2008 Fire Gully Chardonnay (Margaret River, Sample)

This is a wine that definitely benefits from a good bit of air. The first day i tried it seemed a bit disjointed, but by the second day it came together quite nicely.

It has a varietal yet somewhat sweet chardonnay nose of grapefruit, pineapple and oak. That sense of sweetness carries through onto the palate, though is certainly not unpleasant or over the top. It drinks smoothly, with decent structure and length, along with a nice bit of butteriness. Oak is evident throughout.

My final assessment ended up being that this Chardonnay works really well as a nice quaffer. It’s never going to reach any great heights but for the next couple of years will drink very well as a casual glass of Chardonnay.

Rated:


RRP: $25
ABV: 14.5%
Website: http://www.firegully.com.au/



Red

2008 Fire Gully Shiraz Viognier (Margaret River, Sample)

The frustrating thing about this Shiraz Viognier is that it could have been a really nice wine. The 9% co fermented Viognier is actually in no way overpowering (as I actually find with much Australian Shiraz Viognier), and provides the wine with nice lifted aromas. The wine however, is ultimately marred by alcohol heat and bitterness.

The nose presents some lifted aromas of plum, cherry, chocolate oak and a touch of meatiness, however there is also a hint of the issues that are to come. If you rest the wine just on the front palate you get a sense of what a nice wine it could have been with many of the same tasty flavours presenting themselves very nicely. From the mid palate however, bitterness and a sense of heat becomes distracting and dominant. I gave the wine a couple of days to try and sort itself out, but it never did. I don’t mind bitterness in some wines and I’m certainly no alcohol wuss, but in both instances they are too dominant in this wine.

Rated:


RRP: $24
ABV: 14.5%
Website: www.firegully.com.au


Red

2008 Cape Mentelle 'Trinders' Cabernet Merlot (Margaret River)

Another 08 Cape Mentelle wine, only this time it’s the Trinders Cabernet Merlot. Same score as the Chardonnay, only this wine provides more interest and appeal at this stage. In fact, looking at the note I wrote on this wine, I could just about have used the note I wrote on the 07, which was a wine I really enjoyed as well

The nose has a bit of sex appeal with some lovely integrated French oak, blackcurrant, black olive, tobacco, and touch of eucalypt. On the palate it turns decidedly dry and savoury. Its medium bodied with some chocolate, dried herbs, and a long, slightly sour finish. All of which is supported by unobtrusive acidity and fine, powdery tannins. As with the 07 it’s beautifully poised and if cellared well, should do 10 years in a canter.

Given that this can be picked up for under $25 in many places there aren't to many classier Cabernets going around for the price . . .

Rated:


RRP: $32
ABV: 13.5%
Website: www.capementelle.com.au



Red

2008 Cape Mentelle Chardonnay (Margaret River)

This is undoubtedly a high quality Chardonnay and yet for me it lacked a little something in terms of either intensity or generosity.

A subtle nose of citrus, fig, and spice is followed by a palate that’s smooth, balanced, and with a nice line of flavour. It tastes of grapefruit, cloves and just a touch of creaminess before delivering a long finish. It’s just about a picture perfect rendition of modern Australian Chardonnay providing a sense of restraint and demonstrating a judicious use of oak. But that might be the problem as well in that it lacked a bit of personality or interest. Perhaps, however, I’m just drinking it a bit too young and time could very well be kind to it, as it undoubtedly has the balance to age well. I'll leave my other bottles of this in the cellar for at least a few more years.

Rated:


RRP: $42
ABV: 13.0%
Website: www.capementelle.com.au


Red

Juniper Estate

It wouldn’t surprise me if in a decade’s time we are talking about Juniper as one of the very top Margaret River estates . . .

