The Home of Renowned Tasting

Yeah! I knew 2005 was going to be a special vintage after tasting from barrel late 2005 with winemakers MC Delirious and DJ Minty Fresh. A big step up from last years 2004 tasting. Fo shizzle. This vintage offers a field of exciting, well-made and very sexy regional wines. Quite a few wines showed a particular dried berry character that I call ‘Ripasso’ in my notes. This is not a dead fruit character and it shows as a sweet dried cherry/berry aroma which I found quite interesting. There are a variety of styles here ranging from the richer deeper (and often oaky) ‘Modern Hunter’ through to the lighter ‘classic’ medium bodied examples - a tasty savoury smörgåsbord of regional shiraz with something for everyone.
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I have just heard that Rutherglen winemaker Chris Killeen died last Tuesday, June 19, 52 years young. He was one of our best makers of fortified wine. I first met Chris at Charles Sturt in 1980 when a group of us were doing a short update on winemaking. Chris was a great tennis player so he and I used to volunteer to carry the likes of John Ellis in games of tennis at the end of the day. He was a most engaging person with great compassion. I still remember him taking me through the different spirits available for fortifying and being amazed at the subtle variations of this firewater and how the choice would influence the finished wine and its aging prospects. Several years later he spent a morning showing Wendy and I across his reserve muscats in a special family barrel collection, an experience Wendy still talks about with great reverence. In recent years we have enjoyed some lovely Shiraz from “Jacks Block”. He is survived by wife Ann, daughter Natasha and son Simon. Simon is in his first year of studying to be a winemaker and knowing Chris, I am sure Simon will already be a great sportsman and ready to continue the tradition. Wendy and I will toast the memory of Chris with friends, using a fine Stanton and Killeen Rutherglen muscat of course.

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What is The Scarborough Classic? Well I am glad you asked. It is a rugby match between the Pokolbin Reds and the Classic Wallabies. The former team comprising a rather motley bunch of Hunter vignerons (including PJ Charteris, Andrew Margan, Rhys Eather etc) and the latter well seasoned ex-Wallaby and first grade players. Interesting. We were lucky enough to be invited up as guests of the Scarborough Wine Co, the major sponsor, for what was largely a trade event. The actual game, was of course, open to the public and there was a very good turnout.
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I suppose it’s more than likely you are expecting some wise and insightful comments on the nature of the vintage? Well I’ll come back and do that later as I am under the pump at the moment!
This tasting was held at Brokenwood in the new Albert room on Friday 15 September. A blind tasting. We knew only the vintage and the region but none of the wines. Beautiful room for tasting by the way. First Rate. Running through forty one wines in a short space of time is a pretty tough job so the points are not the same points I would give if I sat down to taste at a leisurely pace. They are fairly arbitrary but they do illustrate a relative ranking if nothing else. Nor are the notes as accurate or meaningful as they might normally be. Then again in some ways they are better because tasting so many wines at once highlights both their strengths and weaknesses. I think I got the measure the wines well enough but to quote Bilbo Baggins - “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” On with the show.

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I always seem to have a cold when the most important tastings come up. This one was likely a combination of flogging myself for two weeks in Spain (may be a bad choice of words there) and international air travel. Anyway, I was a bit out of sorts on the day. As multiple vintages of Mount Pleasant were on offer (stretching from the ‘54 Richard Hermitage through to the unreleased ‘05 Maurice O’Shea shiraz) I used some Hunter Valley Jedi mind tricks to convince myself that I was tasting at about 70% efficiency and focussed on tasting in the renowned style…

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This article appeared in the last issue of the excellent Wine Front. Everyone should subscribe as it is the best wine publication in Australia that money can buy. It goes without saying (but I will anyway) that Winorama is the best that no money can buy.
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This extensive, and quite frankly, exhausting tasting took place in two stages. One up in the Hunter Valley where Campbell and I did 28 pairs of 99 and 05 vintages (actually Mattinson only did the 2005’s the soft lad) and a second tasting held in Sydney for wines
where an older vintage was not available. Both sessions were done double blind. I had no idea who had submitted wines and only knew the vintage. Big blind tastings make it very hard to write any sort of detailed note. You taste by exception and there are only so many times you can write ‘lemon and lime’ without getting very very bored. So these notes are merely snapshots. Fantastic for fixing style, for the purposes of compare and contrast, but not nearly so accurate as a leisurely bottle tasting. So take the points allocated to the wines with a grain of salt as they are the best I can do under trying circumstances.

