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Ric Einstein reports |
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TORB's trials tribulations and joys of touring Western Australia Wakey wakey America. © copyright 2002 by Ric Einstein
For all of those that think that all Australian red wine is over (American) oaked or over extracted fruit bombs, you can either continue to hold this incorrect (and narrow minded) belief or you can read this rather lengthy story which contains notes on over 160 wines, loads of information on the 44 wineries and winemakers visited, a few comments and the odd photo too (some very "odd"), many of them elegant and most of them produced using French oak. And the good news for you is many of these wines are exported so you no longer have any excuse. Finally, before I get into the detail of the trip report I have some people I would like to thank for making my trip both memorable and enjoyable. Firstly to my 'new' mate who in his professional life is known as Dr David Pearson but on the internet goes under the handle of "Davo" it was great to have finally met you and I appreciate your time and hospitality. Most importantly off all, this trip and the resulting story would not have been possible without the support and hospitality of the wineries involved. The majority welcomed me with open arms and were more than generous with their time. Most went to a great deal of trouble to make the trip memorable. Many opened icon or yet to be released wines. Some let me taste through numerous barrel samples. These are very special valued experiences and your generosity is truly appreciated. As a disclaimer I would like to once again restate that I have no vested interest in the wine business or commercial tie up with anyone and don't get paid in any way for these reports. I also refuse to accept gifts or even free bottles of wine (other than a single bottle for tasting.) A few winemakers were generous enough to give me a (single) bottle and whilst I may have accepted it the wines were shared at wine dinners in WA. "Special discounts" that are not available to the general public are also declined. Finally, if you are not familiar with the TORB Rating System, you can click here and scroll to end of page to find out how it works. The Trip Now having obtained a super cheap ticket flying Virgin Blue and being a kind of small person, I was not looking forward to a five and half hour flight sitting with my knees gently caressing my ears. Plan A was to get the airport early and get the bulkhead seat with lots of room, but some other smarties beat me to it and the only one left was the centre seat. I was hoping that this was not a sign of things to come. We alight from the plane in perfect red wine drinking whether, thirty-eight degrees Celsius, oh what fun this is going to be. Arrive at the hotel to be informed that my room will be an hour and a quarter before it's ready. Whilst taking a wander around town I found a sushi bar where I ordered a quick snack and was surprised to find it was garnished with watercress. On return to the hotel, as promised the room was ready and I was looking forward to a quick afternoon nap.
"Holy cow Batman, that thundering sounds like a new exhaust system is needed for the Bat Mobile" said Robin.
"That's not the Bat Mobile, Robin, There is absolutely no doubt it's the air-conditioning in the room!"
The first wine, a Chestnut Grove Cabernet Merlot had a definite fault, but we couldn't make up our minds if it was corked or was suffering from bacterial spoilage so we opened the second bottle which had no label at all. The wine showed plums and chocolate fruit with incredibly smooth tannins. I was amazed to find it was a Hainault 1998 Merlot available from cellar door only. The wine was rated Recommended and very drinkable. One of the very few straight Merlots that I have enjoyed up till this point. By the time we had finished the Merlot, it was obvious that the Chestnut Grove was corked and also suffering from some mild bacterial infestation. The food in this el'cheap'oh Asian restaurant is superb and the prices more than reasonable. In fact it was by far the best value meal on the whole trip, even if the noodle dishes were garnished with watercress. After a short stroll back to the hotel, it was time to hit the hay and dream about all the wine experiences over the forthcoming week. Saturday 8th February Whilst on our drive out to the hills Davo has his annual good idea and decides to stop for a cup of coffee. What a salubrious establishment. Its open 24 hours a day and guy behind the counter looks like he has been there serving slices of pizza for the entire time. Davo orders coffee and a muffin and I ordered the house specialty of coffee with a slice of pizza. At least the pizza arrives without the watercress so that a good start, but a start was all we got. Davo was really impressed with his muffin and it was almost enough to turn him to religion judging by the number of calls to God that he made. The next stop was Davo's place to inspect the infamous Pearson Family Vineyard where I understand Davo was not only named every vine but every grape too.
Interestingly enough although it was only the middle of February, his red grapes were just about ready to pick and were in fact harvested a few days later. This scenario of picking early was one I would see and hear about at virtually every winery I visited. The 2003 vintage has a very hot and dry right through WA. Finally it was time for the serious job of tasting wine and two regions were covered today. The first, Perth Hills was a positive eye opening experience. The vast majority of the wineries were small or micro producers and almost without exception the wines were well-made and fault free. This sub region has the added benefit of offering good value for money wines but unfortunately that's because many of them sell from cellar door only. Considering its proximity to Perth and quality of the wine being offered, it's very surprising this area has not been "discovered." It is equally important to note that I didn't taste any remarkable or great wines from this region either. However, if you live in WA and are after everyday drinking high-quality good value wines then you would be hard pushed to go past a drive into the Perth Hills. After driving around the Hills like a couple of alcoholics trying to find an open pub, we finally arrived at Cosham Wines. Davo, being the sensitive and caring character that he is respects my red bigotry by inflicting a Cosham 1999 Pinot Bubbles upon my person. The wine which sells for $22 has a very a very light red tinge to it and a lemon scented nose. The wine is zesty, has a creamy mouth feel and a lemon flavour running right through to a good finish. The wine is rated as Recommended with *** for value. Cosham 2001 Shiraz sells for $15 and is purple in colour with the light hue. The nose shows the wines obvious youth with some meaty aspects and dark fruit. Tannins are rounded, the acid balanced, the fruit medium weight and the wine shows a soft consistency; a slightly short structure with a simple level of complexity and a dry finish. Whilst the wine is well-made it could be best described as "a man in a grey suit" wine. It's a drink now proposition and rated as Agreeable with *** for value. Davo is at it again and this time he plonks a glass of Cosham 2000 Pinot in front of me. (I am beginning to be glad that if he describes this sort of medication that he's not my doctor.) The nose on this wine is totally closed and shows almost nothing. The wine has a balanced structure with rounded tannins; the flavours are savoury cherry and dark chocolate. At least there are no feral notes and whilst the flavour profile is pleasant, it's a little simple. The consistency is soft, the structure is open, and the complexity is agreeable but simple. A well made and well-balanced wine and what you see is what you get. At $16, this Pinot is drinkable and rated as Recommended with *** for value. A drinkable Pinot for under $20 is a rare find. It looks like Dr Davo may not only prescribe foul tasting cough mixture like medications only after all. The final wine here was the Cosham 1999 Cabernet Merlot (55%/45%) which is violet in colour and shows blue fruit and mint on a very "clean" nose. The wine is well-made with a soft finish although tannins are evident. For the $18 price tag, the wine represents value showing medium body weight, soft consistency and the plain level of complexity is countered by a reasonably long finish considering the price point. Best drunk over the next couple of years, it's rated as Agreeable with *** for value.
Piesse Brook 1997 Cabernet Merlot sells for $13.50 at cellar door. Tannins are unobtrusive and balanced. The medium weight savoury but persistent blackberry/mulberry spectrum, plums and chocolate fruit with hints of pepper are supple, and whilst the wine is reasonably simple, this is well-made wine represents good value and should best be drunk over the next two years. Rated as Agreeable with **** for value. Piesse Brook 1997 Cabernet Shiraz sells for $13.50 at cellar door. The bouquet is dominated by the Cabernet characters with a tiny amount of charry oak evident. The wine is slightly thin and lacking in fruit with drying tannins, so the (just) Acceptable rating with ** for value should not be a surprise. The next wine was a step up in class and quality, even if not in price. Piesse Brook 1997 Shiraz sells for $16 at cellar door. An almost Rhone like nose showing cold meat and chocolate. The oak has been well-managed. Tannins are drying; the persistent fruit translates to a palate of savoury black upfront fruit leading to hints of sweet plums and light chocolate. It's a medium bodied wine with firm consistency, and whilst the complexity is plain, it's well made and has some interest. Rated as Recommended with **** for value it should peak in the next year or two. Piesse Brook 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon sells for $16 at cellar door. The nose is usual and showed cassis, chocolate, smoked meat notes and some minor bacterial or Brett like characters. Tannins are unobtrusive but drying, the acid a little sharp and the medium weight sweet and savoury berry fruit flavours and chocolate fall a bit short on the finish. The consistency is supple and the complexity agreeable; about three years is needed for the acid to soften. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, its not my cup of tea. Piesse Brook 1998 Merlot sells for $16 at cellar door and was last wine we tried here. The chocolate, musk, floral notes and cloves on the nose flow through to savoury flavours on the palate with plum thrown in. This is an ample weight wine with firm consistency but due to the lively acid the wine is not as harmonious as it could be. This would be a reasonable barbecue wine and is rated as Agreeable with *** for value. And the next winery we visited it was hard to know if we were winery or a woodworking shop. Lionel Penketh met us with deep red stained hands but they were stained from the wood he had been working with rather than the wine he had (not) been making. It also helps if you have the constitution of a mountain goat when walking up the driveway at Brookside Vineyard. At the top of the driveway you are met by a table with a few bottles, lots of magnificently completed woodwork and a bell to ring for service. The wine tastings occur outside on the open veranda, no crystal glasses or chandeliers in this establishment. Brookside 2001 "Cobblers Leap" Cabernet Sauvignon is only available at cellar door and cost $16 by the dozen. This is a good wine for the price showing smooth dusty oak tannins, young acid and the persistent fruit flows across the palate as sour cherry leading to plums and dark chocolate. The wine has ample body weight and a simple level of complexity, it's rated as Recommended with *** for value.
The Hainault Vineyard has recently been taken over by new owners but unfortunately they were not blessed with a huge amount to work with so it will be some time before this winery gets back on its feet. Hainault Talus Sparkling c-through Pinot has a lifted citrus nose and a reasonably sweet, pretty taste with some acid on the back on palate. The wine has a lively aftertaste and lingers well. It's a very good crowd pleaser and the sort of wine you can sit outside and sip all day. Rated as Recommended with *** for value at $23. Hainault 2000 Shiraz is priced at $22 with a totally closed nose showing some chocolate. The fruit is delicate; the body is a lean and the structure short. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value. Hainault 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon is priced at $24. The nose is dominated by dusty French oak so it's no surprise that the tannins are dusty two. Once again the fruit is delicate and the dominance of the oak should recede as the fruit emerges. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value for the wine needs a couple of years to come together. Having tried their 1998 Merlot at dinner the night before once the new owners settle in hopefully they will be able to improve things. The morning has flown by and it was time to meet Peter Holland (Auswine Forum regular Peter H) who is a transplanted Pom now enjoying life in Perth. Lunch was at the famous Houghton's Winery in the Swan Valley. This is one of WA's largest and oldest producers and is part of BRL Hardy. When we arrived at cellar door there was a multitude of their cheapest wines available for tastings but unfortunately the most prestige wine they had available for tastings were two of the recently released Crofters wines. Davo couldn't resist it and inflicted a Crofters 2002 Pinot in front of me to try. From the length of my tasting note he can see how exciting I was by this $25 wine. It tastes of strawberry, chocolate with prominently liquorice and a slight acid spike. The wine is rated as Agreeable with ** for value. I had great pleasure when Peter walked in and I was able to hand my glass to him and say "what do you think of that mate?" Crofters 2001 Shiraz sells at cellar door for $25. The aromas are spice, pepper, cold savoury meat and strawberry. Tannins are smooth and the obvious fruit of ample weight have chocolate, raspberry, black fruit and liquorice flowing across the palate in a technically perfect wine with supple consistency and an agreeable level of complexity. As competently as this wine is put together, it's a "Brittany Spears Wine" - as exciting as bat turd. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. As we were having lunch there, Davo dug deep and purchased a bottle of Frankland River Shiraz which was uncorked by the senior cellar door employee. We sat down at our table, took one sniff, deemed it to be corked and took it back. The employee took one sniff, and agreed. He opened a new bottle, but didn't bother to check that it was okay. The three of us shared a large platter of bits and pieces at the winery and the food was excellent even if it was garnished with watercress. That watercress gets around in Perth. First rant And surprisingly it's not about cork taint (grin.) At Houghton's, whilst chatting to the senior cellar door person we were informed that it was a company policy "not to open any of the premium brands for tasting, including such wines as the Crofters" but as the wine was fairly new he had decided to open it anyway. The attitude of some cellar door operations towards potential customers and serious wine lovers in most cases is fantastic and in others it's downright insulting. During my travels, it once again became apparent that in the majority of wineries as soon as staff see you are serious about wine and not just after a free way of getting drunk, they will frequently and happily pull out their best bottles from under the counter and gladly pour them for you. In some cases in a number of small wineries if their icon wines are not open they will even open them especially for you. Unfortunately this attitude does not extend to a number of the larger wineries like BRL Hardy, Sandalford and a few others where one can only get the impression that they are so big they don't give a continental fig about individual customers and don't feel any need to try and impress potential purchasers, even if those purchasers make it abundantly clear they are serious wine buyers who have made a special trip to the winery to try their icon brands. In fact in some cases all that is available for tasting are the entry level lower cost wines. If these wineries are concerned about the cost and the gigantic, humongous impact that opening these wines would have on their multimillion-dollar bottom lines, then they can always do what Howard Park does and charge $5 to taste the wine which discourages the free loaders. Just for the record, at Howard Park if they think you are "fair dinkum" and not just a freeloader, the charge is waved. A few years ago, prior to the merger Rosemount had exactly that attitude at their "shed" in McLaren Vale. However even the once mighty Southcorp saw the need for better customer relations and the last time I visited the Edwards and Chaffey facility in McLaren Vale the entire line up including Balmoral was available for tasting. Companies may be able to do exactly what they like during the good times, but times are not always good as Southcorp has recently found out. It will be interesting to see if the likes of BRL Hardy, Sandalford and Cape Mentelle (and a number of others) are ever forced to change their attitude. End of rant and back to the trip. The next winery visited was Lamont which is reputed to have a good reputation but wasn't doing itself any favours when we were there but more of that in a minute. The first wine we tried was an interesting curiosity. It was the Lamont 1999 Sparkling Cabernet which was a c-through; in my book an oxymoron. The wine was very dry, "interesting and unusual" and frankly because it was so unusual I don't know what comments to make about it. The cellar door itself is located in a building that looked to be made from colour bond metal and whilst the temperature was about 40C (about 104F) degrees outside, it seemed even hotter inside. We tried the Lamont 2000 Premium Shiraz but due to their heat the wine was so hot it was unfair to pass comment on it. When we complained about the temperature of the wine, the staff member who was serving us explained that the wine had been sitting in the heat all-day and offered to open a cooler bottle of the Lamont 2000 Family Reserved Cabernet Sauvignon for us to try. He promptly reached under the counter and pulled out a new bottle, opened it and poured glasses of the wine. He meant well but there were two problems involved with this action. The first was the didn't check the bottle for defects and the second was the bottle temperature was at best only a degree or two less then the Shiraz which had been sitting on the counter. Whilst I did make notes on this wine in order not to look rude, it would be unfair to publish them here. Needless to say we were out of there as quickly as we could and went to the next winery, Westfield which was a much more pleasant experience. This winery is about 80 years old with an underground cellar and it also sources some fruit from areas outside the Swan Valley. Westfield 1999 Bronze Wing Merlot sells for $21and has an unusual nose for a Merlot which is dominated by spice. The acid is piquant and tends to stick out a bit but the medium weight fruit shows plums and star anise and a chocolate finish. The structure of the wine is unusual and in some always more like a classic Shiraz. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value. Westfield 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon also sells for $21. The nose is no Einstein, in fact it's pretty dumb and whilst it doesn't show much there is fruit lurking there. On the palate the pleasant cassis fruit is marred by a load of green background flavours which finishes bitter. The weight of the wine is medium but the tannins seem to be the unripe. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value. Westfield 1999 Shiraz also sells for $21. This wine also has a dumb nose and this week upfront fruit goes bitter on the finish. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value. As you can see the reds in this winery were pretty uninspiring but the winery certainly does have some redeeming features.
