An interesting casual tasting with a couple of friends last Friday night.
Bannockburn "Estate" Pinot Noir 2004
Ah, controversy, Bannockburn has probably sold more bottles through people wanting to try this for themselves than they would have with a middle of the road review from Jeremy Oliver. Some cherry and caramel to the nose with a hint of mousiness, but no brett on this bottle as far as I could tell. The palate is pretty clean, though simple and lacking texture. Medium length and easy to drink. A decent wine for the money (and if a side benefit is that the main Bannockburn Pinot is better for the removal of this material then even better) but I'd much prefer some other Pinots at this price.
85/100
Henschke "Mt Edelstone" Shiraz 1982
Aromas of menthol, tobacco, violets, leather and smoke. and some ground coffee after a while in the glass. Reserved and resolved with some soft sweet fruit caressing the palate. Fully mature, really nice to drink, a bit better than a bottle Neville brought to Canberra (that was very good also, but showed some brett) and largely better than one had at Nev's birthday last year that was looking tired.
90/100
Chapoutier "La Mordoree" Shiraz 1997
Multi-layered nose of cherry, raspberry, some cedar, coffee, smoke, violets and rosemary. Seductive on the palate, it really drew me in and had me captivated. Lovely texture to the medium weighted palate. Very approachable now with such good balance, but I think it will get even better over the next 5 years. I liked the '94 of this slightly better, but both are beautiful wines.
93/100
Wynns "John Riddoch" Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
To me, pretty classic Coonawarra Cabernet with aromas of cassis, tobacco leaf, ash, cedar and hints of some floral characters. Shows incredible finesse and length on the palate, much more refined than my other Coonawarra favourite from this vintage (Balnaves Tally). Very fine tannin, well structured and it continued to drink very well over the next couple of nights. At $50 I think it is easily worth the money to put a few away.
92/100
Kilikanoon Reserve "R" Shiraz 2003
Strong aromas of milk chocolate on opening and pouring into the decanter, these morphed to coffee, smoke, blackberry, liquorice, iodine and to me, strong candle wax after some time. There is a very supple texture to the palate, with some bold, concentrated flavours in the foreground and some background tannin present but not getting in the way of excellent balance. I'll admit that I had a preconceived idea (/fear) that this was going to be an over the top monster, but it surprised me with its restraint. A really interesting wine.
92/100
Crawford River "Nektar" Riesling 2003
Slate, citrus peel, apples and a touch of honey to the nose. I was surprised by how light, fresh and dry this was. Very easy and enjoyable to drink, with cleansing acid across the palate but the flavour fades away just a little bit too quickly.
87/100