These days, non-French wineries are not supposed (allowed?) to use French terms, so the term Chateau and Hermitage are no longer in active use.  The vineyard is actually still producing wine to this day, under the name Tahbilk.

This wine, estate bottled, was acquired at an auction earlier in the year.  It displayed excellent ullage and no signs of seepage or cork distress.  Quite unusual for a 30+ year old wine, the bottle condition (including the label) is quite ideal, although certainly not cellared in a climate controlled environment.

We were able to extract the cork without corking the wine – a one-step process using a simple waiter’s friend.  The key was to lift from the centre of the cork, not placing any stress or pressure on any one side.  Although the cork split a little, it was extracted without any dramas.

The fruit flavours within the bottle came immediately to our attention; a harmony of currants and a smoky flavour.  We double decanted into a second decanter to ensure that all the sediment was filtered out.   

Check back soon for the tasting notes, once the wine has been given a few hours to breathe..

How does  this concern Australian wine?  According to Choice Magazine*, both retail giants own 58% of the country’s liquor market.  From this, 8% of wine and beer sold comes from ‘private labels’ which may, in turn, be wine produced by smaller producers, but re-labelled and stocked at a premium price-point.

Why is this important?  When the two major distributors and retailers control a major percentage of wine production, distribution and sales it means they can start to place inferior product at premium prices, kicking many smaller competing labels out of business.

Obviously this is bad for the consumer, who may reap short term benefits (large discounts on purchases) but ultimately reduces the range of choice in the longer term. 

How can a vineyard succeed in the face of such a daunting marketplace?  Auctions and online sales seem to be the answer.  In the coming months, Aussie Wine Guy will start more research into online sales and distribution options that the boutique vineyards might have at their disposal.

We’ll also be taking a good, hard look at the retail sector.  What’s good for producers is ultimately good for those who enjoy fine wine.  Stay tuned for more.

* May 2012 Edition

Unable to attend, we instead have acquired two bottles from this well respected Yarra Valley producer.  They are the 2006 ‘Underhill’ Shiraz and the 2004 ‘Dry Red No.1’.  Both wines have received excellent reviews.

We also added a bottle of Montrachet from the famed Burgundy region’s Côte d’Or in France, from maker Louis Latour, a 2008 Puligny-Montrachet.  We look forward to using some ridiculously large Montrachet glasses to taste this intriguing wine.

Additionally, and always on the lookout for some surprises, we picked up a bottle from Bordeaux (specifically the Saint Julien appellation in the Medoc) – a 2008 Chateau Lalande-Borie which, if it bears any resemblance to the more famous Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande should be quite a treat.

More on the Saint Julien appellation, courtesy of wine-searcher.com (an excellent online price searching facility for wine collectors) which has recently had a huge facelift:

Saint-Julien is a small but important appellation of the Haut-Medoc district of Bordeaux in south-western France. Its reputation is based on its status as a reliable source of consistently elegant, age-worthy wines.

Sandwiched between the more famous appellations of Pauillac and Margaux, Saint-Julien is sometimes unfairly overlooked because it does not have a first-growth chateau. Pauillac has three of the five Medoc first growths and Margaux has one. The 1855 classification of the Medoc chateaux which cast these judgments in stone has remained unchanged since it was first published, except for the promotion of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild to Premier Grand Cru classe in 1973.

Saint-Julien makes up for its lack of first-growth chateaux by being home to 11 classed growths, which generate three-quarters of the appellation’s output. Five of these are highly rated second growths: Chateaux Leoville Las Cases, Leoville Poyferre, Leoville Barton, Gruaud-Larose and Ducru-Beaucaillou. The first three were once a single estate, which would have been extremely large for its time.

Almost every acre of the Saint-Julien commune is covered with vines, except for a strip about 1640ft (500m) wide on the silted banks of the Gironde estuary to the west. The chateaux which own them can be split into two neat groups: those around the village of Saint-Julien-Beychevelle and those around the village of Beychevelle. These two similarly named villages are only 1.5 miles (2km) apart, which illustrates the smallness of scale that operates in the Medoc. In fact, the vineyards in the north of Saint-Julien back directly onto the vineyards of Chateau Latour in Pauillac, yet the wines they produce are different in both status and style.

Created in 1936 – like so many Bordeaux wine regulations – the appellation laws for Saint-Julien state that its wines must be made from grapes grown in the commune of Saint-Julien Beychevelle, or very specific parts of the communes of Cussac and Saint-Laurent. The document lists the plots (parcelles) eligible for the title.

The grapes permitted for use here are Cabernet-Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Carmenere, Petit Verdot and Malbec. They must come from vineyards planted to a minimum density of 6500 plants per hectare (2631 per acre), with specified vine-management techniques.

Saint-Julien is bordered to the west by the Saint-Laurent commune, whose wines are eligible only for the wider Haut-Medoc appellation. An example of the effect of this can be found in Saint-Laurent’s Chateau Belgrave. It lies just a few hundred meters from Chateau Lagrange, which can claim the valuable Saint-Julien name, yet Chateau Belgrave cannot.
As is the case with many other prestigious Bordeaux appellations, national and foreign investment is common in Saint-Julien. Chateaux here are owned by a combination of wealthy individuals and international companies.

This fine evening, over an evening of cards, we unscrewed a 40th anniversary release of Taylors St Andrews (limited release) Cabernet Sauvignon from the well regarded Clare Valley in South Australia.

This bottle, in the more pricey $$-$$$ bracket was not disappointing.  Given about fifteen minutes (or perhaps more) to breathe in the bottle, the initial pour was quite outstanding.  A very nice ruby red colour (pictured above) complete with a perfumed smoky scent.

