Short notes from lunch at Le Souffle featuring lots of samples from South Oz plus a few bottles brought by some of the guests.
These were samples to be tasted before lunch:
Henschke Coralinga Sauvignon Blanc 2006 – Fragrant, grassy but highly acidic. Undrinkable.
Woodstock Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc 2005 – Better than the Henschke but undistinguished, forgettable wine.
Henschke Green’s Hills Lenswood Riesling 2003 – A little smoky, sour lemon, boring.
Most of the people I spoke with thought the whites were a sad bunch of wines.
Schild Estate Sparkling Shiraz 2005 – Chocolate. On the light side for sparkling shiraz. Sweetish, good and easy.
Claymore Walk on the Wild Side Shiraz/Viognier 2005 – Nice aroma but a little hot. Quite dry, tannic, well-judged use of oak. Dried fruit. Very nice.
Dowie Doole Shiraz 2002 – Oaky and sweet. Bitter chocolate. Drinkable but not my type.
Cigale GSM 2004 – Fine raspberry-like nose. Well-balanced with some complexity. Very good.
Cigale Shiraz 2005 – Good nose. Tobacco, meaty. Red berries. Has a bit more stuffing than the Cigale GSM. A slightly better wine.
The following wines were served with lunch:
Caledonia Australis Chardonnay Reserve 2001 – Orange on the nose. Soft, gentle. Woody on the mid-palate. I didn’t really care for this.
Shaw and Smith Shiraz 2004 – Berries, Hot, spicy. Medium-bodied. Tannic. Long finish. Good but I seem to remember it showing much better when I first tried this a few weeks back.
Irvine Grand Merlot 1994 – From magnum. Prunes, still a bit of tannin but the fruit is starting to dry out. Like old Bordeaux. Needs drinking up.
Soul Grower’s Barossa Shiraz 2004 – Sweet, a bit syrupy. Not bad.
Two Hands The Bad Impersonator Shiraz 2002 – Brought by Arnie. Hot. Coffee. Sweet but not heavy. Seemed out of balance to me.
Schild Estate Frontignac 2004 – Crisp. Gentle sweetness. More aperitif than dessert, I think.
Kanu Kia Ora Noble Late Harvest 2004 – From South Africa. No indication as to the grapes that went into this but the style seemed more Sauternes than Germanic. Light gold. Tastes like a light Sauternes. Not bad.
Penfolds St Henri Shiraz 2001 – My contribution. When the dessert wine was served I asked what happened to the bottle I brought. I had it double decanted and was afraid it had been forgotten in the profusion of wines we were drinking. Turns out Lester, our host, really intended for it to be served last since he thought it deserved that respect. Young, dry spicy and soft. Great concentration of fruit with some good acidity providing backbone and structure. Good to drink now but seems like an ager. Markedly different from the other, mostly oak-laden and high-alcohol reds we had earlier and, I think for this reason, was preferred by some of the more experienced tasters.