WTN - Three Days of Wines

A friend kindly invited me and a fellow winefanatic over for dinner this weekend. Four great wines were poured!

2005 Walter Hansel Winery Chardonnay Cahill Lane
This seemed to be in the buttery, oaky CA chardonnay style, but a very balanced version of this type; that is, while there was mainly butter on the nose, the full-bodied palate had lots of fruit and acidity together with the buttery and nutty elements. I'm not usually a big fan of this style, but I thought this was a great wine. (A-)

It was a great match with the 2004 Mer & Soleil Chardonnay, which was more on the minerally side. A real blast of fruit, in a nice way, with lots of apricot on the nose and a blast of tropical fruits on the full-bodied palate. I liked this a tiny bit better than the previous chard, but both were great (A-).

Next up was a 1999 Carmen Gold Reserve, the top wine from this Chilean producer. Even though this was 9 years old, it's best years are still ahead. It took some time to open up, but it was a very tasty cabernet, with concentrated blackcurrent and earthy flavours. Another greaty wine (A-).

Kipper also opened up a 2002 Amon Ra McLaren Vale. The only time a McLaren Vale Amon Ra was made. This was a very elegant wine, with a wonderful balance of red fruits, good structure, and a long finish. This was a great Oz shiraz (A-).

Earlier, to thank the same two guys for their help in moving my stuff, I opened up a few bottles, but these weren't quite as successful, unfortunately.

2004 Wither Hills Pinot Noir - New Zealand, South Island, Marlborough (8/29/2008)
Didn't take notes, but this was a very nice pinot in the Old World style (a good thing in my books). Lovely nose, and classic pinot flavours of earthy cherries, sous bois, and mushrooms. Elegant wine, and a nice surprise. (A-)

2005 Herman Story Syrah Larner Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County (9/1/2008)
Very disappointing, given the many positive reviews. I thought it was very flabby, slightly sweet, so like a bad Oz version of a shiraz. Not horrible, just not at all my style, at least for this bottle. Lacked any sense of place, too ripe, no structure. Blah. (B)

1998 Katnook Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (8/29/2008)
Not as impressed as I would have liked, though it was a solid wine. This wine had a pretty strong green profile that sometimes happens in Coonawarra (and underripe cabs in general). It was a little off-putting for me, though it wasn't an extreme vesrion. Nice balance otherwise, I'd be tempted to drink up. (B+)

2004 Mitolo Shiraz G.A.M. - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (8/29/2008)
Hazy notes. Much better than a previous bottle. No blueberry milkshake here; this wine has serious structure. Very concentrated stuff, but not OTT. Can't remember the flavour profile, as it was rather late in the evening! But the wine shone quite easily, and it was quite enjoyable. (A-)

[i]It was a great match with the 2004 Mer & Soleil Chardonnay, which was more on the minerally side. A real blast of fruit, in a nice way, with lots of apricot on the nose and a blast of tropical fruits on the full-bodied palate. I liked this a tiny bit better than the previous chard, but both were great (A-).

Sounds like a Chardonnay one might consider for this months Wine Focus!

I'm not usually a big fan of CA chardonnay, but these two wines - especially the Mer Soleil - were excellent. Not sure how many of the 2004s are still around for a group tasting, though...

John
Yes, was also disappointed by the bottle of the Katnook we had a couple of months ago.

On release it was really impressive with bright bold fruit. Perhaps a little 'hedonistic'.

I took the alternate view, that if I wasn't going to enjoy cracking the final bottle now, I might as well wait a good few years to see what would happen.

regards

Ian

[Jenise]

John, reading your notes caused me to go back to my notes from an Australian road trip. We were travelling through when the '98's were coming out, and I remembered disliking the Katnook line across the board. Didn't remember them as 'green'--in fact, the opposite. And my notes bear that out: every single red wine is described as "overripe, jammy" or "overripe, bug spray". Can't for the life me imagine how any of those wines presents as 'green' today!

Interesting...there was definitely nothing jammy or overripe here. It could have used some more fruit, for sure!

Maybe it was just over the hill? 10 years isn't usually a problem in Coonawarra, and 1998 was a great vintage, and it was my last bottle, so I'll never know for sure!

[Jenise]

Interesting...there was definitely nothing jammy or overripe here.

Yeah, I could tell! Might have just been a phase they were going through? I gave every one of their reds D's (I rate letter grades when on the road for a fast comparison) except for one B- which went to a Shiraz. That said, one of the 98 Katnooks showed up at one of Bill's lunches not long ago and I liked it quite a bit. Don't remember it as overly green though, in fact I don't remember even getting right away that it was Ozzie. I'll dig up that note, hang on.

[Jenise]

Okay, my bad, it was an 01, not a 98, so it offers no insight to what made your wine as it was. But it was a great Katnook: 2001 Katnook Estate Odyssey – Instantly identifiable as new world cabernet, though which part of the new world was in question. When Napa failed to get a yes, Australia's Margaret River had to be eliminated before we zeroed in correctly on Coonawarra. Amazing how interchangeable these wines can be. I have to admit disliking Katnook wines in the past based on their overripe 98's, but this was wonderful, and it has a good future.