Appellation Australia

Some quick notes from an excellent evening hosted by David Lole in Canberra. All wines were tasted and scored blind except for the Curlewis, the St. Henri and the Petaluma Essence.

Rockford Sparkling Black (Sept. 2005 disgorgement) - (Barossa Valley, South Australia):

Bright, clean raspberry, cherry, pepper, vanilla and blackberry aromas as well as a smidge of oak. Flavours refreshingly dance across the tongue into a good length finish. Rather lovely to drink - sure it is youthful, but at least you don’t have to deal with the infamous leaking/snapping Rockford corks when you open them early.

90/100

Grosset Watervale Riesling 2002 (screwcap) - (Clare Valley, South Australia):

Lemon and lemon zest, floral aromas, gunflint (although I wasn’t as troubled by the sulphur as some others) and a touch of toast and honey. The palate is austere and shows an excellent minerally acid structure. Certainly youthful and not providing all that much pleasure to drink at the moment, but the promise lies in its future in around 5-8 years time.

91/100

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 1999 - (Margaret River, Western Australia):

Toast, strong pear, peach, grapefruit and nutty, creamy oak that is well blended into the rest of the nose. A very classy palate that is just slightly let down with just a touch too much oak at this stage and just a bit of alcoholic heat on the back palate that I fear may not subside with time.

91/100

Curlewis Reserve Pinot Noir 2002 - (Geelong, Victoria):

Lots going on with the lovely nose - black cherry, earth, forest floor (I learnt a new descriptive French wine term on the night - “valley of the hare”) stalks, some beetroot, spice and honey. Superb length, great depth of fruit and fine walnut flavoured tannins. A genuine top-shelf Australian Pinot Noir that I think is drinking very well at the moment.

93/100

Seppelt Great Western Shiraz 1996 - (Grampians, Victoria):

Deep youthful colour, but there was some complexity on the nose suggesting that it had a bit more age to it. Earth, mushroom, violets, rosewood, a hint of black pepper and cassis. Tannin structure is present on the palate but showing good integration with the other components. An excellent wine that should be drinking at its peak in around 3-5 years and should live on for some time after that.

93/100

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 1998 - (Regional Blend, South Australia):

Chocolate, blueberry, vanilla oak and lots of clean, vibrant red berry fruit. Lovely balance on the clean palate, with good length and importantly it is very enjoyable to drink! Sure, it doesn’t give you a sense of place - but that obviously isn’t what it is aiming for. Drinking really nicely now, but has the structure and balance to develop complexity should you want to give it time over the next 6-8 years.

92/100

Penfolds St Henri Claret “Special Release” 1979 - (Regional Blend, South Australia):

Great colour, no browning even around the edges. Leathery, sweet earthy fruit. Everything is fully resolved and balanced on the palate. A nice old wine that was drinking without faults, and not falling over in the glass, but almost certainly would have had a lot more to offer in the early to mid 90’s.

87/100

Best’s Bin 0 Great Western Shiraz 1998 - (Grampians, Victoria):

A nice coincidence to have this wine on the same night as the Seppelt Great Western. Raspberry, bramble, blackberry and a lovely touch of floral lift (which had some thinking Shiraz/Viognier). A palate that has great weight and depth of fruit flavour. Very youthful and primary but has the class to go the distance and I think it’ll hit its peak in 8-10 years. Should have been poured after the Giaconda, but that is one problem with tasting wines blind.

92/100

Giaconda Cabernet 1992 - (Beechworth, Victoria):

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc. Excellent colour with just a hint of thinning around the edges. Classic cabernet nose of graphite, capsicum, cedar and some some smoky ash. Excellently balanced palate flows through to a long finish. A much better bottle than the one I had late last year with some friends in Sydney at a dinner. Not showing any signs of tiring, but it is well and truly ready to drink.

