Two Exceptional Wines

 In a recent tasting of benchmark wines I came across two wines which I thought were exceptional. The first wine was a 2009 Lucien Le Moine Clos de la Roche Grand Cru.

Clos de la Roche is one of the best terroirs in Morey-St-Denis. Lucien Le Moine is a high quality negociant house who picks one hundred barrels or so from each vintage. There is no winemaking here. They are bought after fermentation. 2009 was a warm and highly regarded vintage.

In Burgundy, the view is that Grand Cru wines need to fire on three cylinders; fruit, tannins, and acidity. And this is what this wine does, almost. This is a concentrated, yet elegant wine with strong aromatics of rose petals and red cherry. There are interesting secondary flavours here, bacon stands out for me. The fruit has started its downhill run, but only just. The wine is quite tannic, like a Gevrey-Chambertin. So: fruit 9, tannins 10, acidity 7. The finish is long.

Score: 96/+++ 

The second wine was a 2016 Podere S. Giuseppe Brunello di Montalcino Stella di Campalto

The grapes come from a 25 year old vineyard, organically/biodynamically farmed. The combination of Stella di Campalto's uncompromising farm management and the Podere San Giuseppe winery make this one of the standout Brunello producers.

The wine is red and black fruited, black olive and some herbal notes. It is still quite youthful. The wine is incredibly elegant, while underneath its flavours sits restrained power. It is so harmonious. The tannins are very firm. The wine is 100% Sangiovese, but in the tasting a number of us thought this wine to be Nebbiolo. 

The best Sangiovese I have ever had.

Score: 97/+++

These two wines are expensive. Are they worth two or three Mt. Edelstones? I think so.

The Penfolds Collection 2025

 It is this time of year again, when Penfolds releases its new set of wines. And I am very annoyed. The stable of Penfolds related wine critics have given these wines massive scores. 97 points for the 2022 FWT 543 Cabernet Syrah? Really? Only three points less than for a Mouton or Petrus in their best years? This is ridiculous and makes a mockery of a points based review system in Australia. Below, I will be more realistic.

Above is a list of the wines I tasted. Unfortunately, there were many entry level wines among them. The two white wines were both disappointing. They were quite broad and lacked precision.

I quite enjoyed the 2024 Bin 23 Pinot Noir. It was quite perfumed with smooth tannins (90 points). The 2024 Bin 23 Grenache was less enjoyable. While is was clean and fresh, its bubblegum flavours spoilt the experience (88 points). Then came the above quoted 2022 FWT 543 Cabernet Syrah, a blend from Bordeaux and Langedoc. This wine is quite austere, with a blend of blackcurrant and savoury flavours. It is not very intense, but will improve with time (92 points).

Then came three higher level wines from the 2023 vintage. They were the main disappointment. Clearly, Penfolds was struggling with this vintage, in particular the Cabernet fruit. The Bin 28 Shiraz was quite balanced, but did not have a lot of character (92 points). The Bin 389 had more depth, but was lighter than usual, and the Cabernet component unusually dormant (93 points). The Bin 407 was also quite light, but showed some elegance in return (92 points).

Then came the highlight, the 2021 Penfolds Grange. And yes, it was a highlight. This wine pointed to the future of Grange. It was profound in the Grange style, but also approachable. Blackberry fruit dominated the palate at this point, but a lot of other flavour components will reveal themselves. It is still big and concentrated, built like a skyscraper as Robert Parker once famously said, but it has a freshness and drinkability, which is remarkable.

Score: 98/+++ (can go higher with time as more layers of fruit reveal themselves.) 

I Got Fooled

 A few days ago, I went to a fine dining restaurant in Bangkok. I chose matching wines, because I was interested to see what this restaurant would come up with. I tasted the wines blind. There were the unsurprising Champagne, Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, and then a really surprising fresh red wine. I was not sure, a Gamay or a Burgundy?

The Som said it was a Shiraz. No! Impossible. Then the wine was revealed. It was a 2020 Chaminé Red by Cortes de Cima. I enjoyed the liveliness of this wine, its freshness and texture. The wine is actually a blend of a number of varieties, typical for Portugal, with Shiraz and Aragonêz being the major varieties. It includes also Touriga Nacional and Alicante Bouschet. No wonder it was hard to identify.

And the clincher: this wine is about €12-13. The wine is not available in Australia.

Penfolds RWT Shiraz

 

The 2006 Penfolds RWT Shiraz has an intensity only Penfolds seems to be able to deliver. This is a classic wine with characteristic blackberry fruit and jam paste, licorice, black olive and dark chocolate. There is a hint of black pepper, and the oak is well integrated.

