Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
Treasury Wine Estate Premium Wine Expo
Prince Sydney, 40 Hansard Street
Tasted July 27, 2015 by chatters with 646 views
Introduction
Superb tasting of all of Treasury Wine Estates premium brands. What a treat! Anyway, bit of an elbows at dawn so notes takes the form of aromas followed by an ellipsis and the palate.
Flight 1 - Premium Marque wines (4 notes)
Had to do these first in order to make sure I got a taste. The Grange was very very good unsurprisingly.
Red
2012 Penfolds Shiraz RWT
medium minus ripe, blackberry and spice, chocolate and vanilla…Fresh, juicy black berry, fruit (touches of plum) over slight spice, long, good.
Red
2010 Penfolds Grange
dense, dark colour…rich, dense, black fruit, vanilla, cheesy, spice, cedar, chocolate…juicy, beautifully balanced, preposterously long, cream, concentrated without being jammy, very good but a bit expensive at $695 a bottle.
Red
2012 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch
ripe blackcurrant, slight cream, slight herbaceous notes, cedar, pencil shavings on the nose...The fruit is savoury on the palate with drying chalky tannin, disappointing after the nose. Time I would assume based on previous vintages.
Red
2012 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz Michael
Aromas of cream, black fruit, very slight metallic and herbaceous notes...In the mouth there is black fruit, cream, slight chalky tannin, long. Hmm
Flight 2 - chardonnay (9 notes)
Okay bracket…not quite as good as I'd have hoped. The Matua was quite Yankee.
White
2013 Coldstream Hills Chardonnay Reserve
Sweet spice, toast, cream, butter, slight cedar notes, peach over citrus…juicy, peach over citrus, slight tannic burr, fruit a little short though.
White
2013 Coldstream Hills Chardonnay Deer Farm
toast, peach over butter, sweet spice, slight honeysuckle… little flat on the palate, fruit present but lacks a little acidity
White
2013 Devil's Lair Chardonnay
slight funky, perhaps reductive, over citrus, slight briny notes….fresh and juicy, tangy , fruit a little anonymous, okay, drying grip on front of mouth.
White
2011 Devil's Lair Chardonnay 9th Chamber
Cream, slight butter, stone fruit, touch of sweet spice…stone fruit, a little savoury, a little short and anonymous.
White
2012 Matua Chardonnay Single Vineyard
bold stone fruit, almost meaty, butter, oak, funky as well…more citrus on the palate, tangy & sapid, reminds me of Sonoma Cutrer. Kind of nice.
White
2013 Penfolds Chardonnay Reserve Bin 13A
slight funky, citrus fruit, lemon notes, cheesy and leesy…juicy and fresh, slight lemon fruit, a little muted, medium and front of mouth burr, touch of buttery malolactic. Meh.
White
2013 Seppelt Chardonnay Drumborg Vineyard
Funky, farty and reductive, stinky over cream, vanilla, muted fruit…not very nice, touch of residual sugar.
White
2012 St Huberts Chardonnay
stone fruit, peach, ripe and a little obvious. Honey suckle…more of the same on the palate, slight bitterness, front of mouth grip, okay.
White
2006 Wolf Blass Chardonnay White Label Specially Aged Release
toast, cream, butter, honey, sweet spice, muted stone fruit…surprisingly juicy, butter, cream, toast, oak, lacks fruit on the palate for me.
Flight 3 - riesling (5 notes)
All from Leo Buring in this group.
White
2014 Leo Buring Riesling Medium Dry Eden Valley
lime cordial, slightly spiced…more of the same on the palate, fresh, pleasant
White - Off-dry
2014 Leo Buring Riesling Medium Sweet Eden Valley
slightly sulphurous over ripe red apple fruit….a little simple, pleasant enough.
White
2015 Leo Buring Dry Riesling
fresh peach and lime, slight mineral notes, slight ginger…perhaps lacks a little acidity on palate, as above and tiny white pepper notes.
White
2014 Leo Buring Riesling Leonay Eden Valley
lime, slight reductive note, slight spice….acidic tending to sourness, lime, okay.
White
2014 Leo Buring Riesling Leopold Tasmania
Apple, cheese, slight petroleum…green apple, juicy, broad on the palate, touches of white pepper spice, fresh, well balanced. Good.
Flight 4 - other whites (1 note)
only the Rousanne in this bracket - couldn't squeeze in the pinot gris and the fiano unfortunately
Flight 5 - pinot noir (4 notes)
A small bracket…two showed a fair amount of stalkiness.
