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Adelaide trip
Adelaide and the surrounding environs
Tasted July 26, 2018 - July 29, 2018 by chatters with 310 views
Introduction
Went on from Dunkeld to meet visit KC's home town and spent a few days pottering around…
Flight 1 - Bracket one - Hahndorf Hill (9 notes)
After a happy encounter with the Zsa Zsa Zweigelt at an otherwise disappointing supper a while ago this seemed like a good reason to swing off the road into the Adelaide Hills
White
2017 Hahndorf Hill Winery Sauvignon Blanc
Passion fruit, a little blackcurrant (?), touch of guava. Juicy acidity, fruit forward, a little burr on the mid palate. Pleasant enough in a clean well made way.
White
2017 Hahndorf Hill Winery Grüner Veltliner GRU
Grapefruit, a little sweet spice, juicy, zesty acidity, a little fruit sweetness to the grapefruit. Medium plus length. Clean. Nice.
White
2017 Hahndorf Hill Winery Grüner Veltliner White Mischief
Grapefruit, tangy, leesy notes. More of the same on the palate. A little soft for me, lacks acidity.
White
2016 Hahndorf Hill Winery Grüner Veltliner Reserve
cheesy, slightly gamey and meaty, a little spiced grapefruit, touches of cream. Tangy, juicy, slightly tight id palate burr, light fruit flavours - a little grapefruit and stone fruit. Long. Rather nice. Interesting.
Rosé
2018 Hahndorf Hill Winery Rosé
Quince, slightly cherry, soft spice. Juicy, tangy and more savoury than sweet, fruit drops quite quickly.
Red
2017 Hahndorf Hill Winery Zweigelt Zsa Zsa Nouveau
Pretty black cherry, herbal notes, a little sweet spice, a little black tea on the palate to go with the soft cherry, medium length, very carbonic maceration. Lovely.
Red
2015 Hahndorf Hill Winery Compatriots
slightly confected blackcurrant, berry, a little plum, peppery spice. A little herbaceousness. Bit big and worked, finishes, warm, Nah
Red
2016 Hahndorf Hill Winery Blaufränkisch Blueblood
Kirsch, caramel, black cherry, very fruit forward nose with a little sweet spice. Juicy and fresh, similar fruit but more wild on the palate, slight talc textured tannins but this is quite broad and dense. Interesting. Perhaps a little too much warmth on the finish but pretty nice.
White - Sweet/Dessert
2016 Hahndorf Hill Winery Grüner Veltliner "Green Angel" Late Harvest
Grapefruit, sweet spice, a little apricot on the palate. The acid is sufficient to keep this clean enough to consume, very jubey grapefruit, pleasant enough.
Flight 2 - Bracket two - HellBound (3 notes)
Nice little scruffy underground Wine Bar with a good list and a Coravin.
Red
2017 Adelina "Field Blend"
Brambly, pretty, zesty acidity, soft tannic burr, a little apple, wild strawberry, fresh, easy and constantly evolving in the glass. Now it's showing graphite and pencil shavings. Really interesting and enjoyable.
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Red
2017 Architects of Wine Lagrein
bloody, meaty, muted black fruits; plums over berries, juicy acidity, medium minus intensity gritty tongue coating taninns, wet with muted fruit. Bit simple. <shrugs>
Red
2014 Gérard Mugneret Vosne-Romanée
Earthy, red and black berry, sweet spice, a touch of cedar and stalks. Juicy and, for me, a little sour and sharp for Vosne Romanee. More berry and cherry, gritty and slightly chalky tannic grip across the mid-palate, medium plus length. Hmm.
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Flight 3 - Bracket three - MotherVine (9 notes)
Bit of a poshy la-la wine bar but, again, with a very good list of interesting wines and, impressively, offering tasting pours (15ml) of all of the wines by the glass and, again, some Coravin options.
