by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 

Australian Rhones
Tasted last night a few Aussie Rhones:
Torbreck Barossa Valley The Steading (Grenache/Mataro/Shiraz; 14.5%) '97: Dark color; intense grapey/strawberry/blackberry fragrant some oaked nose; tart/ sour grapey/strawberry/plummy earthy light oaked flavor; tart some metallic plummy/strawberry/grapey narrow/lean finish w/ some tannins; wonderful Grenache nose but very tart & lean on the palate.
Veritas Barossa Valley Mourvedre(70%)/Grenache(30%) (14%) '97: Very dark color; deep plummy/Mourvedre dusty/earthy some oaked nose; soft/lush bit bitter quite oaked fairly rich plummy/Mourvedre flavor; long very oaked some bitter lush/ plummy/Mourvedre/earthy finish w/ some tannins; good Mourvedre character but pretty oaky & rather bitter.
Greenock Creek Cornerstone Grenache (15.8%) '97: Med.dark color; fragrant strawberry/ blackberry/Grenache very juicy some alcoholic/overripe some oaked nose; rich/lush perfumed talc/aromatic some oaked strawberry/licorice/juicy ripe flavor; med.long soft very juicy strawberry/Grenache/licorice finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs; a big ripe juicy Grenache w/ restrained oak & carries the alcohol well.
Coriole Lalla Rookh McLaren Vale Old Vines Grenache (14%; 12% Shiraz; matured in Fr.oak) '96: Dark color; very intense toasty/oaked/licorice deep strawberry/ Grenache some dusty nose; rich/lush big grapey/strawberry/spicy dusty/old vines deep rather smokey/oaked/menthol bit bitter flavor; very long ripe/lush/ grapey/strawberry/Grenache lots of smokey/oaked/slight menthol bit bitter finish w/ fair tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; loads of Grenache fruit but lots of old vine depth; great Grenache at a great price.
Clarendon Hills Old Vines Grenache Clarendon Vnyd (14.5%) '97: Med.dark color; intense dusty/earthy/walnutty old vines low fruit slight cranberry/strawberry nose; soft lush very walnutty/earthy/dusty old vines light/bright/cranberry flavor; long very dusty/walnutty bit lean light/bright/cranberry/strawberry light oaked finish w/ light tannins; lots of dusty/walnutty character & not a lot of fruit; disappointing given the price.
Clarendon Hills Old Vines Grenache Blewitt Springs Vnyd (14.5%) '97: Dark color; very intense corky/musty/cardboardy nose; richer/lusher some strawberry/ Grenache some musty/corked/dusty flavor; bigger & richer than #5 but way to corked to tell much.
Deakin Estate Victoria Shiraz (14.5%) '98: Dark color; very strong blackberry/ Syrah smokey/pungent/oaked pretty intense nose; tart bright vibrant ripe blackberry/strawberry/Syrah some oaked/pungent bit astringent flavor; med. long bright cranberry/blackberry some toasty/oaked finish w/ light tannins; what a great wine for only $7.60.
Leasingham Domain Clare Vlly Shiraz (13.5%) '95: Very dark color; classic Oz/ strong Am.oaked/licorice/toasty intense plummy/blackberry bit earthy nose; soft loads of toasty/smokey/licorice/Am.oaked rather plummy/earthy/blackberry flavor; med.short bit bitter/astringent bright strawberry/blackberry loads of pungent/Am.oak rather tannic finish; good fruit & plenty of oak; a distinctly Aussie-style Shiraz at a good price.
Rosemont Estate Orange/McLarenVale Shiraz Show Reserve (13.0%) '95: Very dark color; bit stinky/reduced/skunky/burnt rubber toasty/pungent/oaked some blackberry/Syrah/fragrant some dusty nose clears somewhat to a oaky/bit musty (not corked) walnutty/blackberry/Syrah pungent/oak nose; bit dried-out/ tannic/astringent strong blackberry/Syrah pungent/smokey/oaked walnutty flavor; med.long bit dried-out some blackberry/Syrah pungent/toasty/oaked bit dried out/tannic finish; interesting wine but a bit disappointing and seems to be prematurely aged. Not worth the $29.00.
