I was lucky enough to attend a Riesling event at the Beresford
Hotel. It has a combination of stuff from Australia, New Zealand, France,
Germany, Austria and the US.
Overall there was a fantastic selection of Rieslings even though it was a bit more Australiancentric than I would have liked.
Most of the German and Austrian Rieslings were ok. Prices were actually quite good overall.
I
think as I have more and more Riesling...my palate is moving more
towards some RS + good acidity....Australian Rieslings tend to have
very good acidity but with the whole bone dry thing, I think a lot of
them fall short. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of VERY good bone
dry Rieslings in Australia..they age fantastically well...but so many of them end up just being a battery acid mess lacking in any real complexity and void of any fruit...just because it tastes like petrol doesn't mean it has developed properly.
Here are some of the highlights from the show:
Gaelic Cemetery Riesling 2012. Very good depth to this. Hasn't started developing too much but it has a very nice mid palate, good length, quite a nice drop. Just a touch of RS is really helping to soften this a little bit...it is nice. Retail on this is stupid though..Something like 45AUD. Made by the same winemaker as Pikes...I can see the similarity in style but even as expensive as Pikes Merle is...it is still cheaper than this...and a better wine to boot. Good wine, worth drinking but probably 10-15 dollars too much...
Lethbridge Dr. Nadeson Riesling 2011....I love this guys stuff and this is no different. Some RS mixed with high acid content and low ph makes for a very interesting Riesling...a bit of sweet and a bit of sizzle...It looks an importer may start bringing his stuff in the US..I'm actually excited about seeing that happen...
Tunkalilla Riesling 2010 from Willamette Valley in Oregon. I was really surprised with this one...really nice development on the nose..good complexity..you can smell that it has a bit of residual sugar...Citrus, lemon, some herbs...looks interesting. On the palate it just smacks you in the face...REALLY strong acidity...but it it all balanced out by the RS...17-18g of sugar which isn't too high but it strikes a very interesting balance of RS and Acid..I think I actually like this better than the Lethbridge...with 9.9g of acid (which is high) and a ph under 3....
Weiser Kuenstler "Enkircher Ellergrub" Kabinett 2011. This is the same wine I tried at Sepia..although because they've kept them too cold, I'm not getting as much from the nose. Still, the wine had great depth and great balance. It was still one of my favorites but I didn't get the same wonderful nose from before...I do like some of the new world style Rieslings..but German Rieslings have it down when it comes to integrating RS into the wine...such great balance and oneness and the minerality tends to really show through a bit better...
I was a little disappointed there weren't any German GG's there and I felt the foreign section was a bit smaller than it should have been..but overall it was a great showing...
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Royal Sydney Wine 2013
I've been attending this show each year for the last four or so years..and each year they have their own set of issues...but after this year I'm not sure I'll be attending another one...
The good:
They had a lot of snack foods available which were included in the cost of the ticket (which was more expensive this year but it was well worth having the snacky food in the middle. This was a HUGE improvement over previous years.
They had people pouring the portions (Much more on this in the bad section). Making sure people weren't pouring themselves full glasses of wine was very welcome.
They tried to make it so everyone could get a taste of the Trophy winners. They limited everyone to three tastes within the Trophy room. I think four would've been a better number but I can appreciate what they're trying to do here.
The different classes/tutorials were all open so you could attend multiple tutorials if you wanted..this was a very good idea. They also mixed it up a bit and did ones different from previous years...
They also had a couple of vendors selling other stuff..one of them was Sweetness Patisserie.
http://www.sweetness.com.au/
So a lot of very nice sweet snacky treats to buy at the end of your tasting.....Their Marshmallows and Rocky Road are YUM.
The bread in the snack section was provided by Brasserie Bread. This is the second time I've had their bread and it is excellent.
http://www.brasseriebread.com.au/
The BAD:
I'm not sure what happened but they were missing a LOT of the wine. It wasn't the popular stuff or the award winners..but the NON award winners were nearly non-existent. I'm sure many of these wines don't get too much attention during the show but let's face it, we're there to try different wines and honestly, I could care less if a wine wins a Trophy, Gold or any other award....
If you're going to have people pouring, you need to have enough people. There just weren't enough people pouring and it was rather frustrating seeing them run back and forth all over the place...That plus half the space to try (because they were on the other side of the table, half as many people could be near the table) was probably not a good combination.
Also, if you're going to have them pour..DO NOT HAVE THEM POUR HALF A GLASS. Maybe this is the new trend and I am the one that doesn't get it. But this is a tasting event...you should have enough to taste and move on...this IS NOT a DRINKING EVENT.
If you're going to split up the wines into categories..that's great...But don't end up with a few random ones that for some reason weren't in their spot and ended up in random places in other portions of the hall. There were 3 categories that were basically lost and I have no idea why..it is just poor planning...especially since there was more than enough table room in the hall..there were plenty of empty spots...
The Wine. Overall I was pretty disappointed with the entries this year. It could've just been my palate but I did find some good wines there so I'm not sure that was it...
