Aromas of smoky biscuit, yeast and some cheesiness. Full rich finish, with quite soft acid. Maybe at its peak now? That prompted some discussion. I liked the wine very much.
A slatey, apple nose, with a real sign of sweetness (and what seemed to me a faint whiff of sulphur). Rose and musk notes follow - it doesn't seem a million miles from a Gewurz. The palate is varietally correct, with good positive acid. I didn't find it as dry as other tasters, but it suffered nothing for that. Largely front palate balance, quite fruity. Nice wine indeed.
A muted, faintly dirty nose. Smelt exhausted, if that makes sense. Somewhat dull and flat on the palate. Probably just too old. Failed to find a defender at the table.
Lovely tight honey-on-toast nose. Acid on palate is soft yet forceful. Medium body only, with super balance across the palate. Plenty of time left for this wine, I think.
Mid red, tending toward the paler end of the spectrum. The nose was quite advanced, with blackcurrant hiding beneath smoky, dusty, faintly leather & cedar notes. I though it a little under-fruited (Thor: *snort* You Australians!) but the palate picked up considerably. Mid-weight, soft fruit notes, but a terrific balanced spread of flavours and textures evenly across the tongue. Very good, and will no doubt hold a while, despite it being slightly more advanced than I expected.
Very dark red, and a nose that positively erupted with exotic fruit and spice aromas after the [97 Mount Mary] Quintet. Even that failed to give away the Viognier component, which in retrospect is obvious. There are chocolate and coffee aromas here too. The palate is warm and quite soft, the tannins being oddly reticent. Very luxurious wine.
Mid red. A developed, yet exquisitely aged nose of "fruity Bordeaux"; chocolate/blackcurrant notes, plus what seemed like quality cedary oak. Tannins are fine, palate balance is really terrific. Very sweet fruit showing at a perfect age with soft secondary characters on the palate. A real eye-opener and easily the best Australian merlot I've ever tasted; I had it picked for a top quality Margaret River cabernet! Suspect this vintage may have been around the peak for the Irvine Merlot - it's a very low profile wine these days, and rarely mentioned in any lists of great local wines. Sports one of the most garish labels of all time, incidentally - welding goggles recommended. For me, this and Mount Mary were 'red-of-the-night'.
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
Special award for 'polarising wine of the evening'. My blind verbatim note was: 'Lots of vanilla US oak. Red berries, tannic, warm. Somewhat hollow palate.' What had me baffled was what I felt to be a very large mid-palate donut hole. Perhaps it was exaggerated by the wall of tannins surrounding it - I don't know. I am familiar with the reputation of this wine - and I was somewhat disappointed by it last year as well. Perhaps it's just too young even at 10 years (yet a '90 Reserve tasted a few years ago was exquisite), but this wine seems to be right in my blind-spot. Makes me worry about the 99 and 01 I have in the cellar! And yeah, I know its French oak! Think I'm out of practice at serious tasting.
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
After the coal-face black fruit profile of the Cullen, this was like fairy floss. The colour was deep red, but the nose was of sweet blackcurrant with distinct bubble-gum notes. You'd swear there was a solid dollop of Grenache in here. The palate is fruity indeed, and very sweet (not RS, obviously). It's very in-your-face; not subtle at all. If I call it coarse, I mean in a boisterous sort of way, rather than particularly unrefined. The balance across the palate is pretty good though - this is no front-palate stormer. At eight years it's still pretty fresh, too.
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Deep orange. The typical old Para nose of burnt toffee and créme brulee. This is very intense, yet the tawny old fruit is able to withstand the intensely volatile acidity and powerful alcohol. There's not a lot of back palate, but it doesn't really detract from the finish, which is predictably long. I didn't notice any particular degredation between tasting on Saturday and Monday nights, but I concede the wine will grow stale the longer it remain undrunk. Very good.
1990 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Blanc des Millénaires
France, Champagne
Aromas of smoky biscuit, yeast and some cheesiness. Full rich finish, with quite soft acid. Maybe at its peak now? That prompted some discussion. I liked the wine very much.
