TORB's TRIALS TRIBULATIONS AND JOYS OF TOURING WESTERN AUSTRALIA BY - Ric Einstein
Introduction
A visit to the wine regions of
This report is not exactly short, there are tasting notes or vibes on over 160
wines, loads of information on the forty four wineries and
winemakers visited, a few comments and the odd photo too (some very
"odd.") My apologies if the tasting notes seem boring (or repetitive)
but I am not a journalist and don't pretend to be one.
Hopefully you will find this a useful reference source, after all when was the
last time you found the phone book riveting reading.
Finally, before I get into the detail of the trip report I have some people I would like to thank for making my trip
both memorable and enjoyable. Firstly to my 'new' mate who in his
professional life is known as Dr David Pearson but on the internet goes under
the handle of "Davo" it was great to
have finally met you and I appreciate your time and hospitality.
Most importantly off all, this trip and the resulting story would not have been
possible without the support and hospitality of the wineries involved. The majority welcomed me with open arms and were more than
generous with their time. Most went to a great deal of trouble to make the trip
memorable. Many opened icon or yet to be released wines. Some let me taste
through numerous barrel samples. These are very special valued experiences and
your generosity is truly appreciated.
As a disclaimer I would like to once again restate that I have no vested
interest in the wine business or commercial tie up with anyone and don't get
paid in any way for these reports. I also refuse to accept gifts or even
free bottles of wine (other than a single bottle for tasting.) A few winemakers
were generous enough to give me a (single) bottle and whilst I may have
accepted it the wines were shared at wine dinners in WA. "Special
discounts" that are not available to the general public are also declined.
Finally, if you are not familiar with the TORB Rating System, you can
click here and scroll
to end of page to find out how it works.
The Trip
Now having obtained a super cheap ticket flying Virgin
Blue and being a kind of small person, I was not looking forward to a
five and half hour flight sitting with my knees gently caressing my ears. Plan
A was to get the airport early and get the bulkhead seat with lots of room, but
some other smarties beat me to it and the only one left was the centre seat. I
was hoping that this was not a sign of things to come.
We alight from the plane in perfect red wine drinking whether, thirty-eight
degrees Celsius, oh what fun this is going to be. Arrive at the hotel to be
informed that my room will be an hour and a quarter before it's ready. Whilst
taking a wander around town I found a sushi bar where I ordered a quick snack
and was surprised to find it was garnished with
watercress.
On return to the hotel, as promised the room was ready and I was looking
forward to a quick afternoon nap.
"Holy cow Batman, that thundering sounds like a
new exhaust system is needed for the Bat Mobile" said Robin.
"That's not the Bat Mobile, Robin, There is absolutely no doubt it's the
air-conditioning in the room!"
After a quick call to reception and a visit by the house witch doctor I am finally
moved to a new room and after 20 minutes mucking around trying to connect to
the Internet finally work out they have not turned my phone on. Gees I am glad I am staying at the Hilton, I would hate to
think what would be going wrong if I was staying in some cheap dive.
(Sarcastic last words indeed as it turned out, but stay tuned for that one
later.)
|
Davo in his vineyard |
There is no doubt that as Davo misplaces a few more follicles and absorbs some
more tannins, he will become a fully fledged red bigot. After a 10 minutes stroll we arrived at Davo's
favourite Singapore noodle shop and outcomes the glasses and a couple of
bottles of local wine from his doctors bag, I was wondering why he was carrying
it. And when I saw the vegemite glasses in the restaurant I realised that it
was indeed a medical emergency.
The first wine, a Chestnut Grove Cabernet Merlot had a definite fault,
but we couldn't make up our minds if it was corked or was suffering from
bacterial spoilage so we opened the second bottle which had no label at all.
The wine showed plums and chocolate fruit with incredibly smooth tannins. I was
amazed to find it was a Hainault 1998 Merlot available from cellar door
only. The wine was rated Recommended and very drinkable. One
of the very few straight Merlots that I have enjoyed up till this point.
By the time we had finished the Merlot, it was obvious that the Chestnut Grove
was corked and also suffering from some mild bacterial infestation. The food in
this el'cheap'oh Asian restaurant is superb and the prices more than
reasonable. In fact it was by far the best value meal on the whole trip, even
if the noodle dishes were garnished with watercress.
After a short stroll back to the hotel, it was time to hit the hay and dream
about all the wine experiences over the forthcoming week.
Saturday 8th February
Whilst on our drive out to the hills Davo has his annual good idea and decides
to stop for a cup of coffee. What a salubrious establishment. Its open 24 hours
a day and guy behind the counter looks like he has been there serving slices of
pizza for the entire time. Davo orders coffee and a muffin and I ordered the
house specialty of coffee with a slice of pizza. At least the pizza arrives
without the watercress so that a good start, but a start was all we got. Davo
was really impressed with his muffin and it was almost enough to turn him to
religion judging by the number of calls to God that he made.
The next stop was Davo's place to inspect the infamous Pearson Family Vineyard where I understand Davo
was not only named every vine but every grape too.
|
Davo's ENTIRE vineyard - notice the
boat for when it floods |
Interestingly enough although it was only the middle of February, his red
grapes were just about ready to pick and were in fact harvested a few days
later. This scenario of picking early was one I would see and hear about at
virtually every winery I visited. The 2003 vintage has a very hot and dry right
through WA.
Finally it was time for the serious job of tasting wine and two regions were
covered today. The first, Perth Hills was a positive eye opening
experience. The vast majority of the wineries were
small or micro producers and almost without exception the wines were well-made
and fault free. This sub region has the added benefit of offering good
value for money wines but unfortunately that's because many of them sell from
cellar door only. Considering its proximity to
After driving around the Hills like a couple of alcoholics trying to find an
open pub, we finally arrived at Cosham Wines.
Davo, being the sensitive and caring character that he is respects my red bigotry
by inflicting a Cosham 1999 Pinot Bubbles upon my person. The wine which
sells for $22 has a very a very light red tinge to it and a lemon scented nose.
The wine is zesty, has a creamy mouth feel and a lemon flavour running right
through to a good finish. The wine is rated as Recommended
with *** for value.
Cosham 2001 Shiraz sells for $15 and is purple in colour with the light
hue. The nose shows the wines obvious youth with some meaty aspects and dark
fruit. Tannins are rounded, the acid balanced, the fruit medium weight and the
wine shows a soft consistency; a slightly short structure with a simple level
of complexity and a dry finish. Whilst the wine is well-made it could be best
described as "a man in a grey suit" wine. It's a drink now
proposition and rated as Agreeable with ***
for value.
Davo is at it again and this time he plonks a
glass of Cosham 2000 Pinot in front of me. (I am beginning to be glad
that if he describes this sort of medication that he's not my doctor.) The nose
on this wine is totally closed and shows almost nothing. The wine has a
balanced structure with rounded tannins; the flavours are savoury cherry and
dark chocolate. At least there are no feral notes and whilst the flavour
profile is pleasant, it's a little simple. The consistency is soft, the
structure is open, and the complexity is agreeable but simple. A well made and
well-balanced wine and what you see is what you get. At $16, this Pinot is
drinkable and rated as Recommended with *** for
value. A drinkable Pinot for under $20 is a rare find.
It looks like Dr Davo may not only prescribe foul tasting cough mixture like
medications only after all.
The final wine here was the Cosham 1999 Cabernet Merlot (55%/45%) which
is violet in colour and shows blue fruit and mint on a very "clean"
nose. The wine is well-made with a soft finish although tannins are evident.
For the $18 price tag, the wine represents value showing medium body weight,
soft consistency and the plain level of complexity is countered by a reasonably
long finish considering the price point. Best drunk over the next couple of
years, it's rated as Agreeable with *** for
value.
|
That's why they are called Perth Hills
|
Piesse Brook is a small but interesting
winery that was one of the first planted in the Perth Hills. They had a
reasonable range of wines and most of their current releases have a few years
of bottle age.
Piesse Brook 1997 Cabernet Merlot sells for $13.50 at cellar door.
Tannins are unobtrusive and balanced. The medium weight savoury but persistent
blackberry/mulberry spectrum, plums and chocolate fruit with hints of pepper
are supple, and whilst the wine is reasonably simple, this is well-made wine
represents good value and should best be drunk over the next two years. Rated
as Agreeable with **** for value.
Piesse Brook 1997 Cabernet Shiraz sells for $13.50 at cellar door. The
bouquet is dominated by the Cabernet characters with a tiny amount of charry
oak evident. The wine is slightly thin and lacking in fruit with drying
tannins, so the (just) Acceptable rating with **
for value should not be a surprise.
The next wine was a step up in class and quality, even if not in price. Piesse
Brook 1997 Shiraz sells for $16 at cellar door. An almost
Piesse Brook 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $16 at cellar door. The
nose is usual and showed cassis, chocolate, smoked meat notes and some minor
bacterial or Brett like characters. Tannins are unobtrusive but drying, the
acid a little sharp and the medium weight sweet and savoury berry fruit
flavours and chocolate fall a bit short on the finish. The consistency is
supple and the complexity agreeable; about three years is needed for the acid
to soften. Rated as Recommended with *** for
value, its not my cup of tea.
Piesse Brook 1998 Merlot sells for $16 at cellar door and was last wine
we tried here. The chocolate, musk, floral notes and cloves on the nose flow
through to savoury flavours on the palate with plum thrown in. This is an ample
weight wine with firm consistency but due to the lively acid the wine is not as
harmonious as it could be. This would be a reasonable barbecue wine and is
rated as Agreeable with *** for value.
The next winery is run by a former cabinet maker and his wife
who have restored the original settlers home and operate it as a
B&B. It is located in the bottom of the valley alongside the Piesse Brook
which is well and truly dry.Lionel Penketh and
his dog Cobber of
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Drive carefully in WA |
Brookside 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon is only available at cellar door and
cost $16 by the dozen. The bouquet shows plummy fruit, some coconut American
0ak (one third new American and two-thirds older French are used,) and dark
chocolate. The wine has lively acid and the medium weight fruit comes across
the palate as plums, cherry, and dark chocolate. In many ways this wine has
And the next winery we visited it was hard to know if we were winery or a
woodworking shop. Retired Mathematics ProfessorJohn
Walsh met us with deep red stained hands
but they were stained from the wood he had been working with rather than the
wine he had (not) been making. It also helps if you have the constitution of a
mountain goat when walking up the driveway at Walsh’s . At the top of the driveway you
are met by a table with a few bottles, lots of magnificently completed woodwork
and a bell to ring for service. The wine tastings occur outside on the open
veranda, no crystal glasses or chandeliers in this establishment.
Walsh Wines 1999 Shiraz showed light plums and white pepper on the nose
with the addition of sour cherry and a chocolate finish on the palate. It’s a
fairly lean wine with supple complexity, elegant structure and uncomplicated
complexity. Rated as Acceptable with *** for
value at $15 at cellar door.
Walsh Wines 2001 Shiraz sells for $17 at CD. Some
cedary notes and similar profile to the 1999, a good honest barbeque wine
that’s medium weight with an agreeable level of complexity. Rated as Agreeable with **** for value.
The Hainault Vineyard has recently been
taken over by new owners but unfortunately they were not blessed with a huge
amount to work with so it will be some time before this winery gets back on its
feet.
Hainault Talus Sparkling c-through Pinot has a
lifted citrus nose and a reasonably sweet, pretty taste with some acid on the
back on palate. The wine has a lively aftertaste and lingers well. It's a very
good crowd pleaser and the sort of wine you can sit outside and sip all day.
Rated as Recommended with *** for value at $23.
Hainault 2000 Shiraz is priced at $22 with a totally closed nose showing
some chocolate. The fruit is delicate; the body is a lean and the structure
short. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value.
Hainault 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon is priced at $24. The nose is dominated
by dusty French oak so it's no surprise that the tannins are dusty two. Once
again the fruit is delicate and the dominance of the oak should recede as the
fruit emerges. Rated as Agreeable with ** for
value for the wine needs a couple of years to come together.
Having tried their 1998 Merlot at dinner the night before once the new owners
settle in hopefully they will be able to improve things.
The morning has flown by and it was time to meet Peter
Holland (Auswine
Forum regular Peter H) who is a transplanted Pom now enjoying life in
Davo couldn't resist it and inflicted a Crofters 2002 Pinot in front of
me to try. From the length of my tasting note he can see how exciting I was by
this $25 wine. It tastes of strawberry, chocolate with prominently liquorice
and a slight acid spike. The wine is rated as Agreeable
with ** for value. I had great pleasure when Peter walked in and I was
able to hand my glass to him and say "what do you think of that
mate?"
Crofters 2001 Shiraz sells at cellar door for $25. The aromas are spice,
pepper, cold savoury meat and strawberry. Tannins are smooth and the obvious
fruit of ample weight have chocolate, raspberry, black fruit and liquorice
flowing across the palate in a technically perfect wine with supple consistency
and an agreeable level of complexity. As competently as this wine is put
together, it's a "Brittany Spears Wine" - as exciting as bat turd.
Rated as Agreeable with ** for value.
As we were having lunch there, Davo dug deep and purchased a bottle of Frankland
River Shiraz which was uncorked by the senior cellar door employee. We sat
down at our table, took one sniff, deemed it to be corked and took it back. The
employee took one sniff, and agreed. He opened a new bottle, but didn't bother
to check that it was okay.
