Appellation Australia

Olssens

2004 Riesling
Little bit of briar, mango and some florals. Good punch to the palate and good length with just a bit of sweetness.
89/100

2004 Charcoal Joe Chardonnay
Soft nose, some butter and spice. Very creamy mouthfeel with good flavour persistence and good structure.
89/100

2003 Jackson Barry Pinot Noir
Powerful nose of spice, cherry and pepper. Bit soft and lacking character on the palate though. Lingers slightly but only lightly.
85/100

2004 Jackson Barry Pinot Noir
Cherry and violet nose with a bit of earth. Palate shows better depth and intensity than the 2003 version. Very good.
88/100

Carrick

2006 Sauvignon Blanc
Crisp nose with some mango and herbs. Palate has some texture to it and there is length and persistence.
88/100

2006 Riesling
Musky, floral and perfume to the nice nose. Palate bursts with flavour. Nice length and structure.
90/100

2004 Chardonnay
Big nose, meal, butter and some funky characters. Palate shows lots of intensity but not a lot of complexity.
87/100

2006 Pinot Gris
Lychee, apple, limes on the nose. Crisp palate with a hint of fruit sweetness. Enjoyable.
89/100

2005 Unravelled Pinot Noir
Red berries, rhubarb and spice. Light fruit driven palate.
86/100

2004 Pinot Noir
Funky, spice and earthy nose. Palate suffers a bit from what seems like too much oak and also tastes a bit confected.
84/100

Wooing Tree

2006 Rose
Pale pink. Some cherry to the nose. Palate is really lacking in any flavour except for some sweetness.
82/100

2005 Pinot Noir
Full on nose, a bold style with blackberry and spice. Very intense fruit on the palate as well. Starts to look a bit like cool climate Shiraz rather than Pinot Noir. Good if that is the style you are looking for.
87/100

Desert Heart

2005 Pinot Noir
Strawberry nose. Palate is soft and there isn’t much of interest.
86/100

2005 Spencer Block Pinot Noir
Intense Cherry Ripe nose. Boisterous palate, too overblown for my taste with the oak and massive fruit concentration.
86/100

Nevis Bluff

2005 Pinot Gris
Minerally nose. Palate lacks length and depth.
85/100

2002 Pinot Noir
Tight nose, some sulphur characters and maybe some earth. Fine tannins on the palate. Too closed in to find much to enjoy right now.
86/100

Lamont

2005 Dry Riesling
Minerals and gunflint. Palate is dry as promised, but boring.
85/100

2006 Classic Off-Dry Riesling
Lychee and tropical fruit on the nose. Acid doesn’t carry the sweetness on the palate well enough and it finishes short.
83/100

2006 Pinot Gris
The ultimate in bland. No carry to the palate.
81/100

2005 Pinot Gris
Steely nose, some green characters. Palate is viscous, there is a bit of alcohol on the finish.
85/100

2005 Pinot Noir
Elegant and restrained style but it doesn’t have the depth or interest on the palate for me.
86/100

Peregrine

2005 Riesling
Steely/minerally nose. Rounded palate, lacks drive.
85/100

2006 Pinot Gris
Apples and kiwi fruit on the nose. Palate drops away quickly. Not really impressed.
84/100

2006 Sauvignon Blanc
Herby nose. Palate lacks focus.
83/100

2005 Pinot Noir
Violets, spice and cherry to the nose. Palate is decent, clean and bright with some structure for aging over the next 5 years.
87/100

Kawarau

2006 Sauvignon Blanc
Passionfruit and tropical fruit nose. The palate shines with intensity of flavour. Pretty good.
88/100

2006 Pinot Gris
Lightly scented nose. Palate is soft and lacks anything to get excited over.
85/100

2004 Reserve Chardonnay
Butter and spicy, nutty oak with some wild character. Good mouthfeel, round without being broad. Good for the style.
88/100

2004 Reserve Pinot Noir
Earth and lots of dark cherry character. Savoury palate, with good tannins and structure. Needs some time to shine.
88/100

