Category: Geekery

Tonight was the second part of a two-part tasting of Australian Shiraz with Geoff Kelly at Regional Wines & Spirits, the first being the 1996 library tasting (see previous post). This time we blind-tasted eleven new 2013-14 Australian Shiraz wines, including the Penfold Grange which is north of $850 per bottle, and with an Elephant Hill Hawke’s Bay 2013 Syrah thrown in to keep us honest.

Eleven new Australian 2013-14 Shiraz, with a NZ Syrah from Elephant Hill

This was about when my palate conked out, with the last three still to go.

Each wine was very well-built, young and purple, peppery and bold. Each wine had something to say, but unfortunately this time I exhausted my palate by the ninth, and couldn’t make head or tail of the last three. Shame, because although I liked them the Lloyd Reserve which I admired in the library tasting was hiding among them.

As we poured the blind wines into glasses, the colours of all the wines were good healthy young Syrah deep purple-red, although I could tell there would be something special about No. 6 and No. 9 just from the density of colour; No. 6 looked like you could stand a spoon up in it.

For me the remarkable wines were Nos. 3, 6, and 9.

No. 3 reminded me of a big, older-style blackcurrant jam Australian Shiraz, with lots of berry, ripe toffee and a long oaky finish. The minty, freshly-crushed basil leaf on the nose typical of South Australian Shiraz goes well; Geoff says if he likes it he calls it “mint”, or “eucalypt” otherwise. Someone else remarked this wine might be like Kylie crashing a Holden ute full of Foster’s into a blackberry patch. Enjoyable perhaps, but not especially subtle. No. 6 was the most beautifully dark rich purple-red, with an intoxicating, highly concentrated nose of mostly blackcurrant, but also warm florals and a whiff of rough-sawn timber. The wine itself was complex, initially spicy but with savoury meaty flavours and berries competing for space, with a longer finish. No. 9 for me was also a dense colour, with a peppery lavender on the nose and an interesting hint of baked dates or figs, not over-sweet but nicely integrated into the plum fruit flavours for a lingering complexity.

Once again we gathered some “wisdom of the crowd” data to see if as a group we could pick our wines, and this time we did a bit better; results are below.

The Penfolds Grange hiding at No. 6 was correctly identified by about half the group. I was overthinking things too much and was trying to re-taste the last three wines at this point, to find the rich, complex wine that would be a likely Grange candidate. I had assumed that, having never tasted it before, something as ludicrously expensive as the Grange might surely be less up in one’s grill with its big bold Aussie blackcurrants, so although No. 6 was beautifully dense and concentrated, I had assumed the Grange was busy being all sophisticated elsewhere. Once everyone’s hands shot up, however, it became clear the cat was out of the bag! The No. 9 I liked was the Elephant Hill 2014 Syrah Reserve, which surprised me, and the Lloyd Reserve from Coriole in McLaren Valley was hiding at No. 10, which was interesting to re-taste after The Grange. It has that torn basil leaf mint and lavender on the nose, with savory and plum, liquorice and a good long finish.

Coriole 2013 Lloyd Reserve Shiraz

Penfolds 2012 Grange Shiraz

Of futher note was No. 11, the Cape Mentelle 2013 Shiraz from Margaret River in Western Australia. This was a more delicate wine than the others, with interesting and complex boquet of jasmine, perhaps roses, with a good plum fruit body and a nice mild spiciness like a hint of Christmas cake, with a good long-ish finish. It was certainly different enough from the others that three of us thought it was the Hawke’s Bay Syrah.

Herewith the full list of wines:

1. 2015 Wirra Wirra Shiraz Catapult, McLaren Vale, South Australia
2. 2013 Domaine Chandon Shiraz, Yarra Valley, Victoria
3. 2014 Burge Shiraz Filsell,  Barossa Valley,  SA
4. 2014 Two Hands Shiraz Gnarly Dudes, Barossa Valley, SA
5. 2014 John Duval Shiraz Entity,  Barossa & Eden Valley,  SA
6. 2012 Penfolds Shiraz Grange, Barossa Valley, SA
7. 2012 Wirra Wirra Shiraz RSW,  McLaren Vale,  SA
8. 2012 Elderton Shiraz Command, Barossa Valley, SA
9. 2014 Elephant Hill Syrah Reserve,  Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
10. 2013 Coriole Shiraz Lloyd Reserve, McLaren Vale, SA
11. 2013 Cape Mentelle Shiraz, Margaret River, West Australia
12. 2013 Seppelt Shiraz St Peters, Grampians, Victoria