The three of us shared a large platter of bits and pieces at the winery and the
food was excellent even if it was garnished with
watercress. That watercress gets around in
First rant
And surprisingly it's not about cork taint (grin.) At Houghton's,
whilst chatting to the senior cellar door person we were informed that it was a
company policy "not to open any of the premium brands for tasting,
including such wines as the Crofters" but as the wine was fairly new he
had decided to open it anyway.
The attitude of some cellar door operations towards potential customers and
serious wine lovers in most cases is fantastic
and in others it's downright insulting.
During my travels, it once again became apparent that in the majority of
wineries as soon as staff see you are serious about
wine and not just after a free way of getting drunk, they will frequently and
happily pull out their best bottles from under the counter and gladly pour them
for you. In some cases in a number of small wineries if their icon wines are
not open they will even open them especially for you.
Unfortunately this attitude does not extend to a number of the larger
wineries like BRL Hardy, Sandalford and a few others where one can only get
the impression that they are so big they don't give a
continental fig about individual customers and don't feel any need to try and
impress potential purchasers, even if those purchasers make it abundantly clear
they are serious wine buyers who have made a special trip to the winery to try
their icon brands. In fact in some cases all that is available for
tasting are the entry level lower cost wines.
If these wineries are concerned about the cost and the gigantic, humongous
impact that opening these wines would have on their multimillion-dollar bottom
lines, then they can always do what Howard Park does and charge $5 to taste the
wine which discourages the free loaders. Just for the record, at Howard Park if
they think you are "fair dinkum" and not just a freeloader, the
charge is waved.
A few years ago, prior to the merger Rosemount had exactly that attitude at
their "shed" in McLaren Vale. However
even the once mighty Southcorp saw the need for better customer relations and
the last time I visited the Edwards and Chaffey facility in McLaren Vale the
entire line up including Balmoral was available for tasting.
Companies may be able to do exactly what they like during the good times, but
times are not always good as Southcorp has recently found out. It will be
interesting to see if the likes of BRL Hardy, Sandalford and
End of rant and back to the trip.
The next winery visited was Lamont which
is reputed to have a good reputation but wasn't doing itself any favours when
we were there but more of that in a minute.
The first wine we tried was an interesting curiosity. It was the Lamont 1999
Sparkling Cabernet which was a c-through; in my book an oxymoron. The wine
was very dry, "interesting and unusual" and frankly because it was so
unusual I don't know what comments to make about it.
The cellar door itself is located in a building that looked to be made from
colour bond metal and whilst the temperature was about 40C (about 104F) degrees
outside, it seemed even hotter inside. We tried the Lamont 2000 Premium
Shiraz but due to their heat the wine was so hot it was unfair to pass
comment on it.
When we complained about the temperature of the wine,
the staff member who was serving us explained that the wine had been sitting in
the heat all-day and offered to open a cooler bottle of the Lamont 2000
Family Reserved Cabernet Sauvignon for us to try. He promptly reached under
the counter and pulled out a new bottle, opened it and poured glasses of the
wine. He meant well but there were two problems involved with this action. The
first was the didn't check the bottle for defects and the second was the bottle
temperature was at best only a degree or two less then the Shiraz which had
been sitting on the counter. Whilst I did make notes on this wine in order not
to look rude, it would be unfair to publish them here.
Needless to say we were out of there as quickly as we could and went to the
next winery,
Westfield 1999 Bronze Wing Merlot sells for $21and has an unusual nose
for a Merlot which is dominated by spice. The acid is piquant and tends to
stick out a bit but the medium weight fruit shows plums and star anise and a
chocolate finish. The structure of the wine is unusual and in some always more
like a classic
Westfield 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon also sells for $21. The nose is no
Einstein, in fact it's pretty dumb and whilst it doesn't show much there is
fruit lurking there. On the palate the pleasant cassis fruit is marred by a
load of green background flavours which finishes bitter. The weight of the wine
is medium but the tannins seem to be the unripe. Rated
as Acceptable with ** for value.
Westfield 1999 Shiraz also sells for $21. This wine also has a dumb nose
and this week upfront fruit goes bitter on the finish. Rated
as Acceptable with ** for value.
As you can see the reds in this winery were pretty uninspiring but the winery
certainly does have some redeeming features.
|
Davo paying for wine - notice the
glazed look in his eyes |
Westfield 1999 Liqueur Verdelho sells for $45 for 375ml bottle. The
complex nose shows volatility due to the obvious higher alcohol with raisins
and honeyed citrus aromas. On the palate the wine does seem to be high in
alcohol and tastes of burnt caramel with loads of complex citrus and marmalade
flavours that linger and linger for ages. The trip to the winery was worth this
one wine alone and it's rated as Excellent with ***
for value.
Westfield 1983 Liqueur Shiraz sells for $75 for 375ml bottle. This would have to be the one of the most unusual wines I
have ever tasted. For starters it's brown in colour with a yellow hue.
The nose is coffee essence personified with coffee and molasses to add a little
interest. This is amazingly unusual wine is one of the kind!
The finish is incredibly long and the consistency is thick and viscous and it's
like drinking concentrated treacle coffee. Rated as Outstanding
with *** for value. I was incredibly tempted to buy some for its
curiosity factor and unique attributes, but at $75 for a half bottle there are
other fortified wines that would give me more enjoyment. However, we did see
history in the making when Davo extracted his credit card from his tightly
locked pocket and purchased a bottle. It's the small bottel wrapped in green.
The next stop was one of the most disappointing on the entire trip. Sandalford Wines seems to be right into tourism
in a big way.
Rant number two
Unfortunately the same positive comments made about the Perth Hills cannot be made and do not apply to
the
Sandalford is another large winery that
seems to be geared towards tourism. There is an immense array of gifts
available for sale at cellar door. When we arrived at the counter we were
informed politely "it was a dollar per tasting" (we got the
impression that was for each wine) and noticed there were none of their regional
wines available for tasting. We voted with our feet and walked out.
|
Great place, pity about the wine |
The final winery of the day was Olive Farm.
The expression on Davo's facing when he tried their sparkling c-through was
enough to ensure it was going nowhere near my lips. However I was unfortunate
enough to try two other wines. The first was the Olive Farm 2001 Shiraz
which retails for $17.50 and was rank with aggressive acid, massive aldehydes
and served way too hot.
The second wine I tried, Olive Farm 2001 Cabernet Merlot whilst not
technically flawed was only rated as Acceptable and was also served at a
temperature that was far to hot and had little in the way of redeeming or
standout positive features. I was not at all surprised to see a member of staff
uncork a fresh bottle and put it on the counter without checking it in any way.
Whilst the temperature was about 40 degrees during the day there is absolutely
no excuse for wineries serving red wine at 30 degrees or even more. If they don't wish to go to the expense of
air-conditioning the cellar door facility, wine cabinets are available that will
keep the wines at perfect drinking temperature. And if they don't wish to
invest in these, there is nothing stopping the wineries placing their reds in
the fridge or even into iced water.
Treating their wine in this matter and serving it under these conditions shows
how unprofessional some wineries can be and it's time these pathetic practices
ceased. And it's not all small wineries that are guilty of this behaviour,
there are some large wineries in WA that are just has culpable.
Wineries that insist on serving red wine at room
temperatures no matter now hot the temperature have a constipated mind set and
need to clear the crud from their brains.
End of rant and back to the trip. (And now you know why they call me The
Opinionated Red Bigot.)
Friday night saw the first offline of this trip. Five of us met at a fine
French restaurant called Jacques where
we were met by the owner's wife who informed us the service may not be as good
as expected because one of the staff, on their first night in a new job, had
almost succeeded in amputating a finger. Dr Davo kindly offered to volunteer
his services but apparently his reputation preceded him and the offer was
firmly but politely declined with quiet mutters about proctology and
directions. In attendance were Davo and his good lady
Jenny, Peter Holland, David Benny and myself.
First wine of the night was a Seppelt 1995 Sparkling Shiraz which is a
consistently good wine but lacks the complexity of many of the icon sparkling
The ever popular (in
True to form, Davo managed to produce a bottle of Wolf Blass 1990 Black
Label that was corked so once again the got out of paying for a bottle of
wine. He's good at doing that!
The Houghton 1995 Show Reserve Shiraz was a wine I had been looking
forward to trying for some time as there were rave reviews about it since its
release. I purchased a six pack on speck but had never tried it. The wine
almost lived up to its reputation but it's a little closed at this stage and
just needs more time. Sorry these vibes are not more detailed but I didn't make
any notes at the dinner and these impressions are being penned for first-time
some ten days and 160 wines later. Rated as Excellent.
The wine of the night for me was the Veritas 1998 Hanisch Shiraz which
is a wine I had not tried for over twelve months. It's a complex monolithic
blockbuster that unmistakably Barossa Shiraz and should be awesome when it
finally peaks. This wine gets better every time I try it and it is slowly
settling down and coming together. Rated as
Excellent and if you have any, don't waste them, leave them in the
cellar for a few more years.
Once again Davo showed his generosity by bringing a bottle of Houghton's
Liquor Verdelho that was about 70 years old and being the caring and
sharing person that he is, he had drunk most of it a few days previously and
there were only a few drops per person left. Still, it was damn fine wine and I
enjoy the opportunity of trying it.
The food at Jacques was superb with excellent service and had I have been for
30 years younger, I probably would have walked out married. 
As I was having a light red
(the Hanisch), duck was an appropriate match and I was not surprised to find a watercress garnish on the plate. One could be
excused for beginning to think that's watercress is compulsory with all food
consumed in
After a very hot day where the temperature reached 40 degrees, I was so glad when it cooled down overnight to the freezing
temperature of 29.8 degrees (86F). It was a great move to stay in an
air-conditioned hotel.
Sunday
Up bright and early I picked up my motorised air-conditioned roller skater for
the drive to Great Southern which takes
about four hours. Had a quick stop along the way about two
hours out of 
and they had no Diet Pepsi so I knew I had
finally reached the bush. This was confirmed when the
bacon and egg roll was served without any watercress. The road
was good, however not far from the start of Great Southern there is a stretch
of road where there must be at least twenty white crosses in the space of a few
kilometres where people have been killed so the need for caution on this road
was pretty obvious.
|
At long last |
The first major winery one comes to at Mount Barker is Gilbert Wines where I was served in the
rustic but charming cellar door facility by Beverly
Gilbert. They obviously have some very dedicated workmen in this part of
the world as the builders were working flat out on Sunday erecting a new
winery. The first wine tried was Gilbert 2001 Three Devils Shiraz which
was vivid purple in colour with a fresh intense dark black berry fruit nose
with French oak taking second place. This is not surprisingly considering the
wines spent ten months ageing in French oak. The wine has good structure with
some powdery fruit tannins evident but not a lot of oak tannin. Despite the
almost 16 percent alcohol it's not hot or even porty.
There is ample body weight with a silky consistency, an almost seamless
structure, an agreeable complexity and good upfront sweet dark flavoured rich
fruit which makes this wine a high-quality crowd pleaser that's drinking well
now and rated as Recommended with ****
for value at about $18.
If this is a sign of things to come in
Gilbert 2001 Cabernet
Marribrook 1998 Cab Malbec Merlot is violet in colour and sells for $19. The
nose shows some light fruit with lifted notes that is slightly volatile. The
body weight is lean, the consistency soft and the structure short, the wines is
rated as Acceptable with ** for value.
Right next or was the Marribrook winery
that turned out to be an "interesting" experience. At most
cellar doors where they have dogs, the dogs are normally friendly and give a
welcome sniff and wag of the tale. As I got out of the car three Miniature
Dachshund were barking their heads off at me and
wouldn't come anywhere near me. Maybe I should have realised this could be an
omen of what was to come.
I walked into cellar door and rang the bell on the counter and wasn't surprised
that no one came as by the sound of running water it appeared someone was in
the shower. So I waited patiently for about seven minutes until the water
stopped and rang the bell again. A voice yelled out "I'll be with you in a
minute." Sure enough a few minutes later someone appeared. The gentleman
and I exchanged pleasantries and he asked me where I was from and because I was
carrying a clipboard asked if I was 'in the business.' I replied that I was
just a wine lover who made a lot of notes and as they only had an extremely
limited range of red wine and I didn't water waste a lot of time explaining who
I was and what I was doing in detail.
The following are my original notes as I made them without any alteration.
Marribrook 1998 Cab Malbec Merlot is violet in colour and sells for $19.
The nose shows some light fruit with lifted notes that is slightly volatile.
The body weight is lean, the consistency soft and the structure short, the
wines is rated as Acceptable with ** for value.
Also available for tasting was the Marribrook 1999 Cabernet Malbec Merlot
which sells for $25 and has the nose showing French oak notes, some unusual
scents - almost like sweet, corn bread. The tannins are dusty, the acid is
balanced, fruit is medium weight and persistent which all adds up to a good
mouth feel. Flavours of blackcurrant, savoury cherries almost into the plum
spectrum combine with a firm consistency, an elegant structure and an agreeable
level of complexity. There is a long finish and the wine grows on you as it is
consumed. Rated as Recommended with *** for
value it should peak in about 2005.
