The Auswine Forum

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - 2016 AUSTRALIA NIGHT - Glass Brasserie, Sydney (7/10/2026)

A slightly smaller group meets to look at local wines at a decade old. A few more whites than expected, but everything was bang on theme! And apart from a little cross-over in South Australia, nearly every wine hailed from a different region.

• NV Charles Heidsieck Champagne Brut Réserve - France, Champagne
  {cork, 12%} [Andrew] Tiraged 2020, disgorged 2025 per the back label. Good to have this information. Spectacular nose of autolysis & yeast aromas, with melon, peach and a touch of citrus fruit. Mostly biscuity flavours on the palate, with a hint of melon and soft cheese. Mild overall though, compared to the intensity of the nose. Medium weight, with quite large and vigorous bubbles. Medium length dry finish. Value getting marginal at the $100 point, though.
• 2016 Domaine Simha Riesling Amphora Lotus - Australia, Tasmania, Southern Tasmania
  {screwcap, 12%} [Graeme] Always was something of an ‘orange-style’ wine, and this is now very polarising indeed – most of the bottle went into the dump bucket. In fairness, I don’t suppose it was ever intended to last ten years. Dark amber/orange colour. Muted nose of stale apricots. Washed out rather than offensive palate, with some tangy sweetness followed by a soft slightly bitter finish. No complexity of developed flavours, but just a fading into a semi-stale, short finish. Don’t keep these, that’s the lesson.
• 2016 Robert Stein Riesling - Australia, New South Wales, Central Ranges, Mudgee
  {screwcap, 12%} [Glenn] Still a fairly pale yellow/green colour, but there’s lots of kerosene on the nose. A little lime fruit pushes through on the palate, but you’ve got to love that petro-character. It’s medium weight, dry, with almost a chalky note to the texture absent overt acidity. Even palate, medium length finish – I’d call this ready to drink and unlikely to benefit from much more cellaring, despite all the bling the bottle is wearing from its show success.
• 2016 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Vat 47 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
  {screwcap, 12.5%} [Glenn] Faintly sweaty nose of nuts and figs. Cashew is prominent. Polished palate of lemon and soft oak, with hints of squash, pineapple and a general nod to tropical fruit. Medium weight chardonnay, with medium acidity, and a medium length finish. Tidy wine that’s still on the upslope of development, I think. Five more years will be fine.
• 2016 Mount Mary Chardonnay - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
  {diam, 13.5%} [Geoffrey] Pale lemon/green colour. Highly oaked nose, with cedar, cashews, sandalwood; the fruit seems totally submerged under expensive French oak. Pistachio flavours, some melon or grapefruit cowers in the background. Lowish chalky tannins, medium/full weight. To be fair, this evolved quite a bit in the glass, and the oaky note dissipated significantly with time to leave a long finish of stone fruit flavours. This definitely needs another five years, or a decant before drinking.
• 2016 Moppity Vineyards Shiraz - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Hilltops
  {screwcap, 14%} [Dan] Big, developing nose of jammy red fruit and milk chocolate; there initially seems very little of a cool-climate character to this; there were obviously no issues with ripeness this vintage. The fruit profile turns a bit darker with time, though; there are flavours mulberry, blueberry and anise. Subtle oak. It’s medium weight, dry, with medium acidity and low/medium powdery tannins. Sits more towards the front palate before a medium-length finish. Certainly the red nearest peak drinking tonight.
• 2016 Savaterre Sagrantino - Australia, Victoria, North East, Beechworth
  {screwcap, 13.5%} [Graeme] Mildly developing nose of cherry pip, stalks and iodine, along with a coconut character. Seems only lightly-oaked. A faint gluey note on the palate though, with tart cranberry and a distinctly savoury edge to the fruit. Medium weight, with very fine gritty tannins and a faint black pepper edge to the medium/long finish. This really needs another ten years on this showing – perhaps time in a decanter would have helped.
• 2016 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  {screwcap, 14%} [Stephen] Modern Coonawarra cab from central casting. Ribena/blackcurrant essence, with vanilla and coconut edges on the nose. Becomes sour-edged inky black fruit on the medium-bodied palate, where a little peppermint and eucalypt remind you you’re in Australia. Lowish acidity, and low/medium chalky tannins complete the picture. Hitting the drinking window but should hold for an age.
• 2016 Geoff Merrill Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - Australia, South Australia
  {screwcap, 14.5%} [David- guest] Coonawarra/McLaren Vale fruit in the ratio 53/47. An unfashionable regional blend. Shades of mint, dark chocolate, herbs, basil on the nose. More sweetly oaky on the palate, with some vanilla and coconut. Quite full-bodied, with medium dusty tannins and medium acidity. Finishes with llots of dark black berry flavours, medium/long. Something of a powerhouse, but open and friendly. Into the drinking window I reckon.
• 2016 Penfolds Shiraz St. Henri - Australia, South Australia
  {screwcap, 14.5%} [DavidH] There’s 5% cabernet in this, and research on the electric interwebs reveal the fruit is from Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Coonawarra, & Magill. The perfect South Australian semi-trailer blend! It’s very youthful still, with a big, voluptuous nose of red fruit, raspberry, soft liquorice, cola, vanilla. The palate too has lots of sweet blackberry and milk chocolate, with medium powdery tannins, medium/full weight, and a medium length finish. Seems to have lost just a little youthful puppy fat without picking up truly developed flavours yet. The even palate impresses; this wants another decade at least.
• 2016 Yalumba Shiraz The Octavius - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
  {cork 14.5%} [Andrew] This saw all of 22 months in oak, but it seems these days it gets a mix of cooperage, not exclusively those little American oak barrels that Yalumba assemble themselves. This might explain why it’s so much less oaky than vintages from last century; likely a sensible attempt to freshen up the palate. A third of the fruit hails from the Eden Valley, the rest from the Barossa. There is still some traditional coconut on the barely-developed nose; it seems very pointed and elegant after the preceding St Henri; violet and blueberries jostle for attention. The palate is more malty, with dark chocolate and surprisingly little overt oak. Medium/full in weight, there acidity is only around low/medium level; medium chalky tannins round out the palate. Medium/long finish but still very primary indeed.
• 2024 d'Arenberg The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Adelaide Hills
  {375ml, screwcap, 10%} [Andrew] A blend of sauvignon blanc and chardonnay this vintage. Already very dark and mature for something so young. Not a cellaring style. Coppery honey with a suggestion of caramel on the nose. The same on the palate, with luscious figs and quince as well. Fully sweet, with the acidity struggling to maintain freshness; it’s medium weight, syrupy, with a medium length finish. Decadence in a glass – and at such a low alcohol too. Get into it – it’s what they intended.

Got the drinking order right among these wines tonight, although it must be said the last two reds and the cheese plate did nothing for each other! The advent of screwcaps has certainly made a difference to wines on the whole; the cult-Simha aside, almost everything here was still very much on the upslope of development. Maybe our ‘ten-year’ nights need to move to twenty? Assuming we’re all still alive…

Excellent write-up Graeme, as usual. Also not surprised that the reds were just coming around. Good timing.