Quartz Reef

NV Chauvet Sparkling
Oyster shells, apples and grape aromas. Palate is fresh but with 0 depth, really driven by acid alone. This doesn’t speak to me at all.
83/100

2002 Chauvet Sparkling
Apple pie aromas on the nose. Palate is like apple juice. Length is disappointing.
83/100

2006 Pinot Gris
Melon and musk. The palate is quite good, bright fruit but with some depth to it.
88/100

2005 Pinot Noir
Perfumed violet nose with some bright fruit supporting. Palate is good as well, with some structure and interesting texture.
88/100

Chard Farm

2006 Rabbit Range Pinot Gris
Bit of alcohol showing on the nose. Palate has fruit sweetness but isn’t very interesting.
86/100

2004 Closeburn Chardonnay
Elegant nose with some straw and citrus. The palate is taut and very well structured. Balanced and clearly very good.
90/100

2005 Pinot Noir
Pepper and spices with some black cherry character. Good balance on the palate. Quite nice.
88/100

2005 The Viper Pinot Noir
Elegant, perfumed nose with rose petals, cherry, smoke and well integrated oak. Palate is delicious, savoury fruit with great length. A real stand out of the day.
92/100

Torr Estate

2006 Riesling
Floral and kiwi fruited nose. Nice restraint to the palate, some residual sugar that is balanced nicely by the acid. Good length and intensity of flavour.
89/100

2005 Pinot Noir
Dominated by stewy and medicinal aromas. A shame as the palate is quite nicely balanced.
85/100

Mount Edward

2006 Riesling
Floral nose. Touch of sweetness to the palate. Not a lot of character.
86/100

2006 Drumlin Riesling
Delicate nose, with minerals and steel, could be mistaken for German Riesling on the nose. Good flavour to the palate, the balance is spot on. The only downside is a slightly spritzy character, without that the rating would have been higher.
88/100

2004 Sauvignon Blanc
Herbs and asparagus. Palate seems a bit flabby.
83/100

2004 Earths End Pinot Noir
Sweet cherry nose. Confected character comes through on the palate. Lacks structure.
84/100

2004 Pinot Noir
Tightly wound nose, seems ready but waiting to explode. Palate is nice, but a bit too linear.
87/100

Wild Earth

2006 Pinot Gris
Good floral lift to the nose. Palate is too sweet with not enough acid.
84/100

2005 Riesling
Nose doesn’t offer up much character. Palate has some residual sugar but it is well handled by the acid. A bit too simple to be better than nice.
86/100

2003 Blind Trail Pinot Noir
Cherry and kirsch on the nose. Palate suffers from a serious lack of depth, though it is balanced otherwise.
86/100

2004 Pinot Noir
Earth and funky, gamey characters on the nose. Good amount of fruit on the palate, but it feels linear and one dimensional.
86/100

Rockburn

2005 Sauvignon Blanc
Herbal on the nose and palate. Good length, but the herbs dominate too much for my taste.
86/100

2005 Riesling
Honeysuckle and other floral characters. Balanced palate with good length. Falls into the off-dry category I think.
88/100

2003 Chardonnay
Honey and some noticeable but not over the top oak on the nose. Good length to the palate. A delicate style.
88/100

2003 Pinot Noir
Floral, musk and spice aromas. Fruit drives the palate with a bit of oak providing support. Nice early drinking Pinot.
87/100

The third and final workshop on the second day of the Frankland Estate International Riesling Tasting in Sydney.

This workshop focused on Riesling from the new and old world, in an off-dry style.

Dry River “Craighall” 2004

Slightly less pungent nose than the 2005 I tried the previous day, but still had some sweaty, funky elements as well as crisp green apples, lemons and lime. There is a good balance between sweetness and structural acidity. Nice drinking and will probably provide enjoyment over the next 2-3 years, but was just seeming to lack something special to take it up to the next level of quality.

88/100 

Cave Spring “CSV” 2004

The nose is fresh and shows notes of florality and grape juice. Palate shows very aggressive acidity that disrupts the line and length of the wine. I don’t know if it’ll settle down with time, but on this showing it was very difficult to drink.