After tasting the two red wines on offer I asked to use the bathroom. On my way
out I thanked the person and said goodbye to which he replied "aren't you
going to take any wine with you?" I replied that I was just reviewing the
wines in the area and would make up my mind what I wanted purchase later. He
then pointed to a sign on the side wall 
that I had not seen during my 10 minute wait
that stated there was a $2 tasting fee and insisted on payment. Needless
to say I was not very happy (which was bloody obvious) and explained
that I was reviewing the wines and my tasting and would be published on the
Internet and had never been charged for doing so previously.
He then justified his position by stating that he had asked me if I was an
industry and I had said no. Let's just say that after that exchange and a few
more words between us I left there with the same sense of welcome as the
dogs had given me on my arrival and this is one winery to which I will not
return.
|
You will have to wait a long time
for a choo choo train |
The next stop was the Mount Barker Tourist
Information Office which is located in a disused converted railway
station to arrange accommodation. Whilst it is a very attractive building I was
surprised to see that in a quite and remote low population area such as this,
burglar bars were needed on some of the windows.
|
Bars are a pity |
Plantagenet in this is a well-known
winery and one of the largest in the area enjoying a very good reputation for
value and quality.
The first wine tried was the Plantagenet 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon which
sells for $28 at cellar door. One sniff and it was
obvious the wine was corked so a fresh bottle was opened. Aromas of
cedary French oak, mocha, blackberry and mint combine to form a pretty typical
Cab nose. Tannins are silky, the acid young with persistent distinct fruit
showing blackberry and mint which is very approachable now due to the silky
mouth feel. In terms of structure the body weight is medium, the consistency
firm, there is a solid backbone behind the wine and a harmonious level of
complexity. The finish is reasonable but slightly short on the palate and it
should peak around 2007. Sorry I forgot to put a rating on my tasting sheet but
I would hazard a guess at Recommended with **
for value.
Plantagenet N/V Liqueur Muscat looked interesting so I couldn't resist
trying it. The nose showed light caramel and raisins with a very smooth
balance. The wine is on the light side for its style. Flavours are raisins and
burnt caramel and it's served from the fridge at cellar door, I think I know
why. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value at
$16.50 for a 500ml bottle.
The Omrah range of wine is normally well-made and represents some pretty
good value. After trying the 2000
Omrah 2001 Shiraz has in your face fruit showing loads of pepper,
chocolate, followed by more pepper, liquorice and a touch of mint. Ample body
weight, supple consistency and an open structure with simple complexity and
dusty tannins combine to make a "what you see is what you get wine."
Although it could almost be classed as a crowd pleaser, it may improve over the
next couple of years. Rated as Agreeable with ***
for value at $17.
Omrah 2001 Merlot Cabernet ($17) was opened especially for me and is due to be released in about two months time. The
nose is quite dumb at this stage and doesn't show much at all. The silky smooth
tannins like these are fairly typical in a Merlot, but this wine has lots of
them. There is not a lot in the complexity department, but the fruit has ample
weight, is deeply seated and shows musk, plums and liquorice. It's a good wine
for the price and holds some interest in this bracket. Rated
as Recommended with *** for value.
The road maps for this region are not particularly detailed and it's very easy to take the long way round getting from
point "a" to point "b" - something I did reasonably well on
my journey to Pattersons Wines which is
well and truly often beaten track. Once you get to the gate, as you can see
from the photo you know exactly where you are. The wines are all on the elegant
lighter spectrum.
|
Doh - dis mus be da place! |
Pattersons 1999 Pinot sells for $25 a cellar door and is a light
refreshing wine with savoury spicy notes, strawberry and loads of gamey
characters. Not for me but I'm sure some lovers of this fickle grape variety
would find the wine very attractive.
Pattersons 1998 Shiraz is viiolet in colour with some signs of bricking
on the edges. It has a light refined nose which leads to a palate of light
strawberry, spicy spectrum fruit and a slight amount of earthy gamey
characters. A lean wine with soft consistency, an elegant structure and an
agreeable level of complexity it's rated as Agreeable
with ** for value at $25.
Pattersons Curse 2000 Shiraz is so named due to the three inches of rain
that were dumped just prior to harvest. The bouquet shows earthy leathery gamey
characters with white pepper. On the palate the wine is a light early drinking
red with white pepper and a bit of liquorice that lingers reasonably despite
its lean body weight. There is a soft consistency and simple level of
complexity. This wine would be a perfect barbecue wine to be enjoyed on a hot
summer's day or with smoked salmon. Rated as Acceptable
with ** for value whilst it doesn't rock my boat many people would find
it attractive.
Galafrey is an established winery that I
had never heard of but one that is worth seeking out.
Galafrey 2001 Merlot is dark purple in colour and has spent 12 months in
French oak. The nose shows plummy fruit, some berry notes and hints of cedar.
In some ways the wine is more like a
Galafrey 2000 Shiraz is dark purple in colour and spent 18 months in
American oak which is fairly unusual for a lot of wines in this area. The
bouquet is pepper and spice, sweet blackberry fruit and coconut leading to
similar flavours on the palate with the added complexity of nutmeg and savoury
characters. The flavour profile holds some interest. It's ample weight with a
firm consistency, a layered structure and an agreeable level of complexity and
is rated as Recommended with *** for value.
Galafrey 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon was dark purple in colour and showed
dusty American oak, almost meaty characters and chocolate. The persistent
distinct fruit provides a good flavour profile with complex savoury flavours
and a long finish. Tannins are dusty, the acid is young, body weight ample and
the developed and sophisticated complexity completes a package that just needs
about another four or five years to come together. Rated
as Highly Recommended with *** for value this wine is worth buying.
Although the Galafrey 1998 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was normally not
available for tasting Linda Tyrer was kind
enough to open the wine for me to try. If it wasn't already well after closing
time at the winery, I would have happily stood there
all-day sniffing its intense chocolate, meaty, spice and mint
characters. The wonderful structure and balanced is
provided by the very fine grained tannins, youthful acid and pure deep medium
weight fruit showing cassis, mulberry, other berry flavours, pepper, earthy
notes, cedar and savoury chocolate. There is a huge
level of complexity which is sophisticated, refined, harmonious
and the package is surprisingly elegant with a very long finish. At $50 it's
not inexpensive but it's rated as Excellent with
*** for value and well worth consideration.
|
Great views - the consolation of
getting lost |
What a great way to end today's wine tasting. Unlike a lot of other
wine regions in
Dinner was at the Enchanted Frog and whilst they tried hard and the
service was good, the meal was fault free but totally unexciting.
Monday
The guest house accommodation tariff included a cooked
hot breakfast so at about 8.00 I headed for the dining room. Apparently there
had been a wedding party there on the Saturday night and I was the only guest
in the place on Sunday night as they wanted a quiet one. When I was shown the
electric jug and told to make my own instant coffee I politely declined stating
that I don't drink instant. The very helpful owner
then found a tin of "real coffee" so I could enjoy a cup but was
quite surprised when I informed her that you need some sort of implement other
than just a kettle to make it. That's two days of no caffeine and I am
starting to climb the walls. 
I really must be in the outback. The
breakfast mountain of bacon, eggs, tomato and the biggest sausage I have ever
seen in my life could have fed a small regiment.
Up bright and early but with one complaint. The wineries enjoy banker's hours
and don't open until
As Robert Diletti was kind enough to let me
start tasting their wine before
Castle Rock 2000 Robert Reserve Red ($17 CD) is a blend of Cabernet
Franc and Merlot. Despite the fact the wine was matured in two to three year
old oak, the nose shows a reasonable amount of dusty notes. The body weight is
a lean, the consistency is soft and the complexity is simple and whilst it's a
fault free well-made wine that may be food friendly, to me it lacks interest.
Rated as Agreeable with ** for value.
Castle Rock 1999 Cabernet Merlot ($19 CD) has a tight closed nose with
good fruit and earthy notes which translates to a palate of earthy leathery
taste, sweet cassis and light star anise. This is a medium bodied wine with a
supple consistency and agreeable level of complexity which has been well-made
and would be a good easy drinking bistro wine. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.
Castle Rock makes good honest wine that is reasonable
value for money right across the boards. Whilst the vines may be 20 years old,
they have only started making wine fairly recently and could be a slowly rising
star in the making.
|
Springview - very dry! |
Spring Views has a stupendous view from
the cellar door and although they only had one red on offer, the trip was worth
it for the vista alone. The owner, a rather eccentric East
African by the name of Andy Colquhoun who was a
laugh a minute and great fun to meet. Silver Eyes are a real problem up
here and they have only a few "novel" approaches to the problem.
Spring Views 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon ($20 CD) is purple in colour with a
darkish hue. The wine exudes a pleasant nose showing dusty oak notes, cassis
and a touch of green capsicum. The medium weight but pure fruit comes across
the palate as sweet upfront cassis/blackberry fruit combining with loads of
dusty drying but silky tannins to produce a well-made food friendly wine with
an agreeable level of complexity and a good finish that is worthy of
consideration. It should take peak in about 2006 and is rated as Recommended with *** for value.
After I had tried the wine, Andy and I chewed the fat on things vinous for a
while when he brought out a bottle of wine he wanted me to try. He referred to
it as his "home brew" and I expected something rather
unpleasant. The wine was most agreeable and had a lot more flavour and
complexity than his a regular Cabernet. The only negative was a slightly
spritzig sensation on the front of the tongue. Andy explained the wine was made
using wild yeast, was not fined or filtered and had no additives. I asked him
why he bothered using a winemaker when all they seemed to do was to strip out
the flavour and interest; his home made hooch was far more fun and low in
alcohol too!
These sorts of unusual experiences make a trip like
this very special and memorable.
|
Dukes new winery |
The next winery, Dukes boasts an
impressive looking brand-new cellar door facility. Duke
and his wife Hilde started the winery to give themselves something to do
in their retirement. Although I got there reasonably early the wines were a
little warm to judge accurately and may have shown a lot better if they were
served a little cooler.
Dukes 2001 Shiraz was their first ever vintage of this wine. The nose
was a bit volatile, hot and porty but that was probably due to the temperature.
The sweet upfront blackcurrant fruit and chocolate was almost Barossa in style.
The wine had ample body weight, supple consistency and an agreeable level of
complexity. It seemed to be a fairly big wine for this area and was very
enjoyable. It should peak around about 2005 and is rated as Recommended with *** for value at $24.
Although I did try the Dukes 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, something didn't
grab me about the wine and I think it may have had a flaw. As the wine maker
was unavailable and they were concerned about my perception of it, they are
sending me another other bottle to try and I will post my tasting notes on this
wine at a later date.
The next cellar door is one of those whose wines had never impressed me in the
past but I must admit had my perception of Goundrey
has now changed. This is not exactly a small or Johnny come lately operation
but they have been recently been bought out by Vincor
International so they are at now Canadian owned.
Goundrey 2001 Shiraz Cabernet ($13) shows spice and light black spectrum
fruit on the nose which comes across the palate as a glass staining medium
weight wine with a slightly hard consistency that's a little young but may
improve with time. Flavours are chocolate, blackberry fruit, mint, and a touch
of pepper. Rated as Agreeable with *** for
value, it's pretty good for the price.
Goundrey 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($13.50) is apparently their biggest
selling wine. It shows dusty oak and earthy characters on the nose with smooth
drying dusty tannins, refreshing acid and medium weight fruit and a palate that
is dominated by tannins, blackcurrant fruit and chocolate. To me it seems like
pretty ordinary wine that is rated as Acceptable with
*** for value there is no accounting for popularity or taste.
Goundrey 1999 Pinot Reserve ($29) did absolutely nothing for me. Tannins
were drying and puckering, and whilst the acid was balanced the fruit was so
delicate I had to ask myself where was it? It had a
lean body weight and supple consistency but the flavours of upfront cardboard
with some fruit in the middle and mint on the tail end had me shaking my head.
Rated as Barely Drinkable with * for value. And I don't think it was an off bottle!
The next two wines showed what this winery really is capable of producing and
both were excellent value.
Goundrey 2000 Reserve
Goundrey 1998 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ($26) shows cedar, blackcurrant
spice and mint. The palate following the nose with the added complexity
of the touch of pepper and aniseed thrown into the mix with coffee on the tail
end. This wine needs time for the loads of dusty drying powdery tannins
to integrate with the obvious fruit that is currently hiding under the oak. It
should turn into a refined wine with a long finish as it matures around about
2007. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for
value.
From Goundrey it was time to head west again and drive
the 80 kilometres to the
The flames were something else.
|
Bush Fire |
|
Notice the tree (to the right of the
tanker) being engulfed |
Merv is on the board that organises Wine Australia and I am pleased to
be able to report the next Plonk Oz will be held in
November 2004 at
Merv is in touch with industry events and many of the key players. The current
industry prediction is the yields will be down by between 10% and 30% in 2003
due to the drought conditions with Merv predicting it will be close to 30% but
the fruit that is picked should be pretty good provided psysiologicalological
ripeness is achieved. (I might add, this prediction
was made prior to the unusual heavy rain that hit much of
Alkoomi 2001
Alkoomi 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($24) was only bottled two weeks ago and
should be released in about another six weeks.
Due to bottle shock, the nose was slightly disjointed with prominent oak (40%
new is used) black fruits and mint. Soft dusty drying tannins combined with
piquant acid and distinct persistent fruit into a medium bodied package with
almost lean, but powerfully intense fruit, showing blackcurrant, liquorice mint
and chocolate that manages to finish long and stain the glass. The wine just
needs time to settle, it should peak around 2006 and is rated as Highly
Recommended with *** for value.
