Oz vs. California reds

[wondersofwine]

Carolina Wine Company had a blind tasting Saturday of three Australian reds and one California red. They haven't published the results yet but my favorite was the Henry's Drive Shiraz (about $25 a bottle) over the more expensive Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet. I had the Silver Oak tied for second or maybe half a point higher than the other Australian wine I liked (one highly extracted shiraz I did not like). I did pick out which wine was the Californian of the four. One lady tasting at the same time liked the Henry's Drive best and the Silver Oak last. She thought it was a cheap California wine (right about origin; wrong about price). In other tastings, the wine shop has had reasonably priced Australian wines outperform Cakebread and other noted California vineyards.

[Innkeeper]

Sounds a little like apples and oranges. Were all the Ozwines shiraz'? If so, why did they not match them with Ca-ca syrahs/shiraz'?

[winoweenie]

WOW seems like everyone has an agenda. As expressed here numerous other times, TOP Calif cabs like TOP Bordeaux wines need time.Anytime you want to really see the difference in wines, as IK asked, are they the same grape varietal, same vintage, and in the same price point. It's silly to compare Aussie Shirazs' with just released Calif Cabs. Tho Silver Oaks are not my favorites,but I've had some 10-15 year old SOs' that were beautiful bottles. You could probably take a 2000 Blackstone Merlot that would outscore the current release of Duckhorn " 3 Palms Vineyard" (1999) with a majority of the tasters, but it sure 'haint in the same class over the long haul. Accessability isn't a criterion of quality. Annie Green Springs drinks pretty good and will probably get some votes against Lafite...Analyize what you're being offered. WW

[wondersofwine]

I wondered too about the change in varietals. At least two of the Australian wines were shiraz; I don't remember for sure about the one from Kaeseler if it was cabernet sauvignon or shiraz. And it's true that the Silver Oaks C.S. was still quite young. If they had an agenda I think it was to encourage people to buy what they enjoy drinking--not just for the name. The owner says its amazing how often someone will rate the unfamiliar wine as his/her favorite; then take home the better known wine. I didn't follow that pattern. Instead I purchased one bottle of the Henry's Drive Shiraz along with one Sancerre, and four white burgundies. (They are already storing four or five red burgundies for me from a previous order including--drum roll for splurge time--a 1999 Clos de Beze.)

[wondersofwine]

Well to show what a novice I am about Australian wines and cabernet offerings, I got my facts mixed up. The Henry's Drive I liked best was in fact an Australian cabernet sauvignon, not shiraz. The Kaseler which I had rated tied for second or a close third (maybe half a point behind the Silver Oaks)was a shiraz. So we had two Australian shiraz, an Australian c.s. and a Californian c.s. The Silver Oaks was '97 vintage. The Henry's Drive c.s. came out on top of the polling, but the Kaeseler (sp?) shiraz was the favorite with the wine shop staff. Using a 20 point scale I gave the Henry's Drive 18, the Kaeseler shiraz 16.5, the Silver Oaks c.s. 16.5 or 17 and the Mitolo shiraz 15. Maybe the tasters expect the Silver Oaks to improve with time (I thought it was quite good now although I liked the Henry's Drive better) or maybe they just buy for the name, but the Silver Oaks at $80 a bottle was the only wine from the tasting to sell out that day although the Henry's Drive favorite costs about $25 a bottle.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 03-21-2002).]

[Randy Caparoso]

Hello, folks... may I drop in? Your findings struck a chord with me, and now you've got me started...

The Henry's Drive Cabernets have been one of my favorites these past few years. Made by Sparky Marquis, an insanely brilliant, intuitive, yet incredibly meticulous winemaker (he also makes Shiraz and Cabernet under the Parson's Flat as well as Marquis-Philips labels). I met with him last July at his winery in Australia, and he was even more impressive in person than through his wines. He makes his wines with his wife Sarah, an equally talented oenologist.

The Henry's Drive Cabernets are almost always larger than life -- bruisers with sensitivity, power and finesse, muscle and flesh, and basically, just super-delicious to the palate. I daresay, it is almost predictable that it would "beat" any Silver Oak in just about anyone's living room taste-off... there's really nothing hidden in it. It wears everything on its sleeve -- take it or leave it, bud. And if you spent the bucks for it, then there's no sense in "leaving" it.

There are other stupendous Aussie Cabernets out there if you like the Henry's: look for d'Arenberg ("Coppermine"), Yarra Yerring ("Dry Red #1"), Wolf Blass (especially their wonderfully refined and sumptuous "Black Label"), Scarpontoni (their soft and sensuous "School Block"), ADW (their other-worldly "The Hattrick"), and of course, Sparky's incredibly smooth, yet pedal-to-the-metal intense Parson's Flat. None of them cheap, mind you. But you get a lot more for your $25-$45 with these wines than most California or Washington St. Cabernets.

My humble (is there any other?) opinion, of course.

[wondersofwine]

Hey, thanks Randy for coming to the defense of Henry's Drive. I love the Sarah's Blend also which the wine shop is out of at this time.

[vinman]

Not much for straight Aussie Cab, but one that always jolts my guests is Knappstein Enterprise CS, which for the love of me cannot get the relationship...This wine is thick, concentrated, with a bit of chocolate, to smooth out some pretty hefty tannins, if drinking now.