Tour de Margaret River and Swan

Western Australia
Tasted Friday, August 20, 2010 - Friday, August 27, 2010 by Alex H with 845 views

Introduction

A week's tour of margaret river and swan wineries.

Flight 1 - Capel Vale (9 Notes)

Nice estate with a very comfy restaurant overlooking the vines. Food was not bad and had asian influence. In general, a well known winery internationally and has differing standards across the range.

Flight 2 - Fire Tail (3 Notes)

Very small estate with decent wines. Staff there a bit lost in her own thoughts. More of a tourist place.

Flight 3 - Brown Hill Estate (10 Notes)

The first really suprise find in margaret river. This is family run and a small winery as well. The winemaker is pretty funny with dry wit and humor. Wines have been "discovered" by James Halliday recently and I would say that this estate will soon be internationally known if they keep up with the quality. Wines are good overall with the chardonnay appealing a lot to me. The reds are geared towards more oomph and parker but does have some classiness. All wines grown on terra rossa and the quality of the terroir shows.

  • 2009 Brown Hill Chardonnay Golden Horseshoe 87 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    Rich creamy and luscious with butter cream atop fresh waffles but also displays clean minerality . A bit like a crossover between a chablis and a chassagne.Excellently made.

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  • 2009 Brown Hill Lakeview 82 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    Mineral lemons and sweet guava. Quite well done as well.

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  • 2008 Brown Hill Autumn Mist 77 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    Sweet grassy nose. So so wine with sugary water and some lift from a twist of lemon . Not distinctive.

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  • 2009 Brown Hill Shiraz Chaffers 84 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    Impressive imitation of rhone with cracked black pepper and cracked white pepper flavours coming through quite strongly . This resembles a peppery pig's organ soup. Savory and tasty.

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  • 2007 Brown Hill Shiraz Finniston Reserve 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    Reductive soy sauce notes, leather saddle and very rustic smelling. Dark exotic fruited . Somehow this is still all over the place. A bit confused right now. Might be better with time.

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  • 2008 Brown Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Hannans 80 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    Lost my notes on this but dont distinctively remember much of this .To me , this was an entry level effort. Standardish margaret river stuff that most wineries can churn out. Though I dont remember it to be distinctively bad either.

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  • 2007 Brown Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Ivanhoe 87 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    Lost my notes on this but I remember a word I had used...Wow! This was complexly rich and multi layered with rich cassis driven fruit but also possessing an attractive exotic note.

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  • 2006 Brown Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Ivanhoe 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    This was thinner and somehwat more reductive than the 2007 but I do remember it to be softer and gentler too. Like a overlooked younger brother .

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  • 2008 Brown Hill Merlot Croesus Reserve 87 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    Green leafy herbaceous nose with power though. Dark spices, rich dark cocoa, dark luxurious black leather, dried saddle and dried leaves and earth coming through . Multi layered.

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  • 2008 Brown Hill Shiraz - Cabernet Bill Bailey 86 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    A seemingly OTT parker wine with dark colours, punchy black fruited nose but this is still a controlled black mare with rhone like power rather than an american stallion. Well made.

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Flight 4 - Misc Wines for Home Dinners (4 Notes)

Some wines picked out at the liquor stores to go with our home cooked dinners. Quite decent prices but mostly newer vintages.

  • 2008 Evans & Tate Classic 80 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    (8/23/2010)

    Sweet fun and fizzy with strawberries, raspberries in perrier water and sccops of pure white cane sugar.

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  • 2006 Donnelly River Pinot Noir 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Pemberton

    (8/23/2010)

    Swwet cherries with a good dose of pretty red earth, small rounded forest berries. Good acid structure , earthiness and some "terroir" shows thru.

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  • 2007 Fishbone Merlot 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia

    (8/23/2010)

    Ginger spice, soft but lots of roots and earth. Quite spicy plums and cloves showing on the palate.

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  • 2001 Tintara Shiraz 85 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

    (8/23/2010)

    Sweet cassis, savory bbq smoke, caramel sauce with licourice. Inkish plums well kept in control , blackcurrants and black prunes. Quite quaffable in the sense that it is not at all OTT.

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Flight 5 - Riverbank Estate (11 Notes)

A small estate but more commercialised though. Nice restaurant with superb view. The off dry wines are quite good. The staff are not very well versed with their wines but accomodating enough to let me taste for an hour.