Alkoomi 1999 Blackbutt ($59 but $45 if you know where to buy it) is a
Bordeaux varietal blend using the best barrels from the best varieties no
matter what the blend, so it changes from year to year. A
dark purple wine with a vivid hue and a great nose exhibiting inviting intense
aromas. The wine has a complex flavour profile including blackcurrant,
blackberry, liquorice and a whole lot more which is provided by the deep strong
pure fruit. The flavour profile is further enhanced by the silky drying tannins
which add structure and a great mouth feel to the wine. This is a muscular job
with firm consistency, a big layered structure and a developed, sophisticated
and diverse complexity that should be a great wine when into peaks after 2008.
Rated as Excellent now with *** for
value I wouldn't be surprised to see the rating increase in time.
There is no doubt this winery makes excellent wines
and is one of
Bear in mind I hate driving long distances and find it mind numbingly boring,
but the drive from Alkoomi in the Frankland River to Pemberton via the dirt and
narrow back roads is a wonderfully scenic and enjoyable trip and until I got to
Manjimup, a distance of well over 100 kilometres I only passed three cars.
|
Pemberton's small trees |
Pemberton
This region is more well-known for its scenic attractions than it is for
its wineries but as it is on the way to
A further call to reception informed me the local "phone witch
doctor" would join me shortly. After half an hour of inactivity I walked
to reception to be told the hotel had suffered an electrical problem in the
storms a few days ago and that although they thought they had fixed all the
phones it looked like mine was still out and I would have to change rooms. No
problem to me. A staff member went to the next room to mine to ensure the phone
was working before I moved. Guess what? It was out too and so was the next and
the next and the one after that, in fact they checked every vacant room in the
hotel to find that the only operable outside line was located in room 48 which
was normally occupied by a Westrail bus driver who came in every night. The staff were kind enough to move the microwave oven and the
bus driver food from the room so at long last I was connected to the outside
world again.
Most of the restaurants in Pemberton are closed on Monday night so I decided to
eat in the hotel. The wine list was not exactly great and was dominated by
local wines. The temperature in the restaurant would have ensured that any reds
selected would be served at an ambient temperature of about 33 degrees so it
was time to resort to desperate measures and drink my annual glass of c-through
and it was lucky they had NZ cats pee by glass.
When the waitress came to take my order I asked if the swordfish was fresh. She replied, "Yes it comes in fresh every Tuesday from
Tuesday
Once again up bright and early and decided to go to a local café for breakfast
rather than eating in the hotel. A bacon and egg roll is just what the
cholesterol police normally prohibit but as I am on holidays this policeman was
off duty. Oh, and a cup of good coffee to go with it
as I had no coffee for two days and was really looking forward to it.
Order said breakfast and sit down to read a book. After about ten minutes the
caffeine withdrawal is getting the better of me and I am getting antsy so I go
to the counter and politely request it. It arrives a
few minutes later and I can damn near see through it! Have you ever seen a
grown man cry!! 
If I hadn't seen the girl use the espresso
machine I would have sworn it was instant. Wait a minute, it tasted so bad it
may have been instant used in the espresso machine. At least the food was
edible, well sort of as long as you don't mind rubber eggs. And then it was off
to the first winery of the day.
|
|
Like most winemakers, Dan is extremely passionate
about his craft and we had an in-depth discussion about the merits (or demerits
depending on your point of view) of Australian Pinot and those of
The first wine tasted was the Picardy 2001 Pinot which had just been
bottled and is due for release in May. A ruby
coloured wine, it showed earthy mushroom truffle aromas (with no feral notes)
and red currant. That bouquet really got my snouts attention. In terms of the
structure, the tannins were velvety and unobtrusive, but they are there, the
acid lively and the distinct fruit flows across the palate as the nose would
suggest but with the addition of a bit of chocolate to add a bit more interest
and all of this on a long finish. The body weight is lean; the complexity
refined with soft consistency the wine does have a good backbone which should
be a ripper in around three years. In my bigoted
opinion this is what Pinot should be like. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, no doubt Pinot lovers
would rate it more highly but I am a hard marker and it is a Pinot.
Picardy 2001 Shiraz is due for release in May
(expected retail $28 to $32). A vivid purple wine with lifted
floral soapy aromas and smoky (not charred) oak. The wine is made with
as much Burgundian technique as possible - and it's a
Picardy 2001
Then it was onto the winery almost next door. I have
lots of good things about Salitage which is regarded as the premier producer in
Pemberton and after visiting can confirm the reputation is soundly based.
At Salitage I was fortunate enough to be taken upstairs to a private
function/tasting room where John Horgan (one of
the owners) allowed me to taste through his entire range of reds including a
number of yet to be released wines, some of which have just been blended and
were being bottled whilst I was visiting the winery.
John is a very interesting character with a string of successful commercial,
management and board positions to his credit. He proudly talks about his
friendship with Dennis Connor (of the
Prior to purchasing the property now known as Salitage in a previous
incarnation John was Managing Director of Leeuwin Estate so he should
know what he's doing and this is born out by everything you see and taste at
this estate. John also realises the difficulty of growing Pinot in
After tasting all current releases, John took me to the back of the winery
where there was a mobile bottling plant setup. Rather than having $1.5 million
tied up in bottling equipment they rent the complete plant on an as needs
basis. The plant is a work of art, the whole production line and all the
equipment rolls up in a couple of semitrailers, the side and end covers are
thrown off and they go to work.
As their winemaker was in Sydney talking to a room full of (real) journalists
at the very time I was at the winery we were joined by the assistant winemaker
and Greg took me through a number of wines that have a yet to be released and I
am pleased to be able to share these tasting notes with you.
I reviewed two ranges of wines, the Treehouse which uses some estate grown
grapes and some that is bought in and the Salitage range which uses estate
grown fruit exclusively. (Tasting notes are not in the order tasted,
they have been bracketed by type so an easy comparison between wines and vintages
can be made.)
Salitage 2000 Pinot ($34) has a delicate nose with earthy notes, forest
floor scents and sweet red fruit. The wine is lean with the silky consistency
and an elegant but tight structure with an agreeable level of complexity and
the delicate fruit comes across as earthy truffle, redcurrant, milk chocolate, all on a reasonable finish. The wine is
rated Agreeable with ** for value but that
should improve to Recommended as the wine starts to peak in about 2005.
Salitage 2001 Pinot is due to be released in
mid-March. I found this wine far superior to the 2000. It shows a lifted
bouquet of truffle, mushroom and milk chocolate which came across the palate as
persistent very chocolaty fruit with redcurrant and mint. As expected the body
weight is lean with smooth tannins, the consistency soft but there is a solid
structure and a diverse level of complexity. This is
an awesome Pinot with a very long finish that should peak around 2006+
and its rated as Highly
Recommended with *** for value.
Salitage 2002 Pinot is the finished wine which
has been blended and will be bottled in March. The aromas are similar to
those found in the 2001 but this wine has more mint and lifted perfumed. The
oak and tannins are also more obvious but that's expected as the wine is
younger. On the palate the wine comes across as drier, earthier, and then the
chocolate and light red berry fruit kicks in with the chocolate re-emerging on
the finish. This is an impressive wine with great structure. I actually enjoyed tasting both the 2001 and 2002 Pinots (is
there a doctor in the house, 
I must be sick.)
Salitage 1999 Pemberton ($32) is a
Salitage 2001 Pemberton is the finished wine
which has been blended and will be bottled in March. This vintage is a
Cabernet based with 48%. At this stage the wine is very closed and tight. It
does show loads of fine grained dusty tannins, the deep and obvious fruit that
flows across the palate as chocolate, blackcurrant, more chocolate, and mint.
Interestingly enough, although I tasted six bottled of wine between the 1999
and the 2001 Pemberton, in relation to the 2001 my tasting note also says "great fruit and great structure." This is
a big wine without extraction that just needs time to show its best and
currently rated as Highly Recommended.
Treehouse 2001 Pinot ($20) shows aromas of subtle spice and sweet
strawberry spectrum fruit. The wine has a lean body weight, soft consistency
and an agreeable level of complexity with delicate fruit which starts off with
sweet upfront red current spectrum fruit going into savoury and spicy flavours.
The wine is rated as Agreeable with *** for
value and is ready to drink now.
Treehouse 2002 Pinot is the finished wine which
has been blended, filtered and will be bottled in March. An unusual nose of smoked sweet fruit and mint. There are
loads of firm tannins but I was informed they come from a fruit and no tannins
have been added. The wine has a reasonable length finish and should improve as
it softens. I imagine this wine will have a similar rating to the 2001.
Treehouse 2001
Treehouse 2000 Cabernet Merlot ($20) is a lean wine with the firm
consistency and a fairly plain level of complexity. It's a lighter style of red
wine with unobtrusive dusty tannins, the taste is
savoury bitter chocolate and blackcurrant. Rated as Acceptable
with ** for value.
Treehouse 2001 Cabernet Merlot had been bottled
the day before and is due for release next month. This wine was a big
step up in quality over the 2000. The oak used in the wine is six years old so
it is no surprise that it's a fruit intense wine with firm drying tannins
providing a solid structure, ample body weight and an agreeable level of
complexity. As it was obviously suffering from bottle shock I won't rate it,
but it should be good for the price.
Finally a couple of things really stand out about this winery and its products.
Firstly their commitment to quality and secondly the consistency of the
Salitage wine from year to year although some of the 2000 wines didn't grab me.
It's been a big morning with only two winery visited so there is no time to
waste and the most direct route to the next winery takes me down some small
back roads. This time I only wind up going about 10 kilometres out of the way.
With my track record around, with the operative word being "around"
Great Southern, consider this to be a good result.
The next winery visited was Mountford which also makes cider and
alcoholic drinks from fruit other than grapes. What possessed me to even want
to visit such an establishment in hindsight is beyond my comprehension but I
can only put it down to a decision made after a good dinner with the odd glass
or six of wine.
Mountford 1999 Pinot ($25) didn't do anything for me and had a slightly
volatile nose showing truffles with a thin earthy taste that is slightly
acidic. Rated as Barely Drinkable I didn't even
want to think about the value.
Mountford 2000 Merlot ($28.50) is purple in colour with a varnished
aroma which overpowers the fruit. The wine has a lean body, the consistency is
not as soft as expected for a Merlot, and to me the wine comes across as all
acid and tannins and the sour cherry fruit on the palate is lacking. Rated as Acceptable with * for value.
Mountford 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($25) also shows slight varnish on the
nose with the sour cherry finish slightly bitter. The body weight is medium,
the consistency firm and the complexity plain. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value.
Its about 130 kilometres from Pemberton to
Upon arrival I didn't ask for Brad and decided to look around for myself. First
wine I tried was served by a very enthusiastic employee who had obviously been
well-trained in the corporate line and waxed lyrical about the wine and told me
all about it and what I would find in the glass before I even a chance to sniff
it. I might add that she obviously thought the wine was extremely valuable
because the size serving she poured must have been the smallest I received on
the whole trip.
Alexandra Bridge 2001
Alexandra Bridge 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($24.50 and 85% Cabernet) shows
cedar and spearmint on the nose and I kept getting very floral perfumed soap
scents that were unexplainably wafting in out. Bingo, the light bulb went on
when I turned around and saw a few shelves of soap that the winery was selling
as a gift line. The wine has loads of dusty tannins with some obvious ample
weight fruit. The solid structure and agreeable level of complexity come across
the palate as oak, blackcurrant and chocolate that finishes slightly green and
bitter. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value
|
Spring fed lake at Alexandra Bridge |
Having tried the two wines on offer I asked if Brad was available and was
surprised to find that he was younger than I had anticipated due to his
knowledgeable and forthright mature comments on the Auswine Forum. We sat on
the veranda overlooking a picturesque spring fed lake and enjoyed the ambience
of this wonderful location and had a chat. If you are ever in the area, this is
a location worth a detour. Brad was kind enough to bring out two extremely
limited reserve wines that will not see the light of day at cellar door for
some time.
As time was marching on I said my goodbyes to Brad and headed in to the big
smoke.
I finally got to Margaret River Tourist Information
Office (just before it closed) to arrange accommodation. Stated
requirements are walking distance to town, no smoking, must be reasonably
modern and have a phone so I can access the internet so guesthouse and
B&B's will be out. They finally find a place which was not very easy as
most accommodation was already booked on Friday. Find hotel, check in, go to
the room and look forward to a shower but no towels or soap (they obviously
want me to remain dirty) but that's easily fixed.
After a shower pulled the computer out and attempt to connect to the Internet
to get my mail. After about forty minutes of p*ss far*ing around changing
cables and multiple computer settings the penny finally dropped! The hotel is
using a Telecom "Commander System" and phone calls
can't be made without the dedicated handset! Why did I ever bother to
buy a computer 
to take on these trips! But that's another story
(and a tear jerker) that's even longer than this saga so I won't put readers to
sleep with the details.
