Black Lion Wine Club - New World/Old World Comparisons

Jon Penny's House
Tasted Friday, May 22, 2015 by Andrewbdc with 437 views

Introduction

Third meeting of the Black Lion Wine Tasting club. Evening was a comparison of new and old world wines from a variety of grapes and regions. Really fun event as the differences were very evident and provoked a lot of discussion. Present were Charles, Jon, Tony, David, Simon, Kenneth and Andrew.

Flight 1 - Sauvignon Blanc (2 Notes)

  • 2012 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre La Reine Blanche 89 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre

    Appearance: The wine is clear and pale lemon in colour.
    Nose: The wine is clean with medium (+) intensity aromas of ripe fruits - citrus such as lemon, stone fruit such as white peach, floral such as elderflower, acacia, hints of honey and wet stone minerality. It is youthful.
    Palate: The wine is dry with high acidity, medium alcohol, medium body, and medium (+) intensity flavours of lemon, white peach, elderflower and honey. It has a long finish.
    Conclusion: The wine is very good with the acidity well integrated and being nicely balanced by the fruits. It has pronounced intensity flavours but lacks a little complexity to be truly outstanding. The wine should be drunk now and is not suitable for further ageing (drink in next 12 months).

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  • 2013 Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 90 Points

    New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

    Appearance: The wine is clear and pale lemon in colour.
    Nose: The wine is clean, with pronounced aromatic aromas of green fruit such as gooseberry, citrus fruit such as lime, herbaceous such as grass, capsicum, floral such as elderflower. It is youthful.
    Palate: The wine is dry with high refreshing acidity, medium (+) alcohol, medium (+) body, pronounced flavours of gooseberry, lime, grass, capsicum, elderflower. The finish is medium (+).
    Conclusions: The wine is outstanding. The flavours are primarily primary but complex from a wide variety of families it has good length. The acidity and alcohol are nicely balanced by the pronounced flavours. The wine is very typical of a high quality NZ Sauvignon Blanc. The wine should be drunk in the next 12 months and is not suitable for further ageing. It does not have any tertiary flavours and won't develop any, the fruit is likely to fade with time.

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Flight 2 - Cool Climate Chardonnay - Oaked vs unoaked (2 Notes)

  • 2011 Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis 1er Cru Vaillons The Society's Exhibition 88 Points

    France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

    Appearance: The wine is clear and pale lemon in colour.
    Nose: The wine is clean with medium (+) intensity aromas of green fruit such as green apple, pear, citrus such as lemon, hint of tropical fruit such as melon, with a nice wet stone minerality and a hint of honey. It is developing.
    Palate: The wine is dry with high acidity, medium alcohol, medium body, medium (+) flavours of apple, pear, lemon, honey. It has a medium (+) finish. The wine appears to lack a little taughtness, it is perhaps a little flabby.
    Conclusions: The wine is very good. It has a certain degree of complexity and intensity from the wide variety of flavour families, the acidity and is nicely balanced by the fruit, however it does give the impression of flabbiness. The wine should be drunk now and is not suitable for further ageing. The fruit is likely to fade.

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  • 2013 Shaw and Smith Chardonnay M3 Vineyard 93 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills

    Appearance: The wine is clear and pale lemon in colour.
    Nose: The wine is clean with pronounced intensity complex aromas of green fruit such as apple, pear, citrus such as lemon, stone fruit such as white peach, oak such as vanilla, toast, MLF such as butter, with a hint of smoke. It is youthful.
    Palate: The wine is dry with high acidity, medium alcohol, medium (+) body, pronounced flavours of apple, pear, lemon, vanilla, butter. It has a long finish.
    Conclusions: The wine is outstanding. It has pronounced flavours and a long finish. It is complex with a wide variety of flavours. The acidity is well integrated and nicely balanced by the fruit. The oak is very well integrated and quite subtle. It is a great example of an oaked, cool climate Chardonnay. The wine can be drunk now but is suitable for further ageing. It has the structure from the oak, acidity and fruit to develop for 5-10 years.

