David Lloyd
David Lloyd
Reed the intern from Santa Barbara, left for some vintage work in the Barossa at 6am today. Any excuse for a farewell dinner and some friends to come around, Wendy and I providing food and some wines and the rest care of our friends and Reed. It was about 22C as we watched the sunset across the vines from the dinner table on the veranda. First pair of wines was a Binner Schlossberg 04 GC paired with a Paradigm Hill 2005 Riesling. The Binner was somewhat premoxed and very flat, showing some stonefruit character but not much Riesling character. I suspect it may have sub 2ng/l TCA as I can't think of any other reason to explain why the flavour was so supressed. The Paradigm was in top form, showing a little of that aged character I see in Aussie Rieslings often described as kerosine. Only a tiny bit and the limey fruit flavours were lovely with quite a refined palate. The rest of the wines were served masked by respective people who brought them so we could play option games.
A pair of 2009 Chassagne Montrachets: Bernard Moreau Morgeot was superb, with a slightly reduced nose and then a gentle mix of peach and citrus on the palate that went on and on with a tight but balanced line of acid. The second was Boudriottes by Fontaine Gagnard. It had a similar nose to the Morgeot, maybe a bit more reduced. On the palate the fruit seemed sweeter but the acid was searing. I have some more in the cellar but I do worry about this level of acid as it will never go away/reduce.
The next wine was a Volnays Mitans by Dom. de Montille 2006 and it was on song, lovely soft cherry of quite some power and length, lovely silky tannin structure. A great wine. Then we had a pair that turned out to be from 2007. The first was Dom. Pavelot Savigny L B Les Guettes 1re. It was supple, nice acid with cherry fruit and a hint of plum. A great food wine but needs to be left alone for 3 to 5 years. The second was Violot-Guilermard La Platiere. Very different to the Les Guettes, softer, rich fruit, more tannin but an earthy/tobacco element with nice cherry behind all the savoury character. Developing beautifully although a little quicker than the Les Guettes. My wine of the night. The next pair were very different as one turned out to be an '09 local Shiraz by Winbirra and the other an '04 Tannat by Chateau Bouscasse from Madiran. The local Shiraz was an easy pick as it oozed white pepper and a little spice on the nose so we were immediately thinking cool climate Syrah. The palate showed a little stalky tannin, very fresh berry fruit, heaps of pepper and great elegance. The last wine had us immediately thinking Cab style and me being a bit of a smarty pants immediately suspected an Argentinian Carmenere. It did seem a bit more Cab like than that with a bit of the bell pepper style flavour and assertive tannin. Given the options of Malbec, Tannat or Cab Franc most went for Cab Franc. A great evening that seemed to make it very hard for me to get up before 6am to drive Reed to the airport for his 8.05am flight to Adelaide where he is starts vintage Monday with Barossa producer Two Hands.
A pair of 2009 Chassagne Montrachets: Bernard Moreau Morgeot was superb, with a slightly reduced nose and then a gentle mix of peach and citrus on the palate that went on and on with a tight but balanced line of acid. The second was Boudriottes by Fontaine Gagnard. It had a similar nose to the Morgeot, maybe a bit more reduced. On the palate the fruit seemed sweeter but the acid was searing. I have some more in the cellar but I do worry about this level of acid as it will never go away/reduce.
The next wine was a Volnays Mitans by Dom. de Montille 2006 and it was on song, lovely soft cherry of quite some power and length, lovely silky tannin structure. A great wine. Then we had a pair that turned out to be from 2007. The first was Dom. Pavelot Savigny L B Les Guettes 1re. It was supple, nice acid with cherry fruit and a hint of plum. A great food wine but needs to be left alone for 3 to 5 years. The second was Violot-Guilermard La Platiere. Very different to the Les Guettes, softer, rich fruit, more tannin but an earthy/tobacco element with nice cherry behind all the savoury character. Developing beautifully although a little quicker than the Les Guettes. My wine of the night. The next pair were very different as one turned out to be an '09 local Shiraz by Winbirra and the other an '04 Tannat by Chateau Bouscasse from Madiran. The local Shiraz was an easy pick as it oozed white pepper and a little spice on the nose so we were immediately thinking cool climate Syrah. The palate showed a little stalky tannin, very fresh berry fruit, heaps of pepper and great elegance. The last wine had us immediately thinking Cab style and me being a bit of a smarty pants immediately suspected an Argentinian Carmenere. It did seem a bit more Cab like than that with a bit of the bell pepper style flavour and assertive tannin. Given the options of Malbec, Tannat or Cab Franc most went for Cab Franc. A great evening that seemed to make it very hard for me to get up before 6am to drive Reed to the airport for his 8.05am flight to Adelaide where he is starts vintage Monday with Barossa producer Two Hands.