Jasper Hill Georgia's Paddock

Having had so much pleasure with the last two 1998 wines, I reach for another, the 1998 Jasper Hill Georgia's Paddock. This single vineyard wine is usually very strong on fruit in comparison with Emily's Paddock, which shows more secondary, in particular leathery characters.

Elas! This wine is a shocker. It has very dark colour and starts off well enough with plum and blackberry flavours. It has some coffee, too. But all of this is overtaken by a very unpleasant earthy flavour, which dominates the finish and makes me shudder. The bottle is slightly corked as well. Apart from that, the wine shows a lot of alcohol and overripe fruit.

I need to try another bottle in a few days, when I have recovered from this, to have some comparison.

P.S.: I have now opened another bottle and this is much better. The colour of the wine is a brighter red, as I am used to seeing with this label, and the wine shows much better balance between fruit, oak and tannins. Still, the mouthfeel is linear and the finish is somewhat harsh. This wine certainly does not reach the highs of the Katnook or Yarra Yering.