NobleRottersSydney - Margaret River v Coonawarra

The Noble Rotters gather for the final dinner of 2005. The theme is Margaret River v Coonawarra, in an attempt to find identifiably terroir-traceable differences between Australia’s two most famed cabernet regions. Wines were not decanted, drunk in pairs, and sort-of matched by age.

• 2000 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  {15.0%} Blood red. Lifted nose of ripe fruit and herbal notes; aromas dark chocolate with eucalypt and menthol are very inviting and cool. This is a direct contrast to the palate, which is distinctly warm. The tannins are fine and soft, weight is balanced towards the front palate and tastes of a mixture of added acidity and high alcohol. The more tasted, the warmer the mouthfeel becomes. A wine whose palate falls considerably short of its aromatic promise however.

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• 2000 Penley Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  {14.0%} Deep/mid red. The aromas here are much warmer, with ripe red raspberry notes mingled with vanillan/coconut oak. The palate is soft and round, much less angular than [2000 Cape] Mentelle. Somewhat better balanced, with a solid fruity finish, although lacks the last word in complexity.

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• 2000 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  {14.5%} Dark red – perhaps faintly light in shade at the rim. Classic ripe cabernet noters – blackcurrant, cassis essence. Fine cedary oak notes underpin the rich aromas. A classy palate follows; fine creamy oak, subtle powdery tannins. First class New World cabernet. The back palate is quite soft, and eventually some warmth builds on the palate – shaving a percentage point off the alcohol might have made a difference (although no-one would find over-ripe fruit here). Nevertheless this is a quality effort that’s drinking well even at five years old. Pretty much agreed to be the wine-of-the-night.

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• 1999 Majella The Malleea

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  {13.5%} Mid red. After Moss Wood, this appears to smell of little other than vanillan oak. There’s some nebulous red berry fruit – presumably the shiraz component has knocked the edge off any cabernet typicity. There are gravelly tannins, some spiky acidity. It’s OK, far looser-knit than the Moss Wood, but here I don’t feel the fruit has quite the richness to stand up to the oak treatment. Moderate length finish. Palate balance is OK – but this blend ought to be pretty seamless, especially at the price Majella charge for this wine. No need to hold longer – just don’t drink it with Moss Wood!

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• 1996 Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  {13.5%} A wine we drank with some success some years ago, this example is very puzzling. Colour is for-age, but the nose offers musty, stewed aromas that run from rotting vegetation to positively bacterial. Appeared neither overtly oxidized or obviously corked. Heat damaged at some time, perhaps? There’s little fruit on the palate, and it just fades away into a gentle astringency. Very strange, and disappointing.

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• 1996 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  {13.0%} Classic Australian cabernet nose. Clean macerated blackcurrants, a hint of ripe herbaceousness, with vanilla oak supporting but not dominant. The palate seems to be all over the place, however. Acidity is spiky and a bit crude, the astringency is coarse and drying. A wine having a mid life crisis? I’d like to say it just needs more time, but the finish is still worryingly short given the reputation of the vintage. Baffling, though certainly preferable to the Xanadu. This pair of wines is easily the most confusing of the night, however!

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• 1993 Leeuwin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Art Series

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River

  {14.0%} I sometimes feel I can write the note for Leeuwin Cabernet without even tasting the wine, such has been its consistency over the years. Aromas are at the very greenest end of the cabernet spectrum – like someone threw asparagus, capsicum and herbs all together in a blender. The palate is a little less polarizing; of medium weight, tannins are soft, acidity somewhat prominent though. It doesn’t taste unripe, and in fact carries the alcohol quite well, but if you’re addicted to the lusciously-fruited, blueberry-milkshake style of new world cabernet, then you won’t like it at all… Nowhere really to improve I don’t think, but tastes like it could stay this way forever – the style almost seems to transcend the aging process.

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• 1994 Lindeman's Pyrus

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  {13.5%} Mid red, although perhaps the palest of the reds so far. The nose show plenty of sweet US vanillan oak, but the aromas are not harsh in any way. Warm ripe developed red berry fruit notes follow. On the palate it’s a lovely aged style – soft and integrated, the palate evenly coated with faintly herbal fruit. As it sits, gentle coconut notes come to the fore, along with some gentle aged varnish/leather tones. It’s not a blockbuster style, and ultimately the finish tends toward short and hollow, but it’s very drinkable.

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• 1991 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  {13.5%} Having run out of contenders from Margaret River, we are left with just these two offerings from the red dirt. This wine is surprisingly dark still, the aromas offer the full spectrum of aged cabernet – leather, cassis, cedar. Rich yet developed, soft but persistent, it’s around its peak now, but has still a few years left. Damn good. Similar to the bottle we drank in Nov 03.

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• 1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  {13.5%} A very dark red indeed. Such ripe, rich blackberry flavours leap from the glass – it seems the fruitiest wine of the night. The palate is rich, long, and full of fruit; oak flavours are very subtle, yet the texture is tannic. One to leave in the cellar – not that it’s unenjoyable, but there’s just so much more yet to come from this wine with some more time.

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I don’t recall any profound conclusions being drawn about the nature of cabernet as interpreted by these two most fêted regions in Australia. Except for the Wynns wines, you could draw the harsh conclusion that Margaret River tastes green, and Coonawarra tastes of oak. No, that’s unfair. Excepting the Xanadu, the wines were all very good, although perhaps only the Moss Wood and the 98 Wynns aspired to greatness. I’d claim the MR wines were a bit more uniform in their presentation, the ermphasis being towards the more leafy and herbal end of the fruit spectrum – but without any shortage of ripeness, it must be said. Whereas, to generalize on this dinner, Coonawarra wines were less tightly structured, and tend to a richer, blackberry and oak recipe. Maybe fewer Wynns but something from Katnook, Petaluma, or Orlando would have highlighted the regional characteristics more clearly. A good dinner. Pity about the anti-social table layout!