Westfield 1983 Liqueur Shiraz sells for $75 for 375ml bottle. This would have to be the one of the most unusual wines I have ever tasted. For starters it's brown in colour with a yellow hue. The nose is coffee essence personified with coffee and molasses to add a little interest. This is amazingly unusual wine is one of the kind! The finish is incredibly long and the consistency is thick and viscous and it's like drinking concentrated treacle coffee. Rated as Outstanding with *** for value. I was incredibly tempted to buy some for its curiosity factor and unique attributes, but at $75 for a half bottle there are other fortified wines that would give me more enjoyment. However, we did see history in the making when Davo extracted his credit card from his tightly locked pocket and purchased a bottle. It's the small bottel wrapped in green. The next stop was one of the most disappointing on the entire trip. Sandalford Wines seems to be right into tourism in a big way. Rant number two Unfortunately the same positive comments made about the Perth Hills cannot be made and do not apply to the Swan Valley. This area seems to be a Mecca for wineries hell bent on taking advantage of novice wine drinkers by passing off anything from poorly made flawed wine right through to industrially produced technically perfect wine that is as boring as bat turd, with every other possible combination in between. In short it seems like a tourist trap area to me. Sandalford is another large winery that seems to be geared towards tourism. There is an immense array of gifts available for sale at cellar door. When we arrived at the counter we were informed politely "it was a dollar per tasting" (we got the impression that was for each wine) and noticed there were none of their regional wines available for tasting. We voted with our feet and walked out.
The final winery of the day was Olive Farm. The expression on Davo's facing when he tried their sparkling c-through was enough to ensure it was going nowhere near my lips. However I was unfortunate enough to try two other wines. The first was the Olive Farm 2001 Shiraz which retails for $17.50 and was rank with aggressive acid, massive aldehydes and served way too hot. The second wine I tried, Olive Farm 2001 Cabernet Merlot whilst not technically flawed was only rated as Acceptable and was also served at a temperature that was far to hot and had little in the way of redeeming or standout positive features. I was not at all surprised to see a member of staff uncork a fresh bottle and put it on the counter without checking it in any way. Whilst the temperature was about 40 degrees during the day there is absolutely no excuse for wineries serving red wine at 30 degrees or even more. If they don't wish to go to the expense of air-conditioning the cellar door facility, wine cabinets are available that will keep the wines at perfect drinking temperature. And if they don't wish to invest in these, there is nothing stopping the wineries placing their reds in the fridge or even into iced water. Treating their wine in this matter and serving it under these conditions shows how unprofessional some wineries can be and it's time these pathetic practices ceased. And it's not all small wineries that are guilty of this behaviour, there are some large wineries in WA that are just has culpable. Wineries that insist on serving red wine at room temperatures no matter now hot the temperature have a constipated mind set and need to clear the crud from their brains. End of rant and back to the trip. (And now you know why they call me The Opinionated Red Bigot.) Friday night saw the first offline of this trip. Five of us met at a fine French restaurant called Jacques where we were met by the owner's wife who informed us the service may not be as good as expected because one of the staff, on their first night in a new job, had almost succeeded in amputating a finger. Dr Davo kindly offered to volunteer his services but apparently his reputation preceded him and the offer was firmly but politely declined with quiet mutters about proctology and directions. In attendance were Davo and his good lady Jenny, Peter Holland, David Benny and myself. First wine of the night was a Seppelt 1995 Sparkling Shiraz which is a consistently good wine but lacks the complexity of many of the icon sparkling Shiraz made in Australia however it is excellent value for money. The ever popular (in Western Australia) Cape Mentelle 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon was served next. For my taste this ample weight wine is close to its peak and showed cassis, plum and inoffensive green capsicum and was almost seamless. It's a fairly classy wine and rated as Highly Recommended. True to form, Davo managed to produce a bottle of Wolf Blass 1990 Black Label that was corked so once again the got out of paying for a bottle of wine. He's good at doing that! The Houghton 1995 Show Reserve Shiraz was a wine I had been looking forward to trying for some time as there were rave reviews about it since its release. I purchased a six pack on speck but had never tried it. The wine almost lived up to its reputation but it's a little closed at this stage and just needs more time. Sorry these vibes are not more detailed but I didn't make any notes at the dinner and these impressions are being penned for first-time some ten days and 160 wines later. Rated as Excellent. The wine of the night for me was the Veritas 1998 Hanisch Shiraz which is a wine I had not tried for over twelve months. It's a complex monolithic blockbuster that unmistakably Barossa Shiraz and should be awesome when it finally peaks. This wine gets better every time I try it and it is slowly settling down and coming together. Rated as Excellent and if you have any, don't waste them, leave them in the cellar for a few more years. Once again Davo showed his generosity by bringing a bottle of Houghton's Liquor Verdelho that was about 70 years old and being the caring and sharing person that he is, he had drunk most of it a few days previously and there were only a few drops per person left. Still, it was damn fine wine and I enjoy the opportunity of trying it.
The food at Jacques was superb with excellent service and had I have been for 30 years younger, I probably would have walked out married. After a very hot day where the temperature reached 40 degrees, I was so glad when it cooled down overnight to the freezing temperature of 29.8 degrees (86F). It was a great move to stay in an air-conditioned hotel. Sunday
Up bright and early I picked up my motorised air-conditioned roller skate for the drive to Great Southern which takes about four hours. Had a quick stop along the way about two hours out of Perth for a cup of coffee and a bacon and egg roll. The coffee was instant
The first major winery one comes to at Mount Barker is Gilbert Wines where I was served in the rustic but charming cellar door facility by Beverly Gilbert. They obviously have some very dedicated workmen in this part of the world as the builders were working flat out on Sunday erecting a new winery. The first wine tried was Gilbert 2001 Three Devils Shiraz which was vivid purple in colour with a fresh intense dark black berry fruit nose with French oak taking second place. This is not surprisingly considering the wines spent ten months ageing in French oak. The wine has good structure with some powdery fruit tannins evident but not a lot of oak tannin. Despite the almost 16 percent alcohol it's not hot or even porty. There is ample body weight with a silky consistency, an almost seamless structure, an agreeable complexity and good upfront sweet dark flavoured rich fruit which makes this wine a high-quality crowd pleaser that's drinking well now and rated as Recommended with **** for value at about $18. If this is a sign of things to come in Mount Barker I should have a very pleasant time in this area. Beverly kindly opened a bottle of the Gilbert 2000 Reserve Shiraz which is due for release in April and should retail for about $25. Having spent 22 months in French oak (30 percent new) and having only just been bottled, the nose was closed and showed very little. Tannins are very fine grained, the piquant acid is well judged and balances the medium weight persistent black fruit, including cherry and aniseed creating a high-class drop with a firm consistency, layered structure and harmonious complexity that just needs about another four years to peak although it is drinking well now. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value. These two wines are some of the best value to come out of WA. Gilbert 2001 Cabernet Shiraz (55%/45%) sells for $18 with the nose showing American oak, berry, pepper and multiple green aromas including capsicum mint and eucalyptus. Loads of drying tannins and medium weight fruit with an agreeable complexity is complemented Marribrook 1998 Cab Malbec Merlot is violet in colour and sells for $19. The nose shows some light fruit with lifted notes that is slightly volatile. The body weight is lean, the consistency soft and the structure short, the wines is rated as Acceptable with ** for value. Right next or was the Marribrook winery that turned out to be an "interesting" experience. At most cellar doors where they have dogs, the dogs are normally friendly and give a welcome sniff and wag of the tale. As I got out of the car three Miniature Dachshund were barking their heads off at me and wouldn't come anywhere near me. Maybe I should have realised this could be an omen of what was to come. I walked into cellar door and rang the bell on the counter and wasn't surprised that no one came as by the sound of running water it appeared someone was in the shower. So I waited patiently for about seven minutes until the water stopped and rang the bell again. A voice yelled out "I'll be with you in a minute." Sure enough a few minutes later someone appeared. The gentleman and I exchanged pleasantries and he asked me where I was from and because I was carrying a clipboard asked if I was 'in the business.' I replied that I was just a wine lover who made a lot of notes and as they only had an extremely limited range of red wine and I didn't water waste a lot of time explaining who I was and what I was doing in detail. The following are my original notes as I made them without any alteration. Marribrook 1998 Cab Malbec Merlot is violet in colour and sells for $19. The nose shows some light fruit with lifted notes that is slightly volatile. The body weight is lean, the consistency soft and the structure short, the wines is rated as Acceptable with ** for value. Also available for tasting was the Marribrook 1999 Cabernet Malbec Merlot which sells for $25 and has the nose showing French oak notes, some unusual scents - almost like sweet, corn bread. The tannins are dusty, the acid is balanced, fruit is medium weight and persistent which all adds up to a good mouth feel. Flavours of blackcurrant, savoury cherries almost into the plum spectrum combine with a firm consistency, an elegant structure and an agreeable level of complexity. There is a long finish and the wine grows on you as it is consumed. Rated as Recommended with *** for value it should peak in about 2005.
After tasting the two red wines on offer I asked to use the bathroom. On my way out I thanked the person and said goodbye to which he replied "aren't you going to take any wine with you?" I replied that I was just reviewing the wines in the area and would make up my mind what I wanted purchase later. He then pointed to a sign on the side wall He then justified his position by stating that he had asked me if I was an industry and I had said no. Let's just say that after that exchange and a few more words between us I left there with the same sense of welcome as the dogs had given me on my arrival and this is one winery to which I will not return.
Plantagenet in this is a well-known winery and one of the largest in the area enjoying a very good reputation for value and quality.
The first wine tried was the Plantagenet 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon which sells for $28 at cellar door. One sniff and it was obvious the wine was corked so a fresh bottle was opened.
Plantagenet N/V Liqueur Muscat looked interesting so I couldn't resist trying it. The nose showed light caramel and raisins with a very smooth balance. The wine is on the light side for its style. Flavours are raisins and burnt caramel and it's served from the fridge at cellar door, I think I know why. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value at $16.50 for a 500ml bottle. The Omrah range of wine is normally well-made and represents some pretty good value. After trying the 2000 Shiraz recently and not liking it for its level of charry oak I was pleased to see the 2001 Shiraz on offer. The bottle was almost empty and had been opened for a couple of days so the very helpful cellar door staff member opened a new one and checked it. For the faintest split-second there was a questioning look on her face. When the glass was handed to me I took a one sniff and knew it was mildly corked. I asked the staff member to check it and whilst she thought it was OK, she was only too happy to open another bottle. When the comparison was made between the two bottles it was obvious the first bottle was indeed corked. The staff member admitted that she had only been there for six months and was undertaking some wine courses. We discussed how to spot the bad bottles and to always back your initial gut feeling until proved incorrect. She was actually quite pleased and felt she had learned something by this experience and would be better able to spot dud bottles in the future. But my question is why don't the winery is to a better job of training their staff? It's not her fault, (she is trying to learn) and indeed not the fault of most winery staff, it is the inadequate training provided by their employers. End of mini rant three and back to the wine. Omrah 2001 Shiraz has in your face fruit showing loads of pepper, chocolate, followed by more pepper, liquorice and a touch of mint. Ample body weight, supple consistency and an open structure with simple complexity and dusty tannins combine to make a "what you see is what you get wine." Although it could almost be classed as a crowd pleaser, it may improve over the next couple of years. Rated as Agreeable with *** for value at $17. Omrah 2001 Merlot Cabernet ($17) was opened especially for me and is due to be released in about two months time. The nose is quite dumb at this stage and doesn't show much at all. The silky smooth tannins like these are fairly typical in a Merlot, but this wine has lots of them. There is not a lot in the complexity department, but the fruit has ample weight, is deeply seated and shows musk, plums and liquorice. It's a good wine for the price and holds some interest in this bracket. Rated as Recommended with *** for value. The road maps for this region are not particularly detailed and it's very easy to take the long way round getting from point "a" to point "b" - something I did reasonably well on my journey to Pattersons Wines which is well and truly often beaten track. Once you get to the gate, as you can see from the photo you know exactly where you are. The wines are all on the elegant lighter spectrum.
Pattersons 1999 Pinot sells for $25 a cellar door and is a light refreshing wine with savoury spicy notes, strawberry and loads of gamey characters. Not for me but I'm sure some lovers of this fickle grape variety would find the wine very attractive. Pattersons 1998 Shiraz is viiolet in colour with some signs of bricking on the edges. It has a light refined nose which leads to a palate of light strawberry, spicy spectrum fruit and a slight amount of earthy gamey characters. A lean wine with soft consistency, an elegant structure and an agreeable level of complexity it's rated as Agreeable with ** for value at $25. Pattersons Curse 2000 Shiraz is so named due to the three inches of rain that were dumped just prior to harvest. The bouquet shows earthy leathery gamey characters with white pepper. On the palate the wine is a light early drinking red with white pepper and a bit of liquorice that lingers reasonably despite its lean body weight. There is a soft consistency and simple level of complexity. This wine would be a perfect barbecue wine to be enjoyed on a hot summer's day or with smoked salmon. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value whilst it doesn't rock my boat many people would find it attractive. Galafrey is an established winery that I had never heard of but one that is worth seeking out. Galafrey 2001 Merlot is dark purple in colour and has spent 12 months in French oak. The nose shows plummy fruit, some berry notes and hints of cedar. In some ways the wine is more like a Shiraz in structure with dusty drying tannins, refreshing acid and medium weight fruit with a firm consistency and agreeable level of complexity. I found it to be slightly bitter and somewhat green on the finish and even with plummy fruit flavours I don't quite know what to make of this wine. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value at $25 it should peak around 2005. Galafrey 2000 Shiraz is dark purple in colour and spent 18 months in American oak which is fairly unusual for a lot of wines in this area. The bouquet is pepper and spice, sweet blackberry fruit and coconut leading to similar flavours on the palate with the added complexity of nutmeg and savoury characters. The flavour profile holds some interest. It's ample weight with a firm consistency, a layered structure and an agreeable level of complexity and is rated as Recommended with *** for value. Galafrey 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon was dark purple in colour and showed dusty American oak, almost meaty characters and chocolate. The persistent distinct fruit provides a good flavour profile with complex savoury flavours and a long finish. Tannins are dusty, the acid is young, body weight ample and the developed and sophisticated complexity completes a package that just needs about another four or five years to come together. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value this wine is worth buying. Although the Galafrey 1998 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was normally not available for tasting Linda Tyrer was kind enough to open the wine for me to try. If it wasn't already well after closing time at the winery, I would have happily stood there all-day sniffing its intense chocolate, meaty, spice and mint characters. The wonderful structure and balanced is provided by the very fine grained tannins, youthful acid and pure deep medium weight fruit showing cassis, mulberry, other berry flavours, pepper, earthy notes, cedar and savoury chocolate. There is a huge level of complexity which is sophisticated, refined, harmonious and the package is surprisingly elegant with a very long finish. At $50 it's not inexpensive but it's rated as Excellent with *** for value and well worth consideration.