On the surface of things you’d think it would already be one of the premier Margaret River wineries. It was one of the earlier vineyards planted in Margaret River, being 1973, so the vines have a nice bit of age to them. The vineyards are also in the prestigious sub-region of Wilyabrup, and its neighbours are Vasse Felix and Cullen. With this combination of age and location you’d think you might be on to a winner. Of course producing great wine is never quite so simple

The vines themselves need to be in robust health, and this was lacking when Roger Hill and Gillian Anderson bought it off the original owners in 1998. At the same time Mark Messenger came across from Cape Mentelle as the winemaker. From that time work began on restoring the vineyard including retrellising along with new plantings. Mark reckons that this work in the vineyard really started to demonstrate its worth in the 2005 vintage. 2006 was of course a bit of a tough vintage in the Margaret River (especially for reds), but then 2007 came along and this could well be the breakthrough year for Juniper.

I’ve written about the 07 Cabernet Sauvignon in a previous post - http://tinyurl.com/26bvpfv - and I was able to try it again at an excellent tasting at North Sydney Cellars, where Mark Messenger guided us through a range of Juniper wines. It was an impressive collection across both their entry level “Crossing” wines as well as their Estate wines. As well as the traditional Margaret River varieties, Juniper are doing some interesting things with both Tempranillo and Zinfandel. The only wine I wasn't such a fan of was the Sem Sav Blanc, but that might say more about my tastes than the wine itself. The highlight, however, remained the 07 Cab Sav. It just reaffirmed my view that it is one of my wines of the year thus far and the best Margaret River Cabernet I have had from the 07 vintage.

After the tasting I had the opportunity to have a good chat with Mark. He’s a lovely, modest guy, who nevertheless demonstrates a real passion for what he is doing and is very forthcoming in talking about all things wine. An interesting aspect that we discussed was the importance of the addition of 1-2% of Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot in the 07. Apparently the straight Cab Sav would have made a good wine on its own, but lacked just a little both in terms of length and complexity. It took a long time to get the blend right, but once in balance, these small amounts of Bordeaux varieties were really important in building the wine into something special.

This 07 could well be backed up by wines of similar or even greater stature in 2008 and 2009. Mark is of the opinion that these two vintages will ultimately prove to be better than the much proclaimed 2007 (interestingly while he thinks 2010 is a decent vintage, he’s of the opinion it’s certainly not a great vintage). Cabernets from 08 and 09 mightn’t initially show as well as 07 but will likely prove more classic, finely structured vintages. Specifically for the Juniper Cabernet these excellent vintages are matched by the continuing improvement of the vineyard, and as such has Mark pretty excited about the next two releases.

I’m generally too young in wine drinking years to be able to reminisce about when such and such a wine was only $7 and the like, and while $45 is no bargain basement price for the Juniper Cabernet Sauvignon, it may well look inexpensive 10 years from now . . .


Red

2007 Juniper Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River)

A long-term Margaret River Cabernet of genuine complexity.

I don’t often remark on the colour of a wine but this wine is a beautiful crimson purple. The impression the colour creates is more than backed up by what comes next. The wine delivers a complex nose that is at this stage just giving hints of what will almost surely be a magnificent bouquet with another 10 years. Over the course of two days it opened up revealing different aromas at different stages including blackcurrant, berries, chocolate, cinnamon, violets, gravel, and herbs. A lot of descriptors I know, but such is the quality and complexity of the wine.

As with the nose, the palate is yet to unfurl itself, and at this stage is more about its impeccable structure and sense of balance. There’s beautiful ripe fruit with many of the flavours listed above along with some earthiness, all of which is supported by good acidity, fine tannins, and a long savoury finish.

This is a wine that is understated and yet delivers in all areas. It should be left alone for at least another 5 years before being opened. Top shelf Margaret River Cabernet. 4.5 Stars.

Details
Rated:


RRP: $44
ABV: 14%
Website: www.juniperestate.com.au

Face-Off: Right Bank – Merlot Blends: 2007 Blue Poles Allouran, 2006 Alluviale Merlot Cabernet Franc, 2005 Chateau Corbin Montagne Saint Emilion

“No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any f#cking Merlot!”

This classic quote from the movie Sideways probably sums up the attitude of Red to Brown towards Merlot up until a couple of years ago. Given that we’d only been exposed really to entry level Australian and American Merlot, I’d say it was an understandable attitude. More recently, as we’ve had the opportunity to try some Merlot blends from Bordeaux and Hawkes Bay in NZ, we are starting to look at the variety quite differently. Of late we’ve even had a few Australian Merlots that have been impressive. As such we thought we’d put Australia, NZ, and France to the test in a Right Bank Face-Off.

