International Wine tasting event held on November 3rd at the Watersedge in Walsh Bay. Put on by the same people that did the Central Otago event I went to earlier, it was definitely a well run tasting event but more on that later.
A fairly uncommon opportunity to try wines from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, USA and of course Australia, it was definite one of those I was looking forward to...
I'm also thinking I should be taking pictures..as of course that helps complete the picture but when I'm at these events I'm a machine...I did over 110 wines in 3 hours...actually, I think I'm getting quicker and quicker but I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. But between tasting and talking w/ the people there, I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to take pictures...Maybe I need to research who is going to be there if I can and plot out a better plan of attack...
Japan
The Japan stuff was all Sake and two Whiskeys (which I didn't try). Two very unusual ones which were:
Kameman Shuzo - 2010 Genmaishu Junmai Genmai-zake. A bit of brown sugar and a different mouthfeel to Sake. Almost barley like? Brownish in color, it was quite nice but definitely not what I'm used to.
Mukai Shuzo - 2010 Ine Mankai Junmai Genshu. A sake made from Red Rice...I don't think I would've picked this as Sake. A bit of cherry, much more acidity than what I normally think of with sake...It's actually very wine like but with that familiar rice alcohol feel in the nose.
The others were Okamura Honke which was a very nice "normal" sake and the Kidoizumi Shuzo which was also very nice. For non-sake drinkers, the Chikuma Nishiki - Kizan Sanban is probably a good choice...a bit sweeter, it was actually quite enjoyable...different than what I'm used to but quite nice.
I'm not much of a sake drinker...I like good sake but I'm so woefully inexperienced...I know what certain phrases mean when describing the sake but really I'm out of my depth.
France:
The Champagne there was pretty good. Lombard & Cie was actually quite good overall. I have never seen them before but it was nice to again have a good sparkler..I'm not a fan of Aussie Sparkling..I think most of it is pretty bad. Lombard's Magenta Cuvee was good, not great but had that nice biscuit taste, a bit of peach, and no huge flaws like I tend to see with Aussie stuff. Their NV Brut which I guess is a a step up, was quite nice, to me it was very similar to the Magenta but a better nose, slightly more complex and nicer finish. The Brut Rose 1er Cru NV was also very good with a bit more acid, slightly sweeter but still a very nice finish overall.
Their 2004 Brut Grand Cru was ok, I felt like something was missing. Maybe it was because I had it after the Rose (which was their suggestion but not one I would think is right). Maybe it seem to harsh, a bit too dry, I would have expected this to be better than their Brut or Magenta. Lastly I tried their 2004 Blanc de Blancs. Definitely nicer than the Brut GC. A cleaner taste than the others so far, nice acidity, I actually think this one needs a bit more time.
There were two other Champagnes I tried at different times.
Larmandier NV Brut Blanc de blancs 1er Cru....I've seen them before as they tend to be in that 40-50 dollar range in the US. It was fairly good, nothing I'm seeking out. A step up from an Aussie sparking...I'd rather have the Lombard though.
Jean-Paul Perardel NV. Wasn't overly impressed here. Probably my least favorite of the group.
All of the champagnes were pretty good...Nothing was bad. I'd prefer them over an Aussie Sparkling...at the same time, I'd really only look for the Lombard & Cie...Maybe it wasn't a fair assessment since I had the others later in the evening...it won't prevent me from trying the others again...
The Bordeaux there, was terrible. I'm not sure how they possibly have any 2010's out...although that probably explains it. With 2009s just starting to come in from any decent producer in Bordeaux, seeing 2010s here was almost laughable. Both the whites and reds were disappointing..I'm not even going to mention other than that.
The Burgundies...Chablis was ok. The Domaine Christophe 2010 Petit Chablis was fairly nice. The Chardonnay was ok. Really there were no good examples of White Burgs there to try... No Pinots except one made by an Aussie with Burg fruit....Decent Pinot, great value at 21 dollars.. Called Les Petites Vignettes.