92/100

Petaluma Botrytis Semillon “Essence” 1999 - (Coonawarra, South Australia):

Great depth of aromas to the nose with honey, botrytis, peaches and pears, crème Brule, burnt toffee and caramel. The palate is just a bit over the top, especially in comparison to the balanced 2000 vintage of this wine that I served late last year. The acid structure is there in the background, but it is just overawed by the level of sweetness. It did seem to come together slightly with some air. Very good but not great.

89/100

Fast Facts: Variety: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc Region: Geelong Country: Australia Winemaker: Nicholas Clark & Janet Cockbill Closure: Screwcap Alcohol: 13.0% Cost: $30AUD Source: Winery Sample Winery Website: Amietta Vineyard and Winery

Angels’ Share is a blend of 60% Shiraz, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc that demonstrates the correct use of an apostrophe where another un-named winery has failed (although I should personally keep in mind the old saying about stones, glass houses and the wisdom imparted that those that live in such houses should refrain from flinging the mentioned object).

Tasted from Riedel ‘O’ Shiraz (414/30) glassware.

Tasting Note: A deep crimson colour. The nose is fairly tightly coiled upon opening with some spearmint, deep set blackberry, blackcurrant and raspberry, traces of echinacea and mocha. It has a medium bodied, smooth and balanced palate with plenty of upfront sweet berry fruit as well as having a medium length finish.

After three hours of being given time to breath it is really starting to show what it has to offer with the nose opening up and ramping up in intensity with blackcurrant and blackberry coming to the fore without any sense of under or over ripe characters.

When to Drink: It is drinking well now, but given time it will take on additional complexity and interest. 2008 - 2014

Verdict: A classy, balanced wine that surprised me a little bit with its level of quality. 91 points.

Fast Facts: Variety: Shiraz Region: Geelong Country: Australia Winemaker: Nicholas Clark & Janet Cockbill Closure: Screwcap Alcohol: 13.8% Cost: $35AUD Source: Winery Sample Winery Website: Amietta Vineyard and Winery

Of all the wines sent to me, I was probably looking forward to trying this one the most, it received a glowing review from Ralph Kyte-Powell as well as the 2002 version of the wine receiving a high score from James Halliday and some trophies. Tasted from Riedel ‘O’ Shiraz (414/30) glassware.

Tasting Note: I tried two bottles of this wine, and both showed similar characters. A slightly feral, rustic, smoky nose as well as earthy characters, spices and blackberry along with some mild French oak backing. On the palate there were green, bitter tannins and a metallic influence that disrupted the line and length of the wine.

For the second bottle, I took the remaining wine in a cleanskin half bottle to a friend who is seriously into wine and whose palate I respect, in order to get a second opinion. I told him nothing about the wine other than that I would like his to try it and to hear his opinion. His comment, without influence from me, when he called me later than night was that it seemed a very good wine that was lurking underneath an increasingly feral nose with some astringency on the palate. He also said that he could think of other tasters that would enjoy the animalistic qualities on the nose.

So by now you are probably thinking that it may have a problem with brett. I spoke to Nicholas and he mentioned that the wine was “filtered to 1 micron at bottling because Brett bugs are 2 micron X 4 microns” as well as lab tested and returned with no detection of the 4 Ethyl Phenol and 4 Ethyl Guiacol compounds that would cause a wine to show this fault. Nicholas thinks that it may be a free sulphur issue which if I had a high ability to detect would influence the palate in such a way.

Verdict: Well, you can probably tell from the review that I found it not to my liking, I could see some positives in the nose, but I found the palate to be entirely off-putting. It could be the case that there is some bottle variation happening (even though I tried two bottles) or it could be the case that this is one of those wines that splits tasters into two groups, those that love it and those that really dislike it. 82 points.

Fast Facts: Variety: Riesling Region: Geelong Country: Australia Winemaker: Nicholas Clark & Janet Cockbill Closure: Screwcap Alcohol: 12.5% Cost: $20AUD Source: Winery Sample Winery Website: Amietta Vineyard and Winery

I tried this wine late last year at the National Riesling Challenge in Canberra and it was one of the favourite current release wines for me that I tasted, so it was good to get to try this under more relaxed conditions. I sampled this wine from Riedel ‘O’ Series Riesling/Zinfandel (414/15) glasses.