Given the scarcity of Australian merlot blends we reckon we did pretty well in lining up 3 wines at similar price points and from similar vintages (both in terms of age and quality).

The Chateau Corbin was a wine I purchased in Paris for 15 Euro (about $A22) and is from the much hailed 2005 vintage in Bordeaux. Montagne Saint Emilion is a satellite district to the famed right bank commune Saint Emilion.

The Alluviale from Hawkes Bay in NZ costs $30 NZD ($A24) and 2006 is meant to be a good but not great vintage. We’d had the 2007 Alluviale previously, and it is a beautiful wine. Unfortunately we couldn’t get our hands on an ‘07 for the night, so the ’06 got the call-up.

The Blue Poles Allouran is $25 a bottle and is from the fantastic 2007 vintage in the Margaret River. Blue Poles is one of the relatively few wineries in Australia that produce Right Bank style, Merlot dominant blends.

All three wines from $20-$25 AUD and all from good to excellent vintages. We tasted them single blind, and then enjoyed them with some slow roasted Venison afterwards. So how did we go?


Wine 1 – 2006 Alluviale Merlot Cabernet Franc

Red: The wine was a vibrant crimson colour and reasonably transparent. The nose was fragrant, with red fruits, hints of cherry and plum, along with some more savoury notes. The palate was juicy, with some nice sweet fruit on the front palate before turning savoury with a hint of sourness through the finish. Some nice spice, good tannins and persistence of flavour. Decent length.

Brown: Aside from the notes above, I found a bit of inoffensive greenness on the palate, and a bit of mocha/chocolate on the back palate. A refined and elegant wine that had a very nice nose and good length.


Wine 2 – 2007 Blue Poles Allouran

Red: This had a deeper, purpler colour. A beautiful and interesting savoury nose. There was a hint of sweet, red fruit but the more prominent aroma was a lovely savoury smell which reminded of frying lightly salted mushrooms. The front of the palate is surprisingly sweet (in a good way) given the nose. It is mouth filling with nice drying tannins, and lovely hints of those savoury, mushroom flavours flowing through the long finish. A nice level of complexity to the wine and should age well. My favourite of the three.

Brown: To anyone reading this who does not like the smell or taste of mushrooms, rest easy – you will still love the 07 Allouran. Personally, I did not get the mushroom in a glass vibe from this wine (just kidding Red). Compared to the other wines, the Allouran was sweeter on the nose and palate, though only in a relative sense; this is a restrained wine and not jammy in any way. Given the blind tasting, and my relative inexperience with this blend, I assumed this could be the Bordeaux wine (cultural cringe kicking in?). Chalk that one down for experience – it was Australian and a clear favourite for me on the night.


Wine 3 – 2005 Chateau Corbin Montagne Saint Emililon

Red: A similar darker, purplish colour to the Allouran. The wine had an aromatic, sweet nose of berry fruit and oak. On the palate it was the lightest of the three wines, being also a bit dilute. It has some pleasant berry flavours and very light tannins. Ok length. A nice wine but my least favourite of the 3. Given its colour, and sweet nose of clean fruit and oak I confidently predicted that this was one of the New World wines! How wrong I was.

Brown: This is not a bad wine. However, like Dorothy finding out the Wizard of Oz was just an ordinary human, my naive wine tasting mind was (predictably?) brought back to earth with the knowledge that a true entry level Right Bank Bordeaux Red is not going to necessarily blow my socks off. Another lesson learned on the wine journey.
This was considerably more dilute than the previous wines. It had pleasant fruit on the palate, a bit of plumb and also a hint of vanilla. It finished with average intensity and was sweeter on the nose than in the mouth. If I picked this up for its French retail price, it would be a good wine. If I were to pay double the price as an imported wine I would not be happy.