  • 2007 Riverbank Estate Riesling 85 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Mount Barker

    (8/23/2010)

    Green apples, some grass and white stones. Clean and chalky with lingering tangerines and lime aftertaste. Some residual sugars. Quite impressionable .

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  • 2007 Riverbank Estate Verdelho 79 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    Orange blssoms and gooseberries. More tamed and a little low key. Average quaffing stuff.

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  • 2008 Riverbank Estate Unoaked Chardonnay 78 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    Melons, honey dew and orange blossoms form a fruity nose. Peaches and cream and quite sugary . A bit flat.

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  • 2008 Riverbank Estate Sémillon 80 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    Honeycomb and wild flowers. Quite dry for the nose . A bit oily textural but a just a hair. Some schist and rock minerality.

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  • 2007 Riverbank Estate Zinfandel 85 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    Light ruby red. Brambles roses, some tar and smoke. Graphite, crayola, some alc and red ruby cherries. Very balanced with such a light palate unexpected. Interesting rendition.

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  • 2006 Riverbank Estate Merlot 75 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    2 1/2 years in french and american oak but not over oaky on the nose, just slightly cedary. Palate is quite dry though with light wood and little fruit attractiveness. Pass.

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  • 2005 Riverbank Estate Shiraz 84 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    Classic spicy blakc plums, brambles and dark florals. Some tar, some leather funk supported by good spicy fruits. Not overly done. A balanced and good effort.

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  • 2004 Riverbank Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 76 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    Reductive soy sauce notes with dried out raisins. A bit overcooked and over ripened to my liking. This has lost most of its attractive fruits. Still has just a few sweet prunes helping it to survive though.

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  • 2006 Riverbank Estate Classic Sweet Red 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    Spicy black fruit , forest berries with some hospital smells. Intereting though, its sweeter than a dry red but not exactly sweet enough to qualify as a dessert. It is like a grape juice drink or a red version of a german kabinett. Only 12% alc. This is a quaffing dessert wine.

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  • NV Riverbank Estate Jailbird 85 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    Sweet raspberries, summer cherries, strawberries make a lovely wine . This is fruity sweet like a juice too. 10% alc and totally quaffable. Delicious stuff. A bit unorthodox but on a summer's night , this served chilled would be excellent!

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  • 2006 Riverbank Estate Verdelho Late Picked 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/23/2010)

    Tropical pineapples, lychees, some florals. This is really like a german riesling, almost like a mosel spatlese / auslese.

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Flight 6 - Pinelli Wines (8 Notes)

Family run and owned but quality is so so. More for tourists though the staff there are very warm and welcoming.

Flight 7 - Ambrook (7 Notes)

The winemaker is a big burly aussie hippie looking, also looking kinda mafia-ish . A little scary though his wines were quite uniquely different especially the rosso d amore. He says its a secret blend and was really unwilling to say more. He was kinda unhappy that I didnt buy anything. Not a place I would advise to go for free tastings.

  • 2009 Ambrook Classico 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/24/2010)

    Dry tropical fruit notes with some white mushrooms. Some honeysuckle , white ripe stone fruits. A lil oily but good with mineral finish.

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  • 2009 Ambrook Verdelho 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/24/2010)

    Aromatic passionfruit and grapefruit but controlled. Quite dry , grassy with suprising rock minerality.

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  • 2009 Ambrook Bianca Dolce 81 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/24/2010)

    Transparent clear. Some floral spiced elderflowers. This is refreshing light with just a dose of honeysuckly , tropical pears and vanishes quite quickly though.

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  • 2006 Ambrook Rosso d'Amore 84 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/24/2010)

    Muted nose but palate has tangy pomegranate, passionfruit which could be mistaken for a white if tasted from a black glass. Very exciting , interesting like a juice. Lively and would be a crowd pleaser.

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  • 2005 Ambrook Shiraz 80 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/24/2010)

    Extremely scented with dark fruits, forest woods, smoky. Balanced but lots of old oak and kinda dried out.

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  • 2006 Ambrook Cabernet Merlot 78 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/24/2010)

    Rich wild berries and cherries. Sour cherries with enough ripeness so ok . Enough acidity. An okay wine.

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  • 2006 Ambrook Moscato d'Alessandria 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/24/2010)

    Golden sultanaes. Delicious layered luscious , almost like the noble one with a bitter herbaceous streak on a sweet memorable finish. Medium length .

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Flight 8 - Black Swan (6 Notes)

Very welcoming staff that was very enthusiatic about the wines. Quite knowledgeable and educates very well. Wines are variable in quality.

