Appellation Australia

Recent bottles shared with friends

I was pleased to share some excellent wine over a couple of nights recently with some friends who enjoy drinking it, but perhaps aren’t quite as obsessed with it as I am.

From left to right:

Bannockburn Shiraz 2002 – ($50 – Geelong, Victoria): Earthy and stalky with spice and pepper, well balanced oak lending structure. Super complexity on the palate to keep things interesting. There was a touch of unbalanced acid on the finish but a very good wine regardless. Needs food to really show its best. 92 Points

Star Lane Merlot 2002 – ($35 – Beechworth, Victoria): Contract made by Keppell Smith from the cult winery Savaterre. Medium weighted, great line and length, not lacking anything in the mid-palate. Showed some cool-climate spicy characteristics on the nose and palate. Well balanced with a smooth finish. Among the top Australian Merlot predominate wines that I have tasted this year. 93 Points

Egly-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru N.V – Disgorged Sept 2004 – ($75 – Champagne, France): Lovely golden colour with a glimmer of pink, fine bead and mousse. Pinot dominated nose. Yeasty and apple characters on the nose, but neither were overpowering. Delicious and excellent value compared to the big Champagne houses. 89 Points

Henschke Abbotts Prayer Merlot 2001 – ($65 – Adelaide Hills, South Australia): I’ve talked about this wine a couple of times before (here and here) and each time it has been excellent, this time was no exception. Impeccable structure and length. Velvety all the way across the palate. The kind of wine that you look up to find that the bottle is empty in no time since it is so drinkable. One of the few producers doing something special with this variety in Australia. 93 Points

Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz Viognier 2004 – ($30 – Young, New South Wales): From the winery that made the Shiraz Viognier blend famous in Australia comes this version priced at about half the cost of the flagship wine. Previous vintages of this wine were without a Viognier influence but this vintage has been fermented on Viognier skins and looks all the better for it. Crimson tinged with a superb, enticing floral nose with hints of apricot. Excellent mouthfeel. Strongly fruit driven at this stage of its life, but has a backing of restrained oak and the tannin structure to develop for 4 to 5 years. Perhaps a little bit angular, which should resolve itself over time, but this is such delicious drinking now that I don’t know if many will be able to keep their hands off it for that long. 92 Points

Sydney Champagne Dinner – The Mixing Pot

The Mixing Pot, an Italian restaurant in Glebe was the scene for an interesting evening tasting wines from small grower-producers in Champagne along with three still wines kindly provided to us by Ross Duke. There were no Australian wines this evening, but the notes may be of interest to some of my readers regardless.

The service at The Mixing Pot was excellent as always and the food was of high quality and value. Corkage was $3AU per bottle, which is entirely reasonable.

The Wines:

Launois Pere & Files Grand Cru BdB 1999 – 100% Chardonnay – Golden-yellow in colour. Intense, rich, yeasty nose. Rich melon influences on the palate with a touch of tartness. An oxidative style. Medium length finish. 87 Points

Cuvee Laherte Frires Brut Prestige 1999 – 85% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier – A pale yellow colour. Not much on the nose, very closed. Citrus dominated palate with some sweetness which, to me matched up closely to the taste of lime cordial. 86 Points

J.B. Michel a Pierry Brut Le Chardon 1999 – 85% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Meunier – Light yellow-gold. A lean mineral nose, also quite closed at this stage. A tight palate with the briefest flicker of apples. Short on the finish and lacking in overall complexity. 86 Points

Tarlant La Vigne d’Antan Non Greffée Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut – A blend of grapes from the ’98 and ’99 vintages. 100% Chardonnay – Yellow with a touch of straw. There was something out of place and slightly off-putting on the nose that I couldn’t quite pickup alongside a hint of lime. A tart palate that lacked interest and complexity. 83 Points

Marc Hebrart Premier Cru Prestige Brut 1998 – 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay – A slightly pink hue to the otherwise yellow-gold colour. Before the composition was revealed, it was obvious on the nose that there was a sizeable Pinot Noir component. Quite a bit of richness on the palate but missing elements of interest. Medium-length finish. 85 Points