Summary – A nice collection of wines and an interesting Face-Off. The Blue Poles was our favourite being the most enjoyable, complex, and cellar-worthy. It was also the only wine to provide a bit of Face-Off controversy, with Brown finding the nose to be more sweet-fruited compared to the others (while still acknowledging the savoury notes), while I thought the nose was predominantly savoury (while still acknowledging the sweet fruit). One interesting thing was how well all three wines performed as food wines. They all complemented the food and a wine like the Chateau Corbin gained extra appeal in this context.

In a Merlot blend Face-Off in which we pitted an Australian wine against a Hawkes Bay and a Bordeaux I wouldn’t have expected the Australian wine to show itself to be the most savoury and complex of the wines. A great achievement from Blue Poles, and hopefully more wineries in Australia follow their lead; firstly, by taking Merlot seriously, and secondly by blending Merlot with Cab Franc and Cab Sav as they do with the great wines of the Right Bank in Bordeaux.

Brown: All I have to add is that it is promising to try two new world wines based on Merlot that were superior to their equivalent French cousin. There is a long way to go, though the regions (Hawkes Bay) and wineries (Blue Poles) focusing on this style are already showing signs of success. An interesting and educational tasting. Thanks to Red for providing the slow roasted venison, which complemented the wine nicely.

2007 Cape Mentelle Trinders – Cabernet Merlot - $22 . . . proudly sponsored by Katie

This wine has been very positively reviewed by wine critics and on some other blogs. I’m here to add my voice to the chorus of praise.

Balanced. That’s what I kept thinking while drinking it. Every element of the wine seems to be in perfect balance and harmony with each other. It smells like a Margaret River Cabernet with dusty, gravelly berry fruits along with a hint of olive. The most noticeable thing about this wine is its beautiful structure. The flavours of the wine course evenly down the palate in a tight, direct line with excellent length. It tastes of dark berry fruits, herbs, a hint of chocolate, and finishes with some slightly sour notes. It has some very gentle, powdery tannin, and with the wonderful structure and balance of the wine it should ensure that it ages beautifully over the next 10 years. On the first night I tried it, despite its obvious quality, it lacked a pure enjoyment factor, but on the second night it really came together, indicating that it will really be singing with a few years in the cellar.

Red

Red to Brown Face-Off – New Year’s Eve – 2007 Voyager Chardonnay, 2007 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008 Collector Marked Tree Shiraz

Our New Years Eve planning was a bit of a schmozzle (a very long story), but the fall back option saw Brown, myself and our better halves at my place for the evening. As it ended up being a night of yummy food, great wine, and plenty of laughs it all turned out well. To the wines . . .


2007 Voyager Chardonnay – $40 - Red - This is a wine that has all the components to become a wonderful chardonnay, but needs a couple more years before it hits its straps. A classic chardonnay nose of grapefruit, creaminess and spicy oak. On the palate it’s powerful, yet well structured and balanced. The flavours are savoury with a further touch of grapefruit. A few more years and it should be singing.


Brown – I cannot really add more to the assessment by Red other than to say this is a wonderful wine that smells and tastes like the modern expression of Chardonnay I am very happy to see being produced in WA, Victoria, Adelaide Hills and beyond. Nice balance of new and old oak and as mentioned, a wine with several years ahead of it (with a drinking date dependent on how you like your Chardonnay).

2007 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon – $35 - Red - This was my wine of the night. I’d tried it at a tasting previously - http://redtobrownwinereview.blogspot.com/2009/12/margaret-river-tasting.html - and this just reaffirmed my impressions. If you wanted to know what a Margaret River Cabernet smells like then you could do worse than smell this wine. Blackcurrant, violets, gravel, and a hint of chocolate combine to make this a beautiful smelling cabernet. The palate completes the promise of the nose. It has beautiful fruit, chocolate, a nice bit of minerality, and fine tannins, all of which are in balance, and suggests that this wine will age gracefully. Loved drinking this.

Brown – The Vasse Felix is wonderful value for money. I would put it in the upper echelon for reliable (easily obtainable in NSW) Margaret River Cabernets under $40. I agree that this wine had the archetypal Margaret River nose, with floral aromas and dusty notes. The balance and structure are typical of the 2007 Margaret River Cabernets I have had so far (not enough!), and I would assume this wine would last a decade in the cellar. A great wine to have with our main meal.

