Dalwhinnie Shiraz

Some highly acclaimed wineries fall from grace. It is hard to understand exactly why and why it is not reversible. For example, in the 1980s, Virgin Hills was highly regarded for its Bordeaux blend. It went downhill from there. The wine became thin and green and could not stand up to the new wave of Australian Shirazes.

I have the feeling Dalwhinnie is joining this unfortunate group of wineries, although for entirely different reasons. The other day, I opened a bottle of the 2004 Dalwhinnie Shiraz, supposedly one of their great years in the last 10 years. This is a full bodied wine, more so than you would expect from Victoria. Flavours are of blackberry and mulberry, but most noticeable is the ripeness of the fruit, which was on the wrong side of being satisfying. This unpleasant mouthfeel was not helped by a fairly harsh finish. The Dalwhinnie Shiraz was famous for its silky tannins, but this wine had no subtleness to it whatsoever.

I previously reported on some younger wines, which were equally disappointing. I am afraid this winery has lost its way. Trying to be a big Barossa?

Score: 86/--

The All-Australian Shiraz

Tonight I am going to report on a unique Australian wine. In 1998, 90% of Bannockburn's Shiraz grapes got wiped out by hail. Close to 40 wineries offered help. The resulting wine included grapes from most corners of Australia: Margaret River (Cape Mentelle), Barossa and Eden Valley (Rockford, Yalumba, St. Halletts, Charlie Melton), McLaren Vale (BRL Hardy, Paxton), Clare Valley (Pikes), Coonawarra (Katnook), Heathcote (Jasper Hill), cool climate Victoria (Dalwhinnie, Mt. Langhi, Taltarni). This is like making a wine in Europe with grapes from Portugal via France and Italy to Greece.

The final wine, the 1998 Bannockburn Shiraz is astonishing. You would never guess that it is made from grapes from all over the country. This is a seamless wine, which ages very gracefully (I was drinking a Magnum). The palate is very complex. Blackberry and plum flavours are matched with mocca and smokey flavours. The wine has more intensity than a cool climate wine, but it is not a 'Big or overripe Barossa'. Heads up to the winemaking here (Gary Farr), who created such a harmonious wine from such diverse sources. The wine has mellowed beautifully. It reminds me of a top Northern Rhone wine. The wine still has great form and has velvety tannins on the back palate. This is not only a great wine, but also an excellent example of the camaraderie of the Australian wine industry. Would this be still possible today?

Score: 97/+++

  

Delatite Deadman's Hill Gewurztraminer

One of the conundrums in the food and wine world is that Thai food is very popular, yet the grape which best matches this food, Gewurztraminer, is definitely not. This is a shame, because more and more producers are abandoning this variety. On the other hand, it opens up great bargains.

One such bargain is the 2013 Delatite Deadman's Hill Gewurztraminer. This brand, which has been produced for a long time, is not just a price, but also a quality bargain. The lychee flavours are fine, not overly dominant, but blend in with spicy food nicely. There is no sweetness in this wine, as in some traminers. The wine is fresh and quite linear, and finishes with light acidity.

Drink young. Highly recommended.

Score: 93/+++

Tahbilk Marsanne

You are looking for a light wine to drink in summer. Are you tired of grassy and sweet New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, or slightly fruity Riesling? What about the poor fruit in unoaked Chardonnay? Or too much oak in oaked Chardonnay? Okay, I am not describing a premium scenario here, but a $20/bottle often has these problems.

Why not try something different? Tahbilk has a long tradition with Marsanne and quality aged vines. The 2014 Tahbilk Marsanne is an attractive proposition. This wine is crisp and has a focus on texture, rather than fruit, with an underlying minerality showing on the palate. This profile is perfect for supporting food, such as salads or fish.

This Marsanne is well made and could be cellared, but I recommend to drink it while fresh and zesty.

Score: 88/++

Dalwhinnie Shiraz

Dalwhinnie Shiraz is one of the few wines I buy every vintage of. I drink them at about eight years of age, when primary and secondary characteristics blend together. Yesterday I opened the 2005 Dalwhinnie Shiraz. I was slightly worried because of the drought conditions in that year.