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Flight 3 - Malbec (2 Notes)

  • 2008 Clos Triguedina Cahors Probus 89 Points

    France, Southwest France, Cahors

    Appearance: The wine is clear and dark ruby in colour.
    Nose: The wine is clean with medium (+) intensity aromas of drank fruit such as bramble, herbs such as medicinal, oak such as vanilla, tertiary such as forest floor. It is developing.
    Palate: The wine is dry with medium (+) acidity, medium (+) soft tannins, medium (+) alcohol, medium (+) body and medium (+) intensity flavours of bramble, medicinal, vanilla' forest floor. The finish is long.
    Conclusions: The wine is very good. The acidity, alcohol and tannins are well integrated and balanced by the fruit. The finish is long and some complexity is developing with age, although it lacks a little complexity and intensity to be outstanding. The wine can be drunk now but has the potential for further ageing for at least 5 years.

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  • 2009 Monteviejo Malbec Lindaflor 90 Points

    Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco

    Appearance: The wine is clear and dark ruby in colour.
    Nose: The wine is clean with pronounced complex aromas of baked sweet dark fruit such as bramble and blackcurrant, oak such as vanilla, tertiary such as Earth and chocolate. It is developing.
    Palate: The wine is dry with medium (+) acidity, full ripe tannins, high alcohol (15.5%!), full body, pronounced flavours of blackberry, vanilla, chocolate, Earth. It has a long finish.
    Conclusions: The wine is very good with pronounced and complex flavours (primary, secondary and tertiary), the acidity and tannins are well balanced with the fruit and it has a long finish. I find the high alcohol to be a little out of balanced and not well enough integrated - this prevents it being outstanding. The wine can be drunk now but is suitable for further ageing for 5-10 years.

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Flight 4 - Syrah/Shiraz with an additional CdP (3 Notes)

  • 2007 Tesco Finest Hermitage 89 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

    Appearance: The wine is clear, medium ruby.
    Nose: The wine is clean with medium (+) aromas of dried fruit such as fig, date, dark fruit such as blackcurrant, spice such as pepper, tertiary aromas such as chocolate, oak such as vanilla. It is developing.
    Palate: The wine is dry with medium acidity, medium (+) grippy but fine tannins, medium (+) alcohol, medium (+) body, medium (+) flavours of dried date an fig, blackcurrant, pepper, and vanilla. It has a medium (+) finish.
    Conclusion: The wine is very good. It is elegant with the acidity, alcohol and tannins nicely balancing the fruit. It has complexity from the variety of primary, secondary and tertiary flavours, but lacks a little intensity and length to be outstanding. It can be drunk now but has potential for further ageing for at least 5 years.

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  • 2007 Elderton Shiraz Single Vineyard Command 91 Points

    Australia, South Australia, Barossa

    Appearance: The wine is clear, medium ruby
    Nose: The wine is clean with pronounced complex aromas of baked jammy black fruit such as bramble, blackcurrant, herbs such as dill, dried fruits such as raisins, oak such as toast, vanilla and smoke, spice such as pepper and cinnamon. The nose is developing.
    Palate: The wine is dry with medium acidity, medium soft, ripe tannins, high alcohol, full body, and pronounced flavours of jammy black fruit, raisins, toast, cinnamon, pepper. It has a long finish.
    The wine is outstanding. The high alcohol is well integrated and the pronounced flavours are balanced by the acidity and tannins. It is complex due to the primary, secondary and tertiary flavours and it has a long finish. The wine can be drunk now but has potential to age further for up to 5 years.

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  • 1999 Domaine Font de Michelle Châteauneuf-du-Pape 91 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Appearance: The wine is medium garnet
    Nose: The wine has pronounced, complex aromas of sweet ripe dried fruit (figs), herbs (dill), spice (liquorice), tertiary (savoury and farmyard). It is fully developed.
    Palate: The wine is dry with medium (+) acidity, medium (+) alcohol, med (+) body, medium tannins that are smooth and silky, and pronounced flavours of dried fig, dill, earth, savoury. It has a medium (+) finish.
    The wine is very good. It has complex pronounced aromas/flavours from its tertiary developed. The acidity and alcohol and tannins are all well integrated and balanced by the flavours. The finish is a little short and the fruit has definitely faded. It should be drunk now and is not suitable for further ageing.

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Closing

Excellent evening. Interesting split of attendees between those who preferred the new world those the old. My personal favourite wine of the evening was the Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay - could easily have been a Chablis Grand Cru, wonderful. The surprise addition of a Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1999 made a great comparison to the Syrah based wines.

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