Tag Archives: 2005

Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2005

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At the risk of turning Full Pour into the Clonakilla Wine Appreciation Society, I cracked open a bottle of the 2005 Hilltops Shiraz this evening. On its release, I remember liking this wine a great deal, more so than the subsequent vintage at least, and finding it especially dense and serious. So, it’s with particular relish that I am checking in on its progress.

It’s certainly moved on since release. Not that it’s looking tired at all; this wine has just relaxed enough to allow its fruit fuller expression. The nose is a dense rush of violetty, dark berry fruit mixed with some savoury, meaty edges. There’s perhaps a hint of stalk too, though it’s certainly in the background. This label usually strikes me as displaying what I characterise as purple fruit. To elaborate, in my mind it’s a cross between frozen berry desserts and Hubba Bubba Original Flavour; in other words, a little sweet but mostly intense and delicious. Here, now, the fruit is moving freely, structure having relaxed enough to let berry juice flow into the mouth. It maintains poise and an element of restraint, though. There are cough medicine complexities too, quite high toned and aromatic, plus some lovely cumquat-like citrus. Vanilla oak provides a soft and cuddly backdrop. The palate is notably voluminous from entry to finish, with nary a dip in intensity. A very long finish.

A generous, truly delicious wine. For my taste, I’d like to see some more bottle age show itself here, as I feel some decay and additional flow will add extra beauty to this wine’s flavour profile. This label really tends to blossom after about five years; I’ll try another in two to three years.

Clonakilla
Price: $25
Closure: Stelvin

Tulloch Private Bin Pokolbin Dry Red Shiraz 2005

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Pure Hunter on the nose: red berries squashed on a dry dirt road. Nuances of roast meat and herbs contribute complexity, and subtle oak underlines what is a piercing, relatively high-toned aroma profile. The more I smell this wine, the more I get from it; it’s definitely a wine to savour through the evening rather than slam down fast.

The palate is restrained and tight, showing little evidence of a rest in bottle. Acid! Really, lots of it, keeping the fruit in check and the line in shape. Not that there’s a lack of enjoyment — in fact, within the constraints of youthful structure, the fruit is remarkably intense and detailed. Medium bodied, there are bright savoury red berries along with more herb and lightly spiced oak. Totally consistent from nose the palate. I love the way this wine feels in the mouth, with very fine acidity and equally fine, ripe tannins creating a large-scale textural underlay for the fruit. Very long finish.

Loads of quality here for sure, but it’s way too young to drink right now. Reminds me a little of Chianti. I’ll be cracking another in five years.

Tulloch
Price: $A40
Closure: Cork

Three Miners Pinot Noir 2005

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One sub-region of Central Otago I’ve not had the pleasure of visiting (as opposed to driving through) is Alexandra. This wine, purchased from the Central Otago Wine Company’s cellar door, was recommended as fairly typical of the sub-region. As an aside, I can highly recommend the drive South from Alexandra, as there’s a stretch of the most spectacular scenery, dotted with schist and scarred by dramatic slits as the Clutha river cuts through the landscape. Quite lovely.

Bang, we’re back in Central Otago. The nose is fragrant, meaty, with a big dose of pepper and dark spice. There’s also a bit of vanilla, a sprig of fresh thyme and rather savoury fruit. Though I’ve listed a lot of descriptors, this isn’t an overwhelmingly complex wine, or perhaps I should write that it’s not an overtly complex wine. There is a fair bit going on here, but its aroma profile has a coherence and integrity that suggests itself more than a collection of independent notes. It’s also quite similar to some cool climate Shirazes I’ve tasted.

In the mouth, more straightforward than suggested by the nose, with a clean shot of fruit dipped in fresh thyme. There’s a bit more sweetness to the fruit, although its core remains savoury. The oak here stands out more, pleasantly so, as its character meshes well with the fruit. Slippery mouthfeel of some elegance, this wine is light to medium bodied at most. Tannins, while adding some grip to the finish, are subdued and gentle.

As a whole, the wine exists mostly in the middle to high registers. By way of comparison, I poured myself a glass of the 2006 Hoddles Creek Pinot while tasting this one. Side by side, the Hoddles Creek was almost all bass notes, lacking presence and detail in the upper registers. Of course, they are completely different wines, both showing integrity in terms of their particular expressions of Pinot. Perhaps less crowd-pleasing, this wine strikes me as a Pinot for enthusiasts who don’t mind a thinner, funkier expression of the grape. I must taste more wines from Alexandra.

Three Miners
Price: $NZ25
Closure: Stelvin

Tulloch Julia Semillon 2005

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The question of how long to age wine seems, to me, one of the most vexed of all, and something about which there’s rarely agreement amongst enthusiasts. Ironically, it’s also one of the most reliable crutches for wine snobs wanting to throw a bit of weight around, a phenomenon to which I am, I’m ashamed to say, painfully allergic. I remember walking past a group of rather tragic-looking men at Wine Australia a few years ago as one tossed his head back triumphantly and crowed: “Of course, it won’t age.” As if that were the ultimate mark of a wine’s quality (or at least a wine lover’s discernment).