Wanted a quiet early night with simple food so ordered take away from the local
pizza shop which was around the corner from my hotel. I started eating the
pizza and planning my next three days adventures when I pulled out, amongst
other things an eight page trip report completed by long-time wine lover and
Auswine contributor, Martin Edwards. On page 4
it states "back to
Wednesday
Once again up bright and early and walked into a local restaurant that was
chock full of elderly gentleman in white bowls uniforms all looking like they
were having a good time so this looked like where the locals ate and at last I
may receive the long awaited injection of caffeine. There is a big day planned
today with no time for lunch so it's the English breakfast for this little
black duck and two cups of strong black espresso coffee. The breakfasts turned
out to be pretty stingy at this joint, there is only
enough bacon, eggs, sausages, tomato, mushroom, and toast to feed a small
platoon rather than the regimental sized serving I had received on Monday
morning. And to make matters worse I actually had to pay $14.90 for the
privilege.
To hell with the food, after the caffeine fix I finally feel like a human being
again and am ready to face another nose numbing, tongue tannining, kidney
killing, liver lumbering, lip loading, brain bashing, eye endoplasmicreticulum
day of wine tasting. (It's amazing what I can find in my annual hunt through
the dictionary.)
|
The names says it all |
Being a red bigot a winery with the name of Redgate
sounded like a pretty good place to start wine tasting in
Redgate 2000 Bin 588
Redgate 2000
Redgate 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot
($30) is a 70% 22% 8% blend. Once again the colour is violet with a c-through
hue. This wine has a great mouth feel which is provided by the velvety creamy
tannins. The lean fruit with a harmonious reasonable complexity provide
flavours (that in time will be seamless) of sweet redcurrant, savoury hints of
chocolate, mint and light spice. Lovers of elegant wine will go for this one
and although it's drinking well now it should improve over next two or three
years. Rated as Recommended with ** for value.
Redgate 2000 Cabernet Franc ($35) a lightly lifted fragrant nose of very
subtle dark fruit. Tannins are silky and ultra fine grained, the delicate fruit
is pure and persistent showing redcurrant, chocolate's cedar and spice. This is
a well-balanced lean but elegant wine with supple consistency and a developed
and diverse level of complexity that finishes long and in my opinion the best
wine of the line up. Rated as Recommended with **
for value.
On the plus side, the staff were
kind enough to open the Cabernet Franc especially for me and no doubt lovers of
light elegant refined wines will find is winery interesting. On the other side
of the ledger unfortunately I feel there is much better value to be had
elsewhere. This is also a winery (and one of many) that missed a dud.
|
To early to see James Taylor, will
have to drink instead |
Next stop was the famous Leeuwin Estate,
a 
This week they were preparing for James
Taylor who was scheduled to play on the Saturday night. Leeuwin is best known
for its Chardonnay, but the red wines produced are not slouches.
Leeuwin 2001 Pinot ($35) showed a slightly feral nose with barnyard
notes and hints of cedar and white pepper. As expected it's a lean wine with
firm consistency, a layered structure and a diverse developed level of
complexity. The palate shows barnyard cherry flavours, plums, pepper and
chocolate - a most unusual profile for the Pinot and almost a bit like a
Leeuwin 1999 Prelude Cabernet Merlot ($28.50) shows subtle cedar notes,
cassis, blackberry, warm savoury notes and hints of mint. On the palate the
wine starts off with savoury dark berry fruit, mint and goes through to sweet
chocolate on a long finish. The medium weight and persistent fruit is supported
by dusty but silky tannins, which gives the wine a soft consistency, layered
structure and a harmonious and developed level of complexity. This is a good
well-made wine that should improve as it peaks around 2006+ and is currently
rated as Recommended with ** for value.
Leeuwin 2000 Art Series
Leeuwin 1997 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon ($51) as expected is a
well-made wine with persistent, distinct intense fruit that flows across the
palate as cedary oak, blackcurrant, chocolate and liquorice that finishes very
long. The wine has a full layered structure that is supported by medium weight
fruit, velvety dusty tannins, with a developed harmonious and refined and level
of complexity. Currently rated as Highly Recommended
with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine gets closer to
maturity in four years time.
Leeuwin Estate's reds are overshadowed by Chardonnay, which is a pity. They
deserve recognition in their own right. This was another winery that missed an
off bottle despite having seeing the staff check the bottle when it was opened.
In this case it was a cabernet with a slightly pooey nappy nose which was suffering
from a minor bacterial fault. This was verified when another bottle was opened
for comparison.
|
Grass is better than on most golf
courses |
The next port of call was Voyager Estate which can only be described as
"ostentatious". To say that there has been no expense spared building
is winery is like saying George W Bush isn't very friendly towards Saddam
Hussein.
Voyager Estate 2000
|
Voyager- mine is bigger than yours |
Voyager Estate 1999 Cabernet Merlot ($39.50) is almost dark purple in
colour was a bright hue. The ever-changing lifted nose is complex and slightly
herbal with cassis, milk chocolate, coffee and peppermint. The similarity of
style between the Cabernet Merlot and a
There is no doubt the maps of Margaret River are far
more comprehensive than those of the other regions I had been to but that
didn't stop me from still making a wrong turn and going the regulation 5
kilometres (minimum) out of the way. Many of you may know that most maps have a
few deliberate errors in them to be able to tell if people have copied them and
breached copy write and for once, I was able to spot the deliberate map
mistake. Whilst I was once again struggling to work out the location of that
great African tribe by studying said map, I was looking for a street called
"Narrawary" which wasn't there but I did notice there is a street
called "Gnarrawary" on the map, no wonder I keep getting lost.
Having finally found Xanadu Wines, which by the way must have one of the
longest driveways in the Western world I remembered that the Xanadu 1986
Shar-don-ay was last c-though (Frog Bubbles and stickies exempted) that I
had purchased by the dozen case. For a c-through it was a bloody good wine but
after drinking it I got religion and became a red bigot. Recently Xanadu cherry
picked many of the assets of Normans Wines when it went into liquidation and I
was hoping some of these wines would be available for tasting as well.
Xanadu 2001 Secession Blend ($14) was described by the person who served
me as a barbecue wine. The nose is upfront sweet floral fruit with multiple
berry aromas and that flows through to the palate with a bit of chocolate
thrown in and whilst the description of barbecue wine is apt, it's a good
drinkable one but it does finish slightly bitter. Rated as Agreeable with **** for value.
Xanadu 2002 Merlot ($14) had a spritzig nose so dnpim.
Xanadu 2001
Xanadu 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($28) is 100%
Xanadu 1998 Lagan Estate Reserve is their flagship blend of Cabernet
Sauvignon (65%), Cabernet Franc (20%) and Merlot (15%) from estate grow fruit
at Karridale ($70) which is normally not available for
tasting but they were kind enough to let me try. The wine has a rich
inviting nose of perfumed fruit, subtle background oak, coffee and mint - there
is a lot going on here. Silky dusty tannins combined with balanced acid and
medium weight but powerful fruit flavours of blackcurrant, chocolate,
liquorice, mint and tea provides an elegantly layered structure that in time
should become seamless and a sophisticated refined level of complexity. A
well-made wine that just needs time to show its best as it matures after 2007
and is currently rated as Highly Recommended with ** for
value.
At this point we are on a rollercoaster ride having scaled the dizzy heights
its time to come down the other side screaming.
Normans 2001
Once again, this was another winery were the cellar door staff missed a
reasonably obvious corked bottle.
I left Xanadu a happy man but it took in McLaren Vale Shiraz to do it. 
Cape Mentelle 2001 Marmaduke ($14.40) is a blend of Shiraz Grenache and
Not a bad start to visit and if they are all as good I'll be a happy man.
Cape Mentelle 2001 Sangiovese ($19 CD only) is
the first vintage of this wine and only a few hundred cases have been
made. To me the nose seems unusual, but then I don't normally drink this grape
variety. The loads of dusty tannins from both the fruit and the French oak
result in a very dry medium weight wine with fruit flavours of sour cherry,
chocolate, spice and subtle aniseed. Not sure I am confident to rate this wine
but I would feel it was Agreeable with *** for
value.
Cape Mentelle 2000 Trinders ($26.60) is a blend of Cabernet (60%),
Merlot (30%) Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc showing dusty
oak, floral notes, blackcurrant and mint. The wine is ample weight with
firm consistency, a solid structure and a fairly simple level of complexity
with drying tannins and obvious fruit that provide solid black fruit flavours
with hints of chocolate and a good long finish despite a hole in the mid
palate. Rated as Recommended with *** for
value the wine should peak in about two years.
The young lady on cellar door was very polite and friendly and whilst I was
trying some of the wines I explained exactly what I was doing and the sort of
coverage of these notes would receive. Unfortunately the cellar door manager was
tied up in a meeting when I arrived but I did manage to talk to him briefly
before he was interrupted and a whisked away by another phone call. No matter how hard I tried and no matter what I said there
was absolutely no way any other wines were going to be opened for me to try.
The winery enjoys an awesome reputation but frankly from what I tasted I have
no idea why and left there decidedly unimpressed and feeling it was just another
overrated winery that believes its own publicity.
Having covered the major winery south of 
I really am beginning to love these maps.
Brookwood Estate 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($22) shows hints of a varnish,
loads of mint and fruit on the nose. The medium weight fruit comes across the
palate as sour cherry, mint and liquorice which finishes reasonably long. Not a
terribly exciting wine, its rated as Agreeable with **
for value and should peak around 2006.
Brookwood Estate 2001
Final stop the day was the new Palandri
complex where I looked forward to meeting one of Auswine Forum well-known
humble, shy and retiring rednecks who goes by the handle of "John Tosser
Shiraz" (JTS for short) and known to the staff of the Palandri as Tony Carapetis the winemaker.
At Palandri I continued my TCA kiss of death routine.
The first glass of Merlot that was handed to me (from a bottle that was about
half full) had a significant amount of cork taint on it. Both staff members
agreed completely with my analysis of the wine. Whilst this was going on, the
senior staff member opened their last bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (needless to
say it was for someone else) and when he tested it, pronounced it mildly cork.
The person who was serving me opened another bottle of Merlot and pronounced it
fit but after one sniff I had to disagree and told him it was mildly corked
too. The senior staff member agreed with my analysis and a third bottle was
opened which confirmed the mild but obvious taint in the second bottle.
We started discussing cork taint and they stated they were running at 8% on
existing corks however the winery is a process of testing some new composite
corks which are expected to reducing the taint rate significantly.
Palandri make and sell three ranges of wine but having tried number of them
previously, I elected to only trying their top range.
Palandri 2001 Merlot ($24.95) contains a fair wack of velvety dusty
tannins with piquant acid and the medium weight but obvious fruit comes across
the palate as plums, chocolate and vanilla, finishing with reasonable length.
The wine has a supple velvet consistency, a layered structure, an agreeable
level of complexity and it should peak about 2005. It's not a bad Merlot and
holds some interest. Rated as Recommended with ***
for value.
Palandri 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($24.95) contains bucket loads of drying
dusty tannins which provide a very firm consistency and solid structure. The
complexity is uncomplicated with the medium weight fruit providing savoury red
fruit flavours, blackberry, plums and chocolate. It should peak in 2007 and is
rated as Agreeable with ** for value.
Palandri 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($24.95) was a step up from the
previous wine and to me the best in their line up with a pleasant nose of
blackberry and mocha exhibiting both sweet and savoury nuances. The wine has a
firm consistency and very solid structure which is provided by the distinct
deep strong ample weight fruit being supported by the dusty tannins and a
reasonably developed level of complexity. The sweet blackcurrant, savoury
cherry, liquorice and chocolate provide a long finish but the wine needs about
four years for the tannins to soften and integrate. Rated as Recommended with **** for value now, the rating
should improve in time.
Palandri 2001
After tasting through the Palandri wines Tony was kind enough to give me a tour
of their very modern facility. The "back room" setup is impressive
with a heavy emphasis on being user-friendly for the staff. There is an
interesting facade on the building which hides the industrial nature of the
equipment and tanks. The trip through the barrel room shows the incredibly huge
diversity of fruit that has come in and is processed in this facility. We tried
quite an array of barrel samples and no two were even remotely similar. Tony
really has job cut out for him blending this lot.
In time, Palandri intend to release a premium label which won't be called
"Reserve" because there are so many cheap wines that have prostituted
the use of the word reserve.
After the pizza fiasco the previous night it was time to have a good meal so
during the day I got some recommendations. Vat 107
Restaurant had been highly recommended so on my way back from
Palandri I stopped in and booked a table requesting one with a reasonable
amount of light under it so I could read during dinner. Didn't think that would
be a problem as it was brightly lit and the waitress said "I have just the
table for you." Arrived back an hour later and the dimmers are way down
and with just about enough light to read the menu with only a small amount of
eye strain.
|
Vat 107 - see me? |
After explaining I requested a table where I could read the waitress happily
offered me a seat outside which was brightly lit but explained it may be a bit
cool. No problem to me so I sat down and then the waitress (who I could have
happily have married on the spot) explained it was in the smoking section!
More conferring and I was offered a seat on the other
side of the door as far away from the smokers as possible, now we are getting
some where. My order is taken and no sooner than I have a glass of reasonable
plonk in font of me (which thank God is not corked), an elderly lady comes out, sits at the next table (which has
not been set) and proceeds to light up.
I mumbled more than a few "four letter
words" to myself and bite my tongue! The good news was the cigarette
disappeared in record time, she only inhaled air about six times during the
time it took her to finish that coffin nail. The bad news she was back again 20
minutes later for a repeat performance.
The grilled Marron with melted butter served with a Greek salad was absolutely
superb and the service attentive without being overbearing. This place is justifiably
highly recommended but better if you are sharing the experience and sitting
inside.