Wine Highlights:
Tyrell's Vat 1 Semillon 2005. This has been highly touted for a long time but it hadn't really started that transition to an aged Semillon the few times I've had it in the past. This time however, was different. Wonderful honey, toast, lemon, grass and herbs on the nose. First sniff after tasting a few others and I was sure this was going to be good. Palate still had WONDERFUL acidity...but at the same time you really got that slightly petrol, nutty toast, honey, with a touch of lanolin. Very complex and obviously still changing....Big acidity but still some fruit and stuffing to balance it out and keep it going....This one is going another 15 years at least....
Meerea Park Alexander Munro Semillon 2006. I'm not sure what happened here. I tried this because it was there...and in previous tastings the acid was on its way out..not a great amount of development compared to previous AM Semillons....but maybe it was just asleep. Good acidity, great development...There were other Semillons in the same league as this at the time...but I think I was just surprised that this one was so different from previous ones I've had...
Tertini Reserve Pinot Noir 2009.
I finally got to this after wading through several full full bodied Pinots...and what a relief. Medium bodied, red fruit, good acidity, wonderful complexity...Fruit was quite bright but still had some earth and herbs...One of the better Pinots I've had in Australia and the best one at the show...
Briar Ridge Dairy Hill Shiraz 2010. Pepper, herbs, leather and earth on the nose. Medium bodied with very good acidity. True Hunter but clean fruit and silky tannins. This was quite nice.
Pepper Tree Tallavera Limited Hunter Valley Shiraz 2010. Another very Hunter Shiraz. Medium Bodied, very good acidity, wonderful complexity. Bright red fruit, leather, wood and earth. I'm not sure why they don't have this available when you go to their Cellar door but this was very nice.
Other notables:
Thomas Braemore Semillon, 2009, 2008, 2007...Still one of my favorites...great depth early on which makes it enjoyable young...and develops into a very typical aged Semillon....2008 looks like it'll go for awhile...
Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay 2011. Not as good as previous years..but still solid. I think this is just too young...
Overall..the disappointment of not having everything available and slow rate of tasting because it required servers made for a really mediocre time. The food was a good touch and the change in the tutorials was nice as well....Not sure I'll be coming back next year though...
The good:
They had a lot of snack foods available which were included in the cost of the ticket (which was more expensive this year but it was well worth having the snacky food in the middle. This was a HUGE improvement over previous years.
They had people pouring the portions (Much more on this in the bad section). Making sure people weren't pouring themselves full glasses of wine was very welcome.
They tried to make it so everyone could get a taste of the Trophy winners. They limited everyone to three tastes within the Trophy room. I think four would've been a better number but I can appreciate what they're trying to do here.
The different classes/tutorials were all open so you could attend multiple tutorials if you wanted..this was a very good idea. They also mixed it up a bit and did ones different from previous years...
They also had a couple of vendors selling other stuff..one of them was Sweetness Patisserie.
http://www.sweetness.com.au/
So a lot of very nice sweet snacky treats to buy at the end of your tasting.....Their Marshmallows and Rocky Road are YUM.
The bread in the snack section was provided by Brasserie Bread. This is the second time I've had their bread and it is excellent.
http://www.brasseriebread.com.au/
The BAD:
I'm not sure what happened but they were missing a LOT of the wine. It wasn't the popular stuff or the award winners..but the NON award winners were nearly non-existent. I'm sure many of these wines don't get too much attention during the show but let's face it, we're there to try different wines and honestly, I could care less if a wine wins a Trophy, Gold or any other award....
If you're going to have people pouring, you need to have enough people. There just weren't enough people pouring and it was rather frustrating seeing them run back and forth all over the place...That plus half the space to try (because they were on the other side of the table, half as many people could be near the table) was probably not a good combination.
Also, if you're going to have them pour..DO NOT HAVE THEM POUR HALF A GLASS. Maybe this is the new trend and I am the one that doesn't get it. But this is a tasting event...you should have enough to taste and move on...this IS NOT a DRINKING EVENT.
If you're going to split up the wines into categories..that's great...But don't end up with a few random ones that for some reason weren't in their spot and ended up in random places in other portions of the hall. There were 3 categories that were basically lost and I have no idea why..it is just poor planning...especially since there was more than enough table room in the hall..there were plenty of empty spots...
The Wine. Overall I was pretty disappointed with the entries this year. It could've just been my palate but I did find some good wines there so I'm not sure that was it...
Wine Highlights:
Tyrell's Vat 1 Semillon 2005. This has been highly touted for a long time but it hadn't really started that transition to an aged Semillon the few times I've had it in the past. This time however, was different. Wonderful honey, toast, lemon, grass and herbs on the nose. First sniff after tasting a few others and I was sure this was going to be good. Palate still had WONDERFUL acidity...but at the same time you really got that slightly petrol, nutty toast, honey, with a touch of lanolin. Very complex and obviously still changing....Big acidity but still some fruit and stuffing to balance it out and keep it going....This one is going another 15 years at least....
