Mid-last year I attended a dinner at the Mixing Pot restaurant in Glebe where quite a number of interesting wines were opened. I had blocked the event from my memory due to the painful memory of being delivered up to date scores from the Ashes via mobile phone by one of Her Royal Majesty’s subjects. With the recent victory in Brisbane, I can again talk briefly about the wines at the event without nearly as much trauma.
Giaconda Nantua Les Deux Chardonnay/Roussanne 2000 – All buttery, oaky and herbal on the nose. Watery, short and an element of alcoholic harshness on the finish. 82/100
Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon 1996 (Magnum) – Served blind and nobody picked it, the touch of butter had people leaning towards Chardonnay. Youthful and closed, not showing much secondary development as yet. A bit of acid yet to integrate but otherwise good structure. Has a very long life ahead of it in magnum format. 89/100
Tomboy Hill “The Tomboy” Chardonnay 2003 – A rather pleasant nose. Smoky oak is nicely integrated. Bit of acid sticking out but it should come together. I liked it, but it needs some time. 87/100
Tomboy Hill “The Tomboy” Pinot Noir 2003 – Good flavour, spicy but not stalky. Fairly full bodied for a Pinot. Perhaps lacking a little length. Worth another look. 88/100
Pegasus Bay “Prima Donna” Pinot Noir 2001 – Savoury, smoky and spicy. Great balance, structure and length. Will prosper with a few years of bottle development. 91/100
Fattoria Di Petroio Lenzi Chianti Classico 1999 – Quite an intense nose – Dusty, earthy and savoury. Medium bodied palate that was well structured but just lacking anything much to make it stand out. Great value as it apparently cost something like $9 at auction. 87/100
Enzo Boglietti Barbera D’alba 1995 – Slightly brown tinged. Full bodied and concentrated. Others at the table were not impressed with the level of brett in this and I had to agree. I don’t mind some brett, but this was overpowering the qualities of the wine. 83/100
Querciabella Camartina Toscana 1996 – Nice intensity of fruit, but a touch short on the finish as well as some forward tannins and intrusive oak which may both integrate with more time. 88/100
Joseph Phelps Insignia 1987 – Mulberry, some mint, cassis. Elegant and silky on the palate with a hint of sweetness. At its peak, but this bottle would have held for some time. 91/100
Seppelt Drumborg Cabernet 1985 – Sourced directly from the winery in 2004, but sadly not showing well. I believe that fill levels and so on were good (as to be expected from a museum release), but this bottle was not showing well. Menthol on the nose and a very unpleasant character that I couldn’t quite pick on both the nose and palate that did eventually blow off a little bit, but what remained was uninspiring at best. 78/100
Moss Wood Special Reserve Cabernet 1990 – Really nice intense nose – tar, berries, cedar and a bit of a brambly character. Good length and plenty of life ahead. 92/100
Katnook Cabernet 1990 – More intense nose than the 97 (with mocha, cassis and mint) but let down by the palate which was a bit short and dry. 86/100
Katnook Cabernet 1997 – Somewhat closed on this showing – tight nose of blackberries, mocha and cassis. Palate is similarly tight but the length is good and the tannins provide some good structure. Will flourish with more time 88/100
Wynns Centenary 1991 (Magnum) – Still showing signs of youthful fruit – cherries, blueberry and spice. Very good balance on the palate. Not yet at its peak based on this magnum. 90/100
Lake’s Folly Reserve Cabernet 1994 – Tobacco and violets and some leathery Hunter-osity. Elegant medium weighted mature palate. 92/100
Yalumba “The Menzies” 1996 – Pickles, tomato leaf and lead on the nose. Palate is disjointed, unpleasant and finishes short and hard. 82/100
Squawking Magpie Cabernet Merlot 2002 – Nice enough, but rather out of place in this aged cabernet lineup. Fresh, vibrant fruit and some decent texture on the palate. Just a touch oaky at this stage. 87/100
Happs Three Hills Cabernet Franc 1999 – Leafy, dusty and herbaceous under ripe characters. 85/100
Mitchelton Print Shiraz 1992 – Spicy, minty and quite vibrant youthful blackcurrant and berry fruit for its age. 88/100
Moulin De Duhart 2000 – I thought this was thin, weak, bitter and lacking in balance. Ready to drink now and I can’t see it developing into anything of note. 85/100
Faber Vineyard Riche Shiraz 2001 – A rather large wine, but unlike the Teusner I didn’t think it had signs of balance at this stage of its life, with some very prominent oak and very ripe fruit. 86/100
Teusner Albert 2003 – Concentrated, rich, silky and powerful without being overtly jammy or over-oaked. I recall thinking that a bit of bottle age will do wonders for it – it did have the structure to age very nicely. 89/100
Baileys Vintage Port 1973 – A birth year VP for one of the attendees. No notes but I think I recall it being rather decent. Very vaguely recall asking for a second splash so it must have been alright. Not Rated
Midnight “Special” Blend MV – This was a blend of the dregs of the Albert, a fair whack of the Vintage Port, and various assorted Cabernets including the maligned Drumborg. Ugh, needed to come with some sort of health risk warning. It gets 50 points for showing up and also -25 points for showing up. 25/100
Conclusion: We had some good wines and some not so good wines, but I think everyone had a good time. My wine of the night was probably the Moss Wood with the Lake’s Folly, Insignia and Pegasus Bay coming close behind.
The special blend sounds like a ripper, what do you expect it to retail for and where can we buy some?
Nice notes, sounds like a nice dinner. I really like the Tomboy Hill wines, and i think Bendigo shows much promise in Burgundian grapes.
Cheers.
Paul