Well it was interesting to try some new things yesterday..... interesting but not necessarily pleasurable. We tried 8 wines but it's the international examples I want to highlight. I'm not sure if my palate has simply become attuned to the local style of winemaking or if there's something else going on but I found the predominantly Australian line-up really hard going.
Well here goes.
We started off with an inexpensive French Burgundy in the shape of the Joseph Drouhin Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2005. It showed some pretty, sweet red fruits and a hint of chocolate on the nose and was a lovely garnet colour in the glass. So far, so appealing. Unfortunately what followed was some quite drying tannins attenuating a thin palate. More oak than the fruit could support and so a slightly empty wine in the mouth. And don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the local Central Otago 'fruit-busters' so I wasn't searching out that but this wine is out of balance.
If there was a lack of fruit in the Burgundy then the Geoff Merril Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 more than made up for it, but not in a good way. An opaque purple in the glass it overlayed the not insignificant fruitcake nose with huge pine trees and a medicinal smell verging on jagermeister. In a similar fashion to that iconic, drunken beverage the Geoff Merril was certainly providing good value in the alcohol department. As far as the palate went it was quite similar to sucking on a cigar. There was fruit about too but I was too overwhelmed by the intensity of it all to notice what.
I feel like I'm being a bit cruel and I'm sure for someone who likes huge wines this would be just the thing, and as mothers do, mine told me "not to say anything at all" and all that.
On a more pleasant note was the Charles Melton 'Nine Popes' 2004. Out of all the wines we tried this was the only one that had me considering drinking a glass. A lively violet of a wine full of juicy fruit and purple wine gums. A perfumed wine tasting of red licorice. Delicious and fun and blalanced and very agreeable.
Which made it all the harder to move on to the Hewitson 'The Mad Hatter' Shiraz 2005. Unfortunately the comment in the tasting notes from the web that "We’ve thrown everything we’ve got at this wine" doesn't inspire confidence in me. At 14.5% it's another BIG wine. Another inky wine. The use of oak dominates in a savoury spicy nose that smells a little burnt. Perhaps like burnt coffee. So we move on to the Kilikanoon Covenant Shiraz 2004 which actually states that it's 15% on the label. It smells like raisins which is understandable given raisins are hot dried grapes. The aroma gives up ripe black fruit, mocha, vanilla (80% French oak), stewed plums and a touch of mint. It tastes like blackcurrants and tar.
I think it's fair to say that I don't understand these kind of Australian wines. In all their deep, rich, opulent Robert Parker-endorsed glory they don't speak my language. Maybe it's because I'm not a man?
1 comment:
Sarah,
Thank you for your lovely comments. I see that you have just started your blog, and already I can see there is so much cheeky promise. I look forward to reading more. . .
If I lived in NZ, it would be hard not to have a NZ bias too. The wines on offer are so diverse and pristine. Much of Australia is too warm and big for my tastes too.
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