2008 Collector Marked Tree Shiraz – $25 - Red - While you would expect a Shiraz from Canberra to smell and taste different from a Cab Sav from Margaret River, it was still remarkable to me just how completely different the two wines were from each other. I would love to put these two wines in front of any naysayer when it comes to Australian wine, and then ask them to still argue that Aussie wine doesn’t express terroir and instead is industrial, over-oaked, and too alcoholic.

On the nose the wine reminds me a bit of other Canberra wines I have had, though also reminds me even more of a Rhone Valley Syrah. It’s got a touch of those pongy aromas that French syrah often has, along with some meaty/gamey aromas, and some spice. On the palate it is mouth filling, largely savoury in its flavours, with some pepper. Good length and I’ll definitely be interested to see how this wine develops and what secondary characteristics come through. Very nice drop.

Brown – Collector has picked up a few gongs (09 Penguin Guide best new winery) and receives justifiably impressive scores from respected reviewers, so stating that this wine was delicious is hardly a scoop. What I love about this winery is its range – 2 styles of Shiraz – the Marked Tree and the Reserve. We both have a few bottles of each in the cellar and this is the first Red and I tried.

For me the wine was medium bodied, though not lacking intensity. On the palate it had largely red fruit with the typical Canberra region spice and pepper (though not as intense as with other wines, in a good way). I agree this wine had the funkyness and gamey nose that Red refers to, and this gave the wine a uniqueness that I appreciated. As the label on the back of the bottle says – drink now or cellar for 10 years. I will be having an each way bet with the two bottles of this wine I have at home :- )

Summary - No real disagreements between the two of us on these three wines. The Collector shiraz provided a point of difference, but we both enjoyed and appreciated this. Three great wines that can be picked up for between $25-$35!

Margaret River Tasting

I went to a WA wine tasting the other night through work. The tasting was quality rather than quantity and was one of the best tastings I've been to this year.

The first tasting were the chardonnays which was the 06 Voyager and the 07 Moss Wood. It was a great comparison as the Moss Wood represents the best of the old school chardonnay being matured in 100% new oak and receiving 100% malolactic fermentation. The Voyager on the other hand represents the best of the new, being 50% new oak and only 15% malo. The Moss Wood really is dominated by oak, with that oily, butteriness being the lasting impression. Not to say it's not enjoyable, because it was definitely was, and there is some really good fruit supporting it. Reckon Moss Wood should stay with this style, as most other top chardonnays have moved toward being much less worked. It's great to still have a quality representative of the strongly oaked chardonnay. The Voyager's difference is immediately obvious from the lighter colour. It's a cooler, tighter wine with a much finer structure. Grapefruit, well integrated oak, and the occasional whiff of struck matchstick. Its long and you'd reckon it will age really well. Really enjoyed both, but personally preferred the Voyager.

What was fascinating was that the group I was tasting with, preferred the Moss Wood overall! Interesting result given the average punter's supposed preference for your crisper sav blanc style white. Most of the people there liked their wine but not many of them were especially knowledgeable about wine. Proves to me that a lot of the dislike of chardonnay is fashion and image, rather than taste. When presented with two chardonnays their preference was for the oakier, more buttery chardonnay. Call it Pinot Grigio and it would sell like hotcakes!

We then tried two Pinot Noirs. A 2007 Picardy Pinot from Pemberton and the 2007 Moss Wood Pinot. The Moss Wood was a pretty good result for a Margaret River Pinot, but was a touch confectionary and flabby, and highlights how certain varieties ultimately don't work with certain regions. The Picardy on the other hand was a really nice pinot that had a beautiful nose of red fruits and a very nice, tight structure. Some nice tannins for a Pinot and good length. Will definitely age. Had never had a Pemberton, let alone a Picardy Pinot, but I reckon it's a region/variety combination I might start looking out for.