What a great way to end today's wine tasting. Unlike a lot of other wine regions in Australia many of the wineries in this area are not close together and require a reasonable amount of driving to get too. A word of caution it easy to get lost here and if you do you will well and truly join that great African tribe (The Wherethe ****arewees) which I managed to do by making one small wrong turn on the way back to the guesthouse. I only went about 50 kilometres out of my way to get back on track. The problem is that on 'the wrong side' of the Australian continent, the coast is in the wrong spot and whilst I can navigate and know where North is, East and West keep getting mixed up. In the immortal words of one Mr Simpson, Doh! Dinner was at the Enchanted Frog and whilst they tried hard and the service was good, the meal was fault free but totally unexciting. Monday
The guest house accommodation tariff included a cooked hot breakfast so at about 8.00 I headed for the dining room. Apparently there had been a wedding party there on the Saturday night and I was the only guest in the place on Sunday night as they wanted a quiet one. When I was shown the electric jug and told to make my own instant coffee I politely declined stating that I don't drink instant. The very helpful owner then found a tin of "real coffee" so I could enjoy a cup but was quite surprised when I informed her that you need some sort of implement other than just a kettle to make it. That's two days of no caffeine and I am starting to climb the walls. Up bright and early but with one complaint. The wineries enjoy banker's hours and don't open until 10 AM, unlike South Australia were a number of open at 9 AM so I headed off to my furthest easterly winery, Castle Rock Estate which is about 25 kilometres from Mt Barker. As Robert Diletti was kind enough to let me start tasting their wine before 10 AM, I could not be rude when he poured me a glass of Castle Rock 2001 Pinot ($23 CD) which had a reasonable nose that showing slightly lifted showing strawberry, some background gaminess and liquorice. Tannins were smooth but drying, the fruit very persistent and strong with strawberries, some slightly feral flavours and chocolate, all on a very long harmonious finish that was backed up by a supple consistency and solid structure. This is not a bad wine and okay for a Pinot and it should improve over the next three years. Rated as Recommended with *** for value. But then I am no expert on this grape. Castle Rock 2000 Robert Reserve Red ($17 CD) is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Despite the fact the wine was matured in two to three year old oak, the nose shows a reasonable amount of dusty notes. The body weight is a lean, the consistency is soft and the complexity is simple and whilst it's a fault free well-made wine that may be food friendly, to me it lacks interest. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. Castle Rock 1999 Cabernet Merlot ($19 CD) has a tight closed nose with good fruit and earthy notes which translates to a palate of earthy leathery taste, sweet cassis and light star anise. This is a medium bodied wine with a supple consistency and agreeable level of complexity which has been well-made and would be a good easy drinking bistro wine. Rated as Recommended with *** for value.
Castle Rock makes good honest wine that is reasonable value for money right across the boards. Whilst the vines may be 20 years old, they have only started making wine fairly recently and could be a slowly rising star in the making.
Spring Views has a stupendous view from the cellar door and although they only had one red on offer, the trip was worth it for the vista alone. The owner, a rather eccentric East African by the name of Andy Colquhoun who was a laugh a minute and great fun to meet. Silver Eyes are a real problem up here and they have only a few "novel" approaches to the problem. Spring Views 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon ($20 CD) is purple in colour with a darkish hue. The wine exudes a pleasant nose showing dusty oak notes, cassis and a touch of green capsicum. The medium weight but pure fruit comes across the palate as sweet upfront cassis/blackberry fruit combining with loads of dusty drying but silky tannins to produce a well-made food friendly wine with an agreeable level of complexity and a good finish that is worthy of consideration. It should take peak in about 2006 and is rated as Recommended with *** for value. After I had tried the wine, Andy and I chewed the fat on things vinous for a while when he brought out a bottle of wine he wanted me to try. He referred to it as his "home brew" and I expected something rather unpleasant. The wine was most agreeable and had a lot more flavour and complexity than his a regular Cabernet. The only negative was a slightly spritzig sensation on the front of the tongue. Andy explained the wine was made using wild yeast, was not fined or filtered and had no additives. I asked him why he bothered using a winemaker when all they seemed to do was to strip out the flavour and interest; his home made hooch was far more fun and low in alcohol too! These sorts of unusual experiences make a trip like this very special and memorable.
Dukes 2001 Shiraz was their first ever vintage of this wine. The nose was a bit volatile, hot and porty but that was probably due to the temperature. The sweet upfront blackcurrant fruit and chocolate was almost Barossa in style. The wine had ample body weight, supple consistency and an agreeable level of complexity. It seemed to be a fairly big wine for this area and was very enjoyable. It should peak around about 2005 and is rated as Recommended with *** for value at $24. Although I did try the Dukes 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, something didn't grab me about the wine and I think it may have had a flaw. As the wine maker was unavailable and they were concerned about my perception of it, they are sending me another other bottle to try and I will post my tasting notes on this wine at a later date. The next cellar door is one of those whose wines had never impressed me in the past but I must admit had my perception of Goundrey has now changed. This is not exactly a small or Johnny come lately operation but they have been recently been bought out by Vincor International so they are at now Canadian owned. Goundrey 2001 Shiraz Cabernet ($13) shows spice and light black spectrum fruit on the nose which comes across the palate as a glass staining medium weight wine with a slightly hard consistency that's a little young but may improve with time. Flavours are chocolate, blackberry fruit, mint, and a touch of pepper. Rated as Agreeable with *** for value, it's pretty good for the price. Goundrey 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($13.50) is apparently their biggest selling wine. It shows dusty oak and earthy characters on the nose with smooth drying dusty tannins, refreshing acid and medium weight fruit and a palate that is dominated by tannins, blackcurrant fruit and chocolate. To me it seems like pretty ordinary wine that is rated as Acceptable with *** for value there is no accounting for popularity or taste.
Goundrey 1999 Pinot Reserve ($29) did absolutely nothing for me. Tannins were drying and puckering, and whilst the acid was balanced the fruit was so delicate I had to ask myself where was it? It had a lean body weight and supple consistency but the flavours of upfront cardboard with some fruit in the middle and mint on the tail end had me shaking my head. Rated as Barely Drinkable with * for value. And I don't think it was an off bottle!
The next two wines showed what this winery really is capable of producing and both were excellent value. Goundrey 2000 Reserve Shiraz ($26) was purple in colour with a bright hue. Whilst the body weight was almost lean, the consistency was silky; the structure elegant with a harmonious and developed level of complexity, this wine would be enjoyed by those that appreciate a very well-made refined lighter style of Shiraz with pepper, raspberry, chocolate and liquorice on the palate. This is a technically almost perfect wine without being boring and rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value the rating may improve as the wine peaks around 2006. Goundrey 1998 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon ($26) shows cedar, blackcurrant spice and mint. The palate following the nose with the added complexity of the touch of pepper and aniseed thrown into the mix with coffee on the tail end. This wine needs time for the loads of dusty drying powdery tannins to integrate with the obvious fruit that is currently hiding under the oak. It should turn into a refined wine with a long finish as it matures around about 2007. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.
From Goundrey it was time to head west again and drive the 80 kilometres to the Frankland River to visit Alkoomi. Bushfires have been a real problem in Australia over the last few years due to the extended drought conditions and Great Southern had suffered a number of lightning strikes over the preceding twenty-four hours from extended electrical storms. This section of the trip had the monotony broken by the smoke which could be seen and smelt miles away.
The flames were something else.
Franklin River is not exactly close to anything so Alkoomi welcomes visitors with open arms. I was lucky enough to spend over an hour with Merv Lange discussing his wines and the industry in general. Merv is on the board that organises Wine Australia and I am pleased to be able to report the next Plonk Oz will be held in November 2004 at Darling Harbour in Sydney. You read it hear first! Merv is in touch with industry events and many of the key players. The current industry prediction is the yields will be down by between 10% and 30% in 2003 due to the drought conditions with Merv predicting it will be close to 30% but the fruit that is picked should be pretty good provided physiological ripeness is achieved. (I might add, this prediction was made prior to the unusual heavy rain that hit much of Australia a few days later.) Alkoomi 2001 Shiraz ($21) is dark purple in colour with a vibrant hue. The wine has an intense fruit nose showing rich blackcurrant, star anise and spice. Tannins are unobtrusive but drying, the fruit pure strong and persistent with great intensity across the palate without any extraction. It finishes long with flavours of blackcurrant and aniseed. It's a medium bodied wine with supple consistency, a layered structure and harmonious complexity which allows to fruit to speak and is ready to drink now or over the next few years. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value this is most enjoyable drop and suits a fruit lush like me perfectly. Alkoomi 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($24) was only bottled two weeks ago and should be released in about another six weeks. Due to bottle shock, the nose was slightly disjointed with prominent oak (40% new is used) black fruits and mint. Soft dusty drying tannins combined with piquant acid and distinct persistent fruit into a medium bodied package with almost lean, but powerfully intense fruit, showing blackcurrant, liquorice mint and chocolate that manages to finish long and stain the glass. The wine just needs time to settle, it should peak around 2006 and is rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value. Alkoomi 1999 Blackbutt ($59 but $45 if you know where to buy it) is a Bordeaux varietal blend using the best barrels from the best varieties no matter what the blend, so it changes from year to year. A dark purple wine with a vivid hue and a great nose exhibiting inviting intense aromas. The wine has a complex flavour profile including blackcurrant, blackberry, liquorice and a whole lot more which is provided by the deep strong pure fruit. The flavour profile is further enhanced by the silky drying tannins which add structure and a great mouth feel to the wine. This is a muscular job with firm consistency, a big layered structure and a developed, sophisticated and diverse complexity that should be a great wine when into peaks after 2008. Rated as Excellent now with *** for value I wouldn't be surprised to see the rating increase in time. There is no doubt this winery makes excellent wines and is one of Western Australia's best kept secrets. They certainly seemed to know what they are doing and over last 30 years have got their act together. It was a wonderful way of finishing off my time in Great Southern. I must admit this region was a very pleasant surprise. The majority of the wines tasted were of a high calibre and reasonably priced. Bad wines were very few and far between and it looks like the wineries in this area mirror Alkoomi and have got their individual acts together. It's just a pity that they are not more freely available in the eastern states. Bear in mind I hate driving long distances and find it mind numbingly boring, but the drive from Alkoomi in the Frankland River to Pemberton via the dirt and narrow back roads is a wonderfully scenic and enjoyable trip and until I got to Manjimup, a distance of well over 100 kilometres I only passed three cars.
Pemberton
This region is more well-known for its scenic attractions than it is for its wineries but as it is on the way to Margaret River it was worth the stop. For those not into wine and visiting WA it's a must stop. A further call to reception informed me the local "phone witch doctor" would join me shortly. After half an hour of inactivity I walked to reception to be told the hotel had suffered an electrical problem in the storms a few days ago and that although they thought they had fixed all the phones it looked like mine was still out and I would have to change rooms. No problem to me. A staff member went to the next room to mine to ensure the phone was working before I moved. Guess what? It was out too and so was the next and the next and the one after that, in fact they checked every vacant room in the hotel to find that the only operable outside line was located in room 48 which was normally occupied by a Westrail bus driver who came in every night. The staff were kind enough to move the microwave oven and the bus driver food from the room so at long last I was connected to the outside world again. Most of the restaurants in Pemberton are closed on Monday night so I decided to eat in the hotel. The wine list was not exactly great and was dominated by local wines. The temperature in the restaurant would have ensured that any reds selected would be served at an ambient temperature of about 33 degrees so it was time to resort to desperate measures and drink my annual glass of c-through and it was lucky they had NZ cats pee by glass. When the waitress came to take my order I asked if the swordfish was fresh. She replied, "Yes it comes in fresh every Tuesday from Albany." The only problem was that today was Monday so this fresh fish was a week old and frozen solid. Needless to say I ordered the chicken which was delicious. Tuesday
Once again up bright and early and decided to go to a local café for breakfast rather than eating in the hotel. A bacon and egg roll is just what the cholesterol police normally prohibit but as I am on holidays this policeman was off duty. Oh, and a cup of good coffee to go with it as I had no coffee for two days and was really looking forward to it. Order said breakfast and sit down to read a book. After about ten minutes the caffeine withdrawal is getting the better of me and I am getting antsy so I go to the counter and politely request it. It arrives a few minutes later and I can damn near see through it! Have you ever seen a grown man cry!! Picardy was a winery that I was a little reluctant to visit because it had a reputation for stinky wine that only lovers of Brett and certain French wines could enjoy. The winery was started by Bill Pannell, the original owner of the famous Moss Wood Wines. His oldest son, Steve is the group red wine maker at BRL Hardy. The winery can only be visited by appointment and I was very fortunate to be looked after by the younger son, Dan Pannell. We started off examining various barrel samples and I knew that despite my previous reluctance to get involved with wines from Pemberton, if they are all this good then I was in for a treat.
