Boireann Merlot 2004 Monday, Feb 13 2006
Tasting Notes and Australia and Granite Belt and Variety and Red and merlot et al
This is more of a story about buying a bottle of wine than drinking said bottle. The other day I popped into the Wine Emporium and asked Tony (Harper) to sell me a Queensland wine. He likes championing the local product and reckons Boireann is one of the best producers. And as I had previously tried the Mourvedre-Shiraz-Grenache blend, he suggested I try the Merlot. Me and merlot? Hmmmm – I wasn’t convinced. If there were a challenger to Barossa Valley floor Riesling for the unfashionable wine award, then perhaps Granite Belt Merlot could be a contender.
And so it was opened: deli meats and matchstick; a tinder dry palate, some red fruits submerged in a bowl of rubber. I think it needs to go straight into quarantine. Eight hours later, there were still lots of smallgoods and some red fruits, the palate was arid and it was starting to oxidise. Cork in the bottle and bottle in the fridge – time to move on. (Luckily, this was purchased from a fine wine store, and I should not have any problems getting the bottle replaced)
Rated : n/a Points
Tasted : Feb06
Alcohol : 13.0%
Price : $26
Closure : Cork
Drink : n/a - n/a
Source : The Wine Emporium
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9 Responses to “Boireann Merlot 2004”
February 13th, 2006 at 8:01 pm
Hmmm, I’ll bite to find some more challengers:
Mornington Peninsula Cabernet Sauvignon;
Barossa Valley Chardonnay;
McLaren Vale Chardonnay;
Granite Belt Pinot Noir;
Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir (yes, I know this is going to cause controversy, but you know it’s all robbish);
Beechworth Pinot Noir (see above, and apologies to Keppel in 2002 and 2004); and
Anything Hunter (ok, now I’m just being mean to Gary).
February 13th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
Barossa Valley Floor Pinot is the hot ticket you fool.
Harps championing Queensland wine and does not like Hunter….. I think he needs his bumps feeling…
GW
PS. I like the label though.
June 27th, 2006 at 12:51 am
A rare comment-Boireann is a meticulous maker; classy acts. Does GW mean sulphide and does he taste “blind” or a la Robert Parker?
June 27th, 2006 at 9:00 am
Peter,
I taste a la Parker but this is not my note and I have not tasted this wine. Sounds like sulphides though.
GW
June 27th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
Actually, I wrote the note. Yes, sulphides I think. Ditched the bottle in the end.
It was not tasted blind. I bought the bottle with my own money and approached it with an open mind, and I would have loved to have liked it better. Actually also recently met the winemaker at the Wine Emporium when he was showing his 05’s and they were a pretty smart lineup, albeit all far too young.
Nothing wrong with tasting a la Parker in my books.
July 10th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
I visited the Granite belt only a few months ago and had the luxury of dropping in on Peter at his winery. I tasted his full rage of ‘05 reds and found then to have a lot of potential, as Lincoln stated they do need cellaring, about three or four years I will give them.
I’m egarly awaiting the bottles that I purchased that day.
March 14th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
i quite like their nebbiolo…..
but with a run of only 300 bottles…
July 19th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
I have been to the Boireann vineyard twice and have now decided to visit each year. The vineyard is small (around 3.25 acres) but this isn’t an accident because Peter Stark is entirely hands on and his vineyard is immaculate. His meticulous attention to detail from earth to bottled product is a local legend. I find all his wines (now bottled under Diam) to be real class acts and Halliday is also impressed e.g. http://www.winecompanion.com.au/articles.cfm?id=45
Actually this is probably an unwise post, I rather keep knowledge of Boireann as limited as possible.
July 20th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Hey Peter, thats local QLD knowledge you are giving away
Us locals need our supply of Boireann kept secret. Peter Stark doesn’t make enough wine to let those south of the border know about it! And, yeah, his vineyard is immaculate and he knows every last vine in it. Pity frost and flood keep leaving him with no option over the last couple of years but to use other fruit. Can’t say the end result wines are noticably less impressive. Now, lets all keep quite about the shiraz viognier… 