Appellation Australia

Some notes taken at a dinner attended by some fellow wine lovers –

Seppelt Show Sparkling Shiraz 1990 – (Grampians, Victoria): A nice way to start the proceedings. Blackberry, cherry, spice, violets and earthy characters on the nose. Nice rich mouth-feel, with a bit of sweetness on the palate. Good, long finish. 88/100

Dry River “Lovat Vineyard” Gewürztraminer 2004 – (Martinborough, New Zealand): A style which polarised people somewhat. Lovely, varietal, intense fresh floral nose along with lychee, turkish delight, lemon, apples and a little bit of musk and spice. A concentrated, rich, sweet palate with a long finish.

There was some discussion that this was too sweet to be a table wine but not sweet enough to be a dessert wine, I’m of the opinion that in a non-offline situation you would find a food to match the wine rather than try to force this square peg of a wine into a round hole. However, I won’t argue that it isn’t worth the money. 89/100

Tahbilk Marsanne 1992 – (Nagambie, Victoria): Deep golden colour. Some honey, but mostly oxidised characters on the nose. Palate was thin and sharp. Sadly, a bottle well past its best. Not Rated

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chadonnay 1996 – (Margaret River, Western Australia): Fairly obvious nutty caramel oak on the nose as well as grapefruit and citrus fruits. Rich, broad palate – powerful creamy texture. Very long finish. From what I’ve tasted of LEAS Chardonnay this vintage seemed to be a good representation of the style with a bit of age. 91/100

Mount Mary Chardonnay 1999 – (Yarra Valley, Victoria): A contrast to the Leeuwin Chardonnay above, but not in a bad way. Steely, minerally, gunflint and struck match on the nose. Delicate, elegant palate with minerally acid providing structure. Long finish. Very good. 92/100

Main Ridge Pinot Noir 1999 – (Mornington Penninsula, Victoria): Sour cherry with strawberry, green stalky characteristics and hints of earth. I didn’t feel that it had enough complexity or interest on the palate to make up for the nose. 84/100

L’Arrosee 1982 – (Bordeaux, France): Wonderfully youthful colour. Cedar, tobacco, blackcurrant, cassis and a bit of a smoked meat on the nose. Balanced, elegant palate leading into a long finish. Drinking so well now and not likely to fall over anytime soon. 92/100

Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 1988 – (Coonawarra, South Australia): Green capsicum, chocolate, mixed herbs and blackberries. Medium weighted on the smooth palate. Good but I thought it needed something more to take the step up into excellent. 88/100

Mount Mary Quintet Cabernets 1995 – (Yarra Valley, Victoria): One of the vintages of this wine that was recently said to not be worth higher than 80 points by Robert Parker Jr. Lovely violets dominate the nose, as well as blackcurrants, earth and sour stalks. Elegant palate, perhaps heading a bit too far towards the thin side of elegant though. 87/100

Masi Costasera 1997 – (Amarone, Italy): Very powerful and upfront. Plenty of oak evident as well as plum and cherry on the nose. Ripe, full bodied, concentrated and powerful – but not at all ready to drink – needs more time for the big tannins and oak to integrate. 87/100

Penfolds RWT 2001 – (Barossa Valley, South Australia): On the nose; Plenty of vanilla oak, cedar, coffee, blackberry, liquorice and some interesting floral overtones. Rich, fruity, oaky palate. Unsurprisingly primary at this stage – needs time for components to integrate and develop complexity. 87/100

Charles Melton Nine Popes 2001 – (Barossa Valley, South Australia): Meaty and savoury, plums, tobacco and blackberry as well as a little bit of sappiness. Smooth and well balanced on the palate – 15% alcohol but doesn’t show any sign of it. Rating is for the wine on the night, but as an afterward, the remains did show a bit better the night after. 89/100

Petaluma Botrytis Essence 2000 – (Coonawarra, South Australia): From a local store wanting to get rid of these because they couldn’t sell them. Slightly over 100 cases of half bottles made. Rich, powerful nose of honey, apricots, citrus peel and some botrytis evident. The palate is luscious, intense and sweet but held in balance by excellent acid structure. Impeccable length. Will age, but I’m not sure that it is worth waiting. Delicious stuff. 92/100

Some wines brought along and tasted blind at a dinner with some fellow wine aficionados ;

Leo Buring Leonay Watervale Riesling 1992 – (Clare Valley, South Australia): Yellow gold in colour. All honey and toast with a touch of lanolin. Good length and was holding together structurally. A couple of comments around the table were that this bottle was past its best, but I thought it was still good and holding up well. 88 Points

Yarra Yering Dry White Number 1 1998 – (Yarra Valley, Victoria) I couldn’t pick it at all blind apart from thinking that I hadn’t tried anything like it before. Very muted initially but may have been served too cold. As it warmed up it showed an interesting honey dominant nose with nutty, caramel oak behind. I thought the palate was lacking in balance and length. Regardless, I found in an interesting experience to drink and think about. 86 Points

Martinborough Vineyard Pinot Noir 1998 – (Martinborough, New Zealand): Pinot on the nose but not the palate. Undergrowth, earthy and leafy, spicy oak and a hint of sweetness on the nose. The palate was medium bodied with good length and savoury oak supporting structurally but a bit of acid poking out. 86 Points

Chateau Lagrange 1995 – (Bordeaux, France): Deep coloured, looks quite youthful. Layered nose of earth, coffee, green capsicum, pencil shavings and mixed herbs. Excellent mouth-feel with fine tannins and structure. 89 Points

Chateau l’Angelus 1988 – (Bordeaux, France): Chocolate oak and tobacco aromas are at the forefront of an intoxicating nose. Quite an intense, full bodied palate. Superbly balanced. Drinking very nicely now and I suggest will continue to do so for quite a few more years to come. Lovely, lovely wine. 92 Points

Winslow Cabernets 1998 – (Marlborough, New Zealand): Dense purple in colour. Youthful nose of berries and currants along with some spicy caramel oak. The palate felt somewhat disjointed with tannins, acid and alcohol all sticking out. May come together. 86 Points

Yalumba Octavius 1990 – (Barossa Valley, South Australia): My favourite quote of the night was about this wine by someone at the table after the vintage (but before the maker) was correctly guessed – “It was as if they said – this is a great vintage, let’s quadruple oak it”. Overbearing oak dominating what might otherwise be a very, very nice wine. It has the length and it has the intensity, but it just doesn’t have the balance. It isn’t a bad wine if you take into account that it seems to be a deliberate choice of style, but it’s certainly not what I’m looking for. 85 Points

Seppelt St Peters 2002 – (Grampians, Victoria): Beautiful complex nose of dense berries, spices, liquorice and savoury meats. Dense but at the same time showing elegance and wonderful structure. Awesome, persisting length. Brings together seamlessly the best of cool-climate and warm-climate Australian Shiraz. 94 Points and my favourite wine of the evening.

McWilliams Solera Aged Rare Liqueur Verdelho NV – (Griffith, New South Wales): I don’t have too much to say about this. Lots of caramel, lots of alcoholic heat, went well enough with the cheese platter but wouldn’t want to drink on its own. 87 Points