Red
2013 Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir Reserve
red berry fruit, cream, slight cherry, vanilla hints, touches of chocolate…more of the same on the palate, quite pleasant. Tiny talc textured tannin
Red
2012 Matua Pinot Noir Single Vineyard Lowburn
Ripe cherry and berry; more black than red, spice…juicy fresh fruit is a little muted on the palate though. And a touch of alcohol warmth with talc textured tannin. Okay but the lack of fruit carry on the palate is a concern for me.
Red
2013 Seppelt Pinot Noir Drumborg Vineyard
Earthy, a little funky, leathery, red currant, slight burnt notes…perhaps stalky notes on the palate, grippy tannins, coffee, very little fruit.
Red
2014 St Huberts Pinot Noir The Stag
stalky, cream, red cherry, slight candy floss…smoky, stalky with slight red cherry. Nah.
Flight 6 - shiraz (7 notes)
The Wolf Blass Platinum was a bit of an old school beast and none the worse for that. Great fun.
Red
2013 Coldstream Hills Shiraz Reserve
Medium minus aromas of black pepper over berry…peppery spice, juicy, blackberry…meh
Red
2013 Devil's Lair Shiraz Fifth Leg Whippersnapper
funky, reductive, slight blackberry….blackberry, chocolate, spice, juicy, rather pleasant.
Red
2010 Saltram Shiraz No.1
slight perfumed oak, blackberry, vanilla, cream ,touch old school…concentrated tending to savoury, juicy, then plentiful tannic grip, chocolate. Long nice in an old school way.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2009 Saltram Shiraz The Journal
slight peppery spice over red berry and currant, slight earthy and spicy…concentrated peppery fruit, very chalky tannin but fruit persists. Nice but a bit expensive for what it is.
Red
2012 Seppelt Shiraz St Peters
peppery and earthy, cream over blackberry and slight sour notes…juicy, peppery, creamy then slight black fruit drops into drying tannic lake and is soon lost.
Red
2010 Wolf Blass Shiraz Platinum Label
Hello old school. Ripe black fruit> cherry, berry, plentiful sweet oak, cream vanilla sweet spice, chocolate over slight peppery notes…juicy, tangy, massive drying tannins, rich fruit persists beneath. So massive it softens the enamel.
Red
2012 Wolf Blass White Label Robe Mount Benson
blackcurrant and black berry; fruit dominant, slight farty notes. Oak…more of the same on the palate backed by plentiful spice, chalky tannic grip. Meh.
Flight 7 - Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot (8 notes)
A little bit disappointing. The Wynns Black Label Cab Sav was, for me, the wine of the bracket - not super special but shows great typicity.
Red
2010 Penfolds Merlot Cellar Reserve
ripe black plum, polished oak and a touch of spice…this transfers to the palate as well. Fresh and juicy but there is a slightly burnt quality here that I'm not that keen on. Mmm.
Red
2012 Devil's Lair Cabernet Sauvignon
herbaceous, blackcurrant, pencil shavings, graphite….juicy, fresh, muted black fruit, a touch short, disappointing after nose.
Red
2011 Devil's Lair Cabernet Sauvignon 9th Chamber Margaret River
pencil shavings, briny notes over muted black fruit….muted black fruit o n the palate with massive tannins and little else - the fruit struggles under it's weight. Meh.
Red
2012 Saltram Cabernet Sauvignon Mamre Brook
Medium minus intensity aromas of pencil shavings, cream, perfumed black currant…juicy, plentiful tannins, blackcurrant. Hmm. A bit anonymous.
Red
2013 St Huberts Cabernet Sauvignon
funky, farty and reductive, muted black fruits, cream, spice, vanilla….juicy almost confected (residual sugar?) red currant, then chalky tannic grip. Nah.
Red
2012 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Black Label
pencil shavings, blackcurrant, graphite, very correct nose…juicy, savoury, blackcurrant, pencil shavings, drying tannins but the fruit persists. Great.
1 person found this helpful
Comment
Red
2010 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Alex 88
Slightly funky and farty, muted black fruits. Cedar…juicy red over black currant, chewy chalky tannins, fruit does not persist. Meh.
Red
2010 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Single Vineyard Messenger Vineyard
blackcurrant, cedar and spice, slight graphite notes…slight less pleasant on the palate; still good but not for the price.
Flight 8 - Sparkling (1 note)
Just the one here
Red - Sparkling
2004 Seppelt Shiraz Show Sparkling Great Western
Slightly funky, muted black fruit…course spritz, chalky tannin, lacks fruit. Nah.
Closing
Great tasting. If I was a spending man I would have got four bottles of the Wolf Blass on the basis that I would be getting more value for the price of the Grange. As I'm on a budget I restricted myself to a couple of bottles of the very good Black Label Wynns Cab Sav - at $20 a bottle it's a bargain.