The first wine tasted was the Picardy 2001 Pinot which had just been bottled and is due for release in May. A ruby coloured wine, it showed earthy mushroom truffle aromas (with no feral notes) and red currant. That bouquet really got my snouts attention. In terms of the structure, the tannins were velvety and unobtrusive, but they are there, the acid lively and the distinct fruit flows across the palate as the nose would suggest but with the addition of a bit of chocolate to add a bit more interest and all of this on a long finish. The body weight is lean; the complexity refined with soft consistency the wine does have a good backbone which should be a ripper in around three years. In my bigoted opinion this is what Pinot should be like. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, no doubt Pinot lovers would rate it more highly but I am a hard marker and it is a Pinot. Picardy 2001 Shiraz is due for release in May (expected retail $28 to $32). A vivid purple wine with lifted floral soapy aromas and smoky (not charred) oak. The wine is made with as much Burgundian technique as possible - and it's a Shiraz! The wine has a refined structure which is provided by an almost lean fruit weight, velvety dusty tannins, and the deep persistent fruit provides power without weight. There is a lingering finish of cherry, raspberry, blackcurrant and chocolate flavours from this elegant wine with great structure and a developed refined complexity. It's rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value and the rating may increase as the wine matures after 2007+. Picardy 2001 Bordeaux Blend (45% Merlot 28% cabernet) is due for release in May (retail $28-32). Purple in colour with a dark hue the wine has a lifted nose of perfumed notes with sweet berry fruit and mint which translates to a good solid palate of savoury cherry and chocolate. The wine needs time to show its best, and whilst it is a well made wine, it didn't grab me but I am sure others would love it (that means you Gary Walsh.) Rated as Recommended with *** for value. Then it was onto the winery almost next door. I have lots of good things about Salitage which is regarded as the premier producer in Pemberton and after visiting can confirm the reputation is soundly based. At Salitage I was fortunate enough to be taken upstairs to a private function/tasting room where John Horgan (one of the owners) allowed me to taste through his entire range of reds including a number of yet to be released wines, some of which have just been blended and were being bottled whilst I was visiting the winery. John is a very interesting character with a string of successful commercial, management and board positions to his credit. He proudly talks about his friendship with Dennis Connor (of the America's Cup fame) and took great delight in detailing his sailing exploits and experiences with Dennis. If that was not enough, John even mentioned holidaying with Dennis at his (John's) Chateau in France. This raises two points. Firstly John must be a very charitable person because I think it's fairly safe to assume that he is the only person in Australia that would be prepared to talk to Dennis, let alone befriend him. Secondly John deserves a VC for bravery for being prepared to admit it. Prior to purchasing the property now known as Salitage in a previous incarnation John was Managing Director of Leeuwin Estate so he should know what he's doing and this is born out by everything you see and taste at this estate. John also realises the difficulty of growing Pinot in Australia and uses different clones and trellising methods, one known as the "upright" and the other known as "droopy." They both use different planting techniques, one is planted north-south and the other is planted east-west. As I have so often heard and John stressed, "the wine is made in the vineyard" and anyone who thinks that all you have to do to make a good wine is plant grapes, pick them and hand them to a good winemaker is sadly mistaken. After tasting all current releases, John took me to the back of the winery where there was a mobile bottling plant setup. Rather than having $1.5 million tied up in bottling equipment they rent the complete plant on an as needs basis. The plant is a work of art, the whole production line and all the equipment rolls up in a couple of semitrailers, the side and end covers are thrown off and they go to work. As their winemaker was in Sydney talking to a room full of (real) journalists at the very time I was at the winery we were joined by the assistant winemaker and Greg took me through a number of wines that have a yet to be released and I am pleased to be able to share these tasting notes with you. I reviewed two ranges of wines, the Treehouse which uses some estate grown grapes and some that is bought in and the Salitage range which uses estate grown fruit exclusively. (Tasting notes are not in the order tasted, they have been bracketed by type so an easy comparison between wines and vintages can be made.) Salitage 2000 Pinot ($34) has a delicate nose with earthy notes, forest floor scents and sweet red fruit. The wine is lean with the silky consistency and an elegant but tight structure with an agreeable level of complexity and the delicate fruit comes across as earthy truffle, redcurrant, milk chocolate, all on a reasonable finish. The wine is rated Agreeable with ** for value but that should improve to Recommended as the wine starts to peak in about 2005. Salitage 2001 Pinot is due to be released in mid-March. I found this wine far superior to the 2000. It shows a lifted bouquet of truffle, mushroom and milk chocolate which came across the palate as persistent very chocolaty fruit with redcurrant and mint. As expected the body weight is lean with smooth tannins, the consistency soft but there is a solid structure and a diverse level of complexity. This is an awesome Pinot with a very long finish that should peak around 2006+ and its rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value.
Salitage 2002 Pinot is the finished wine which has been blended and will be bottled in March. The aromas are similar to those found in the 2001 but this wine has more mint and lifted perfumed. The oak and tannins are also more obvious but that's expected as the wine is younger. On the palate the wine comes across as drier, earthier, and then the chocolate and light red berry fruit kicks in with the chocolate re-emerging on the finish. This is an impressive wine with great structure. I actually enjoyed tasting both the 2001 and 2002 Pinots (is there a doctor in the house, Salitage 1999 Pemberton ($32) is a Bordeaux blend with a complex and inviting nose showing coffee, sweet cassis, savoury blackcurrant and subtle cedar. The savoury and sweet berry flavours explode and intermingle across the palate with a long finish going into the coffee spectrum. Quite simply the wine has great fruit and structure, the body weight is ample, the structure layered and the complexity both diverse and harmonious. No hesitation in giving this wine an Excellent rating with **** for value, it should peak around 2007. Salitage 2001 Pemberton is the finished wine which has been blended and will be bottled in March. This vintage is a Cabernet based with 48%. At this stage the wine is very closed and tight. It does show loads of fine grained dusty tannins, the deep and obvious fruit that flows across the palate as chocolate, blackcurrant, more chocolate, and mint. Interestingly enough, although I tasted six bottled of wine between the 1999 and the 2001 Pemberton, in relation to the 2001 my tasting note also says "great fruit and great structure." This is a big wine without extraction that just needs time to show its best and currently rated as Highly Recommended. Treehouse 2001 Pinot ($20) shows aromas of subtle spice and sweet strawberry spectrum fruit. The wine has a lean body weight, soft consistency and an agreeable level of complexity with delicate fruit which starts off with sweet upfront red current spectrum fruit going into savoury and spicy flavours. The wine is rated as Agreeable with *** for value and is ready to drink now. Treehouse 2002 Pinot is the finished wine which has been blended, filtered and will be bottled in March. An unusual nose of smoked sweet fruit and mint. There are loads of firm tannins but I was informed they come from a fruit and no tannins have been added. The wine has a reasonable length finish and should improve as it softens. I imagine this wine will have a similar rating to the 2001. Treehouse 2001 Shiraz ($20) was the only Shiraz I tried at this winery. There is some complexity with sweet blackberry taste on the uptake which turns savoury and a meaty chocolate taste on the tail. Whilst the finish has reasonable length it's slightly hollow on the mid palate. The body weight is ample, the consistency firm and the level of complexity quite agreeable, adding up to a nice wine for the price. Rated as Agreeable with *** for value. Treehouse 2000 Cabernet Merlot ($20) is a lean wine with the firm consistency and a fairly plain level of complexity. It's a lighter style of red wine with unobtrusive dusty tannins, the taste is savoury bitter chocolate and blackcurrant. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value. Treehouse 2001 Cabernet Merlot had been bottled the day before and is due for release next month. This wine was a big step up in quality over the 2000. The oak used in the wine is six years old so it is no surprise that it's a fruit intense wine with firm drying tannins providing a solid structure, ample body weight and an agreeable level of complexity. As it was obviously suffering from bottle shock I won't rate it, but it should be good for the price. Finally a couple of things really stand out about this winery and its products. Firstly their commitment to quality and secondly the consistency of the Salitage wine from year to year although some of the 2000 wines didn't grab me. It's been a big morning with only two winery visited so there is no time to waste and the most direct route to the next winery takes me down some small back roads. This time I only wind up going about 10 kilometres out of the way. With my track record around, with the operative word being "around" Great Southern, consider this to be a good result. The next winery visited was Mountford which also makes cider and alcoholic drinks from fruit other than grapes. What possessed me to even want to visit such an establishment in hindsight is beyond my comprehension but I can only put it down to a decision made after a good dinner with the odd glass or six of wine. Mountford 1999 Pinot ($25) didn't do anything for me and had a slightly volatile nose showing truffles with a thin earthy taste that is slightly acidic. Rated as Barely Drinkable I didn't even want to think about the value. Mountford 2000 Merlot ($28.50) is purple in colour with a varnished aroma which overpowers the fruit. The wine has a lean body, the consistency is not as soft as expected for a Merlot, and to me the wine comes across as all acid and tannins and the sour cherry fruit on the palate is lacking. Rated as Acceptable with * for value. Mountford 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($25) also shows slight varnish on the nose with the sour cherry finish slightly bitter. The body weight is medium, the consistency firm and the complexity plain. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. Its about 130 kilometres from Pemberton to Margaret River and once you are out of the Pemberton area the windy roads cease and you get a straight run. There was one important stop to make on the way at Karridale to visit long time Auswine Forum contributor and sparring opponent, Brad Wehr who is the business manager of the recently opened Alexandra Bridge Wines. Upon arrival I didn't ask for Brad and decided to look around for myself. First wine I tried was served by a very enthusiastic employee who had obviously been well-trained in the corporate line and waxed lyrical about the wine and told me all about it and what I would find in the glass before I even a chance to sniff it. I might add that she obviously thought the wine was extremely valuable because the size serving she poured must have been the smallest I received on the whole trip. Alexandra Bridge 2001 Shiraz ($24.50) has a sweet fruit nose with little discernible oak and some chocolate. Tannins are very fine grained and provide a well-balanced mouth feel. On the uptake savoury sour cherry leads to sweet black spectrum fruit and a chocolate finish. It's a technically very smart well-made wine that could not offend anyone but does little to excite me with it is medium body weight, supple consistency and agreeable level of complexity. Rated as Recommended with *** for value. Alexandra Bridge 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($24.50 and 85% Cabernet) shows cedar and spearmint on the nose and I kept getting very floral perfumed soap scents that were unexplainably wafting in out. Bingo, the light bulb went on when I turned around and saw a few shelves of soap that the winery was selling as a gift line. The wine has loads of dusty tannins with some obvious ample weight fruit. The solid structure and agreeable level of complexity come across the palate as oak, blackcurrant and chocolate that finishes slightly green and bitter. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value
Having tried the two wines on offer I asked if Brad was available and was surprised to find that he was younger than I had anticipated due to his knowledgeable and forthright mature comments on the Auswine Forum. We sat on the veranda overlooking a picturesque spring fed lake and enjoyed the ambience of this wonderful location and had a chat. If you are ever in the area, this is a location worth a detour. Brad was kind enough to bring out two extremely limited reserve wines that will not see the light of day at cellar door for some time. Alexandra Bridge 101 Range 2001 Shiraz ($45) is scheduled to be released in April and only 300 cases were made. The wine is glass staining dark purple with a vivid purple hue. The bouquet shows huge complexity and whilst it's subtle, you can instantly tell it's a big brooding baby that is just waiting to slam the tastebuds. Silky drying tannins, piquant acid and deep persistent concentrated fruit provide a great creamy mouth feel with flavours of blackcurrant, plums, mint chocolate smoky oak. In short there are a multiplicity of things happening in the glass as the wine evolves, opens and changes; this wine truly has a dynamic profile. It's an ample weight wine with supple consistency and whilst the structure is solid and layered now, given time it should become seamless. This is a technically perfect wine but not boring in anyway and shows what the winery is capable of producing. Rated as Highly Recommended now there is no doubt in time the rating will improve as it matures after 2007+ and it receives *** for value. Alexandra Bridge 101 Range 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($45) is scheduled to be released in September. Although the wine showed loads of mint and good ripe blackcurrant fruit it really needed more time to open up. Ultra fine grained smooth but dusty tannins, ample body weight and firm consistency provide a solid structure and backbone for this wine which has a reasonable level of complexity. The taste is all blackcurrant, mint, chocolate and tobacco leaf on the finish and it's very hard to judge a wine that is so young with so much room for improvement. He should peak after 2009 and is now rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value. As time was marching on I said my goodbyes to Brad and headed in to the big smoke. Margaret River I finally got to Margaret River Tourist Information Office (just before it closed) to arrange accommodation. Stated requirements are walking distance to town, no smoking, must be reasonably modern and have a phone so I can access the internet so guesthouse and B&B's will be out. They finally find a place which was not very easy as most accommodation was already booked on Friday. Find hotel, check in, go to the room and look forward to a shower but no towels or soap (they obviously want me to remain dirty) but that's easily fixed.
After a shower pulled the computer out and attempt to connect to the Internet to get my mail. After about forty minutes of p*ss far*ing around changing cables and multiple computer settings the penny finally dropped! The hotel is using a Telecom "Commander System" and phone calls can't be made without the dedicated handset! Why did I ever bother to buy a computer Wanted a quiet early night with simple food so ordered take away from the local pizza shop which was around the corner from my hotel. I started eating the pizza and planning my next three days adventures when I pulled out, amongst other things an eight page trip report completed by long-time wine lover and Auswine contributor, Martin Edwards. On page 4 it states "back to Margaret River township, a cleansing ale at the Margaret River hotel and a takeaway pizza from up the road… Unfortunately the only crook meal of our trip!!" Oh why oh why oh why didn't I read this previously because that explained the indescribable thing in front of me. Wednesday Once again up bright and early and walked into a local restaurant that was chock full of elderly gentleman in white bowls uniforms all looking like they were having a good time so this looked like where the locals ate and at last I may receive the long awaited injection of caffeine. There is a big day planned today with no time for lunch so it's the English breakfast for this little black duck and two cups of strong black espresso coffee. The breakfasts turned out to be pretty stingy at this joint, there is only enough bacon, eggs, sausages, tomato, mushroom, and toast to feed a small platoon rather than the regimental sized serving I had received on Monday morning. And to make matters worse I actually had to pay $14.90 for the privilege. To hell with the food, after the caffeine fix I finally feel like a human being again and am ready to face another nose numbing, tongue tannining, kidney killing, liver lumbering, lip loading, brain bashing, eye endoplasmicreticulum day of wine tasting. (It's amazing what I can find in my annual hunt through the dictionary.)
Redgate 2000 Shiraz ($25) is violet in colour with a c-through hue. Nose showed spice, pepper and a bit of dirty nappy. The fruit is delicate and shows sweet redcurrant, savoury pepper and multiple berry fruit flavours with the velvety tannins providing a creamy, silky mouth feel and a reasonable finish. This is a light bodied wine with a slightly short but elegant structure and despite the flavour profile the complexity is a little simple. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. Frankly I don't understand why people would want to drink these first two wines and whilst they obviously must sell, the next two wines were better in my opinion. Redgate 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot ($30) is a 70% 22% 8% blend. Once again the colour is violet with a c-through hue. This wine has a great mouth feel which is provided by the velvety creamy tannins. The lean fruit with a harmonious reasonable complexity provide flavours (that in time will be seamless) of sweet redcurrant, savoury hints of chocolate, mint and light spice. Lovers of elegant wine will go for this one and although it's drinking well now it should improve over next two or three years. Rated as Recommended with ** for value. Redgate 2000 Cabernet Franc ($35) a lightly lifted fragrant nose of very subtle dark fruit. Tannins are silky and ultra fine grained, the delicate fruit is pure and persistent showing redcurrant, chocolate's cedar and spice. This is a well-balanced lean but elegant wine with supple consistency and a developed and diverse level of complexity that finishes long and in my opinion the best wine of the line up. Rated as Recommended with ** for value. On the plus side, the staff were kind enough to open the Cabernet Franc especially for me and no doubt lovers of light elegant refined wines will find is winery interesting. On the other side of the ledger unfortunately I feel there is much better value to be had elsewhere. This is also a winery (and one of many) that missed a dud.
 This week they were preparing for James Taylor who was scheduled to play on the Saturday night. Leeuwin is best known for its Chardonnay, but the red wines produced are not slouches.
