Appellation Australia

A great night last weekend with a friend flying in some fresh Perigord Black Truffles from France and people bringing along some great wines to match. The food was fairly simple, letting the truffles take centre stage. The flavours and aromas of the food were incredible and a number of the wines really complimented the truffle flavours, especially the Leroy, Pichon Lalandes and the Italian wines.

The Menu:

Fresh bread and truffle butter
Foie gras, slice of truffle
Mushrooms with truffle
Omelette with truffled eggs
Risotto of truffles
Home made fettucini with truffled eggs, mushroom and truffles
Wagyu beef with perigueux sauce
Duck and Chicken with truffle under the skin
Salads
Cheese plate: two truffle-infused bries and a hard pecorino.
Chocolate mousse… with truffled eggs and a little bit of truffle as well.

The Wines:

1994 Seppelt Salinger Methode Champenoise
Straw-yellow colour. Nose is bright and fresh with pineapple and nutty overtones. Really nice acid on the palate with just a smidge of sweetness. The flavours linger on the palate for a good while. Probably the best bottle out of three that I have tried.
89/100

1982 Bollinger Grande Année Rosé Champagne
Salmon-orange in colour. A very fine, delicate bead. On the nose there are aromas of mushroom, earth and light caramel. The palate is a little rough around the edges with a fair bit of acid and not enough fruit remaining to match, although this seemed less of a problem with food and this complimented the truffles well.
87/100

1986 McWilliams Mount Pleasant Single Vineyard Lovedale Semillon (Hunter Valley)
A lovely, expressive nose of floral elements, grapefruit, lime and orange, wax, honey set against a background of nutty complexity. The palate is still amazingly youthful and delicate while maintaining great depth and intensity of flavour. Superb balance and structure, the length went on and on. This wine left me quite lost for words.

Absolutely stunning. This would have been my wine of the night if it had not been for one other wine to come.
95/100

1990 Château Doisy-Védrines (Barsac)
Opened a little bit stinky and funky but this really cleaned up and opened with time in the glass. Golden coloured. Honey, pineapple, roast nuts and caramel on the nose. A medium level of sweetness and intensity on the palate with good balance and length.
91/100

1995 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay (Margaret River)
A nose of restrained oak, grapefruit, pineapple, peaches, apple and light butter. Palate is quite tight with good acid structure but lacking fruit intensity. Very good but not great at the moment, although it could become great with more time.
88/100

1996 Domaine Marc Morey & Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Virondot
Very youthful in appearance and character. A nose of sea spray, lemon and slate. An interesting mouthfeel with just a touch of richness rounding the palate out. Has the potential to get better over the next 5+ years.
90/100

1999 Domaine Jean Pillot et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caille (375ml)
Cheesy, oxidative and caramel nose. Palate is all sour acid. Faulty bottle.
NR/100

1981 Domaine Bonneau du Martray Corton
Some interesting discussion about this wine at the table but I think it was mildly corked (and even if not corked, looking pretty tired).
NR/100

1998 Domaine Leroy Clos Vougeot
A lovely layered nose of squid ink, black cherry, rhubarb, earth, spice and heady perfume. A tightly wound palate with concentrated flavour, fine tannins and awesome mouth-feel and texture. Exceptional length and an excellent wine that will continue to develop for a number of years to come.
93/100

1982 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (Pauillac)
Such a seductive, voluptuous wine. A superb nose of smoky cedar, gravel, pencil shavings, cassis, tobacco and black olive. Every element of the palate is working together in seamless harmony. Elegant yet rich, with a velvet like texture as it slides along the palate into an breathtaking length finish. An absolute privilege to get to drink.
98/100

1986 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (Pauillac)
There is some real power behind this wine. The nose shows blackcurrant, tobacco and cedar as well as swirling notes of potpourri and violets. A very youthful, vibrant palate with deeply seated fruit and excellent structure. Built in intensity of flavour with time in the glass. Very enjoyable to drink now, but will improve.
94/100

2000 Pio Cesare Fides Barbera d’Alba (375ml)
Wheat germ on the nose with a touch of florality. A sweetly fruited, medium bodied palate with soft tannins and medium length. Enjoyable to drink but not much more.
87/100

2000 Pio Cesare Nebbiolo d’Alba (375ml)
Pepper, spices, cherry and raspberry on the nose. Nice depth and intensity of fruit, although the tannins are standing out a bit at the moment.
88/100

1989 Gaja Barbaresco
Aromas of roasted meat, wet earth, spice and tar. There is a really lovely texture to the palate and a very long, lingering finish. A very good wine, but missing a bit of complexity and personality to take the step up to excellent.
90/100

