The first Noble Rotters dinner of 2009 is devoted to Margaret River and Great Southern. Everyone complies with the theme. Impressive! As were the wines…
2000 Moët et Chandon Grand Vintage (Champagne) [cork]
A little bready on the nose. Typical mid-range champagne aromas – not especially fruity, but not with much development yet. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, there are dusty pinot elements present in the flavours, but rather clunky bubbles detract from the sophistication. Acceptable enough, but not really memorable. Perhaps time will help.
2005 Higher Plane Chardonnay (Margaret River) [screwcap, 13%]
There’s wine in this French barrel somewhere! Plenty of nuts and cashews on the nose – indeed overt fruity aromas are quite buried under all the (quality) oak. Handsomely big-bodied on the palate, with chalky tannins and a decent lick of acid. Not overly malolactic either. Overall, a pretty classy wine, if a bit one-dimensional. Was served virtually at room temperature – some chilling would improve things considerably.
2005 Umamu Cabernet Merlot (Margaret River ) [screwcap, 13%]
A nose of cheerful cherries – hardly varietally indicative. Lightly spicy and peppery on the palate, with generally simple flavours and a short finish. An easy quaffer of no great distinction.
2006 Suckfizzle Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River) [screwcap, 13.5%]
Smoky, briary charcoal-like fruit aromas greet the nose. It’s not oak, but smells like iron-infused black berries. On the palate there are bitter dark plum flavours, dusty tannins, soft acid and a medium-length finish. There is a good balance of structural elements running the length of the palate. An interesting wine, nicely proportioned, and not suffering at all from the lack of fruit-forwardness.
2004 Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River) [cork, 14%]
Youthful aromas of sweet jammy fruits, an impression heightened by the earthiness of the preceding wine. The palate is almost confected, with sweet stewy fruits, a rich, full mouthfeel, and showing little development yet. In fact, it becomes harder to extract much from this, giving the sense that its in something of a sullen patch as far as the palate is concerned. For the present the nose is better, but several more years should see this blossom.
2006 Baldivis Estate Cabernet-Merlot (Margaret River) [screwcap, 14%, $11]
2006 Baldivis Estate Shiraz (Margaret River) [screwcap, 14%, $11]
A matched pair of wines from a tricky vintage, and not doing that well from it. The cabernet-merlot has a whack of spicy fruit on the front palate, but fades quickly to a lighter-bodied weight and short finish. The shiraz is warm, verging on hot, and rather coarse – a bit like cough mixture I thought. In fairness, both wines were served quite warm and would probably show better 7-8°C cooler, but they still won’t rise above everyday quaffers.
2004 Plantaganet Cabernet Sauvignon (Great Southern) [cork, 14%]
Another youthful nose, with sweet jammy undertones of ripe fruit. No herbaceous notes here. The palate tastes a lot less confected than the nose suggests, being very redolent with dark-hued flavours. In some ways it verges on sullen – certainly it’s tightly-coiled, with dusty tannins and a solid medium-weight not giving too much away. But the balance of components is nicely judged, and I think this classy effort from an often under-rated winery will bloom wonderfully in a few years.
1999 Alkoomi ‘Jarrah’ Shiraz (Western Australia) cork, 13.5%]
It’s funny how many Australian regions which claim cabernet as their flagship wine manage to produce awesomely good shiraz (although I note that the exact regional make-up of this wine is not revealed). A beautifully developed nose of earth and polished leather, sandalwood & cinnamon precedes a deep, warm palate of furry fruits, soft powdery tannins, and beguiling length. The first wine we’ve had tonight that’s indisputably at its peak – and what a nice view it is from there. Certainly feels like it could hold a while longer – there are still quite primary fruit characters on the palate. Terrific stuff.
2005 Palandri “The Estates’ Cabernet-Merlot (Margaret River) [cork, 14%, $13]
2005 Palandri “The Estates’ Shiraz (Margaret River) [cork, 14.5%$, $13]
2007 Plan B Shiraz (Frankland River) [screwcap, 15%, $16]
There was a time when barely any reds from Western Australia – let alone Margaret River – used to sell for these sorts of prices. There’s nothing terribly special about the Palandri wines though; the Cabernet is medium bodied but with gritty tannins and a rather harsh finish, whereas the Shiraz is big and blocky and warmly tannic. In fairness, they were served quite warm (probably around 24C or so) and I suspect knocking 7 or 8C off the serving temperature would make a big difference (as with the following Vita Novus cuvees). In the context of price, they’re an acceptable offering. Not sure what would fix up the aptly named Plan B, which was very hot, overripe and harsh. Pass.
