Voyager Estate Masterclass 2010

North Sydney Cellars
Tasted Wednesday, September 8, 2010 by chatters with 827 views

Introduction

Benchmark tasting tour that is run by Voyager Estate. 20 wines over 3 flights - Chardonnay, Shiraz and Bordeaux blends. Attended by the General Manager (Alexandra Wright), Manager of winemaking and viticulture (Steve James) and Winemaker and Winery Manager (Travis Lemm)
The only issues with a tasting like this is that you'll always have vintage variation and some wines are designed to be drunk younger than others. The vintage variation certainly knocked out Burgundy in tasting flight 1 and the ageability of wine probably shot some of the bordeaux blends in flight 3 out.

Flight 1 - Chardonnay (6 Notes)

Flight 2 - Shiraz and Shiraz blends (6 Notes)

Flight 3 - Bordeaux blends (8 Notes)

  • 2005 Cullen Wines Diana Madeline

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    Nose: funky, toast, muted black fruit, some meaty overtones, cream, butter and, on aeration, a little more jammy fruit
    Mouth: Medium to high acid and tannin, not much fruit coming through at this time. Quaffable.

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  • 2005 Mount Mary Quintet

    Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley

    Nose: spice, nominal fruit, more spice!
    Mouth: red and black fruit - far more on palate than on the nose - a little wet, low acid but medium to high tannin. Nice long finish. The lack of acidity gives me concern for its ability to age.

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  • 2005 Voyager Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot

    Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

    Nose: green herbaceous tones, cream, vanilla, toast, eucalypt, some jammy fruit
    Mouth: medium to high acidity (which I assume has been bumped up but am assured by the winemaker that it hasn't been) and tannin, toast, leather and a certain gritty, bitter tannin. Black fruit here as well. Hmm, nice.

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  • 2005 Stags' Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

    USA, California, Napa Valley

    Nose: lovely briny seaside, leather, cedar, mint, venison, blue and black berries
    Mouth: jammy initially, medium acid and medium to high tannin, diminishing fruit, spice. More on the nose than the mouth but quite pleasant none the less.

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  • 2005 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia

    Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore

    Nose: chocolate and black currant
    Mouth: bitter and tannic, very tannic, medium acidity and, under this, some fruit. Needs more time. Far too young. As it is, it's not very pleasant. Come back in ten years.

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  • 2005 Te Mata Estate Coleraine

    New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

    Nose: Fruit cake, toast, black and red fruit, something almost citric
    Mouth: Beautifully balance acid, tannin and fruit. Still a touch young but drinkable now. Lovely.

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  • 2005 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

    France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac

    Nose: Biscuit & toast, black currants, cream, cake mix but pre-cooking
    Mouth: high acid & tannin which dominate wet fruit, more on the nose than the palate. Very young.

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  • 2005 Balnaves of Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon The Tally Reserve

    Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

    Nose: Almost chemical, candied peel, black fruit, cassis & spice, some hot jammy tomes, leather? Mint? Dill? Lots going on.
    Mouth: Leather, mint, spice, high tannin and good acidity. Hmm, needs more time but rather pleasant.

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Closing

Cracking evening had by everyone. After each round of the tasting the wine three 'experts' discussed the wines we'd had and at the end there was a three course meal accompanied by the Voyager Estate wines. I had a lovely time but would re-iterate my point about vintage variation and ageability above. In the end I picked up two cases of the Voyager Estate Cab Sav Merlot (which performed a lot better than it had done in Margaret River in April 2010).

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