84/100

J. L. Wolf Forster Pechstein Spatlese 2004

In contrast to the 2004 Spatlese Trocken that I tried from this maker in workshop two, I thought this was quite good. It has a very floral, perfumed nose with apples, pear, steel, slate and minerals. Shows excellent palate structure and has a lingering finish. The sweetness is restrained and plays only a background role.

88/100

Wittmann Westhofener Morstein Spatlese 2004

Pure citrus peel and lime scents on the nose. Acid is aggressive on the front of the palate, but then drops away in the middle and leaves cloying sweetness on the finish. This wine seemed to be struggling to find balance on this occasion.

85/100

Bonny Doon “the Heart has its Rieslings” 2005

Has to be a contender for one of the most cringe inducing names I’ve encountered. Had a nose of lime, lychee, slate, grapefruit and pear. Palate shows good length but needs some additional acid in order to avoid the sweetness dominating and to find balance.

87/100

Clusserath-Weiler Trittenheimer Apotheke Spatlese 2004

Pungent, powerful, slightly over the top nose of washed rind cheese, yeast and sulphur. The palate is good, balanced and long - but it’s hard to drink when your nose is sending you a signal that you don’t really appreciate in your Riesling.

85/100

Reinhold Haart Piesporter Goldtropfchen Spatlese 2004

Has a reductive nose, minerals, sulphur and phenolic characters. Biting acidity on the palate comes in over the top of the sweetness. Hard to judge at the moment, it may calm down with additional time in bottle.

86/100

Weingut Clemens Busch Pundericher Marienburg Spatlese 2004

A nose of good purity - steely, slate and minerals. Balance and length suffer from cloying sweetness on the back palate.

87/100

Emrich-Schonleber Monzinger Halenberg Spatlese 2004

Old wet sweaty boots along with struck match sulphur. Acid dominates the palate. I was not too fond of this wine.

80/100

Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Spatlese 2004

Like freshly squeezed lime juice on the nose. The palate is tight and elegant, with sweetness present but cooperating with the other elements of the well-structured palate. I could see this getting better with additional time in bottle.

89/100

Weingut Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg Spatlese 2004

Aromas of slate, petrol and apricot on the nose. A really good acid structure and balance to the rich palate, seamless integration of components and a lingering finish. It should be very good with time to develop.

89/100

Dr. Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Spatlese 2004

Icing sugar, slate, earth, lime and violets form the nose. Displays an elegant palate with tight focus and superb depth of flavour. It is delicious to drink now, but give it 10-15 years and it should be brilliant.

91/100

Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Spatlese 2003

This looked a bit out of place as a product of the 2003 vintage alongside the previous 2004 wines. On the nose it had ripe peaches, mango, pineapple, a floral candy like element and concentrated raisins. A rich and slightly broad palate, with the acid struggling to keep to the tempo of the rest of the elements.

86/100

Pegasus Bay “Encore” 2004

Grapefruit, passionfruit, honey, apricot and a fair hit of botrytis. Palate exhibits very high richness, excellent flavour depth and fruit concentration, but the core acid structure reins things back from being cloying. Lacks complexity at the moment, but could improve if given another 3-4 years.

90/100

Mount Horrocks “Cordon Cut” 2004

Lemon meringue, pineapple and some sulphurous notes. Palate lacks acid and the sweetness seems cloying as well as exhibiting harshness on the finish. This was not nearly as good as the excellent 2005 that I had on general tasting. Sealed under screwcap, but I wonder if there was something slightly off about this bottle.

82/100

I started this event by looking at some varied set of six Pinot Noir with wine writer Peter Bourne and the winemakers from Willow Creek and Ten Minutes by Tractor on the opening Friday night.

Willow Creek “Tulum” Pinot Noir 2004 - (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria):
Ah, I’ve wandered into the Shiraz tutorial by mistake. No? Oh.