The body was quite lush and viscous, as a somewhat forceful swill was to reveal.  Even in rather cheap glasses, the wine really stood out.  Strong tannins and oak in flavour with ever so slight hints of mint and blackcurrant; with a peppery finish.

The wine on the whole was well received by all on the night, the bottle not lasting very long!

Nectar of the gods.  This evening we opened a bottle of 2005 sparkling vidal ice wine from producer Inniskillin in the Niagara region of eastern Canada.  We’ve had Inniskillin ice wine in the past, and it has always served as a great example of ice wine from Canada.

This was the first variety of ice wine we’ve tasted which has been sparkling, it adds a different dimension to the golden syrup.

Served chilled, the wine was predictably a beautiful deep gold colour, with a fairly viscous body (“sticky”) and a smell of.. apples.  In fact, the bubbles seemed to highlight specific fruit tones over others. 

Aside from the strong bouquet of fruit which normally one would find in a half decent drop of Canadian (or German) ice wine, the strong hint of apple and apricot was quite noticeable.

We enjoyed the wine, as expected, however the jury is out on whether sparkling adds or detracts from the ice wine experience.  It was certainly a different drinking experience – we’d need to taste sparkling and non-sparkling next to each other for a review of greater detail and accuracy.

One thing is for certain: there’s no substitute for Canadian ice wine, though many have (and are) trying!

After an appropriate amount of time left to breathe, we enjoyed several glasses before moving onto our  second bottle of the evening, a 2009 Taylors Shiraz from South Australia’s Clare Valley.

Here are the tasting notes.

2004 McWilliams Brand’s Liara
“The Patron”
Cabernet Sauvignon
Coonawarra

A nice flavour of berries, blackcurrant and oak.  A smoky flavour with a very nice finish, medium bodied and with a plum colour.  Perfect example of why it’s worth keeping Coonawarra Cabernet to cellar for a while, it develops a surprising complexity and depth.

2009 Taylors
Shiraz
Clare Valley

A young Shiraz, with all that comes with youth – a little tart, raw and unrefined..  However, for a young Shiraz, surprisingly well rounded, with hints of American oak.  Clare valley produces some of Australia’s best Shiraz, and even when young like this one, there’s something to be said for serving it as a second bottle.

Should improve in complexity with age, Taylors wine is usually worth a look at for a dependable table wine, and can be cellared for 5+ years in all likelihood.

The initial line up includes the following varieties:

• “Back In Black” Shiraz,
• “Highway To Hell” Cabernet Sauvignon,
• “Hells Bells” Sauvignon Blanc
• “You Shook Me All Night Long” Moscato, and,
• “Thunderstruck” Chardonnay

Will this hail the beginning of a new era in rock-‘n-roll/vineyard crossover marketing?  We’re thinking not, but at least the wine appears to be decent. 

If you’re interested in AC/DC related wine, look out for them at Woolworths, Dan Murphy’s and BWS outlets near you.  It almost goes without saying: be wary of any bottle marked ‘T.N.T’!

We’ll be reviewing the Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon shortly – check back soon.

This was a great choice for dinner with family, being smooth and enjoyable drinking.  A strong plum or cherry colour with berry and a touch of spice with no heavy tannins.  A medium bodied wine which went well with salmon and chicken dishes as well as red meats.

It has recently come to our attention that the Submission Guidelines page was horribly out of date.  We’ve now published a revised and updated version, with updated address and contact information.

As always, we’re keen to hear from readers, producers and publishers.  Please send an email to awg@aussiewineguy.com if you’d like to get in touch!

Regards,

AWG

To begin with, we double check the ullage and the cork; both were still in excellent condition.  Stripping back the foil to leave a smooth rim on the bottle, we could apply some firm pressure to the top of the cork – no movement, a very good sign.

As cork ages and, particularly if it hasn’t been cellared well, it can start to dry out, crack and bleed which shrinks the cork and can cause some kind of “cork subsidence” – it recedes into the neck of the bottle.

This time around, we decided to attempt a “straight pull” corkscrew where the cork is lifted out on a perpendicular angle.  This turned out to be problematic, as it wasn’t easy to view the progress, and ultimately once the cork split, we resorted to the age old waiter’s friend.

There was surprisingly low amounts of sediment, although as a matter of course, the bottle was poured into the decanter with the use of an aeration device. 

You can see that the cork maintained its seal for the full term, the last fifth of the cork being in excellent condition.  When opening a 40+ year old bottle, it is always intensely satisfying to hear the “pop” sound (verifying the airtight seal) as the last of the cork is removed.

We decided on using the ‘Amadeo’ decanter from Riedel for the honours, it provides a slightly smaller total surface area (compared to some of our other decanters), but it looks spectacular.

For the initial taste, we used tasteful Riedel wine tasting glasses which are just a brilliant invention, and great for all kinds of tastings.  There are some great benefits from using this glass, despite the fact that the shape is variety agnostic:

“The additional value of the glass is to measure precisely the amount of wine poured by filling the hollow stem.”

“Swirling the wine in the glass enables evaluation of the "nose". Unfortunately, in a conventional glass, only half the possible surface is reached by the liquid to show aroma intensity.”

The initial colour was euphoric, an amazing shimmering crimson colour with hints of a garnet colour around the edge.  Initial tasting was, as expected, flat – a soft hint of complex berries which will improve as the wine decants.

Check back for tomorrow’s bona-fide tasting notes, after the day maturation in the decanter!