The fourth selection of 1998 wines for Blacktongues assessment this year was made up of a diverse group of wines, with a basic theme of no straight Shiraz or straight Cabernet Sauvignon. I found this tasting quite enjoyable with the double decant and 45 minute breathing time resulting in these wines changing constantly in the glass, even at a very early stage.
As usual all the following wines were tasted blind and after about an hour all 15 participants voted for their most preferred, two next preferred and their least preferred drops. The panel ranking is based on first preferred votes counting for double in the calculations.
1998 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz: Dark to very inky crimson. Toasty then slightly buttery oak on the nose followed by very strong, pure cassis fruit, very clean and impressive. It’s a similar story with the slippery palate, buttery oak and spicy cassis fruit followed by a long, sweet finish with a touch of dried herbs and greens. Very impressive and a little unlucky not to get a vote from me in this strong group.
My ranking: =4th place
Panel ranking: 5th place
Votes: 1 most, 6 second & third, 1 least preferred
1998 Orlando Jacob’s Creek Limited Release Shiraz Cabernet: Dark to inky red/crimson with a hint of purple. Lifted/leafy mint and some toast at first followed by very sweet coffee, cassis and ground pepper with time in the glass. The chewy palate’s perfectly poised right now and yet still holds a lot of potential; ripe/sweet raspberries/blackberries, grainy tannins and a long, sweet vanilla finish that hint it’s at a pretty early stage in its development curve.
My ranking: 1st place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 4 most, 3 second & third, 0 least preferred
1998 Bleasdale Frank Potts Cabernet Blend: Dark to very inky red. Even sweeter oak than the Orlando at first, opening with toffee/coffee, blackcurrant and a hint of strawberry before closing up; at this stage the Orlando started throwing that same sweet coffee nose, briefly making me wonder if I had my glasses mixed up! The palate was just as sweet, ripe and spicy, a peppery entry followed by strawberry/raspberry fruit, but the finish seemed to be lacking which was why I marked it down compared to the rest of the panel.
My ranking: 6th place
Panel ranking: 3rd place
Votes: 3 most, 3 second & third, 0 least preferred
1998 Rosemount Mountain Blue Shiraz Cabernet: Dark to very inky crimson. Warm, earthy/peppery plum fruit on the nose; a very dry palate with the sweet cherry/cola fruit overwhelmed by powerful tannins, finishing long but with some alcohol heat. A few of the panel were surprised when its identity was revealed and wrote it off as a bad bottle.
My ranking: 9th place
Panel ranking: 8th place
Votes: 0 most, 0 second & third, 0 least preferred
1998 Leconfield Petit Verdot: Dark to almost inky red. You wanted to know what I meant by the descriptor 'ozone' Jamie – stick your nose in a glass of this and you’ll get what I mean; very green, lifted and almost floral, sea spray, toilet deodorant, it’s got the works. The mid-weight palate is likewise textbook Leconfield, slender fruit and very green, leafy and slightly chalky at first, although with breathing this did develop some appealing tobacco spit characters. No one was surprised at its identity when the bag came off the bottle.
My ranking: 7th place
Panel ranking: =9th place
Votes: 0 most, 0 second & third, 3 least preferred
1998 Lindemans Abbey Merlot: Dark to almost inky crimson. A pretty good balance of sweet, ripe fruit and complex oak, at first toasty, then very sweet toffee, finally rich and buttery. The toasty oak plays second fiddle on the palate though, the tangy, slightly jammy fruit dominating here with very dry, fine tannins providing excellent structure and length. Apparently this was a limited release wine from Lindemans’ (now defunct) Coonawarra cellar door, and not that dissimilar to my last bottle of 1998 Brands Limited Release Merlot on reflection.
My ranking: =4th place
Panel ranking: 4th place
Votes: 2 most, 4 second & third, 0 least preferred
1998 Pirramimma Petit Verdot: Dark to very inky red/purple. And now to something completely different… This is such a difficult wine to describe in this group, it’s like it deliberately didn’t set out to impress me but was so fascinating I couldn’t help but be won over. The nose was very savoury and ever changing, at first quite acidic and biting with some weird paint fumes, gradually developing whiffs of dark coal and cheese, sweet fruit jubes/lollies, banana, aniseed and some chocolate. The palate was big, chewy and slightly minty, the tart blackcurrant fruit and tannins providing great feel and excellent length, with a hint of minty warmth on the finish.