Hits you with a rich, ripe nose with boudin noir/black pudding, rhubarb, mint and spice aromas. The palate has masculine power and plenty of flavour but it lacks length and lacks class. Perhaps it is a Pinot Noir for those that don’t like Pinot Noir? I happen to like Pinot Noir.
85/100

10 Minutes by Tractor “Wallis Vineyard” Pinot Noir 2003 - (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria):
A light-mid red colour. A more reclusive nose than the Tulum, but also cleaner in nature with red cherry, a slight floral edge and some oak showing through. The palate is elegant and has good texture, but again the oak comes to the fore. It may be better in a couple of years if the fruit can hold up.
87/100

Pipers Brook Estate Pinot Noir 2004 - (Northern Tasmania):
Stalks and earth on the shy, weak nose. The palate also lacks intensity, depth and character. Very disappointing and I don’t think that it’ll get better.
83/100

Quartz Reef Pinot Noir 2004 - (Central Otago, New Zealand):
Dense purple in colour. The nose has aromas of beetroot, blue cheese, earth, black cherries and a touch of spice. The palate has good length, but it leans too far into the juicy, plummy, ripe spectrum and loses varietal typicity as a result. There is also some alcohol heat poking through.
85/100

Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanée 2002 - (Burgundy, France):
Has an elegant, spicy nose with plums and cherries. The palate is simple without a great deal of depth or intrigue but at least shows balance and elegance, something that was forgotten about in some of the previous wines. I don’t think it is going to get too much better, but it will be good to drink over the next couple of years.
88/100

Domaine Jean Grivot Nuits St. Georges “Les Pruliers” 1er Cru 2002 - (Burgundy, France):
Shows off a restrained, clean nose with spice, black cherries and floral scents. The palate is where the class of this wine shines through with lovely depth and complexity as well as an intensity of flavour that is refined rather than brutish. Super length, a genuine step up in quality, and it will deliver lots of enjoyment over the next 10 years.
92/100

Fast Facts: Variety: Shiraz Region: Hawkes Bay Country: New Zealand Winemaker: Steve Smith Closure: Cork Cost: $85AUD Source: Friend Winery Website: Craggy Range

I had a chance to take a very quick blind taste of this wine earlier tonight and I’ve been thinking about it in the hours since.

Tasting Note: Deep purple in colour. Nose is vibrant, lots of blueberry, liquorice, spice, blackberry and some chocolate. At first I thought the palate was a bit oak heavy but it is good quality oak and it was less obvious and seemed in balance on the second taste. Fine tannins, excellent structure - it should age beautifully.

When to Drink: I don’t have all that much experience with aged New Zealand Syrah, but I felt this has the structure and fruit depth to drink well now and over the next 6-8 years.

Verdict: It is a really classy wine, but the question was - is it worth the hefty price tag of between $65 to $85 AUD? I wasn’t certain straight away, but the more I thought about it, this is a world class Syrah and is probably worth that level of money. 92 points.

All wines were tasted blind at dinner with some friends from the Winestar Forum with the exception of my bottles which were the Bindi, Sorrenberg and the Elk Cove.

Bollinger R.D 1988 - (Champagne, France): Disgorged May 2000. Tarnished gold in colour. Toast, walnut, yeasty dough, pears and slightly oxidative nose. Palate is intense but still retains balance and structure with a crisp finish. My favourite wine on the night. 93/100

Grosset Polish Hill Riesling 2005 - (Clare Valley, South Australia): What a disappointment, this is meant to be one of Australia’s very best (and expensive) Rieslings - all lemon and lime and a watery palate with no backbone, no structure, no length, no intensity. A bit of sweetness on the finish.

Wine critics have been generally extremely positive about this wine, but I have seen reports from others that their bottle was similarly poor. 85/100

Bindi Composition Chardonnay 2004 - (Macedon Ranges, Victoria): The antithesis of what I don’t like about Australian chardonnay. No buttery, over-oaked characters here. Fairly tight nose, some cinnamon and grapefruit. Some flinty minerality, good underlying oak and a bit of acid at this stage. Length is good. I liked it. 89/100

Felton Road Pinot Noir 2003 - (Central Otago, New Zealand): Cherries, tomatoes, some stalks, touch of funk initially that blew off. Thought there was some acid poking out but not nearly as much as some others at the table found. Fell away at the back of the palate. 87/100