  • 2009 Black Swan Chardonnay 78 Points

    Australia, South Eastern

    (8/24/2010)

    Tropical fruit nose but muted and cool. Lively recy grassy almost like an SSB.

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  • 2009 Black Swan Chardonnay Sémillon 80 Points

    Australia, South Eastern

    (8/24/2010)

    This was 70% chenin, 30% chardonnay. Crisp acidity with chenin honeysuckle showing on the nose. Passionfruits, and unripe papaya salad. Grapefruit lift at the end.

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  • 2009 Black Swan Chenin Blanc 78 Points

    Australia, South Eastern

    (8/24/2010)

    Muted and lightly aromatic nose of guavas and lime. Some honeysuckle notes but mostly chalky lime like a clare riesling.

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  • 2006 Black Swan Cabernet Merlot 83 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/24/2010)

    70% Cabernet , 25% merlot and 5% cab. Indian spices in an indian ma ma shop with cloves. Some savory notes. Blaanced dark spiced plums and round currants with orange peels. Rounded finish.

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  • 2005 Black Swan Cabernet Franc 85 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/24/2010)

    Exotic spiced raaspberry with some greenish notes. Attractive mouth perfumery of black cherries and spices / herbs atop round nicely ripe currants. Lovely balance, well made. Good finese.

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  • 2003 Black Swan Cabernet Sauvignon 85 Points

    Australia, South Eastern

    (8/24/2010)

    Some reductive soy sauce notes but just mostly very muted nose though. Savory notes of paine grille , dark plum juice with some bitter mocha and cinnamon with rounded currant juice.

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Flight 9 - Edgecomb Brothers (9 Notes)

One of the original settlers in the region. They have pretty old vines. The sweets are marvelous with depth.

Flight 10 - John Kosovich Wines (5 Notes)

One of the original croatian wine pioneers here. The wines are well made and the cellar door is underground...quite cool. Speaking to the winemaker , he is quite a quiet chap and loves his burgundies. Wines made are pretty elegant and stand out.

Flight 11 - Twin Hill (7 Notes)

Croatian neighbour to John Kosovich. This is also an original pioneer here. The dry wines are not outstanding but the sweets are iconic stuff.

  • 2006 Twin Hill Verdelho 84 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/26/2010)

    Clean fresh mineral . White stonefruits with very fresh grapefruits. Extremely clean palate.

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  • 2006 Twin Hill Classic White 82 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/26/2010)

    A blend of chardonnay and chenin. Also pristine and pure with white stonefruits, very mineral and a bit of fino. 3 months in french oak .

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  • 2008 Twin Hill Shiraz 81 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/26/2010)

    Simple straight blaanced with some spicy plums and currants. Hard to traste from the small plastic cups provided but from what I could get, this is quite controlled.

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  • 2008 Twin Hill Cabernet Merlot 84 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/26/2010)

    Snokey licourice. Black plums and currants almost like the shiraz with spiciness. Bitter licourice and some mocha and menthol herb like finish.

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  • 1991 Twin Hill Tokay 89 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/26/2010)

    Made in the year the winemaker died by his son. A special emotional sweet. Rich date juice , partially dried apricots, fresh and just lovely. Nicely spicy apricot jams, toffee, coffee atop some smokey roasted chestnuts.

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  • 1982 Twin Hill Pedro Ximénez 91 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/26/2010)

    Fresh and lively with dried raisiny nose. This is heart warming stuff, a wine with history , heart and soul. Released as the 65th anniversary of this winery and made from original vines planted then. This is luscious yet not snobbish , humble but great wine. All your coffee, toffee caramel and christmasy richness is there. An iconic wine for Swan.

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  • 2002 Twin Hill Muscat 84 Points

    Australia, Western Australia, Greater Perth, Swan Valley

    (8/26/2010)

    Sourish with lively lift . Nice wine although no as complex but very refreshing in style. A bit of fino comes through as well with golden sultanas.

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Flight 12 - Windy Creek (16 Notes)

Another pioneer in the region. A bit off the way from the other swan producers but this is worth visiting as the wines though not excpetionally outstanding. The winemaker and his wife are very welcoming and warm as well as willing to explain. The prices are crazily low and they sell out every vintage, which makes sense given the price they charge and the quality you get. QPR here is high. This would prob be one of my house wines if I lived in Perth.

Closing

Once again, my tour of the swan has strenghtened my view that Swan makes world class sweet wines and they should not loose focus. The whties are usually fresh and tropical but mostly internationally driven.

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