Hi Everyone,
Last Monday, we welcomed a new addition to the Aussie Wine Guy family – literally. In the early hours of the 13th of February, Aussie Wine Guy introduced the world to Aussie Wine Guy, Jr.
Both Baby and Mum are doing very well, culminating in a very challenging yet rewarding week. Once things get back to normal the reviews will resume – starting with the remaining McLaren Vale 1970 Cabernet Shiraz!
Best,
AWG
Happy Australia Day!
To celebrate the day, we’re going to take a look at a recently acquired bottle. A few weekends ago, AWG acquired four aged bottles of wine at an auction. This article covers the uncorking of a 1970 Hardy’s “Nottage Hill” Claret.
The bottle has obviously seen better days; the cork was in very poor condition, labels marred and torn. The ullage was the lowest of the four bottles, which is never a good sign. Given the condition, we used this bottle as experience in handling an old bottle.
The uncorking was problematic, the cork had actually shrunk and hardened and therefore couldn’t be extracted via corkscrew. In the end we just had to push it into the bottle and pour the wine out into the decanter.
Using a strainer, most of the built up sediment was separated from the wine. However, there was far more to be done. Employing the use of an aeration device (pictured) the wine was poured back into the bottle (once it had been washed/cleaned).
Here, you can see the amount (and fineness) of sediment which made it through the strainer.
Now, once the wine was safely back in the bottle (a process known as “double decanting”), we can use the aeration device to continue to filter the wine as we the wine back into the original decanter.
Finally, we arrive at the final glass – the tasting notes are as follows:
This wine clearly had been exposed to air and the result was not great. A heavy lean towards vinegar, unfortunately ruined what would have been an outstanding wine. Although the acidity was way off the charts, there were hints of the foundation of the wine still in evidence.
There was a real theme of oak, blackcurrant and sultanas but, of course, this has been overpowered by the exposure to air. Shame.
We also opened the 1966 bottle from McLaren Vale.
This bottle, older than the Hardy’s, still had the cork more or less intact – to a degree. It was very close, but somehow(!) the cork managed to keep a seal intact, despite massive degradation to the cork itself.
The extraction was very difficult. It separated into three separate sections during the extraction, but in the end was extracted without allowing the cork into the bottle.
Following the same process described above, the wine was successfully decanted. We left the decanter to air overnight, and began tasting the following day. The wine was far from bad; perhaps a few years beyond its prime, but still exceptionally drinkable.
The bouquet was sticky, pungent and aromatic, the colour was a deep red, and the body quite viscous. Only one word could really capture the flavour of the wine: plums. The wine simply tasted like an amazing and complex array of flavours, but was dominated by the taste of plums and figs.
It took a few days to finish off the entire bottle, and was worth every penny spent.
Recently, at auction, Aussie Wine Guy won four bottles of vintage Australian wine. The four bottles proved to be a mixed bag in terms of condition, only time will tell if (at $20.50 per bottle) it was a sound purchase or not.
The four bottles were as follows:
Bottle Condition
Label is in brilliant condition, no tearing, stains or discolouration. Hard to observe the cork due to the capsule (foil at top of bottle), will remove it and take additional pictures to determine if there has been any seepage.
Turning the bottle onto the side, there is no increase in bubbles, and no liquid escapes. The bottle is in excellent condition – even amazing – for a bottle from 1966. Chances are high that the bottle is good. Liquid level is a tad lower than we’d like, but seems within normal parameters.
Cork
Stripping back the foil (capsule) from the top of the bottle revealed a fairly bleak outcome for the cork. There was a slight build up of crust, but no complete indication of seepage. Given the situation, I managed to remove the cork without corking the bottle (a very difficult task) as the cork was only offering slight resistance to the corkscrew.
We managed to remove the cork in three parts, and found that the cork had managed to maintain a seal! We double decanted the wine into a Riedel decanter, stripping out the sediment (which was numerous and very fine.
Outcome
The decanter has been left to breath, but an initial tasting reveal the wine has not gone off, in fact there was only the slightest traces of vinegar/high acidity. It’ll need a lot longer to breathe before a realistic tasting can take place – the wine is well over forty years old. It’s, frankly, a miracle that it still lives!
Bottle Condition
This bottle, by far, is in the worst condition. Label is fairly mangled (as can be seen), the cork is partially exposed and crusty. When the bottle was placed sideways into a wine rack, there was minor seepage (meaning the seal has been breached).
This bottle also had the worst ullage (distance between cork and level of the wine) of the four bottles, indicating that there is a very high likelihood that the cork has been compromised. Capsule was partially torn, cork exposed.