This is a wonderous wine. It is still fresh after 19 years, it is incredibly balanced on the palate with its firm tannins and the lingering finish.

This wine still has a long life ahead, maybe another 20 years. This RWT is world class.

Score: 98/+++

Taste Champagne 2025

 The production of Champagne is relatively complex, but I find its evaluation quite simple. The things that matter are

1) The grape composition. A 100% Chardonnay Champagne tends to show citrus taste, and is often quite acidic. I prefer Champagne where the majority is Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier based, as these have greater complexity, including toasty flavours.

2) The percentage of 1er cru fruit. This is self explanatory.

3) The mousse and fineness of the bubbles. Fine bubbles is good, but there can be too much mousse.

4) Age. More complexity with age.

The sugar content. This tends to be low in all good and mainstream Champagne. 

Mr. Champagne, Tyson Stelzer, obviously happy with the crowd

Based on what I said before, it is no surprise that Bollinger is a favourite of mine, as all Champagnes are Pinot Noir dominant, and the fruit is 100% 1er cru. La Grande Année 2015, is based on 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. This Champagne has great depth and length, is very fine, with a brioche influenced taste (97 points). The 100% Pinot Noir PN VZ19 is equally impressive, but of younger fruit (96 points). And the Special Cuvée NV is still the benchmark for entry level Champagne (94 points).

I am also a fan of Pol Roger. The Brut Vintage 2018 is the same blend as the Grande Année. It has a lot of mousse and is quite fresh (93 points).  

Two very special Champagnes were the Louis Roederer Vintage Brut 2016, a 100% Pinot Noir Champagne with good complexity and a long finish (96 points). It also represents reasonable value for this quality. Much higher priced is the Rare Champagne 2013, the special Piper-Heidsieck project. This is 70% based on Chardonnay and has an interesting yellow peach flavour, showing the age (95 points).

The Charles Heidsieck Champagnes, the Brut Reserve and the Brut Millésime 2013, both Pinot Noir dominant, were good, quite acidic, with fine bubbles (93 points).  

I found Veuve Fourny & Fils and the Deutz Champagnes less appealing.

  

Neldner Road Loechel Shiraz

 A leopard does not change his spots, nor does David Powell change his winemaking style. The 2019 Neldner Road Loechel Shiraz is from Eden Valley, yet this is a concentrated and ripe wine, which you would pick to be from the Barossa Valley in a blind tasting.

The wine is quite dense, with blackberry and charred meat flavours. However, there is obvious black pepper on the palate, as an indication of cooler climate. The tannins are firm, blocky, and dry. I found the long finish a little harsh.

This is a bold wine, not elegant. The first glass impresses by the intensity of the wine, but it is hard to enjoy a second glass.

Score: 92/0 

Savaterre Frère Cadet Chardonnay

 The 2023 Savaterre Frère Cadet Chardonnay is the second label of Savaterre, but it is not an entry level wine like, for example, the Prelude of Leeuwin Estate. Nor is the price suggesting so.

The fruit comes from a vineyard close to the home block. The wine has a golden colour, with stone fruit aromas.

On the palate, there is white peach, apricots, marzipan, and hazelnut flavours. The wine has good depth of flavour and is very elegant. The oak integration is excellent. The acidity is mild, but enough to drive the wine down the palate.

This is an excellent modern Chardonnay with enough complexity to keep it interesting.

Score: 95/+++

Spinifex Moppa Shiraz

 The 2021 Spinifex Moppa Shiraz drinks like the little brother of the La Maline Shiraz/Viognier, which I reviewed some time ago. La Maline is an Eden Valley wine at higher altitude, whereas the Moppa Shiraz is from the Barossa Valley, but from the higher altitude of Moppa, as opposed to the valley.

The colour is deep purple. On the nose, ripe dark fruit flavours emerge from the glass.

On the palate, concentrated blackberry fruit is engulfed in strong black pepper flavours. At the same time, there is firm acidity on the palate delivering a nice counterpoint to the concentrated fruit. Some secondary flavours are developing, like black olive and leather. Overall, the wine delivers an attractive mouthfeel, without being overly complex. The tannins are firm, and the finish medium plus.

Coming back to the comparison with the 2021 La Maline, everything is similar, but not dialed up as high. This is a perfect wine for our cold winter days.

Score: 93/++  

Place of Changing Winds Syrah

 Robert Walters' passion is Pinot Noir. But his side kick Shiraz project in Heathcote should not be overlooked. I reviewed the 2020 Place of Changing Winds Syrah positively two years ago, and even found an improvement this time round.