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I shall relate it, somewhat tenuously, to this wine. The back label states it will benefit from “three or so years” in bottle. Quite conservative for a reserve-level Hunter Semillon, even one from a relatively forward vintage like 2005. The Tulloch website suggests eight or more years is appropriate. I guess we’ll just need to be the judge. I definitely have a preference when it comes to this sort of thing, enjoying fully mature Semillon that has lost most of its primary citrus character. Vastly more experienced tasters than I have often suggested Hunter Semillon passes through an awkward, “adolescent” phase on its way to glorious maturity, and this wine, right now in any case, provides an interesting illustration of this point of view.

Not that it’s unpleasant. In fact, my first sniff was very promising with definite signs of toasty bottle age and a generally forward aroma profile. Powdery citrus and honeyed lanolin predominate. I find the aroma a little blurry, as if each note isn’t quite distinct and detailed enough to claim its place, but it’s comfortable and generous. The palate is more telling. It pulls in all directions, youthful citrus colliding uncomfortably with the first signs of that waxy, slippery mouthfeel that is every Hunter Semillon lover’s joy. There are hints of honey and toast, but they amount to little more than coming attractions, and don’t yet possess the full flourish they will, no doubt, one day have. Consequently, there’s a bit of a hole in the palate, not enough citrus on the one hand and not enough bottle aged flavours on the other. Honey is developing weight as the wine sits in my glass, but it’s not quite there yet. Nice long finish.

This may seem like a negative tasting note, but in fact I’m quite excited. This will be a quickly-matured, deliciously easygoing wine in a few years’ time, and I’m particularly looking forward to how the mouthfeel develops.

Tulloch
Price: $A28
Closure: Stelvin

Domaine Côteau de la Biche Vouvray Sec 2005

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I spied this while at lunch today and couldn’t resist buying a bottle.

On the nose, apple and pear plus a collection of somewhat prickly notes that remind me a little of pies baking in a slightly-too-hot oven. It’s very distinctive and quite forward, expressiveness growing as I sit with it through the evening. On entry, the most notable element is a thick, round mouthfeel that is quite unexpected after a relatively tight nose. Hence, the wine has good impact and presence. Labelled “sec,” there’s no overt sweetness, although fruit flavours are quite forward and soft in the context of the style. Apples and pears and, dare I suggest, grapes are the primarily flavours, overlaid with that distinctive marshmallow and toffee halo that one sees in some Loire Chenins. I wish it had a bit more incisiveness and bite, as well as a notch more intensity. A little tame through the after palate, the wine is of average length, seeming to taper off too quickly relative to its punch on the middle palate.

An easygoing Vouvray that provides a good hit of Loire goodness for not too much money. For my dollars, though, there are probably others that represent better value.

Domaine Côteau de la Biche
Price: $A31
Closure: Cork

Seppelt Jaluka Chardonnay 2005

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A couple of years ago, this wine wasn’t especially rewarding; tight, unyielding, totally bound up. Yet the intensity of its fruit shone through a clasped structure, so I purchased a few bottles for later tasting.

It’s quite different now. For a start, there are distinct flavour influences from time in bottle, mostly toast and crackly caramel in character. These ride atop juicier white peach and honeydew melon notes, themselves straddling vanilla cream. A precisely layered aroma profile. In the mouth, powerfully intense fruit flavours rush over the tongue with military precision — despite relaxing enough to allow a fuller expression of its fruit, this wine remains a focused experience. Acidity is quite prominent but noticeably less assertive than on initial release. The after palate and finish are especially lovely, with a blanket of sweet fruit gently settling in the mouth, lingering on and on, then smoothly tapering away. Quite complex, shapely and elegant.

Without wanting to imply restraint, this wine is quite an intellectual experience that contains its sensuality within a precisely etched framework. I’m reminded that, sometimes, clothing is infinitely more sexy than full frontal nakedness.

Seppelt
Price: $A30
Closure: Stelvin

Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillon 2005

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Just checking in with a not-so-old friend tonight. They say Hunter Semillon goes through a dumb phase before emerging, butterfly-like, from its cocoon. There’s nothing reticent about this wine, not now, and I suspect not ever. It’s too juicy and generous a style.

A distinctive, waxy aroma that is already showing signs of bottle age. There’s a sheen of toast that overlays citrus-like Semillon fruit. True to style and very clean, yet weighty and exhuberant too, which is typical of these 2005 Semillons. In the mouth, an explosion of acidity and flavour. I love the acid here, it’s three dimensional and mouthfilling all on its own, if not overly sculpted. It’s also well balanced with respect to fruit flavour, which has sufficient intensity to stand alongside all that structure. More waxy citrus dominates emergent but definite aged notes of honey and toast. There’s so much going on here, it’s actually a little cluttered on the palate, but this doesn’t detract too much from one’s enjoyment.