And sure, some of the typical characteristics were there: the blackberry and mulberry flavours and the silky tannins. This is the impact of the special terroir. But the drought is very noticable as well. The fruit is very ripe and tastes somewhat dead rather than fresh and vibrant. The wine is not totally balanced. The earthy and meaty flavours include some sharpness. I still think this is a good wine, but not a great one.

Score: 91/0

Superstar Shiraz Tasting

The most reputable wines are generally not entered into wine shows. It is therefore not often that one finds an opportunity to compare the best wines of a kind in a tasting. This post reports from such a tasting. It compared leading current release Shiraz wines from the different Australian regions plus the Rhone. The wines were

- Auguste Clape Cornas 2008
- Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2010
-Giaconda Estate Shiraz 2010
-Bests Thompson Family Shiraz 2010
-Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz 2009
-Wolf Blass Platinum Shiraz 2008
-Gaelic Cemetery Vineyard Shiraz 2008
-Henschke Hill of Grace 2006
-Penfolds Grange 2007

Generally speaking, in such a line-up, the point is not to identify good and not so good wines, but to identify how the styles differ. In fact, two wines did not quite deliver, but more interesting was the wide spectrum which Shiraz can express. The order of the wines was supposed to reflect the increasing weight of the wine.

The Auguste Clape Cornas is from the most southern area of the Northern Rhone, i.e. the warmest area which delivers pure or near pure Shiraz in the Rhone region. Auguste Clape is one of the most highly regarded producers. As is nearly always the case, French wines do not come out too well in comparative tastings with Australian wines, as their fruit concentration simply does not match the Australian wines. However, this wine shows complex raspberry and cherry flavours and spice. It has a dry finish - an excellent food wine (94 points).

The Viognier component is very noticeable in the 2010 Clonakilla. The wine has a similar fruit profile to the French wine, but is more fragrant, with a lifted finish (94 points).

The Giaconda Shiraz is not from the Warner vineyard, but the Estate vineyard next to the winery. Kitzbrunner believes that this vineyard will ultimately deliver the better wine. I do not think this is happening yet. I found this wine disappointing and lacking in mouthfeel. It is a darker wine, tasting of blackberry and spice, but not much intensity. The finish is dry and not very long (92 points).

The Bests wine has a similar blackberry flavour, but more depth of fruit and length. It shows some mint on the palate and some traditional oak treatment, but it is a clear and vibrant wine (93 points).

The Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz is a step up in power. The wine is quite oaky, and the tannins are coarse on the palate. I find that the blackberry, plum and mint flavours do not quite stand up to this (93 points).

More  sweet vanilla oak flavours come through on the Wolf Blass wine, as expected. However, there is good fruit underneath and some silkiness in the tannins coming through (92 points).

The second wine which disappointed was the Gaelic Cemetery from the Clare Valley. I am not familiar with this small production wine, but found it quite sweet and sugary, and not based on a great structure (90 points).

The Henschke Hill of Grace was as expected. A gentle wine, not dissimilar to the Cornas, actually. Raspberry fruit and spices (not pepper) lead to a complex flavour mix. There is good upfront fruit, and soft tannins lead to a sustained finish (95 points).

What makes the Penfolds Grange stand out from the wines before is the intensity and length of flavour. This is a big wine, less refined than some of the others, but a unique expression of Shiraz (96 points).

Given the price of these wines, there was a considerable tasting fee for this tasting - fair enough. In parallel, another tasting of less expensive Shirazes was held for free. There were two wines there which I could have seen in this group from a quality point of view.

The Seppelt St. Peters Shiraz 2008 is a lighter wine, quite spicy, and not with the same mouthfeel as the others, but fine tannins to finish off with (90 points).

The John Duval Entity Shiraz 2010 was a highlight. It has a complex fruit set, in the raspberry, blackberry, mulberry spectrum. The wine is very harmonious and has a firm finish. His best effort yet (93 points).

Within one hour, I tasted wine worth more than $2000. Yet overall, I did not feel elated, but rather flat and disappointed. Why? Did my high expectations make it hard to be excited? I do not think so. I was there to have a good time. Did the wines all taste the same? They certainly did not. So what was it? I think in the end it was the predictability of what I found. There were no surprises. And while the quality was good and the wines were not overblown, they strangely lacked personality, as if a robot went through the motions of producing the expected product, bottle by bottle.

