Melb East Offline - tasting blind
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:53 am
The Melbourne East Offline crew opted for a double blind evening for a change, at Samsara restaurant (great food as usual).
All wines after the two preliminary whites, were poured into decanters by the restaurant, and no one knew what the wines were apart from their own and which wine was whichÂ…ah, still with me ? The identity of all of the wines was revealed after the final wine was tasted.
Preliminary wine 1
1996 Paul Blanck Schlossberg Riesling
A Grand Cru from Alsace. Light golden in colour, it had an intense nose of honey with a touch of chalkiness as well. Extremely rich on the palate, with honey predominant and other flavours of citrus and white peach. The full-bodied fruit weight carried right through to the end of the long, dry finish. Very good wine.
Preliminary wine 2
1997 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay
Palish lemon in colour. Very varietal and lots of work appears to have gone into the making– malo, peach, good French oak. Quite powerful, but maybe a touch hard on the finish and a bit dear for what it is – a nice wine but not a great wine.
Blind wine number 1
Deep red, bricking at the edges. Showing mint, liquorice and quite rich blackberry fruit. Full bodied but soft. Definitely Australian, I am going against the rest of the crew and saying Shiraz.
It was 1991 Hollick Ravenswood CabernetÂ…Â…darn, should have paid more attention to the mintÂ…Â….This was favourite red overall.
Blind wine number 2
Medium red, some browning starting. Aromatic powdery, cassis/olive nose, cedar and blackcurrant fruit to taste with a nice long tannin finish. Think this is a Margaret River Cabernet of the mid eighties given the development of colour.
Turns out to be the 1993 Leconfield Cabernet. This is a real surprise, having found this vintage quite leafy when I last had it. Much, much better tonight.
Blind wine number 3
Corked – would have to be potentially the best red – 1979 Leoville Las Cases.
Blind wine number 4
Brick red. Subdued nose – I got some powdery spice when I really swirled it. Liquorice and some ripe blackberry spectrum fruit to taste – probably Barossa, but seems to lack complexity.
Another surprise for me, having had a much more expressive and open bottle previously – 1988 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz. Marginally disappointing for me on this occasion.
Blind wine number 5
Meaty, smoky fruit, again with liquorice. Rich and alcoholic – some heat on the finish. Possibly Barossa again.
It was the 1988 Henschke Mt Edelstone
Blind wine number 6
Deep red. Aggressive nose – some alcoholic heat, herbs and lots of oak and extraction. The wine has too much oak for the fruit. I’m thinking maybe that Wynns Michael or Riddoch style when they were over-oaking – hard to pick if Cabernet or Shiraz.
It turns out to be the 1978 Cape Mentelle Cabernet. Not surprising in retrospect – I don’t think they got the balance generally right until the mid eighties.
Blind wine number 7
Deep colour. Still quite primary and undeveloped. Good Cabernet style fruit hiding behind a solid amount of oak. Needs time. 1998 Coonawarra ?
Turns out to be the 1994 Zema Estate Family Selection Cabernet – these seem to be slow developers and built for the long haul.
Blind wine number 8
1981 Tahbilk Reserve Cabernet
This replaced the corked wine at the end of the night and by then I was taking even worse notes than usual – I remember a very long cedary palate – in other words, the fruit is now secondary to the structure, in the way a very mature Bordeaux becomes.
Finisher
1988 Wolf Blass Spatlese Riesling
Now on auto pilot and pre-occupied with ordering coffee. No notes and little memory of this wine. Oh well, I think the coffee was goodÂ…Â…
regards
Chris
All wines after the two preliminary whites, were poured into decanters by the restaurant, and no one knew what the wines were apart from their own and which wine was whichÂ…ah, still with me ? The identity of all of the wines was revealed after the final wine was tasted.
Preliminary wine 1
1996 Paul Blanck Schlossberg Riesling
A Grand Cru from Alsace. Light golden in colour, it had an intense nose of honey with a touch of chalkiness as well. Extremely rich on the palate, with honey predominant and other flavours of citrus and white peach. The full-bodied fruit weight carried right through to the end of the long, dry finish. Very good wine.
Preliminary wine 2
1997 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay
Palish lemon in colour. Very varietal and lots of work appears to have gone into the making– malo, peach, good French oak. Quite powerful, but maybe a touch hard on the finish and a bit dear for what it is – a nice wine but not a great wine.
Blind wine number 1
Deep red, bricking at the edges. Showing mint, liquorice and quite rich blackberry fruit. Full bodied but soft. Definitely Australian, I am going against the rest of the crew and saying Shiraz.
It was 1991 Hollick Ravenswood CabernetÂ…Â…darn, should have paid more attention to the mintÂ…Â….This was favourite red overall.
Blind wine number 2
Medium red, some browning starting. Aromatic powdery, cassis/olive nose, cedar and blackcurrant fruit to taste with a nice long tannin finish. Think this is a Margaret River Cabernet of the mid eighties given the development of colour.
Turns out to be the 1993 Leconfield Cabernet. This is a real surprise, having found this vintage quite leafy when I last had it. Much, much better tonight.
Blind wine number 3
Corked – would have to be potentially the best red – 1979 Leoville Las Cases.
Blind wine number 4
Brick red. Subdued nose – I got some powdery spice when I really swirled it. Liquorice and some ripe blackberry spectrum fruit to taste – probably Barossa, but seems to lack complexity.
Another surprise for me, having had a much more expressive and open bottle previously – 1988 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz. Marginally disappointing for me on this occasion.
Blind wine number 5
Meaty, smoky fruit, again with liquorice. Rich and alcoholic – some heat on the finish. Possibly Barossa again.
It was the 1988 Henschke Mt Edelstone
Blind wine number 6
Deep red. Aggressive nose – some alcoholic heat, herbs and lots of oak and extraction. The wine has too much oak for the fruit. I’m thinking maybe that Wynns Michael or Riddoch style when they were over-oaking – hard to pick if Cabernet or Shiraz.
It turns out to be the 1978 Cape Mentelle Cabernet. Not surprising in retrospect – I don’t think they got the balance generally right until the mid eighties.
Blind wine number 7
Deep colour. Still quite primary and undeveloped. Good Cabernet style fruit hiding behind a solid amount of oak. Needs time. 1998 Coonawarra ?
Turns out to be the 1994 Zema Estate Family Selection Cabernet – these seem to be slow developers and built for the long haul.
Blind wine number 8
1981 Tahbilk Reserve Cabernet
This replaced the corked wine at the end of the night and by then I was taking even worse notes than usual – I remember a very long cedary palate – in other words, the fruit is now secondary to the structure, in the way a very mature Bordeaux becomes.
Finisher
1988 Wolf Blass Spatlese Riesling
Now on auto pilot and pre-occupied with ordering coffee. No notes and little memory of this wine. Oh well, I think the coffee was goodÂ…Â…
regards
Chris