Leeuwin 2001 Pinot ($35) showed a slightly feral nose with barnyard notes and hints of cedar and white pepper. As expected it's a lean wine with firm consistency, a layered structure and a diverse developed level of complexity. The palate shows barnyard cherry flavours, plums, pepper and chocolate - a most unusual profile for the Pinot and almost a bit like a Shiraz. A very enjoyable well-made wine with a long finish, its rated as Recommended with ** for value. Leeuwin 1999 Prelude Cabernet Merlot ($28.50) shows subtle cedar notes, cassis, blackberry, warm savoury notes and hints of mint. On the palate the wine starts off with savoury dark berry fruit, mint and goes through to sweet chocolate on a long finish. The medium weight and persistent fruit is supported by dusty but silky tannins, which gives the wine a soft consistency, layered structure and a harmonious and developed level of complexity. This is a good well-made wine that should improve as it peaks around 2006+ and is currently rated as Recommended with ** for value. Leeuwin 2000 Art Series Shiraz ($34) is the first release of this wine in Australia although a small batch of 1999 made it is way into the US as a trial. A deep purple wine with vivid hue, the nose shows reasonable complexity with sweet light plums, raspberries and hints of white pepper. A layered structure is provided by the fair whack of dusty but creamy tannins, unobtrusive acid and medium weight fruit that flows across the palate as plums, savoury raspberry, pepper, liquorice with a well-developed complexity that comes across as power without extraction. This is a good well-made wine that just needs about another four years to show its best and is currently rated as Recommended with *** for value. Leeuwin 1997 Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon ($51) as expected is a well-made wine with persistent, distinct intense fruit that flows across the palate as cedary oak, blackcurrant, chocolate and liquorice that finishes very long. The wine has a full layered structure that is supported by medium weight fruit, velvety dusty tannins, with a developed harmonious and refined and level of complexity. Currently rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, the rating should improve as the wine gets closer to maturity in four years time. Leeuwin Estate's reds are overshadowed by Chardonnay, which is a pity. They deserve recognition in their own right. This was another winery that missed an off bottle despite having seeing the staff check the bottle when it was opened. In this case it was a cabernet with a slightly pooey nappy nose which was suffering from a minor bacterial fault. This was verified when another bottle was opened for comparison.
The next port of call was Voyager Estate which can only be described as "ostentatious". To say that there has been no expense spared building is winery is like saying George W Bush isn't very friendly towards Saddam Hussein.
Voyager Estate 2000 Shiraz ($28) is a medium bodied wine with firm consistency, solid structure and an agreeable level of complexity. The wine has loads of drying dusty tannins with refreshing acid and persistent medium weight fruit that comes across the palate as blackcurrant, liquorice, chocolate and mint. Although the wine is dark purple in colour it's not as big as expected on the palate. Rated as Recommended with *** for value the wine needs at least four years for the tannins to integrate.
Voyager Estate 1999 Cabernet Merlot ($39.50) is almost dark purple in colour was a bright hue. The ever-changing lifted nose is complex and slightly herbal with cassis, milk chocolate, coffee and peppermint. The similarity of style between the Cabernet Merlot and a Shiraz is unmistakable. Tannins are drying and powdery, the acid refreshing and the fruit ample weight persistent combining with a layered structure and a diverse sophisticated level of complexity. Blackberries, aniseed, chocolate, mint and tea leaf comprise the palate flavours and whilst this wine is not as fruit intense as say a typical Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, it does have a great structure. Rated as Highly Recommended it is not inexpensive but will be very long lived and gets *** for value (just.) There is no doubt the maps of Margaret River are far more comprehensive than those of the other regions I had been to but that didn't stop me from still making a wrong turn and going the regulation 5 kilometres (minimum) out of the way. Many of you may know that most maps have a few deliberate errors in them to be able to tell if people have copied them and breached copy write and for once, I was able to spot the deliberate map mistake. Whilst I was once again struggling to work out the location of that great African tribe by studying said map, I was looking for a street called "Narrawary" which wasn't there but I did notice there is a street called "Gnarrawary" on the map, no wonder I keep getting lost. Having finally found Xanadu Wines, which by the way must have one of the longest driveways in the Western world I remembered that the Xanadu 1986 Shar-don-ay was last c-though (Frog Bubbles and stickies exempted) that I had purchased by the dozen case. For a c-through it was a bloody good wine but after drinking it I got religion and became a red bigot. Recently Xanadu cherry picked many of the assets of Normans Wines when it went into liquidation and I was hoping some of these wines would be available for tasting as well. Xanadu 2001 Secession Blend ($14) was described by the person who served me as a barbecue wine. The nose is upfront sweet floral fruit with multiple berry aromas and that flows through to the palate with a bit of chocolate thrown in and whilst the description of barbecue wine is apt, it's a good drinkable one but it does finish slightly bitter. Rated as Agreeable with **** for value. Xanadu 2002 Merlot ($14) had a spritzig nose so dnpim. Xanadu 2001 Shiraz ($24) is 48% Frankland River fruit and 52% Margaret River fruit. Although the wine is purple in colour the hue is so light the wine can be seen through. The nose is very subtle with spice, light cedar notes, blackberry, plums and coffee. Tannins are very smooth and slightly drying, the fruit is delicate and the body weight of the wine lean with a soft consistency, elegant structure and a refined level of complexity. On the palate it's a light style of wine with plums, blackberry, chocolate and coffee finishing with a good length. I see it, I just don't get it but no doubt lovers of refined light reds will enjoy this far more than I did. Rated as Recommended with *** for value. (This is another one for you Gary Wash.) Xanadu 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($28) is 100% Margaret River fruit and very similar in style to the Shiraz. A light nose consistent with the colour and hue showing pencil shavings and spice leading to a palate of blackcurrant, cherry and chocolate. This is an elegant wine with a lean body weight and a good length finish that will appeal to those that like light reds. Rated as Recommended with *** for value. Xanadu 1998 Lagan Estate Reserve is their flagship blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (65%), Cabernet Franc (20%) and Merlot (15%) from estate grow fruit at Karridale ($70) which is normally not available for tasting but they were kind enough to let me try. The wine has a rich inviting nose of perfumed fruit, subtle background oak, coffee and mint - there is a lot going on here. Silky dusty tannins combined with balanced acid and medium weight but powerful fruit flavours of blackcurrant, chocolate, liquorice, mint and tea provides an elegantly layered structure that in time should become seamless and a sophisticated refined level of complexity. A well-made wine that just needs time to show its best as it matures after 2007 and is currently rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value. At this point we are on a rollercoaster ride having scaled the dizzy heights its time to come down the other side screaming. Normans 2001 Encounter Bay Shiraz ($14) shows a varnished scent which overpowers the plummy fruit. On the palate the body weight is medium, the consistency soft and the complexity agreeable with very sweet upfront fruit that turns savoury with plums and pepper and whilst there is no sign of oak, the wine finish is a little bitter. Rated as Acceptable with *** for value. Normans 1998 Chais Clarendon Shiraz ($33) won a gong as the best plonk (shiraz bracket) in last Winestate Annual Awards and under its previous ownership the wine was selling at in excess of $40. Having never been great fan of Normans in the past even though they were in McLaren Vale), this wine surprised me. A muscular bodied wine with a layered solid structure supported by drying puckering ultra fine grand tannins, refreshing acid and strong distinct persistent black fruit, plums, chocolate and aniseed on a long finish. The developed and diverse complexity took me right back up to the top of a rollercoaster and this Highly Recommended wine with **** for value should improve to Excellent as it matures in the next three or four years. And we are back up to the top of the roller coaster with this one! Once again, this was another winery were the cellar door staff missed a reasonably obvious corked bottle.
I left Xanadu a happy man but it took in McLaren Vale Shiraz to do it. Cape Mentelle has an excellent reputation and I was looking forward to trying their range of wines. Cape Mentelle 2001 Marmaduke ($14.40) is a blend of Shiraz Grenache and Mataro. The bouquet shows some complexity but it is obviously going to be a sweet soft wine. The fruit is strong and persistent with ample weight showing loads of chocolate, a touch of coffee, hints of mint and an unusual almost molasses like flavour on the tail end. This is a great value wine with an agreeable level of complexity, a solid structure and a good backbone provided by the drying dusty tannins. Rated as Recommended with **** for value it should peak in the next couple of years. Not a bad start to visit and if they are all as good I'll be a happy man. Cape Mentelle 2001 Sangiovese ($19 CD only) is the first vintage of this wine and only a few hundred cases have been made. To me the nose seems unusual, but then I don't normally drink this grape variety. The loads of dusty tannins from both the fruit and the French oak result in a very dry medium weight wine with fruit flavours of sour cherry, chocolate, spice and subtle aniseed. Not sure I am confident to rate this wine but I would feel it was Agreeable with *** for value. Cape Mentelle 2000 Trinders ($26.60) is a blend of Cabernet (60%), Merlot (30%) Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc showing dusty oak, floral notes, blackcurrant and mint. The wine is ample weight with firm consistency, a solid structure and a fairly simple level of complexity with drying tannins and obvious fruit that provide solid black fruit flavours with hints of chocolate and a good long finish despite a hole in the mid palate. Rated as Recommended with *** for value the wine should peak in about two years.
The young lady on cellar door was very polite and friendly and whilst I was trying some of the wines I explained exactly what I was doing and the sort of coverage of these notes would receive. Unfortunately the cellar door manager was tied up in a meeting when I arrived but I did manage to talk to him briefly before he was interrupted and a whisked away by another phone call. No matter how hard I tried and no matter what I said there was absolutely no way any other wines were going to be opened for me to try. The winery enjoys an awesome reputation but frankly from what I tasted I have no idea why and left there decidedly unimpressed and feeling it was just another overrated winery that believes its own publicity.
Having covered the major winery south of Margaret River it was time to head north and first stop was scheduled to be Brookwood Estate. On the map this winery is shown as being at the end of Rickett Street when it's actually about a kilometre away as the crow flies in Treeton Road but the problem was the car is not a crow and had to do a 5 km dirt road detour. Brookwood Estate 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($22) shows hints of a varnish, loads of mint and fruit on the nose. The medium weight fruit comes across the palate as sour cherry, mint and liquorice which finishes reasonably long. Not a terribly exciting wine, its rated as Agreeable with ** for value and should peak around 2006. Brookwood Estate 2001 Shiraz ($24) was slightly better than the Cabernet and showed aromas of strong coffee and mocha. Smooth fine grained but unobtrusive tannins and medium weight fruit underpinned a supple wine with agreeable complexity which shows sour cherry, raspberry, coffee, spice and aniseed. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. Final stop the day was the new Palandri complex where I looked forward to meeting one of Auswine Forum well-known humble, shy and retiring rednecks who goes by the handle of "John Tosser Shiraz" (JTS for short) and known to the staff of the Palandri as Tony Carapetis the winemaker.
At Palandri I continued my TCA kiss of death routine. The first glass of Merlot that was handed to me (from a bottle that was about half full) had a significant amount of cork taint on it. Both staff members agreed completely with my analysis of the wine. Whilst this was going on, the senior staff member opened their last bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (needless to say it was for someone else) and when he tested it, pronounced it mildly cork. The person who was serving me opened another bottle of Merlot and pronounced it fit but after one sniff I had to disagree and told him it was mildly corked too. The senior staff member agreed with my analysis and a third bottle was opened which confirmed the mild but obvious taint in the second bottle.
We started discussing cork taint and they stated they were running at 8% on existing corks however the winery is a process of testing some new composite corks which are expected to reducing the taint rate significantly. Palandri 2001 Merlot ($24.95) contains a fair wack of velvety dusty tannins with piquant acid and the medium weight but obvious fruit comes across the palate as plums, chocolate and vanilla, finishing with reasonable length. The wine has a supple velvet consistency, a layered structure, an agreeable level of complexity and it should peak about 2005. It's not a bad Merlot and holds some interest. Rated as Recommended with *** for value. Palandri 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($24.95) contains bucket loads of drying dusty tannins which provide a very firm consistency and solid structure. The complexity is uncomplicated with the medium weight fruit providing savoury red fruit flavours, blackberry, plums and chocolate. It should peak in 2007 and is rated as Agreeable with ** for value. Palandri 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($24.95) was a step up from the previous wine and to me the best in their line up with a pleasant nose of blackberry and mocha exhibiting both sweet and savoury nuances. The wine has a firm consistency and very solid structure which is provided by the distinct deep strong ample weight fruit being supported by the dusty tannins and a reasonably developed level of complexity. The sweet blackcurrant, savoury cherry, liquorice and chocolate provide a long finish but the wine needs about four years for the tannins to soften and integrate. Rated as Recommended with **** for value now, the rating should improve in time. Palandri 2001 Shiraz ($24.95) is a well-made wine but doesn't stand out. It has pepper, sweet blackberry fruit and liquorice on the palate from the obvious but medium weight fruit and whilst the dusty tannins are fine grained the complexity is a little simple. Rated as Recommended with *** for value the wine should peak around 2006. After tasting through the Palandri wines Tony was kind enough to give me a tour of their very modern facility. The "back room" setup is impressive with a heavy emphasis on being user-friendly for the staff. There is an interesting facade on the building which hides the industrial nature of the equipment and tanks. The trip through the barrel room shows the incredibly huge diversity of fruit that has come in and is processed in this facility. We tried quite an array of barrel samples and no two were even remotely similar. Tony really has job cut out for him blending this lot. In time, Palandri intend to release a premium label which won't be called "Reserve" because there are so many cheap wines that have prostituted the use of the word reserve. After the pizza fiasco the previous night it was time to have a good meal so during the day I got some recommendations. Vat 107 Restaurant had been highly recommended so on my way back from Palandri I stopped in and booked a table requesting one with a reasonable amount of light under it so I could read during dinner. Didn't think that would be a problem as it was brightly lit and the waitress said "I have just the table for you." Arrived back an hour later and the dimmers are way down and with just about enough light to read the menu with only a small amount of eye strain.
More conferring and I was offered a seat on the other side of the door as far away from the smokers as possible, now we are getting some where. My order is taken and no sooner than I have a glass of reasonable plonk in font of me (which thank God is not corked), an elderly lady The grilled Marron with melted butter served with a Greek salad was absolutely superb and the service attentive without being overbearing. This place is justifiably highly recommended but better if you are sharing the experience and sitting inside. Thursday 13th
The day started brilliantly, I pulled the camera case off the shelf in the hotel "suite" (sic) when the zip on the bag was not closed and it hit the tiled floor. I wonder why my $1700 digital camera doesn't work when it's in two pieces.
After fuming and stewing over a couple of cups of hot coffee which in my present state of mind were no more enjoyable than the dishwater flavoured coffee I had drank in Pemberton, when I got back to room still fuming I rang my good friend Lynne to cry on her shoulder. I knew there was a reason why I let her work for me, manage the shop in my absence and most important of all look after my children, Red, Goofy and Sam when I am away. She's not just a pretty face, she suggested I ring my insurance company to see if I was covered and suddenly the day looking a lot brighter because not only am I covered but the claim was processed over the phone.
