Appellation Australia

One of the great things about wine is the range of people that you meet who share the interest, from all age-groups and walks of life. In the last few weeks I have had the pleasure of attending the birthday parties of friends turning 30, 40 and 50!

The Egon Muller and the Giacomo were served blind to me and I knew the identities of the other wines in advance.

J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 1993
The youthful light golden colour was a promising start. Petrol, smoke and a bit of honey on the nose. The palate is rich in fruit sweetness, but the balancing acidity makes it delightfully refreshing. Good carry of flavour, but lacking in points of interest. I enjoyed this a great deal regardless.
88/100

Chave Hermitage Blanc 1995
Served a bit too cold to begin with, but as it warmed in the glass I found it beguiling and captivating. So incredibly perfumed with floral high notes and pineapple, nectarine, smoke, passionfruit and light butterscotch and honeysuckle aromas. Oily and luxurious mouth-feel without any hint at broadness. Complex texture and even a slight element of tannin to it. Powerful and complex, yet elegant and entirely balanced at the same time. Unique and compelling, I’d love to encounter it again in 10 years time.
95/100

Giacomo Borgogno Barolo Riserva 1982
Opened with dark raspberry and cherry, earth, grilled red meat, tobacco and lifted violet aromatics. After some time in the glass it took on an intriguing grassy and oolong tea aroma profile. First impression is that of the tannins still being prominent and while these remained in play throughout, they became much less obvious when consumed with food. Great texture and layered, persistent flavour to the palate. In great shape for the age, and really lovely to drink now, I think it may be at its peak, but it will still be drinking very well over the next 5 years.
93/100

Tua Rita Perlato del Bosco Rosso 2001
Deep ruby colour. A nose of ink, barbequed duck in hoisin sauce, beetroot, cherry and toasty oak. Rasping tannin across the palate, but the length is good and there is rich fruit lurking. I feel that this has the potential to improve over the next 10 years as the tannins soften and it takes on some complexity.
90/100

Chateau Rieussec 1983
Dark golden in colour. The nose is emphatic - burnt sugar and caramel, apricots, botrytis and honey. There is a strong sweetness to the palate that is tempered by a core of moderate acidity. Finishing long and clean, this was a nice note to end the evening on. This bottle was drinking at its peak.
91/100

A quick trip down to Canberra to celebrate Mr Lole’s 50th birthday a few weekends ago. We opened some great bottles of wine and there were very few that didn’t live up to expectations.

Happy birthday to David and I hope he had a great weekend.

1998 Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg / C. von Schubert Riesling Spätlese (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) AP 3 536 014 14 99
Soft florals, tinge of smoke, kiwi fruit and some background sulphur that blew off with time. The palate is a refreshing combination of clean acid with just a hint of fruit sweetness. Nice length and delicately textured, this is lovely drinking now, but will improve over the next 10+ years.
91/100

1998 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling-Auslese (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) AP 2 577 050 6 39
Slightly more developed in colour than the Maximin. The nose shows honey, toast, a little bit of peach and mango and with a touch of kerosene and lanolin to it. Awesome balance, poise and length to the palate. Intense fruit flavour lends a pleasing mouth-feel to the wine without being broad. Drinking superbly at the moment and should continue to do so over the next 5 years.
92/100

1995 Domaine François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux
Honeyed nose, with lemon and sesame over the top of some slightly oxidative characters. The good weight on the palate is spoiled by some heat and some more oxidative characters. Improved slightly to the final score with food, but drink now based on this bottle.
87/100

1997 Domaine Blain-Gagnard Bâtard-Montrachet
Golden colour. Nutty and honeyed aromas, with a touch of basil, butterscotch and restrained quality oak. Delicious, balanced palate with excellent texture and length. Opened up and took on more weight and length with air, I think this lovely wine will be best drunk over the next 5-10 years.
93/100

1993 G. Vachet-Rousseau Père et Fils Mazis-Chambertin
A great nose of blood, violets, milk chocolate and strawberry. The nose is open and lovely, but the palate shows signs of not being ready yet with drying tannins and simple primary flavours. I feel that the structure is good enough that this has the potential to improve in the next 4-5 years.
90/100

1986 Château Leoville-Barton
Smells like class. Decanted for three hours. Cedar, spice, pencil shavings, violets, cassis and blackberry. The depth and primary flavour on the palate is surprising for a 21 year old wine. Brilliant length and structure. Still slightly austere on the palate, but has the structure and fruit to go the distance and achieve its wonderful potential.
94/100

1995 E. Guigal La Mouline Côte-Rôtie
The nose is expressive immediately on opening and seemed similar after three hours decant. Pepper, floral, charred meat, chinese five spice and restrained oak. The palate exhibits great concentration and layers of intense flavour while not being overwhelming. Great length and enjoyable to drink even at this early stage of its life.
95/100

1988 Château Rieussec
Dark golden colour, darker than the ‘83 I opened a couple of weekends afterward. Rich nose of caramel, spice, apple and coconut. Medium level of sweetness on the palate with a core of acid that is only just enough to keep the focus. I enjoyed drinking it and thought it quite tasty, if slightly simple.
88/100

NV Chambers Rutherglen Rare Tokay
A wine for deep contemplation. The nose is stunningly complex - deep coffee, toffee, raisin, floral notes, truffles, Christmas cake, rum, chocolate and tea leaves. So viscous that it clings to the side of the glass with every swirl. This amazing viscosity carries across to the palate where the wine rolls around, covering your mouth with incredible, powerful, complex flavour that stays in your mouth for what seems like forever after swallowing. Memorising and incredible.
98/100

