Reining in the Richness

We had The Master grace us with his presence, and we always learn from his experience and deep thought.  His approach is never rushed, and thus his judgements sound and sensitive.  Of course there’s always the occasion to open some wines, and two very different bottles had a similarity in that their inherent richness was reined in, so that a greater sense of stylishness and elegance was achieved.

After a long day at work, a sugar hit can hit the spot, and a 2003 Bourillon Dorleans ‘La Coulee d’Or’ Vouvray was the start-up wine.  Though not having tried this example of botrytised Chenin Blanc for a few years, I knew we could expect some richness and decadence here.  2003 a heat-wave year too, could possibly add some power and weight.  In the glass, a little golden colour, and strangely quite restrained, without masses of ripe fruit nor overly honied.  Clean stonefruit and a soft waxy, lanolin core, with the honey nuanced.  Sweet, but not based on sugar on palate, with the density that this label exhibits, and only a slow building in unctuousness and flavour.  The accumulation of unctuousness really quite slow, and the cut of acid from the variety most subtle.  It was as though the wine may have been scalped by barely detectable cork taint.  The overall feel was one of sleekness, rather than richness.

In a polar opposite, The Master directed me to broach his 1997 Penfolds ‘RWT’ Barossa Shiraz.  The first vintage of what is deemed a modern classic from the very traditional Penfolds,  Opulence in a bottle with a hefty dose of sweet new French oak over shiny, ripe, oozy chocolate, pepper and spice.  Always luscious in youth, its finesse isn’t enough to hide its sweetness of fruit.  It’s a combination of ‘over-the-top’ with class.  A little maturity in the garnet-brick colour, but smelling of savoury brown spices and ripe plums left in the sun, and liquorice with black pepper.  The fruit could be seen as a little fade, and to the wine’s benefit.  The extract drying a little, but this too a redeeming feature.  The dryness countering the fruit, now dropping.  Indeed, balanced and developed perfectly for drinking, and with the meaty meal.

Consistency and Differentiation

The 19^th century Zante currant vineyard had its new plantings over the footstep of the old, so that growing conditions and experience were similar for consistency.  Strangely enough, the same phenomenon struck me as I had the opportunity of looking at a range of hearty modern reds made by the larger than life B. Riggs in the McLaren Vale under the ‘Zonte’s Footstep’ label that recalls the currant growing.

The wines all carried different names, all funky, as is the rage right now.  Three Shirazes first, a 2010 ‘Chocolate Factory’ McLaren Vale Shiraz, ripe and chocolatey with hints of eucalypt and cedar.  Good depth anD concentrated too.  Then a 2010 ‘Baron von Nemesis’ Barossa Shiraz, very similar again, maybe a little more accessible, but a bit bitter and reductive.  And moving to a 2010 ‘Lake Doctor’ Langhorne Creek Shiraz, touched by a little Viognier, and consequently a little lighter and more mellow in mouthfeel, but brighter in aromatic nature.  All with hints of chocolate, plums, cedar spice and eucalypt.  Surely this consistency must be winemaker signature, as the origins were differet?

Putting the issue further to the test, a 2010 ‘Avalon Tree’ Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon.  Clearly blackcurranty and leafy even, but in the glass, the tell-tale spicy, cedary oaky and eucalypt signature came out.  Then to an extreme, a 2010 ‘Violet Beauregard; Clare Valley Malbec.  All the Christmas cake spices and dark plums taken to another far-away, exotic place.  Bigger, blacker but there again, eucalypt, liquorice, cedar and spices.  Same story.  And finally, a 2011 ‘Canto di Lago’ Langhorne Creek Sangiovese/Barbera.  Much lighter and less ripe – a function of the vintage?  Certainly red cherries and softer red fruits.  In a reduced expression, the same old story with spices, cedar, liquorice etc, etc, etc.

I concluded it must be winemaker after all these different factors not changing the picture too much.  There’s a place for consistency and also for differentiation.  I like the consistent good quality.  But I could have drunk any of them for the same effect and taste.   