The intellectual label is a bit difficult to decipher

The soil is mentioned on the left, the location on the right

This is a medium-bodied wine, unlike many from Heathcote. Purity and freshness strikes you on the palate. Red and black cherry are the fruit flavours, black olive, licorice, and a hint of black pepper deliver the savoury component, blending very nicely to a surprisingly intense mouthfeel. The tannins are medium, very dry and chalky. Every component has to come together very well. The wine has a long and lingering finish.

This wine is a very good example of a modern rendition of a medium-bodied Shiraz. It is quite complex and serious, but also delicious to drink, and good value. I liked this a lot.

Score: 95/+++

Spinifex Dominion Shiraz

 For most of us, it is not always possible to taste a wine before you buy it. You then often relate to the taste profile of a producer in general. In the case of Spinifex this would be fresh, and as Peter Schell would say, delicious. So the following is what I got when I opened a 2019 Spinifex Dominion Shiraz.

The colour of the wine is deep purple. I got dark fruit flavours on the nose, and this translated to the palate. This is a big and concentrated wine with blood plum and mulberry flavours. The wine delivers an intense mouthfeel. It is ripe, but not overripe, but not refreshing either. Dark chocolate and leathery notes reveal themselves mid-palate. Tannins are not very strong, and the finish is medium.

This wine comes from a Vine Vale vineyard with vines over 100 years old. It is the second Spinifex vineyard purchase after Rostein, and 2019 is the first vintage. I assume the soil is sandy, given the flavour profile and the purity of the fruit. The wine caught me with surprise being from Spinifex, but it is a good example of Barossa Valley Shiraz.

Score: 94/++

Penfolds The Max Schubert Cabernet Shiraz

 Penfolds is essentially positioned as a premium wine brand. Lately, however, a number of one-off products were released where the pricing no longer relates to the cost or value of the product, but rather to a recognition and admiration for the Penfolds name. It positions these prestige products similar to brands like Rolex, Hermès or Birkin. The wine I am reviewing here is a single product wine, but it was created before the prestige strategy was introduced. The 2012 Penfolds The Max Schubert Cabernet Shiraz is of course a premium wine. It was created to mark the centenary of Max Schubert's birth. The wine is inspired by the famous 1962 Penfolds Bin 60A in that it is also a blend of premium Coonawarra Cabernet fruit and Barossa Shiraz fruit. In this case, the ratio is 61% to 39%.

It turns out, this is a remarkable wine. It is rich and concentrated. It also shows why a Cabernet/Shiraz blend is such a good idea. The red fruited Cabernet provides the drive, the Shiraz fruit fills the mouth. The palate is complex and layered. Redcurrant and mulberry unfolds first, followed by velvety blackberry fruit and finally a dose of mocca. The wine is in perfect balance, as the 100% new American oak is well integrated. (This can be a challenge and requires first class ripe, but not overripe fruit.)  The wine has a persistent and clean finish which goes on and on.

At 13 years old, this is a perfect time to drink this wine. The structure is strong, the fruit is still vibrant, and the tannins have started to soften. One of my favorite wines this year so far.

Score: 98/+++

Eisenstone Ebenezer Shiraz

 When I visited Stephen Cook, the winemaker of the relatively new winery Eisenstone in the Barossa, I think it was in 2017 or 2018, my book 'Barossa Shiraz' featured on the tasting table. He explained that his focus to showcase the different subregions of the Barossa was heavily influenced by my book. Since then, his winery has gone from strength to strength. Yesterday, I revisited the 2019 Eisenstone Ebenezer Shiraz, which I bought on this visit.

Given the location, I expect a fairly rich wine infused with chocolate flavours. And yes, this is what I got. Black plum and blackberry fruit flavours are concentrated. Sweet mocca flavours deliver a rich mouthfeel. Ironstone and charred meat flavours add to the complexity. The additional years in bottle deliver a well rounded wine. The fruit comes from the famous Hoffmann vineyard, some from 1965 fruit, some from young vines. The wine is full-bodied, and with a surprising lift on the finish.

This wine, as I think the general positioning of Eisenstone wines, sits in the middle between the ripe wines of, say Torbreck or Standish, and the new wave of winemakers who pick early, and sometimes a little green. As such, it takes full advantage of the uniqueness, the Barossa climate can deliver in Shiraz,

without going to extremes. One can drink more than one glass of this wine, but it is also totally safe to cellar this wine for many more years. 

Score: 95/+++