Tasting Note: A pale straw green in colour. The nose is comprised of rosemary, crisp green apples, lime, blueberry and passion fruit. It exhibits great focus across the palate. A racy, bracing, mouth-tingling core of acidity provides structure and drives the palate towards the extremely crisp and clean finish.

When to Drink: If you are going to drink it young, do so with food (perhaps with Japanese like Nicholas suggested in the interview) to temper the acid a bit, but I think that you would be well rewarded by letting this rest and develop over the next 6 to 7 years. 2008 - 2013

Verdict: I enjoyed this wine and thought that it showed quite a bit of potential. This is right up there as one of the better Australian Rieslings I have tried from the excellent 2005 vintage. 91 points.

Fast Facts: Variety: Shiraz, Malbec Region: Geelong Country: Australia Winemaker: Nicholas Clark & Janet Cockbill Closure: Screwcap Alcohol: 12.8% Cost: $20AUD Source: Winery Sample Winery Website: Amietta Vineyard and Winery

This is a blend of 80% Shiraz and 20% Malbec. I sampled this wine from Riedel ‘O’ Series Pinot/Nebbiolo (414/7) glasses.

Tasting Note: Cherry red in colour. The nose has aromas of pomegranate, strawberry, rose petals and a hint of yeast. The palate exhibits good depth of flavour and provides excellent crisp acidity leading into the finish. There is no hint of residual sugar that can spoil the vibrancy of some Rosé style wines.

When to Drink: I think that this will be best consumed while the fruit remains prominent and the palate retains its vibrancy. 2006 - 2007

Verdict: A Rosé that gives you something to think about, while remaining refreshing to drink. 88 points.

Here is part 2 of my interview with Nicholas Clark from Amietta in Geelong.

Questions about the region:

Cam: What influenced your decision to setup Amietta in Geelong? Did you select the region because of the varieties that you wanted to work with or was it a matter of selecting the vineyard site first and then deciding what grapes would work best? If you selected the site because you already knew what varieties you would like to work with, was there a reason behind wanting to work with them?

Nicholas: It was a mixture of practical considerations and suitability for grape growing. Amietta is actually between Melbourne and Geelong - about 1 hour 20 from the Melbourne CBD, 30 minutes from Geelong and 45 minutes from the surf at Torquay. So we saw it as a pretty ideal location for getting to Melbourne or Geelong for work or to buy equipment, spares etc for the farm and the winery. And I occasionally dust off the surfboard.

From an economic point of view, land here is a fraction of the cost of the other ‘Melbourne dress circle’ locations such as the Yarra Valley and the Mornington Peninsula.

From a grape growing point of view (our part of the Geelong region) has a near perfect climate - characterised as being about half-way between the climate of Bordeaux and of Burgundy and very similar to Margaret River. We have very dry growing seasons. That means low disease pressure, so we can manage with minimal use of ’soft’ fungicides (seaweed powder, vegetable oil, bicarb etc) and still have disease free fruit. In 2006 growing season we only sprayed the vineyard 4 times. So what’s an ideal climate? Well apart from low disease pressure, it is warm enough to consistently ripen our chosen varieties, but cool enough (maritime influence) so that the delicate, easily-volatilised aromas/flavours are preserved in the fruit. The warmer the climate, the more of these delicate characters are boiled off. The cooler the climate, the greater the risk of weedy, unripe fruit.

The other big issue was soil type. We wanted limestone (the soil of the best red and white sites in Burgundy) and here we found the Coonawarra-type soil mix of clay over limestone on a very good site.

Cam: How was the 2006 vintage for your vineyard and grapes?