Bloody nice. It’s still pretty young, but drinking very well now, and showing promising signs of bottle age that should realise over the medium term. I can’t wait.

Tyrrell’s
Price: $A30
Closure: Stelvin
Date tasted: November 2008

Josef Chromy Pepik Chardonnay 2005

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Sister wine to the Pepik Pinot Noir, this wine is also reasonably priced and from Tasmania. Enough with the introductions, then.

A nose that’s equal parts oatmeal and unripe stonefruit. There’s a bit of vanilla thrown in for good measure. Not an especially exuberant nose, it is nevertheless clean and fruity. The palate brings forward a degree of fruit sweetness that comes as somewhat of a surprise after the nose. Quite ripe peach mixes with flavours right at the other end of the Chardonnay spectrum, such as tart citrus notes. There’s some winemaking here too, including a light butterscotch note that marries well with the peachiness, and aforementioned mealiness. This moderately hedonistic touch is counterbalanced, perhaps somewhat coarsely, with a more tart, acid-driven sourness that builds through the line and begins to dominate the after palate. A herbal flourish ushers in the average finish.

Not a bad food style and, I think, a better wine than the Pinot Noir. My main issue with this wine is that lacks coherence, seemingly neither here nor there in stylistic emphasis.

Josef Chromy
Price: $A15.20
Closure: Stevin
Date tasted: October 2008

Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rouge 2005

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What with a couple of Barossa Grenache/Shiraz blends under my belt in the last few days, I thought it was time to return to the source with this reasonably priced wine. For a large production wine, the Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rouge seems to attract its fair share of enthusiasts’ attention. It has a reputation for over-delivering at its price point, and of responding well to some bottle age.

I tasted over two nights, as it was somewhat impenetrable initially and remained so through the first evening. Tonight, it’s still quite dense and brooding, but is revealing enough of its character to facilitate enjoyment and, more pertinently for me, explication. A nose that is both floral and inky, with black fruits, some very ripe black pepper and prickly, appealing minerality or perhaps tar. It’s all very tight and coiled, yet seems to me well balanced (for what it is).

The palate initially promises more generosity, and in a sense delivers this, but fundamentally remains quite tight. Wisps of sweet black fruit escape the wine’s predominantly savoury flavour profile before being dragged back into a mêlée of tar, pepper and puckeringly dry tannin. Before the tannin takes over, though, a silky smooth mouthfeel briefly registers and promises fine textural development. Flavour is reassuringly intense, and the structure seems especially well sorted, with good continuity throughout the wine’s line, and a lengthy, dry finish.

Despite its youth, I’m enjoying the quality and elusiveness of this wine and am contemplating the purchase of a few bottles to cellar over the medium (to perhaps long?) term. I want to see what unfolds with the persuasiveness of time.

E. Guigal
Price: $A19
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: October 2008

Tyrrell's Vat 9 Shiraz 2005

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The cellar is well stocked with Tyrrell’s wines and a fair few make it through to this site. I can’t think of too many producers in the Hunter Valley with an equivalent portfolio of fine wines. It probably shouldn’t matter, but there’s also a lovely connection one feels when drinking the wine of an historic producer (or region). I guess that’s why retro labels live on and, in some cases, are enjoying a resurgence in (presumed) prestige.

None of which has much to do with the liquid in the bottle. Thankfully, it’s rather good. After tasting a few new release 2007 Tyrrell’s reds lately, I gave in to the urge to try a recent back vintage of the Vat 9. As an aside, I was at Dan’s the other day and saw bottles of the 2006 on sale. Didn’t this used to have more time in bottle prior to release?

A pungent, forthright nose that has changed considerably through the evening. It started off quite stinky, with perhaps some sulfur in addition to strong regional dirt and a dash of tart cherry fruit. Two hours later, there are cooked meats, almonds and more savoury red fruits, slightly liqueur-like in character. It’s like Chianti via Burgundy, but with freshly turned soil that’s all Hunter. Good detail.

A flavoursome entry that shows consistent line from nose to palate. There’s an edginess here, which is a function of structure tilted firmly towards acid. Not to suggest there are no tannins; in fact, they are a highlight, being fine, ripe and sweetly rich. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The fruit character, as per the nose, is quite liqueur like in its intensity and (contradictorily) its tart sweetness. Very much in the cherry spectrum, without the plummy depth of the 2006 and 2007 models, the fruit shows excellent complexity. Medium bodied, this wine seems to throw itself at all corners of the mouth with the intention of sticking around as long as possible. Acid sizzles along through the after palate, with a seamless segue into the aforementioned tannins. A long, long finish.

Bloody nice wine. The 2007 version is probably better, but I like this one for its transparency and detail. A fabulous wine with food. I’m going to leave the rest of my stash for a few years before retasting.

Tyrrell’s
Price: $A30
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: October 2008