Any thoughts?    

Yering Station Shiraz/Viognier Reserve

Yering Station was one of the first to fashion this blend. This 2003 Yering Station Shiraz/Viognier Reserve should be perfect drinking now. However, it comes from a time when 'Reserve' often meant very ripe fruit. And so it is in this case. The Viognier does the heavy lifting, but the Shiraz fruit is just dead: too ripe, too sweet. As a result, the wine is not well integrated and balanced and the taste not very exciting.

Score: 86/--

Cool Climate Shiraz

A few weeks ago, I participated in a tasting of a number of Shirazes, which I think is worth reporting on. Two Canberra Shirazes were pitted against two from Victoria.

Shiraz from Canberra seems to be the flavour of the month, stemming from the high quality and success of the Clonakilla Shiraz/Viognier. However, in this tasting, the Victorian wines proved superior. This was not only my view.

The Canberra wines were the 2008 Tyrrell's Canberra Shiraz and the 2009 Collector Marked Tree Red. My notes on the Tyrell's are not detailed, but it was the weakest wine of the four which were compared (90 points). The Collector wine is highly acclaimed and rewarded. It tastes of blood plum and spice and has nice balance and acidity. However, I found it lacked some backbone on the finish (92 points). This is a wine which delivers good value for money, but it would struggle against wines twice the price, in my view.

The 2009 Giaconda McClay Road Shiraz was most intriguing. Giaconda declassified the single-vineyard Shirazes of this year and put all the fruit into this second tier label. The wine tastes of plum, but very fresh, silky throughout, and with very fine spices. It has good balance and a dry finish. I was impressed by the complexity of flavours and the texture of this wine (94 points).

The other Victorian wine was the 2007 Mt. Langi Ghiran Shiraz. This wine has gone from strength to strength lately, and the 2007 is no exception. It has cool climate freshness, and the sweet fruit is accompanied by white pepper and some eucalypt flavours. A very smooth wine (94 points).

All these wines are obviously very young, but they are modern wines which could be enjoyed already. I think the Giaconda will improve with time and be the most interesting in a few years.

Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz

The Mount Langi flagship wine has had its ups and downs over the years, but the 2000 Mt. Langi Ghiran Shiraz is pure class. The fruit, tasting of reddish plums, is fresh and vibrant, and the wine perfumed and lifted. I detect less spice than in other years. Fruit and acidity are perfectly balanced in this medium bodied wine leading to a very elegant feel on the palate. The good mouthfeel leads to a fresh, although not very long finish. This wine has many years ahead. I don't even taste any secondary characters yet.

I rate the Mount Langi Shiraz as one of the best Australian wines from 2000, which was a difficult vintage everywhere. If you want to collect a millenium wine, you won't go wrong with this one.

Score: 94/++

Craiglee Shiraz

Craiglee tends to be not a hyped up, but quite dependable producer of cool climate Shiraz. However, the 2000 Craiglee Shiraz was a disappointment the other day.

The wine tasted of sour cherries and game, and the grapes seemed to have been either somewhat green or very ripe. The mouthfeel was not very round. The unattractive flavour lasted through to the acidic finish.

Score: 86/--

Lethbridge Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

Lethbridge is a relatively new winery in the Geelong region which I had not heard of until now. As it turns out, they produce highly individual and interesting single vineyard wines reflecting their specific terroir.

The 2008 Lethbridge Chardonnay is wild yeast fermented, undergoes malolactic fermentation and sees 100% new oak. Despite this, it does not feel heavily worked or dull. It has citrus flavours, an elegant texture, sufficient acidity for aging and a clean finish - a good example of a modern Chardonnay.

The 2007 Lethbridge Allegra Chardonnay comes from an older vineyard. The treatment is pretty much the same, but I taste a bit more fruit concentration and oak. This makes it a bigger wine, but I had a slight preference for the first.

The Pinot Noirs include more than 50% whole bunches. The 2008 Lethbridge Pinot Noir has a good structure, and is medium weight. It tastes predominantly of strawberry, but shows some forest floor characteristics as well, before it finishes with a tannic backbone. This was my favorite wine of the four reviewed.