White
2017 The Pawn Fiano The Sicilian Defence
Pear, greengages, slightly herbaceous, chalky minerality. Softly juicy, pear, nasturtium and a bit of something tropical like guava and lychee. Simple, medium length, uncomplicated and undemanding.
White
2015 Bellwether Vermentino
gamey, savoury, cheesy, nashi pear & green apple. In the mouth it's juicy, tightly savoury, chewy, fruit more subdued here, textual, slight bitterness on the back palate, finishes dry. Interesting
White
2018 Rieslingfreak Riesling No. 4
dusty spice, slight wild ferment, green apple, lemon and lime. Juicy, zesty acidity, lime over green apple, long, quite textured. Pleasant.
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White
2016 Corduroy Chardonnay
Butter, coconut, cream, toast, a little chicken with herbs, not much fruit and so it proves on the palate, lacks acidity, lots of wine making but not much fun.
Red
2017 Familiar Creature Mataro
leathery and herbaceous with slightly baked black plums, blackberry and cream backed by cinnamon spice. Baked, illusionary sweet, black fruits and sweet spice. Barely discernible tannins; a whisper of a burr on the mid palate. Alcohol warmth is less intrusive than the Pinot
Red
2017 Adelina Dolcetto Eternal Return
Very perfumed fruit, a little gym bag, I call whole berry (not bunch) and wild ferment. Juicy tending to zesty acidity, slight red berry fruit, talc textured tannins. Not much going on but balanced and rather nice none the less.
Red
2016 Thistledown Grenache Thorny Devil
Warm cherry pie, red earth and baked spice. Slight cream, baked red cherry pic, with four textured tannins, some spiced alcohol warmth and really travels long on the palate. Kind of nice.
White - Off-dry
2016 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
Ripe apples, stone fruit, slight lemon and lime, a little sulphur. Juicy, sweet, still exceedingly young and, well, still pretty glorious, ripe apple and custard apples, mineral. Long. Lovely. Wonderful.
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Red
2016 Vella Wines Pinot Noir Dirt Boy
Toast married to stalks, spiced and earthy, ripe red berry. The stalks and toast are reversed on the palate, juicy, spiced and slight warm and sweet red berry fruit. Balanced. Not massively long but pleasant, though it finishes a little warm.
Flight 4 - Bracket four - Penfolds (10 notes)
Visited the Penfolds tasting room at Magill Estate and had a lovely chat about Adelaide Hills wineries, wine bars, Chablis producers, Australian chardonnay to taste against Grand Cru Burgundy, and bottle shops.
White
2017 Penfolds Riesling Autumn Riesling Koonunga Hill
A little dusty, lime, a smidge reductive and muted green apple. Tight acidity, fruit a little short, slight burr on the palate. Meh
White
2015 Penfolds Chardonnay Bin 311
Slight lemon, a smidge of butter, vanilla, sweet spice. Muted lemon fruit, plenty of oak, butter and a little toast.
White
2016 Penfolds Chardonnay Cellar Reserve Adelaide Hills
Stone fruit, spice, butter, toasted oak. Juicy, acidic, possibly, stone fruit, oak more prevalent here.
White
2016 Penfolds Chardonnay Reserve Bin 16A
Peach and slight apricot fruit, sweet spice, butter, polished oak. Juicy, tight, powerful fruit, married to plenty of oak. Young.
Red
2016 Penfolds Shiraz Max's Shiraz
Toasted black berry and cherry, sweet spice. Chalky tannins, black fruits and a little short and warm.
Red
2009 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 128
Slightly oxidised, black berry, sweet spice. Leather, jubey black fruit, plenty of tannins, again a little oxidised but has been open a while.
Red
2015 Penfolds Shiraz Bin 128
young ripe jammy blackberry and slightly peppery spice. Juicy and jubey and jammy blackberry sweet spice, softly tannin but still drying. Medium length.