The Annual Test

November is the month that I conduct a wine options game for the ‘Beepers’ who mix it with a group who are ‘Simply Gruesome’.  SWMBO is my right-hand person, and we enjoy our annual chance of testing these fine people about wine.  They are special people, as they get into the spirit of things, and everything is so well-organised.  And on top of that, there’s a healthy budget allowing the opportunity of showing some really nice wines.

It’s a confidence thing to serve something easily recognisable to start with, and the first wine was the double gold-medal winning 2012 Starborough ‘Family Estate’ Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.  Pretty fleshy and juicy stuff, with mineral, gooseberry and passionfruit flavours plus a marvellous esters-aromatic lift.  An equal blend of Wairau and Awatere fruit, and showing both.  Then onto a 2009 Domaine Servin Chablis.  Unsurprisingly forward and round now, fuller, with softness.  Still the underlying flintiness that makes Chablis what it is, but the acid sear gone.  The weight of this could have made it a premier cru, if I was guessing.  The streamlined flow and fineness pointing to Chablis than the Cote d’Or.  The final white was a 2010 von Kesselstatt Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett.  Marred by a little reduction, this had the steely, gooseberry slate characters of Mosel, and this too was a little more weighty and substantial than expected for a wine from this exalted site in the Saar.  A touch of honeysuckle underneath and sugar adding to the mouthfeel, made this a delight, regardless of the sulphide notes.

Onto ‘The Last Man Standing’ to find the best palate in the room.  The wine for this was the 2011 Terrace Edge Waipara Valley Pinot Gris.  We managed to whittle the numbers to a quarter with one question.  And the wine’s not that hard to pick!  Lovely, decadent ripe pears and honied stonefuits.  A touch of spice, and a near unctuousness.  Classic quality Pinot Gris in the modern Alsace style.  Ahh, that’s what they thought it was…

The reds sort out the serious thinkers and drinkers from the light weighters.  Straight into the top-end stuff with a 2010 Te Mata ‘Coleraine’ Hawke’s Bay Cab/Merlot blend.  I haven’t tried this for over 7 months.  I liked it on release then, clearly ahead of its stablemate ‘Awatea’, but felt it showed the cooler, slow-to-ripen vintage.  Boy, has this come together well and put on richness and texture.  It will always be an elegant wine in the scheme of things, but great class now showing.  This was followed by the 2007 Antinori ‘Marchesi’ Chianti Classico Riserva.  Ironic that a 1981 had come our way just last week.  This quite fulsome, soft and matty in texture, maybe a little muddied in outlook, partly from distinct oakiness coming through.  A thoroughly modernist and crowd-pleasing style, and a bit disconcerting if one were a purist.  But from a drinker’s view, very satisfying in a broad way.  The final wine was the 2006 Saltram ‘No. 1’ Barossa Shiraz.  ‘No. 1’ as it’s the best they do.  Ultra-ripe and sweet, with chocolate and liquorice, smooth and lush, but underlined by plenty of fine tannin.  Brilliant ‘out-there; fruit and integrated oaking, and no ‘dead’ dullness at all.  There’s a place for these hedonistic wines.  Maybe not at the dinner table with fine and fancy fare.  But as a wine to sip and admire, while letting a testy world pass by.     

Growing in Brightness

It was the night of the popular pyrotechnics display, and in a typical show of generosity, The Capital Man invited us to view the fireworks from his residence which has a commanding presence over the harbour. The Capital Man has been collecting wine for a very long time and has had the means to amass a wondrous cellar, but as in many such cases, has not had the time to drink the bottles in a timely fashion, resulting in many wines moving past their best.  For him, it was an opportunity to share a few with visitors.  Among those taking advantage of the vantage point was His Eminence and his family, he being a South American man who self-effacingly professes to know little about vinous matters, but in reality knew plenty.  There was plenty to talk and laugh about, and there was a growing realisation of how much ground we could cover.  The night got brighter as we all got to know each other, and the fireworks built to a crescendo.

