With the only motivation a cool day on the forecast & my sister in Tasmania telling me to ‘socialise while you can’ (given the impending arrival of covid – yay) we managed to mobilize a decent crew of people and bottles for a long lunch.
The takeaway was again about drinking windows. Building a cellar sounds like a great idea but before you over commit to anything in particular you want to work out what age you like to drink the wines. Days like this are really helpful for working that out & my (very dull – apologies) notes here are along those lines.
After an Arras (always decent – never amazing) we moved on to a Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay from 2000 & a Jim Barry ‘The Florita’ Riesling 2020. The LEAS was a suspicious yellow, had a crumbly cork but presented as good as could be expected. It was drinkable but not pleasurable (interestingly the back label said ‘already drinking well at time of release, this vintage really needs little cellaring’). For mine it was at least ten years older than optimal drinking whilst the Riesling was clearly very good but perhaps five years away from becoming properly interesting. We followed that with a Peccavi Chardonnay that was drinking well: most top end MR Chardonnay I think is great on release to seven years after vintage. I don’t necessarily prefer them at any different point on this spectrum – s’all good.
The Pinots were served blind to the group. A 2013 Farrside very dark in colour, up against a Moss Wood 2019 which very light indeed. The group was split on preference but I thought the Farrside was rather special & wonderfully complex: these are great on release but if you are going to cellar them perhaps 7-10 years after vintage is a good idea to get that next lot of flavours. We’ve generally found (including most top end Vic Pinot here) that they can be a bit awkward in between. I’ve often found the Moss Wood pinot a bit dull with a bit of age on it – personally I prefer these in the flush of youth where (like this bottle) they can be fragrant and expressive.
Big Papa Ferrito served us a Picardy 2017 Merlimont (merlot blend) on the blind. My first guess was a cool climate Shiraz which probably sums up how it tasted: silkily textured and splendidly perfumed. Strangely, I’ve not tasted older bottles of this label so whilst I can’t make an informed comment on a recommended cellaring time this was a delight at less than five years after vintage.
A 1997 Cullen Cabernet Merlot (pre Diana Madeline I think) smelt very funky to me & a few others (though interestingly, not everyone), but was still holding it together on the palate. Pleasant enough but for me at least I think this would have been a better wine at fifteen years old rather than twenty-five. It was presented next to a rather splendid 2012 Haut Bailly that mellowed out a lot in the decanter. All reports suggest that 2012’s is an early drinking vintage & along those lines whilst this might be a better wine in five years I suspect it is too light to go for decades.
My major takeaway from the day was how well a 2012 Langi Mast Shiraz was drinking. My last of four, the first two were drunk young and I absolutely adored them, while the third was a few years later and I remember the wine being very closed down & disappointing. How reassuring to see my last bottle drink this well (given how much Grampians Shiraz I have stashed away) & I think it could have managed almost another decade without any problems.
As much as I love a good Sauternes it was even better finishing on a 30 year old Tawny from Talijancich. Fairly recently I bought a case of fortifieds from a Rutherglen icon and on reflection these Tali fortified have them well covered.
Apologies for these rather dull write ups (I’m kind of assuming no one is reading). Good times.
The Wine Accomplice 