Nicholas: It was very warm and very early. The main effect of this was that we picked the Shiraz 6 weeks early (hello, climate change!) at 13.5 degrees Baumé (= 13.5% potential alcohol more or less). A lot of producers in the region didn’t see it coming and suddenly they had jammy dead flavourless fruit at 15.5 degrees Baumé. The other effect was on the Riesling - which we pick on flavour and acid levels, rather than on sugar level. It had beautiful flavours at 11.4 degrees Baumé, so we’ve made a more delicate wine (11.3% alcohol) than in previous years (normally around 12.5%). It has some beautiful floral-honeysuckle characters this year on top of the normal minerally-lemon-spice, and looks very good.

Questions about food and export:

Cam: Food forms an important part of the wine experience for most people, are your wines geared towards any particular food style? Are there any particularly good matches for your various wines that you can recommend?

Nicholas: They are all made to be enjoyable by themselves when released. That doesn’t mean they are soft, it means they are balanced. Personally I can’t stand a red that needs half a cow in your mouth as a fining agent to moderate the tannins in an over-extracted, unbalanced wine.
By and large it’s the usual suspects - lamb or beef with Angels’ Share (Shiraz-Cabernet); duck, game or quail with Shiraz, oysters or Japanese with Riesling and anything pink with Rosé. Of the 2 reds, the Shiraz has the higher acidity, so can carry a richer dish. That said, both the Shiraz and the Angels’ Share are often on our table with a nice rare steak, a baked spud and a salad.

Cam: Do you export your wine outside of Australia? If not, is international exposure a goal for the future?

Nicholas: We’ve got a fair few mailing list customers overseas (mainly NZ and Japan) where we can post a case at a time and not get slaughtered by import taxes and duties. But our production is so small that if we supplied overseas importers we’d have to cut back what we can sell here. We haven’t ruled it out, just haven’t had anyone really push us for it.

Late last year, Nicholas Clark who is one half of the family owned Amietta Winery (the other half being his partner Janet Cokbill) in Geelong, Victoria contacted me to ask if I was interested in travelling to the Geelong Wine Show which he helps to organise. Unfortunately I was unable to go and despite my best efforts I have been unable to find time to make the trip down since.

Instead, Nicholas has sent me four of their current release wines to try and I took the opportunity to interrogate him with the following questions which I will divide into two posts due to their length. I hope that you find the detailed answers of interest as background leading into the wine reviews that I will post later during the week.

Questions about the people:

Cam: I have read that both you and Janet were archaeologists as well holding a varied number of other roles over the years, what led to you making a decision to start growing grapes and producing wine?

Nicholas: Apart from some type of insanity?

Reading biographical notes of newcomers to the Australian wine industry, it seems many of them have been people of reasonable/substantial financial means who have tasted their way through the fine wines of world before having an ‘I could do that’ moment. Phillip Jones (Bass Phillip) and Peter Althaus (Domaine A) spring to mind as particularly successful examples.

Janet and I really started the other way. We were both keen home gardeners with modest day-jobs who enjoyed outdoor activities and wanted to live in the country. Grape growing presented itself as a possible way of generating a farm income, but on a small farm it was never going to work without value-adding. So that’s how we became grape growers and winemakers. We did short courses in both grape growing and wine making and I enrolled at Charles Sturt University doing Viticulture as a distance education student.

Cam: Is there a particular bottle that you could say was the best bottle of wine you’ve experienced?

Nicholas: Janet and I were both unanimous on this one: though neither of us is prepared to choose between the Burgundy and the Sauternes as our ‘I’ve died and gone to heaven’ wine experience. Even more so when we had them both on the same night. At a small ‘bring a bottle night’ one very generous colleague put a bottle of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti (a 1993 Echézeaux) on the table and another put a bottle of 1986 Chateau Suduiraut (Sauternes). There were other exceptional wines that night, but those two were unbelievable.

Questions about the wines and winery:

Cam: Is there a story behind the name “Amietta”? It sounds Italian but I couldn’t find a direct translation for it.