Meerea Park Alexander Munro Semillon 2006. I'm not sure what happened here. I tried this because it was there...and in previous tastings the acid was on its way out..not a great amount of development compared to previous AM Semillons....but maybe it was just asleep. Good acidity, great development...There were other Semillons in the same league as this at the time...but I think I was just surprised that this one was so different from previous ones I've had...
Tertini Reserve Pinot Noir 2009.
I finally got to this after wading through several full full bodied Pinots...and what a relief. Medium bodied, red fruit, good acidity, wonderful complexity...Fruit was quite bright but still had some earth and herbs...One of the better Pinots I've had in Australia and the best one at the show...
Briar Ridge Dairy Hill Shiraz 2010. Pepper, herbs, leather and earth on the nose. Medium bodied with very good acidity. True Hunter but clean fruit and silky tannins. This was quite nice.
Pepper Tree Tallavera Limited Hunter Valley Shiraz 2010. Another very Hunter Shiraz. Medium Bodied, very good acidity, wonderful complexity. Bright red fruit, leather, wood and earth. I'm not sure why they don't have this available when you go to their Cellar door but this was very nice.
Other notables:
Thomas Braemore Semillon, 2009, 2008, 2007...Still one of my favorites...great depth early on which makes it enjoyable young...and develops into a very typical aged Semillon....2008 looks like it'll go for awhile...
Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay 2011. Not as good as previous years..but still solid. I think this is just too young...
Overall..the disappointment of not having everything available and slow rate of tasting because it required servers made for a really mediocre time. The food was a good touch and the change in the tutorials was nice as well....Not sure I'll be coming back next year though...
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Samuel's Gorge Shiraz
I've been a bit sick lately so I've tried to lay off the alcohol...but I did have a chance to try:
Samuel's Gorge Shiraz 2004.
Several years ago when I went to visit the McLaren Vale (thanks to my wife who planned the trip for me), we went to a place called Samuel's Gorge. I hadn't heard of it before but what really impressed me was that all of his wine (he only makes a few) was very well made. I also liked that the winemaker (who looks like a bit of a hippy) was there talking about his wine..he seemed very passionate about it...I think the only thing I didn't like was there were just too many people and it was a bit crowded in the space that was there. What struck me most was that he actually had a relatively good Australian Tempranillo....most of which is pretty bad in Australia although it has vastly improved in last few years.
Forward to 2013 where I had been lucky enough to acquire a Samuel's Gorge Shiraz from 2004 which was a fairly good year for that region...
Big dark and red fruits on the nose....smells a little overripe but not too bad. I'm not sensing a ton of alcohol and starting to pick up a little herbiness but not too much....It is very clean..but in the sense that it is fairly straightforward..all the good smells, none of the bad..but not too interesting..
Very dark fruits, blackberries, boysenberries and a little raspberry coming through on the palate...A pinch of prune....Definite hints of overrippeness but pretty typical I think for this region. There is actually decent acidity but not good acidity...I would say good acidity considering this is McLaren Vale...I don't think I'd classify this a fruit bomb..I think it is a wine that can compete overseas (which this does). I'm not quite sure this is the style I'm looking for as far as what I really enjoy right now..but there is no doubt this would be popular with a lot of people...popular with those that are non wine geeks and still geeky enough for those that are....
There are a lot of events coming up in the next month or two....Riesling, Pinot and more!
Samuel's Gorge Shiraz 2004.
Several years ago when I went to visit the McLaren Vale (thanks to my wife who planned the trip for me), we went to a place called Samuel's Gorge. I hadn't heard of it before but what really impressed me was that all of his wine (he only makes a few) was very well made. I also liked that the winemaker (who looks like a bit of a hippy) was there talking about his wine..he seemed very passionate about it...I think the only thing I didn't like was there were just too many people and it was a bit crowded in the space that was there. What struck me most was that he actually had a relatively good Australian Tempranillo....most of which is pretty bad in Australia although it has vastly improved in last few years.
Forward to 2013 where I had been lucky enough to acquire a Samuel's Gorge Shiraz from 2004 which was a fairly good year for that region...
Big dark and red fruits on the nose....smells a little overripe but not too bad. I'm not sensing a ton of alcohol and starting to pick up a little herbiness but not too much....It is very clean..but in the sense that it is fairly straightforward..all the good smells, none of the bad..but not too interesting..
Very dark fruits, blackberries, boysenberries and a little raspberry coming through on the palate...A pinch of prune....Definite hints of overrippeness but pretty typical I think for this region. There is actually decent acidity but not good acidity...I would say good acidity considering this is McLaren Vale...I don't think I'd classify this a fruit bomb..I think it is a wine that can compete overseas (which this does). I'm not quite sure this is the style I'm looking for as far as what I really enjoy right now..but there is no doubt this would be popular with a lot of people...popular with those that are non wine geeks and still geeky enough for those that are....
There are a lot of events coming up in the next month or two....Riesling, Pinot and more!
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