The Beaujolais was pretty good...not a great selection and even in talking to one of the main importers, what they have available is really limited (not just at the show but in talking to them, in general). The Vissoux Fleurie Poncie was nice, I've had this before from a different vintage but the 2010 was nicer. I asked one of the importers why there doesn't seem to be any availability of Lapierre Morgon...to which he asked if that was a small producer because he had never heard of it....I'm thinking, how do you import Booj but not know of Lapierre? I told him Lapierre is quite well known...he just said they must not carry it in Australia.
A couple of interesting things made with Tannat...too tannic to drink though...That was from Madiran and Cahors.
2005 Madiran Chateau Bouscasse. REALLY tannic...Overly Tannic...I would've expected it to soften somewhat...even though it is made from Tannat...Might go well with a big steak. I can't see drinking this any other way. Nice wine though.
2008 Chateau du Cedre Cahors. The guy told me it was Malbec..but this thing had huge tannins...he insisted it was just Malbec but I'm reading it is Malbec Tannat Merlot...which might explain why it is so Tannic. I looked this up online, it looks like it is just a little bit..really weird.... A bit more fruit forward than the Madiran but again, one that needs food. Apparently this retails for 50 AUD....I see some in the US for 15 or so..might be a different wine. At 15 it is a pretty good buy, maybe with some air it'll soften up a bit...at 50 it is a joke...
Chateauneuf du Pape.
They only had one which was the Chateau Mont Redon, 2007. Pretty good wine, big fruit but had a very nice balance. I think my wife would love this one. Retails for 90 AUD but selling for 68, either way it's a 25-35 USD CdP... At 25-30 it is a great buy. 90 makes me want to laugh. Another great example of Aussies getting RIPPED a new one by retailers. I've been told retailers are trying to keep prices stable which is why none of the prices have dropped with the stronger AUD....and apparently they cut their margins when the currency is weaker...but from 2000, that has basically been never. Sure there was a drop for a few months from .90USD to .60USD but basically, the currency has been appreciating since 2000 from .5USD to now over 1 USD. And retailers are laughing at the number of Francophiles that love their 50-100 dollar French wine that really retails everywhere else in the competitive retail world for 15-30 dollars.
Languedoc
They had a fairly nice Languedoc...Pretty good value here I think..
2010 Domaine Jean baptiste La Nine. This retails for 15 dollars elsewhere but in Australia it is 40..selling for 32....It isn't bad at 32 but Languedoc punches above its weight anyways....an underrated and undervalued wine region.
Alsace
The stuff from Alsace was disappointing. Ok Riesling, decent Pinot Gris...I've had better from here. The most interesting wine from Alsace was the really bad Pinot Noir. It is the perfect example of a bad European wine. No Acid, Dirt, tannins, no fruit. I like elegant wines, I don't really care for big fruit...but really when it tastes like tannins mixed with water and dirt..No...Even the importer thought it was bad.
Germany
Donnhoff. I haven't seen just Donnhoff estate riesling (Dry) before. I suspect that is their Donnhoff Riesling Trocken but not sure. It wasn't very good. Just too bone dry with not enough acid and not enough fruit. Their 2010 Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett was good but generally all their stuff is good. I like both the Kabinett and Spatlese from this producer...The one thing that surprised me was I thought the 2010 would have more acid..since I've read that is the case w/ most German Riesling for 2010...I didn't really think it was too acidic...
They had an A. Chistmann Grosses Gewachs Riesling which is supposed to be pretty good..I thought it was ok. Better than the Donnhoff Dry but not better than that Kabinett. It had a lot of complexity but I don't know...it was missing something..
Italy
There were a couple of decent Valpolicellas....One really traditional Old World one..and one that was a bit more modern. Both were well made. Some decent Sangiovese based wines...
The Nebbiolo there was ok. Most of it far too young...the on Barbaresco I thought was decent was way overpriced for what you got....The younger stuff was pretty cheap....
Overall, Italian stuff is looking good and in talking with them, the prices for Italian stuff has dropped..apparently because the price for it hasn't been established. To me this is good news. I think there will be some interesting Italian stuff coming in. Looking forward to some decent Sangiovese...
Some pretty decent Rioja from Exopto. They were all Tempranillo/Grenache/Graciano blends...
