Salil Benegal
Salil Benegal
Keith Levenberg hosted a few of us for dinner and a lineup of 'classic' Australian wines. No Grateful Palate bombs here as the lineup had some real gems from down under with the likes of Mount Mary, Wendouree, John Riddoch and Mount Langi, accompanied by Keith's very addictive home made fries and faux-Outback steak and chicken. A seriously fun evening, thank you for putting this together Keith.
2008 Joh Jos Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese 2-star
Keith had this open in the fridge from the previous day, poured me a glass while lining up/decanting the Aussies. Really delicious stuff with bright red fruited and peachy flavours over slate, floral elements and very faint honeyed touches - really rich fruit but not overly sweet or heavy with plenty of acidity and a sense of lightness that's more akin to Spatlese. Fantastic wine, I'm really loving every '08 I've had from Christoffel.
Now the main stuff
2002 Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon
Perhaps a little bit past its prime, bright gold in colour, quite waxy and nutty in its flavour profile with some melon and quince fruit underneath, creamy at the back end but a little soft for my liking without the acidity I look for in Hunter Semillon.
2006 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling
Really smoky, pungent aromatics with lots of kerosene and petrol leading into a palate full of pale citrus and white fruited flavours and an intense gravelly minerality. Very light and precise with razor-sharp acidity and a long tart, refreshing finish.
1996 Mount Mary Pinot Noir
Fantastic; sappy cherries and other red fruited flavours with touches of leather, earth and cardamom in a seamless, glossy-textured package with plenty of finesse and length. Really delicious.
1988 Wynn's Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon
Stunning aromatics with a gorgeous scent combining cedar wood, smoke, tobacco, cassis and minty and eucalyptus accents, equally lovely in the mouth where it's very light on its feet, combining dusty red fruits and cassis with developed aged Bordeaux-like flavours and a bright eucalyptus/minty element hinting at its Australian origin. (A whopping 12.3% alcohol)
1993 Parker Coonawarra Estate Terra Rossa First Growth
Very ripe and intense (especially following the very restrained, nuanced John Riddoch) with bright red fruits, plums and currant fruit with some noticeable oak and coffee flavours. Boring.
1999 Wendouree Shiraz-Mataro
Typical Wendouree, really singular in its dark, savoury flavour profile combining coal smoke, herbs, black olives and beetroot with earthy and eucalyptus accents. Incredibly young with the forbidding structure of a young Barolo, but already there's so much detail and nuance here - this is an amazing wine to sit down and follow over some time. Wow.
1994 Mount Mary Quintet
Great stuff with a nose that screams older, mature Bordeaux with its scent of cassis, dusty red fruits, herbs and cigar smoke, and a palate that's got plenty of bright fruit, developed herbal and earthy nuances that unfold with some air and bright acidity keeping it very fresh and precise. Perhaps my wine of the night, though it was a hard call between this and the Wendouree.
1998 Mount Mary Quintet
All the same elements as the '94 with the same elegance, lightness of touch and incredible nuance, only difference is that this feels much younger with the fruit darker and more youthful and the tannins a little more prominent. Fantastic wine that I expect will last and develop for a long time. (12.5% alcohol for the record, the '94 was 13%.)
1998 Best's Great Western Bin 0 Shiraz
Flawed with serious volatile acidity making it very hard to drink. A shame, as another bottle I had a few weeks ago was fantastic.
1998 Best's Thomsons Family Reserve Great Western Shiraz
Weird; plenty of dark fruited richness with chocolate, bandaid and floral accents, but there's a fair bit of volatile acidity here as well (not as bad as it was in the Bin 0) and the alcohol makes its presence felt on the back end. This is the only real heavyweight of the lineup at 14.5% alcohol (only wine of the night over 14% in fact) and it showed.
1998 Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz
A real disappointment - I've heard this particularly Edelstone can be very hit or miss, and this started out with pleasant leathery and red fruited flavours, but after some air this turned into the essence of canned tomato paste. Bleh.
1995 Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz
Wild aromatics with an intense scent of white pepper, eucalyptus, meaty elements and red and dark fruited flavours with other exotic spicy accents. Really delicious stuff with plenty more ripe fruit and spice on the palate and serious length - delicious.
For fun afterwards we opened a couple of truly awful joke wines with dessert (chocolate brownies and ice cream), leading into a debate as to which joke wine made Keith/Jay Miller cringe more.
1997 Glaetzer Shiraz
Essence of dried out American oak. Brutal and offensive, but hilarious in the circumstances.
