Australia vs. France Shiraz

Australia narrowly lost the soccer match, but it narrowly won this Shiraz comparison. Here are the wines by country and order of score:

2016 Giaconda Warner Shiraz: ripe plum fruit, not caked, depth and elegance, balanced, dry finish (95 pts)

2016 Bests Bin O Shiraz: lush, pretty and elegant, mixed berry fruit, some spice, medium weight (93 pts)

2015 Yeringberg Shiraz: blueberry and cherry, elegant and balanced, great structure, the lifted Viognier character detracts from the beautiful Shiraz fruit (93 pts)

2016 SC Pannell Adelaide Hills Syrah: superbly pretty blue fruits, soft, vibrant (92 pts)

2014 Craiglee Shiraz: blue fruit, some eucalypt, licorice, quite fruity, smooth finish (91 pts)

The French wines were from the Northern Rhone at more or less the same price points.

2015 Ogier Cote Rotie Village: dark fruit, licorice, energetic, good balance, firm finish (94 pts)

2015 Yann Chave Crozes Hermitage La Rouvre: well rounded, pretty, a bit fruity, straightforward finish (92 pts)

2015 Ogier La Rosine Syrah: balanced blackberry fruit and olive and smoky savoury notes, firm tannins (92 pts)

2015 Pierre Gaillard St Joseph: quite big, blue fruited, very spicy, very Victorian (91 pts)

2016 Maxime Graillot Domaine Des Lises Crozes Hermitage: good fruit and energy, but quite slim with a flat mouthfeel, smooth finish (90 pts)

There was as much difference between the Australian Shirazes as between the Australian and French wines.

    

Mount Langi Billi Billi Shiraz

The well-known Mount Langi winery produces a number of well priced Shiraz which can offer astonishing quality. One such wine is the 2012 Mount Langi Billi Billi Shiraz. The colour is a fairly dense purple. Black and red pepper, as well as berry fruit feature on the strong nose.

The first thing that comes to mind on the palate is complexity. Black and red berries, spice and earthy flavours battle for your attention. The next thing is harmony. This full-bodied wine is in fine balance. The fruit does not have the intensity of the premium wine, but oak is applied sensibly and the fine grained tannin profile rounds out this wine. On the finish, the signature note of Mount Langi takes over: black pepper!

This is an interesting and attractive wine, which can be drunk now or cellared for five years.

Score: 92/+++

Tasting Top Wines Of 2014, Part 2

The remaining five wines in this tasting were Shiraz or Shiraz based from Victoria and South Australia, as you would expect.

2013 Best's Bin 1 Shiraz: this is the little brother of Bin 0. It has experienced a significant lift in quality in recent years. The 2013 has a bright colour. Pretty berry flavours dominate, overlaid with peppery notes. This is a medium-bodied wine, well made, but a little simple (90 points).

2012 Seppelt St. Peters Shiraz: This wine impressed everybody. It has a lively palate, the blackberry flavours are delicious. The fruit is concentrated, yet the wine is elegant at the same time. This full-bodied wine  has excellent texture and finishes with silky tannins (95 points).

2013 SC Pannell Adelaide Hills Syrah: this is the Jimmy Watson Trophy winner which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago. My view has not changed in this line-up. This is a vibrant wine with pretty blackberry fruit and good balance. It includes 2% Viognier.  I don't find this wine particularly interesting and the tasters did not have it in their top 4 wines from this tasting (92 points).

2013 Ruggabellus Archaeus: this is the Shiraz dominated wine from Abel Gibson's three premium blends. This is a darker wine, with plum and blackberry flavours. 22% whole bunches deliver a savoury palate with earthy flavours. The wine has good length and the oak is well balanced. In a way, the relationship between the SC Pannell and this wine is the same, as the one between the Coldstream Hills and the By Farr on the Pinot Noir front (94 points).

2012 Henschke Mt. Edelstone: is this the best Mt. Edelstone ever made in 60 years? It would be a candidate. The wine has a deep, crimson red, but not saturated colour. The fruit flavours are complex and intense: plum, blackberry and raspberry interplay. Dried herbs and cedar complete the picture. This medium bodied wine is elegant, and its silky tannins lead to a long finish (97 points).

The top rated wines, adding up the tasters votes, were the Seppelt St. Peters and the Mt Edelstone, strongly ahead of the 'whole bunched' Ruggabellus and By Farr. The pretty, fruit orientated wines, and the white wines hardly got a top 2 vote.

Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz

I am always worried if I got the spelling right when I write about this wine. When Mount Langi is good, it is very good, but the vintages are varied in this cooler climate location. This is my first look at the 2005 vintage, but I am not worried, as the wine is screw capped.

The 2005 Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz is a brooding wine. The fruit flavours are of blackberry and black cherry, a very dark feel. But the fruit is in no way overripe. The wine is aromatic and fresh for a wine of nine years. There is white pepper on the palate and enticing tannins. The wine lacks complexity a little bit and does not quite achieve the mouthfeel of a warm climate Shiraz. This comes down to personal preference. The length in this wine is satisfying.

Score: 93/+++

Australia's Iconic Reds Tasting

Last night I was a lucky man. These were the wines I tasted (in alphabetical order)

2012 Best's Bin 0 Shiraz
2010 Elderton Ashmead Cabernet
2010 Elderton Command Shiraz
2010 Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz
2010 Langmeil Orphan Bank Shiraz
2009 Penfolds Grange Shiraz
2010 Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz
2012 Spinifex Bete Noir
2012 Spinifex La Mouline
2010 St. Hallets Old Block Shiraz
2009 Torbreck Descendant
2009 Torbreck Les Amis Grenache
2009 Torbreck RunRig Shiraz
2011 Tyrell's Vat 9 HV Shiraz
2013 Ulithorne Dona GSM
2012 Ulithorne Chi Grenache Shiraz
2011 Ulithorne Paternus Cabernet Shiraz
2011 Ulithorne Frux Frugis Shiraz
2012 Wynns V & A Cabernet Shiraz
2010 Wynns Alex 88 Shiraz

Western Australia was absent, and much of Victoria, but the tasting provided a good overview of the state of play of the major red varieties in Australia nonetheless. The wines were of excellent standard across the board. I will not focus on point scoring, but rather discuss my findings.

Ulithorne was a revelation to me. I was not familiar with this small winery from McLaren Vale, but mightily impressed with all their wines: great purity of fruit, precise winemaking and true varietal expression. Their Cabernet, with silky tannins and good ripeness was the wine of the night for me. The Grenache was dark fruited and elegant. No confectionery flavours there.

Henschke's Mount Edelstone was very complex and impressed me with exotic spice flavours, its smoothness and great balance.

Clearly, a number of Barossa makers have toned down alcohol and ripeness, with mixed success: Peter Lehmann's Stonewell Shiraz and St. Hallets Old Block were examples. I like the vibrancy and freshness of the Spinifex wines, but would I go for their wines if I wanted the 'Aussie Shiraz' feel? Some producers stick to their formula of  quite ripe wines, such as Elderton and Langmeil. The 2010 vintage helped with balance.

The Bests and Tyrell's examples were less full bodied, with some red fruit flavours coming through. I enjoyed the silky tannins and  balanced acidity in the Wynns V & A Cabernet Shiraz.

Now to the extremes: The 2009 Grange was the most heavily oaked wine of the night. No doubt it will come around over time, but the fruit is not of the quality of a number of years of the recent past. This is astonishing, given the strong vintage.

Robert Parker once described Torbreck wines built like skyscrapers - big in all dimensions. This has not changed. I found the floral impact of the Viognier in the Descendant as well as the alcoholic finish too strong. However, the Les Amis and the RunRig were impressive in their own way. The Les Amis was super smooth on the palate, despite the ripe black cherry fruit. And similarly, the RunRig was smooth, quite approachable with fantastic fruit intensity.

This was a great tasting, showcasing improved winemaking and different styles. Based on this, Australian wine should be able to refresh its image overseas sooner rather than later.  

Mount Langi Ghiran

On the way back to Melbourne, it made sense to stop at Mount Langi Ghiran. I tasted their two best known red wines.

The flagship 2010 Mount Langi Shiraz is a disappointment to me. The peppery notes, not too overt, are attractive, but the red fruit in this medium bodied wine lacks the intensity of the better years. The wine is harmonious and balanced, but the finish falls a little flat.

Score: 91/0

In contrast, the 2010 Mount Langi Cliff Edge Shiraz, at a third of the price, delivers. This wine, from younger, but no longer young wines, is vibrant and full-bodied. It may be a little sweet for some, and it is not as piercing on the palate as a top Shiraz, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable, modern Shiraz.

Score: 92/++

Interestingly, I was told that the winery is likely to introduce a new wine at a price point between those two. This is not surprising, given the large gap, and the fact that the Cliff Edge always over delivers for the price. So what will happen is that the better grapes, which would normally go into the Cliff Edge, will go into a new wine. Let us watch out what this will do to the quality of the Cliff Edge.