The 2006 Lethbridge Mietta Pinot Noir is also of medium weight, but darker, with cherry flavours. There is a bit of a gap in the middle palate, the wine is more savoury overall, yet elegant with a dry finish.

I would be happy to drink any of these wines and I now understand why Maree Collis and Ray Nadeson, coming from relatively nowhere, have been nominated as winemaker of the year in this year's Australian Gourmet Traveller awards.

Seppelts Great Western Reserve Shiraz

I was looking forward to my last bottle of the 1998 Seppelts Great Western Reserve Shiraz. This wine is now called St. Peter's Shiraz and stems from the highly regarded St. Peter's vineyard.

The wine had excellent structure and smooth tannins and is probably drinking at its best now. The big surprise were three flavour elements being in perfect balance: the wine had the expected spice scents, but also really sweet fruit, almost Grenache-like, which I have never (!) experienced like this in a Victorian Shiraz, and finally charred-earth flavours.

A most satisfying drink. I wished I had some more.

Bindi Composition Pinot Noir

This producer cannot put a foot wrong. This wine is the 'entry' level Pinot Noir and a blend from a number of vineyards. Last night, I drank the 2004 Composition Pinot Noir.

It tastes of red cherry with a savoury backbone which has developed nicely during the last couple of years and integrates seamlessly into the overall flavour. The tannins are soft and the wine has an elegant long finish.

This wine reminds me very much of the Martinborough Pinots, in particular Ata Rangi. It has more red than black fruit and this ethereal feel and the long fanning finish. It is not as full bodied as the Curly Flat, for example, but probably more elegantly made. One would experience more fruit concentration with the single vinyard wines 'Original Vineyard' and 'Block 5'.

I have never been disappointed by a Bindi Pinot Noir. Now Australia's top producer?

Best's best - A vertical tasting of Bin 0 Shiraz

I love vertical tastings. As a wine collector, it is difficult to do more than a few, and mostly only over 5 vintages or so. Otherwise, there are not many opportunities to experience them. Yet they provide the best chance to evaluate a wine or winery in a day.

A few days ago, I had the opportunity to participate in an extraordinary tasting of the Best's Bin 0 Shiraz over a number of decades. We tasted 1977, 85, 90, 95, 99, 04, 05 and also the 05 Thomson Family Shiraz. 

Best's is located in the Great Western region of Victoria and is an often overlooked, very historical winery. The Bin 0 Shiraz is their premium Shiraz, which takes vines from three vineyards, planted in 1866, 1966 and 1970. My overall impression was that the wines can last a long time, but are also quite variable, depending on climatic conditions. In the cooler vintages, the wines are quite peppery, but also a little thin. In the warmer vintages, the wines show a lot of mocca and dusty, crumbly chocolate, which is quite unique and apparently due to regionality.

The outstanding wines for me were 1977, 1990 and 2004. The 1977, with over 30 years old, did not show much fruit any more, but had great flavours of mocca and chocolate, and still a good texture and a long finish. In fact, I tasted more of the wine after it had gone from my mouth. Sensational. The 1990 showed blackberry and plum fruit with some overtones of mint and a smooth, elegant and creamy finish . The 2004 tasted more of mulberry and dark cherry, it has a good structure, soft tannins and good length.

These wines are often thrown into the 'cool climate Shiraz' bucket. This tasting showed there is a lot more to them. The wines mentioned above showed great complexity and elegance. 

    

Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz

The Dalwhinnie Shiraz is one of my favorites. It is not a typical, high peppered cool climate Victorian Shiraz, like Mt. Langhi or Craiglee, but of course not a big Barossa either. The attraction comes from the multi-layered fruit profile and the very silky tannins. I have reviewed a couple of these wines here.

This time I had the 2000 Dalwhinnie Shiraz. The wine displays many berry flavours, like in a joghurt with fruit, in particular blueberry and blackberry, but also plum. The wine is not as full and ripe as in other years, but still delivers a satisfying mouthfeel. The wine has good length and the silky tannins are present. Eight years is a good drinking window for Dalwhinnie, in my experience. It brings out the complexity of the wine, while maintaining a fresh feel.