The 2005 vintage is exceptional in that the wines are unusually approachable at an early age. They are characterised by soft acidity and lovely ripe fruit flavours – often verging on the tropical with pronounced aromatics. Many of the wines are an each way bet for drinking now with a big plate of seafood, or cellaring for the medium term. The best wines made in the classic style could well turn out to be outstanding. If you have never been a fan of young Hunter Semillon then this could well be the vintage that flicks your switch.

The 1999 vintage is arguably the best of the nineties. The product of a near perfect growing season the wines have beautifully defined citrus flavours,refreshing acidity and finish long and dry. A classic cellaring vintage. Many of the wines are just beginning to reveal their true potential. Again, if you have never been a fan of aged Semillon then this is the vintage that could well turn you on.

Do I sound like a zealot? Good because I mean to convert the wicked non semillon drinkers of Australia. Repent now and enjoy these unique and superb wines. Feel righteous brother and sister for they are low in alcohol and high in refreshment. Yea though I walk through the Hunter Valley in the shadow of verdelho, I will fear no evil; For thou are with me.

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If you ever happen to find yourself in Stockholm this is a restaurant I would definitely recommend – even if you will absolutely identify yourself as a tourist by going there. I thought it worth making a quick note.

Fem Sma Hus (five little houses) is located in Gamla Stan (the old city) on Nygrand, a narrow alley just off Skeppsbron. It occupies a series of arched brick cellars which get lower and more atmospheric as you go deeper - some are well below water level. These date from the 17th century. This place has a really nice feeling to it.. and the service is so friendly. I have been to a few restaurants in underground cellars like this here now and I have to say I just love them.

The food is traditional Swedish and French – I can imagine some people would be rapt to see such menu options as reindeer and Port marinated carpaccio of elk served with Västerbotten cheese. My friend Malin made we wish I had also ordered this entrée..
Kalixlöjrom serveras med gräddfil, rödlök och smörstekt bröd
Bleak roe, served with sour cream, red onion and toast - 195 kronor -

The wine list started as follows:

Frankrike
Pauillac
1958 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 6400 kr
1978 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 5700 kr
1979 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 4200 kr
1980 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 3300 kr
1981 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 3600 kr
1982 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 12000 kr
1983 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 4000 kr
1984 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 3100 kr
1985 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 4900 kr
1986 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 4900 kr
1987 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 3500 kr
1988 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 4700 kr
1989 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 4500 kr
1990 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 7200 kr
1991 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 3600 kr
1992 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 3200 kr
1993 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 3600 kr
1994 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 3700 kr
1995 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 5500 kr
1996 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 4500 kr
1997 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 2800 kr
1998 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 2600 kr
1999 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 2700 kr
2000 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 8900 kr
2001 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 4100 kr
2002 Château Latour, 1:er Cru, 3500 kr

The choice (by an American !)… 1996 Lindemans St. Georges, Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, 825 kr I enjoyed this very much – the vanilla oak was quite obvious but well balanced by the richness of the fruit. It’s always a treat to have a glass of wine in Sweden and even better to share it with a great bunch of people.

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Last week I went through some barrel, tank and bottle samples at two Hunter Valley wineries and thought I would throw up some of my impressions (so to speak) on the two most important varietals - Shiraz and Semillon from the 2005 vintage. I will post more detailed impressions later. This is an overview.

Shiraz - The wines have finished malolactic and I can tell you “I’m excited”. There is excellent fruit purity here and good ripe tannin in a medium bodied classic Hunter style. Alcohols generally around the mid 13 percent mark. Quite different to the gutsy tannic 2003 vintage and equally good. Samples tasted from over 5 vineyards.

Semillon - Strange wines. Very fragrant with intense fruit salad aromas. Acids tending to be softer and the wines fuller bodied on the palate than usual. Certainly quite approachable at a young age. Will they age? I am sure the best will but really it is anyones guess. I like them a lot.

2004 Vintage seems solid but not great for Shiraz. Tannins seem a bit raw. The Semillon is classic. Very lean long term wines for cellaring. They should be great wines down the track.

My tip top top tips are to load up on 2003 shiraz and save some money for the 2005. Put some 2004 Semillon in the cellar and drink the 2005 up to medium term.

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