We then moved onto the cabernets, and the two on offer were the 07 Vasse Felix Cab Sav, and the 04 Voyager Cab Merlot. I've been lucky enough to try the Voyager a few times previously and each time it's been beautiful. This tasting was no different. It will age very well but it is already drinking beautifully. In the best way it has some sweetness to it, with some chocolate notes. Long with understated tannins. Would love to see what this wine is like in 10 years time. The interesting thing was that the Vasse Felix sitting next to it lost nothing to the Voyager (in my opinion anyway). Just a straight cab sav so it gave me more classic MR 'gravel' love on the nose than did the Voyager, and had more noticeable structure and tannins. Quality fruit and had some minerality to it as well. Reckon it has at least 10 years of ageing in front of it, and possibly a lot longer. Both were beautiful Margaret River Cabernets, but were also distinctly different.

Margaret River is close to being my favourite wine region in Australia, and this tasting did nothing to undermine that view.



Red

Red to Brown 'Face-Off' : Shiraz Blind Tasting - 07 Shaw & Smith, 07 Cape Mentelle, 07 Tyrrells Stevens, 06 Heathcote Estate

This is the first of what will hopefully be a steady stream of 'face-offs' from Red to Brown involving wines we have both tasted. It is hoped that in future months some more blind tastings with approproiate food matchings will be posted, including an Australian vs New Zealand Pinot Noir and Multi-regional Cabernet Sauvignon tastings.

(Red) Brown, myself, and our better halves had a dinner the other night where we kicked things off with a blind tasting of four Shiraz from four different states – NSW, Vic, SA, and WA. We'd each brought two of the wines, mine from NSW and SA, and Brown's from Vic and WA, so we knew the identity of two of the wines in the line up, but were clueless as to the other two.

Wine 1 (2007 Shaw and Smith Shiraz) – (Red) - Beautiful aromatic nose of berries and French oak. On the palette the wine had a great mouth feel, with good length and nice tannins. Berries and a pleasing bit of spice. First up wine and I loved it. Correctly picked this as the Shaw and Smith (my only correct pick of the night!!)
(Brown) - On the nose I picked up the strong scent of French oak (perfumed, not over-done), along with some vanilla and a hint of spice and pepper. This wine had by far the strongest nose of the 4 out of the bottle. On the palette it had typical black and red fruit, a hint of pepper and some sour notes (in a good way). It was medium bodied with very good length and a tight structure, finishing smooth with perfectly ripe fruit. Knowing Red was bringing SA and NSW wine, the spice and use of French oak (and the fact it was obviously not from the more familiar Barossa, Mclarenvale or Clare Valley) made me assume it was a newer style Coonawarra Shiraz (Ba-bow! wrong). The other half gushed about this wine, and it was the consensus pick for the night.

Wine 2 (2007 Cape Mentelle Shiraz) – (Red) - As we were to discover this wine needed a good decant. There was virtually no nose at all at this stage, maybe a bit of French oak. On the palette the distinguishing feature were the pepper notes to match the berry fruit. Decent length and stronger tannins than the Shaw and Smith. Had no idea where it was from, but the given the pepper I figured it was one of Brown's wines
(Brown) - Classic example of why decanting is good for even young wines, why this wine deserves its universally high rating, and why it will also age wonderfully. Even factoring in my terrible sense of smell, the Cape Mentelle had no nose when first opened. You had to work the wine like a rusted FJ Holden to get some life out of it initially (eg minutes after opening). My notes highlighted the subdued nose, which had sweet hints. The tannins were powdery and fine, it had structure, even if the fruit had not yet opened up to flesh out the wine. There was no obvious new oak. I assumed this could have been the Cape Mentelle, without really having much of an idea (had not tried that many south Margaret River Shiraz). As it turned out, this wine really opened up during the night and on the next day. So much so that by Sunday night it was very nice – the pepper had peaked on Saturday night, and though it was still there, the fruit had come out and the overall package was a very nice, fruity, fully flavoured, yet elegant wine.

