TN: Torbreck dinner

[via collins]

Thought I was the luckiest kid in the world when a work trip coincided with a meal at Nth Sydney Wine Cellars last week featuring a large line-up of Torbreck wines, accompanied by the Dave Powell tasting notes live in the house! Sorry about the retailer mention Gavin, but that's where it was

I am as far from N4Sir as is possible when it comes to notes, and it takes a fair bit of gumption to even create a post in his slipstream, but here goes nothing:

2011 Woodcutters RVM2011 - a rousanne, viognier and marsanne blend that struck me as very demure - slightly toasty, but really restrained, and next to the Steading Blanc to follow, really reserved.

2012 Steading Blanc - this blend, marsanne dominant, was really thrilling I thought - sharp acid, a belt of apricot nectar, but bound together showing real restraint too. Dave spoke passionately (won't use that word again as it's self-evident with this bloke) of his commitment to making Rhone styled wines as best befits the ground he works with. And in the case of this wine, it's actually the grapes that determine the blend each year. Loved this, bought some.

2011 Cuvee Juveniles - rarely a disappointing wine, young, unoaked GSM, just a shade lighter in body and attack than the Teusner Joshua. Fresh berries. Slight dark shades in the back. Good good.

2012 Woodcutter's shiraz - crikey. Was only in the glass for 10 to 15 minutes, but it grew in complexity in that short time. Broody darkness, just a wonderful example of shiraz from a year where the "wines made themselves". After tasting the 2012 Avatar and this, I know cellars are going to be stuffed full of Barossa goodness from 2012.

2010 Les Amis - when Dave proposed, volubly, that this wine would be in the top 3 or 4 single vineyard grenaches anywhere, there was no-one in the room going to argue. As it was poured, people rippled with excitement, superb nose fair sklathes out of the bottle. Fragrant, medium-bodies, just a hint of vanilla to balance the darker savoury elements, as striking a wine as I've tasted this year.

2010 Kyloe - another positive surprise - mataro of a very high standard. Quite divided tables, but if you like a gamey, slightly spicey and lovely complex mataro grape, then this one is for you. Fantastic.

2009 The Descendent - shiraz/viognier - I have nothing next to this wine in rough notes, but it was paired with the 2009 The Factor, which I hugely preferred, so..

2009 The Factor - shiraz - power and grace, sounds like a sports car advert, but really two words that hit the nail on the head here. As lovely an expression of shiraz as I have had in a bit. Just great.

2010 Runrig - shiraz viognier - it's getting late, all I can recall now is just how blissfully happy this wine made me. I don't know if it's the vintage, the blend, or what it is, but after my indifference to The Descendent, this wine quietly blew my mind.

2008 The Laird - single vineyard shiraz. Okay, the main thing here is depth. Notable licorice notes, peppery notes, phenomenal breadth to the palate. But ultimately, not tremendously appealing to me.

Memorable evening, met some lovely people, ate some superb food, and grabbed another case of super wines for the years ahead.

Cheers!

[burges]

Thanks for the tasting notes. Yes, it was a memorable evening – good food, great wines, excellent company.
My preference for the top 3 would have to be the Laird, Les Amis & Runrig – the quality of these wines was very high, unfortunately with prices to match .

[Phil Wilkins]

The Steading Blanc is a well made drop but so over priced here in the UK & won't buy it. Nice notes, great evening. Well done.

[Mike Hawkins]

I know its popular to bash Torbreck, but I think the RunRig is one of the truly great Aussie wines. If SA shiraz is your go (and you can afford it), it is really worth drinking. I haven't tried the 2010 yet, but given the vintage conditions, I imagine it will be fantatstic.

Mike

[camw]

Will just post some short notes myself;

• 2011 Torbreck Woodcutter's Roussane Viognier Marsanne - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Eden Valley
  46% Roussanne 41% Viognier 13% Marsanne. Floral nose with some lime and pear notes. The palate is medium bodied, hinting at richness but held back by good acidity that also gives the wine a fresh lift. 88/100
• 2012 Torbreck The Steading Blanc - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  44% Marsanne, 32% Roussanne, 24% Viognier. Floral as well, but compared to the 2011 Woodcutters next to it, the floral notes are much more intense and wild - there is also wax, flint and apricot. The palate has excellent mouth feel and good texture, it is quite rich in style but great fruit purity is still maintained. Very impressive and I liked it more and more every time I came back to the glass. 90/100

• 2011 Torbreck (Cuvée) Juveniles - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  62% Grenache, 23% Shiraz & 15% Mataro. Pepper, violets and some meaty elements - I found the nose to have good interest, especially at this level. The palate continues the trend towards spice influence with restrained red fruit and medium length. Very good, and a pleasant experience after some much less appealing examples in previous vintages. 89/100
• 2012 Torbreck Shiraz Woodcutter's - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Cherry, blackcurrant, lightly sappy and light spicy aromas. Medium depth on the palate, with some decent fruit, it is good to drink but for me it's not really exciting in any aspect. 87/100