A vertical of old Palliser Estate Riesling from Martinborough was extremely interesting.  The 1992 was certainly on the way downhill.  Oxidised, with very soft textures, but still attractively honied.  Curiously very drinkable, though knowing the bruised apple flavours indicated its true state.  The 1995 was much less aged, even though only 3 years younger.  A trace of oxidation, but still with citrus fruit residue.  Tertiary toast and earth aromas and flavours and searing acidity.  Despite good aromatics of lime and toast, with petrolly hints, this was rather astringent and dried on palate.  Then onto a 2005.  A beautiful wine, clearly packed with fruitiness, exuding limes along with bright energy and wonderful balance of sweetness, fruitiness and acidity.  A thread of toastiness intermixed with honey made it beguilingly succulent.

A pair of Felton Road Central Otago wines were highlights.  The 1999 Dry Riesling clearly aged with a combination of lime and toast, but the slippery acidity and lush mouthfeel gave it a semblance of sweetness, even though the wine was dry.  SWMBO was taken by this wine.  The Capital Man followed this by opening a 2000 ‘Block 5’ Pinot Noir.  Muscular and mushroomy, with sweet and savoury red fruits merging with earth, truffle, meat and game nuances.  Lovely acidity, and plenty of structure and mouthfeel.  His Eminence was a fan of this one too.

Two older reds made for real curiosities.  I don’t see too many older Italian wines, so a Chianti over three decades of age was anticipated highly.  The 1981 Antinori ‘Marchesi’ Chianti Classico Riserva was fairy gutsy and robust, with a mass of savoury, gamey, sour cherry fruit in its tertiary state.  More earthy and a touch dirty, rather than full-on grubby.  Good acid raciness, and fine tannins in the background, and drying out a little.  Interesting, but not one to stay on.

Then a blast from my past, a 1969 Lindemans Hunter River Burgundy Bin 3803.  I’ve had many a bottle of these Hunter Valley Shiraz wines in my formative years.  Still with dark garnet red heart to the colour, this featured a distinctive charry, reductive, spice, resiny and animal character that I hadn’t seen before.  Still with fruit sweetness, but heading down the dry path.  Soft, but with a solid residual core.  I doubt this will ever move to the beautiful ethereal and layered expression, but it was still a wonder to taste.

As the night got darker, we all became a little more enlightened.    

Hanging Out with The Happy Hipsters

Moving into a new home and new ‘hood' for the Happy Hipsters was not been an easy decision.  There are always pros and cons, but move they did, and it came time for a housewarming.  It was a cool affair on a cool evening, but the atmosphere was warm, and with happiness the Hipsters had overflowed to all the partygoers.  Some nice, gentle music and an eclectic mix of wines from those of the hosts, to some BYO bottles, added to the hang-out time being a cruisy affair.

Our contributions were a couple of ten year old Hawke’s Bay reds.  SWMBO had inherited a 2002 C.J. Pask ‘Declaration’ Cab/Malbec/Merlot and this was an ideal time to broach it, so it seemed.  Well, it could have been left another decade easily, as it had dark colour, masses of dark berry and plum fruits along powerful spices and oak.  And lively as a new release wine with its acidity and energy.  The Italians would probably call this a meditation wine rather than a food wine. 

Following its success, out came the cork on the 2002 Craggy Range ‘Le Sol’ Syrah, a bottle I put my hand up for as a rare, exciting new style.  The 2002 was the second release of this label, and again, like the Pask ‘Declaration’, still amazingly youthful.  Even more so, with its very dark, saturated colour, refined, but lush black fruits, black pepper and Asian spices.  Tightly held together, and smooth as velvet, this seemed quite primary, and again, with a decade ahead of it.  My recollection of it in youth was that it was a statement wine, and a decade later, it had the sheen of such a style, but had settled with class.

