Hello again.
You may well have been wondering what has happened to us of late – we’ve had some unexpected twists and turns in the last few months (Rob’s arm has healed nicely, for those of you wondering) which have bumped the blog back down the pecking order, but we can expect some clear sailing ahead, hopefully without the mixed metaphors.
In the coming months we’ll be revisiting Australian sparkling wine with “Fizzes of Oz, Part II” and take a peek at some of the more unusual grape varieties being grown here these days in “The Altar Natives”. I’ll also be doing my equivalent of a slide show night in a three-part series on New Zealand, “Deep Roots in the Shaky Isles “, complete with snazzy pictures.
Before any of that, though, we’d like to take a moment to indulge in a bit of self-back-patting. Firstly, we were bestowed with the honour of being named the Best Wine Retailer in Sydney back in October, by the Sydney Morning Herald’s ‘Good Food Guide 2011’.
We were also pleased to see a large number of wines we deemed worthy of letting you know about listed amongst wine guru Jeremy Oliver’s top wines of 2010, including the Giaconda releases, the wonderful wines of Paradise IV in Geelong, and the superb wines of Margaret River’s Woodlands. Admittedly, these wines were so good it was an easy call, but it’s always nice to make that call early.
Whilst we’re on the subject of Margaret River and early calls, we had a sneak peek at some of Leeuwin Estate’s upcoming releases this week. I’ll go out on a limb and say the 2008 Art Series Chardonnay ($114.90) is one of the best wines Leeuwin have released. For those of you who purchased the 08 Giaconda Chardonnay last year, get your hands on this and have a brace of two of the best we’ve ever made.
The texture and palate weight are stylistically typical of Leeuwin, with hints of high quality oak peaking through and a trace of lees, but wonderful peach and honeydew melon aromas verging on watermelon. The palate is so tight and dense, yet still expresses peach, subtle hints of nougat and orange rind and vanilla, with more of that honeydew and watermelon ripeness weaving in and out, where you might more typically see grapefruit, passionfruit notes and pineapple in most Margaret River chardonnays.
Unlike the 07, which itself was very well received on release, the acidity and oak are perfectly balanced by the texture and length even at this early stage. The 08 comes in at 13.5% alcohol volume, as opposed to Leeuwin’s more typical 14% to 14.5%, and I have to wonder if this is part of the secret of its perfection. I loved the 08 Pierro Chardonnay and preferred it to the 07 Leeuwin, but this 08 Leeuwin is on another level again.
We were also lucky enough to look at some recent Tyrrell’s releases a few weeks ago, and they’ve lived up to expectations. One of the blessings and curses of the Hunter Valley is that the whites are much more consistent. The reds in lesser vintages require a certain judiciousness, but in years like 2000, 2007 and 2009 the good reds move to outstanding. I’d suggest there’s a touch more fruit weight to the 09 reds than the 07 reds, though not quite as much concentration, but both are extremely well-balanced.
Tyrrell’s have now re-branded their flagship single site wines ‘The Centurions’, a reference to the vine age rather than a cricket reference, apparently, but both work for me – these wines could well be the Donald Bradman's of the Hunter Valley, amazingly consistent, effortlessly graceful and occasionally performing well beyond what you thought possible (for those who don't understand cricket references, just think Michael Jordan/Pele/Wayne Gretzky – for those with no interest in sporting references, think Mozart/Emily Bronte/Einstein).
The 2009 4 Acre Shiraz ($99.90, planted 1879, only 567 cases made) is the most structured and elegant, the inaugural release 2009 Johnno’s Block Shiraz ($99.90, planted 1908, 350 cases) is the most generous, and the 2009 Old Block ($99.90, planted 1867, 567 cases) sits somewhere between the two, with some of the 4 Acres’s structure and the Johnno’s fruit weight. They look slightly more forward than the 07 releases, as alluded to, but I'd expect a 15-20 year drinking window for all three, at a minimum. If you have the patience, I'd be looking to drink them from 2019 onwards, or simply decant and let them unfurl.
On a further note, these wines are not generally available to the public, but are instead released directly to a select group of Tyrrell's most longstanding private customers. We're actually pretty happy to be able to offer them at all.
The 04 Vat 1 Semillon ($65.90, newsletter price only) is also looking superb, still amazingly fresh but showing the first hints of toast and honey, and very drinkable. I would expect this one to be good for quite a number of years yet, given how primary the fruit still is. Once again, for emphasis: superb.
Last but not least, we revisited the 07 Vat 47 Chardonnay ($65.90, newsletter price only), which was rather tasty, too – if you’re a fan of Hunter Valley Chardonnay, this is definitely one to catch. James Halliday called this one very accurately indeed when he gave it a 96 and wrote “the palate shows finesse and a great deal of power, with a crescendo-like build to the finish”.
That’s all for now, apart from the special offers below.
Cheers,
Jason
Pre-release special
2008 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay offer – 10% off on each straight dozen $1240.90
Tyrrell’s Centurion Pack $990 - only 6 available!
2009 4 Acre Shiraz x 2
2009 Old Patch Shiraz x 2
2009 Johnno’s Block Shiraz x 2
2004 Vat 1 Semillon x 3
2007 Vat 47 Chardonnay x 3