Bret Brothers Vire-Clesse Climat “La Verchere” 2003 – 100% Chardonnay with 14% alcohol – Like running face-first into a bucket of mashed up pears. Straw-yellow colour. Extremely intense pears with some buttery aromas. Tropical fruits on the palate. Soft and lacking in mid-palate complexity. Some unbalanced high alcohol on the finish. Not enough structure. 82 Points

Jacques Cacheux Echezeaux Grand Cru 1998 – Ruby-red in colour with some brown tinged edges. Unobtrusive smoky oak with some barnyard and mushroom aromas and a medicinal note. Some sharp acid on the palate which was attributed to the wines youth. Medium-length finish. 83 Points

Dominique Laurent Nuits-Saint-Georges 2000 – Crimson coloured with the slightest of brown tinges to the edge. An earthy, floral, interesting nose with a touch of strawberry layered in. A silky palate with a smooth medium length finish. Very approachable now and a good wine. 87 Points

It was an interesting evening and while there were no standout exceptional wines, the majority of the wines were good without being great. I’m looking forward to trying some more wines from the small producers in Champagne.

Farr Rising Mornington Pinot Noir 2003

Farr Rising Mornington Pinot Noir 2003 Fast Facts:
Country: Australia
Region: Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
Winemaker: Nick Farr
Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
Closure: Cork
RRP: $35 AU

For my birthday this year, I went to dinner at the brand new Glass restaurant at the refurbished Hilton Sydney. The head chef at Glass is Luke Mangan, well known chef who has opened Sydney restaurants such as Salt, Bistro Lulu and Moorish. The cuisine is Modern Australian with a touch of French influence.

The extensive wine list has been compiled by Master of Wine Dr Ron Georgiou and is comprised of a 65/35 split of Australian and international wines. There are hundreds of wines available by the bottle, and around 15 by the glass.

The wine I selected to be had with dinner was the Farr Rising Mornington Pinot Noir 2003 (there is also a Geelong Pinot Noir under the same label). 2003 was one of the better recent vintages in the Mornington Peninsula region.

Read on to find out some more about Farr Rising and what my thoughts on the wine were.

Read more…

WBW #12 – Vicary’s Winery Chardonnay 2003

For the one year anniversary of Wine Blogging Wednesday, we return to the founder of the event, as the host of the event at Lenndevours

The theme for this month was to “Drink Local, Real Local”, with the idea being to try a wine from the vineyard that is closest to where you live. I had a number of regions to choose from that are reasonably close to Sydney; the Hunter Valley, Southern Highlands and Mudgee to name a few. However, after some research, it turns out that there are a small number of vineyards remaining in the Sydney basin area, about 30 minutes travel from my home.

Using the Geoscience Australia Location Database, I discovered the very closest vineyard to be Vicary’s Winery at Luddenham, 27.4 kilometres away. So off I went to see what it had to offer. Read on to find out the results.

Read more…

Langton’s Australian Wine Classification IV

Today marks the release of the fourth edition of Langton’s Australian Wine Classification, with this being the first update since 2000. One hundred and one Australian wines have been included, an overall increase of twelve wines. Twenty-two wines have been removed and thirty-four wines have been added since the last classification.

The classification is based on auction market performance. Langton’s, being Australia’s largest auction house, has massive amounts of data from thousands of auctions performed over the last 20 years. This list is not based on price alone, but consistency, volume of demand and market presence.

Wines that make the list are divided into four categories. Exceptional, Outstanding, Excellent and Distinguished, in descending order. The only criteria for inclusion on this list, is that the particular wine must have been made for a minimum of ten vintages, and that the wine has a proven track record at auction. This does exclude most fortified wines, which are generally NV blends.

What makes this list important? It is a reflection of the changing market demands among consumers and investors in fine wine. This list is about consistent performance across multiple vintages and not about wines that received a high Robert Parker or other reviewer one vintage, with that vintage suddenly shooting up in value overnight. This classification reflects, at least in part the respect accorded to these wines by the market as a whole.

I do not feel that there is a great deal of controversy to be found with this latest list. There are some wines that were unlucky to miss out, but in general this is a good representation of our best, most consistent wines over the past few decades.

Langton’s have not yet updated their website with the latest classification, but when they do, more information should be available here.

The full classification list follows on the next page… Please feel free to leave a comment regarding your thoughts on this list.