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Comments (5)
Red
2016 Penfolds Grenache Cellar Reserve
ripe red berry and slight cherry, sweet spice, juicy, tight, slightly gritty tannins. Fruit is a little subdued and there is some alcohol warmth here.
Red
2015 Penfolds Bin 389
Ripe blackcurrant, berry and chocolate. Sweet spice, a little black pepper, caramel oak, vanilla. Juicy, tangy, lashings of similar fruit, travels long accompanied by slightly gritty tannins. Lovely. Young but with loads of potential.
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Comments (12)
Red
2009 Penfolds Sangiovese Cellar Reserve
Red and black cherry, white pepper spice, slight herbaceousness. Juicy acidity, cherry fruit, tight tannins, fruit persists. Yum.
Flight 5 - Bracket five - National Wine Centre of Australia (7 notes)
Disappointing exhibition offset by great tasting room
Red
2016 Dodgy Bros. Grenache Juxtaposed
Red berry, strawberry, sweet spice, a little herbaceous lift. On the palate, the juxtaposition between slightly sour acidity and sweet frit is quite unpleasant. Finishes with some chalky tannin and alcohol heat. Nah.
Red
2016 After Five Wine Co Grenache
medium minus intensity aromas of roasted red berries, a little earthiness and spice, juicy, savoury re berry fruit, quite broad with gritty tannins but retains a certain freshness. Nice
Red
2016 Samuel's Gorge Grenache
Slight volatile notes, red berry fruit is ripe and spiced, a little vanilla and cream. It's a little boiled sweets with a little too much acid, talc textured tannins dry things out and leaves alcohol heat in the mouth.
Red
2016 JC's Own Rock: it
savoury toasted red berry and strawberry underpinned by meaty, slight hoppy notes with peppery spice, On the palate red berries, spice, gritty, grippy, drying tannins beats the fruit and the spice to the ground but does let them crawl out of the room. Very young. Compelling. Very good for me.
Red
2016 Izway Aglianico Angelo
sightly confected, dense, plums, a smidge of almost stalky herbaceousness. Muted earthy spice. Juicy, wet, that slight stalk note is here as well, dilute plum fruit, plenty of chalky tannic grip. Pretty average.
Red
2016 Lethbridge Wines Sagrantino
Gamey, quite animal, earthy, slightly volatile top notes over quite pretty red cherry with a touch of white pepper. Juicy acidity, gritty tannins, fruit is a little lost beneath this but does show pretty cherry. All travel long. Very young and has potential...come back in five years?
Flight 6 - Bracket six - Lunch at Bistro Blackwood (6 notes)
couldn't get in to (or afford) Orana so settled for the bistro - started with pearl barley and hock soup, roasted beets & vitello tonnato then had steamed snapper (all of which was superb) and lamb osso buco (which was slightly underdone)
Red
N.V. Wines by KT Pazzo
Ripe, dense, black fruit and a little oxidation, broad on the palate but softly tannic. Okay
Red
2016 Domaine de Ferrand Côtes du Rhône Mistral
Very Grenache dominant but very old world, savoury notes, some tannic burr.
Red
2017 Ravensworth Garnacha Tinto y Cinq-Sao
elegant, lightweight, fresh acidity, juicy red berries, lovely.
Red
2017 Blind Corner Field Blend
fresh, peachy, some tropical fruit, a little butter, fairly innocuous.
Rosé
2017 Unkel Rosé
A little cherry, jubey, in fact very wild berry fruit, lightweight, very fresh, juicy and enjoyable.
Red
2016 Blind Corner Rouge
Hmm, a little blackcurrant and plum that are quite muted, grippy tannins but it's all a bit meh for me.