Luckily I downloaded the images to my computer the night before so I didn't lose the existing photos. The only issue is that now I am unable to take any more photographs to attach to this story. And then I had an idea, First port of call was Moss Brothers and I had ever tried their wines I had no idea what to expect. Moss Brothers 2001 Drummond Hill Red ($15.95) is a blend of Cabernet (59%) Grenache (27%) and Shiraz (14%) is an early style drinking wine with a light sweet nose, lean body weight, supple consistency and minimal tannins. The delicate fruit provides flavours of pepper, light red berries and liquorice. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value. The next wine handed to me from an open bottle was dead set badly corked. A new bottle was opened by the lady serving me (who appeared to be one of the proprietors) and she poured a glass without checking the wine. After one sniff I had my suspicions but took two just to make sure before handing it back. No argument, she agreed totally and opened up a third bottle but this time she did check it. Moss Brothers 2001 Moses Rock Red ($15.95) is the Cabernet Shiraz blend (50/50) with soft unobtrusive tannins, medium weight fruit that showed liquorice and blackberry but I couldn't get my head around this wine. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value. Moss Brothers 2000 Red ($24.95 CD only) is a Shiraz (80%), Grenache and Mourvedre blend with a more inviting bouquet than the previous two wines showing subtle oak, mocha/coffee and strawberry spectrum fruit. The wine has a sound structure with fine grained drying tannins and medium bodied fruit that closely followed the bouquet and a more than agreeable level of complexity. A lighter style of red wine with a good flavour profile and strong backbone it should peak about 2006 and is rated as Recommended with *** for value. Moss Brothers 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($36.95) had just been open so the nose was closed and the wine shut down tight. A well balanced wine with drying powdery tannins, lively acid and medium weight obvious persistent fruit with a flavour profile of slightly savoury red cherry, almost sweet blackberry, chocolate and mint on a long finish. A good well-made wine with a solid backbone and agreeable level of complexity it's currently rated as Recommended with *** for value and as the wine matures around 2007, hopefully this rating will increase. The winery was kind enough to provide a barrel sample of their 2002 Harmons Ridge which is expected to retail for $29.95 and is a pretty smart wine. Moss Brothers Bona Vista Liqueur Semillon Frontignac ($21.95 for 500ml) is very sweet showing oranges, citrus, burnt caramel and brandy spirit. The wine is very smooth and has some appeal despite the lingering alcohol. Rated as Recommended with ** for value. Moss Brothers Bona Vista Gold Semillon his served straight of the fridge and recommended to be served either chilled or over ice. The wine is sickly sweet but would have mass-market appeal. Rated as Acceptable. The next winery visited is not only one of WA's icons, but one of the most highly regarded in Australia and deservedly so. In a number of posts I have seen visitors to Cullen state there was not much available to try so I made an appointment and was competently and professionally looked after by Kim Clarke who is the cellar door manager. Cullen 2001 Velvet Red ($22.50) is a Cabernet Merlot Malbec blend with a fruit forward soft nose showing intense savoury flavours. The silky tannins are unobtrusive but provide a reasonable backbone to this ample weight wine with silky consistency, seamless structure and although it is a slight glass stainer the complexity is simple. A great early style drinking wine chock full of liquorice and blackcurrant flavour that provides a lingering finish. Rated as Recommended with *** for value, it's moreish. Cullen 2001 Merlot ($35) CD only - this one-off wine is dark purple in colour with a vivid hue. It's a real surprise package with unobtrusive ultra fine grained tannins, crisp acid and almost delicate fruit showing savouring red cherry and plums. The wine is lighter than the colour suggests but it has a well balanced structure with than agreeable complexity and should improve as the wine matures over the next three years. Rated as Recommended with ** for value, this wine will have its fans. Cullen 2002 Mangan will be released in July to mailing list customers only and 1000 cases have been produced. It is expected the wine will sell for $48 and is a blend of Petit Verdot, Malbec and Merlot which is dark purple in colour with a bright hue. The aroma showed a touch of sulphur (now), and although it was closed the obvious floral fruit is just waiting to get out. Where do I begin in describing this wine which is a dichotomy. (It must be good wine if I am using big words like that!) The loads of fine grained dusty tannins and refreshing acid are well balanced by the medium weight but deeply seated persistent and obvious fruit with truckloads of power. There is no doubt this wine has great structure with a firm consistency, a developed and diverse complexity and yet it's almost elegant. On the palate all sorts of things are happening with multiple berry flavours, mocha, mint and the wine will evolve and change as it matures over the next five years. Rated as Highly Recommended now with *** for value the rating should improve. Kim referred to it "as a party in a glass" because of what the staff get up to when they are fortunate enough to drink it; but as much of a party as it may be, it's a pretty serious and impressive wine. Cullen 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon Blend ($75) is their current release flagship wine. The nose shows huge complexity and depth of fruit with blackcurrant and mocha being the primary aromas. This is an ample weight wine with supple consistency, a big solid structure which should become seamless in time and a sophisticated and intricate complexity. The perfect balance is provided by the silky ultra fine grained tannins and pure deep strong persistent fruit which provide a creamy mouth feel and a huge long finish of blackcurrant, plums and mocha. Now rated as Excellent with *** for value the rating main prove to Outstanding as the wine gets close to its maturity around 2008 and beyond.
Cullen 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot ($75) will be released in July. The wine was bottled six weeks ago and the tasting bottle had just been opened. The first and most obvious observation is the consistency of style and quality in these wines. At present the wine is locked up tighter than the bank vault on a long weekend but a perfect structure is provided by the velvety, creamy ultra fine grained tannins, balanced but unobtrusive acid and obvious deep concentrated fruit. The body weight is muscular, so it's bigger than the 2000. Structure is big solid layered and tight with an intricate diverse level of complexity; this is a wine with a long finish that will age beautifully.Put simply, this wine is awesome and I will make a big call and say not only is it one of the best wines I have ever tasted, but in my opinion in time it will be one of the best wines ever produced in Australia. Rating? Who needs one with a wine like this! At this point Kim handed me over to Trevor Kent who is the Assistant Winemaker and we went for a walk into the air-conditioned barrel room to taste a few drops. The first observation shows that anyone who is employed to work in here ideally needs to be about 18 foot tall (for obvious reasons) and about six inches wide so they can negotiate their way down the narrow spaces between the barrel rows without having to turn sideways and master the art of moving like a crab. The winery uses one third new oak every year and the quality of the oak is pretty obvious. After having tasted a number of barrel samples it's easy to see the winery believes in two things. Firstly great fruit and all the estate grown fruit is dry grown with no irrigation so the concentration of the wine is impressive. No use for reverse osmosis to take out excess water and concentrate the flavour here.
The second factor is structure. Without exception all the completed wines tasted and all the blended barrels sampled had wonderful structure, and that is said in the nicest possible way. Combine excellent quality fruit with great structure and balance, and it's very hard to produce anything other than excellent wine. The latest in thing in a number of wineries is to use a small percentage of Viogner to provide sweetness and lift the aroma. I have tried a number of these wines and in many cases find them a little sickly sweet (for my taste) and Cullen's feel they have come up with a better solution to achieve the same results. Instead of using Viogner, they are using small amounts of Petit Verdot and using it to great effect. A move that should be highly applauded.
Besides using great quality fruit and having the services of one of Australia's most respected wine makers, I think I have discovered the secret ingredient that makes Cullen's wines so good. Every single staff member I encountered had a positive attitude, more enthusiasm than a politician has hot air, and a smile from ear to ear. I don't know what they had been smoking And speaking about curmudgeons and flash pigs with gold teeth the next stop was Gralyn Estate which has vines planted 28 years ago. The cellar door facility is new, very posh indeed and even the spittoon is automatic but the building has been tastefully done in a modern chrome and glass way. The wines are for sale at cellar door only or by mail order and not sold in shops. Rumour has it that a lot of the fruit from this vineyard is going into the yet to be released Western Australian versions of Thomas Hardy Cabernet Sauvignon. They have a range of three wine styles, light wines which should be served chilled at under $20 a bottle, full bodied dry reds which retail from $51 to $90 a bottle and their port series. The pigs weren't flying so I stuck to the full bodied dry reds. Total production is 2,500 cases. Gralyn 2000 Old Vine Shiraz ($60) has a rich black nose showing good depth of fruit and complexity. On the palate the wine shows massive amounts of blackcurrant, liquorice, and chocolate, all with a very long finish. At this point it's the most concentrated wine I have tried in WA. Three tonnes to the acre dry grown from 28 your old vines does help. This is a full bodied wine with a solid structure and developed level of complexity. Tannins are smooth and very fine grained and with the concentrated deep persistent fruit this is a smart wine indeed but it would want to be. Rated as Excellent with ** for value it should peak around 2006+. (There is 10% discount for six bottles or 15% off by the dozen on all these wines.) Gralyn 2000 Shiraz Cabernet ($90) (58/42%) was a freshly opened bottle so the nose was all over the place (like a Beagle chasing a fox) but showing large amounts of oak with great fruit underneath it. The concentrated deep persistent fruit provides a huge level of extraction without the wine being heavy. Very complex flavours of chocolate, all sorts of black and red fruits finish longer than a lawyer's closing argument. Naturally it's a full bodied wine and although the consistency is supple the wine has a good backbone provided by the ultra fine smooth tannins and sophisticated level of complexity; this is seriously good wine that I would like to try again a few years. Rated as Excellent with ** for value it would best be consumed in 2008+. Gralyn 2000 Cabernet ($90) had also just been opened and the aroma showed little more than brooding black fruit and mint. Like the other two wines there are lorry loads of ultra fine dusty tannins and excellent quality fruit. In this case the fruit sneaks up on you and then WAM, BAM, why thank you…..tastebuds. Savoury red cherry moves to cassis and then back again; and then on to chocolate, mocha and liquorice with an incredibly long sweet finish. Although the colour is dark purple, the hue is only of moderate intensity which is consistent with the ample weight of the wine and it's not a heavy as many people may expect. There is a reasonable level of sophisticated complexity but at this price it could have had more, however this is a long-term wine and would be best consumed after 2010. Rated as Excellent with ** for value. If you like big reds and don't mind spending up, this is a winery to visit. I had an hour to kill before my next appointment and as I had nothing but indigestion and coffee for breakfast I decided to grab a quick meal. Lunch was at Flutes Restaurant (part of the Brookland Valley Winery complex) overlooking a picture postcard lake setting. The food was perfectly prepared and presented (I had Terrine - one of them was Ostrich) with friendly and efficient service. You can do a lot worse than eating here! What really pi**ed me off was that the Terrine demanded a glass of good red but as I had to keep a clear head for the afternoons tastings all I could drink was coffee! The winery cellar door was an interesting location. Very well decked out with a huge array of gifts, a lot of it wine related. Saw some great glasses and decanters that I had not seen anywhere else and was tempted by a Riedel Duck look alike at less than half the price of the real McCoy but carrying it home would have been a haemorrhoid. The one line of gifts I could not understand in this cellar door gift shop was the gardening gloves, pruning clippers and other odds and sods. Makes about as much sense to me as my pet shop selling left handed monkey wrenches but I guess it must work for them. Enough of this time wasting, it's time to get back to the serious business of tasting wine so it's off down the road to Vasse Felix where I have an appointment with Gemma Hutchinson of the sales and marketing department. I have always been impressed by Vasse Felix so I'm looking forward to this experience. A private tasting room had been arranged with five bottles of wine laid out with a heap of glasses but as we chat, it soon becomes apparent the five are not enough, so Gemma disappeared for a few minutes to dig up a couple of extra unreleased wines for me to try. Boy, the sacrifices I make for you all to provide these tasting notes, it's just as well Gemma is so pleasant or it would be hard work charming her to get those extra bottles. Vasse Felix 2000 Classic Dry Red ($19) has an inviting reasonably complex nose showing multiple soft berry fruits and spice. Tannins are smooth but they are deceptive and provide a good backbone for this medium bodied wine with soft consistency and developed fruit flavours. It's a medium bodied wine that's all about fruit and soft easy drinking (without extracted weight) and the savoury multiple 'fruits of the forest' flavours finishing off with mocha make this a good food wine that is 100% safe bet in a restaurant. It's well-made and technically perfect but holds interest due to the flavour profile. Rated as Recommended with *** for value. Vasse Felix 2001 Classic Dry Red is the fourth vintages of wine and was bottled a month ago with release due for next August or September. This is still an obvious baby that needs time to settle down. The wine has an unexpected intensity of powerful fruit without any signs of extraction. The body is medium weight and whilst the structure is solid but almost elegant, it's not a wimpy wine and has more than an agreeable level of complexity. On the palate the great fruit is immediately obvious and shows blackcurrant raspberries and rich chocolate. Rated as Recommended with **** for value this is a great wine for the price that can be cellared until 2006. Vasse Felix 2000 Cabernet Merlot ($22.50) has some VA with loads of mint. This is a well-balanced "grey suit wine" savoury blackberry/mulberry spectrum fruit, coffee and mocha. Its medium bodied with soft consistency and has a seamless structure with a fairly simple level of complexity. It's not bad wine but the Classic Dry Red holds more interest. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. Vasse Felix 2001 Cabernet Merlot will also be released next August or September. The wine has a soft nose, is vivid purple in colour and whilst the tannins are smooth the backbone is deceptive, but it's there. On the palate the wine has a touch of sweet blackcurrant which immediately goes savoury into raspberry, chocolate, and star anise that provides an agreeable complexity from the just medium weight fruit and the layered structure finishes long. Another good food friendly bistro crowd pleasing wine and it holds more interest than the 2000. Rated as Recommended with *** for value. Vasse Felix 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($30) is made from Margaret River fruit and shows a subtle inviting silky bouquet with blackcurrant and chocolate. The wine has very savoury flavours of raspberry on the uptake leading to sweet blackberry and tailing off to mocha. The wine is almost medium weight with a firm consistency provided by silky drying tannins and whilst the acid is piquant, the fruit is delicate but persistent. This is a well crafted wine with a very interesting and different flavour profile and will be enjoyed by those that like wines with an elegant structure. The wine is rated as Recommended with *** for value and should peak in about three years. Vasse Felix 2000 Shiraz ($38) this is a wine with good rich fruit and it has power without weight. Sweet blackcurrant and savoury pepper combine with a slightly sour unusual green but not unripe finish, possibly its asparagus. The wine is well-made but lacks excitement and is rated as Recommended with ** for value it should peak in 2005. Vasse Felix 2000 Heytesbury ($65) is a blended red and the winery's flagship which is due for release in March. Initially there was some VA which blew off, and dusty cedar dominated a complex array of fruit and mint. Smooth ultra fine dusty tannins and refreshing acid with distinct persistent fruit of great intensity provide the firm consistency and solid tight structure that will underpin a very long lived wine. The wine has a developed sophisticated level of complexity with savoury blackberry, mulberry, chocolate, mocha, coffee and mint that just needs time for the tannins to integrate which make this and iron fist in a velvet glove. Rated as Excellent with *** (just) for value. Clive Otto the wine maker has completed 13 vintages here and the consistency across the range is testament to all he has achieved.