Nicholas: It is an Italian girl’s name (like Amy), but it was actually the name of Janet’s family’s ancestral home. It was a big house near St Kilda Road and the Shrine of Remembrance that was build in the 1880s during the height of the ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ building boom (when Melbourne was the richest city in the world courtesy of the 1850s gold rushes). We haven’t been able to discover how it came to be called Amietta, but assume that as most of the building work in Melbourne at that time was by Italian builders, stonemasons etc, that it was built and named by or for an Italian who named it for his daughter or sweetheart or something.

Apart from the family connection to the name, as you noticed, it sounds a little bit European and maybe a little bit Australian - which is how we see our wine. Marrying European and Australian winemaking approaches: preserve the terroir, go a little wild in the ferments, but don’t be bound down by stuffy or senseless tradition. Gary Farr (ex-Bannockburn, now of By Farr) was recently quoted as saying he would only ever bottle wine under cork. Maybe he also uses 18th Century pain relief at the dentist, travels by horse and uses a musket to shoot rabbits.

Cam: All four wines you produce are sealed under screwcap (7 this bottling: Shiraz-Lagrein, Chardonnay and a non-estate Sauvignon Blanc added - Nicholas), which is great. Do you need to do anything differently when you are bottling under screwcap, to when you bottle under cork? Did you, or are you still looking at any of the recent other closure alternatives (Diam, glass stoppers etc), or do you believe that screwcap is still currently the superior closure method?

Nicholas: We give the wines a fair bit of air in the month prior to bottling (a couple of pretty aerative rackings etc) to push the Reduction-Oxidation potential of the wine (remember Redox potential from school chemistry?) out of the heavy reduction zone. With Riesling, we make sure the wine goes smoothly and cleanly through the ferment so it doesn’t have a stink problem to start with. We don’t do a lot of copper fining - which some screw cap winemakers see as necessary - mainly because our wines are pretty stable by the time we bottle. I think if you rush your wines to bottle (particularly reds) they still have a lot of growing up to do and that’s where problems can arise.

Other closures - none of them really get the points for being simple, functional, robust in transport, well accepted in the market and reasonably priced. My next choice would be a Diam cork - but they are nearly as impermeable to air (= good) as a screw cap, so why not just use a screw cap. My last choice (= over my dead body) would be the ridiculous Zork, which is as ugly as it sounds.

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With that, we’ll take a break - please look for the second part of this interview covering some questions about the Geelong region, the 2006 vintage and food matching here. Please also let me know if you would like to see more of this kind of content in addition to the wine reviews on this site.

Leo Buring Leonay DWU13 Watervale Riesling 1991 (Clare Valley, South Australia):
Light golden in colour which seems to hint away from the age. On the slightly shy nose it had freshly squeezed lime juice, some toast, butter and honey. Palate exhibits good length and intensity but perhaps just lacks focus. 89/100

Curlewis Chardonnay 2002 (Geelong, Victoria):
Passionfruit, peaches, sweet French oak, some smoky bacon and a nougat, nutty edge to the slightly reductive nose. The palate shows lovely flavour concentration and texture but seems to be a bit all over the place. A fellow taster picked it as “new world trying to be old world”. Not as classy as the 2003 or 2004, but I still liked it. 87/100

Bannockburn Shiraz 1998 (magnum) (Multi-Region, Australia):
This was composed of parcels of fruit from over thirty producers that were given to Bannockburn after their 1998 Shiraz crop was ruined by hail. It displayed a youthful colour with ruby red edges deepening in colour into the core. The wine had a dense, complex nose with blood, a touch of stalks, black pepper, spice, raspberry, menthol, tobacco and tomato. Good textured mouth-feel with nice length and everything well balanced. Plenty of life left to drink over the next 5 years based on this magnum. 90/100

Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz 1998 (McLaren Vale, South Australia):
Deep black olive in colour. A room filling nose of plum, vanilla oak, liquorice, blackberry, olive and chocolate with a touch of florality and smoked meat in the background. The palate is unmistakably primary and filled with concentrated, rich fruit flavour. Has great balance and structure which should allow this wine to develop complexity and interest over the next 7-9 years. 90/100

