I was looking forward to this...but unfortunately I got rushed around so I didn't get to try everything I wanted..not even close....I left with a few impressions though so I'll share those...
Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 2005. Smells like an aged Semillon, a bit of toast, lemon, honey...not bad, a bit muted though...It's flat though..it's on it's way out. Where is the acidity? I don't know..What I find most puzzling is the last Elizabeth I had was a 2002 and it was pure acid (which was terrible). I'm not sure what they're doing to this line but unless someone starts telling me they've improved what they're doing, I doubt I'll be buying Elizabeth anymore. I even read somewhere the newest vintage has some SB in it? WTF.
Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon 2005. Everything the Elizabeth wasn't. Had some age on it but still had really good acidity. Beautiful nose....The Lovedale will age nicely, no doubt. Still prefer VAT 1 and a couple of other new jack semillons (Thomas, Meerea Park and other Tyrrells) but compare them in 5 years and the Lovedale might be the best...it's good..
Capital Sangiovese (don't remember the vintage). I actually thought this was decent. Probably the first decent Sangiovese I've had in Australia....Most of them up till now have been..well, terrible. It wasn't great..but it was fairly well made....
Lerida Estate. They make some pretty decent wine. I still don't understand their high end Pinot Noir though. It's big, awkward, it's missing acidity...It's not a shiraz/syrah, I'm not sure why places make it like one. To me if you're going to do this, go full on new American Oak, make it big, make it different...It could be I'm missing something, that it's not my style..but I don't hear/see much about this at all...It's just too expensive. It might stack up ok to other NSW type Pinot Noirs...that's not really saying a lot though... Their Shiraz Viognier is pretty good though..My wife like their Merlot Cab Franc...
D'Arenberg. They have so many different things to try both at the show and their cellar door. They have everything for tasting too which is why I think they're one of the best places to visit. They also have a lot of really good stuff. I was looking forward to trying their Ironstone Pressings and the Derelict Vineyard..both are their Grenaches...Derelict was a bit of a disappointment...I'm finding that if the Grenache is sub 25, they tend to be weak. Ironstone was pretty good but I wouldn't say great. The Coppermine was really good, still really tannic but still quite approachable. I thought this was 2005 but I think their latest is 2007 and it was probably their latest. I'd still wait a few years on this one. The Dead Arm Shiraz was quite good...still very big....I like Dead Arm..it's a big wine but it ages well. I think it's a great example of Australian Shiraz that won't just poop out after a few years.... The funniest thing about the D'arenberg tasting area though was this one Asian guy that basically sat there like it was a bar...giving his opinion about each and every wine to anyone that would listen. I think the winery guys at first enjoyed having an interested customer..but I got the impression they were getting annoyed after awhile...I certainly was...especially cause he basically wouldn't move which meant people had to go around him. After trying a few I left, went to a few other places, and 30 minutes later he was still there...he was there before me...was there way after me...he even brought his own glass....He was passionate about his d'arenberg...Too funny..
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Central Otago tasting...
A couple of weeks ago I attended a Central Otago tasting in Sydney...It's one of those regions I've been wanting to visit but having them come to me was even better.
The big players weren't there but there was still a really good showing....
General impressions: Central Otago, basically across the board, makes great pinot noir. The only complaint I had was that many of them have developed the same style and so many of them, while good, were just too similar. I guess you can look at that as a good thing as well...
One thing I like about most of the wines is they have good acidity and bright fruit. They also have good complexity and length. Tasty fine tannins. They basically crap all over Australian Pinots which I consider to be on the very heavy side and still having a few oddities in flavor. There are a couple of exceptions like Bass Phillip...or something like Yarra Yering Pinot which is a Pinot made to be that over the top fruit bomb, super vanilla oak red but still tastes good...Victoria has some decent pinot, Tassie has some decent Pinot...but if you're looking for that medium bodied, good acidity pinot, Central Otago is just better....
Notable wineries: Akarua, Aurora, Ceres, Domain Road, Quartz Reef, Rockburn, Surveyor Thomson, Tarras and Wooing Tree.
Wooing Tree had some really good Pinot but made in that very typical Central Otago style. They also had one of the few Rose that I actually enjoyed. You could see that their quality was top notch. they also had a white Pinot Noir....Across the board their stuff was very good. One of the best.
Surveyor Thomson was probably the most unique stylewise. To me, Central Otago is like a New World Burg in mouthfeel and acidity. You can tell it's not a Burg because there isn't enough earth, poop and greeniness. Surveyor Thomson is a New World wine that is made to be like an Old World. A bit more earthiness, maybe a bit less acid than the normal Central Otago, more noticeable oak (but definitely not overoaked), really nice complexity, a bit more tannins than most of the other Central Otago Pinots...Less bright fruit...I don't know if everyone would like this but I thought it was quite interesting and probably one of my favorites of the night. They had the Estate Vineyard and the Explorer. The normal Surveyor Thomson was better by a bit...
Ceres had REALLY bright acidity...As did Aurora...and oddly enough, that stuck out to me. I think it toned the fruit down which wasn't a bad thing...I had both of these near the end of the tasting though so these are ones I wouldn't mind trying again.
The big players weren't there but there was still a really good showing....
General impressions: Central Otago, basically across the board, makes great pinot noir. The only complaint I had was that many of them have developed the same style and so many of them, while good, were just too similar. I guess you can look at that as a good thing as well...
One thing I like about most of the wines is they have good acidity and bright fruit. They also have good complexity and length. Tasty fine tannins. They basically crap all over Australian Pinots which I consider to be on the very heavy side and still having a few oddities in flavor. There are a couple of exceptions like Bass Phillip...or something like Yarra Yering Pinot which is a Pinot made to be that over the top fruit bomb, super vanilla oak red but still tastes good...Victoria has some decent pinot, Tassie has some decent Pinot...but if you're looking for that medium bodied, good acidity pinot, Central Otago is just better....
Notable wineries: Akarua, Aurora, Ceres, Domain Road, Quartz Reef, Rockburn, Surveyor Thomson, Tarras and Wooing Tree.
Wooing Tree had some really good Pinot but made in that very typical Central Otago style. They also had one of the few Rose that I actually enjoyed. You could see that their quality was top notch. they also had a white Pinot Noir....Across the board their stuff was very good. One of the best.
Surveyor Thomson was probably the most unique stylewise. To me, Central Otago is like a New World Burg in mouthfeel and acidity. You can tell it's not a Burg because there isn't enough earth, poop and greeniness. Surveyor Thomson is a New World wine that is made to be like an Old World. A bit more earthiness, maybe a bit less acid than the normal Central Otago, more noticeable oak (but definitely not overoaked), really nice complexity, a bit more tannins than most of the other Central Otago Pinots...Less bright fruit...I don't know if everyone would like this but I thought it was quite interesting and probably one of my favorites of the night. They had the Estate Vineyard and the Explorer. The normal Surveyor Thomson was better by a bit...
Ceres had REALLY bright acidity...As did Aurora...and oddly enough, that stuck out to me. I think it toned the fruit down which wasn't a bad thing...I had both of these near the end of the tasting though so these are ones I wouldn't mind trying again.
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