The last winery today was another Australian icon, Moss Wood which is only open by appointment. I was ushered around by Jason who is the assistant winemaker so I received some pretty good information. The method of growing Pinot is very similar to that used by Salitage and primarily uses a Scot Henry system of trellising which they feel keeps the alcohol down but still allows the grapes to obtain full ripeness even though it requires a lot of extra work with the labour inquest requirement of leaf picking. I was lucky enough to try barrel samples of many wines but my notes on them are pretty brief. All the wines I tried were the blended product. Moss Wood 2001 Pinot was in the tank and ready for bottling. It shows earthy truffle notes (with no feral characteristics) and cherry fruit. On the palate the loads of young acid is noticeable but there is beautiful pure cherry and liquorice fruit which finishes very long. Moss Wood 2002 Pinot was still in barrel and quantity had been reduced by 50% to improve quality. The wine showed a lot more sweet fruit than the 2001. It's a fruit driven wine with an excellent structure although the loads of youthful acid is noticeable that this early stage. Moss Wood are also responsible for making the Ribbon Vale label and the Ribbon Vale 2001 Shiraz is a definite step up over the 2000 showing fleshy plums and chocolate with a pleasant finish. Ribbon Vale 2001 Cabernet Merlot showed good structure with chocolate mint and blackcurrant. Ribbon Vale 2002 Cabernet Merlot shows the difference created by the changes to trellising techniques. This vintage has a better structure than the previous year; tannins are finer, the wine has a better length and aging potential has also been increased. Moss Wood 2002 Cabernet Merlot which is already blended but is still being kept in barrel. The wine is a glass staining very vivid dark purple with loads of silky dusty tannins and strong pure fruit without any signs of extraction. It shows good complexity with a long finish and has come together well considering its youthful age. There is still some sulphur evident but that's not unusual at this stage of life. This is an excellent wine has been built for long term. Moss Wood 2001 Cabernet Merlot is still in barrel and the extra period spent in oak shows how this time softens the texture of the wine. It has the same colour as the 2002 and shows great fruit with mouth filling sweet and savoury flavours of blackcurrant, chocolate, mint and all sorts of other interesting things. The class and structure of the wine is immediately evident, it's already seamless and showing huge palate length. This wine is a "beauty-bottler-mate" (as they say in the Australian classics) and whilst I would rate it as Excellent now, no doubt in time it will be Outstanding.) Glenmore 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon shows a fairly large improvement over the first vintage of this wine. Blueberry, menthol, eucalyptus and chocolate flavours add up to a wine with great fruit, showing some elegance, it will be food friendly. Only managed to do five wineries today but two of them are Australian icons and the third and fourth were not exactly poor relations. In three cases I was fortunate enough to try a number of unreleased wines and or barrel samples so the day finished a lot better than it started. Certainly the wines I tried today showed the capabilities of this region and the level of excellence achieved by a number of wineries in making world-class wines that would hold their own against anything produced elsewhere. It's not everyday a wine lover gets a chance to do that so from my perspective it was a pretty special day and one of the best during this trip. Chinese take away (from the one up the road, there are two in MR) was edible and far better than the pizza a couple night before. An alcohol free night as there was a definite need to build up capacity for the following night. Friday 14th
Headed out early to the most northerly point of today's expedition, and managed to get their without getting lost, things are looking up.
Happs is a winery I have heard good things about and their 1999 Shiraz received 95 Parker points and comments relating to the fact that it was the greatest Western Australian Shiraz the great man had ever tried, but I wasn't about to hold that against the winery; I mean some deluded people with delusions of adequacy have even said nice things about me occasionally. I arrived at the cellar door bang on 10 o'clock (but only because I had been waiting outside in the car for 10 minutes) to find the place in a state of organised friendly chaos. The cellar door staff had not show up for work and the "office lady" and her daughter had been thrown into the frontline. Whilst I was there she must have rung every employee in the place as well as wine knowledgeable friends and neighbours to see if she could find anybody that actually knew something about wine to man the fort. Unfortunately she was unsuccessful and was there for the day. So she soldiered on and poured the wine whilst I made notes and a fun time was had by all. Well, she must have been enjoying herself because every time I asked her "are you having fun yet?" She replied smiling at me through gritted teeth, "yes dear." The winery was established about 25 years ago and has a huge and eclectic range of wines all of which are available for tasting. I had intended to stick to the Three Hills Range which is their icon label but the smooth talking "office lady" sweet talked me into trying the Happs 2000 Cabernet which is a Bordeaux blend ($20) which was an early drinking style good bistro wine with savoury berry and chocolate flavours derived from the just medium bodied but persistent fruit which comes across the palate as being a little lean and soft. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. It was only after trying this wine that she told me that she didn't drink red, no wonder she recommended that one! Being an absolute glutton for punishment I then let her talk me into trying the Happs Three Hills 2000 Grenache which had only been released two days ago ($28). The nose on this wine was completely closed and yielded about as much Davo's wallet the day before payday. Whilst the tannins are drying and dusty the fruit is medium weight but fairly delicate showing sweet raspberry fruit and chocolate. It has a layered structure but a fairly simple level of complexity. It's a well made lighter style of Grenache that would have mass appeal but it's not for me. Rated as Recommended with ** for value. Out the three strikes she has only got one left so this next recommendation which was also released two days ago had better be good. The Happs Three Hills 2001 Malbec ($28 CD only) certainly got my noses attention. It's impossible to miss the dark brooding fruit and structure from the bouquet of this wine. Tannins are silky and drying with piquant acid and the fruit is pure distinct and deep. The package provides a terrific structure and mouth feel. the Ample weight provides savoury fruit of blackberry, mulberry, raspberry and mocha which come across with a velvety rich consistency, seamless structure and a harmonious developed complexity. A very enjoyable and different style of wine well worth trying if you ever get to see it. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value it should peak after 2005. After that one she still in their pitching (and bitching about the lack of staff) whilst she twists my arm and pours the Happs Three Hills 1999 Cabernet Franc ($28) which shows sweet blackcurrant and violets on the nose. The wine has a well-developed and diverse complexity, a layered structure and supple consistency with silky tannins, unobtrusive balanced acid and medium weight but obvious fruit which flows across the palate as sweet blackcurrant, savoury dark chocolate and raspberry. Another well made an enjoyable wine that's a little different and rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, it should peak around 2006. Another phone call, this time to the cellar door down the road offering to employ anyone immediately with a 33% pay rise provided they guarantee to never have an unscheduled day off but no luck! So she pours a large glass of Happs Three Hills 1999 Merlot ($36) (downs half of it down her own throat and then hands it to me.) The wine has an unusual and distinctive nose of plums, floral notes and hints of musk. The palate is a bit of a surprise with sweet fruit on the uptake immediately turning savoury and then going to chocolate. Silky ultra fine grained dusty tannins and muscular bodyweight with a refined diverse harmonious level of complexity combined to make a seamless wine that is all about perfect structure and great elegance. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value, this is a very fine wine if you like that sort of thing. Someone please send me a bottle in 2007 by which time the wine should just about have peaked so I can make up my mind. She is starting to smile at me (now that's a worry) and pours two glasses of Happs 1999 Charles Andreas Bordeaux blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot $36) and keeps one for herself. The slight VA lifts the inviting multiple berry fruits and minty notes. On the palate the wine is beautiful with initial sweet berry fruit that turns savoury with blackberry and many other complex berry flavours. It's the ample weight wine with firm consistency, a solid layered structure and harmonious developed level of complexity. The flavours are enhanced by the mouth feel and balance which is created by loads of creamy but dusty tannins with distinct obvious persistent fruit. Once again a perfectly built wine that just needs time to show its best (2007) and rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value the rating has room to improve over time. By the time this tasting note was complete, I am sure that bottle level has been depleted substantially. She has disappeared. I heard she has gone outside his see if she could stop any cars and hijack the occupants into working at cellar door for the day. Her daughter pours the Happs 2000 Shiraz ($45) which has a nose showing some smoky oak and nose clearing iodine over some pretty good fruit. It's a full-bodied wine with firm consistency, solid structure and a well-developed complexity which is ably supported by bucket loads of fine grained drying tannins and pure distinct fruit that comes across the palate as sweet blackberry, savoury plum, light chocolate, aniseed and pepper. The wine is rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value it should peak around 2006. Sheeeee's back and looking incredibly happy especially so considering she still hasn't found anyone to work for the day. So "happy" that she decides to open one of the last remaining bottles of Happs 1999 Three Hills Shiraz ($45 and limited to one bottle per customer) for her to drink, sorry, I mean for me to try. This is a black wine with the rich ripe nose and real red bigot material that's rich and full bodied with a layered structure and an intricate developed level of complexity. On the palate it's showing strong concentrated deep distinct fruit, loads of creamy tannins. A huge wine loaded with all things black, blackcurrant, chocolate, liquorice, mocha, coffee and mint all on a long finish. This is more like a big Barossa Shiraz but with superb use of French oak, it's rated as Excellent with *** for value (if you can find any) it should peak after 2007. Whilst I was doing the tasting note she made another desperate phone call, this time to local sanitation engineer who is reputed to have excellence in smell, but fortunately he was in the poo and unable to attend so she was still no closer to finding a cellar door staff member and pours me a glass of Happs 2001 Three Hills Nebbiolo which was released two days ago ($28) and keeps the rest of the bottle for herself. The wine is violet in colour with a spicy light nose. There are loads of drying tannins and the delicate but distinct fruit comes across the palate as upfront sweet fruit that quickly goes into savoury spiciness. It's a medium weight wine with an agreeable level of complexity but in all honesty, it's a little esoteric for me and I just don't get it.
The wine tasting was over and whilst we were chatting, I asked her if she was having fun yet, she instantaneously went In all seriousness Sue did a great job of looking after me, pouring the wine for other tasters, selling wine to customers, taking pickers job applications, answering the phone, ringing numerous staff members and politely asking if they could come in and assist, and all of this whilst maintaining a big smile on her face and providing lots of laughs. I also like to thank Sue in advance (hopefully) for not threatening to sue me (bad pun,) or kill me for the poetic licence used. All prices quoted for Happs winery are less 15% by the dozen.
Woody Nook 2000 Merlot ($27) has smooth unobtrusive tannins and piquant acid which lifts the pure distinct fruit showing sweet plum leading to savoury raspberry, milk chocolate, and aniseed on a lingering finish. The wine is medium bodied with a supple silky consistency, a layered structure and an agreeable but harmonious level of complexity. A very good Merlot, it's rated as Recommended with *** for value. Killdog Creek 2000 Cabernet Merlot ($23) don't even ask about the name unless you have got half an hour. Dusty oak dominates the palate and the fruit is sweet but a little lean however the milk chocolate finish is reasonable. It has a firm consistency and simple complexity and needs time for the oak to integrate, my guess would be another three years assuming there is enough fruit to last to distance. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. Woody Nook 2000 Shiraz ($27) has loads of dusty tannins, unobtrusive acid and sweet raspberry leading into sweet blackcurrant, into a long pepper finish. It shows good power without any obvious fruit weight or extraction. The wine is medium bodied, and has a well-developed complexity with good flavour profile. In time it may rate higher but is currently rated as Recommended with *** for value, and should peak around 2006. Woody Nook 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon ($28) was blended and going to the bottled two days later. Dark purple with a vivid hue, the colour is glorious. The wine is dry grown and has a complex nose exuding dusty oak, cigar box, tobacco all of which are over intense sweet fruit scents. In the mouth the wine shows great fruit and perfect balance with a multiplicity of flavours including sour black cherry, raspberry, blackberry, milk chocolate and mint - a very savoury wine - impressive for the price. Muscular bodyweight, a firm consistency and tight structure which in time should become seamless together with a well-developed harmonious complexity makes this a wine to buy and cellar until at least 2008+. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, the rating may improve as the wine matures. After saying goodbye to Gollywog and Mr Plod (for those few old enough to know am talking about) it was a quick trip down the road to Fermoy Estate which is another winery whose products I have never sampled although it's been around for about 18 years. Fermoy 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($26) is dark purple and colour with a light hue. Tannins are deceptively smooth and this ample weight wine has deep pure persistent fruit with a well-developed complexity showing sweet blackcurrant, savoury chocolate, plums and liquorice which finishes long on the palate. A well made wine that represents good value now that should improve over the next four years, it's rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value. Fermoy 2001 Merlot Cabernet (87/13%) when first opened and handed to me smelt of pooey nappy and charry oak. I asked the assistant if the wine was a sound and she went to ask the assistant wine maker, Simon Ding who wasn't quite sure but suggested we open another bottle (to humour me.) The second bottle proved the point and was locked up tight. There were subtle plums, some spice, light pepper, and milk chocolate on the palate. The is hard to judge now but has all the components; ample weight with a firm rich consistency and a tight solid structure so it should be very good in time. Rated as Recommended with *** for value it should peak around 2007. Sentinel 2000 Shiraz ($24 - their less expensive label) showed a lovely ripe blackcurrant and "ludicrous" (that about sums up this voice recognition software never get anything right; that should be "liquorice") nose. The wine has good structure and backbone which is provided by the drying dusty tannins, balanced acid and strong persistent fruit. It's a muscular weight wine with solid layered structure and well-developed complexity. It represents good value for the quality and one I would be happy to buy. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value. Power is there without being heavy and on the palate shows rich ripe fruit including blackcurrant, chocolate, blackberry, plums and aniseed with a very respectable finish.