My ranking: 2nd place
Panel ranking: =1st place
Votes: 3 most, 5 second and third, 0 least preferred
1998 Greg Norman Estate Cabernet Merlot: Dark to very inky red/crimson. I really didn’t like the stinky nose of this at all, earthy, charred bricks, diesel and dog poo. The palate was better but frankly still a style I don’t like; earthy raspberry/cassis fruit with a hint of green apple, finishing toasty/buttery with some pepper.
My ranking: 10th place
Panel ranking: 6th place
Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 1 least preferred
1998 Pirramimma Merlot: Dark to inky crimson. This had some notable similarities to the Petit Verdot and yet it didn’t win me over, such was the fine line in such a good group of wines. The complex nose opened cheesy and leathery followed by some dry toast, acetone and sarsaparilla characters. The dry/earthy, mid-weight palate featured tart, mulberry fruit, finishing with malty oak and some aniseed. A polarizing wine on the day.
My ranking: 8th place
Panel ranking: 7th place
Votes: 0 most, 5 second & third, 3 least preferred
1998 Normans Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc: Dark to inky red. A very sweet and developed nose, opening with leafy/tomato followed by coffee/toffee oak, and sweet leather and raspberry fruit. The palate impressed me, opening with sweet cherry cola/coffee followed by peppery/chocolate fruit mid-palate, finishing long and chewy with sweet fruit and vanilla oak. This was another polarizing wine: quite a few of the panel thought it was slightly oxidized, while I just thought it was very well developed.
My ranking: 3rd place
Panel ranking: =9th place
Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 7 least preferred
Cheers,
Ian
TN: Blacktongues - 1998 Bits & Pieces 19/7/06
TN: Blacktongues - 1998 Bits & Pieces 19/7/06
Last edited by n4sir on Mon Oct 23, 2006 10:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
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Mike Hawkins
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Re: TN: Blacktongues - 1998 Bits & Pieces
n4sir wrote:1998 Normans Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc: Dark to inky red. A very sweet and developed nose, opening with leafy/tomato followed by coffee/toffee oak, and sweet leather and raspberry fruit. The palate impressed me, opening with sweet cherry cola/coffee followed by peppery/chocolate fruit mid-palate, finishing long and chewy with sweet fruit and vanilla oak. This was another polarizing wine: quite a few of the panel thought it was slightly oxidized, while I just thought it was very well developed.
My ranking: 3rd place
Panel ranking: =9th place
Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 7 least preferred
Ian,
Was this the Chais Clarendon? I've had a couple of bottles over the past year or so, and the latest one (last month) raised doubts in my mind whether it was too oxidized as well. Still enjoyable, but I kept going back to the glass because I wasn't quite sure.
The bottle I tasted a year ago was pristine; heaps of primary fruit with a little secondary leathery character as well. Impressively generous and complex for $20. I have the large remainder of a case left, so I hope they are more in line with my earlier bottle.
Re: TN: Blacktongues - 1998 Bits & Pieces
mphatic wrote:n4sir wrote:1998 Normans Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc: Dark to inky red. A very sweet and developed nose, opening with leafy/tomato followed by coffee/toffee oak, and sweet leather and raspberry fruit. The palate impressed me, opening with sweet cherry cola/coffee followed by peppery/chocolate fruit mid-palate, finishing long and chewy with sweet fruit and vanilla oak. This was another polarizing wine: quite a few of the panel thought it was slightly oxidized, while I just thought it was very well developed.
My ranking: 3rd place
Panel ranking: =9th place
Votes: 1 most, 2 second & third, 7 least preferred
Ian,
Was this the Chais Clarendon? I've had a couple of bottles over the past year or so, and the latest one (last month) raised doubts in my mind whether it was too oxidized as well. Still enjoyable, but I kept going back to the glass because I wasn't quite sure.
This 'Signature Series' Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc blend is a different wine from the Chais Clarendon which is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and (naturally) from Clarendon.
Cheers,
Ian
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
Brucer wrote:I know its irrevalant, but there is 2 1st places for Panel rating.
I look forward to reading your posts.
Brucer
Actually it's not that irrelevant Brucer!
Immediately after the tasting I said to Steve "You know what's really weird, not only did you and I pick the most preferred wine two tastings in a row, but we have two wines with equal most preferred votes, and two with equal least preferred votes!"
The odds of that must be more than the Swans winning two flags in a row ...
... on second thoughts I'd better not start that crap again, it may come true.
Hence two 1st places and no 2nd place.
Cheers,
Ian
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
