Last night's encounters

[michaelw]

I'm not posting a TN as such but a bit of a contrast. The first wine last night was a 1999 Tyrells Heathcote Rufus Stone Shiraz. I hadn't had this wine before and was a bit surprised. It's not what I've come to expect from the region (Jasper Hill, Wild Duck Creek, Munari, etc) in that it wasn't a big blockbusting wine.

The second wine was a 1999 Piggs Peake Shiraz from the Hunter Valley. I had this about 3 years ago and found it a bit disjointed and was quite indifferent to it. Last night it seemed to be somewhat more integrated but did not go the distance with length.

It was good to try these wines from the two regions and contrast them. I have another Rufus Stone but no more Piggs Peake. For mine, the better wine was the Rufus Stone with a longer finish, more powerful fruit (yet not as powerful as I have come to expect from Heathcote producers) and better mouthfeel. The Piggs Peake while being OK was quite short and (from memory) a bit $rich$. Maybe that was the cellar door price experience!

The night was rounded out with a couple of Baileys Tokays. Mmmmmm.

[Red Bigot]

The first wine last night was a 1999 Tyrells Heathcote Rufus Stone Shiraz. I hadn't had this wine before and was a bit surprised. It's not what I've come to expect from the region (Jasper Hill, Wild Duck Creek, Munari, etc) in that it wasn't a big blockbusting wine.

Michael,

The Rufus Heathcote is made from fruit off young vines, I believe 1997 was the first commercial crop picked off the vines and released. Also I suspect the wine is made to the pricepoint rather than attempting to match the more established players at this stage, maybe in a few years there will be a 'Reserve' version given the full treatment from vineyard to bottle.

That being said, I think the first and quite stunning 98 Munari Shiraz was also made from young vines, not completely sure though. A few wineries have been making it a 'feature', Bremerton had a YV shiraz, think I've seen a couple of others, including Yarra Yering YV Cabernet 2001.

Might be a good topic: The best reds from young vines, anybody got some info on these sort of releases?

[Gavin Trott]

Might be a good topic: The best reds from young vines, anybody got some info on these sort of releases?

Good idea, let's make it a topic.