2001 Clarendon Hills Old Vines Grenache Romas Vineyard
Overripe, pruny red fruits, hideously alcoholic and candied. Atrocious!
A few photos from the evening:
The Mount Mary Quintets
Wendouree
Jay is disgusted by the Glaetzer
2008 Joh Jos Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese 2-star
Keith had this open in the fridge from the previous day, poured me a glass while lining up/decanting the Aussies. Really delicious stuff with bright red fruited and peachy flavours over slate, floral elements and very faint honeyed touches - really rich fruit but not overly sweet or heavy with plenty of acidity and a sense of lightness that's more akin to Spatlese. Fantastic wine, I'm really loving every '08 I've had from Christoffel.
Now the main stuff
2002 Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon
Perhaps a little bit past its prime, bright gold in colour, quite waxy and nutty in its flavour profile with some melon and quince fruit underneath, creamy at the back end but a little soft for my liking without the acidity I look for in Hunter Semillon.
2006 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling
Really smoky, pungent aromatics with lots of kerosene and petrol leading into a palate full of pale citrus and white fruited flavours and an intense gravelly minerality. Very light and precise with razor-sharp acidity and a long tart, refreshing finish.
1996 Mount Mary Pinot Noir
Fantastic; sappy cherries and other red fruited flavours with touches of leather, earth and cardamom in a seamless, glossy-textured package with plenty of finesse and length. Really delicious.
1988 Wynn's Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon
Stunning aromatics with a gorgeous scent combining cedar wood, smoke, tobacco, cassis and minty and eucalyptus accents, equally lovely in the mouth where it's very light on its feet, combining dusty red fruits and cassis with developed aged Bordeaux-like flavours and a bright eucalyptus/minty element hinting at its Australian origin. (A whopping 12.3% alcohol)
1993 Parker Coonawarra Estate Terra Rossa First Growth
Very ripe and intense (especially following the very restrained, nuanced John Riddoch) with bright red fruits, plums and currant fruit with some noticeable oak and coffee flavours. Boring.
1999 Wendouree Shiraz-Mataro
Typical Wendouree, really singular in its dark, savoury flavour profile combining coal smoke, herbs, black olives and beetroot with earthy and eucalyptus accents. Incredibly young with the forbidding structure of a young Barolo, but already there's so much detail and nuance here - this is an amazing wine to sit down and follow over some time. Wow.
1994 Mount Mary Quintet
Great stuff with a nose that screams older, mature Bordeaux with its scent of cassis, dusty red fruits, herbs and cigar smoke, and a palate that's got plenty of bright fruit, developed herbal and earthy nuances that unfold with some air and bright acidity keeping it very fresh and precise. Perhaps my wine of the night, though it was a hard call between this and the Wendouree.
1998 Mount Mary Quintet
All the same elements as the '94 with the same elegance, lightness of touch and incredible nuance, only difference is that this feels much younger with the fruit darker and more youthful and the tannins a little more prominent. Fantastic wine that I expect will last and develop for a long time. (12.5% alcohol for the record, the '94 was 13%.)
1998 Best's Great Western Bin 0 Shiraz
Flawed with serious volatile acidity making it very hard to drink. A shame, as another bottle I had a few weeks ago was fantastic.
1998 Best's Thomsons Family Reserve Great Western Shiraz
Weird; plenty of dark fruited richness with chocolate, bandaid and floral accents, but there's a fair bit of volatile acidity here as well (not as bad as it was in the Bin 0) and the alcohol makes its presence felt on the back end. This is the only real heavyweight of the lineup at 14.5% alcohol (only wine of the night over 14% in fact) and it showed.
1998 Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz
A real disappointment - I've heard this particularly Edelstone can be very hit or miss, and this started out with pleasant leathery and red fruited flavours, but after some air this turned into the essence of canned tomato paste. Bleh.
1995 Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz
Wild aromatics with an intense scent of white pepper, eucalyptus, meaty elements and red and dark fruited flavours with other exotic spicy accents. Really delicious stuff with plenty more ripe fruit and spice on the palate and serious length - delicious.
For fun afterwards we opened a couple of truly awful joke wines with dessert (chocolate brownies and ice cream), leading into a debate as to which joke wine made Keith/Jay Miller cringe more.
1997 Glaetzer Shiraz
Essence of dried out American oak. Brutal and offensive, but hilarious in the circumstances.
2001 Clarendon Hills Old Vines Grenache Romas Vineyard
Overripe, pruny red fruits, hideously alcoholic and candied. Atrocious!
A few photos from the evening:
The Mount Mary Quintets
Wendouree
Jay is disgusted by the Glaetzer