Cork
Shot. The cork was unable to retain a seal and, as a result, seepage and air contaminated the bottle. We were unable to cleanly remove the cork, so we corked it and double decanted the wine. Unfortunately, the effects of the loss of seal from the cork had caused the wine t turn to vinegar.
Outcome
Down the sink. Which is a shame because the wine had all the hallmarks of a superb red, there were still heavy and lasting traces of tannins, oak and red currants. The bouquet was quite pungent (even considering the seepage) and heavy, much like the 1976 Grange we opened several years ago.
Note: Another bottle of this is selling here in much better condition for $74.95!
Bottle Condition
A second bottle from 1970, second best of the four wines. Bottle appears to be in decent condition, label is a bit scuffed but more or less intact. Hard to determine if there are any problems with the cork – will need to remove packaging and observe the cork condition.
Liquid level (ullage) looks good (coming in just under the neck of the bottle, above the shoulder). Depending on the state of the cork, this could be a salvageable wine, even though it is over 40 years old… who knows for sure?
Cork
Stripping back the foil revealed that the cork is intact! The foil (capsule) was in much better condition than the previous two bottles, and has remained in decent condition. What luck!!
Outcome
Shelved to be reviewed later.
Bottle Condition
Bottle is in excellent condition – best of the four, label is slightly marked, but whole. The ullage is right where it should be, and the mouth of the bottle looks brand new. Definitely no signs of wear and tear, or seepage, this bottle could be the best of the bunch.
Cork
Revealing the cork by stripping back the foil revealed a fully intact cork. No signs of seepage and plenty of resistance when tested.
Outcome
Shelved to be reviewed later.
Check back for updated notes as we uncork these four bottles, in the hopes that they have survived intact! This will be must-read stuff!
In August, 2009, Aussie Wine Guy visited the beautiful and charming city of Bordeaux in the south west of France. Bordeaux, as many know, is the heartland of much of France’s most well known Cabernet and Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards, and the wine is sold around the world.
It also should be considered a “must visit” location for any wine enthusiast. Therefore, it should come as little surprise that AWG made the journey. Most of the trip is chronicled in previous posts [ Part 1 | Part 2 | Purchases ] however, when doing some spring cleaning, I came across the lunch menu from when we dined at Château Lagrange.
Château Lagrange
The Chateau is located within the Saint-Julien appellation, north of Bordeaux city in heart of the Médoc. Classified as a third growth as part of the classic 1855 classification of the region, the Château has had a somewhat turbulent past until recent history; especially before the Château’s purchase in 1983 by Japanese company Suntory.
Since then, the wine produced at Château Lagrange has come of age, and the quality has been certainly restored to a former glory. The resurrection did not stop with the quality, or production, of the wine – the very Château itself underwent major restoration and rebuilding, and is now one of the premier locations in the region.
We were at the half way point of a 1855 classification tour out of Bordeaux when we stopped at the Château. Our previous location, Château Pontet-Canet, had provided us with an excellent start to the day.
Just when we felt things couldn’t get any better – well, weren’t we wrong? – the lunch provided could have been one of the best on tour.
The vats at the Château
To accompany this fine (and, I hope you’ll agree – mouth watering) meal, we were presented with a selection of wine from the vineyard’s cellars:
It was honestly a brilliant way to tackle both wine tasting whilst balancing the experience with a really complimentary selection of fine foods. The beef, in particular, played well with the 1998 Château Lagrange, still drinking perfectly in 2009.
If you do find yourself in Bordeaux (and, honestly – you must!), we highly recommend the tours run from the office of tourism, just book tours straight from the tour office right in the heart of the city!
We can highly recommend the 1855 classification tour, as well as tours into the Entre-Deux-Mers region. The tour guides were not just informative, but also delightfully fun and funny!
Some of the hundreds of barrels at Château Lagrange
Not long after we’d been visiting the Hunter Valley in early 2011, we picked up a half case of long-time Hunter Valley producer Tulloch’s occasional limited release ‘Hector of Glen Elgin’ Shiraz. This particular wine is sometimes hard to obtain – it is often snapped up by vineyard members early after release.
According to the label, this is the 14th release of “The Hector”, produced to commemorate the life of Hector Tulloch, who established a golden era for Tulloch wine in the 1950s.
This wine is not produced annually, only in selected years when the right quality of grapes are available. Previous releases have been in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
This bottle – opened recently – is still incredibly young. Based on earlier tastings, and comparing this particular bottle, we’d say that there are many, many more years left for cellaring and maturing, though it is drinking particularly nicely at the moment.
