NobleRottersSydney - Blind Shiraz Options 2000-01-02
Guillaume at Bennelong
Tasted Monday, April 3, 2006 by graemeg with 654 views
Introduction
April 2006, and the theme is an Options night on Shiraz from 2000,2001,2002. We rarely spend much time on wines this young at Noble Rotters dinners. Tasted blind, obviously, except for the first & last wines.
Flight 1 (14 Notes)
Closing
An interesting selection of wines; a lot of South Australian palates fail to match the promise of their noses. Perhaps there are a few tricky vintages here as well…
1999 Jansz Wine Company Vintage Cuvée
Australia, Tasmania
{cork, $25} A nose of salmon, pastry and a whiff of cheese. Clean, though. It’s fresh and dry on the palate with apple-acid the noticeable feature. Fine bead, some faint complexity of flavours on the palate; fairly lightweight in body but with a decent medium+ length of finish. Good aperitif style.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2000 Yalumba Shiraz & Viognier Barossa
Australia, South Australia, Barossa
Roasted raisin-fruit nose, warm & richly fruity nose, lifted style. Touch of band-aid? Some hint of vanillan (US?) oak. The palate is quite extracted, very low in acid for me, and with fine and soft tannins; general texture is significantly more subtle than the nose would suggest. Tastes very ripe, but not too warm. Jammy fruit quality, but still comfortably a ‘dry’ wine. Good balance across the palate and a dusty medium length finish. Not bad at all. Yalumba {cork, 13.5% $30) In retrospect the exotic nature of the aromas can be chalked up to the Viognier, and this helps explain why the palate didn’t quite seem to follow as I’d expected had the wine been a 100% shiraz. Alcohol kept in check too, which helps the balance I believe.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2002 Tin Shed Shiraz
Australia, South Australia, Barossa
Black-purple in colour, the toasty oak nose is the most arresting component of the aromas. There are licorice & kirsh notes underneath. Plenty of ultra-ripe-style red/black berry fruit here, generally low in acid and again with the fine tannins. More Barossa? It’s very clean and new-world in style, the weight is largely towards the mid-front of the palate, not too hot, but certainly reflecting a warm climate. Very fruity. Tin Shed {cork, 14%, A$35); A fairly new label jumping on the Barossa bandwagon, I guess. A good wine, but a bit anonymous, perhaps?
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2001 Leeuwin Estate Shiraz Siblings
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
After the last two extrovert noses, this is very shy and retiring. Presumably from a cooler climate, there’s none-the-less a sweaty note among the low-key blackberry , black pepper and spice nose. On the palate the acidity shrieks a bit, and although the tannins are soft they’re a bit crude. It’s a bit all over the place structurally, and I wonder at the ripeness of the fruit. Biggest failing is the relative shortness of the finish; the rest could be chalked up to ‘character’… Leeuwin {cork, 13.5%, A$25); Not really sure why Leeuwin bother with shiraz; even the Art Series wine rarely impresses, and this second level offering does neither the winery nor the variety any favours. And this from a better-regarded vintage…?