Wine 3 (2007 Tyrrells Stevens Shiraz) – (Red) A bit of earth, sour cherry, and well integrated oak. Medium bodied, with good length, gentle tannins, and a hint of spice. Very nice wine. Reading my own notes it's amazing that I didn't pick it as a Hunter (especially given that I'd bought the wine!!!). My two poor excuses are firstly the touch of spice on the palette got me thinking about WA and Vic, and secondly while tasting the wine I had one of those absent minded swirling the wine moments where I swirled just a bit too vigorously and spilled the wine all over myself!!!
(Brown) - Having survived Red spilling wine on himself (at the end of a boozy night maybe, but after 2 small tastes, quite amusing :-) ), I noted that the wine was an almost blackish red (contrasting with the other two). On the nose there was aniseed/fennel, spice (cloves). In the mouth it was savoury and meaty, yet juicy and medium-full bodied. It finished with a bang of (non-fruit bomb) ripe juicy fruit and had admirable length and intensity. I successfully picked this as a Hunter Valley Shiraz (the only wine I can lay claim to confidently outing!) – the taste of the previous two wines, the odds of one of the last two being the Heathcoate and the meatyness to this one swung it for me. The Stevens shows that though a modern Hunter Shiraz can stay true to the traditional style (earthyness, meatyness) yet also have secondary characteristics like spice and nice, juicy fruit.

Wine 4 (2006 Heathcote Estate Shiraz) (Red) – Blackberry, sour cherry, a hint of a pepper and chocolate. Reasonably savoury and not quite full bodied. Good tannins though less well structured than the previous three wines. Given that I had (incorrectly) deduced that none of the previous three wines were the Stevens shiraz, I let myself be convinced that the cherry notes in the wine, as well as its bit of savouriness, indicated it was a Hunter. It certainly wasn't an obvious Heathcote, but once again reading my notes it definitely wasn't a Hunter!!!
(Brown) - This wine had an elegant nose, with coconut scented French oak evident, yet not overpowering . Given that we made notes in silence, I concurred with Red that sour cherry was on the palette (having not identified sour cherry in the previous wines). Once again there was a hint of aniseed and spice, though with stronger, almost syrupy black fruit underpinning the wine. The Heathcote Estate had decent intensity, and drying, pleasant tannin. I picked up an almost citrus tinge at the end, possibly due to higher than usual acid.

(Red) - Very enjoyable tasting. Following the tasting, we then proceeded to drink the wines over the course of the evening while eating a leg of wild boar. The Shaw & Smith was my favourite wine during the tasting and remained my favourite throughout the evening. The Cape Mentelle really opened up. The pepper remained, but berry fruit and liquorice started to come through. Beautiful medium-bodied wine. The Stevens was a wine of real character, and I'd love to drink it in 10 years time to see how it had evolved. Given the quality of the other three, the Heathcote Estate was probably my least favourite. If I'd drunk it on its own, I reckon I would have really enjoyed it and talked it up (it is a very nice wine), but against the other three it seemed just a very slight step down.
Overall, I think it was a good snapshot of where a lot of quality Australian Shiraz is heading. The wines were all closer to medium bodied rather than full-bodied, the highest level of alcohol was the Heathcote at 14.5%, and the use of oak was French and reasonably subtle. All four wines could be cellared for at least 10 years and possibly a lot longer.

(Brown) - I concur with Red, very strong group of affordable reds, underlining the fact that Shiraz is Australia’s signature grape (whether you love it or loathe it), that the different states and wine regions can produce diverse styles and that with trend towards Pinot and lighter styles of wine, Shiraz is amazing value for money.
For me the Shaw and Smith was the most instantly appealing wine, followed by the Tyrrell’s. Both will age for a decade or more. I agree that the Heathcote Estate wine came last, though was not disgraced – it is a quality drop, if a little atypical of some of the bigger, bolder Heathcotes out there. Based on my tasting of it the following evening, I doubt it will develop greatly over time, but will retain its primary characteristics. In my opinion, the Cape Mentelle will evolve into the nicest wine of the 4. As the night went on, and especially on the following evening, the Cape Mentelle developed more fruit flavour and complexity. It will hopefully age gracefully in the years to come.

*Compliments must go to the Chef (Red) who sourced a delicious leg of wild boar – the meat was perfectly matched to the wine – wonderful!