We were very pleased to see the Real Mr Parker, for his warm smile and a long overdue catch-up.  His wine generosity hasn’t faltered one bit.  His lead-in wine was a 1988 Olivier Leflaive Meursault 1er ‘Genevrieres’.  The Meursault smoothness and richness was evident immediately.  Nutty for sure, and a lovely creamy texture from bottle-age and barrel-ferment, and the faintest notes of oxidation.  Do negociant wines suffer in comparison with domaine wines?  That was my nagging doubt over its elegance.  I suppose there could have been more intensity and layers.  But a moot point, as it went down a treat.

Mr Parker, both ‘The Real’ one we know, and the widely published one love Chapoutier wines.  The 2001 Chapoutier ‘Croix de Bois’ Chateauneuf-du-Pape was a treat.  Very Grenache with dark raspberry fruit with complexing layers of savoury and herb nuance.  Rich and sweet, but not overly so.  Softened tannins, but with good linear grip and a long, long finish. And a great delight to see no brettanomyces.  The 2001s were good, much better than the forward 2002s, and the cellaring for a decade plus has confirmed it.

A couple of older wines were good to calibrate the senses.  A 1994 Infernetto Barolo, bricked colour, fading to a leanness, faint dried roses, no tar, but earth and leather.  Heading towards dried out, but drinkable and with interest, as any Barolo deserves.  More alive and archetype was the 1998 Penfolds ‘Bin 138’ Barossa Old Vine SGM.  Secondary and even tertiary hints, but very Barossa Valley with liquorice and plums, sweetness and warmth, now allowing the structure to show.  Great to compare with the Chapoutier, and both wines showing their provenance and ‘terroir’.

Back to the Kiwi wines to finish.  From the Happy Hipsters cellar was a 2007 Craggy Range ‘Block 14’ Syrah, again a wonderful echo of the ‘Le Sol’ tasted earlier.  Indeed, it was an echo, being lighter and less rich.  Still very varietal in every way, but with the sense it was beginning to show some maturity characters.  And this being five years younger than the ‘Le Sol’. 

However, the grand finale, the 2003 Ata Rangi Martinborough Pinot Noir was still a wine with a future.  A tiny crop year, and with the ripeness that has seen it carry on better than the 2005s, which are now showing secondary dried herbs.  Power, structure and fruit all here, with the Pinot Noir magical elegance.  Fragrance with subtle savoury complexities.  This has 7-10 years ahead. 

With the taste of this making us warm and mellow people with big smiles on our faces, we departed The Happy Hipsters new house and headed off home after several hours of hanging out. 

   

Succession of Chardonnay

There’s been plenty of wine to taste and note, but they haven’t made it into Winenoter for a little while, so a succession of Chardonnay wines came together unexpectedly, and became worth noting.  Out for the day with Kim Kong and The Princess, and we drunk wine with gusto and plenty of laughter. 

For starters, and somewhat reluctantly, as a big day lay ahead, they accepted a serve of NV Taittinger Champagne, clearly Chardonnay-influenced, with lighter fruit expression, but this was in no way light and lacking.  Instead, there was richness and substance, allied to a pristine cut and definition.  Excellent restrained autolysis, true to form, but in place and not overstepping the mark.  One of the most delicious bottles of Tatts we’ve had for a while, and it’s usually good anyway.

Onto the birthday celebration, and numerous good wines were being poured.  I had more bubbles, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Viognier, and then we thought we’d better try the Chardonnay on offer, a 2007 Villa Maria ‘SV – Taylors Pass’ Marlborough Chardonnay.  Sometimes this house gets the complex sulphides past the optimum for my personal taste, but on this showing, quite simply superb.  Classical white stonefruits and citrus fruits of Marlborough with acid and minerally cut, and pristine in flow through the palate.  Lacy flinty notes lined the wine, totally integral with the other componentry, and oaking just right.  A stunner of a wine.