Being such a smooth silver tongued subtle talker, (sic) the winery was falling all over themselves to open up the Femoy 2001 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon for me ($45) which had just been bottled and is about to be released. (If the truth be known, being a little bit of a
Two good discoveries in a row can we make three? Next stop was Lenton Brae and I must admit was surprised to see the sign on the cellar door saying that the dog was actually allowed to be inside. Almost as soon as I arrived I was greeted by a very friendly Border Collie cross and a mature lady who made it clear in no uncertain terms that in her opinion the dog should not be allowed inside. At that point I don't know what concerned me more, the attitude towards dogs or her sweet cloying perfume. Lenton Brae 2001 Cabernet Merlot (50/50% blend $20) had a volatile chocolate nose and it's possible the volatility may have blown off once the freshly open bottle had received more air. On the palate is the wine came across a sour cherry, chocolate and seemed to be a bit green for my taste. Rated as Acceptable with ** for value. Lenton Brae 2001 Margaret River (59% Cabernet, 35% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot - $29) to me came across as a lean and green and was rated as Acceptable with * for value. I think I may know the reason for the perfume. Oh well, two out of three ain't bad and the next one would have to be better as my mate Duncan who knows all there is to know about wine in WA had put a "+" next to the name when I had sent a list of wineries to him asking for comments. Woodlands is a micro producer that has been around for 30 years and primarily sells through cellar door and direct via mailing list which might explain why have never heard of them. The winery is normally only open three days a week. I was greeted by the very enthusiastic young Greg who is obviously (justifiably) very proud of the winery and their products. The first wine, Woodlands 2001 Cabernet Merlot Malbec ($20 or $15 by the case) showed chocolate and warm berry fruit on the nose with lots of dusty tannins, piquant acid and medium but slightly lean fruit. The palate follows the nose with savoury upfront fruit leading to a sweet mid palate and a savoury finish with a big hit of acid on the tail. I found the structure to be slightly disjointed and the complexity simple but whilst the wine didn't rock my boat, it had reasonable length and would be okay for $15. Rated as Agreeable with *** for value. At this stage I was wondering what Duncan was doing to me but that doubt was fairly short lived when I sighted and sniffed the next wine, Woodlands 2000 St Peter (45% Cabernet, 45% Merlot and 10% Malbec) which was dark purple with an impenetrable hue and a rich inviting bouquet. The wine was from 29 year old dry grown vines and spent 18 months in almost all new French oak. There is nothing delicate about this wine; it has a rich full body with firm consistency, a very tight structure and developed complexity. It will be very long lived and I doubt it will peak before the end of the decade. Distinct deep obvious fruit showing blackberry, plums, and black chocolate balance the young acid and bucket loads of dusty drying tannins. Rated as Excellent with **** for value at $35 (the dozen price - $45 a single bottle.) And now for something completely different, Woodlands 2001 Malbec is black in colour and impenetrable. I certainly wasn't taken with the nose which was stinky sulphurous, but luckily the palate was a lot better. There are at least two semi trailer loads of dusty tannins in each glass, fresh acid and distinct deep rich sweet fruit with an unbelievable length finish. To say the wine has a solid structure is like saying the Williams sisters can play tennis. This is a very unusual wine that should last forever and frankly I don't know how to rate it. Only one barrel was produced and its $40 a bottle. Back to normality and I tried the Woodlands 2001 The Margaret (Cabernet 75%, Merlot 20% Malbec 5% - 70% new oak) which is 12 months off general release but if you ask nicely can be purchased ahead of time. Dark purple in colour, the nose is also dark and brooding. This is a rich full bodied wine with firm consistency, a solid firm structure and a diverse level of complexity with great length showing sour plums, blackcurrant, chocolate aniseed and a whole lot more. Once again there are loads of dusty tannins, balanced fresh acid and pure deep persistent fruit. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value now ($35), it can be enjoyed at this stage for its glorious fruit, but that would be a bit of a waste and it should improve as it matures around 2008. This is a slightly eccentric winery (which I can relate to) and is worth the trip if you have the chance. There is absolutely no doubt that thirty old dry grown vines can produce some great fruit. I had heard good things from a number of people about Juniper Estate and interestingly enough, its one of the few wineries in WA that I visited that used quantities of American oak rather than mainly French. Juniper Estate Crossings 2001 Cabernet Merlot ($19) had a slightly volatile nose but the bottle had been freshly opened. The wine has silky tannins, a medium body weight and soft consistency (but the backbone is there,) a simple complexity with savoury flavours and a reasonable length finish, all making this an ideal lighter style of red that's suitable for a barbeque. Rated as Agreeable with ** for value. Juniper Estate Crossings 2001 Shiraz has a creamy mouth feel and whilst the tannins are there, they are deceptive. Savoury up front berry fruit with a liquorice finish, a medium bodyweight with soft consistency and agreeable complexity makes this a reasonable crowd pleaser. Rated as Agreeable with *** for value. Juniper Estate 2000 Shiraz ($29) like all the wines from this estate has deceptive tannins. It's a fruit driven showing up-front sweet fruit with chocolate and black pepper on the mid palate and a big long liquorice finish. The wine is interesting and whilst it may come across as an upmarket crowd pleaser its structure is deceptive with a muscular body weight, harmonious complexity and in time as it matures around 2006 it should be seamless. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value. Juniper Estate 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($32) has a structure that is no surprise. The nose is promising with some complexity which comes from the muscular weight fruit which is pure, distinct and obvious. The persistent flavours start of sweet but turn intensely savoury and stokes the tongue with red, black and blue fruit. It's similar in style to the Shiraz with great fruit intensity and well balanced structure. Rated as Highly Recommended with *** for value it should also ideally consumed about 2006. Juniper produces safe honest well made good quality wines but they are nothing to get madly excited about. Cape Grace is off the beaten track about 2k past the entrance to Howard Park and is owned by Robert Karri-Davies who bought part of an existing vineyard in 1996. The cellar door is nestled amongst tall trees and on the way in you will see a few aviaries with some interesting Australian native birds. Once in the winery, the anti chamber contains an interesting array of old cameras. This is a unique spot and just a bit different to most of the kitsch seen at many CD. Unfortunately there was only one wine red available for tasting, their Cabernet Sauvignon is all but sold out. The Cape Grace 2001 Shiraz ($28) won a gong somewhere which in theory officially makes it the best Shiraz in WA (another one) if you believe that sort of thing. Dark purple in colour, it exudes fruit forward sweet black fruit with vanillan oak. That translates to flavours of raspberry, blackberry, plums, liquorice and mocha with a very respectable finish. This is a red bigot wine and although the complexity is developed, to me there seemed something missing but I couldn't work out what it was, rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value I would try it again in 2005. Robert and I went for a wander into the air conditioned barrel room and chatted about things vinous and his plonk philosophy. Last vintage they produced 1100 cases, this year they hope to do 1200 and in time move to a maximum of 2800 cases in 3 years and it will always be a small winery if things go to plan. They currently crop at 2.5 tonnes per acre so they can't be accused of over cropping! This is consistent with their philosophy, produce great fruit, buy the best oak and keep a close relationship with the winemaker (Mark Messenger at Juniper.) We then tasted two barrels of Shiraz both from the same block. One had undergone malolactic fermentation in barrel and the other in a stainless steel tank. The difference between the two samples was an eye opener. The barrel sample had creamy tannins and obvious fruit. The tank sample was much drier and had more structured and tighter backbone. We also tried two of the cabernet sauvignon barrels and they show different characteristics too. All it took was the fact that one of them was a degrees or two warmer than the other. Making wine seems like the ultimate jigsaw puzzle with an almost infinite number of variable possibilities so one really should take their hat of to the winemakers when you consume a great glass of wine, its no fluke! If this winery keeps up these standards they are one to keep an eye on in the future.
Howard Park 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon (76% Margaret River fruit - $75) is initially very savoury with cherry, sweet cassis and chocolate that looks like it will be long lived with fine velvety tannins, lively young acid and pure persistent medium weight fruit. It has a firm consistency, solid layered elegant structure, a sophisticated intricate complexity and in short, is a refined wine. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value, the rating may increase as it matures at the end of the decade. Howard Park 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon has sweet upfront fruit with herbal characters that to me seemed a bit green. It finishes with a tobacco flavour. The wine is mid weight with an elegant structure and whilst it has a refined and developed complexity my opinion on this second tasting didn't change. Rated as Recommended with * for value. That's it for the formal part of the proceedings, the winery time is over and its time to party.
 so the night was starting to look good despite the lack of numbers. First wine out of the blocks was a delicious, reasonably sweet and creamy Sparkling Shiraz with a great mouth feel that to me seemed like a young wine, I would have thought about a 98. It showed no leathery or aged Sparkling Shiraz characters. Way wrong, it was a 94 Peel Estate Baroque.
Next cab off the rank (and I do mean rank) was another masked bottle of wine. The nose smelled like a combination of public urinal and a mouse cage that had not been cleaned for a month. When the wine was "unmasked" it turned out to be the first vintage of Dr Davo's Medicinal Homemade Hooch and he wanted to get an unbiased reaction from friends, but as he hasn't got any, he had to settle with serving it to us. In all seriousness, the wine was his first vintage being a 2002 that he recently bottled. We felt very privileged as the entire production from his vineyard was a whopping 37 bottles. The aroma showed sweet fruit with a mild sulphurous pong but when I tasted it the wine was seamless, had good fruit and a reasonable level of complexity. A bloody good effort for a homemade wine Davo and one I would be happy to drink again next time I come to WA (but remember it was 14 years since my last trip.)
The third wine was a bucking bronco looking for a rodeo cowboy. It was a 97 Peel Estate Zin and this was a real Pamela Anderson wine. There was no refinement here but it sucked you right in with its voluptuousness. The only reason it wasn't called "fortified" was because they would have had to remove alcohol from it to get it into that category. It was a lush wine (bad puns intended) and had great flavour complexity and strength. It would have matched well with a brontosaurs steak but the best Winos could do was a bit of Daffy Duck. Some time ago I gave Dunc and Julie a bit of a helping hand when they wrote their excellent book "A Guide to Touring the Wine Regions of Western Australia" and they obviously decided that if there was no way they could get out of the dinner once I had said I was coming (as they had organised it) they would get their own back by bringing two bottles of PeeNo. Being a suave, sophisticated and polite human being I sniffed the first one, Clarendon Hills 1999 Pinot and took one sip but it was one sip to many and just zipped my mouth closed. Now this was the perfect time to hatch the annual good idea I had a few days ago. Duncan and Julie have some great photos in their book (grovel, grovel) so all I need is permission to use some of them and the jpg files. Duncan being a gentleman and a scholar despite the fact he is a transplanted Pom immediately agrees to assist, so if you like many of the photos in this story it's due to their generosity for which I would like to formally thank them. And if you are going to the WA wine regions, their book, "A Guide to Touring the Wine Regions of Western Australia" is a must and it made my trip infinitely easier to plan and execute. When I was informed the second Pinot the Main Ridge 1999 Pinot was not as good as the previous one, I went back to the Zin and got stuck into the bottle I had brought, which wound up being the next wine we attacked. This was also served masked and initially everyone thought it was a big Shiraz. The tannins were awesome but the fruit was there to back it up, even if they were a bit buried to start with, but as the wine opened they softened and the plum, blackcurrant and mint came out. Davo was sure it was a 98 and was shocked when it was unveiled as a Leasingham Classic Clare 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a 20 year wine. Although there were still a number of bottles still on the table, we decided not to open any more red and switch to Port. Davo turned the big BO, sorry that was a typo, it should read "50" two days previously and he was kind enough to bring along a bottle of Penfolds Club Five Star Port (which is a tawny) that stated it was bottled in 1953. Unfortunately tawny gives me heart burn so I could not participate. Davo is very good at providing wine I can't drink! But then Jenny took this was the photo took so I am not sure it was such a good job she was driving.
 but it was luck that he was not arrested and that Jenny was driving.
Up at sparrows the next morning for the (over) three hour drive back to Perth to catch the plane home. This time I get there even earlier and wind up getting the best seat on the plane 1A and the time wasn't wasted as I got started typing this story.By the way, in driving in Wester Australia take are. You don't want to end up like this car. Final Thoughts Serving "off" bottles of wine to the public from cellar door is not doing that wineries reputation any favours. The number of corked bottles being served to the public in wineries in Western Australia is ridiculously high and shows how poorly the staff is trained in many of the wineries. A few years ago in South Australia I encountered this problem and I named (and hopefully shamed these wineries into correcting the situation.) I don't know if it was a coincidence but on my next trip there were far fewer problems of this kind encountered there. I hope highlighting it in this report may bring it to the wineries attention and hopefully these WA wineries will fix the problem. The trip has been an eye opener. The general quality of wine that I tried was excellent, even at the lower levels. It's also equally apparent that some of these wineries are producing top quality wines that will hold their own anywhere in the world. Whilst these wines may cost a lot by Oz standards, by comparison to what you would pay for wine of this quality overseas, theses wines are not expensive. In contrast, at the other end of the scale, there are not many bargains to be found in the lower priced categories. Generally these wines from WA are a bit more expensive than wines from the eastern states and that pricing disparity is all that is holding WA back from gaining a larger slice of the Australian market. The prices of good food in Perth are comparable to say Sydney, but in the wine growing areas it's more expensive than the wine regions of South Australia. Even in a remote location like Mt Barker, the meals are more expensive than many Sydney restaurants of equivalent standard. Much to my surprise I found a number of inexpensive Pinots in WA that are eminently drinkable and in my opinion far better value than many from the eastern states. At the top end WA is also making some very fine Pinot, some of the best Australian examples I have tried. Two things stand out about these wines; they don't seem like they are trying to make Pinot in a Shiraz mould and secondly, they don't pong like an overcrowded chook shed that hasn't been hosed out for years. Good move WA!
I would also like to thank my good friend Brian Handreck (Red Bigot) for his assistance with technical aspects when I was putting this document together and for proof reading the final document. So if there are mistakes blame him!
If you have reached this point, I would like to thank you for your perseverance and hope the doctor finds a cure for your insomnia soon. The trip was a great experience and I derived great pleasure tasting the wines and compiling this report. I hope you have found it useful and had a few chuckles on the way. Stay tuned for the next instalment which is due after my trip in May to Coonawarra, McLaren Vale and the Barossa.
Cheers Feb. 24, 2003 |
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All contents © copyright 1981-2009 by Robin Garr, www.WineLoversPage.com Cliffwood Organic Works |
To those of you that know that we have a diverse range of wine styles in Oz, I hope you enjoy reading this trip report. My apologies if the tasting notes seem boring (or repetitive) but I am not a journalist and don't pretend to be one. Hopefully you will find this a useful reference source, after all when was the last time you found the phone book riveting reading.
As I was having a light red (the Hanisch), duck was an appropriate match and I was not surprised to find a watercress garnish on the plate. One could be excused for beginning to think that's watercress is compulsory with all food consumed in Perth.
and they had no Diet Pepsi so I knew I had finally reached the bush. This was confirmed when the bacon and egg roll was served without any watercress. The road was good, however not far from the start of Great Southern there is a stretch of road where there must be at least twenty white crosses in the space of a few kilometres where people have been killed so the need for caution on this road was pretty obvious.
that I had not seen during my 10 minute wait that stated there was a $2 tasting fee and insisted on payment. Needless to say I was not very happy (which was bloody obvious) and explained that I was reviewing the wines and my tasting and would be published on the Internet and had never been charged for doing so previously.
I really must be in the outback. The breakfast mountain of bacon, eggs, tomato and the biggest sausage I have ever seen in my life could have fed a small regiment.
If I hadn't seen the girl use the espresso machine I would have sworn it was instant. Wait a minute, it tasted so bad it may have been instant used in the espresso machine. At least the food was edible, well sort of as long as you don't mind rubber eggs. And then it was off to the first winery of the day.
I must be sick.)
to take on these trips! But that's another story (and a tear jerker) that's even longer than this saga so I won't put readers to sleep with the details.
I really am beginning to love these maps.
comes out, sits at the next table (which has not been set) and proceeds to light up.
I mumbled more than a few "four letter words" to myself and bite my tongue! The good news was the cigarette disappeared in record time, she only inhaled air about six times during the time it took her to finish that coffin nail. The bad news she was back again 20 minutes later for a repeat performance.
Not impressed!
l allow myself at least one per year and as you can see it worked because the pictures do not stop at this point, but more on that later.
or drinking before lunch, but what ever it is, its sure works; these people are really happy, so happy it's enough to make the average curmudgeon feel like throwing up. So, after a final smile from Kim, I was on my way. Oh, and by the way, the barrel samples of the 2002 Cabernet Blend were as flash as a pig with a gold tooth too.
green around she gills and looked like she is about to throw up; rushed out of the room and judging by the sound of things, she rang God on the big white telephone in the ladies toilet.
I had to promise an appointment for their wine with my second best friend Mr RP Jr.) It's a vivid dark purple wine with deceptive tannins because of the ultra fine grain and medium weight pure fruit. This is a classy elegant wine with a perfect structure that is currently tight and elegant but in time should become seamless, the flavour profile is savoury and long with a harmonious and sophisticated complexity. Rated as Highly Recommended with ** for value now, the value the rating may improve as the wine reaches its peak in 2007 and beyond
After all what are friends for! 