Flight 7 - Bracket seven - Terre a terre tasting (3 notes)
I wanted to pick up some odds and sods from other producers from East End Cellars and Terre a Terre were showing their wines so I had a quite taste whilst they put my order together
White
2017 Terre à Terre Sauvignon Blanc Down to Earth
a little passion fruit, a little oak, muted. The fruit is a little subdued on the palate and there is plenty of oak here as well
Red
Red
2015 Terre à Terre Cabernet Sauvignon
Very Bordeaux for me except a little alcohol on the finish. Brambles, blackcurrant, cedar, sweet spice, and slight eucalyptus/mint, grippy, drying tannins. Another 5-8 years will help but approachable now.
Flight 8 - Bracket eight - Shaw and Smith (12 notes)
Popped into the rather splendid S&S tasting room so that KC could see the current vintage. I made notes so that I could see how contrary my palate was…yup, it's contrary...
White
2018 Shaw and Smith Sauvignon Blanc
Passion fruit, sweet, gooseberry, slight grapefruit…on the palate grapefruit, underpinned by passion fruit on the palate, does what it says on the tin.
White
2018 Shaw and Smith Riesling
Struck match, medium minus intensity aromas that are floral, with apple, slight grassy notes…in the mouth it's tangy, zesty with slight green apple, fresh, quite round rather than front to back of mouth. Young but yum.
White
2016 Shaw and Smith Chardonnay M3 Vineyard
toast, butter, slight hazelnuts, slight lemon, peach, white fig. A touch more citrus on the palate but otherwise similar flavours to the nose.
White
2016 Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay
slight toast, a little butter, perfumed, slight lemon, cedar. On the palate it has zesty acidity; quite juicy, toast, butter and slight lemon. Hmm.
Red
2017 Shaw and Smith Pinot Noir
Cherry, strawberry and ashy stalks, slight sweet spice, a little alcohol prickle. In the mouth it has juicy acidity, slight stalky, gritty tannins, similar fruit, young. Easy.
Red
2015 Shaw and Smith Pinot Noir
From Magnum. Cedar with stalks, cream, cherry, strawberry, sweet spice. Juicy, quite muted on the palate, tannic grip. Not much fruit I wonder how long it's been open?
Red
2016 Shaw and Smith Pinot Noir Lenswood
From Magnum. Polished, cedar, cherry, perfumed floral notes. Stalks again but, for me, integrated. Juicy and fleshy, cherry, plenty of tannic grip. All travels exceedingly long.
Red
2018 Shaw and Smith Grenache The Other Wine Company
Jubey red berry and herbaceous notes, clean, palate is very much the same, soft acidity and tannic. Clean, well made, restrained, drunken, lunch wine.
Red
2015 Shaw and Smith Shiraz
Cream, pepper, muted toasted blackberry. A slightly more spiky version of the magnum but with a smidge of leather. Juicy, spicy, very slight reductive on the palate. Blackberry, drying, grippy, flour textured taninns. Hmm
Red
2015 Shaw and Smith Shiraz Balhannah
Blackberry, slight stalks, peppery spice, a little orchard fruit note, meaty and earthy elements. On the palate it's juicy with peppery spice backed by slightly toasted blackberry marred to drying four textured tannins. Good
Red
2012 Shaw and Smith Shiraz
From Magnum. Leather, cream, peppery spice, slightly oxidised, a little blackberry fruit but quite muted and there is some alcohol heat here. Leathery, juicy, tight, chewy tannins are all over the palate with cedar, slightly black fruits and a little peppery spice poking their respective heads up above this wooden rampart. Hmm.
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Red
2015 Shaw and Smith Shiraz
From Magnum. Cream, peppery spice, muted, toasted blackberry. In the mouth it's peppery with jubey spice, muted blackberry and toast. Gritty tannins and a little alcohol heat. Opened too long I suspect as it's a bit flat.
Flight 9 - Bracket nine - Coriole (8 notes)
Headed over to McLaren vale to check out some more wine. This was rather disappointing...I'd hoped for a better experience...
White
2017 Coriole Chenin Blanc
Lemon, slight green apple and bees wax. Sharp acidity, slight honey, lemon, not as textured as I'd have expected, some mid-palate grip.
