Last month Australia’s largest wine company Southcorp (now part of Fosters and even bigger) put on its annual road-show to showcase its wines across major capital cities.
In Sydney, this was held at the completely refurbished Hilton hotel that was reopened in July. As often happens at these public events it didn’t take long to descend into madness, with two full metre high spittoons being knocked over and spilt across the brand new carpet, but I managed to make a few brief notes before it became too difficult to move.
Next year hopefully Southcorp will either halve the number of tickets sold, double the size of the room hired or hold the event over two days.
Apart from these wines, I also attended a Seppelt Fortified Masterclass which I will write about in a separate post shortly.
Secret Stone Sauvignon Blanc 2005 – Grassy, herbaceous, very fresh, a pretty good attempt at a stereotypical Marlbourough Sauvignon Blanc. I’m sure it’ll sell well. 87/100
Leo Buring: Recently refocused as a Riesling only label after dabbling in a few other varieties over the years. At the base level are the Clare and Eden Valley Rieslings which retail for around $12AU, followed by the Leonay Riesling which is only made in great years and can either be from the Clare or Eden Valley depending on which produced better grapes and retails for around $28. Two new Rieslings were on show, a single vineyard Watervale Clare Valley Riesling and a Mount Barker Riesling from Western Australia which will be released at the same price point as the Leonay Riesling later this year.
Clare Valley Riesling 2005 – A touch yeasty? Needs time to settle down after bottling – nice aromatics of lemon/lime. 88/100
Eden Valley Riesling 2005 – More restrained than the Clare – showing excellent structure and should age very well. 89/100
Leonay Eden Valley Riesling 2005 – Great minerality, great acid structure. Approachable now but will blossom with time. 91/100
Single Vineyard Watervale Riesling 2005 – Planned as an aged release in 2010. Very, very good. Superb pure fruit. Looking forward to seeing it again on release. 92/100
Mount Barker Riesling 2005 – Over the top, bracing acidity that will settle down after time and should give it the structure to age. Worth putting away a couple of bottles to see what happens. 90/100
Leonay Riesling 1991 – Not showing well on this occasion. No fruit, a bit of honey and butterscotch, no kero. Short on the finish. 81/100
Leonay Riesling 1995 – A touch of coffee(?), kero and honey on the nose. Lovely mouth-feel. This bottle seemed ready to drink. 90/100
Leonay Riesling 1997 – Touch short on the finish but otherwise very nice. Still very youthful with no signs of the fruit fading, will go for quite some more time. Balanced flavour profile. 91/100
Devil’s Lair: A brand that has a good reputation from the Margaret River region in Western Australia. Aside from their flagship Chardonnay ($35) and Cabernet Blend ($45) reviewed here, they produce a second label called Fifth Leg which is aimed at a lower price point ($15) and is apparently selling very well.
Chardonnay 2001 – A Chardonnay with a bit of character and complexity but perhaps lacking balance side by side with the 2003. 89/100
Chardonnay 2003 – More power than the 2001 but the balance is held together by smart oak usage. Good structure, excellent length. 90/100
Cabernet Blend 1999 – Minty nose and a bit of sweetness on the palate. Not my thing. 87/100
Cabernet Blend 2002 – Too herbaceous and green. Disjointed palate. I’ll pass. 85/100
Cabernet Blend 2003 – To be released April ’06. This is more like it. Rich nose of berries, cassis, tobacco. Perhaps a bit too much oak on the palate but that may sort itself out between now and release. 89/100
Seppelt: The shining example of a winery under the control of a huge corporation that is actually making very good wine across the board, from their under $10 Victorian range to their flagship St Peters Shiraz at $50. I’ve written about Seppelt and the not so complicated secret behind their success before here.
Salinger Rose NV – Strawberry nose. Quite light, worth a look at over summer. 86/100
Salinger Sparkling 2001 – Crisp, refreshing. Good value for money. 87/100
Drumborg Riesling 2005 – Lovely restrained floral nose. Great length and structure. Give it some time in the cellar and be rewarded. 92/100
Moyston Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 – Earthy, grippy tannins. Give it a few years to develop and will be good. 89/100
St Peters Shiraz 2003 – Very approachable. Great balance. Not quite as intense as the 2002 St Peters, but still excellent fruit, smart use of oak and the structure to age well. Highly recommended. 95/100
Benno Shiraz 2003 – I have seen some recent comments on a disturbing amount of oakiness on the palate and this tasting didn’t give me any reason to disagree. A bit disappointing as the fruit is clearly very good. Should probably come together, but the jury is out. 90/100