Gunderloch Nackenheimer Rothenberg Riesling Auslese 2002 (375ml) (Rheinhessen, Germany):
Had a more restrained, sulphurous nose than the 2004 - some lime, green apples, slate and lemon. The palate has good acid structure balancing the medium level of sweetness and is rather easy to drink. Better than the ‘03, but not as good as the ‘04. 88/100

Gunderloch Nackenheimer Rothenberg Riesling Auslese 2004 (375ml screwcap) (Rheinhessen, Germany):
A pure, expressive, vibrantly enticing nose of slate, peach, pear honey and some botrytis influence. Focused, pure minerally acidity drives the palate and balances with the medium level of sweetness that gave the palate a restrained richness and depth of flavour. Very good. 92/100

Weingut Ed Weegmuller Haardter Herrenletten Riesling Kabinett Troken (Pfalz, Germany):
Sealed with a synthetic cork. Pear, herbs and floral notes on the nose. The palate is dry as promised, but maybe the acid needs to be reined in a bit. Rather simplistic, without depth or too much character of interest but drinkable. 85/100

To balance the night of French legends that I spoke of in the last post - it was decided that we should come together again in early April to have a dinner that would be a tribute to some great Australian wines.

We gathered at Restaurant Atelier at Glebe - another restaurant with an excellent reputation.

We again selected the degustation menu as we find that it is best to space out the amount of time that you spend with each wine, and this is easier to do with multiple small courses of food.

The degustation menu is decided two days prior to the booking, to take into account what fresh produce can be obtained and it consisted of the following courses;

Sourdough Bread, EVOO, Balsamic & Tapenade, Échiré Butter
Chilled Spiced Lentil Soup & Roquette Oil
Duck Egg ‘ATELIER’ w Goat Curd Soubise, Unpasteurised Ocean Trout Roe
House-Made Black Pudding with Foie Gras, Seared Scallops and Parsnip Puree
Zucchini Flower filled with Prawn, Crab and Bill, Fillet of King George Whiting, Sauce Vierge
Rare-Roasted Gauler River Pigeon, Confit Cabbage, King Mushrooms
Seasonal Selection of Cheeses, House-Made Lavosh, Sourdough.
Sauterne Custard with Lychee Gastrique
Caramelised Almond & Praline Soufflé

It was interesting to note the similarity in some dishes to the menu at Marque (the Egg, Black Pudding, Rare Pigeon and Sauterne Custard) - but while they sound similar, the difference in flavour profile was quite pronounced for some of them.

I would say that if I were to cast a critical eye on the food (and I guess I am), it was of excellent quality and taste - but it probably didn’t quite have the depth of flavour or excitement that the food at Marque did. Some members of the party were not impressed with the Pigeon dish saying it was too rare. It is very rare and that gives a certain texture to it that you may or may not like, but for my tastes it was fine.

The service was smooth and well executed and Julian the sommelier was right on top of things when handling our wines. The glasses were alright but not great (bring your own if you are bringing special wines) and the number of decanters provided was good. The chef (Darren Templeman) was also able to produce some good looking (and apparently tasting) dishes for a member of our party who has a very long list of foods that he is unable to eat.

And the bill? $110 total per person including the 7 courses ($75), bread, cheese ($8), corkage ($8 per bottle), coffee ($5) and gratuity. I think for a degustation of this quality, you would have a hard time doing much better than that.

I think that Atelier is among the top level of restaurants in Sydney and if I were to rate it, I would give it 94 points including a couple of extra points for the value.