Thursday 13th
The day started brilliantly, I pulled the camera case off the shelf in the
hotel "suite" (sic) when the zip on the bag was not closed and it hit
the tiled floor. I wonder why my $1700 digital
camera doesn't work when it's in two pieces.
Not impressed!
After fuming and stewing over a couple of cups of hot coffee which in my
present state of mind were no more enjoyable than the dishwater flavoured
coffee I had drank in Pemberton, when I got back to room still fuming I rang my good friend Lynne to cry on her shoulder. I knew
there was a reason why I let her work for me, manage the shop in my absence and
most important of all look after my children, Red, Goofy and Sam when I am
away. She's not just a pretty face, she suggested I
ring my insurance company to see if I was covered and suddenly the day looking
a lot brighter because not only am I covered but the claim was processed over
the phone.
Luckily I downloaded the images to my computer the night before so I didn't
lose the existing photos. The only issue is that now I am unable to take any
more photographs to attach to this story. And then I had an idea, 
l allow myself at least one per year and as
you can see it worked because the pictures do not stop at this point, but more
on that later.
First port of call was Moss Brothers and
I had ever tried their wines I had no idea what to expect.
Moss Brothers 2001 Drummond Hill Red ($15.95) is a blend of Cabernet
(59%) Grenache (27%) and
The next wine handed to me from an open bottle was
dead set badly corked. A new bottle was opened by the lady serving me (who
appeared to be one of the proprietors) and she poured a glass without checking
the wine. After one sniff I had my suspicions but took two just to make sure before
handing it back. No argument, she agreed totally and opened up a third bottle
but this time she did check it.
Moss Brothers 2001 Moses Rock Red ($15.95) is the Cabernet Shiraz blend
(50/50) with soft unobtrusive tannins, medium weight fruit that showed
liquorice and blackberry but I couldn't get my head around this wine. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value.
Moss Brothers 2000 Red ($24.95 CD only) is a
Moss Brothers 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($36.95) had just been open so the
nose was closed and the wine shut down tight. A well balanced wine with drying
powdery tannins, lively acid and medium weight obvious persistent fruit with a
flavour profile of slightly savoury red cherry, almost sweet blackberry,
chocolate and mint on a long finish. A good well-made wine with a solid backbone
and agreeable level of complexity it's currently rated as Recommended with *** for value and as the wine
matures around 2007, hopefully this rating will increase.
The winery was kind enough to provide a barrel sample of their 2002 Harmons
Ridge which is expected to retail for $29.95 and is a pretty smart wine.
Moss Brothers Bona Vista Liqueur Semillon Frontignac ($21.95 for 500ml)
is very sweet showing oranges, citrus, burnt caramel and brandy spirit. The
wine is very smooth and has some appeal despite the lingering alcohol. Rated as
Recommended with ** for value.
Moss Brothers Bona Vista Gold Semillon his served straight of the fridge
and recommended to be served either chilled or over ice. The wine is sickly
sweet but would have mass-market appeal. Rated as Acceptable.
The next winery visited is not only one of WA's icons, but one of the most
highly regarded in
Cullen 2001 Velvet Red ($22.50) is a Cabernet Merlot Malbec blend with a
fruit forward soft nose showing intense savoury flavours. The silky tannins are
unobtrusive but provide a reasonable backbone to this ample weight wine with
silky consistency, seamless structure and although it is a slight glass stainer
the complexity is simple. A great early style drinking wine chock full of
liquorice and blackcurrant flavour that provides a lingering finish. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, it's moreish.
Cullen 2001 Merlot ($35) CD only - this one-off wine is dark purple in
colour with a vivid hue. It's a real surprise package with unobtrusive ultra
fine grained tannins, crisp acid and almost delicate fruit showing savouring
red cherry and plums. The wine is lighter than the colour suggests but it has a
well balanced structure with than agreeable complexity and should improve as
the wine matures over the next three years. Rated as Recommended
with ** for value, this wine will have its fans.
Cullen 2002 Mangan will be released in July to
mailing list customers only and 1000 cases have been produced. It is
expected the wine will sell for $48 and is a blend of Petit Verdot, Malbec and
Merlot which is dark purple in colour with a bright hue. The aroma showed a
touch of sulphur (now), and although it was closed the obvious floral fruit is
just waiting to get out. Where do I begin in describing this wine which is a dichotomy. (It must be good wine if
I am using big words like that!) The loads of fine grained dusty tannins
and refreshing acid are well balanced by the medium weight but deeply seated
persistent and obvious fruit with truckloads of power. There is no doubt this
wine has great structure with a firm consistency, a developed and diverse
complexity and yet it's almost elegant. On the palate all sorts of things are
happening with multiple berry flavours, mocha, mint and the wine will evolve and
change as it matures over the next five years. Rated as Highly Recommended now with *** for value the
rating should improve. Kim referred to it "as a party in a glass"
because of what the staff get up to when they are fortunate enough to drink it;
but as much of a party as it may be, it's a pretty serious and impressive wine.
Cullen 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon Blend ($75) is their current release
flagship wine. The nose shows huge complexity and depth of fruit with
blackcurrant and mocha being the primary aromas. This is an ample weight wine
with supple consistency, a big solid structure which should become seamless in
time and a sophisticated and intricate complexity. The perfect balance is
provided by the silky ultra fine grained tannins and pure deep strong
persistent fruit which provide a creamy mouth feel and a huge long finish of
blackcurrant, plums and mocha. Now rated as Excellent
with *** for value the rating main prove to Outstanding as the wine gets
close to its maturity around 2008 and beyond.
Cullen 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot ($75) will
be released in July. The wine was bottled six weeks ago and the tasting
bottle had just been opened. The first and most obvious observation is the
consistency of style and quality in these wines. At present the wine is locked
up tighter than the bank vault on a long weekend but a perfect structure is
provided by the velvety, creamy ultra fine grained tannins, balanced but
unobtrusive acid and obvious deep concentrated fruit. The body weight is
muscular, so it's bigger than the 2000. Structure is big solid layered and
tight with an intricate diverse level of complexity; this is a wine with a long
finish that will age beautifully.Put simply, this wine
is awesome and I will make a big call and say not only is it one of the best
wines I have ever tasted, but in my opinion in time it will be one of the best
wines ever produced in Australia. Rating?
Who needs one with a wine like this! 
At this point Kim handed me over to Trevor Kent
who is the Assistant Winemaker and we went for a walk into the air-conditioned
barrel room to taste a few drops. The first observation shows that anyone who
is employed to work in here ideally needs to be about 18 foot tall (for obvious
reasons) and about six inches wide so they can negotiate their way down the
narrow spaces between the barrel rows without having to turn sideways and
master the art of moving like a crab.
The winery uses one third new oak every year and the quality of the oak is
pretty obvious. After having tasted a number of barrel samples it's easy to see
the winery believes in two things. Firstly great
fruit and all the estate grown fruit is dry grown with no irrigation
so the concentration of the wine is impressive. No use for reverse osmosis to
take out excess water and concentrate the flavour here.
|
THREE Newer Vines! |
|
TWO older vines - same space |
The second factor is structure. Without exception all
the completed wines tasted and all the blended barrels sampled had wonderful
structure, and that is said in the nicest possible way. Combine excellent
quality fruit with great structure and balance, and it's very hard to produce
anything other than excellent wine.
The latest in thing in a number of wineries is to use a small percentage of
Viogner to provide sweetness and lift the aroma. I have tried a number of these
wines and in many cases find them a little sickly sweet (for my taste) and
Cullen's feel they have come up with a better solution to achieve the same
results. Instead of using Viogner, they are using small amounts of Petit Verdot
and using it to great effect. A move that should be highly
applauded.
Besides using great quality fruit and having the services of one of
And speaking about curmudgeons and flash pigs with gold teeth the next stop was
Gralyn Estate which has vines planted 28
years ago. The cellar door facility is new, very posh indeed and even the
spittoon is automatic but the building has been tastefully done in a modern
chrome and glass way. The wines are for sale at cellar
door only or by mail order and not sold in shops. Rumour has it that a
lot of the fruit from this vineyard is going into the yet to be released
Western Australian versions of Thomas Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon. They have a
range of three wine styles, light wines which should be served chilled at under
$20 a bottle, full bodied dry reds which retail from $51 to $90 a bottle and
their port series. The pigs weren't flying so I stuck to the full bodied dry
reds. Total production is 2,500 cases.
Gralyn 2000 Old Vine
Gralyn 2000 Shiraz Cabernet ($90) (58/42%) was a freshly opened bottle
so the nose was all over the place (like a Beagle chasing a fox) but showing
large amounts of oak with great fruit underneath it. The concentrated deep
persistent fruit provides a huge level of extraction without the wine being
heavy. Very complex flavours of chocolate, all sorts of black and red fruits
finish longer than a lawyer's closing argument. Naturally it's a full bodied
wine and although the consistency is supple the wine has a good backbone
provided by the ultra fine smooth tannins and sophisticated level of
complexity; this is seriously good wine that I would like to try again a few
years. Rated as Excellent with ** for value it
would best be consumed in 2008+.
Gralyn 2000 Cabernet ($90) had also just been opened and the aroma
showed little more than brooding black fruit and mint. Like the other two wines
there are lorry loads of ultra fine dusty tannins and excellent quality fruit.
In this case the fruit sneaks up on you and then WAM, BAM, why thank
you…..tastebuds. Savoury red cherry moves to cassis and then back again; and
then on to chocolate, mocha and liquorice with an incredibly long sweet finish.
Although the colour is dark purple, the hue is only of moderate intensity which
is consistent with the ample weight of the wine and it's not a heavy as many
people may expect. There is a reasonable level of sophisticated complexity but
at this price it could have had more, however this is a long-term wine and
would be best consumed after 2010. Rated as Excellent
with ** for value.
If you like big reds and don't mind spending up, this
is a winery to visit.
I had an hour to kill before my next appointment and as I had nothing but
indigestion and coffee for breakfast I decided to grab a quick meal. Lunch was
at Flutes Restaurant (part of the
The winery cellar door was an interesting location. Very well decked out
with a huge array of gifts, a lot of it wine related. Saw some great glasses
and decanters that I had not seen anywhere else and was tempted by a Riedel
Duck look alike at less than half the price of the real McCoy but carrying it
home would have been a haemorrhoid. The one line of
gifts I could not understand in this cellar door gift shop was the gardening
gloves, pruning clippers and other odds and sods. Makes about as much
sense to me as my pet shop selling left handed monkey wrenches but I guess it
must work for them.
Enough of this time wasting, it's time to get back to the serious business of
tasting wine so it's off down the road to Vasse
Felix where I have an appointment with Gemma
Hutchinson of the sales and marketing department. I have always been
impressed by Vasse Felix so I'm looking forward to this experience.
A private tasting room had been arranged with five bottles of wine laid out
with a heap of glasses but as we chat, it soon becomes apparent the five are
not enough, so Gemma disappeared for a few minutes to dig up a couple of extra
unreleased wines for me to try. Boy, the sacrifices I make for you all to
provide these tasting notes, it's just as well Gemma is so pleasant or it would
be hard work charming her to get those extra bottles.
Vasse Felix 2000 Classic Dry Red ($19) has an inviting reasonably
complex nose showing multiple soft berry fruits and spice. Tannins are smooth
but they are deceptive and provide a good backbone for this medium bodied wine
with soft consistency and developed fruit flavours. It's a medium bodied wine
that's all about fruit and soft easy drinking (without extracted weight) and
the savoury multiple 'fruits of the forest' flavours finishing off with mocha
make this a good food wine that is 100% safe bet in a restaurant. It's
well-made and technically perfect but holds interest due to the flavour
profile. Rated as Recommended with *** for
value.
Vasse Felix 2001 Classic Dry Red is the fourth vintages of wine and was
bottled a month ago with release due for next August
or September. This is still an obvious baby that needs time to settle
down. The wine has an unexpected intensity of powerful fruit without any signs
of extraction. The body is medium weight and whilst the structure is solid but
almost elegant, it's not a wimpy wine and has more than an agreeable level of
complexity. On the palate the great fruit is immediately obvious and shows
blackcurrant raspberries and rich chocolate. Rated as Recommended with **** for value this is a great
wine for the price that can be cellared until 2006.
Vasse Felix 2000 Cabernet Merlot ($22.50) has some VA with loads of
mint. This is a well-balanced "grey suit wine" savoury
blackberry/mulberry spectrum fruit, coffee and mocha. Its medium bodied with
soft consistency and has a seamless structure with a fairly simple level of
complexity. It's not bad wine but the Classic Dry Red holds more interest.
Rated as Agreeable with ** for value.
Vasse Felix 2001 Cabernet Merlot will also be
released next August or September. The wine has a soft nose, is vivid
purple in colour and whilst the tannins are smooth the backbone is deceptive,
but it's there. On the palate the wine has a touch of sweet blackcurrant which
immediately goes savoury into raspberry, chocolate, and star anise that
provides an agreeable complexity from the just medium weight fruit and the
layered structure finishes long. Another good food friendly bistro crowd
pleasing wine and it holds more interest than the 2000. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.
