Tucker Seabrook trade tasting
Redfern
Tasted Monday, September 1, 2003 by graemeg with 563 views
Introduction
Trade tasting by the then Tucker Seabrook distributers (later to morph into Fine Wine Partners).
Rather crowded; and although most of the better wines from their Australian portfolio were available, only the more modest foreign offerings were open.
2003 Brokenwood Sémillon
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Barely bottled; youthful grass/straw aromas & flavours, with ripping acidity. Good palate presence.
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2000 Brokenwood Shiraz
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
McLaren Vale & Padthaway fruit. Black & inky fruits, large-scale, but sits largely on the front palate. Not exciting.
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1997 Bannockburn Chardonnay
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong
Still with a flash of green to the mid-yellow colour. Aged chardy characters; sandalwood, an earthy farmyard sort of note. A spine of solid acid binds it together. Medium body & finish. Impressive stuff.
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1994 Bannockburn Chardonnay
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong
Similar in sytle/outlook to the 97, but with pronounced softening of the acid. Ready to drink now; a lesser wine than its younger sibling.
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2001 Bannockburn Pinot Noir Stuart
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Geelong
Seductive nose of cloves and spice, musk. Ripe; no stalky notes here, and plenty of tannin without too much obvious oak. Classy wine.
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2001 Lark Hill Chardonnay
Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
Spicy oak; typical cool-climate grapefruit-like chardonnay, spiny, bracing and refreshing.
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2003 Lark Hill The Fledgling
Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
Unwooded wine; peachy with grapefruit tones to the flavours, really needs some oak for dimension. Fashionable but not terribly interesting.
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2000 Taltarni Cabernet Sauvignon
Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Pyrenees
Solidly earthy and spicy; fruit, although youthfully authentic and dark-hued is very much in the background. Tannic, closed. Wait.
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2002 Tahbilk Marsanne
Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes
Slightly honey aromas & flavours. Has some zippy acid which lifts it, but there’s not a lot here at this age. Weight sits a bit on the front palate. Expect the usual transformation with age, I guess. This vintage still under cork – why, for god’s sake?
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2000 Tahbilk Cabernet Sauvignon
Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes
Some menthol aromas, with a touch of spice. Continues on palate, but overwhelmed by grapey tannins. Something of a doughnut shape here; not much presence on the mid-palate, but plenty of impact all around the tongue. Hmmm.
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1998 Tahbilk Shiraz 1860 Vines
Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes
Earthy nose, with a distinct pepperiness. Massively tannic although only medium-bodied. Far better balanced than the 00 cabernet, but really needs lots of time to show more than one dimension.
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2000 Taltarni Cephas
Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Pyrenees
The new name for the reserve cabernet. Of a similar cut to the regular release, just with greater intensity, fuller-body and better sense of integration. Perhaps fruit is a little more discernable here. But still, one to keep for many years.
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2003 Tamar Ridge Riesling
Australia, Tasmania, Northern Tasmania
Sweetish pot-pourri flavours, subtle acid. Pleasant but short-term.
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2002 Tamar Ridge Sauvignon Blanc
Australia, Tasmania, Northern Tasmania
Asparagus-dominated, yet with soft acid; an odd mix, but just works. Not for keeping.
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2001 Bowen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
Restrained, typical cabernet nose; not especially fruity; the palate is medium-bodied but loaded with fine tannin. Fair effort which needs time, lacks magic.
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2002 Henschke Riesling Julius
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
Screwcap - Pale green; hugely drinkable palate of limes and apples; dry yet luscious; top effort.
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2000 Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
Choc-cherry-berry flavours. Plenty of fruit here, not evidently unripe, but the palate is lightweight and generally unimpressive. A tough vintage – no Hill of Grace this year; Edelstone is a much bigger vineyard, but I reckon they had to heavily triage fruit to get even this modest effort. Pass.
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1999 Henschke Cyril Henschke
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
Typically cassis/blackcurrant driven wine; always with a streak of eucalypt/greeness to it, and rather grainy tannins. Hmmm. Dubious wine at this price.
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1999 Henschke Abbotts Prayer
Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Lenswood
Plush sweet-velvety smelling nose, hugely tannic on the palate, but also with lots of acid on the tip of the tongue. Disjointed and youthful with blocky red fruit, but seems to have all the components to do well. Impressive.
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2002 Sandalford Shiraz Margaret River
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
Full-bodied wine, gutsy tannins, packed with rustic shiraz fruits. Lacks much polish, but makes up for it with hearty honesty. A crowd-pleaser.
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1996 Bollinger Champagne La Grande Année
France, Champagne
Similarly big yeasty, autolysis-driven nose as the nv Special Cuvee, but there’s a more developed, even dirtier aspect to this wine. I guess this manifests as greater complexity of flavour, but the finish isn‘t appreciably longer than its modest sibling. Good but not outstanding.
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2001 Joseph Drouhin / Drouhin-Vaudon Chablis
France, Burgundy, Chablis
Pale green. Smoky seashell nose; grapefruit flavours, crisp acid, with good even palate coverage and a decent length finish. Very good.
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1999 Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet
Really quite light and elegant, clean & integrated; rather hard to find distinguishing features here. Decent if a little bland.
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2001 Joseph Drouhin Saint Véran
France, Burgundy, Mâconnais, Saint Véran
Soft, perfumed nose, but a hollow, short-length palate. Dull.
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1999 Joseph Drouhin Gevrey-Chambertin
France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Gevrey-Chambertin
An astringent, earthy-tasting wine. It’s blocky, with powerful acid; lacking charm now but seems to have plenty of stuffing. Might settle down a bit with time but there’s no sign of greatness here.
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2000 Paul Jaboulet Aîné St. Péray Les Sauvagères
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Péray
Deep straw/green colour; typical grassy/herb flavours; there is some acid here but it fights a losing battle against the overwhelming greasiness of the texture. Solid and heavy and short-term.
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2000 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Condrieu Les Cassines
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
Scented and musky, but sits very much on the front palate, with all the shortness of finish that implies. Mediocre.
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2000 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Crozes-Hermitage Les Jalets
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
Spicily-fruited, with medium weight, but bland and dull on the finish.
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1999 Marchesi de' Frescobaldi Chianti Rùfina Castello di Nipozzano Montesodi
Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Rùfina
A liqueur-like nose of stewed black cherries precedes a hugely tannic and drying palate, which still keeps most of its weight on the front half of the tongue. Decent enough but not terribly exciting.
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