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TN: Oz Merlots

Jodie & I just returned from a tasting of quality Oz (& 1 Kiwi) Merlots. I know we had a thread going a little way back about lack of quality merlots in Oz where Mat & Ian got stuck into each other a bit. Mat was looking for some good Oz merlots and I've found a few here. So in tasting order

Fox Creek Reserve Merlot 2001 - McLaren Vale South Australia $39.99 (this was the only wine that had been decanted) Brick red with a very dusty, musty nose, a little reminiscent of Grenache. Prunes and plums in the mouth first with warm spices, nutmeg, mace & cinnamon, this is a well structured wine (It's got Cab Sav in it for sure) with a terrific lingering finish. I Rated it number 1 (Jodie 2)

Paul Osika Merlot 2002 - Heathcote Victoria $22.99 This was cherry red with a whiff of Burgundy pong (I would have picked this as a Pinot if I didn't know it was a Merlot tasting :) ) Some cinnamon & yeast also evident on the nose. It was quite brambly with mouth filling black fruit flavours, followed by some stalky charachters and it was quite tightly structured (bet there was some Heathcote Shiraz in there too)

Kies Family Monkey Nut Tree Merlot 2002 - Barossa Valley South Australia $26.50 Cherry red with lots of sweet raspberries & bun spices on the nose, it followed through with good fruit on the palate but lacked length and was the simplest wine of the night. A good quaffer but suffered a little in comparison to the other wines.

Richard Hamilton Lot 148 Merlot 2002 - McLaren Vale South Australia $21.99 Brick red with cherries and strawberries on the nose and some underlying warm spices. Terrific in the mouth with great red fruit, excellent balance and lingering finish. I rated it number 2

Shaw & Smith Merlot 2002 - Adelaide Hills South Australia $22.95 Brick red with great nose of blackcurrant jam & plums. Good firm fruit follows with good tannins and good acid, long full finish. (I'm drinking a bottle of this as I type these notes) This wine was the only one in the tasting that is ready to drink nowish. I rated it number 3 (Jodie 3)

Punt Road Merlot 2003 - Yarra Valley Victoria $24.99 Purple hue with a subdued nose & very little to distinguish it. This followed through on the palate, so, while fairly well balanced, it lacked punch and was out of its league with the other wines on show.

Knights Granite Hills Merlot 2003 - Macedon Victoria $22.99 Brick red (again) with heaps of bakers spice's on the nose. Fairly nondescript in the mouth with aggressive tannins, it tasted too out of balance for me.

Capricorn Malbec Merlot 2002 - Hawkes Bay New Zealand $24.95 Intense deep red colour with a nose redolent of blackberries & licorice. Lots of black fruit in the mouth, blueberries and violets. Excellent structure with a lingering finish. I rated it number 4 (Jodie 1)

All of these wines were high quality and all need at least a little longer before drinking, in the case of the Osika at least 4 or 5 years to reach it's peak. Mat if you want to try any of these the tasting was at Randalls in Albert Park. The Richard Hamilton was the pick of the bunch with QPR factored in. Cheers Andrew

Reply to
Andrew Goldfinch
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If you like Oz Merlots, try the Kay's McLaren Vale Merlot - 1999 if you can still get it. It is excellent.

Ron Lel

Reply to
Ron Lel

Hi Andrew,

Excellent notes. Very well done.

I have very little clue about Australian merlot these days, its not something I really follow with much enthusiasm unfortunately. I almost totally stopped drinking it some time ago (I occaisonally give something else a try because it is lurking in my collection, else someone else is drinking it, always with the same result; *bleh*).

The last passable merlot (in fact the only passable one) I had was an Ashwood Grove merlot, vintage circa 2000. I think they were silly to change their labels. I say passable as an opening quaffer, but very little else. The cab sauv and shiraz (I had a spread of 99-03 of the 3 varieties) were both also poor however. Given they are nowadays about ~AU$12, and I picked up 1.5 cases at about $4 each, I can only blame myself really.

So it will be very interesting to see everyone else's take on these wines. The reason I stopped drinking it I outlined in the thread you mentioned.

Thanks for the info. I really enjoyed your post.

Mat.

Reply to
Mat

Hi Mat The wines that we tasted on Saturday were VERY different to most of the Commercial Merlots produced in Australia. Typically they are big fruit bombs all stewed fruit, plums, cherries etc. with almost no structure. The wines on Sat were completely different. Had I not known that it was all Merlots I would have nominated half the wines as other varieties. They are well worth a try for comparison. Cheers Andrew

Reply to
Andrew Goldfinch

Hi Andrew,

Yeah I kinda suspected that.

Most of the merlots I have had have been plummy, jammy messes of sacharrine sweetness. Interesting to see others have different experiences.

Thanks for the info,

Mat.

Reply to
Mat

Bit late with the contribution Mat, but if you see any of the following Merlots, have a go at them:-

Burton's (Limestone Coast), Smith & Hooper Reserve (Wrattonbully)...or for QPR, it's little brother, the standard Smith & Hooper release.

Regards

Swooper

Reply to
Swooper

Thanks Matt.

I always love a recommendation. :)

Mat.

Reply to
Mat

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