The Great Shiraz Tasting
3 September 2011
20th Anniversary
The 2005 Vintage -Stunning Shiraz
Rain may have been predicted, but it knew well enough to stay away and not ruin our special day for Shiraz, and what a special day it was, 2005 may have been a crazy vintage for some around the globe but it produced the same result in all of the wines in the tasting ………… spectacular!
The first wine of the day was a well known West Aussie, Evans and Tate Reserve, followed up by a Hunter Valley favourite McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Maurice O’Shea, French representation started with Clape Cornas from Nothern Rhone, next was newcomer to the tasting Flynns MC, then lastly for the first bracket Coriole Lloyd Reserve. The first bracket had a varied selection of wines to get the taste buds salivating.
The second bracket started off with Victorian Brown Bros Patricia and then it was all South Australians to follow starting with the highly sought after Rockford Basket Press, then O'Leary Walker Claire, next Saltram No. 1 and finishing with the guest speaker Chester Osborn's d'Arenberg The Dead Arm. A major South Australian dominance, but all the wines stood out brilliantly.
What a variety of wonderful wines the third bracket had, we started with the always superb Peel Estate, then followed by the Victorian Dalwhinnie Moonambel, next up was Majella, then we travelled to France with the Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis and finished lastly with the show stopping Henschke Hill of Grace. A third bracket to remember.
The final bracket did not disappoint with a bevy of full flavoured wines, starting with a local, Swan Valley Faber Reserve, then next with the iconic Penfolds Grange, third in line was Wolf Blass Platinum, Yalumba Octavius headed us into the home stretch and ending the day was the Kilakanoon.
All of the wines were amazing and made for a memorable 20th Anniversary tasting!
As always the wines are tasted blind so there is no preconceptions or influences on the judgment of the wine prior to tasting and although this is not a competition it means every wine is judged equally -regardless how popular the brand or how expensive it is. For a bit of fun we do ask people to choose their three favourite wines in order from 1st to 3rd, before they know what order the wines are in. So the votes have been tallied and the results are in, the wines of the day were....
All of the wines were beautiful but the clear winner of the day was Henschke Hill of Grace, with second place going to Kilakanoon and in a extremely close result, tied for third was Yalumba Octavius and Wolf Blass Platinum.
Other Stats:
Closely following the leaders were O'Leary Walker Claire, Penfolds Grange and Majella, with the local Faber Reserve not far behind.
Peel Estate's place: Tied for 11th with the guest speakers wine, d'Arenberg Dead Arm and Coriole Lloyd Reserve.
All wines were winners on the day and made for an enjoyable addition to the lunch table.
Guest Speaker:
The guest speaker for 2011 was the thoroughly charming Chester Osborn from d'Arenberg. We were kept entertained by hilarious tales of his many years at d'Arenberg and the stories behind the remarkable names of his ever growing number of wines. A truly wonderful finish to a marvelous day.
4 September 2010
The 2004 Vintage -an outstanding year for Shiraz.
We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to taste some of the best shiraz the 2004 vintage had to offer and to put it quite simply, the wines were....amazing!
We started off the day with newcomer to the tasting Clyde Park following with Frankland Estate's Isolation Ridge, Moppa Wilton's Maczos (another newcomer to the tasting), Isole e Olena from Italy and Hewitson's Mad Hatter. This first bracket had a couple of cool climate wines mixed in with some warm climates showing great contrast and interest.
The second bracket started off with Seppelt's Mt Ida, Majella and then third in
line was the intriguing Auguste Clape from France. Finishing off was the
Evan's and Tate Reserve and the iconic Rockford Basket press.
The third bracket showcased some blockbusters often reserved for the last bracket. We started with the Pemberley from WA and then jumped straight back to France with Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis. Three South Australian classics went head to head with the Henschke Hill of Grace, Yalumba's Octavius and Penfold's Grange all competing for attention together.
The last bracket started us with an elegant Peel Estate, wine of guest speaker David Jones the Dalwhinnie Moonambel, Penfold's RWT, the gigantic Wolf Blass Platinum and Peter Lehmann's Stonewell.
A fantastic set of wines all round and choosing a favourite proved difficult for many!
And the star of the day (according to the number of people who put it as their number 1 wine)...
...Yalumba's Octavius, followed by Wolf Blass Platinum which just scraped it in to 2nd favourite over the Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz.
Other Stats:
Wines with the most overall votes in the top 3 (in order of highest to lowest): Yalumba Octavius, Dalwhinnie Moonambel, Penfold's Grange,Wolf Blass Platinum and Penfold's RWT.
All wines got a vote in the top 3 which just goes to show how different people like different styles.
Peel Estate's place: Even 9th with Peter Lehmann's Stonewell -not bad for a $35 bottle of wine -still representing great value for money.
All 20 wines were amazing representations of great shiraz from across the globe.
Guest Speaker:
This year our guest speaker was David Jones of Dalwhinnie wines, producer of 'super premium' Shiraz in the Pyrenees in Victoria. David charmed us with his beautiful wines, warm manner and an interesting game of 'guess the winemaker' and 'wine options'.
It's easy to get an invitation to take part in the Great Shiraz Tasting each year. We limit numbers to 100 people and places fill up quickly -this year tickets sold out within 10 days and it's 'first in, best dressed'. After we fill all 100 seats we have a waiting list and if there are any cancellations the first in line gets the ticket. We apologise to all those who missed out on a place this year but hopefully we will see you here next year for the 2005 vintage Shiraz tasting which is also our 20th great shiraz tasting!