NobleRottersSydney - Champagne
Fix, St James, Sydney
Tasted Wednesday, December 7, 2022 by graemeg with 247 views
Introduction
At full strength for the final Rotters’ dinner of 2022, with all the globetrotters returning to the fold. The appropriately summery theme is Champagne, leavened with a few decent reds for the red meat bits! Fizz generally served between 8-12C, so about right. A consistently decent collection of wines, lacking any really big names (Dom, Krug, Cristal etc) but none really disappointed. And bottles just kept coming, from somewhere. Reds were ‘quite good’ to ‘excellent’. Worst Thursday morning I’ve had in a while! I should also mention that Gordon’s antiquity of a 1953 Seppelt Show Sparkling ‘Burgundy’ last sold at a Langtons auction in 2019 for $600…
Flight 1 (15 Notes)
Flight 2 (2 Notes)
While some decamped to the nearby Verandah bar to continue the conversation – along with the Hunter’s Latitude32 winemaker (Emma White) who’d somehow taken offence at our late-dinner antics but gave me her business card anyway – a couple of us pressed on @ Fix, with two more bottles (opened/Coravinned/whatever):
1953 Seppelt Shiraz Sparkling Burgundy Great Western
Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Great Western
{cork, 12%} [Gordon] A fascinating curio to begin. A broken cork was momentarily troubling, but not fatal. In the glass it’s turning tawny, with only some faint red left. The tiniest mousse on pouring. Ancient, leathery nose, but intact. A prickle of spritz on the palate still, with soft dusty tannins, medium weight and old flavours that hint at leathery red shiraz fruit but encompass mushroom, yeast and earth too. Medium/long finish. But the wine fades in the glass within 10 minutes or so. Fun to try. But certainly on the downslope at almost 70 years old!
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2004 J. Dumangin Fils Champagne Le Vintage Extra-Brut
France, Champagne
{diam, 12%} [Graeme] Mid yellow. Fairly advanced nose of yeast and cheese. An oxidative character perhaps, or is that the bone-dryness of this making itself felt in the slightly sour aspect? Chardonnay seems to dominate the pithy palate (against 46% pinot noir) and certainly fills it out to medium/full weight. I think it lacks complexity a bit. At peak, surely.
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NV Robert Moncuit Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Les Grands Blancs
France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru
{12%} [Paul] Developing nose, not overly yeast, but mostly melon and grapefruit. Vigorous but creamy bubbles on the medium weight palate, with fine white-fruit flavours and only a hint of autolysis. Even palate, medium/long finish. Pretty good stuff.
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2015 G. H. Mumm & Cie Champagne Brut Millésimé
France, Champagne
{12.5%} [DavidM] Youthful aromas of lychee and talc. Only faintly yeasty. The palate continues in the lightweight vein with mild melon flavours, quite large, lively bubbles and not much development yet. Disgorged fairly recently, I’d guess. Seemed to sit a bit on the front palate and finished medium length. I was a bit underwhelmed, but I think this just needs more time.
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2014 Canard-Duchêne Champagne Brut Millésimé
France, Champagne
{12%} [Glenn] Yellowing aromas of squash, melon, grapefruit. Light/medium weight, limpid palate with medium acidity but a distinct sweetness compared so many of the other Champagnes tonight which all sat at the very dry end of brut. Sound at worst – seems to have all the parts here, they need more time, as for the previous bottle. Nice enough.
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2010 G.H. Martel & Co. Champagne Victoire Gold
France, Champagne
[Greg via DavidM] The gold bottle is bling to the max. Soft, reticent nose of mild yellow fruit and some yeast. The palate is in line, with strong but small creamy bubbles. Medium/full weight. Yeast influence here too. Seems very young for twelve years old though; seems vibrantly active on the palate. A volcano, someone said! Medium/long finish. Keep without fear. And don’t be put off by the presentation!
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NV Bollinger Champagne PN VZ15
France, Champagne
{12%} [Aaron] Disgorged Nov-19, base vintage was 2015 with some back to 2009 according to the label. Polished nose that hardly advertises its all-pinot origin. Crisp, fresh palate – I didn’t note any explicit fruit flavours, just that it was youthful, medium weight and … textural somehow. Long finish.
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NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Sous Bois
France, Champagne
{12%} [Geoffrey] Yellowish-smelling but initially mild nose. Does the name mean it’s seen a bunch of oak, or is it describing a characteristic? I assume the former. There is a fine sandalwood sort of character to the yellow fruit flavours, though. Fine creamy bubbles, medium weight, great balance along the tongue. Really improves on the palate. Perhaps the most distinctive of the fizzes tonight.
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2020 Cobaw Ridge Syrah il Pinko
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges
{diam, 13%} [Paul] Funky, man! Dark curranty bouquet, despite the pale pink colour. No real oak apparent. Some nougat and vanilla on the palate too, with frizzante bubbles. Tangy, punget red berry flavours, tinged with earth and a hint of meat. Medium weight, medium length finish. Quite a hipster sort of wine. Best young, I suspect!
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2000 John's Blend Shiraz Margarete's
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek
{magnum, cork, 14.5%} [DavidH] Old fashioned style of raspberry fruit with plenty of vanilla and coconut. In that classic Wolf-Blass imitation style. Medium weight, soft oak tannins. Transplant 70s Rioja to South Australia and you have the vibe. Medium length finish. Very drinkable but not massively complex. No need to keep further.
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2002 Glaetzer Shiraz Nefertiti Barossa Valley
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
{cork, 14.5%} [Stephen] Aged nose of spice, camphor, chocolate. Similar palate: chocolate, evolved raspberry and rotting strawberry character. Not too oaky, very little tannin apparent, medium acid. Smeary, seductively fruit. Generous, crowd-pleasing if unsophisticated style right at peak. Carries the alcohol well too. Drink up.
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1999 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch
Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
{cork, 13.5%} [Kim] Uncorked for an hour, decanted just prior to serving. Developing nose is a mix of oak and currants. A malty note too; bourbon and oak; it’s no Bordeaux, that’s for sure. But still attractive. On the palate sweet oak, and charcoal, and caramel too, but also plenty of curranty cabernet. Medium/full weight, medium dusty tannins, lowish acidity. Medium length finish, not quite so complex as you’d like. I think the late 90s JR were heading towards a dead-end kind of style (evidenced by the 50% retail price-cut to shift built-up stocks); in retrospect it was the right decision to replant vineyards and halt production as they did for 2000-02. No rush to drink these but temper your expectations a bit…
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2020 Bodega Colomé Malbec Estate
Argentina, Valles Calchaquíes, Salta, Calchaquies
{14.9%} [Greg] A late arrival from last month’s theme! Bright red fruit aromas, jubey and jammy. Medium acid, low dusty tannins. Warmly alcoholic, quite full-bodied, but always dry; doesn’t verge into fruit-bomb sweetness. Right now it’s rather too young. Not sure about long term balance but give it a few years at least.
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2007 Château de Fargues
France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
{cork, 14%} [Gordon] Deep gold. Advanced apricot and vanilla bean, Camphor. Syrupy texture despite medium acidity, and the flavours follow the bouquet with a brassy accent. Medium/dry in a sophisticated, non-sugary way, medium weight, and a medium/long finish that’s either limpid or a fraction hollow, depending on your perspective. I liked this very much, but it felt towards the end of its peak somehow.
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1985 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage
Portugal, Douro, Porto
{cork, 20.5%} [Gordon] Savoury and nutty in the typical Taylors style, hardly sweet. Tangy palate – oranges? – with dark chocolate too. Medium weight, medium length. Very nice, almost compelling!
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