Henschke Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon 1994 - (Eden Valley, South Australia): Savoury nose with elements of earth and blackcurrant at the forefront - lovely tannin structure and great texture/mouthfeel. My second favourite wine on the night. 93/100

Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz 1994 - (Eden Valley, South Australia): Powerful nose with spice, pepper, some background oak and a hint of mint and menthol. Once again good structure and length. 90/100

Sorrenberg Gamay 2001 - (Beechworth, Victoria): Spice, earth, smoked smallgoods, some floral notes and a touch of butterscotch(?). Fleshy palate with some sweetness. Something different and definitely needs to be had with food. 88/100

Elk Cove Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2000 - (Oregon, USA): I think probably the first US Pinot I’ve tried and it’s not too bad! Earthy, forest floor, dirty and funky nose with some stalks in the background. Balanced and silky on the palate. Just lacking in some wow factor. A bit of a polarising style as well, with some liking it and some hating the dirt and funk. 89/100

Lindemans St George Cabernet Sauvignon 1991 - (Coonawarra, South Australia): Original release rather than the recent museum release bottling. Pencil shavings, cedar, cassis. Lovely complexity on the palate, great length. Very Bordeaux like. Super stuff. 92/100

Katnook Estate Prodigy Shiraz 1997 - (Coonawarra, South Australia): Tomato leaf, fair amount of vanilla oak. Palate is pretty good but the oak is still too prominent. 89/100

Rockford Grenache 1996 - (Barossa Valley, South Australia): Very ashy on the nose. Components of the palate are well integrated. I don’t know if this was meant to go 10 years but it was holding up fine. Decent enough but probably not a bad move to move the fruit into their GSM blend (Moppa Springs). 87/100

Rosemount Hunter Valley Trockenbeerenauslese Riesling 1982 - (Hunter Valley, New South Wales): A rarity! The story is that during the Fosters/Southcorp merger, inventory of warehouses were being done and 16 cases were found in a corner and nobody knew what they were. It turned out to be lost museum stock of this wine.

Colour was a deep orange brown, almost looked like a fortified wine. Nose was obvious aged Riesling with a bit of botrytis for good measure. Acid was there on the palate and holding the palate together. Very sweet but very nice. Fell apart after about half an hour in the glass, but was wonderful for the time it was alive. 92/100

Sydney experienced a 45° celsius (113° fahrenheit) New Years day this year, so we did what any sensible group of wine lovers would do - go ahead with the dinner anyway and celebrate the New Year with some great wine.

This was my first visit to Elio, an Italian restaurant which is based in Leichhardt and I would certainly go back for an offline in future. The food was excellent, service was very friendly and most importantly they were one of the few places open on New Years Day. Corkage was $5.50 per bottle which is about average for decent Sydney restauarants.

Krug Grande Cuvée MV - (Champagne, France): My first taste of Krug MV (multi-vintage blend) and I’m almost already a convert. Full, powerful nose of almonds, hazelnut, yeast and toast, while at the same time exhibiting fresh citrusy lemon and lime characters. Exceptional length on the palate with waves of flavour. I could easily get used to this! My favourite wine on this evening.. 95/100

Tyrrell’s Vat 47 Chardonnay 2000 - (Hunter Valley, New South Wales): Citrus, peaches and a touch of butter and oak in the background. Quite a powerful, intense palate. Not showing much development yet but has the structure to hold while secondary characters are taken on. 89/100

Suckfizzle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 1998 - (Margaret River, Western Australia): Herbaceous, grass, tobacco leaf, tinned beans and what I thought was a whiff of disinfectant on the nose. A tangy element to the palate. I didn’t enjoy this but others at the table did. I came back to the wine later in the evening to see if my opinion would be kinder to it after some time had passed, but I still didn’t like it. 84/100

Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 1997 - (Margaret River, Western Australia): Oatmeal, citrus, toasty oak and a bit of cheese dominate the aromas. Nice creamy mouth-feel but a touch of acid sticking out disrupts the line and otherwise good length. 89/100

Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir 2000 - (Gippsland, Victoria):This may be the only wine that I come close to picking blind this year at offline and I didn’t get the vintage, but I’ll take what I can get. Would not (and did not) pick this as being as young as 2000.

