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Australian Wine Bureau Tasting 2000

An impressive array of wines were available at this year's Australian Wine Bureau tasting, which is open to trade and public alike. As well as the tasting notes presented here, more notes from this event may be found under the following wine profiles. (8/12/00)

Rosemount Estate (8/12/00) A selection of everyday wines from this producer
Leeuwin Estate (8/12/00) Excellent wines from the Margaret River region.
Grant Burge (8/12/00) A producer of top quality wines, mainly from the Barossa.
De Bortoli (8/12/00) The family owned winery behind the famed Noble One.
Cape Mentelle (8/12/00) Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and more.
D'Arenberg (8/12/00) Across the range, from The Olive Grove to The Coppermine Road.

Tasting Notes

Tasted in December 2000. Click to locate stockists:

Campbells

Campbells Bobbie Burns Chardonnay (Rutherglen, Victoria) 1999: Tropical fruit nose. A fresh and lively palate, with more tropical fruit and a layer of oak. A fairly sharp finish. 15.5/20 (£7.49)

Campbells Merlot (Rutherglen, Victoria) 1998: A typical, spicy Christmas cake nose. Somewhat light on the palate, with sweet fruit and somewhat artificial acidity. More of that spicy fruitcake. 15/20 (£8.49)

Campbells Bobbie Burns Shiraz (Rutherglen, Victoria) 1999: A rich, dark fruit nose, with berry and chocolate aromas. A good, fruit laden palate, with spice and chocolate elements. Seems a little confected, but has a lovely texture. 15.5/20 (£9.99)

Campbells Muscat (Rutherglen, Victoria) NV: A burnished amber hue. On the nose, burnt caramel with orange peel and marmalade. Lovely texture with good alcohol, lacking in balancing acidity a little, but still very enjoyable. 16.5/20 (£6.49 per 37.5cl)

Mount Langhi Ghiran

Mount Langhi Ghiran Riesling (Victoria) 1999: An aromatic nose, showing some good fruit. No interesting steely or petrol notes. A soft wine, with reasonable acidity. White fruit, notably grapefruit on the palate. Nice texture. 15.5/20 (£8.99)

Mount Langhi Ghiran Pinot Gris (Victoria) 1999: A flinty, mineral nose. Pretty lean on the palate, with unimpressive fruit, although there is a nice weight, and an attractive touch of spice. 14.5/20 (£10.95)

Mount Langhi Ghiran Billi Billi Creek Shiraz Grenache (Victoria) 1998: A good colour. A bit too confected on the nose for me, although there is a nice streak of raspberry from the Grenache. Lean on the palate, with a light to medium body. Good fruit, with plenty of tannin. 15/20 (£8.99)

Mount Langhi Ghiran Shiraz (Victoria) 1998: Deep colour. A rich nose, with black fruits and black pepper. The palate is big, full of fruit, but still very tannic, with balanced acidity. There is a medicinal, herbal element that I don't find too appealing, but I feel the wine has the structure to improve significantly in bottle. 16+/20 (£19.95)

Penfolds

For more tasting notes see my Penfolds profile.

Penfolds Reserve Riesling (Eden Valley, South Australia) 1999: Quite a pale wine, with a fresh and zingy nose. A light and zippy palate, with good acidity, but not enough interest or weight for me. Pleasant, but not up to the quality offered by Tim Adams or Pewsey Vale, for instance. 14/20 (£9.99)

Penfolds Chardonnay (Adelaide Hills, South Australia) 1998: This wine has a fat, almost oily seeming nose, laden with tropical fruits. This is mirrored by an attractive intensity of flavour on the palate, with a good amount of balancing acidity. A fair amount of oak, but not overdone. 15/20 (£11.99)

Penfolds Bin 2 Shiraz-Mourvèdre (Barossa, South Australia) 1997: Spicy, minty black fruit on the nose. More upfront fruit on the palate, with attractive spices. Acidity on the low side, but very easy drinking. 14/20 (£6.99)

Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz (Barossa/McLaren Vale, South Australia) 1997: Bigger on the nose, packed with spicy, coconutty, vanillin American oak, but with a good intensity of fruit. The palate lives up to the initial impression, being loaded with red and black fruits, pepper and spice. 15.5/20 (£8.99)

Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz (Coonawarra, South Australia) 1997: More intense black fruits here, but again the liquorice and spice of American oak has a presence on the nose. A rich, medium bodied, fruit laden palate with more of that spicy oak. Needs some time to come together. 16+/20 (£9.99)

Penfolds Old Vine Grenache Mourvèdre Shiraz (Barossa, South Australia) 1997: An attractive nose, with a nice aroma of cracked white pepper so characteristic of Grenache. Medium bodied, with good peppery raspberry fruit. 15.5/20 (£10.99)

Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon (Bordertown/McLaren Vale, South Australia) 1997: An elegant, lifted nose for such a big Aussie wine, with some attractive liquorice oak notes, and intense blackcurrant fruit. The palate is laden with blackcurrant and vanilla, and a touch of that liquorice, with a medium bodied, fairly restrained texture. Needs time. 16+/20 (£10.99)

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz (South Australia) 1997: A massive Shiraz nose of black fruit and black pepper. The palate has stacks of fruit, peppery spice and obvious oak. Medium bodied, less opulent than the 1996 which I had a few months back, but will be good for short term drinking. Also needs time. 16+/20 (£12.99)

Penfolds Botrytis Semillon (Riverina, New South Wales) 1998: The first vintage on this wine from Penfolds. A light, fresh lemony orange marmalade nose. The palate has a lovely texture, nice botrytis character, and a superb streak of acidity providing balance and structure. 16.5+/20 (£5.99 per 37.5cl)

Rouge Homme

Rouge Homme Chardonnay (Coonawarra, South Australia) 1999: A big, fat, heavily oaked Chardonnay nose. Similarly fat and luscious on the palate. Creamy texture, loads of oak (too much for me), but a good, clean streak of acidity and rich fruit helps. For oak lovers only. 14/20 (£6.99)

Rouge Homme Pinot Noir (Coonawarra, South Australia) 1997: An earthy, dark fruit nose. It has a light-medium body, some attractive fruit, and a peppery note. 14/20 (£6.99)

Rouge Homme Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonawarra, South Australia) 1998: A very attractive nose of black fruits. Classic Shiraz Cabernet combination of rich black fruit and spicy pepper, with a dollop of oak. Good body, integrating tannins, warming alcohol. 15.5/20 (£5.99)

Rouge Homme Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonawarra, South Australia) 1996: A ripe, mint chocolate and black fruit nose. Medium bodied, it has a good combination of fruit, spice and oak on the palate. Some attractive chocolate notes. A little astringent on the finish. 14/20 (£7.99)