NobleRottersSydney - Cellar Orphans
Alio's, Surry Hills
Tasted Monday, October 12, 2009 by graemeg with 676 views
Introduction
October 2009: Cellar Orphans. ‘The last bottle of something you’ve got that’s worth sharing.’ Sounds promising. Doesn’t always work out that way on the table. Four Rotters apparently with better things to do, two guests to plug the gaps:
Flight 1 (9 Notes)
Closing
There was a lot of grumbling around the table, but in truth most of the wines were perfectly OK, just not quite scaling the heights. Maybe that’s the fate of cellar orphans…
1996 Josmeyer Riesling Brand
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
[cork, 12.5%] {Graeme} Distinct gold colour. A nose of honey & quince, but interlaced with a distinctly diesel/oxidative note. The palate remains almost brutal in its mineral-driven acidity; becoming sour as it sat in the glass. It’s dry, with a brown-leaf note to the flavours, which include honey-without-the-sweetness. Does that make sense? Most found it too flat & dull; a glass I kept over some hours held together but never blossomed. No framework in which to judge the typicity of this, I’m afraid.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2005 Mount Panorama Wines Shiraz
Australia, New South Wales, Central Ranges
[screwcap, 13.4%, $18] {Graeme} A topical wine, sourced from a vineyard halfway up Mountain Straight inside Australia’s most famous motor-racing circuit, and drunk the day after the 2009 1000km annual endurance race. Solid garnet. Developing aromas of bright cherry and spicy white pepper; accurately reflecting its cool location. The palate is dry, a light/medium bodied offering of slightly charcoally fruit (despite minimal oak use), with decent levels of ripeness, soft tannins, and a short-ish finish that sat mostly on the front of the tongue. Mild and soft and ready to drink. Nice chequered-flag front label, with the back label in the shape of the famous circuit itself.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2003 Ross Hill Cabernet Franc Jack's Lot
Australia, New South Wales, Central Ranges, Orange
[cork, 13%] {Bruce} Bright yet developing bubblegum aromas to the point of suggesting some carbonic maceration. There’s an underlying mintiness to the nose too. The manifests as spearmint on the palate, along with cool-climate spicy/leafy flavours which always convey ripeness. The texture has softened out, with quite drying chalky tannins the longet lasting component of a fairly short finish. A modest wine unlikely to improve further.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1998 Virgin Hills
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Macedon Ranges
[cork, 12.5%] {David}The purity of the front label remains, but the terse sternness of the old back label is replaced with a welter of all-CAPS text, revealing all apart from the rather wet conditions which these grapes presumably endured. The nose is confronting – all dirty bretty aromas, fungal and toxic-smelling. The palate is better, with composting red fruits in an earthy frame. Volatility is not far away – it seems like a multitude of bacterial faults are imminent – but the wine generally remains rather light, and almost ethereal. Cleaned up a little in the glass as it sat, but its very near the end of its life on this showing, and is a pretty polarising wine by any standards. From the earth, and about to return.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2001 Normans Old Vine Shiraz
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
[cork, 14%] {Geoffrey} Classic sweet fruit-cake South Australia aromas – all cuddly and warm. (Despite some fruit coming from Strathbogie in Vic.) Very much aged, though. Dry, and medium, bodied on the palate, but most of the tannins have departed. The trouble is that the raisiny aged fruit flavours can no longer keep the alcohol at bay, resulting in a wine which simply grows hotter on the finish. Drink up, as it will only get more unbalanced as time passes.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1998 Yalumba Mawson's
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
[cork, 14%] {Greg} A cab/shiraz/merlot blend, which in subsequent vintages has had its regional sourcing widened to merely ‘Limestone Coast’ This was the first vintage, and Yalumba clearly made an effort to over-deliver for the then price of around $16. The nose now is all aged Coonawarra, with leafy tobacco/cassis notes. Resolved and mature on the palate – flirting with tiredness. Soft powdery tannins remain, and the wine rouses itself to a medium length finish of decent balance, but it falls short of true sophistication. Still, it delivered for the price.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1996 Jacob's Creek Shiraz Centenary Hill
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
[cork, 14%]{Steven - guest} A big ripe voluptuous vanilla nose of ripe chocolatey fruits in a crowd-pleasing style. Especially if you like American oak! All very obvious on the palate; big simple vanilla flavours mirror the nose, but are hearty and honest. Like your country cousin… Medium-full bodied, medium intensity and length of finish. Some dusty tannins remain, and there’s some decent mid-palate weight too. OK, but should have been better for the price (when new). Ready to drink.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
1993 Howard Park Cabernet Merlot
Australia, Western Australia
(Great Southern) [cork, 13.5%] {Glenn} If there’s an aristocrat among tonight’s reds, this is it. Fading garnet and bricklike tinges. Beautifully aged old nose of polished leather and herby cabernet notes. A dry medium instensity palate follows, with sweetly aged brambly cabernet fruit, correctly varietal, but old rather than hugely complex, despite just a touch of volatility. Soft powdery tannins, and gentle presence on the mid-palate complete the picture. Competent rather than grand; nothing to be gained from further cellaring by this tasting.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2006 Three Miners Pinot Noir Earnscleugh Valley
New Zealand, South Island, Otago, Central Otago
[screwcap, 13.5%]{Greg} A last minute purchase to keep the party rocking. Dark garnet. Pretty cherry notes with a touch of spiced oak on the nose. A juicy-fruit cherry/strawberry-flavoured palate, but with a distinct touch of sourness. Light-medium bodied, with crisp acid, medium intensity and just a little mid-palate weight after the wash of flavour on the front of the tongue. Soft tannins and minimal oak flavours. There’s an underlying tart sort of hardness that says a few more years aging might be of interest. Evolves quite sweetly in the glass as it sits. Useful pinot.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No