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2002 Henschke Shiraz Vineyard Selection Tappa Pass
Australia, South Australia, Barossa
Wildly candied nose of jam/raspberry fruit and bubblegum. Really very perfumed. Despite the rich ripeness, the palate avoids overt sweetness, instead offering subtle acidity, powdery but persistent tannins, and a gamey note to the fruit quality that I didn’t find on the nose. Medium weight, yet very intense and tightly-knit, there’s a good long finish on offer here as well. Very good Henschke {screwcap, 15%, A$70}; First vintage of this I think from a single Barossa vineyard?. A quick SMS to the owner indicates that it’s all sold out. Carries the alcohol very well. Good stuff.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2001 Houghton Shiraz Frankland River
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Frankland River
Fruity blackberry & spice nose, quite open and intense. Ripe, and carried by a whiff of volatility? Palate is soft and round, with attractive ripe fruit and fine tannins. Moderate length finish. Houghton {cork, 14.5%, A$20} Good big-company wine. Lacks the last word in character but very good value for money at this price.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2002 Tyrrell's Shiraz Vat 9
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{cork, 13.5%, A$23*} Everyone called Hunter even before the options questions, but offering Northern & Southern Rhone as the other two choices fooled a few… After the last half-dozen fruit-festival wines, this is very earthy and stinky. There is dusty-scented leathery fruit, but it’s not especially developed yet. Understated acidity on the palate combines with fine tannins to form a blurry sort of wine, not for fruit sluts, which never climbs above medium weight, but offers a decent length finish of some interest. Looks very old-fashioned these days, buts adds to the variety of styles available! *Price from mailing list at first offering; the 5-year-aged retail release price is nearly double this.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2001 d'Arenberg Shiraz The Dead Arm
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Now we’re back in the oak-charged world of South Australian über-shiraz surely. Super ripe raisin, raspberry, chocolate, meaty aromas, with vanillan oak (but quality oak, I concede). A bloom of spicy ripe fruits crashes over the front palate, but I find them less than persistent on the finish. Acidity is very soft, and initially the tannins are quite soft as well. For all the richness promised by the nose, I find the body lacking depth and dimension. Dead Arm {cork, 15%, A$70} Not such a surprise upon unveiling. I think the early years of this label were its best – from 1998 onwards I find lack of freshness and palate interest.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2001 Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
Sophisticated multi-layered aromas of raspberries and warm spice, pepper and a chocolate note initially conceal a greenish tinge, which later manifests itself as a menthol/spearmint aspect. An odd sort of a wine, it seems quite lightweight on the palate, and all the many facets of the aroma seem to dissipate on the palate to a light chewy wine of modest acid and discreet tannins. The balance over the palate is not bad, although its all a low intensity levels. Not to say it won’t develop. Unusual. Mt Edelstone {cork, 14%, A$70} Don’t think anyone found $70 worth of value here. Mt Edelstone’s been in the wilderness for a few years now, and this example only serves to emphasise the estrangement.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
2000 Grant Burge Shiraz Filsell Old Vine
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Another extrovert nose; roasted grape aromas, tar, spice and a barnyardy tinge that just adds some interest all combine here. The palate is something of a contrast, being loose in structure, and tasting a little confected and coarse. A full throttle style of wine that shows somewhat more development than the nose indicates; there’s not a lot of complexity here so I would call this ready to drink. Filsell {cork, 14.5%, A$20} A pretty good save from a tricky vintage, but don’t wait too much longer before pulling the cork.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2002 Tahbilk Shiraz
Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes
A nose of only moderate intensity, restrained dark berry fruit of a sober nature; tricky to pick an overarching aroma. Slightly muted palate, tannic but not coarsely so, mostly soft and gentle of body. Hope the subtle fruit will outlast the tannin. At present soft and a bit elemental. Tahbilk {cork, 13.5%, A$15}; No real surprise when this is unveiled;a modest wine that will repay a few years in the cellar no doubt. Don’t think is was an especially great vintage for them; this is the current release as well.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2001 Wignalls Shiraz
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Great Southern
The nose here is tight and focused and has a cabernet-like herbaceousness to it, along with dark berry fruits and a slightly fungal note. It’s fairly astringent on the palate too, and there’s a suggestion of unripeness, despite a warm body. Balance is OK; the palate is well coated, but the wine wants a bit for sophistication. Wignalls {cork, 14.5%, A$20}; Heard of the producer, but this is the first wine of theirs I’ve tried. WA is a lottery when it comes to shiraz, eh?
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1993 Jim Barry Riesling Noble Clare Valley
Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
{375ml, cork, 12.2%} This offers a quite strongly, but not unattractively, oxidized nose, with a sort of botrytised petroleum note as the prominent aroma. The palate offers the kind of hollowed-out richness that many botrytised-style wines seem to suffer at this age. It’s sits fairly well on the mid-palate, although the length of finish falls away quite a bit. Probably at its best a few years ago.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2000 Briar Ridge Vineyards Sémillon Botrytis
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
{375ml, cork, 10%} The Briar Ridge label is a bit coy about the origin of this wine, but it smells for all the world like a Riverina effort. Rich apricot marmalade fruit has picked up a patina of age but without much complexity. There’s just enough acid holding it together on the palate; drink up, because it won’t improve.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No