• 2010 Torbreck Grenache Les Amis - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Very appealing aromatics for me - dark cherry/kirsch, rose, dark chocolate and there is plenty of oak but I felt the fruit matched it for intensity. The palate is lovely, with ripe, intense fruit paired with great structure and a savoury spicy edge. Needs plenty of time to age and integrate but I think it will be excellent. 92/100
• 2010 Torbreck Mataro Kyloe - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Aromas that could either fall on the side of brett or a character of mataro - either way it was strongly gamey, with truffle, earth and cherry notes. The palate has that meaty character to it as well, but the red fruit shows through a bit better here. Has good length to it and if it's brett I don't think this bottle suffered too much from it. I'll look out for chances to try future vintages as it seems promising and the price is fair. 89/100

• 2009 Torbreck Descendant - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  92% Shiraz, 8% Viognier. Candied apricot, smoke, tar, raspberry and some bramble aromas. I like how the palate has quite rich fruit, but it is still bright with a lovely line of acidity, and the tannin structure here seems spot on to let that vibrancy show through now while still having potential. 91/100
• 2009 Torbreck Shiraz The Factor - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Cherry, plum, earth, tar and floral notes. Beautifully balanced, it has powerful and rich fruit, and the tannins are similarly quite big in order to provide a frame for the palate. Fantastic carry of flavours and length. Very youthful, but very very good. 92/100

• 2010 Torbreck Run Rig - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  95% Shiraz, 5% Viognier. Very floral on the nose, with supporting blackberry, spices and dark cherry. The palate has extremely bright but powerful fruit and outstanding depth and textural elements. Comes across as more classy than would be expected with this level of concentration but it is all in balance and really delicious. 94/100
• 2008 Torbreck Shiraz The Laird - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  Served next to the 2010 RunRig, this is amplified in almost every aspect. Cocoa, ground coffee, outrageously floral perfume, blackcurrant and raspberry aromas. The layers of fruit are amazingly dense but they have real definition and texture to them, saving the wine from being one dimensional. Outstanding length and a great experience to taste it. 94/100

[sjw_11]

Continuing the theme from the Pendolds thread of super high scores, Huon Hooke didn't hold anything back in his latest write up on Torbreck... I thought interesting he picked the Steading Blanc and the Struie as his picks of the latest releases:

"After the fuss surrounding the 2008 Penfolds Grange (tasting) launch, the July 1 release of Torbreck’s 2008 The Laird Shiraz (tasting), at an even higher recommended retail price of $900, probably won’t cause a ripple.

Torbreck doesn’t go in for the showbiz launches that Penfolds and others engage in. Even so, a certain overseas wine critic has scored both wines 100/100, which in my view is ridiculous, and devalues the whole idea of rating wine.

Scoring wine has become an arms-race, a kind of critics’ bidding war. Some even boast about their scores on Twitter. It’s one thing to score wines, quite another to behave like a spruiker.

That said, the 2008 The Laird is clearly an outstanding wine, and the best Laird so far (there have only been three, mind you!). With just 350 dozen produced, it’s only a fraction of Grange’s make.

The grapes came from Malcolm Seppelt’s vineyard at Marananga, which has also produced exceptional fruit for Rolf Binder’s The Malcolm, Grange and Chris Ringland, to idly drop a few names.

I innocently asked what Torbreck boss Dave Powell pays Mr Seppelt for these grapes, not expecting to be let into the secret, and the answer was $16,000 a tonne.

That’s serious money. Half that - $8,000 - would be considered a super-premium shiraz price for any other winery’s $100 Barossa flagship.

If you like super-concentrated mocha, rum-and-raisin chocolate style shiraz, and you have very deep pockets, this is your bag. But the best value of the current Torbreck crop, for mine, is The Steading Blanc 2012: a delicious, character-filled $39 marsanne, viognier, roussanne blend (tasting note).

And the 2011 Struie Shiraz ($49; tasting note), the Barossa and Eden Valley blend, which is more peppery and elegant than usual from the wet 2011 vintage, but a stylish cool-year iteration of Barossa shiraz that I really enjoy."

For full text and source see: http://huonhooke.tumblr.com, all rights reserved

[George Krashos]

And that grape price per tonne is why you pay the prices you pay for Torbreck. But heck, if you have to get your premium grapes somehow, paying over the odds for them is the best way if the market can and will deal with your prices. I stopped buying Torbreck year ago.

-- George Krashos