Cellar Building

The marines are always on the look out for a few good men.  The Society chooses loftier goals – we are on the look out for a few good wines.  In our youth this was a relatively simple task, Riesling came from Leo Burings, Semillon came from Tyrrells or Lindemans, reds came from Penfolds, Wynns, Tyrrells, Lindemans or Rouge Homme.  Nowadays there are thousands of makers with each one pursuing excellence across a range of styles that was unheard of 20 years ago.  Stepping into a bottle shop is to be assaulted by a phalanx of colourful labels vying for attention.  Of course we are assisted in our buying choices by a plethora of advice from merchants, columnists and professional wine writers, but nothing really substitutes for hands on experience. 

With this in mind, the Wine Sub Committee has called upon a diverse group of Society members to form a panel to meet monthly.  The challenge is for panel members, within a theme, to find wines of quality that the Society might otherwise overlook.  In other words, not the Penfolds, Lindemans and Tyrrells wines that we regularly purchase (and love). The panel consists fairly equally of members whose main interest is food, and members whose expertise is in wine.  This is a deliberate choice in recognition that the chefs, who serve the Society so well, do recognise a good food wine when they see it.

The Society is blessed in that it does have a large pool of people who can contribute on wine matters.  More importantly, the Society is composed of people who are knowledgeable about combining wine with food.  Many media wine experts only review wines in clinical conditions where food plays little or no role.  The panel “works” under more realistic conditions with a manageable number of wines looked at over a lunch. Unfortunately this constrains the size of the tasting group to around a maximum of 10 people.  However, as we are all busy people this tends to work out as 8 familiar faces and a couple of conscripts.  In this fashion we hope to involve more members in the selection process.  If the reader should happen to be tapped on the shoulder, please bear in mind that the panel is not funded by Society resources.  Each panel member pays his own way for both wine and food consumed at these tastings. 

The 10 panel members may look at a dozen wines over lunch (some members are two bottle men).  The wines, which are brought masked by panel members, are served randomly in brackets of three by the staff of the Royal Exchange of Sydney Club (whose food I can heartily recommend).  This ensures that no one is tempted to taste a wines provenance rather than its quality.  Panel members individually rank the wines in each bracket (ie 1, 2, 3) and scores are collated.  A buying recommendation (ie yes, no) is also sought.

The Panel has met on three occasions.  Members may be interested in their findings.

Riesling Tasting

Overall, a fairly consistent group of good quality.  As this was the first outing for the panel there were one or two teething problems.  Two wines were out of theme, the Pipers Brook (because it was not a current release) and the Orlando (because it is a wine the Society regularly buys).

Wolf Blass Gold Label 00          Forward style, short palate.

Jenke 99                                 Hard wine not particularly attractive.

Pipers Brook 98                       Excellent wine showing a little bottle development.

McWilliams Eden Valley 97      Intense wine, complex, long clean acid finish.

Tapestry 99                             Ordinary.

Leconfield 98                           Typical Coonawarra Riesling, more acid than fruit.

Skillogalee 00                          Disappointing for Clare.

Tim Adams 00                        Nice lean style, needs time.

Orlando Steingarten 99           Perfect.

Tamar Ridge 99                     Alsatian style good for asian food.

Martindale Hall 98                  Dull and unattractive.

Tollana Eden Valley 00          Good balance of fruit and steely acid.  Could cellar.

 The wines to buy are the Orlando, McWilliams and Tollana.  The last two are great value for money.  If the Pipers Brook was available, it also would rate a buy recommendation.

 PS The Society regularly purchases Rieslings from Alkoomi, Capel Vale, Leo Buring (Leonay), Mitchells Watervale, Pikes, Richmond Grove and Steingarten (Orlando).

