NobleRottersSydney - Launching the '98 cellar (2)

see Notes for the preceeding (May 02) dinner

• 1998 Jacob's Creek Shiraz Reserve Barossa

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa

  A strongly spicy nose also hints at berry compote fruit. Richer than the Wynns, although I find this wine has no back palate to speak of. A bit simple – in fact, many of the things said about the cabernet last month apply equally to this wine.

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• 1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Quite a deep red. A nose of pepper & spice. A light-medium bodied wine with spicy fruit. Perhaps a little simple on the palate (how much of the best fruit went into Michael?) and possibly even a little stalky & extractive. Reasonable balance, although the finish is a little short.

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• 1998 Seppelt Shiraz Chalambar

  Australia, Victoria

  This wine had a lot of very good press when first released and I was keen to try it. It presented smoky, plummy aromas, with dusty quality. On the palate it’s a bit nondescript – I wonder if it’s in a ‘stage’ of some sort? It seems a bit washed out – I shall charitably assume it’s somewhat closed and will emerge later.

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• 1998 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 28 Kalimna Flawed

  Australia, South Australia

  This smelt a bit medicinal at first but the palate was quite dead. Over a few minutes the wet cardboard smell of TCA grew, and when retasted at the end of the night there was no doubt whatsoever. Corked.

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• 1998 Tollana Shiraz Bin TR16

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley

  Deep red, with aromas of eucalypt & iodine. Tasted very black, if that makes sense, with a hint of herbaceousness. Quite tannic, but in a gentle kind of way. This is a fair wine for the price – I’ve often thought that Tollana reds were better than generally given credit for. The future of the brand is in some doubt, I believe.

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• 1998 Baileys of Glenrowan Shiraz 1920's Block

  Australia, Victoria, North East

  This is a very lush, warm climate kind of wine – much less austere than the Tollana, for example. Nicely balanced on palate, with prickly acid and moderate tannins. Attractive shorter-term wine.

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• 1998 Edwards & Chaffey Shiraz Section 353

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Black/red. A spicy French oak nose with almost Grange-like intensity. Very plush, plummy, and velvety, with deliciously fine tannins and great length. Still very much in its primary phase – I really like this wine. We tasted it from barrel back in 2000 (courtesy of Fiona Donald, the winemaker), when it was very raw and tannic – the oak has integrated nicely. Something of a bargain at under $30, I believe.

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• 1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz Michael

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Almost black, and a nose of pure American, coconut & vanilla oak. Phew! There’s a little pepper & spice on offer, but lots of oak. Surprisingly, the palate is not nearly as wooden as the nose would suggest. There’s even some acid detectable, which hints that the wine may actually come together nicely at some point. I think it’ll be a tightrope walk, though!

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• 1998 Hardys Shiraz Eileen Hardy

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  Wow! This is not dissimilar to the other McLaren Vale reds here tonight, but the smooth velvety black fruit & raspberry qualities and silky tannins are taken to their very limits. Even the fineness of the tannins can’t disguise the sheer size of this wine. It does finish very powerfully with great length, but is still disjointed and needs considerable time. I think this is a better aging bet than the Michael. Bloody nice wine, but then at $80 it ought to be.

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• 1998 Penfolds Bin 389

  Australia, South Australia

  No cork problems here. Stunning nose that just screams Penfolds. Tar, bitumen and meat aromas battle with strong tannins & acid on the palate. This wine has stuffing! Way too young to drink – tannins do predominate on the finish, but the palate feels is very good. I do have a bias toward Cab-Shiraz blends I must admit. Great wine.

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• 1998 Rosemount Estate Mountain Blue

  Australia, New South Wales, Central Ranges, Mudgee

  After the relative cleanliness of the Bin 389, this is very earthy indeed. Mudgee mud in a tuxedo. In fact it has very ripe red berry fruit, but less weight on the palate, and I think finishes a bit short for a $50 wine. In context, disappointing.

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• 1998 Maglieri Cabernet Sauvignon McLaren Vale

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  A clean open ripe modern, not-particularly-characteristic Australian cabernet. Indeterminate red berry fruit, soft tannins, just enough acid to keep it from being flabby, but a bit of a short finish. An early drinker, but pleasant none-the-less.

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• 1998 Saltram Cabernet Sauvignon Mamre Brook

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa

  Luxuriantly upholstered nose of dark cherries. Fine tannins with an attractive acid twist, this rich medium-bodied wine was a heck of a buy for $18! Notes are getting shorter as the volume of wine increases…

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• 1998 Jamiesons Run Cabernet Sauvignon Alexanders Block

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Exquisite cabernet nose – blackcurrant, ripe blackberries, musk, spearmint. This wine manages to be elegant and powerful, of medium weight. The nose promises a little more than the palate delivers, true, but I think 5 or so years will see this bloom beautifully. Lovely wine.

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• 1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch

  Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra

  Black wine. Incredibly rich, upholstered über-cabernet nose. Very oaky, true, but somehow aristocratic, with plenty of ripe fruit underneath. Far too young to drink now, and hard to see (after this much wine) exactly where this will go, but it seems to have the right stuff to be a long ager…

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