The Third Annual 2004 Club Dinner - "The Disaster"

© Adair Durie

The third Club dinner of 2004 was held on Saturday, 7th August 2004. Unfortunately, this Club dinner will be remembered as “The Disaster”. I suspect the cool temperature of the dining room and the serving temperature of the wines played a significant part in the poor showing of some very "big" labels. Fortunately, the evening was “saved” by some less renowned wines.

Attendees were: Attila, David "The Grave Robber" Pearson, David Lole, TORB, Laszlo and Stephan. The evening was hosted by Attila this time.

Like all Club dinners, wines were served blind with spot-on and discussion ensuing before trivia and options are given until the wine’s identity is known.

Unfortunately the attendee who was to bring Champagne cancelled at the last minute, and due to terrible Saturday afternoon traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the recalcitrant behaviour of 4-month old babies strapped into car seats of very slow moving cars, this wine ended up being matched to Attila’s famous Tamari Almonds.

This wine showed none of the depth or aged and barrel characters of previous bottles, although Attila said it gained enough depth by the morning to enjoy with breakfast. This wine was poor value at $30. Rated Recommended as expectation were probably always too high for this wine, this wine was a disappointment on any and all levels and was a horrific start to the evening.

At least Attila’s Tamari Almonds were consumed in their entirety.

TORB: It was nice of Adair to bring this wine but the bastard that didn’t front should have at least had the decency to send along their contribution and not make us suffer through this plonk. It did not pass my lips.

Ric commented that "Sparkling Shiraz does not get better than this" and it was agreed by all.

The colour was still bright red with dark red tinges. No brown but getting “c-through”. Beautifully aromatic and deep nose with a huge base of cassis (DavidL noted DMS) and dark cherry fruit, with mulberry, liquorice, chocolate, raspberry, vanilla and only a hint of earthiness adding to the experience. The wine was extraordinarily dominated by fresh fruit and not aged characters. The palate was exceptional: balanced, long, complex and delicate.  The wine was light in weight but deep in flavour and power. The small and persistent bead added to the balance, the “dance over the tongue” enjoyment and the softness of the wine, as did the fine tannins which were one with the wine. Some of my ideas of what Sparkling Shiraz can and should be were changed by this wine. Rated Outstanding/Ultimate, the evening had finally begun.

Attila’s note - Vigorous and tiny bubbles in the best Champagne tradition. Powerful Shiraz aromatics on the nose, black cherry, mulberries, liquorice. Seamless and extremely concentrated palate packed with rich fruit flavours. Beautiful balance and serious underlying POWER. At 17 years of age it's nowhere near full maturity. Needs another 4-6 years to fully blossom but will last well beyond that. Amazing gamey flavours, very dark and rich. A joy to drink and savour. In a way it can compete with any product from Champagne. Superb and superior. It cost AU $60 today but it is a bargain, it doesn't matter which way you look at it. A stunning and superb Australian classic that worth it's weight in gold.

TORB: It was interesting to have to fight off all the other guests to get a second glass of this wine. It was the first bottle emptied and went down a treat. My wine of the night.

Attila’s Transylvanian vegetable soup was served next specifically to accompany the following wine. This was a simple, enjoyable dish that would have scared off any cold or flu that might have been coming my way.

1994 TRIMBACH Cuvee Frederic-Emile Riesling - Alsace

This wine was the first of the big name disappointments. Sweet florals, honey, pineapple and a hint of mango on the nose. More lime is revealed as the wine breathes and warms up, particularly on the middle and back palate. Despite excellent complexity, the great amount of acidity in the wine did not provide any highlight to the flavours and structure. In fact the wine was broad and disjoined. The cork was in great condition but the wine seemed a bit oxidised. I keep tasting this bottle over the next 36 hours looking for some hint of greatness but it was never found. Rated Recommended/Highly Recommended, this was a nice mid-week wine.

Attila next served his Garlic prawns with yeast-free sourdough baguette to accompany his next wine. I thorough enjoyed this disk, not only due to the quality of the accompanying wine, but the sweetness and plumpness of the prawns.

TORB: These garlic prawns were seriously good and made sure that any Transylvanian vampires would be kept at bay and hanging around Attila you can never be too careful.

Light straw. Apple custard, lychees, and sweet spices on a bone dry and long palate. This wine absolutely blew me away. It is the only Gewürtztraminer I have truly enjoyed. Do they grow Sauvignon Blanc in Somló?

The wine exploded on the palate. The palate was broad and had no glycerine feel. A mineral and sweet earth streak added immensely to the wine. The acidity was as powerful as the fruit and totally integrated creating a very long finish. The wine hardly changed over the next 36 hours and will benefit from a couple of decades in the cellar. Rated Outstanding/Ultimate, this wine will only get better and was my wine of the night.

2001 KOVÁCS ISTVÁN Transylvanian Rosé NO* 7 – somewhere in Hungary

Isabella was the dominant grape variety in this wine, supported by a few others. Pink in colour. One of the evening’s attendees commented that the wine smelt like cocaine. I can not confirm or deny this but thought the wine smelt like a combination of bubblegum and slightly used dishwater. I suspect that it should have been drunk in 2001. Not many tasted the wine. I did and can advise that the dishwater aspect was as prominent on the palate as it was on the nose.

David Lole commented about this wine: “I am really glad I came all the way from Canberra for that.”

TORB: One sniff and I said “what is this crap, its seriously defective.” I don’t know about the cocaine comment, but Attila must have been smoking dope when he decided to inflict this wine upon us.

