Impromptu Drink at WWE

Got a call from William, and headed down for a quick drink with him and Eugene. Three interesting new world wines.

• 1999 Pine Ridge Vineyards Chardonnay Dijon Clones 88 Points

  USA, California, Napa / Sonoma, Carneros

  Nice nose, overtly new world with a little nod towards the old world. Buttery oak, ripe yellow fruit and some glycerol on the bouquet was mixed with deep whiffs of earth, mushrooms, truffles and creamy white meat. I liked it, unfortunately, the palate was not quite as good as nose. Toasty attack was followed up with a minerally in-seam which I really liked, and then ripe yellow fruits, but it all seemed stretched rather thinly, a bit hot on the back-palate, a bit dried out on the finish, with kumquats and preserved figs rounding the wine off. All in all, not a bad drink, but not an exceptionally good one either. This bottle, at least, was past it s prime.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1996 Long Meadow Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 91 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Still going very strong - this was very enjoyable. Very nice nose, some spice, sundried tomato puree, herbs, rosemary, thyme, sage - like an Italian pasta, with just a touch of candied berries, and rich cassis growing more pronounced with time, along with inflections of vanilla laced oak and bramble. Very nice. Palate had some richness to it, with dark fruits and bramble flavours at the fore. There was a bit of alcohol but absolutely no heat, instead, I got nice juicy acidity, layered on a bed of dry tannins still providing some structure. All in all, very pleasant. Slightly spicy finish was a bit shortish, but otherwise nice and bright. The wine came across still very young, really opening up quite nicely with time in the glass - it would be really interesting to try this in 5 years' time.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2003 Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards (TMV) Theta Tulbagh 90 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Tulbagh

  This does not seem to have evolved much in the past year or so. Perfumed nose, lots of violets, plums, juicy cassis, along with a savoury undertone, with lots more meaty, leathery, smoky notes. Attractive, clearly new world, threatening quite a bit of sweetness on the palate. Thankfully though, even though it was rich and full of hedonistic dark fruits - plums, cherries, dark berries - wrapped in sweet oak and ripe melting tannins, there was plnety of juicy acidity to balance everything out. Just a touch of alcohol on the back palate, otherwise, this was a well-made, quite delicious full-on new world Syrah. Touches of tobacco rounded of the finish. I do not expect this to put on much complexity or improve tremendoulsy with age. It is not that sort of wine, but still a pretty good effort for a new-ish winery.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No