Read more…

Sydney Dinner – Castel Mola

Another wine dinner with the good people from the Winestar Forum. This time we convened at the Castel Mola Italian Restaurant at Leichhardt.

The Wines:

Once again, most wines were served masked.

Egly-Ouriet Tradition NV – Disgorged Sept 2004 (Champagne, France): A fantastic way to start the evening. Fine and focused with great length. Visibly contains a high Pinot Noir component. Super value for money. 91 Points

Craggy Range ‘Les Beaux Cailloux’ 2001 (Hawkes Bay, New Zealand): Loads of overpowering sweet caramel oak dominating whatever fruit there was to be had. Very much out of balance. It might come together in 2-3 years, but I can’t really be sure. 85 Points

Curlewis Pinot Noir 2002 (Geelong, Victoria): Brown tinged around the edges. Quite savoury. Excellent length. Possibly lacking some complexity. I liked this more than others at the table. 89 Points

Rousseau Gevrey Chambertin Village 1996 (Burgundy, France): Very interesting and complex nose, with plenty of gorgonzola. Great length and a soft finish. This was tasted blind alongside the below wine, and I preferred it for drinking now. 92 Points

Pousse D’Or Volnay 1ere Cru Caillerets 1996 (Burgundy, France): My notes on this wine aren’t extensive, but I do remember getting a fair hit of unbalanced acid. Quite clean for a Burgundy. I wrote down that I thought it was worth 90 Points, mostly because I thought it had quite good structure and may well be better with additional age.

Seppelt St Peters Shiraz 1998 (Grampians, Victoria): As I recall, two of the more experienced tasters at the table picked this as an 2002 vintage wine. Extremely tight and youthful even after having been decanted some time prior in the afternoon. Very good length and intensity. Another 10 or 15 years and it will be brilliant. 93 Points

Chateau La Lagune Grande Cru 1988 (Bordeaux, France): Fantastic, intense nose but was a bit more subdued on the palate. Medium length finish. 90 Points

Chateau d’Angludet 1982 (Bordeaux, France): My equal Wine Of The Night with the St Peters. Deeply coloured and a superb nose. I really enjoyed this, but perhaps just starting on the downward slide after hitting its peak. 93 Points

Charles Melton ‘Sotto di Ferro’ 1999 (Barossa Valley, South Australia): Excellent concentration and complexity. Lots of nutty characters on the nose and palate. I thought it was quite well balanced, not overtly sweet. It was a great experience to get to try this, but I’d struggle to justify the price ($65AU for 375ml). 91 Points

Another excellent evening with some of the ladies and gentlemen of the forum. The food and service at the restaurant were very ordinary, but it was more than made up for by the quality of the company and their generosity with the wines shared.

Sydney Dinner – Peasant’s Feast

A group of five ruffians and vagabonds from the Winestar Forum assembled at the Peasant’s Feast in Newtown to enjoy some food and wine.

The Restaurant: Peasant’s Feast is billed as Sydney’s only organic food dinner restaurant.

The food was down to earth, tasty and servings were generous. The staff were friendly, but a little bit slow at times.

Overall, very good value for money, the bill was under $40AU per head for corkage, entree, mains, cheese and coffee.

The Wines:

Most wines were tasted blind –

Mount Pleasant McWilliams Elizabeth Semillon 1996 (Hunter Valley, New South Wales): A very good start to the evening while we waited for the stragglers to arrive. Nice intensity to the nose. Lots of developed toast and honey characters but showed a bit watery/short on the finish. Ready to drink now. 91 Points

Te Kairanga Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 (Martinbourough, New Zealand): Initially I thought there was something weird going on with the nose and there was a decidedly green note to the finish, but it seemed to blow after 45-60 minutes. Quite enjoyable and would be better served after spending the next 5 years in a cellar. 89 Points

Noel Verset Cornas 1993 (Cornas, Northern Rhone, France): Brett-tastic! I wasn’t able to get into this, too much animal dominating the nose and palate. Very savoury. I believe this was a poor vintage in the Northern Rhone as well. 84 Points