The wine consists of a dark plum colour, and the bouquet is especially vibrant, right out of the bottle. There’s a slight sweetness coupled with liquorish and cloves, quite aromatic. The initial taste is medium bodied, you can really taste the oak infused with berries and the usual Hunter style tannins.
Although you could easily open and enjoy a bottle of Tulloch’s “The Hector” today, we’d recommend you lay a few bottles down – they’re likely to be drinking well into 2020 and onwards, thanks to the screw cap (and with careful cellaring of course!).
Hailing from well known producer Wyndham Estate, this Shiraz – blended from a variety of locations within South Australia – was a touch young upon the initial tasting.
Opened on the weekend, the wine had a decent dark red colour and a very smoky bouquet. The first taste was very tart (along the lines of a fresh plum), however subsequent tastes mellowed (possibly due to extra aeration).
We tasted hints of plum, berries and liquorish; each drop we tasted increased in texture and body. The aftertaste was quite decent, traces of the obvious oak tannins.
Chateau Haut-Bommes (French), hailing from the appellation Sauternes south of Bordeaux city – we brought this bottle back from France as a gift for our friend Paul. Opened this evening, unfortunately following a Semillon Botrytis!
Light straw coloured, very light but pungent bouquet – a perfumed scent with hints of honey. Very light body with a rather more intense follow through. Tastes of light citrus and (again) a light honey flavour with a slightly elevated acidity which slightly hits the mouth.
Followed by more of the Lovedale (Hunter Valley, New South Wales) gem, Tatler, and their consistently winning Semillon Botrytis simply called “The Sticky”. The beautiful dark gold colour is offset by a very subtle bouquet, the wine is a fruit sensation. Paul labelled it as so: “sweet, but not sickly.. but sweet enough to not appear watery or lack intensity”.
AWG heartily agrees! The Tatler Semillon Botrytis is certainly a winning combination of geography and craftsmanship. It does evoke a sense of ice wine-like qualities in terms of the depth of fruit and layers of flavour. If you enjoy a sweet wine which has strong fruit overtones, you may well enjoy a bottle (or three).
Hailing from the Riverina district in New South Wales, the “Noble Blend” Family Reserve comes from independent producer Lillypilly. Perhaps somewhat overshadowed by the more widely distributed De Bortoli “Noble One”, this dessert wine is a real surprise.
Firstly, we haven’t come across a Sauvignon Blanc Botrytis in a while, and this one was a real treat. The wine’s bouquet was a beautiful chain of sweet smelling fruits – in particular the characteristic passionfruit flavours associated with Sauvignon Blanc.
The wine presents with a beautiful rich golden colour, and a medium body. Very well balanced, the wine tastes of apricot/honey and a variety of sweet fruit, the sugar balance is very good, not too sugary or heavy and finishes with a nice tapering aftertaste.
If you like the De Bortoli “Noble One” line of dessert wines, AWG highly recommends you taste a bottle (or three) of this surprising dessert wine from Lillypilly.
Congratulations to the fine folks at Lillypilly for winning the following trophies at the 2011 International Sweet Wine Challenge:
We recently popped the screw cap of a bottle of Margaret River stalwart Moss Wood’s “Amy’s” Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2005 vintage.
Moss Wood, for those who aren’t familiar with the very recognisable label, has been around for a long time and has garnered quite a reputation with Cabernet buffs.
A few years ago, AWG acquired a case of the signature 1989 vintage (not the Amy’s) and found it to be superb. Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon is a wine which, given time, can really develop into a powerhouse – i.e. very powerful spices and tannins coupled with the velvety smoothness of Cabernet.
The 2005 vintage of Amy’s Cabernet Sauvignon, in the glass, has a very appealing plum/deep purple hue with a surprisingly aromatic bouquet with a slight sweet hint of sultanas and raisins. The body was medium with a strong currant undertone (and ?French? oak). Medium finish, tapered and very smooth.
This is a multi-regional Western Australian blend, with contributions from two vineyards – Glenmore and Montgomery Brothers vineyards.
Here’s Moss Woods’ own tasting notes (for comparison):
Tasting Notes
The wine has deep brick red colour and is in bright condition. On the nose, the Glenmore contributes its usual fruit aromas of blueberry and plum and Montgomery Brothers is all raspberries and violets. They combine to produce classic Cabernet Sauvignon aromas with a soft oak background. The themeof bright fruit characters continues on the palate, where the wine has vibrant blueberry and mulberry flavours, full body, good length and a firm tannin finish.
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