The Pick of Some Excellent Wines.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Tuckers Seabrook Trade Exhibition Tasting this week where I tasted an impressive array of wines. I have included tasting notes of a few of the highlights and two wines where my comments are sure to cause a few people hackles to rise.

The star of the whole show was the Tahbilk 1996 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. - A wonderfully complex nose with earthy floral scents, spice, pepper, dark fruits and mint. On the palate the wine is simply glorious with mouth filling flavours of the sweet cassis on the uptake and slightly sour cherry taste that finishes very, very long.  The balance of the wine is as good as it gets, tannins are velvety, the fruit distinct and concentrated.

It's the full-bodied wine, with the rich consistency and some elegance to it, no doubt in time as it develops further it will also be seamless.  The best way I can describe this wine is to say that with the first sip, it brought a big smile to my face.

Rated as Excellent now, (I am confident that in another few years it will go to Outstanding) with *** for value at $50-$60 it’s even better value when you consider that many of wines of similar quality are 98 and 99 releases.

Brokenwood Graveyard 99 Shiraz - A bright purple wine with a vivid hue. The nose showed iodine, charry oak, liquorice and eucalyptus.  On the palate the fruit is sweet, almost syrupy; but to me it is totally wrecked by the charry oak, which I can’t stand. It’s a full-bodied wine with a balanced solid structure, supple consistency, and a diverse level of complexity.

Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value, I feel this wine could have been something special without the infliction of the charry oak. No doubt many will disagree with me and love this wine.

In a genuine endeavour to be fair to Pinot at the next stand, I went for the Geoff Weaver Lenswood 97 Pinot. Colour was ruby red with a lightish hue. The nose didn’t give much away, barnyard aromas with a menthol lift. The wine had an enjoyable back end taste of cherry and mushroom. However, the tannins were puckering and aggressive with tart acid and the wine seemed to be unbalanced and disjointed.  I rated it as “Cats Piss” not because its Pinot, but because I found it disjointed and unbalanced.

Coriole 99 Shiraz - Nose shows typical McLaren Vale fruit with violets, vanilla and liquorice. Tannins are rounded, acid is well balanced and the fruit is distinct.  It’s a full-bodied wine with firm consistency, a solid structure and agreeable level of complexity. The taste is all plums, dark chocolate and liquorice, fairly moorish.

Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, this is one 99 that’s well worth space in the cellar.

Coriole 98 Lloyds Reserve Shiraz - Dark purple with a dark hue. The nose is still fairly closed but it lets some scents escape including intense and sweet violets, vanilla and liquorice.  On the palate there is glorious sweet plummy fruit, liquorice, blackcurrant and a dark chocolate finish that is long and lingering. If fact, this was the last wine I tried and the taste was still haunting my mouth over half an hour later.

Rated as Excellent, with *** for vale at about $55 it may improve over time as it reaches it peak in another 5 years or so. The second best wine of the tasting and a great way to finish a very enjoyable afternoon.

Cheers

Ric