Vasse Felix 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($30) is made from
Vasse Felix 2000
Vasse Felix 2000 Heytesbury ($65) is a blended red and the winery's
flagship which is due for release in March. Initially
there was some VA which blew off, and dusty cedar dominated a complex array of
fruit and mint. Smooth ultra fine dusty tannins and refreshing acid with
distinct persistent fruit of great intensity provide the firm consistency and
solid tight structure that will underpin a very long lived wine. The wine has a
developed sophisticated level of complexity with savoury blackberry, mulberry,
chocolate, mocha, coffee and mint that just needs time for the tannins to
integrate which make this and iron fist in a velvet glove. Rated as Excellent with *** (just) for value.
Clive Otto the wine maker has completed 13 vintages here
and the consistency across the range is testament to all he has achieved.
|
Just as well I can't read |
The last winery today was another Australian icon, Moss
Wood which is only open by appointment. I was ushered around by Jason who is the assistant winemaker so I received
some pretty good information. The method of growing Pinot is very similar to
that used by Salitage and primarily uses a Scot Henry system of trellising
which they feel keeps the alcohol down but still allows the grapes to obtain
full ripeness even though it requires a lot of extra work with the labour
inquest requirement of leaf picking. I was lucky enough to try barrel samples
of many wines but my notes on them are pretty brief. All the wines I tried were
the blended product.
Moss Wood 2001 Pinot was in the tank and ready for bottling. It shows
earthy truffle notes (with no feral characteristics) and cherry fruit. On the
palate the loads of young acid is noticeable but there is beautiful pure cherry
and liquorice fruit which finishes very long.
Moss Wood 2002 Pinot was still in barrel and quantity had been reduced
by 50% to improve quality. The wine showed a lot more sweet fruit than the
2001. It's a fruit driven wine with an excellent structure although the loads
of youthful acid is noticeable that this early stage.
Moss Wood are also responsible for making the Ribbon Vale label and the Ribbon
Vale 2001 Shiraz is a definite step up over the 2000 showing fleshy plums
and chocolate with a pleasant finish.
Ribbon Vale 2001 Cabernet Merlot showed good structure with chocolate
mint and blackcurrant.
Ribbon Vale 2002 Cabernet Merlot shows the difference created by the
changes to trellising techniques. This vintage has a better structure than the
previous year; tannins are finer, the wine has a better length and aging
potential has also been increased.
Moss Wood 2002 Cabernet Merlot which is already blended but is still
being kept in barrel. The wine is a glass staining very vivid dark purple with
loads of silky dusty tannins and strong pure fruit without any signs of
extraction. It shows good complexity with a long finish and has come together
well considering its youthful age. There is still some sulphur evident but
that's not unusual at this stage of life. This is an
excellent wine has been built for long term.
Moss Wood 2001 Cabernet Merlot is still in barrel and the extra period
spent in oak shows how this time softens the texture of the wine. It has the
same colour as the 2002 and shows great fruit with mouth filling sweet and
savoury flavours of blackcurrant, chocolate, mint and all sorts of other
interesting things. The class and structure of the wine is immediately evident,
it's already seamless and showing huge palate length. This wine is a
"beauty-bottler-mate" (as they say in the Australian classics) and
whilst I would rate it as Excellent now,
no doubt in time it will be Outstanding.)
Glenmore 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon shows a fairly large improvement over
the first vintage of this wine. Blueberry, menthol, eucalyptus and chocolate
flavours add up to a wine with great fruit, showing some elegance, it will be
food friendly.
Only managed to do five wineries today but two of
them are Australian icons and the third and fourth were not exactly
poor relations. In three cases I was fortunate enough to try a number of
unreleased wines and or barrel samples so the day finished a lot better than it
started. Certainly the wines I tried today showed the
capabilities of this region and the level of excellence achieved by a number of
wineries in making world-class wines that would hold their own against
anything produced elsewhere. It's not everyday a wine lover gets a
chance to do that so from my perspective it was a pretty special day and one of
the best during this trip.
Chinese take away (from the one up the road, there are two in MR) was edible
and far better than the pizza a couple night before. An alcohol free night as
there was a definite need to build up capacity for the following night.
Friday 14th
|
Not many views like this in MR - its
Great Southern |
Today is my last day in
Headed out early to the most northerly point of today's expedition, and managed
to get their without getting lost, things are looking up.
Happs is a
winery I have heard good things about and their 1999 Shiraz received 95 Parker
points and comments relating to the fact that it was the greatest Western
Australian Shiraz the great man had ever tried, but I wasn't about to hold that
against the winery; I mean some deluded people with delusions of adequacy have
even said nice things about me occasionally.
I arrived at the cellar door bang on
The winery was established about 25 years ago and has
a huge and eclectic range of wines all of which are available for tasting. I
had intended to stick to the Three Hills Range which is their icon label
but the smooth talking "office lady" sweet talked me into trying the Happs
2000 Cabernet which is a Bordeaux blend ($20) which was an early drinking
style good bistro wine with savoury berry and chocolate flavours derived from
the just medium bodied but persistent fruit which comes across the palate as
being a little lean and soft. Rated as Agreeable with
** for value. It was only after trying this wine that she told me that she didn't drink red, no wonder she
recommended that one!
Being an absolute glutton for punishment I then let her talk me into trying the
Happs Three Hills 2000 Grenache which had only
been released two days ago ($28). The nose on this wine was completely
closed and yielded about as much Davo's wallet the day before payday. Whilst
the tannins are drying and dusty the fruit is medium weight but fairly delicate
showing sweet raspberry fruit and chocolate. It has a layered structure but a
fairly simple level of complexity. It's a well made lighter style of Grenache
that would have mass appeal but it's not for me. Rated as Recommended with ** for value.
Out the three strikes she has only got one left so this next recommendation which was also released two days ago had better be
good. The Happs Three Hills 2001 Malbec ($28 CD only) certainly got my
noses attention. It's impossible to miss the dark brooding fruit and structure
from the bouquet of this wine. Tannins are silky and drying with piquant acid
and the fruit is pure distinct and deep. The package provides a terrific
structure and mouth feel. the Ample weight provides
savoury fruit of blackberry, mulberry, raspberry and mocha which come across
with a velvety rich consistency, seamless structure and a harmonious developed
complexity. A very enjoyable and different style of
wine well worth trying if you ever get to see it. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value it should peak
after 2005.
After that one she still in their pitching (and bitching about the lack of
staff) whilst she twists my arm and pours the Happs Three Hills 1999
Cabernet Franc ($28) which shows sweet blackcurrant and violets on the
nose. The wine has a well-developed and diverse complexity, a layered structure
and supple consistency with silky tannins, unobtrusive balanced acid and medium
weight but obvious fruit which flows across the palate as sweet blackcurrant,
savoury dark chocolate and raspberry. Another well made an enjoyable wine
that's a little different and rated as Highly
Recommended with *** for value, it should peak around 2006.
Another phone call, this time to the cellar door down the road offering to
employ anyone immediately with a 33% pay rise provided they guarantee to never
have an unscheduled day off but no luck! So she pours a large glass of Happs
Three Hills 1999 Merlot ($36) (downs half of it down her own throat and
then hands it to me.) The wine has an unusual and distinctive nose of plums,
floral notes and hints of musk. The palate is a bit of a surprise with sweet
fruit on the uptake immediately turning savoury and then going to chocolate.
Silky ultra fine grained dusty tannins and muscular bodyweight with a refined
diverse harmonious level of complexity combined to make a seamless wine that is all about perfect structure and great elegance.
Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value,
this is a very fine wine if you like that sort of thing. Someone please send me
a bottle in 2007 by which time the wine should just about have peaked so I can
make up my mind.
She is starting to smile at me (now that's a worry) and pours two glasses of Happs
1999 Charles Andreas Bordeaux blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit
Verdot $36) and keeps one for herself. The slight VA lifts the inviting
multiple berry fruits and minty notes. On the palate the wine is beautiful with
initial sweet berry fruit that turns savoury with blackberry and many other
complex berry flavours. It's the ample weight wine with firm consistency, a
solid layered structure and harmonious developed level of complexity. The
flavours are enhanced by the mouth feel and balance which is created by loads
of creamy but dusty tannins with distinct obvious persistent fruit. Once again a perfectly built wine that just needs
time to show its best (2007) and rated as Highly
Recommended with *** for value the rating has room to improve over
time.
By the time this tasting note was complete, I am sure that bottle level has
been depleted substantially. She has disappeared. I heard she has gone outside
his see if she could stop any cars and hijack the occupants into working at
cellar door for the day. Her daughter pours the Happs 2000 Three Hills
Shiraz ($45) which has a nose showing some smoky oak and nose clearing
iodine over some pretty good fruit. It's a full-bodied wine with firm
consistency, solid structure and a well-developed complexity which is ably
supported by bucket loads of fine grained drying tannins and pure distinct
fruit that comes across the palate as sweet blackberry, savoury plum, light
chocolate, aniseed and pepper. The wine is rated as Highly
Recommended with ** for value it should peak around 2006.
Sheeeee's back and looking incredibly happy especially so considering she still
hasn't found anyone to work for the day. So "happy" that she decides
to open one of the last remaining bottles of Happs 1999 Three Hills Shiraz ($45
and limited to one bottle per customer) for her to drink, sorry, I mean for me
to try. This is a black wine with the rich ripe nose and real red bigot
material that's rich and full bodied with a layered structure and an intricate
developed level of complexity. On the palate it's showing strong concentrated
deep distinct fruit, loads of creamy tannins. A huge wine loaded with all
things black, blackcurrant, chocolate, liquorice, mocha, coffee and mint all on
a long finish. This is more like a big Barossa Shiraz but with superb use of French
oak, it's rated as Excellent with ***
for value (if you can find any) it should peak after 2007.
Whilst I was doing the tasting note she made another desperate phone call, this
time to local sanitation engineer who is reputed to have excellence in smell,
but fortunately he was in the poo and unable to attend so she was still no
closer to finding a cellar door staff member and pours me a glass of Happs
2001 Three Rivers Nebbiolo which was released two
days ago ($28) and keeps the rest of the bottle for herself. The wine is
violet in colour with a spicy light nose. There are loads of drying tannins and
the delicate but distinct fruit comes across the palate as upfront sweet fruit
that quickly goes into savoury spiciness. It's a medium weight wine with an agreeable
level of complexity but in all honesty, it's a little esoteric for me and I
just don't get it.
The wine tasting was over and whilst we were chatting, I asked her if she was having fun yet, she instantaneously went 
green around she gills and looked like she is
about to throw up; rushed out of the room and judging by the sound of things,
she rang God on the big white telephone in the ladies toilet.
In all seriousness Sue did a great job of looking after me, pouring the wine for
other tasters, selling wine to customers, taking pickers job applications,
answering the phone, ringing numerous staff members and politely asking if they
could come in and assist, and all of this whilst maintaining a big smile on her
face and providing lots of laughs. I also like to thank Sue in advance
(hopefully) for not threatening to sue me (bad pun,) or kill me for the poetic
licence used.
All prices quoted for Happs winery are less 15% by the dozen.
|
With signs like these who can getting lost! |
Lots of twisted turning back roads without getting lost and for a change in no
time I am back in the heart of
Woody Nook 2000 Merlot ($27) has smooth unobtrusive tannins and piquant
acid which lifts the pure distinct fruit showing sweet plum leading to savoury
raspberry, milk chocolate, and aniseed on a lingering finish. The wine is
medium bodied with a supple silky consistency, a layered structure and an
agreeable but harmonious level of complexity. A very good Merlot, it's rated as
Recommended with *** for value.
Killdog Creek 2000 Cabernet Merlot ($23) don't
even ask about the name unless you have got half an hour. Dusty oak dominates
the palate and the fruit is sweet but a little lean however the milk chocolate
finish is reasonable. It has a firm consistency and simple complexity and needs
time for the oak to integrate, my guess would be another three years assuming
there is enough fruit to last to distance. Rated as Agreeable
with ** for value.
Woody Nook 2000
Woody Nook 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($28) was
blended and going to the bottled two days later. Dark purple with a
vivid hue, the colour is glorious. The wine is dry grown and has a complex nose
exuding dusty oak, cigar box, tobacco all of which are over intense sweet fruit
scents. In the mouth the wine shows great fruit and perfect balance with a
multiplicity of flavours including sour black cherry, raspberry, blackberry,
milk chocolate and mint - a very savoury wine - impressive for the price.
Muscular bodyweight, a firm consistency and tight structure which in time
should become seamless together with a well-developed harmonious complexity
makes this a wine to buy and cellar until at least 2008+. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, the
rating may improve as the wine matures.
After saying goodbye to Gollywog and Mr Plod (for those few old enough to know
am talking about) it was a quick trip down the road to Fermoy Estate which is another winery whose
products I have never sampled although it's been around for about 18 years.
Fermoy 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($26) is dark purple and colour with a
light hue. Tannins are deceptively smooth and this ample weight wine has deep
pure persistent fruit with a well-developed complexity showing sweet
blackcurrant, savoury chocolate, plums and liquorice which finishes long on the
palate. A well made wine that represents good value now that should improve
over the next four years, it's rated as Highly
Recommended with *** for value.
Fermoy 2001 Merlot Cabernet (87/13%) when first opened and handed to me
smelt of pooey nappy and charry oak. I asked the assistant if the wine was a
sound and she went to ask the assistant wine maker, Simon Ding who wasn't quite
sure but suggested we open another bottle (to humour me.) The second bottle
proved the point and was locked up tight. There were subtle plums, some spice,
light pepper, and milk chocolate on the palate. The is
hard to judge now but has all the components; ample weight with a firm rich
consistency and a tight solid structure so it should be very good in time.