So, with that out of the way - let’s talk about the wines. 19 bottles opened and each one a classic wine from mostly classic vintages. Our 19 bottles were from 11 different wine regions in Australia, showing that regions outside those two or three that are currently in fashion can still make great wines. They performed as follows -

Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 1996 - (Clare Valley, South Australia):
A mid-gold colour. Nose is comprised of butterscotch and lemon meringue, as well as some honey characters after some time in the glass. Length was good, but some overt acid on the palate disrupts the balance. Seemed a bit over developed, holding up alright but was apparently not nearly as good as another bottle consumed by two others at the table late last year and not a patch on the ‘96 Grosset Watervale I had recently. 87/100

Tyrrell’s “Vat 1″ Semillon 1994 - (Hunter Valley, New South Wales):
Rich nose of lanolin, honey and a small amount of toast. Palate is of medium intensity and has excellent mouth-feel, balance and length. A very good wine and it was consistent with a bottle that I had last year at a Tyrrell’s tasting. Drinking well now for my tastes, but should hold for some time. 92/100

Giaconda Chardonnay 2002 - (Beechworth, Victoria):
Nose has good intensity - toasty, spicy and caramel oak, citrus, nutty and minerally/flinty characters. What I really enjoyed about this wine was its texture and mouth-feel. It has very good length with excellent structure. It should develop very well over the next 5-7 years. 93/100

Leeuwin Estate “Art Series” Chardonnay 1987 - (Margaret River, Western Australia):
Good complexity on the nose - toasty oak, marmalade, oranges, honey and grapefruit. Palate has good depth, but there is a note of tartness on the finish just disrupting the line slightly. Sits in between the two bottles I have had previously, one better (see here) and one worse. It was still an excellent wine and did deserve to sit in on a dinner of Australian legends. 93/100

Bass Philip “Reserve” Pinot Noir 1997 (375ml) - (Gippsland, Victoria):
I was truly in the minority at my end of the table, but I really liked the complex nose on this - stems, sappy, earthy, mushrooms and a bit bloody and gamey. I did not like the palate so much, there was some tartness and some aggressive stalk characters disrupting the finish. 88/100

Bannockburn “Serre” Pinot Noir 1998 - (Geelong, Victoria):
Nose shows stalks, cherry and earth as well as being a bit alcoholic. Palate was simple and somewhat one-dimensional, but I thought it was smooth and had good balance and carry. It wouldn’t surprise me if this took on some complexity with additional age. I preferred the aromas of the Bass Phillip, but would take the palate of the Bannockburn. 89/100

Mount Mary “Quintet” Cabernets 1986 - (Yarra Valley, Victoria):
Corked - musty and totally stripped of fruit on the palate. How can people say that they would miss the “romance” of cork? NR

Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon 1995 - (Margaret River, Western Australia):
Youthful in colour. Nose has elements of violets, cedar, cassis and iodine. The palate is brooding and powerful yet beautifully balanced with all the elements present and working together. Excellent tannin structure and bound to be even better over the next 10 years. 93/100

Wynns “John Riddoch” Cabernet Sauvignon 1982 - (Coonawarra, South Australia):
This was the backup bottle for the corked Mount Mary. Mocha/chocolate, plum, earth and some capsicum (but in the background rather than the foreground “essence of capsicum” of the previous bottle I had generously been given the chance to try). The palate shows superb focus, depth and length. A remarkable wine that will live for years to come (bottle/cork variation pending). This was my Wine of the Night for drinking tonight. 95/100

Cullen “Diana Madeline” Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2001 - (Margaret River, Western Australia):
A last minute ring-in for the 1996 Cullen DM. Alcoholic heat on the tight nose as well as some violet and cherry aromas. A tannic palate that culminates in a harsh acidic finish. Just a development phase or falling to pieces, I suspect probably the former. 87/100 on this showing.