2004 Palandri ‘Vita Novus’ Shiraz (Margaret River /Great Southern) [screwcap, 14.5%, $25]
2005 Palandri ‘Vita Novus’ Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River) [screwcap, 14%$, $25]
The Shiraz is strongly spicy, a good sound wine with plenty of presence on the front of the tongue but less impact beyond the mid-palate. Not too ripe or over the top; a good wine but rather pricy. The Cabernet, despite being from an ostensibly better vintage, is a much harsher wine, with somewhat coarse tannins and a less balanced feel than the shiraz. Perhaps a little time will help it knit together, but it still feels rather assembled and rough.
1999 Cape Mentelle ‘Trinders’ Cabernet-Merlot (Margaret River) [cork, 14%]
A deeply fruited, sweetly aging curranty cabernet nose precedes a soft, spicily tannic palate which offers developed tobacco flavours. Medium powdery tannins have softened out, and the medium-bodied weight and nicely judged structure leads to a decently long finish that remains very satisfying without quite becoming profound. Carries its alcohol well, and really an excellent effort for what is even these days a competitively-priced wine. A super example of how good a ‘second wine’ can be in a top vintage.
1999 Leeuwin Estate ‘Art Series’ Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River) [cork, 15%]
And I run into my ‘Leeuwin problem’ again. No matter how good the vintage in Margaret River (and 99 was a very good year indeed) I always seem to find harsh green notes in Leeuwin’s cab. This is among the better examples however, with powerful, but still herby characters on the nose. Medium chalky tannins and some length of finish can’t conceal the essentially hot nature of this wine, still with elements of under- and over-ripe fruit throughout. How anything can taste greenish at 15% alcohol is one of the mysteries of the age. Perhaps Leeuwin is a wine to drink young. Confounding as ever.
1994 Howard Park Cabernet Merlot (Great Southern) [cork, 13.5%]
The only wine of the night that would stand a chance of being mistaken for something Old World. All developing notes, with cabernet/cigar box aromas. Rich aged cabernet fruit on the palate, powerful, with (presumably) merlot really pumping up the mid-palate. Very dry and dusty on the chalkily tannic finish, and thins out only a little at the end – I wonder whether the dry crumbly cork is evidence of some mediocre cellaring in its early life? Seems near to peak, but not close to falling, over this is a good example of Howard Park before they lost the plot in the late 90s.
2001 Voyager Estate Shiraz (Margaret River) [cork, 14%]
A late arrival (hence the serving order), this seemed impossibly young for an eight-year-old wine. A lavishly intense nose of youthful black berry fruits leaps from the glass. On the palate it’s a massively-built affair, dry, full-bodied, with ripe black fruit, lots of dusty tannins and excellent length and intensity. Not overblown either; everything is to scale and seemingly waiting to develop further. Hold at least another five years.
2000 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon (Margaret River) cork, 14.5%]
This wine shows no signs of the somewhat tricky vintage reputation that Margaret River 2000 has acquired. The nose is refined, rich, and redolent with textbook blackcurrant cabernet fruit. Absolutely velvety on the palate and impeccably balanced, the strong powdery tannins frame a medium-full bodied wine of great class and breeding. The weight of fruit carries right to the back-palate; the sheer integrity of the wine is its most obvious character at present. There’s plenty of development to come – it wears its new-world fruity heart on its sleeve at present – but seems to have everything needed to become a classic over another 5-10 years.
nv Mistletoe Wines ‘Mistele’ [375ml, cork, 18%, $25]
From left field comes this dessert wine, made by the addition of brandy spirit to unfermented (and unidentified) grape juice. Someone said it reminded them of Moët’s old ‘Petit Liqueur’ bottles; I found it intensely spirity, with the heat of the alcohol submerging any remaining sweetness in the grape juice. A very warm finish was my overriding impression – it’s a bit hard to analyse this objectively after so many table wines, I must confess. So, for me a curio, perhaps to be sought out again when I can be more objective…
In all honesty, there were many candidates for wine of the night. But it was interesting to notice that all the old guard wines who made WA’s cabernet reputation – Vasse, Mentelle, Moss Wood - showed very well, and the two big names from Great Southern – Plantaganet & Howard Park – did likewise. Alkoomi won the ‘surprise of the night’, while Voyager proved they’re still under-appreciated. And Palandri should probably create a separate brand if they want to sell super-cheapies, or risk what’s left of their reputation!
Cheers,
Graeme