1996 Rocca Albino Vigneto Brich Ronchi Barbaresco
Very meaty aromas with leather, raspberry, smoke and tobacco in the background. Palate has promise initially with some nice complexity and initial primary fruit intensity but it trails away into a metallic and short finish. I suspect some brett influence here.
85/100

1998 Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia
Deep, seductive and luscious aromas of raspberry, cherry, cassis, five spice and tobacco. The palate, while quite obviously young, tight and concentrated is also approachable and enjoyable to drink. Exhibits really nice depth of fruit and has very good length. Give it another 8-10 years and it should really be singing.
93/100

1996 Château Nairac
Light apricots, citrus peel and botrytis influence on the nose. Fairly dense concentration and sweetness on the palate. The length is good and it is pleasant to drink, but overall I don’t think the wine has the acid structure to get a great deal better.
88/100

Dinner at Sugaroom in Sydney with 4 other wine lovers -

Primo Estate Joseph Sparkling Shiraz (06 disg) :
Good mousse at first that drops away pretty quickly. Nice layered complexity to the nose - plums, cherry, earth and gamey notes. The palate has an intriguing texture and mouth-feel to it. Very good length and depth/complexity of flavour with just a lick of sweetness on the mid-palate. Shows complex character, while retaining some freshness on the palate that should allow it to improve with age.
91/100

Primo Estate Joseph Sparkling Shiraz (97 disg) :
Quite obviously of the same bloodline as the 06 disgorgement, just with some added age. Leather, earth, five spice and smoke on the nose. The palate shows more savoury spice and is drier in comparison to the 06. The real standout feature of the palate is the superb depth of flavour and excellent balance leading into an excellent length finish.

Sparkling red is generally not my thing, but these two bottles certainly were.
92/100

2003 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay :
Very delicate nose of lemon, light oats and a streak of minerality. Palate is elegant with great balance and focus through a tight core of acid. Young and tightly wound at the moment, but it is obviously extremely classy and it has so much potential that I would love to see it in 5 years time when it could well be excellent.
90/100

1976 Rosemount Estate Cabernet Sauvignon :
Light aromas of smoke, dust, sweet chocolate and a hint of a floral character. Fairly lightly bodied as well with decent length and quite a smoky aftertaste. Held up well over the evening and was drinkable and better than I think may have been expected from a wine that was probably not intended to be saved for 30+ years!
85/100

1981 Leoville Las Cases :
Quite an expressive nose of tobacco, lilac, cassis, cedar and earth. The palate at first lacks intensity, although the the components are all nicely balanced and integrated. Seemed to take on some extra palate weight when given some time to breath and was better when paired with food.
88/100

1994 Ridge Monte Bello :
12.7% alcohol. Primary nose of violet, blackcurrant, cedar and chocolate oak, autumn leaves and pencil shavings. The palate is primary as well with plenty of deeply seated fruit to stand up to the oak and fine tannin structure. Really good length. I think the back label mentioned keeping it 5-15 years to improve, based on this bottle I’d be extending that an extra 8-10 years.
91/100

2003 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz :
A nose that is jam packed with sweet, ripe fruit. Blackcurrant, anise/liquorice, some background vanilla oak and blueberry muffins was an aroma descriptor that I particularly liked. More intense, sweet fruit on the palate that I think will appeal to lovers of the richly fruited Barossa style. Nice length, but just a bit too ripe for my personal liking.
88/100

1981 Chateau Coutet : (375ml)
Light botrytis, lots of apricot and some burnt sugar. The nose is better than the palate, which has an initial burst of flavour followed by watered down flavour intensity on the mid-palate and a startlingly short finish. I finished my glass quickly, but others noted that the nose fell over pretty soon after pouring.
81/100

2004 Kracher Eiswein : (375ml)
The nose is perfumed and elegant rather than dense, with some floral notes, slate and lemon and orange zest. The palate is quite pure with good balance through enough refreshing acidity as a counterweight to the medium sweetness. Fairly simple, but enjoyable to drink all the same. Probably drinking well now while it is still fresh.
88/100

Sealed in screwcap, 13.2% alcohol.

Smoky red cherry, mocha, raspberry, a touch of stalk and some cedar in the background of the nose. The palate shows a lovely balance between savoury elements and fruit sweetness. A medium level of flavour intensity with well integrated tannins and acid leading into a lingering finish.

I think it is drinking wonderfully well now and is probably around its peak between now and 2008. This is a serious Pinot Noir but given that it is available under $20AUD, it is a seriously good deal as well. The current release, 2005 is even better!

Score: 89/100 Drink: 2007-2008