Chateau Lascombes 1985 (Margaux, Bordeaux, France): I was told beforehand that I would hate this, but I much preferred it over the Rhone wine and would have rated this my second favourite wine of the night. Plenty of pencil shavings and cigar box characteristics. This wine is ready to drink now and is unlikely to get any better with additional age. 92 Points

Grosset Pinot Noir 1999 (Adelaide Hills, South Australia): Well made, with good fruit, but there was quite an obvious stalky character that put me off a bit. There are still only a few PN producers in Australia that compel me to purchase and Grosset isn’t among them yet. 87 Points

Smidge “The Tardy” Zinfandel 2002 (Langhorne Creek, South Australia): Tastes that were described were tomato chutney, green tomatoes, vegemite, ratatouille and more. I had a much better bottle of the 2003 version of this wine last year. This bottle was bordering on undrinkable. 79 Points

Wendouree Shiraz Malbec 2001 (Clare Valley, South Australia): Big, but not as tannic as I would have expected if I’d been told it was a Wendouree beforehand. Very good structure and I believe it’s going to be great if it’s given at least ten years rest before being opened. 91 Points

Rockford Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 (Barossa Valley, South Australia): A very classy wine, and my wine of the night. It was discussed that this was actually quite similar to the Chateau Lascombes tasted earlier in the night. Great structure and balance. 93 Points

All in all, a very enjoyable evening with some good wine, good food and great company.

WBW #11 – Two Hands “Brilliant Disguise” Moscato 2004

Fast Facts:
Country: Australia
Region: Barossa Valley, South Australia
Winemaker: Matt Wenk
Variety: White Frontignac
Closure: Cork
Bought For: $11.50AU (500ml)

The Review:

Wine Blogging Wednesday #11 is being hosted by Beau of Basic Juice, the theme this time around being off-dry white wines. Off-dry being described as not sweet, not dry, but in between.

My choice for this event was the Two Hands “Brilliant Disguise” Moscato 2004. Coming in at just 5% alchoholic volume and made from the White Frontignac grape in a Moscato style.

Tasting Note: Lightly bodied, this wine is bursting with pure grapes and tropical fruit on both the nose and palate. Just a small touch of sweetness. A very gentle spritz lends this wine a refreshing finish. Delicious, a wine for summer days in the sun if there ever was one.

Drinking Window: I definitely wouldn’t be hanging about with this wine, best drunk right now, then pickup some of the recently released ’05 edition.

Verdict: 88 points, with a value rating of Excellent.

Cellartracker – Online Cellar Management

Just a quick post to plug what I consider to be a fantastic (and free!) service.

Cellartracker is an extensive online cellar management system, with the main differentiator between this and other products being that you share alot of information with other users of the system. So if someone else writes a tasting note on a wine that you own, you are able to see their opinion and rating on your cellar listing.

The list of other features is too long to go into, but it’s well worth a try, considering the site is free for use (but does ask for donations if you find it useful, which is fair enough).

Here is a link to my own very humble cellar listing Cam’s Cellartracker Cellar Listing

If you have a CellarTracker cellar of your own, I’d love for you to post a link so I could have a look.

WBW #10 – Seppelt Coborra Pinot Gris 2004

Seppelt Coborra Pinot Gris 2004 Fast Facts:
Country: Australia
Region: Drumborg, Victoria
Winemaker: Arthur O’Connor
Variety: Pinot Gris
Closure: Screwcap
Bought For: $20 AU

Wine Blogging Wednesday #10 is being hosted by Alice of My Adventures in the Breadbox and the theme that she selected was white wines that are made from Pinot grapes such as Pinot Gris or Pinot Blanc.

My selection for this event was made easy by this being the only bottle of Pinot Gris I had sitting in my cellar, and me running out of time to go out and find something else!

Tasting Note: A pale straw colour with a tinge of green. Strong aromas of fresh apples and pears comprised the bouquet. The palate was well structured and had excellent length from start to finish.

Drinking Window: Drinking well now, but may improve in complexity with another year in the bottle.

Verdict: It has got a fair amount of class and I deem it worthy of 91 points, with a value rating of Excellent.

See “How to interpret my scores” for an explanation of how the above scores were reached.

I’m looking forward to the roundup being posted by Alice for this event in the next couple of days.

Older Posts
Newer Posts
© 2024 Appellation Australia | An exploration of wine