 Pinot Tasting

 The panel obviously took the Cellar Master’s invitation to be innovative to heart.  Not one, but two wines presented were Romanian.  Australian wine makers need not feel threatened by the competition.  However, as a class the Pinots did not live up to expectation.  Genuine Pinot character was in short supply.  This was not surprising with the Sorrenberg (from Beechworth, Victoria) as it is a Gamay.

Via Verde ( Romania ) 97              Past best, signs of oxidisation.

De Bortoli 99                             A pretty wine but lacks weight.

Dromana 99                              Classy pinot.  Sappy nose, clean mid weight fruit,and fine tannins.

Yarra Burn 99                            Burnt coffee aromas, hard wine.

Lake George 99                         Interesting wine, good pinot character.

Green Point 98                          Fairly simple wine, short finish.

Shadowfax 00                            Youthful sweet fruit, sharp acid finish.

Pibbin 98                                  Mid-weight fruit but not particularly Pinot.

Sorrenberg 00                            Foxy fruit, good depth.  Different.

Delmare ( Romania ) 98                Light and uninteresting.

Tarrawarra 99                             Great Pinot of depth and class.  Needs time.

 The standout wine was the Tarrawarra.  However, a more budget friendly choice is the Dromana.  Sadly, the 1999 is now out of stock, fortunately the 2000 is even better.

 PS Australian Pinot tends to be the poor cousin when it comes to the Wine Budget (particularly when there are great vintages in Burgundy ).  For this reason we have not built up long runs of particular labels.  However, this is changing and the Society can now boast runs over a couple of years of Scotchmans Hill, Seville and Yeringberg.

 Cabernet Tasting

 Some very good wines here with a few surprises.

 Wolf Blass Yellow Label 98         Complex wine, warm and mellow.  Polished.

Yalumba Clare 98                        Spicy, good acid and fruit driven.

Tollana TR222 98                         Robust but let down by a slightly dirty finish.

Leconfield Cabernet (sic) 98          Peppery, not obviously straight cabernet.  Acidic.

Rosemount Res. Coonawarra 98    Good intensity, brilliant colour, long-term wine.

Petaluma 98                                 A let down.  Stalky and tannic.

Amery Mclaren Vale 98                Dense, intense, blockbuster fruit.  Very attractive.

McWilliams Coonawarra 98         Lacks sweet fruit.  One dimensional.

Barwang 99                                 Classy.  Superb balance and structure.  A keeper.

Jacobs Creek Reserve 98             Dark colour, lacks complexity.

Balgownie 98                             Simple.

 The top wines were Wolf Blass (a huge surprise), Amery and Barwang.  On price, the Wolf Blass is a bargain.

 PS The Society is addicted to Wynns, Bowen, Leasingham Classic, Lindemanns St George, Orlando, and Penfolds Cabernets (407, 707).

  Shiraz Tasting

  Australia produces an abundance of good Shiraz .  By and large the panel stuck to the established regions (particularly McLaren Vale).  The two Limestone Coast wines (Picarus and Peschars showed promise).

 Mintaro 98 (Clare)                      Undeveloped, moderately intense, high acid.

Mount Arrarat 99                        A little dumb, slightly dirty finish.

Brands Coonawarra 98               Flavoursome.  Chewy American oak.  Good weight.

Petaluma 98                             Short.

Brokenwood Rayners 99             Round big McLaren Vale fruit.  Polished.

Ingoldby 99                               Intense clean varietal.  Long, and great depth.

Tamar (McLaren Vale) 98           A little musty.

Picarus (Limestone Coast) 98     Balanced, some depth.

E & C 99                                  Corked.

Hill of Gold 99                            Juicy, solid tannins.

Peschars Ryan Ridge 99           Minty American oak nose. A little raw.  Needs time.

 At around $13 the Ingoldby is a must buy.  In the low $20’s the Brand’s is a long overdue return to form.  The Hill of Gold and Peschars are both worthy of consideration.

 PS The Society regularly purchases Barwang, Leasingham, Lindemans, Penfolds (128, 28) Tyrrells and Wynns.

