A tasting I never miss, if purely for the opportunity to try some of the best from NZ and South Africa all in one spot. The premise here is to hold a wine competition that pits a selection of the best Australian wines versus their equivalents from SA & NZ. The range of wines invited are picked by industry doyens (Fridjohn, Campbell & Hooke respectively) and thus the standard is very high indeed (just check the very high average score!).
If your interested, check out the Tri Nations website for more information www.trinationswine.com and don’t miss checking out the list of wines invited. Sadly, infuriatingly, most wines were already gone within 15 minutes of the tasting opening, so I missed out on some of the most popular labels. yet I at least got around to a few interesting examples.
Oh and this tasting was done at speed, standing up and non blind. Apologies for the slightly random ordering and stunted notes.
White Wines
Vergelegen Stellenbosch White 2007
Semillon dominant white Bordeaux blend. Nose of honey & smoky oak to the quite developed nose. In a transitional period – better a year ago as a fresher wine or in another yr or two as a more complexed age style. 16.8/89
De Morgenzon Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc 2007
Sweaty lemon & citrus nose, backed by a lemon peal & citrus acidity palate. Really nice wine but just lacking a little follow through. 17.0/89
Ata Rangi Craighall Martinborough Chardonnay 2007
Rich peach nose, with plenty of mealy oak. Big & full, rounded & ripe palate that turns quite tropical through the back. Lots to chew on, if just a little hot. Good stuff. 18/92
Kumeu River Mates Kumeu Chardonnay 2007
Full, sawduty oak nose, with very dry, acid driven palate that is citrussy, long if slightly un-generous. All potential at the moment. 17.5/91+
De Bortoli Reserve Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2008
Lots of solids on lean, grapefruit & white peach nose. Very refined & grown up palate. Lots of acidity and restraint here, just needing more bottle time. 18/93+
Howard Park Great Souther/Margaret River Chardonnay 2007
Surprising bubblegum nose with plenty of ripe fruit on offer. Quite opulent and ripe, chunky palate. I like the fullness, yet in the wash it’s just a little blunt. Prefer the 06. 17.3/91
Shaw & Smith M3 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2008
A much bigger wine this vintage. Vanilla, banana & fruit loop ripe fruit. Creamy & very rich, but just a little hot for my tastes. 17.2/91
Neudorf Moutere Nelson Chardonnay 2007
Almost breathtaking. Almost. Classic nuts & creamy Neudorf style, with beautiful richness and beautiful mid palate texture. But, very late on the palate comes the hessian. It could be an old oak character, it could be brett, but whatever it is it stops this from becoming a glorious wine. The highish score reflects the 90% of glory. 17.5/91
Vinoptima Gisborne Gewurtztraminer 2006
Crazy rich, fat, hugely ripe nose. Lovely fruit weight on the palate, but everything is tainted by some late palate heat. Still so much to like. 17.3/91
La Motte Pierneef Franschhoek Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Big, sweaty nose. Smoky, weighty and almost agressively intense palate. Caricature but with excellent intensity. 18/93
Tokara Stellenbosch Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2007
Perfectly varietal, crisp and delineated nose. Cleverly underjudged oak on complex, texture-meets-freshness palate. Delicious. 18.5/94
Reds
Martinborough Estate Pinot Noir 2007
Utterly full throttle style but with real pinosity. It’s perhaps a tad too rich & ripe through the back end, but a great vintage for this label. Really very good. 18.3/94
Cape Chamonix Reserve Franschhoek Valley Pinot Noir 2007
Volatile, ripe-ish nose, palate is tight & well packed with much to come. Nuanced & stylish palate. Quite tannic. Real length and style here. Excellent modern Pinot. 17.7/93+
Foxeys Hangout Reserve Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2007
Nicely varietal with sweet red cherry fruit & real pinosity. Good length too. Really quite delicious Mornington Pinot. 18.3/94
Clemens Hill Coal Valley Pinot Noir 2007
Sap, eucalypt & oak style that is quite extractive and somewhat leafy. Powerful, if a tad gruff, but potential plus. 17.5/92++
Penfolds Cellar Reserve Barossa Sangiovese 2007
Dominant Penfolds oak & obviously very young, with a lovely berry nose. Probably not terribly varietal but certainly interesting. 17.2/91
Marchand & Burch Great Southern Pinot Noir 2007
The second time I’ve tried this and I’m still unconvinced. Very ripe nose announces that this is more dry red than Pinot, with a sappy, heavily extracted palate of quite overripe fruit. The intensity is good, but it’s just not convincing enough, given the $65 pricetag. 16.5/89
Meerlust Stellenbosch Pinot Noir 2006
Spicy, bacon bits & redcurrant nose. Smoky, dry & offensively gamy palate. No. One of a few stinky & questionably ripe SA Pinots. 14.5/81
Oakridge Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2008
Tight nose that is quite backward given the vintage. Texture is sexy smooth and deliciously ripe though. Great stuff. 17.8/93+
Hamilton Russell Hemel-en-Aarde Valley Pinot Noir 2007
Stinky, bacon bits & undergrowth on a tough, meaty brackish palate. Not my style of Pinot at all. 15/83
Dog Point Marlborough Pinot Noir 2006
Lovely opulent raspberry/mulberry nose, leading to a super smooth, up front and perfect palate of classic Marlborough sexy style. Simply delicious. 18.6/95