The after-match wind-down time took us to Al’s Eatinghouse for more morsels with Maa who joined us after work.  On the wine agenda was a 2008 Kumeu River Chardonnay.  Slim-line but wonderfully constituted.  Sure, this is marked by flinty notes, but very much in the style of good white burgundy.  The sronefruit  flavour seem dry and minerally-nutty.  Never austere, but certainly not fleshy or sweet.  Wonderful with all sorts of food fro shellfish to firm-flesh fish.  Kim Kong, SWMBO and I loved it

Then a 2009 Stonecroft ‘Old Vine’ Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay was called for.  A bit cold on presentation, but a little warming saw its weight come through.  And has this got weight.  Quite a contraste to the Kumeu River.  Full-bodied, rich and creamy-textured, with alcoholic power, absorbed by the citrus and tropical fruit density.  Good acid freshness too, but a slightly savoury funkiness, possibly oak derived proved a distraction.  Something a little extraneous, which Maa enjoyed, but not quite the same for SWMBO and I.

Topping it off was a 2010 Neudorf Nelson Chardonnay.  A perennial favourite, as it has everything you want, consistently, and never breaking the bank.  Sweet, ripe stonefruits that more than hint at fleshiness and richness of texture.  Yet never overdoing it.  Complex reduction too, but again judged to perfection and just fitting in.  Almost big and powerful, but stylish and quite right for drinking now.  Very contemporary, but a wine to satisfy any Chardonnay lover’s check list.  As Chardonnay lovers, it did the job, and arguably the best, at least for me, of a succession of Chardonnay.    

 

 

Jamming with JimJim

JimJim is the loveliest man.  His stories can be hairy, ‘cos he’s a hairy sort of guy.  There’s a solid exterior, but inside, there’s a sensitive new age guy who has deep thoughts, a whole lot of modesty and definitely a sense of humour.  JimJim was in town, had finished his work and was at a loose end.  I reckon he was a bit shy in making contact with us to catch up, but he gathered up his courage to give us a call.  We were delighted to get together, as he’s a lot of fun to be in company with, and it doesn’t take long to discuss any matter, very much as in a musical jam session, each of us having input and heading wherever we go.  After the mandatory pre-dinner drinks of comparing a half dozen Sauvignon Blancs and the same number of Pinot Noirs, off we headed to our local Asian eatery to enjoy some food.

The first wine a style regular that appears regularly on our table, this being a 2007 S.A. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese.  Lots of sulphur on the nose, and decidedly sugary on the palate, but it has that magical combination of sugar, alcohol and acidity that always seems to work regardless.  Being technical we pooh-poohed it but still drank it, especially SWMBO who has a fascination for Mosel Riesling.

Then it was JimJim’s offering, a 2007 Barham Mendelsohn Russian River Pinot Noir.  Dark and concentrated with linear, savoury, black-red fruitiness.  Sleek tannins with all the trimmings, all held together to make it a serious Burgundy-styled drink.  But somehow, on the night, it lacked all the detailed extras of nuance.  We missed the florals.  The finesse and ethereals were not there.  You could sense the makers were trying.  Sure there are big and firm, fully structured Richebourg look-alikes, but even they have that magical spark that hints at the ‘Holy Grail.’  This wine just missed the mark in that department.  The next night much better with evolved secondary mushroom notes.

And finally a 2006 Foradori ‘Granato’ Dolomiti Rosso, made from that recognised quality Teroldego variety of north eastern Italy.  Black berry fruits with a touch of graphite and minerals, and very fine, classy tannins.  Proportional acidity and a style to make it a classic, and a contender for noble red variety if one was looking to add to the list.  Our bottle had a bit of a horsey touch, which I enquired about later.  Some people see it as part of the varietal character, but I have my doubts.  Anyway, SWMBO left it.  I played with it.  JimJim drank it.

We dropped JimJim off at his digs.  We look forward to another jamming session with him.   

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