WTN: Syrah/Shiraz challenge blind

A much anticipated lunch at Cafe Ysabel was the setting for the latest blind tasting challenge - this time featuring Syrah or Shiraz. The appropriate food was Gene's excellent hand-chopped sirloin burgers. Paricipating were the usual suspects - myself, Arnie, Jojo, Monty, Gene and Johnny.

For starters Jojo graciously contributed his last bottle of:

Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnay 2002 - Vibrant. Very gentle oak. Quite dry and a little bitter in the finish. Perhaps not as fine as some other vintages of this wine but still very good.

We ranked only our top 3 reds:

#1 Sweet fruit nose. A bit candyish. Lots of fruit. Gentle oak. Moderate length. Slight mustiness. Good but not special. Group's last. Rosemount Balmoral Syrah 2000. Arnie's wine.

#2 Spicy nose. A bit high in alcohol. Vibrant, young. Lots of fruit but not sweet. My #3. Group #4 (tied with wine # 5). Moss Brothers Shiraz 2001. Gene's wine.

#3 Oaky, fruity nose. Sweetish, but has some acid to compensate. Rich. Very good but needs age. Unmistakably Oz. My #2. Group #3. Amon Ra Shiraz 2005. Monty's bottle. Finally after winning the last 2 blind tastings, Monty is dethroned!

#4 Meaty nose. Good balance. Still a bit of tannin indicates this still has room to improve although it is showing very well already. Quite dry. Very long finish. My #1. Group #1. Rosemount Balmoral Syrah 1998. My bottle. ( finally won!)

#5 A bit stinky. Tastes old. A bit of prune and dried fruit. Soft. Very good except for the nose. Group #4 (tied with wine #2). Henschke Mt. Edelstone Shiraz 1993. Jojo's contribution.

#6 Nice nose. A little minty. A bit flabby on the palate and finish. Getting better with time, though. Group #2. Brothers in Arms Shiraz 2002. Brought by Johnny.

To finish, we had Arnie's:

Navarro Muscat Blanc Cluster Select Late Harvest 2005 - Another great dessert wine from Navarro. Very grapey and rich. Lots of ripe, yellow ropical fruit. Excellent with the pavlova and pineapple ice cream.

[David M. Bueker]

I have been, and continue to be a fan of the Rosemount Balmoral Shiraz.

Gotta love that Muscat!

I have two bottles of 2003? 4? Balmoral in my cellar. The wine distributor mis-priced the wine, and the grocery store's wine manager passed his savings onto us! ($22!)

I have two bottles of 2003? 4? Balmoral in my cellar. The wine distributor mis-priced the wine, and the grocery store's wine manager passed his savings onto us! ($22!)

The same thing happened over here, Brian. IMHO, the demise of Rosemount's market credibility as a quality producer was effected when brand-owner Fosters reduced the flagship red, Balmoral to AUS$20 a bottle. Sad, but true. Tends to happen ad nauseum when brands are conglomerated and bean counters take control.