Rated as Recommended with *** for value it
should peak around 2007.
Sentinel 2000 Shiraz ($24 - their less expensive label) showed a lovely
ripe blackcurrant and "ludicrous" (that about sums up this voice
recognition software never get anything right; that should be
"liquorice") nose. The wine has good structure and backbone which is
provided by the drying dusty tannins, balanced acid and strong persistent
fruit. It's a muscular weight wine with solid layered structure and
well-developed complexity. It represents good value for the quality and one I
would be happy to buy. Rated as Highly Recommended
with *** for value. Power is there without being heavy and on the palate
shows rich ripe fruit including blackcurrant, chocolate, blackberry, plums and
aniseed with a very respectable finish.
Being such a smooth silver tongued subtle talker,
(sic) the winery was falling all over themselves to open up the Fermoy
2001 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon for me ($45) which had just been bottled and is about to be released. (If the truth be known,
being a little bit of a I had to promise an appointment for their
wine with my second best friend Mr RP Jr.) It's a vivid dark purple wine with
deceptive tannins because of the ultra fine grain and medium weight pure fruit.
This is a classy elegant wine with a perfect structure that is currently tight
and elegant but in time should become seamless, the flavour profile is savoury
and long with a harmonious and sophisticated complexity. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value now, the value
the rating may improve as the wine reaches its peak in 2007 and beyond
|
I know I keep getting lost but |
Two good discoveries in a row can we make three? Next stop was Lenton Brae and I must admit was surprised to see
the sign on the cellar door saying that the dog was actually allowed to be
inside. Almost as soon as I arrived I was greeted by a very friendly Border Collie cross and a mature lady who made it clear in no
uncertain terms that in her opinion the dog should not be allowed inside. At
that point I don't know what concerned me more, the attitude towards dogs or
her sweet cloying perfume.
Lenton Brae 2001 Cabernet Merlot (50/50% blend $20) had a volatile
chocolate nose and it's possible the volatility may have blown off once the
freshly open bottle had received more air. On the palate is the wine came across
a sour cherry, chocolate and seemed to be a bit green for my taste. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value.
Lenton Brae 2001 Margaret River (59% Cabernet, 35% Merlot, 6% Petit
Verdot - $29) to me came across as a lean and green and was rated as Acceptable with * for value.
I think I may know the reason for the perfume. Oh well, two out of three ain't
bad and the next one would have to be better as my mate Duncan who knows all
there is to know about wine in WA had put a "+" next to the name when
I had sent a list of wineries to him asking for comments.
Woodlands is a micro producer that has been around for 30
years and primarily sells through cellar door and direct via mailing list which
might explain why have never heard of them. The winery is normally only open
three days a week. I was greeted by the very enthusiastic young Greg who is
obviously (justifiably) very proud of the winery and their products.
The first wine, Woodlands 2001 Cabernet Merlot Malbec ($20 or $15 by the
case) showed chocolate and warm berry fruit on the nose with lots of dusty
tannins, piquant acid and medium but slightly lean fruit. The palate follows
the nose with savoury upfront fruit leading to a sweet mid palate and a savoury
finish with a big hit of acid on the tail. I found the structure to be slightly
disjointed and the complexity simple but whilst the wine didn't rock my boat,
it had reasonable length and would be okay for $15. Rated as Agreeable with *** for value.
At this stage I was wondering what
And now for something completely different, Woodlands 2001 Malbec is
black in colour and impenetrable. I certainly wasn't taken with the nose which
was stinky sulphurous, but luckily the palate was a lot better. There are at
least two semi trailer loads of dusty tannins in each glass, fresh acid and
distinct deep rich sweet fruit with an unbelievable length finish. To say the
wine has a solid structure is like saying the Williams sisters can play tennis.
This is a very unusual wine that should last forever and frankly I don't know
how to rate it. Only one barrel was produced and its $40 a bottle.
Back to normality and I tried the Woodlands 2001 The
Margaret (Cabernet 75%, Merlot 20% Malbec 5% - 70% new oak) which is 12 months off general release but if you ask
nicely can be purchased ahead of time. Dark purple in colour, the nose is also
dark and brooding. This is a rich full bodied wine with firm consistency, a
solid firm structure and a diverse level of complexity with great length
showing sour plums, blackcurrant, chocolate aniseed and a whole lot more. Once
again there are loads of dusty tannins, balanced fresh acid and pure deep
persistent fruit. Rated as Highly Recommended with
*** for value now ($35), it can be enjoyed at this stage for its glorious
fruit, but that would be a bit of a waste and it should improve as it matures
around 2008.
This is a slightly eccentric winery (which I can
relate to) and is worth the trip if you have the chance. There is absolutely no
doubt that thirty old dry grown vines can produce some great fruit.
I had heard good things from a number of people about Juniper Estate and interestingly enough, its one
of the few wineries in WA that I visited that used quantities of American oak
rather than mainly French.
Juniper Estate Crossings 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($19) had a slightly
volatile nose but the bottle had been freshly opened. The wine has silky
tannins, a medium body weight and soft consistency (but the backbone is there,)
a simple complexity with savoury flavours and a reasonable length finish, all
making this an ideal lighter style of red that's suitable for a barbeque. Rated
as Agreeable with ** for value.
Juniper Estate Crossings 2001
Juniper Estate 2000
Juniper Estate 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($32) has a structure that is no
surprise. The nose is promising with some complexity which comes from the
muscular weight fruit which is pure, distinct and obvious. The persistent flavours start of sweet but turn intensely savoury and stokes
the tongue with red, black and blue fruit. It's similar in style to the
Juniper produces safe honest well made good quality wines but they are nothing
to get madly excited about.
Unfortunately there was only one wine red available for tasting, their Cabernet
Sauvignon is all but sold out. The Cape Grace 2001 Shiraz ($28) won a
gong somewhere which in theory officially makes it the best Shiraz in WA
(another one) if you believe that sort of thing. Dark purple in colour, it
exudes fruit forward sweet black fruit with vanillan oak. That translates to
flavours of raspberry, blackberry, plums, liquorice and mocha with a very
respectable finish. This is a red bigot wine and although the complexity is
developed, to me there seemed something missing but I couldn't work out what it
was, rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value I would try it
again in 2005.
Robert and I went for a wander into the air conditioned barrel room and chatted
about things vinous and his plonk philosophy. Last vintage they produced 1100
cases, this year they hope to do 1200 and in time move to a maximum of 2800
cases in 3 years and it will always be a small winery if things go to plan.
They currently crop at 2.5 tonnes per acre so they can't be accused of over
cropping! This is consistent with their philosophy, produce great fruit, buy
the best oak and keep a close relationship with the winemaker (Mark Messenger
at Juniper.)
We then tasted two barrels of
If this winery keeps up these standards they are one to keep an eye on in the
future.
|
Not all are doing well |
Whizzed out of there at ten to five and walked into Howard
Park just on closing time. I had previously tried the 99 Cabernet
and wasn't wrapped in the wine but had it in a big line up so wanted another
chance to have a have a look at it. No chance! I was informed the 2000 had
recently been released and was available for tasting at $5 a glass. I explained
that I was reviewing the wines and the very helpful young lady say no, problem
(no charge) and asked if I would you like to try the 99 too as by chance they
had a bottle of that open too.
Howard Park 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon (76%
Howard Park 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon has sweet upfront fruit with herbal
characters that to me seemed a bit green. It finishes with a tobacco flavour.
The wine is mid weight with an elegant structure and whilst it has a refined
and developed complexity my opinion on this second tasting didn't change. Rated
as Recommended with * for value.
That's it for the formal part of the proceedings, the
winery time is over and its time to party.
|
"Piss Pots" may have been
a better name |
An off line dinner had been arranged by Duncan Gardner at the famous Winos which is owned by the equally infamous Mike Gadd aka "Headprune" on Auswine forum.
Gees, either these Western Australians are a bunch of pikers or I have pee'd
them all off royally with my past bigoted comments. Only
Dr Davo, his wife Jenny (who should receive an Order of Australia for putting
up with him), Duncan and his partner Julie showed up, and they were half an hour late leaving me looking like a shag on a rock sitting alone at a table big enough for 20!
By the time the four others arrived we had about enough wine for 20 so the night was starting to look good
despite the lack of numbers. First wine out of the blocks was a delicious,
reasonably sweet and creamy Sparkling Shiraz with a great mouth feel that to me seemed like a young wine, I would have
thought about a 98. It showed no leathery or aged Sparkling Shiraz characters.
Way wrong, it was a 94 Peel Estate Baroque.
Next cab off the rank (and I do mean rank) was another
masked bottle of wine. The nose smelled like a combination of public urinal and
a mouse cage that had not been cleaned for a month. When the wine was
"unmasked" it turned out to be the first vintage of Dr Davo's
Medicinal Homemade Hooch and he wanted to get an unbiased reaction from
friends, but as he hasn't got any, he had to settle with serving it to us. In
all seriousness, the wine was his first vintage being a 2002 that he recently
bottled. We felt very privileged as the entire production from his vineyard was
a whopping 37 bottles. The aroma showed sweet fruit with a mild sulphurous pong
but when I tasted it the wine was seamless, had good fruit and a reasonable
level of complexity. A bloody good effort for a
homemade wine Davo and one I would be happy to drink again next time I
come to WA (but remember it was 14 years since my last trip.)
The third wine was a bucking bronco looking for a rodeo cowboy. It was a 97
Peel Estate Zin and this was a real Pamela Anderson wine. There was no
refinement here but it sucked you right in with its voluptuousness. The only
reason it wasn't called "fortified" was because they would have had
to remove alcohol from it to get it into that category. It was a lush wine (bad
puns intended) and had great flavour complexity and strength. It would have
matched well with a brontosaurs steak but the best Winos could do was a bit of
Daffy Duck.
Some time ago I gave Dunc and Julie a bit of a helping hand when they wrote
their excellent book "A Guide to Touring the Wine Regions of Western
Australia" and they obviously decided that if there was no way they could
get out of the dinner once I had said I was coming (as they had organised it)
they would get their own back by bringing two bottles of PeeNo. Being a suave,
sophisticated and polite human being I sniffed the first one, Clarendon
Hills 1999 Pinot and took one sip but it was one sip to many and just
zipped my mouth closed.
Now this was the perfect time to hatch the annual good
idea I had a few days ago. Duncan and Julie have some great photos in their
book (grovel, grovel) so all I need is permission to use some of them and
the jpg files.
When I was informed the second Pinot the Main Ridge 1999 Pinot was not
as good as the previous one, I went back to the Zin and got stuck into the
bottle I had brought, which wound up being the next wine we attacked.
This was also served masked and initially everyone thought it was a big
Although there were still a number of bottles still on the table, we decided
not to open any more red and switch to Port. Davo turned the big BO, sorry that
was a typo, it should read "50" two days previously and he was kind
enough to bring along a bottle of
But then Jenny took this was the photo took so I am not sure it was such a good
job she was driving.
|
Great focus Jenny! Sober again! |
A fun night was had by all (despite the Pinot) and we all left there feeling
rather happy and content. As we walked out and were saying our goodbyes a
police car went by and I won't mention what Davo did, but it was luck that he was not arrested and
that Julie was driving.
Up at sparrows the next morning for the (over) three hour
drive back to
Final Thoughts
Serving "off" bottles of wine to the public
from cellar door is not doing that wineries reputation any favours. The
number of corked bottles being served to the public in wineries in
The trip has been an eye opener. The general quality of wine that I tried was excellent,
even at the lower levels. It's also equally apparent that some of these wineries are producing top quality wines that
will hold their own anywhere in the world. Whilst these wines may cost a
lot by Oz standards, by comparison to what you would pay for wine of this
quality overseas, theses wines are not expensive.
In contrast, at the other end of the scale, there are
not many bargains to be found in the lower priced categories. Generally
these wines from WA are a bit more expensive than wines from the eastern states
and that pricing disparity is all that is holding WA back from gaining a larger
slice of the Australian market.
The prices of good food in
Much to my surprise I found a number of inexpensive
Pinots in WA that are eminently drinkable and in my opinion far better
value than many from the eastern states. At the top
end WA is also making some very fine Pinot, some of the best
Australian examples I have tried. Two things stand out about these wines; they
don't seem like they are trying to make Pinot in a
|
True! |
When I was driving into Mt Barker, I saw an interesting sign and figured that
it was a ploy to suck people in to a winery with mediocre wine. However, after
my experience it would be fair to say that as a generalisation, it applies
to the whole of Great Southern and
I would also like to thank my good friend Brian
Handreck (Red Bigot) for his assistance with technical aspects when I
was putting this document together and for proof reading the final document. So
if there are mistakes blame him! After all what are
friends for! 
If you have reached this point, I would like to
thank you for your perseverance and hope the doctor finds a cure for
your insomnia soon. The trip was a great experience
and I derived great pleasure tasting the wines and compiling this
report. I hope you have found it useful and had a few chuckles on the way.
Stay tuned for the next instalment which is due after my trip in May to
Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and the Barossa. 
Cheers
Ric ©
Copyright © Ric Einstein 2003