Trevor Jones Dry Grown Barossa Shiraz (13.5%) '95: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah very toasty/pungent/pencilly/Fr.oaked some complex rather "international-style" nose; big ripe blackberry/boysen- berry pungent/toasty/Fr.oaked flavor; tart extracted intense boysenberry/ blackberry/Syrah strong toasty/Fr.oaked finish w/ ample tannins; needs some 3-7 yrs age; an unusual rendition of Syrah from OzLand, more an international- style wine.
Clarendon Hills Liandra Shiraz (14.5%) '97: Black color; very strong dusty/ old vines/walnutty bit volatile/perfumed/aromatic toasty/oaked strong ripe blackberry/Syrah complex nose; tart rich some walnutty/complex some gamey/ Syrah/blackberry/meaty perfumed rather lean/hard/tannic flavor; long rather tannic/walnutty/complex dusty/old vines light blackberry/Syrah/gamey finish; needs 4-8 yrs; very good but not worth the $57.00.
Veritas Winery Barossa Valley Shiraz/Mourvedre "Pressings" (13.5%) '96: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/boysenberry/cranberry/plummy modest pungent/ oaked some dusty/old vines nose; rich intense boysenberry/blackberry some dusty/old vines some toasty/pungent/oak bit bretty flavor; very long some bretty/unclean intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/gamey some dusty/old vines complex finish; great Shiraz at a good price.
Penfolds Bin 707 South Australia Cabernet Sauvignon '86: Very dark color; very intense herbal/Cab/bit vegetal dusty/earthy some pungent/oaked nose; soft lush herbal/Cab/Monterey-like some Bordeaux/herbal/earthy bit tannic flavor; long soft lush/fat rather strong herbal/Cab near veggy some Bordeaux/oaked finish; lots of character like a soft/ripe Monterey/Jekel Cab; disappointing given the price some time ago.
Lindemans Coonawarra Lime Stone Ridge Shiraz/Cabernet (80%S, 20% CS; 12.5%) '92: Dark color; beautiful complex Am.oaked/perfumed/smokey/toasty/licorice/oaked some blackberry/Syrah/chocolatey nose; soft smooth complex round pungent/smokey/ Am.oaked ripe blackberry/Syrah complex flavor; very long beautiful complex toasty/pungent/Am.oaked bit walnutty ripe blackberry/Syrah/black cherry cola finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful mature complex Aussie red.
Mitchelton Victorian Shiraz (13.0%) '90: Med.color; rather funky/Rhonish/somewhat bretty/unclean some strawberry/Syrah nose; tart bit dried-out some Rhonish/ bretty light strawberry/Syrah flavor; med.long light strawberry/Syrah rather Rhonish/bretty/unclean finish w/ light tannins; interesting red in great shape for a cheap wine at $9.00
Evans & Tate Gnangara Western Australia Shiraz (12.5%) '92: Med.color; rather dusty/walnutty some raspberry/blackberry/Syrah some complex/pungent nose; soft lush bright strawberry/Syrah complex/dusty/walnutty flavor; med.long lush strawberry/Syrah/bright rather walnutty/dusty/complex finish; pretty interesting wine.

And yet another mini-sermon from the bloody pulpit:
Grenache: I've sung the praises of this variety a number of times as a variety that can make great, world-class wines. The Aussie versions have been, to me, some of the best. These were not that bunch. Save for the Coriole LallaRookh, these were a bit on the disappointing side, especially given the prices. Nonetheless Grenache (and Syrah) is where the action's at.
Syrah & oak: Many of the first Calif Syrahs I felt were a bit on the overoaked side. The ones I like the best are the ones that are a bit more restrained in their use of oak. Sometimes the use of heavily-toasted Fr.oak gives the Syrahs a sorta ersatz-Cote-Rotie character, like the Lewis or the Arajuo or the Kongsgaard. They same a bit fakey; I'd like the terrior to speak a bit more loudly in the wine. It's all too easy to glibly dismiss many of the Oz Shirazs as being way too over-oaked (American, usually). But, to me, it represents a distinct style of wine that I've grown to know and love. And, by and large, many of them have such a fruit intensity they can support that character. Larry Archibald has the opinion that there is something in the terrior of the Aussie Shirazs that inherently gives the wine a taste & smell not unlike Am. oak. Perhaps so. I'll be sending my emmisarries (Howard & Rhoda Sherry) over there in a month or so to check this theory out (on their nickel, not mine!!). You Oz folks take care of them for me!
Overall, a bit of a disappointing tasting, given the prices. I was expecting to be blown away by some of these wines. But wasn't.