A pleasant afternoon in the garden yesterday with a focus of Australian wines (after a round of chilled fino sherry with tapas.
1998 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc – yes, I did say 1998. I always used to age this wine for a couple of years to let the acidity abate a little, though most people seem to prefer it on release. This one got away from me and when it came to light in the cellar a few years ago, I thought I’d age it to an even 10 years and give it a try. Very interesting nose that had elements that could have been Chenin, or Semillon, or chard, a real hard one to label if you tasted it blind. No hint of too much age, it was still alive and worked well with ceviche of scallop and ahi tuna.
with spice marinated lamb grilled on the Barbie
1999 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz – dark minty wine with good balance and some tannin, but quite restrained in nature and I don’t think t will improve from here.
1998 Wirra Wirra Chook Block Shiraz – a rare one that showed a deeper mint nose, was high toned and smooth, with good length and a fairly sweet finish. By far the better wine for me. Not over the top (which many were in this ripe vintage).
with cheese:
1996 E&E Blackpepper Shiraz – this Barossa wine had a sweet blackberry, and yes, quite peppery nose, was very smooth on palate with resolved tannins, good length and is probably on plateau now and should hold a few years.
1997 Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz – glad we kept this one for last! Warm nose of currant and spice, with a lot of depth,, ripe and long and some cassis syrup at the end as well as in the nose. This is still a baby and needs time. I had the foresight to lay away a case of this as well as of the 1998, figuring they’d go long haul. Must make a mental note to taste the two vintages side by side one of these days.