Our regular blind tasting group met for an unusual for us late summer tasting. Fascinating evening. Wines listed in the order they were poured. A bit of a random arrangement, as the host's wife labeled the decanters so that he could play along a bit.
No I do not know how long they were decanted for.
- 2017 Stoney Rise Chardonnay Holyman - Australia, Tasmania
Served blind as an opener before a tasting of reds, this immediately struck me as Australian, just based on the underlying structure, and the semi-austere styling of the fruit. I was not thinking Chardonnay at all, in fact I was wondering if it was some kind of Semillon blend. Beautifully crisp fruit, and an expansive finish had me forgetting to spit! Whoops. Need to be more careful with the following reds.
- 2005 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
Served blind
First thing is a distinct bramble berry fruit profile - the ripe, wild berries along the side of a trail where you're never exactly sure what kind they are. Not at all heavy though - no jamminess. There's a touch of alcohol sticking out, and the fruit is still quite primary on the palate. Dusty and earthy on the finish, my thoughts were all over the place, and I thought a very refined Zinfandel, but that the structure wasn't right for that. Delicious wine though, and one of my top three of the evening. Amazing that this was 19 years old. I was thinking under 10. - 2015 The Wanderer Pinot Noir Upper Yarra - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
Served blind
Total 180-degree turn from the prior wine (a Shiraz-Malbec blend), this was light, elegant, and full of strawberry-rhubarb fruit, as well as a dash of baking spice on the finish. My initial thoughts went all the way to Trousseau, as the strawberry-rhubarb is something I often pick up with that grape. Oh well. Again overall this was a delicious, well balanced wine that just missed out on my top 3 of the evening.
- 2004 Wantirna Estate Cabernet Merlot Amelia - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
Served blind
Wow is this amazing! Such deep red fruit it needs SCUBA gear to get to the bottom of it. Full-bodied through the mid-palate, and in perfect balance, this is a wine of both power and class. I struggled with any kind of grape guess on this, especially since the first two red wines had been so different, I wasn't sure what was going on. This definitely had the grace and class of a top level Burgundy, but too much depth/power, though my mind never went to a Cabernet blend, though the back end structure should have clued me in. Wonderful wine, and my #1 of the evening. - 2005 Tulloch Shiraz Private Bin Pokolbin Dry red - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley, Pokolbin
Served blind
Hit the brakes, take a complete turn from the prior wine. Much higher toned, this even had a slight green tobacco streak behind the dark red fruit and dry, dusty earth notes. On its own a very nice wine, that seems largely resolved (little perceptible tannin), but at a huge disadvantage with its flight-mate of the Wantira Cab-Merlot.
- 1996 Lake's Folly Cabernets - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley
Served blind
Another major change of direction from the prior wine, this reminded me a bit of the third red (Wantirna Cab-Merlot), which in hindsight made perfect sense given the grapes. Dark red fruit, and more notable savory elements than the Wantirna, this wine showed some degree of age to it, though by no means old. Just a hint of finishing tannin, it was more about earth and smoke on the finish. This was the final entrant in my top 3 wines of the evening. - NV Sami-Odi Shiraz Little Wine #7 - Australia, South Australia, Barossa
Served blind
Another change of direction, as this was the first wine of the evening that actually had me thinking of Syrah/Shiraz. Meaty/smoky notes were layered on top of black berry fruits, and supported by firm tannins. Felt a bit blocky after a couple of the much more refined earlier wines, but this is another bottle (like the Tulloch) that might have fared better in a different order.
- 2016 The Standish Wine Company Shiraz The Schubert Theorem - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Served blind
Deep, dark black fruit, notable spice character on both the nose and palate, and some smoke notes mark this as Syrah/Shiraz, though in this case it's a wine that feels like it still needs time to develop and show more of what is coiled up. Firm tannins are still guarding the finish.
And who decided that the black label with nearly invisible print was a good idea? ;^) - 2004 Yarra Yering Dry Red N°2 - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
Served blind
Another massive change in direction, as this followed the very big Standish. There's an elegance to this bottle - red fruit and another wine with a hint of tobacco leaf. Structure is well integrated into the fruit. I would have much preferred to drink this one on its own rather than as the final wine in a tasting. Lovely stuff that really didn't get a fair shake in the format.