We quickly moved to the next wine and Attila’s American Pioneer Four Bean Stew. Although not everyone’s favourite, I had numerous bowls of this stew without any ill effects.

TORB: I loved the bean stew too. As for “not having any ill effects,” my dogs refused to share the car with me the next day.

1993 DOMAINE DE LA POUSSE D'OR "Clos De La Bousse D'Or" Volnay 1er Cru Monopole

TORB: This wine was drinkable but nothing special.

2002 HERZOG Pinot Noir - Marlborough, New Zealand

Light bright cherry red colour, quite translucent. Very sappy strawberry and cherry fruit with plums and a hint of spice and minerality on a smooth, full, fresh and seriously “sexy” palate. Deep and bright. Nothing heavy. DavidP commented that it “smells like Burgundy, tastes like Burgundy…” as it did but there was a hint of smooth ripe fruit that hinted to some that this may be New World. Only one or two Australian Pinot Noir could match the quality of this wine. Rated Excellent, bottle age will be of benefit.

The wine was brought to this Club dinner as, per a recent Huon Hooke article, this is the only New World Pinot Noir that Andrew Jefford believes is worth drinking.

TORB: If this is the only New World Pinot that is worth drinking, the new world is in trouble and explains why I feel the “holy grail” Pinot chase is not worth the reward, especially so when you have friends that will do all the hard work and all you have to do is drink the occasional “theoretical” great one.

Ripe fruit then greenness. Good complexity but totally unenjoyable. Not rated and not enjoyed.

TORB: Another one of Attila’s smoking dope efforts in an endeavour to educate us in the finer arts of vinous matter of a Hungarian nature. The matter was calling this unripe, green stuff wine in the first place.

1986 Jean Louis Chave Hermitage

Starting to brown. Sweet honey, developed red berry jam, cedar, peppermint, chocolate and coffee but a bit oxidised and slightly disjointed. Big on the front but thin on the back with acid showing. Not rated.

TORB: Four letter words!

1971 LOUIS JADET Gevrey-Chambertin

Quite a gorgeous combination of flavours: Sweet earth, leather, aged red fruits and toffee. However, the palate was thin and drying. It would have been a much more enjoyable wine 10 years ago yet fun now as a curio. Unlike the 1971 DOMAIN CLAIR-DAÜ Cazetiers Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru presented at the last Club dinner, I could not forgive the disjoined structure of this wine. Not rated.

TORB: The wine was well past it – please pass the next bottle, I want a drink! All this c-though which I have abstained from drinking, followed by some ordinary Pinot and some very suspect Hungarian concoctions thrown in and I was thirsty!!

Attila served red fish with mashed potatoes and French mustard sauce. Although this did not really meld with any of the wines, it was a lovely dish.

TORB: At least I am not going hungry. The fish was excellent and the mustard sauce, although much stronger than the fish made the dish.

Dark in colour, this wine was served a bit early in the scheme of the evening but its quality shone brightly. Immense power without over-ripeness. Deep dark cherries, cassis, chocolate, plums, great French oak, some green bean, hints of mint and spice, a little earth and cigar. Powerful slightly chalky tannins totally immersed in the wine’s deep fruit. Despite its size, the wine is balanced, harmonious and maintains elegance… absolutely gorgeous. This wine leaves Katnook, Majella, Wynns, Punter’s Corner, Parker Estate, etc. in its wake. My only reservation is whether this wine is too good now to possibly get better with age. Amazingly, the label states 13% alcohol. Rated Outstanding/Ultimate, young Coonawarra Cabernet does not get better than this!

TORB: Good and bad here, this is meant to be a dinner with a heap of great older wines. Older it is not, this wine was a complete ring in, but in its favour, at last we had a good wine that was eminently drinkable. It reminded me a lot of the Bowen 1998 Ampelon and was certainly in that style of wine. I am a much harder marker and rated it as Excellent. Like Adair, I am also concerned about its ability to age but it is most enjoyable now.

2000 WENINGER Veratina Cuvée - Mittelburgenland region, Austria

Sweet deep black and red fruit combined with large amounts of high quality oak. An unusual cheesiness is in the wine. Definitely a high quality wine but too oak dominant for my palate. I am sure others would rate this wine higher. Rated Highly Recommended/Excellent.

TORB: This was wine number 13 and although I had been spitting 12 of them, I don’t remember much about it.

 1988 CHATEAU HAUT BRION 1er Grand Cru – Graves

Very bright deep red in colour, much was expected of this wine but become another big label disappointment. After 2 hours in a decanter, this wine was very complex, as hoped, but too much tannin and green bean made the wine disjointed. Interestingly, when I arrived home, I had another glass of this wine with my “raw milk” firm Reblochon cheese and this seemed to soak up these tannins and make for a much more enjoyable wine.

TORB: Adair was devastated by this wines poor showing at the dinner. It was green and exhibited unripe characters. I didn’t spit the first sip, but it didn’t warrant a second swallow. By now, there were all sorts of moans and groans, fourteen bottles and only two good ones.

1983 MOSS WOOD Cabernet Sauvignon

Another big label disappointment. Coffee, prune and too herbal. Lovely delicate structure though. After 24 hours, the fruit had opened more with a savoury sweet quality that took over the herbaceousness to create an enjoyable wine but nothing great. Rated Highly Recommended.

TORB: This bottle had David muttering and cursing as he hoped it would save the night. It also exhibited unripe herbaceous characters.  

1985 CHATEAU PICHON LONGUEVILLE COMTESSE DE LALANDE 2nd Growth – Pauillac

2000 TALISMAN ESTATE Saperavi – Georgia (ex-USSR State, not the US State)