Community Tasting Note

• Rote Kappelle Does not like this wine: 79 points

  September 24, 2021 - This is a difficult note to write, as I am a fan of the makers and this wine, as a rule. I am rating this on the Cellar Tracker scale as being barely average. This is very poor wine, however, when considering the vintage was marked by being one of the hottest summers on record in Oz and the harvesting period was not rain affected, yet there are unmistakable signs of under-ripe Grenache. This is not good to drink, yet it is a relatively expensive wine. Bottle under screw cap and note made over 2 days, wine not decanted.
  
  Colour is medium deep garnet - so far so good and the nose has some pretty floral and red berry aromas.
  
  It is in the mouth that this wine really disappoints. The good side is there is body and substance and some intensity. However, the finish falls away quite quickly (which may be a blessing) and the flavours are a little muddied and there are quite hard tannins, and there is something rather tough about the feel and impact in the mouth. A friend with a far more educated palate than my rather rustic organ suggested it was marred by grainy stalk tannins that were not balanced by the (under ripe) fruit. I think he nailed what I was searching for in my discussion with him.
  
  In fairness, my filthy Kiwi chum thought it might come up with time in the cellar. My own view is why take the risk and why bother when better vintages of the same maker can be had. I am always very cautious about cellaring wine with under-ripe characters showing strongly on release; it is unusual for these to get better, or more balanced over time. Generally you have more chance of having a compost smelling slop in 5-10 years. For the incurable optimists only.
  
  I can only guess that the maker, worried about the heat and the tendency of Grenache to accelerate from about ripe to way over ripe and porty, got the timing wrong and picked a little too early. Winemakers tell me Grenache is very unforgiving and moves very fast at vintage.
  
  I will try this maker's 2021. Other years are too good for one off year to make me write them off. I am not an optimist, but I am stubborn (or if you want to be kind, loyal).

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