Kusuda Martinborough Syrah 2007
A bit of slimy ham but seems ripe enough. Quite attractive salami & white pepper nose with dominant vanillan oak. Palate a bizzarre black jube and pine tar mish-mash with sharp edges. Disjointed. No. 15/83
Spinifex Esprit Barossa MGS 2006
Gummy, oaky, confected fruit nose. Nicely textured and interesting palate but late acidity is derailing. Finish falls away too. 16.8/88
La Motte Pierneef Franschhoek Shiraz Viognier 2007
Pretty, skinsy, wannabe rhonish, cool climate shirognier nose, saved by a delicious, sexy time textural gift of sweet red fruit. Nice stuff. 17.5/92
Craggy Range Le Sol Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2007
Deep, polished and very modern. Oak and fruit fighting each other, with choc/formic/expensive oak winning at present, but certainly well built and solid behind that timber. Brutish structure suggests more to come. Watch this space. The first time I have really enjoyed this wine. 17.8/93++
Spinifex Barossa Shiraz Viognier 2006
Struggling with these Spinifex reds. Red fruited style with a confected edge and very simple gummy fruit. Surprisingly minty edge to the palate with uneven ripeness throughout. Not a fan. 15/82
John Duval Entity Barossa Shiraz 2006
Quite brilliant. Crammed with super expensive oak, but in a finely integrated style. Grange like formic/VA/plush nose. Rich and cosseting in its fruit intensity. Delicious, winning Shiraz. 18.5/94
Church Road Reserve Hawkes Bay Syrah 2007
Slightly hammy nose, big palate, hard acid & very dry back end. A tad disjointed at present, though certainly lots of potential. 16.8/89++
Charles Melton Nine Popes Barossa GSM 2006
Tight & oaky nose, all redcurrant and licorice. Oak dominated palate is very attractive & textural, but struggling under the weight of timber. I’m scoring this well as it seems like good stuff underneath all the oak. 17.5/91++
Meerlust Rubicon Stellenbosch Red Blend 2005
Just ripe. Teetering on the brink though. Herbal, black fruit nose. Powerful, if smoky and undergrowth edged palate with a creamy oak sheen. Interesting, if a little tough to love. 17/90
Wolf Blass Black Label South Australian Cabernet Shiraz 2005
Masses of malted choc mint fruit and oak. Hugely oaky and an absolute caricature, though not without appeal, if for the intensity alone. Dud acid on the back palate. Ok to good. 17.0/90
Spinifex DRS Barossa Durif 2006
Bitumen and stewed fruit. Lots of it. A big, almost limitless wine of absolute fruit depth and power. Just a little hard to drink, but interesting nonetheless. 17.2/90
Rustenberg John X Merriman Stellenbosch Cabernet blend 2006
Straddling the ripeness fence, this is lean & leafy in the very dry Stellenbosch style. with a very dry and acidic palate. Just a bit hard, if clearly too young. 16.7/89+
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Reserve Cabernet Merlot 2007
Very big, if polished style with just mountains of hidden power. Lovely structure and style. Lots to like. 18/93+
Vergelegen V Stellenbosch Cabernet Merlot 2005
Black fruit, tobacco & leaf mulch. Lean, but perfectly so. Smoky, long and intriguing palate. Spicy, interesting and plain delicious classic South African Bordeaux blend. 18.5/94
Meerlust Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Leafy. High tolerance for the tobacco leaf Cabernet style (which I find distinctive and interesting) required but it’s so clearly delineated and varietal that you can’t help but like it. Palate surprisingly ripe, almost caramelised even. Really like this. 18/93
Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Much riper and tighter after the Meerlust this felt just bottled (and thus difficult to rate). Clean, ripe and quite promising though. 17/90++
KWV Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Sweet and ripe, perfumed and aromatically appealing. Palate starts well and then comes to a grinding halt with a wall of unripe tannins. No. 15/83
Dessert Wines
Framingham Marlborough Botrytis Riesling 2008
Clean nose shows no sign of botrytis and promises much. Palate similarly starts well but falls away through the finish. Quite drinkable regardless. 17/90
Delatite Catherine Victorian High Country Late Picked Gewurtztraminer 2008
Where have you been Catherine? Lovely stuff. Pure & fresh nose. So fresh and clean! Lively, spicy and plain refreshing palate. Extremely stylish and more-ish late picked style. Wonderful. 18.5/94
Pegasus Bay Encore Waipara Riesling 2007
Really rich, tropical and unctuous. Yet balanced out by wonderful acidity. Apricotty and obviously very ripe but quite refreshing. Good stuff. 17.8/93
Paul Cluver Weisser Noble Late Harvest Elgin Riesling 2008
Heavy, golden syrup & with a real botrytis stink. Intensely, marmalade jame palate of huge intensity. Just a little too much for high marks. 17/90
Forrest Estate Marlborough Botrytis Riesling 2008
Unsurprisingly top quality. Big, rich, late harvest Riesling nose and apricotty palate saved by long acidity. Really well built and plain delicious. 17.8/92
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Comment
I'm really interested to see someone with the same reaction to the Craggy Le Sol as myself. I've always felt that the Craggy wines have so much carpentry that they loose something in the process. Lots to like but a hankering for something a little more organic. It's most obvious when you try the Central Otago Pinot that 3 winemakers made in 07. Bannockburn under the Craggy label, Felton Road and Pyramid Valley.