 Top Shiraz Tasting

 The panel was a little disappointed with the overall quality of the “standard” shiraz so a second line up of over $40 Shiraz was called for.

 Ravenshead Reserve 98 (Eden)   Elegant wine with good balance.

Wirra Wirra RSW 98                  Big rich mellow wine.

Haselgrove 98                            Rich fruit wine with good oak.  Nice length

Tyrrells Vat 9 96                       Obvious Hunter.  Nice weight.

St Hallet’s Old Block 98             Stunning.

Rufus Stone Heathcote 99         Well made intense wine.

Tatachilla Foundation 98            Big fruit driven wine.  Excellent.

Liebich Weir “The Darkie” 99       Very raw and aggressive.

Hamilton “Gumpers Block” 98     Over the top oak.

Jamieson’s Run “McShanes” 98  Corked.

Penfolds St Henri 97                  Disappointing.

Mt Langi Ghiran 98                    Dense brooding fruit and tannin.

Charles Cimicky Reserve 98       Rich fruit but a tad volatile.

 Two wines stood out, the St Hallets and the Tatachilla.  The Rufus Stone, which is available for considerably less than $40, is value for money.

 PS , The Society has several vintages of St Hallet’s Old Block, and Leasingham Classic Shiraz.  However, there is considerable scope to acquire other top flight Shiraz .

 New Release Red Tasting

 Having exhausted the standard red varietals but not being willing to go to whites just yet the team decided on a generic tasting.

 Maglieri Shiraz 99                     Solid big fruit wine.  Good grip.

Huntington FB 16 Cabernet 98    Persistent fruit, possibly a little over oaked.

Montana Reserve Pinot 00          Well defined Pinot character.  Nice sappiness.

Plantagenet Shiraz 99                Class wine.  Very generous fruit.  Long.

Vasse Felix Cabernet 97            May need time but has some worrying sharp edges.

Hewitson Mourvedre 99               A Rhone clone but without the vibrancy.

Seppelts GW Shiraz 96              A big black bugger.  Superb.

Wynns Michael 90                     Luscious mouth coating fruit.  Great depth and excellent oak handling.  Intense finish. Near perfect.

The Plantagenet and Seppelts Great Western were both superb wines worthy of consideration.  The Montana Pinot is very good value for money.  The Michael Hermitage was out of theme and the panel member who brought it along to the tasting has been expelled from the group.  Not.  The generous provider of this eponymous wine is too modest to seek renown.  Nevertheless, he Dunne good. 

PS We have been buying Maglieri for some time now.  It is clearly a wine that repays cellaring but can also be enjoyed young.

French Champagne

As the Australian summer hits, and the temperature begins to soar, a young man’s fancy turns to bubbly.

Lanson NV                                Fine bead, excellent flavour yet retains a zesty finish.

Louis Roederer NV                     Bready yeast autolysis.  Fine palate.

Pol NV                                      Complex mushroomy nose.  Very intense flavour.

Veuve A. Devauax NV                Corked.

Billecart Salmon NV                   Profuse bubbles.  Vigorous flavour.  Very satisfying.

Bollinger NV                             Complex developed nose.  Good food champagne.

Mum NV                                   Complex white burgundy nose.  Creamy.  Quite good.

Charles Heidsick 96                   A step up in intensity.  Very fine bead.  Great mousse.

Henri Abele NV                          Powerful wine.  Very fine. 

Veuve Cliquot 95                       Fine. Bead, enormous depth of flavour.  Very long.

Cattier 96                                 Austere intensity.  Lifted end palate.

Moet NV                                  Pungent complex nose.  Quite fine.

 Apart from the corked wine all of these wines are attractive.  However, on value for money, the Lanson was the best NV and the Cattier the best vintage champagne.  If price is a secondary concern, the Billecart is the best NV and the Charles Heidsick the best vintage.

 PS We buy Pol vintage.