Also, the vineyard site is one of the most beautiful in Australia, with slopes on three sides at the end of a valley. I highly recommend a visit, where the tasting of Cabernet and Chardonnay is also worth while.

Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz

I am posting this from Singapore, so my memory of drinking the 2002 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz is a little hazy.

This wine, unfortunately, does not belong to the best vintages of Dalwhinnie. The fruit appears not to have ripened fully and tastes somewhat green. At the same time, the wine is already quite developed with orange colour underneath the dark violet.

This has happened in the cooler 2002 vintage to a number of full bodied reds in the cooler growing areas and it is also a problem with single vinyard wines who have few options for compensation.

However, Dalwhinnie is one of my favorite Shiraz producers and even in this weak vintage it showed its very silky tannins at the finish.

I am looking forward to drinking the warmer 2003 and 2004 vintages.

Best's

Best's is one of Australia's traditional wineries with the current ownership in its 5th generation. It is well known for its cooler climate Shiraz. I tried their two major Shirazes from the strong 2005 vintage. 2005 Bin 1 Shiraz has a violet colour and tastes of dark fruit and spices. It has medium weight, but lacks some backbone. The tannins are quite strong on the finish. Overall, the wine is not that polished, but not a bad drop for the odd $26 per bottle.

2005 Bin O Shiraz is a step up. The blackcurrant and plum fruit has more sweetness and depth. However, the wine is also a bit harsh. It has a dry and gripping finish. It will no doubt be a better drink in a few years time.

Traditional wine making can be a strength, but it should incorporate some advances that clearly have been made. The holy grail for Australian Shiraz is to combine its fruit concentration and power with elegance and harmony. I would not select Best's if that was what I was looking for.

Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz

Dalwhinnie is without doubt one of my favourite producers and the maker of probably the best cooler climate Shiraz. For those who like visiting wineries, this is a must. The winery is situated in a cul-de-sac location at the end of a valley, probably the most picturesque vineyard site in Australia, with vines covering the steeper and flatter parts of this amphitheatre. The tasting room is pretty good, too.

The Dalwhinnie Shiraz is always very refined and elegant. This 1998 is no exception. The fruit tastes of blackcurrant and plum with white pepper and spice. The tannins are soft and the aftertaste is long and very satisfying. A top wine.

Stefano Lubiana, Ashton Hills, Mitchelton

Some days ago I attended the latest Wine-Arc tasting. It was a mixed bag of wineries, maybe relatively cool climate was the common denominator.

In contrast to other wine writers, I have not been impressed with most Tasmanian wines in the last few years (apart from Bay of Fires). So I didn't expect too much from Stefano Lubiana. They showed an 04 Chardonnay and an 06 Pinot. They were pleasant wines, but at $45/bottle expensive for what they were.

Ashton Hills established the first vineyards at the Adelaide Hills. Their best known wines are again Chardonnay and Pinot. The wines are quite individualistic, but failed to impress. The Chardonnay lacked acidity and had a plump finish as a result. The Pinot was more attractive; you could taste the natural yeast, but again it lacked length.

The interesting wines from Mitchelton were the Shirazes. First, the 06 Parish Shiraz/Viognier, a wine with bright fruit and uplifting floral flavours. Good value at $25 per bottle. Then on to the flagship Print Shiraz. I had not tried this for at least 7 years, but enjoyed it previously. The 03 was quite a meaty wine, possibly drought affected, and lacked length and complexity. Then we tried the 98. It was the wine of the night, showing dark fruit and more concentration and length. It finished quite dry - a serious Shiraz, but not a blockbuster, well suited to food.

Good value restaurant reds

Do you have this dilemma that I have? I have a good collection of high quality wines, but when I go to a restaurant, I cringe because they cost three times as much. To avoid this, I often end up with an inferior wine to what I am used to.

However, recently I tried two value wines I quite enjoyed: 2006 Yering Station Shiraz Viognier and 2oo5 Mt. Langhi Billi Billi Shiraz. They are both from quality producers, so you know the wine making is ok. Yering Station make a reserve of this wine which is a top Australian wine, but this one has excellent fruit as well and the lift from the Viognier makes it very food friendly. At Mt. Langhi they make all wines in a similar way, but this one comes from younger vines - again a good choice with food.

So when you next look for a high quality value red, check these out.