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+--- Thread: Leeuwin Estate and others (/thread-8215.html)
- brappy - 07-24-2007
This estate makes some of the best Chardonnay around. They're out of Western Australia; Margaret River to be precise. Once again, quick thoughts jotted down while I was working.
Riesling '06
Small amount of minerality on the nose. The fruit is great. Completely takes over the palate along with the right amount of acidity. Bone-dry.
Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon '06
Fresh; acidic; nice wine
Prelude Vineyard Chard '05
Great stuff; no malo; juicy; pretty fruit; well done
The rest are all art series Chardonnay.
'04 - unobtrusive oak treatment; probably the finest example of Chardonnay in Australia. Great fruit; Great balance; Touch of honeysuckle at the very end of the amazingly long finish.
'01 - More toast on the nose; When I tasted this one, i took a big relaxing breath and just said "Now this is how its supposed to be done!" Great wine.
'95 - More golden in color which explains some of the oxidative qualities found on the nose and palate. Still good fruit but on the downcline.
'87 - Not gold at all. No oxidation. Fruit is still great and is balanced out with great acidity. The oak is barely noticable except at the end. It then leaves you with this vanilla, toffee thing that begs you to drink more. Really a dead ringer for an aged Montrachet.
Later on in this same tasting, I tasted another Chard that blew me away.
Cullen, Also from the Margaret River region.
'05 - Extremely well done. Absolutely perfect balance. Very rich and pure fruit.Great oak treatment as it is obviously there but just in the background lending support and adding complexity. Once again, Extremely well done.
Went on to taste some Giant Steps Vineyards wines. They seem to concentrate on thier Chards and Pinot Noirs which are good but then ran into thier shiraz '05 - Very nice fruit; tingly mid-palate acidity; some floral notes (almost like it has some viogner in it); Very nice wine. Then I ran into a wine that floored me. They call it "Harry's Monster" which is a bordeaux blend - Big, Big, BIG wine; Great sweet fruit; will need several years just to begin to soften the tannins. But if i had some of this in my cellar, I might not have the will power to hold off. Extremely balanced acidity. Outstanding wine.
Then ran into this producer: Yarra Yering.
Probably obvoius they are from the Yarra Valley.
Pinot Noir '05 - Great big Pinot; wonderfully concentrated fruit; sweet tannins; full bodied Pinot; Great structure.
Underhill Shiraz '05 - wow, very Cote Rotie-ish; meaty, bloody - great flavors; wonderfully different for an Aussie Shiraz. Love it.
Dry red #1 - Cab merlot blend. Not to imaginative for a name. I guess they have a number 2 as well but didn't get to taste that one. Some green notes on this wine but the fruit is so concentrated and good. The complexity of this wine is almost too much. Beautiful wine.
I suggest everyone keep a look-out for this producer. You will not be disappointed.
HEre's another one: Penley estate.
"Pheonix" Cab '05 - OK Now; Nice weight; bright flavors with the acidity right on. Nice job.
Special Select Shiraz '04 - Nice vibrant fruit - well made; floral nose; big, mouthfilling wine.
Bordeaux Blend '04 - (Another great name) very nice; will go thirty years without missing a step. Well balanced wine with very pure fruit.
Cabernet Reserve (vertical)
'04 - Well done with the only draw back in which the fruit shows a touch bitter on the back end
'00 - Much better than the '04. Great fruit, should have great longevity. Great structure.
'98 - better yet still; wow, getting better (not sure what I meant here but that's what I wrote)
'96 - Different animal altogether - but damn this is good juice. Palate is meaty, full-bodied, "Kick-Patootie"!
And how about john Duvall's wines. He is out of the Barrosa.
"Plexus" GSM '05 - Very well made; bright fruit; Red and blue fruits; great acidity with one hell of a finish. (That means long finish)
"Entity" Shiraz '05 - Great shiraz; totally mouthfilling; Great acidity; beautiful balance. hard to take my nose out of the glass.
Another to look for: Ausvetia. There was only one wine here; Shiraz. And they did an unbelievable job producing this. Stunning; flamboyant even. Fruit is amazingly pure. Big sweet fruit. Keep it comin'.
Should I keep going? just a bit more......
Any Grenache fans out there?
Jasper Hill makes some great juice. Thier Shiraz is wonderful and the they make a Shiraz/Cab Franc blend (odd) which was great as well. But thier grenache stole the show. This is the '05 version - Blueberry, bluieberry, blueberry and some more blueberry. The complexity to this wine came to me when i thought about how many different ways I have had blueberries served to me and could taste every single one of them and some I didn't even know about in this wine. Really awesome Juice. Don't pass this one up. It is an experience worth going through!
At the end, we went on to taste through the D'arenburg wines. i was too busy at this point to take any notes. We traveled through thier entire portfolio including 5 year verticals of thier flagships. (Dead Arm, Coppermine, etc.) Great tasting in all.
Oh, almost forgot and should be slapped for it. Actually the end of the tasting came with a few stickies from Chambers. Was able to taste through even the RARE wines which come from soleras dating back to the 1870s. These guys just simply make stunning stickies. Even thier base muscat for around $16 retail is an incredible treat. OK, enough for now......
mark
- winoweenie - 07-24-2007
Holy Mackerel Andy that's a bunch of coconuts! Will have to look some of these hummers up at me local pushers on Thursday when BRW and I get together. WW
- wondersofwine - 07-24-2007
Thanks for the notes, Mark. Guess I'm going to have to look for the Leeuwin Art Series Chardonnays as well as some of the others you mention. I've heard of those and the Yarra Yering but not sure I've tasted any.
- Glass_A_Day - 07-24-2007
Their Art series is one of the best chards IMO each vintage. It is also highly rated which may doom it in the eyes of some forum members... [img]http://wines.com/ubb/wink.gif[/img]
- brappy - 07-25-2007
Hopefully it's been rated highly because it's great juice.
But to each thier own. Glad you like it GAD.
Will post some more tasting thoughts later this week.
mark
- Drew - 07-26-2007
Terrific notes Mark, gonna try to track some down while at the beach.
Drew