The Bozeto was a bit young. Nice Tempranillo though. The way the importer was talking about it, I expected it to be a bit more elegant but either way, it was a very nice Tempranillo and priced very well at 20-25.
The 2008 Horizonte Exopto was very good. At 33 it is a great buy..42 it is a decent buy. Very similar to the Bozeto but a bit more developed, a bit more elegant, greater complexity. A very good Rioja.
I already had this opinion but even the lower end Sangiovese and Tempranillo stuff tastes so much better than the Tempranillo and Sangiovese they make in Australia...I know they're trying new grapes but so far, any decent Temp/Sangio in Australia is 40+ and everything else seems to be bad..And the 40+ Temp/Sangio isn't exactly great..it is just decent.
New Zealand.
Some good stuff from NZ. Bunch of really nice Pinot Noirs. Both Craggy Range and Pyramid were nice...
Pyramid had some interesting whites...I'm not sure they were great, the semillon was very different, interesting, but for 43 on special (normally 53) I'd much rather get a Vat1. Both their Riesling and Pinot Blanc were nice. You can definitely get a feel for their style...Maybe it is their Terroir...Either way, they're nice but expensive...I don't imagine they sell for nearly as much in NZ or anywhere else...Pyramid had a decent Pinot, I don't think this is their better Pinot and quite overpriced at 70 RRP (selling for 57). You can pick this up for 30 USD. You can pick up their Calvert Pinot for 35-40. Based on how I see NZ wines priced in Australia, take NZ RRP and multiply by 2 which makes it a 105 AUD wine. What a joke.
Craggy had some good stuff. I think their Riesling was really good. Te Muna Riesling. Really really nice acidity, had a great tart feel and balanced by a bit of sweetness but not too much. Really quite good. I'll be looking for more in the US although it doesn't look like Te Muna makes it to the US. I'll give the Fletcher one a try either way. Te Kahu Merlot was good value although a bit expensive here. Their GG Syrah was pretty decent..a bit young. The 2009 Le Sol, I could hardly get anything from it was so tight. I've had this before with some age, really good. This one was just way too young and I'm not a good judge of what it will do later based on what I taste aside from the fact that I can tell it has good structure so I would guess it would become something quite nice.
Ata Rangi was good...Their main Pinot is actually very Burg like...I'm not sure everyone would like it but it was pretty good. Their Crimson Pinot was more fruit forward..fairly decent.
Matua Valley was ok. A lot of big Pinots but nothing I was too impressed with. For what they're trying to get, there are dozens of other Pinot Noirs from Central Otago that are better and cost less.
Mount Edward and Sato (Sato makes the Mount Edward Pinot Noir) were good...I think what Sato wants from his high end one (RRP 115) is a bit much...I'd rather just get a Felton Road Block 3 or Block 5 for that...
The US stuff was ok. Decent Cabs...Viognier was nice. Really nice Petite Syrah from Stags Leap.
Stags Leap cab was good..not great. The Chateau St. Jean Cab was just far too tannic...I'm not sure what was wrong w/ it..
Didn't spend too much time in the Australian section....
I did try stuff from Pressing matters..their Rieslings were actually pretty good. They had R0 and R9 which represents how much residual sugar there was in there...The R0 was good..the R9 was very good.
I've been wanting to try Scarborough in the Hunter for awhile so I tried their stuff here. Really nice Shiraz...great acidity for a red. After trying a couple of big reds there, this was really nice and cheap too for what you get. I need to go here next time I'm in the hunter. Good Semillon as well and actually a pretty good Chardonnay. Of course, at this point my Palate was getting pretty tired so it could be the acid was really refreshing and it is not as good as I thought but I think it was. Not super Huntery on the nose but definitely had that leather, earthiness, low alcohol and acidity that I like from the Hunter...
Also tried some Cherubino stuff at the end..but my palate was definitely gone and after the Hunter Shiraz..just too big at that point....Well made, but I couldn't get anything from it...
Tried a few other random things from Mclaren Vale and Barossa...a lot of nice wines but they're still quite big...I definitely think they're a bit more balanced and definitely they're toning down the super over the top..but you can just see it in your glass...The stuff literally coats the sides of your glass...
