WTN: Grosset Sadie Wolf Blass Hardy Vergelegen
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 10:58 pm
Notes from a Southern hemisphere dinner.
Colmant Cap Classique Brut Reserve – a nonvintage bubbly from Franschhoek in South Africa, this wine showed some nice fruit in the nose, and was crisp medium long and had excellent balance. Kicks ass compared to just about any Cava I’ve tasted. This is their top wine, 52/48 pinot/chard, and 28 months on the lees for complexity. Good show.
With smoked salmon tartare in calamari rings:
2006 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling – for my money the best Aussie Riesling hands down – classic nose, elegant middle and long clean balanced finish.
With crab mornay:
2006 Eben Sadie Paladius – this white wine is made up of just about every varietal you can think of - Chenin Blanc, Viognier and Grenache Blanc mostly. Faint tropical notes to the fruit, with excellent full body in the mouth an almost viscous feel, and bright finish. Now if it were only a bit cheaper….
With ostrich carpaccio:
2000 Morgenhof Estate – a Bordeaux blend and now mature, this wine had a ripe sweet nose with cassis, lots of soft tannins present, and a slightly warm finish. Very decent.
2000 Vergelegen – this estate wine (now labelled as Vergelegen V) is a cabernet wine that shows good cedar in the nose along with dark fruit and an earthy note. It was mellow and sweet in the mouth and finished with excellent acidity. My preference of the two.
With lamb medallions:
1992 Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Shiraz – their top wine is finally come around. Always expensive ($70 then, now sells for abut $150 for this vintage) the wine showed a ton of American oak – dill and some great fruit, eucalyptus and anise, sweet, soft and ready in the mouth and with good balance. Why don’t they make Aussie wines like this any more?
1997 Eileen Hardy Shiraz – less wood showing here, but good fruit based nose not too ripe, round and almost elegant in the mouth, sweet, and with a nice following sweetness at the end of the long finish. Still in good shape.
With cheese:
2005 Ken Forrester ‘T’ Noble Late Harvest – a Stellenbosch Chenin with significant botrytis, this was a balanced wine, not too sweet and certainly not cloying. Citrus nose, and sweet vanilla dominated. Nice.
Colmant Cap Classique Brut Reserve – a nonvintage bubbly from Franschhoek in South Africa, this wine showed some nice fruit in the nose, and was crisp medium long and had excellent balance. Kicks ass compared to just about any Cava I’ve tasted. This is their top wine, 52/48 pinot/chard, and 28 months on the lees for complexity. Good show.
With smoked salmon tartare in calamari rings:
2006 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling – for my money the best Aussie Riesling hands down – classic nose, elegant middle and long clean balanced finish.
With crab mornay:
2006 Eben Sadie Paladius – this white wine is made up of just about every varietal you can think of - Chenin Blanc, Viognier and Grenache Blanc mostly. Faint tropical notes to the fruit, with excellent full body in the mouth an almost viscous feel, and bright finish. Now if it were only a bit cheaper….
With ostrich carpaccio:
2000 Morgenhof Estate – a Bordeaux blend and now mature, this wine had a ripe sweet nose with cassis, lots of soft tannins present, and a slightly warm finish. Very decent.
2000 Vergelegen – this estate wine (now labelled as Vergelegen V) is a cabernet wine that shows good cedar in the nose along with dark fruit and an earthy note. It was mellow and sweet in the mouth and finished with excellent acidity. My preference of the two.
With lamb medallions:
1992 Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Shiraz – their top wine is finally come around. Always expensive ($70 then, now sells for abut $150 for this vintage) the wine showed a ton of American oak – dill and some great fruit, eucalyptus and anise, sweet, soft and ready in the mouth and with good balance. Why don’t they make Aussie wines like this any more?
1997 Eileen Hardy Shiraz – less wood showing here, but good fruit based nose not too ripe, round and almost elegant in the mouth, sweet, and with a nice following sweetness at the end of the long finish. Still in good shape.
With cheese:
2005 Ken Forrester ‘T’ Noble Late Harvest – a Stellenbosch Chenin with significant botrytis, this was a balanced wine, not too sweet and certainly not cloying. Citrus nose, and sweet vanilla dominated. Nice.