Tonight we went to one of Geoff Kelly‘s illuminating wine tastings, held as ever at Regional Wines & Spirits next to the Basin Reserve in Wellington. This was part one of a two part tasting – a library tasting of 20 year-old Australian Shiraz wines, with a 1996 Hermitage thrown in as a yardstick; Next month part two will be a tasting of eleven new vintage Australian Shiraz with a good Hawke’s Bay Syrah to compare. Tonight was a blind tasting, in order to gather some interesting data from participants before revealing which wines were which.

Eleven 1996 Australian shiraz wines, plus a 1996 Hermitage for a yardstick

Twelve blind shiraz wines, 20 years old

It really is quite intimidating to try twelve magnificent 20 year-old red wines, and try to remain objective about comparing their colour and weight, nose (aroma), taste, complexity, and so on. As humans we’re notoriously bad at taste and smell compared to our other senses, so even just trying to identify the different flavours is a constant challenge. They are sometimes elusive or fleeting; there at the start, but then gone with the vapours a few minutes later. Sometimes they are maddeningly familiar, but the right word, recollection or label for it is just out of reach. Geoff, a true national treasure, runs a good show; reminding us not to speak too much aloud and cloud each others’ judgements, but dropping a few helpful hints and starting points to look for in aged reds, and Australian Syrah in particular, drawing on his 40 years of wine cellaring, judging, and writing.

Most of them were just as you’d imagine beautiful aged 20 year-old Syrah to be: plum or berry dominant, interesting florals, smooth, and tannins tamed by oak and time. That is, apart from No. 5 which to my nose was of fresh cowpat and sweaty horse. No. 7 to me had an unpleasant butyric bile odour, but it had weird almost salty savoury taste, like Parmigiano. My favourites were No. 3 for its sheer number and complexity of different and intriguing flavours, and its beautiful long velvety finish, and No. 8, which was a standout for me. It was the most purple-red of the set like it was only three years old, while all the others had aged to a fairly uniform red-ruby, near garnet colour. It had a bold nose of cognac, almond and cherry, with a slight floral element of jasmine and violets. Strong dark plum fruit but with a savoury hint of truffle, and its long-lingering tannins, whilst softened with the oak, were still unwinding even after all this time, and could probably go for another ten years.

1995 Coriole Shiraz Lloyd Reserve

1996 d’Arenberg Shiraz Dead-Arm

1996 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle

Before revealing the wines, Geoff asked us to rate a first and second favourite, a least favourite, and which we thought was the French wine hiding in the glasses. This data set is tabulated below.

Blind rating totals from the Australian Syrah 1996 library tasting.

No. 5 was the 1996 Cape Mentelle from Margaret River, Western Australia, which might have had either a dose of brett or it was corked. No. 3 was the 1996 d’Arenberg Dead Arm from McLaren Vale, South Australia, and No. 8, my favourite, was the 1995 Coriole Lloyd Reserve, also from McLaren Vale. The No. 7 was the ludicrously expensive Hermitage (AOC Syrah from Rhône, France), the Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle; Jancis Robinson writes about this wine, here. Luckily for me, Regional Wines had a couple of the 2011 Lloyd Reserves in stock!

The full list of wines are detailed on Geoff’s library tasting page, and reproduced here:

1. 1996 Seppelt Shiraz Mount Ida, Heathcote, Victoria
2. 1996 Barossa Valley Estates E&E Shiraz Black Pepper, Barossa Valley
3. 1996 d’Arenberg Shiraz Dead-Arm, McLaren Vale, South Australia
4. 1996 Jim Barry Shiraz McRae Wood, Clare Valley, SA
5. 1996 Cape Mentelle Shiraz, Margaret River, West Australia
6. 1996 Burge Shiraz Meschach, Barossa Valley, SA
7. 1996 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle, Northern Rhone Valley, France
8. 1995 Coriole Shiraz Lloyd’s Reserve, McLaren Vale, SA
9. 1996 Bannockburn Shiraz, Geelong, Victoria
10. 1997 Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz Langi, Grampians, Victoria
11. 1996 Henschke Shiraz Mount Edelstone, Eden Valley, SA
12. 1996 McWilliams Shiraz Maurice O’Shea, Hunter Valley, NSW