The following evening after the drive home, I finished my smuggled back glass of the following;

1988 Hugel Gewurztraminer Sélections de Grains Nobles
Great colour, a very light shimmering gold. Nose shows honey, nutty, and pineapple aromas, it is still very floral and fresh. The palate is medium bodied with a full mouth-feel and just hints at richness, with the sweetness balanced by fresh, acidity that disposes of any notion of broadness and focuses the wine into a long, dry and clean finish. Showed no signs of overt alcohol despite it sitting at 15%. Still so young at 19 years, this will live on for some time!
93/100

A friend asked me along to a wine dinner in Sydney that he was organising for some visiting Norwegian wine enthusiasts that had spoken to friends of his living in England through the Jancis Robinson message boards …

The aim of the dinner was to bring some Australian wines of interest. Some wines didn’t show as well as we had hoped, but I think our visitors had a good time regardless.

The Rothbury Estate “Individual Paddock” Semillon 1979
A promising yellow-gold colour. The nose is surprisingly fresh with apple, lemon, floral notes, grapefruit and a tinge of honey. There is some lovely fruit sweetness still with good acid balancing things out. The flavour lingers only very briefly before leaving the palate but this is really delicious and I could drink a wine like this all night long.
91/100

Lindemans Hunter White Burgundy Semillon 1974
The aromas on the nose are rather reclusive, with some butter, hazelnut and toffee in the background. The palate is short on fruit and length, becoming watery on the back palate. Drinkable, but well past its best.
80/100

Tahbilk Marsanne 1976
Orange coloured. Interesting nose with ginger, butterscotch, honey, apricot, peach and some oxidative notes that some with more experience with this wine said are typical of the style with age. The palate was a little light on flavour to begin with, but built up with some time in the glass. The alcohol content sticks out a little bit above the fruit, but this was still quite nice.
86/100

Leeuwin Estate “Art Series” Chardonnay 2001
Aromas of mandarin, freshly popped popcorn, grapefruit and nectarine, with oak use that I thought was noticeable but nicely integrated, even at this early stage. Palate shows lovely length and texture with a powerful drive and focus. I thought it was drinking alright now actually, but will undoubtedly get better over the next 5 years.
91/100

Kooyong “Meres Vineyard” Pinot Noir 2003
Cherry, rhubarb and clean fruit aromas but for a touch of earth and stalk. Medium bodied with good length and balance. Lacking in complexity but very good for drinking over the next 3-4 years.
88/100

McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant “Maurice O’Shea” 1991
“Deep Heat” aromas on the nose with some leather and lots of VA. I thought it better on the palate initially, light-medium bodied with an interesting texture but missing fruit and lacking in points of interest. Was given some time to open up, but went downhill rather than being healed.
81/100

Rockford “Basket Press” Shiraz 1987
Leather, spice, violets and a touch of VA to the nose - was almost a bit Hunter-esque to me. Palate lacks depth and complexity and is looking pretty tired. It is time to drink, based on this bottle, if you have any left.
85/100

Voyager Estate Cabernet Merlot 2002
The nose was showing gravel/crushed rock with capsicum, vegetables and fresh parsley coming in strongly. Medium bodied palate that didn’t show as green as the nose did for me. Good, but I don’t know that this is going to improve greatly unless you already love it.
87/100

Orlando St. Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon 1996
Wet moss and mint, tobacco and rich blackcurrant aromas. Tannins still play a prominent part on the palate but do not totally dominate proceedings. I would be interested to see this in 5 years time as I think it was good on the night, but may look better with time.
88/100

d’Arenberg “Dead Arm” Shiraz 2001
Dead fruit, powerful blackberry and raspberry aromas. Strong tannins are offset by deep, powerful, sweet fruit intensity on the palate. Good length and has the structure and potential to improve.
88/100

Elderton “Command” Shiraz 1998
Dark, rich fruits form the core of the aromas with some tobacco, blackberry and chocolate oak playing a background role. Palate continues the ripe theme with cherry, blueberry and chocolate flavours. Coating mouthfeel and good length, it was just a bit over the top to reach balance for my personal tastes.
87/100

Glaetzer “Amon Ra” Shiraz 2005
Full on aromas of spice, blackberry, florals, tar, licorice and tobacco on the nose. Sweetly fruited, ripe and intense on the palate with good length, but a bit of alcohol evident when swallowing throws things off a bit. I really loved this, every sniff revealed something different, but one glass is entirely enough for me.
92/100

Glaetzer “Goldolphin” Shiraz Cabernet 2005
Fresher than the Amon Ra on the nose, with lifted florals prominent (one taster while the bottle was masked was certain that it had viognier in it), raspberry, blackberry and cherry. A juicy, silky palate with no bumps along the way. Excellent drinking now.
92/100

Wild Duck Creek Fortified 2005
Blueberry, cherry, earth and fennel on the nose that shows no real sign of the 18% alcohol. The alcohol is a bit more evident on the palate, but more so through the mouthfeel rather than being out of balance. Excellent length and rich flavour profile with a bit of overlaid spice characters. Great stuff.
92/100

Buller “Calliope” Rare Muscat NV
Intoxicating notes of cloves, crème brulee, caramel, burnt sugar and maple syrup. The palate is luscious, with intensely sweet, but never cloying, complex flavour. Layered and balanced, with incredible length. This is truly a truly exceptional wine.
97/100