Stalks, cherries, violets, some confection and a touch of earthiness. Upfront, very smooth and easy to drink but also showing good texture and structure. I really quite liked the wine, but I rather less like the price tag associated. 92/100

Domaine Jean Gros Vosne-Romanee 1989 - (Burgundy, France): Earth, wild mushrooms, sour cherries and some spicy oak aromas form the forward nose of this wine. The palate lets the wine down a little bit, with some acid poking through that I don’t think will be resolved with any further time. 90/100

Chateau Bon Pasteur 1995 - (Bordeaux, France): Freshly shaved sawdust and tobacco on the nose. Tannic and lacking fruit. I didn’t pick any obvious TCA elements but will give the wine the benefit of the doubt as one member of the table had a better bottle previously. Not Rated

Pillitteri Estates Winery Sparkling Icewine Riesling 2002 - (Ontario, Canada): An interesting and unusual experience. Only a very light sparkle to it. Lifted fresh nose of apricots, raisins, lemon, pear and ginger. The palate was very sweet on its own but was toned down slightly when having it with dessert. Acid structure is there in the background but needs to come forward a little to achieve balance.

This is the first vintage of sparkling Riesling Icewine from this winery (and apparently the first sparkling Riesling Icewine from the region) and I’m sure they’ll improve the results with more experience. 89/100

Charles Melton Sparkling Red NV (Disgorged Nov-99) - (Barossa Valley, South Australia):Cherries along with spicy and meaty notes comprise the nose. Palate had just a touch of sweetness about it. Not bad. 87/100

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

Museum Class Sweet

Only two wines entered into this class. The Brown Brothers Patricia Noble was one of my highlights of the tasting – beautiful balance, extremely concentrated and flavoured, good value as well as it retails for around $20 per half bottle.

Brown Brothers Patricia Noble 2002 – 93/100
d’Arenberg “The Noble” 2002 – 86/100

Museum Class Semi-Dry

A class with just one entry and one good wine.

Firstland “Marlborough” 2002 – 90/100

Museum Class Dry

Thirty wines in this class with thirty tasted. Obviously some very good wines here with some of the better vintages having been kept back by wineries for museum stock. The newly branded Jacob’s Creek (formerly Orlando) Steingarten was very impressive across all three entered wines, with the 2002 vintage standing out and having the potential to be stunning with time.

Jacob’s Creek “Steingarten” 2002 - 93/100
Orlando “St Helga Eden Valley” 1996 - 93/100
Richmond Grove “Watervale” 1998 - 92/100
Peter Lehmann “Reserve” 2001 - 91/100
Jacob’s Creek “Steingarten” 2001 - 91/100
Richmond Grove “Watervale” 2002 - 91/100
Pikes “Reserve” 2001 - 90/100
Richmond Grove “Watervale” 1999 - 90/100
Mitchelton “Blackwood Park” 1998 - 90/100
Taylors “St Andrews” 2000 - 90/100
Orlando “St Helga Eden Valley” 2002 - 90/100
Jacob’s Creek “Steingarten” 1997 - 89/100
Houghton “Museum Release” 1995 - 89/100
Yalumba “Pewsey Vale Contours” 2000 - 89/100
Crabtree “Watervale” 1998 - 89/100
Brown Brothers “Limited Release” 2001 - 89/100
Penfolds “Eden Valley Aged” 1999 - 88/100
Mundoonen “Canberra District” 2002 - 88/100
Forrest Estate “Dry” 2002 - 88/100
McWilliams “Regional Collection Eden” 1996 - 88/100
Mitchell “Watervale” 2002 - 88/100
Kim Crawford “Marlborough Dry” 2002 - 87/100
Jackson Estate 2002 - 87/100
Houghton “Museum Release” 1996 - 87/100
Goundrey “Reserve” 1998 - 86/100
Orlando “St Helga Eden Valley” 1998 - 86/100
Willespie 1998 - 85/100
Gibraltar Rock 2001 - 84/100
Willespie 2002 - 83/100