Penfolds “Grange” Shiraz 1972 - (South Australia):
Corked - One of the worst cases of TCA that I have ever experienced initally - and almost unbelievably it got worse with more air - I was unable to reuse the glass that this was poured into. NR

Penfolds “Grange” Shiraz 1978 - (South Australia):
Furniture polish as well as the furniture itself on the nose. Palate is acidic, tannic, lacks fruit and has a bitter finish. This bottle was way past its best. 78/100

Henschke “Hill of Grace” Shiraz 1986 - (Eden Valley, South Australia):
The brett police were out early on this one but I wasn’t getting any. Dark chocolate, sour cherry, leather and sweet fruit on the nose. A still youthful palate showing some tannins sticking out a little bit. The palate was getting better and taking on weight with additional airtime. A lengthy finish. Just needs to come together a bit on the palate. 93/100

Henschke “Hill of Grace” Shiraz 1990 - (Eden Valley, South Australia):
Nice complexity on the nose. Cherry, raspberry, blackberry and very well integrated oak. Palate has good structure but is powerful and intense as well. Perhaps maybe just a touch of acid sticking out on the palate to disrupt what is otherwise a wine with a very long life ahead of it. 90/100

Penfolds “Grange” Shiraz 1990 - (South Australia):
Primary, rich nose of sweet caramel, chocolate, plum, spices and American oak. Good intensity on the palate, tannins are prominent but are of high quality. Excellent length. Very young and needs a significant amount more time to really strut its stuff. 93/100

Penfolds “Kalimna Block 42″ Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 - (Barossa Valley, South Australia):
A vibrant nose of spice, raspberry, earth, tobacco, cedar, dustiness, cassis and restrained oak. The palate is very classy, elegant yet it has superb depth and intensity of fruit, wonderful balance and a long, unbroken line and length. It may not be a pure expression of Cabernet Sauvignon, but it is a pure expression of Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon. Needs 10, maybe 15 years to be at its peak and could be one of the all time classics at its peak. My Wine of the Night for potential and just all around class. 96/100

Brokenwood “Graveyard” Shiraz 2000 - (Hunter Valley, New South Wales):
Very closed, very hard to judge. Some liquorice, violets, blackberry on the nose. The alcohol was showing through on the palate. I was excited to taste this, but it really felt a bit lacklustre. I would not touch another one for 5 years. 88/100

Jim Barry “The Armagh” Shiraz 1991 - (Clare Valley, South Australia):
The backup bottle to replace the ‘72 Grange. From a single vineyard in the Clare Valley. A nose comprising pepper and spice, hazelnut, mulberry and chocolate. The palate has a certain vibrancy to it. Very good, long finish. Really enjoyable. 91/100

De Bortoli “Noble One” 1984 - (Riverina, New South Wales):
Nose shows a bit of promise with apricot, botrytis characteristics and sultana. The palate is disjointed, alcoholic, spiky and finishing short. Disappointing for one of the legends of Australian dessert wine.80/100

Scotchmans Hill (Geelong) -

“Geelong” Chardonnay 2004 - The nose shows peaches, grapefruit and some restrained toasty oak. Very nice mouth feel, it is focused but also has an appealing texture to it. Good fruit intensity. Will be best over the next 3 or 4 years. 89/100

“Geelong” Shiraz 2004 - An intense nose of smoky oak and smallgoods. Palate has good texture but there is some peppery heat on the back palate that spoils the line somewhat. 88/100

“Geelong” Pinot Noir 2004 - Fair bit of spicy oak on the nose. Palate is tannic and the oak is rather dominant here as well. Fruit needs more intensity to match the oak treatment. 87/100

“Swan Bay” Pinot Noir 2004 - Stalky and earthy with some strawberry notes to the nose. Good length and not a bad early drinking style, just lacking some texture on the palate to really be very good. 87/100

“Swan Bay” Chardonnay 2004 - Toasty and buttery nose. Good flavour intensity on the slightly broad palate. 86/100

“Geelong” Sauvignon Blanc 2005 - Very herbal nose. Palate is dry and has good intensity of flavour. 86/100

“Swan Bay” Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2004 - Vibrant aromas of flint and citrus peel. Palate is a let down, being somewhat bland. 85/100

“The Hill” Chardonnay 2005 - Grapes and fruit salad form the fresh nose. Palate is simple and finishes short. 83/100