2009 Cullen Kevin John Chardonnay (Margaret River)

Drinking this wine left me with a feeling of being unfulfilled.

To explain, Cullen’s Kevin John Chardonnay has been one of Australia’s most lauded Chardonnays over the past few years. Almost without fail, reviews from critics are glowing and scores are very high. Given the wonderful quality of Australian Chardonnay generally this is no mean feat.

This wine is also aiming high, being one of Australia’s most expensive Chardonnays at an RRP of $105 a bottle.

Finally 2009 was for most producers a fantastic vintage in the Margaret River. Cullen winemaker, Vanya Cullen, has labelled it the “Mozart vintage” with all the white and red wines being in perfect harmony and balance.

So when it came time to celebrate my recent completion of my Masters degree, and the meal was going to be a chicken dish, this was the wine I decided that I wanted to splurge on. Given the price, the reputation, and vintage, I hoped the wine would give me one of those wonderful wine vinous experiences.

The wine starts off with tropical, pineapple aromas that soon blow off to reveal a classic Chardonnay nose that’s mealy, nutty, and creamy along with strong grapefruit notes. There is complexity here no question. The palate finds a lovely balance between the generosity of its beautiful fruit and a refined line of flavour, and pushes through to a long, savoury finish. Lovely acidity and a nice bit of texture complete an impressive wine. The one issue I had was that the spicy oak seemed to sit somewhat apart from the fruit on the back palate, though I can see this integrating with time.

I drank it over two days. I decanted it. I drank it both slightly chilled and also at room temperature. I tried to do the wine justice. In the end, the impression I came away with is that this is a quality Chardonnay in need of some more time to come together. Unfortunately, however, at no point over the two days did it surge to greatness or give me that “wow” moment.

The time that this wine will spend in people’s cellars may well make a fool of this tasting note and score, but for mine this 09 Kevin John Chardonnay is a fraction off the greatness that the combination of price, reputation, and vintage implies. A very good wine but I wanted more. 4 stars +

Rated:
+

RRP: $105
ABV: 13.5%
Website: http://www.cullenwines.com.au/


Red

Face-Off - 1998 Tarrawarra Pinot Noir (Yarra Valley)

Introduction (Red): The ageability of Australian Pinot Noir is something that continues to impress me, and I think it’s only a story that’s going to build as an increasing number of our Pinots sail into their second and even third decades.

My first experience with aged Tarrawarra Pinot Noir was the 2001, which I had earlier in the year at a Tarrawarra dinner hosted in Sydney, and in amongst some fantastic competition it was my wine of the night. It was a seductive Pinot right in the groove with plenty of years in front of it.

Red: The 1998 is perhaps not quite at the level of the 2001, but is still a very good wine and drinking very well at 13 years of age. Funnily enough it reminded me a bit of aged Hunter Shiraz, or put another way, it reminded me that aged Hunter Shiraz starts to look like Pinot.

A lovely aged nose of cherry, pot pourri, caramel oak, and leather. It still has some lovely fruit on the front palate, but then very quickly moves to more secondary notes including earth, tobacco, and sour cherry. It’s finishes with good length and there’s still some fine tannin in support. It’s eminently drinkable and fantastic with food. It could be cellared for a few more years, but I think it’s more or less at its aged peak now.

Brown: I echo Red's comments about the 2001 Tarrawarra Pinot - it was a standout wine on the night of the tasting. Given our mutual enthusiasm for that wine, I was interested to see how the 1998 compared.

Bottle variation may have been at play with my sample, but I did not pick up the same level of fruit on the palate. The nose of the wine I tasted was quite complex, and a definite strength: Primary fruit had given way to somewhat aged characteristics, including wild mushroom, moist earth/soil, forest floor, with a subtle liqueur cherry scent.
On the front palate and to a lesser extent, the mid palate, there was some nice black cherry, all spice, leather and earthiness. The back palate was a bit disjointed, with slightly astringent acidity and possibly alcohol heat at the finish.

Given how alluring the nose of this wine was, I would suggest for this particular bottle it may have been at its peak a few years earlier when the fruit would be more prominent/ in balance at the finish. Still, it settled down with more air, and was a solid wine.

Closing Comments (Brown)  It is promising that Tarrawarra wine maker Clare Halloran managed to produce a Pinot that has survived 13 years (when many of its vintage/era could have fallen over after 4 years). The quality of the 2001 Tarrawarra adds further weight to the opening introduction from Red about the increasing age-worthiness of Australian Pinot. While I would be surprised to see an Australian Pinot emphatically reach its 30^th year, I find it increasingly difficult to rule it out based on this teenager from 1998.

2008 Juniper Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River)

I’ve written previously how I think Juniper Estate is moving into the upper echelon of Margaret River Cabernet, and that at $45, recent vintages of this wine will come to be viewed as relative bargains given time - http://redtobrownwinereview.blogspot.com/2010/10/juniper-estate.html

A bottle of the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon I had over a few days just reinforced this view. A blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2.5% Malbec, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 1.5% Petit Verdot that spent 18 months in French Oak, 50% of which was new.

Within the context of Margaret River Cabernet, this is medium bodied and elegant. It’s a beautifully structured wine that is keeping its cards close to its chest at the moment, but the latent complexity is there. Over 3 days it revealed flavours of blackcurrant, chocolate oak, spice, pencil shavings, gravel, tobacco, and earth. These flavours are moulded by fine, yet mouth filling tannins, and a lovely acidity. The wine stretched out over time to provide a wonderfully persistent and savoury finish. If I can resist I’ll wait until 2018 before opening my next bottle. 4.5 Stars

Rated:


RRP: $45
ABV: 14.5%
Website: http://www.juniperestate.com.au/


Red

2009 Pattes Loup Chablis 1er Cru Montmains

Pattes Loup, which was only established in 2005, is getting a lot of positive press in the world of Chablis, with Antonio Galloni having this to say this about the winery – “Simply put, these are some of the most groundbreaking, intensely captivating wines being made in Chablis today”.

Montmains is a south-east facing Premier Cru site in Chablis. The soils are composed of light, sandy topsoil with the Kimmeridgian (limestone-rich) subsoil that defines Chablis more generally. Apparently this Premier Cru also has a unique micro-climate, though as much as this unique microclimate is referenced with Montmains I’m yet to read anything that discusses what this micro-climate is or what impact it has on Chablis from this site. Any thoughts or comments on this point would be appreciated.

It’s a slightly fuller, richer Chablis than I might have expected, though this is probably a product of the 09 vintage. The thing that stands out however, is the wine's length. From go to woe, it never wavers, and has fantastic persistence. Lovely flavours of lime and peach are matched with some spice and floral notes, and all underpinned by that classic chalky minerality which is typical of Chablis. The balance and length suggests that this will age nicely, but the richness of flavour makes it’s pretty approachable now as well. Very nice wine. 4 stars.






Rated:


ABV: 12.5%
RRP: $60
Importer: www.eurocentric.com.au
Website: www.pattes-loup.com


Red