Last Sunday Tasting Group

Reviewed: 27th May 2012

As many of you know, this is my favourite wine-related activity each month. Good wine, good food and great friends!

This month was my turn to host the event and with winter on its way, I thought it time to move to more structured red wines i.e. Cracking Cabernets! As is often the case with tasting older wines, cork related problems ruined several of the wines. Once again, I say a prayer of thanks for the humble screw cap.

The highlight of the tasting was the 2003 Gladstone by Houghton. A spectacularly good wine that will put many Bordeauxs costing hundreds of dollars a bottle to shame. Also worthy of mention are the wines from Vasse Felix, Leeuwin Estate, Moss Wood, Katnook and Leasingham.

Reviewed

Houghton – Cabernet Sauvignon – Gladstone – 2003 (18.6). Undoubtedly the star of the tasting. This wine was so good that my tasting notes were reduced to a series of descriptors! Silky, ripe, supple and fine, this is high quality, yet still youthful. Very long and fine, this is all about elegance. Excellent fruit quality that has been superbly handled. Seamless and silky, with succulent fruit to close.

Moss Wood – Cabernet Sauvignon – 2008 (18.5). Delicious nose, delicious palate! Textured, long and very persistent, with mint and eucalypt fruit notes with hints of vanillin oak. This is youthful, fresh and destined for a very long life.

Katnook – Cabernet Sauvignon – 1998 (18.4). Gorgeous nose that speaks of quality Coonawara fruit. Lovely menthol over chocolate fruit, with silky tannins that hold the palate together perfectly. Fully mature but will drink for years.

Leasingham – Cabernet Sauvignon – Classic Clare – 1996 (18.3). Mint and eucalypt fruit that is perfectly ripe. This is a very intense wine with inky, almost chocolate fruit. Very intense wine with mouth-watering acidity. Youthful and taut, this will live for years, so have it with food if you must drink it now.

Leeuwin Estate – Cabernet Sauvignon – Art Series – 1995 (18.2). Menthol and chocolate on what is a very complex wine with excellent length of flavours. Textured and delicious, the tannins are a mere memory on the round and developed palate.

Vasse Felix – Cabernet Sauvignon – 2001 (18.2). Cool fruit characters. Firm, but the developed notes are very attractive. Polished tannins are fine and silky. Quite linear in the mouth and a touch angular but really opens up in the glass. Decant to serve.

Clos du Marquis – Cabernet Sauvignon – 2008 (18). Serious fruit on the nose and palate. The intensity is a standout. Very long and textured, with no rough edges. More developed than the Moss Wood.

Penfolds – Cabernet Sauvignon – 707 (18). A very convincing wine. Real depth to the fruit and excellent length. This is fully developed, round and generous with textured chocolate fruit. Delicious.

Piaggia de’Colli – Cabernet Franc – Toscana – 2006 (18). Complex wine reminiscent of fine Bordeaux. The palate is bigger and richer than I expected. Chocolate oak, powerful fruit and firm tannins make for a meal in itself. Chewy finish to a superb wine.

Grosset – Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc – 2008 (17.5). A Lovely wine that is just entering its drinking window. Rightly considered one of Australia’s best examples of the blend, though noticeable different to the Western Australian style.

Orlando – Cabernet Sauvignon – St Hugo – 1996 (17). I was not as enthusiastic as some, but a very good wine.

Matanzas Creek – Cabernet Sauvignon – Sonoma County – 2001 (16). Coffee, toffee and chocolate. A very interesting wine that provides drinking pleasure, but has a quite medicinal nose.

Chateau Gloria – Bordeaux – 1995 (NR). Another stuffed cork.

Chateau D’angudet – Cabernet Sauvignon – Margeaux – 1982 (N.R.).

Virgin Hills – Red Blend – 1999 (N.R.). Two bottles and two bad corks.

Wendoorie – Cabernet Sauvignon/Malbec – 1998 (NR). Shame about the cork!