NobleRottersSydney - Christmas Lunch 2005

No notes on bubblies beforehand!
Great lunch - thanks Andrew

• 1994 Terrace Vale Sémillon

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Turning golden. The nose is a kind of dried honey on toast aroma, but the underlying aged oxidation really comes through on the palate. Dried out and rather bitter. Five years too late!

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• 1992 Heritage Wines (Steve Hoff) Chardonnay

  Australia, South Australia

  Golden yellow. Fruit is fading fast here – what little melon-like aromas remain are being lifted into prominence by volatility. Clinging to drinkability perhaps, but really enjoyable only for necrophiliacs.

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• 2003 Domaine Zinck Pinot Blanc

  France, Alsace

  Floral, passionfruit notes on the nose. The palate is dry and stony but with that hint of oily texture that is so typical of Alsace. Good food wine.

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• 2000 Louis Latour Montagny 1er Cru La Grande Roche Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Montagny 1er Cru

  This is closed indeed. Some melon & stone fruit aromas. Served very cold as well, which only muted the flavours further. The palate is quite flinty, oak effect is minimal. Hard to judge. In a developmental trough?

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• 2004 Brokenwood Viognier Indigo Vineyard

  Australia, Victoria, North East, Beechworth

  Thick and unctuous texture. Apricot & peach notes. Neither too hot nor clumsy on the palate, despite the quite thick, weighty mouthfeel. Relatively short finish is the only mild disappointment.

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• 2001 Riverby Estate Pinot Noir

  New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough

  Varietally correct. All very fruit driven even at this age. Cherries still to the fore, with understated gamey notes. Light, elegant ripe. Minimal stalkiness. Very good.

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• 2000 Chapel Hill Shiraz

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Warm chocolate/coffee nose, with a fair whack of vanillan oak. The palate offers broad sweet tannins with medium weight finish topped off by sweet oak. Good but unsubtle. Great example of McLaren Vale, though.

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• 2003 Brothers in Arms No. 6

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek

  Lots of black fruits here. Extractive raisins, black pepper, malt. Soft acids, quite warm (no surprise at 15%) Full strength & weight. A wine for a cold day.

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• 2001 Picardy Merlimont

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Pemberton

  Lovely ripe blackcurrant nose. Plummy fruit on palate, fine tannin, mid weight but persistent. Lovely wine. A surprise for me, this one – never heard of it before.

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• 1986 The Rothbury Estate Pinot Noir

  Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley

  Served as an options wine. My tip was 1944 North Altantic U48 main gearbox. An earthy, dirty wine that was surprisingly dark, both in mood and colour. Not quite volatile, but certainly bad-tempered.

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• 1963 Seppelt Cabernet Sauvignon

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  Here’s a rarity – and a pair of bottles, no less. Another options wine, not picked as 40 years old by anyone. Very dark, with a fading burnt orange rim. The nose resembles a fortified, port-style wine. Burnt toffee, caramel notes predominate. The palate is relatively thin; the tannins have mostly departed, but it’s a wine still very much alive. Like a light port, but without the sweetness or alcoholic weight. I don’t find the volatility overly dominating. A curio, yes, but still a very unusual wine. I wonder who now owns the vineyard that supplied this fruit? Cabernet was pretty thin on the ground in Australia in 1963. Can’t see that this wine has ever sold at Langton’s either, which would make it very rare indeed…

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• 1999 Peter Lehmann Mentor

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  Rich plum & raisin aromas. The merlot (& shiraz to a lesser extent) seems to shine through too. Oak treatment is subtle. There are elements of smoke, cinnamon, spice & pecan on the palate all forming a moderate weight, almost sweetly finishing wine.

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• 1998 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri

  Australia, South Australia

  A grand wine. Rich, plush upholstered plum & dark berry fruit aromas. Darkly restrained on the palate, the finely tannic fruit is quite reticent and very primary still. Slumbering deeply, this needs at least another 5 years (preferably 10) to be anything beyond ‘great potential’.

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• 2000 Virtu Sémillon Noble Sémillon

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Clean light botrytis nose – apricot with a vanillan aspect. Sweet and soft with enough tart freshness to keep it interesting. Less memorable than a similar wine of the same label made from sauvignon blanc, however.

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• 1996 All Saints Estate Late Harvest Sémillon

  Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen

  {375ml} Light toffee, marmalade & honey aromas precede a gently developed, soft sweet attractive palate. It has picked up an extra dimension by virtue of age, which is pleasing – a kind of lightly burnished quality, without falling over into brassiness. Good wine.

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• 2004 Sileni Sémillon Estate Selection - Late Harvest

  New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay

  Pale yellow. I’d have sworn this was sauvignon. There’s a definite pungent greenness shining through the sugary citrus notes. The palate is considerably richer than the nose suggests, but not all the green is banished. It’s a bit lean now and lacking complexity, but it could go either way in future – blossom into richness, or collapse into toxicity. Don’t ask me which (especially after tasting so many other wines beforehand).

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• 2001 T'Gallant Pinot Grigio Fresh & Light

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Mornington Peninsula

  There’s a whiff of marzipan sweetness here. The palate is relatively austere – the sweetness is of a mossy green-covered stone kind – not unlike a marginal sauternes. I still have a question about ripeness – that dash of asparagus is a worry – I’m not sure it ever goes away. Finish is a bit short too. Interesting and unusual wine.

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• 2003 Rochford Pinot Noir Reserve

  Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges

  First class local pinot. Ripe, light cherry fruit, sweet strawberries, jam, light carbonic maceration notes. Tart and refreshing, not unripe. Good length, and I’d have enjoyed this even more earlier in the day before consuming shiraz and sweeties!

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• 1999 Tintara Shiraz

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  This is rich and ripe, bordering on bretty, lots of extra-ripe fruits in the McLaren Vale mould. It’s quite loose-knit and rambling on the palate, not overly tannic, but just lacking in interest for me.

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