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2003 Peregrine Riesling
New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago
A slatey, apple nose, with a real sign of sweetness (and what seemed to me a faint whiff of sulphur). Rose and musk notes follow - it doesn't seem a million miles from a Gewurz. The palate is varietally correct, with good positive acid. I didn't find it as dry as other tasters, but it suffered nothing for that. Largely front palate balance, quite fruity. Nice wine indeed.
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2000 Stonecroft Gewürztraminer
New Zealand, North Island, Hawke's Bay
A muted, faintly dirty nose. Smelt exhausted, if that makes sense. Somewhat dull and flat on the palate. Probably just too old. Failed to find a defender at the table.
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1992 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1
Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Lovely tight honey-on-toast nose. Acid on palate is soft yet forceful. Medium body only, with super balance across the palate. Plenty of time left for this wine, I think.
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1997 Mount Mary Quintet
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
Mid red, tending toward the paler end of the spectrum. The nose was quite advanced, with blackcurrant hiding beneath smoky, dusty, faintly leather & cedar notes. I though it a little under-fruited (Thor: *snort* You Australians!) but the palate picked up considerably. Mid-weight, soft fruit notes, but a terrific balanced spread of flavours and textures evenly across the tongue. Very good, and will no doubt hold a while, despite it being slightly more advanced than I expected.
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2001 Castagna Syrah Genesis
Australia, Victoria, North East, Beechworth
Very dark red, and a nose that positively erupted with exotic fruit and spice aromas after the [97 Mount Mary] Quintet. Even that failed to give away the Viognier component, which in retrospect is obvious. There are chocolate and coffee aromas here too. The palate is warm and quite soft, the tannins being oddly reticent. Very luxurious wine.
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1994 Irvine Grand Merlot
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
Mid red. A developed, yet exquisitely aged nose of "fruity Bordeaux"; chocolate/blackcurrant notes, plus what seemed like quality cedary oak. Tannins are fine, palate balance is really terrific. Very sweet fruit showing at a perfect age with soft secondary characters on the palate. A real eye-opener and easily the best Australian merlot I've ever tasted; I had it picked for a top quality Margaret River cabernet! Suspect this vintage may have been around the peak for the Irvine Merlot - it's a very low profile wine these days, and rarely mentioned in any lists of great local wines. Sports one of the most garish labels of all time, incidentally - welding goggles recommended. For me, this and Mount Mary were 'red-of-the-night'.
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1995 Cullen Wines Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot (Diana Madeline)
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
Special award for 'polarising wine of the evening'. My blind verbatim note was: 'Lots of vanilla US oak. Red berries, tannic, warm. Somewhat hollow palate.' What had me baffled was what I felt to be a very large mid-palate donut hole. Perhaps it was exaggerated by the wall of tannins surrounding it - I don't know. I am familiar with the reputation of this wine - and I was somewhat disappointed by it last year as well. Perhaps it's just too young even at 10 years (yet a '90 Reserve tasted a few years ago was exquisite), but this wine seems to be right in my blind-spot. Makes me worry about the 99 and 01 I have in the cellar! And yeah, I know its French oak! Think I'm out of practice at serious tasting.
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1997 Rolf Binder/Veritas Shiraz Hanisch
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
After the coal-face black fruit profile of the Cullen, this was like fairy floss. The colour was deep red, but the nose was of sweet blackcurrant with distinct bubble-gum notes. You'd swear there was a solid dollop of Grenache in here. The palate is fruity indeed, and very sweet (not RS, obviously). It's very in-your-face; not subtle at all. If I call it coarse, I mean in a boisterous sort of way, rather than particularly unrefined. The balance across the palate is pretty good though - this is no front-palate stormer. At eight years it's still pretty fresh, too.
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1939 Seppeltsfield Para Vintage Tawny
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Deep orange. The typical old Para nose of burnt toffee and créme brulee. This is very intense, yet the tawny old fruit is able to withstand the intensely volatile acidity and powerful alcohol. There's not a lot of back palate, but it doesn't really detract from the finish, which is predictably long. I didn't notice any particular degredation between tasting on Saturday and Monday nights, but I concede the wine will grow stale the longer it remain undrunk. Very good.
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