question is one of the hardest ones to answer,because you are sitting in front of a glass that mystifies you. Should be better than it is. You want to like it more. Everything points towards the fact that you should have a pretty good wine in your glass,but it's not. I need more experience on the matter to be able to say for sure in realtion to the CC,but I would also add that the colour and density of the wine was disappointing. Even if it was going through a dumb phase,I feel that the basic qualities of a good wine would still be evident,but that the fruit would be slightly suppressed(as in when a wine changes from primary to secondary fruit characters). This wine also showed no real change in colour at the rim,telling me that it really wasn't in an evolutionary phase and hadn't aged a great deal. Wasn't corked either,but if you do get to taste this wine I would be interested to hear if you have a different experience.
Cheers