White
2018 Coriole Piquepoul
Apple, a little wet clay, juicy tending to sharp acidity. A little apple. Very lightweight, fresh.
White
2017 Coriole Fiano
Slightly funky herbaceous notes, slight peaches and apple. Sharp acidity, apple, a little gritty burr on the mid palate. Medium length.
White
2013 Coriole Chenin Blanc The Optimist Reserve
Lemon, a little honey, bone dry, juicy, muted citrus, tiny smidge of honey, again a little skinny.
Red
2017 Coriole Sangiovese
Cherry, slight tobacco leaf, juicy, fleshy, savoury, cherry, slight cream, silky tannins, balanced, well put together with a little bitterness on the finish.
Red
2017 Coriole Nero d'Avola
meaty, black hued fruit, more of the same on the palate, a little black tea, coffee, grippy, drying tannins.
Red
2017 Coriole Dancing Fig
Red berry, slight peppery spice, slight tobacco leaf. Juicy but dense, initially and plenty of talc textured tannins and finishes with alcohol heat. Hmm
Red
2016 Coriole Shiraz Sparta
Blackberry, meaty, a little pepper spice. On the palate, blackberry, plenty of gritty tannins that dries things out, leaving alcohol heat on the finish.
Flight 10 - Bracket ten - Chapel Hill (11 notes)
Another swing by winery visit…good polished wines but rather interesting, nice single site options...
White
2018 Chapel Hill Vermentino
Ripe, peachy, perfumed, a little white pepper, some herbs…juicy, fleshy, peachy, clean, well made and, well, a bit boring.
White
2017 Chapel Hill Chardonnay Gorge Block
slight chicken with herbs, butter, toast. More of the same on the palate. Some tannic burr, butter is the most dominant flavour component.
Red
2017 Chapel Hill Grenache Bush Vine
Tomato and tomato leaf, red berry. Juicy, berried, a little tomato leaf on the palate. Soft talc-textured tannins. Pleasant.
Red
2016 Chapel Hill Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre
Red berry, smidge of blackberry and peppery spice, slightly earthy notes. Juicy, fleshy, fruit with grippy, gritty drying tannins. Very nice if not a little short.
Red
2016 Chapel Hill Shiraz
blackberry, chocolate, a little pepper, spice. More of the same on the palate with plenty of slightly chalky tannins. Fruit persists. Nice.
Red
2016 Chapel Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
Blackcurrant, pyrazine, cedar and a little pencil shavings and sweet spice. Blackcurrant, gritty tannins, eucalyptus. Okay.
Red
2016 Chapel Hill Cabernet Shiraz
blackberry and blackcurrant, chocolate, a little herbaceousness, slight cedar. Bit of black pepper and cream joins on the palate which has smoother tannins that the straight shiraz. A bit Hmm for me.
Red
2016 Chapel Hill Shiraz House Block
meaty, savoury, charcuterie, slight pepper over muted red berry fruit. On the palate it's juicy, tangy, chalky tannins, lacks fruit but loads of structure. Young. Interesting.
Red
2016 Chapel Hill Shiraz Road Block McLaren Vale
slightly jubey blackberry, sweet spice, cedar, slight pepper spice, big, savoury, tightly tannic, black fruits, very, very young.
Red
2016 Chapel Hill Shiraz The Vicar
blackberry, cream, sweet spice, liquorice, very slight pencil shavings/herbaceous notes. Blackberry, a little chocolate, tightly tannic, chalky textured.
Red
2016 Chapel Hill Cabernet Sauvignon The Chosen Gorge Block
Rich blackcurrant, cedar, cream, slight earth, pencil shavings, massively tannic, tight. Fruit persists but far too young to make a call. Years required.
Closing
Phew, lovely holiday in Adelaide. High points were the CS's own and Adelina wines.