The Old And The New

Finally I got round to writing up a few wine notes, seriously you have to watch it, else you're surrounded by small scraps of paper with illegibly scrawled adjectives.  Happily for now crisis has been averted, or atleast stalled for a while.  I've popped these up together as one spurred me to tidy up the notes and both of these made me think about things a bit.  Anyhow make of it what you will and I hope it's slightly less bland than some esoteric naked tasting notes.

These two bottles are worlds apart, literally, but I think that's good in both the drinking and in terms of discussion.  Depending on what part of the world you source most of your wine familiarity with either locales will vary accordingly, though each region hardly needs an introduction.  The Gigondas appellation is in the southern Rhone region of France and the Tyrrell's comes from the Hunter Valley in Australia. 

Domaine De Longue Toque Gigondas 2008

Hailing from the Rhone, the wine is a GSM blend though I'm unsure of the exact breakdown of the various components.  Deep ruby purple hue.  Tight perfumed nose with hints of rose, spice, red fruit and meatiness, also a vegetal and flinty mineral note.  Firm in the mouth, but with some generosity, there’s red fruit and herbal note of rosemary to accompany the initial features.  A hint of violet, then flintiness comes through towards the back of the palate with firm but svelte tannins which frame the wine nicely.  Medium bodied, savoury with some persistence, interesting and structured.  89-90.

Tyrrell’s Vat 11 Shiraz  1995 Hunter Valley NSW

 On opening a little flat, smelt like old shiraz (well duh!) but it came alive after being open for an hour or so.  The intensity surprised me, lovely ripe fruit and strength came through over the elegant aged characteristics of dusty shiraz spice with straw, leather and earth.  The overwhelming thing in the mouth was how blended and harmonious all these features were along with the tannins, oak and acidity of the wine; the complexity was pleasantly challenging. To elaborate, all the features were nice, but you wouldn’t say for example there was a distinct red or dark fruit component such as blackberry and raspberry, rather they were there and so subtly integrated that you were grappling in your mind (in the best possible way, struggling!) to identify and separate different elements, rather like in a fine perfume.  Rich texture in the mouth and tasty savoury qualities with fine but present tannin and acidity driving the tremendous length.  Fine stuff in the bottle and pretty classic Hunter Valley.  I didn't want to score it. 

The exciting thing about a wine like the Tyrrell's is how ephemeral an experience it can be.  One moment not much is happening and then the wine blossoms, delivering a moment in time and beauty as a heady flash, but then gone just as rapidly.    



 These two wines also got me thinking about wine and the differences between places and approaches to vinification.  Both of these wines are pretty high quality, but I suppose my next point is looking at the lower end of the market for the obvious differences these days.  The Rhone wine, whilst still having fruit presence is enjoyable for it's secondary characteristics being more to the fore than similar Australian wines.  While I think there's a lot of cross pollination and changes in winemaking the world over, this is indicative of one of the main differences in appoach between Australian and Old world wines.  Many Australian wines are driven by primary fruit and often fresh and bright, but perhaps lacking the savoury quality aimed for in the french example.  Let me be clear I'm not saying one is inherently better than the other or that either place confound what I've just said and produce an opposite sort of wine to the stereotype I've mentioned.  If only it were that simple, but I do rather like the fact that there is this stylistic difference and obviously individuals enjoy different wines just as different occasions and situation demand diverse wine styles.  The contradictory factor to this as well is at the higher end of the market here in Australia, (I think) now having surpassed much of the world market in the way we have the complexity, but with the beautiful fruit quality integrated.  Simultaneously there has been a move to a less austere style from the French, so perhaps we're all learning from each other.

Of course I feel slightly silly writing all of that because to me it would seem pretty obvious that, stylistic considerations aside, you want both qualities of fruit and secondary characteristics in your wine.  The Tyrrell's really embodied that for me and set off that little rant... 

A Doubleheader, Cruickshank Cabernet Rosé 2011 & Shiraz 2007

I felt it only appropriate to complete the cycle of Cruickshank wines I have to hand in the current release.  We have already looked at the Cabernet and Chardonnay/Verdelho blend, but Cruickshank are well regarded for their rosé and indeed the Shiraz may be the best of their wines.

Rosé can often be a non event rather than the most beautiful of understatements.  They should not be in your face with acid, or overladen and sweet, but it's always such a plus when these wines whilst retaining delicacy and finesse, have depth and some complexity lurking. Here is one of those wines, there's something for all comers, meaning you could serve this to wine lover or casual friday night drinker alike and both would probably enjoy, if not demand another glass!

A beautiful pale red colour fading to rust at the edges. Smells of confectionary, strawberry and grassiness combined with lovely musk and perfume notes. Unlike some the wine has a nice fullness of body in the mouth, flavours of sweet fruit played off with sour cherry. My very minor quibble is that it could be a little tighter in the mid palate, but hey, very small complaint! Acidity and dryness really carries it through well anyway. Better wines of this style often improve with a bit of bottle time, obviously not really to age, but they settle down and integrate, so 6 months to a year and this might be even better. 89.

(As a postscript, I was tempted to up the score as time passed, pleasure impairing judgement in a good way I think. Also that the wine was indeed lovely the day after opening and probably more seamless.)

So to the Shiraz. I confess I was aware before tasting that this had received some pretty good reviews, but usually if anything I think this make me more sceptical. (Just to give you some background to tasting this, and how I see things generally I suppose). Getting to the point, this is a pretty good little wine.  It has style alongside varietal and regional character with full flavour and balance. It was even better a day after opening. I hope your getting the impression I really enjoyed it...

Bright fruit heads the lovely rich nose alongside oak and spice. When just opened, this shaded earth, straw and sweat notes which were peeking though, but came up more as the bottle was open. I still think the oak is too pressing, though not to the same extent as in the cabernet. Flavours of generous shiraz fruit and beautiful leather and earth, sweet but still savoury. Oak and white pepper also figure, whilst healthy tannins shape it nicely and the flavours persist nicely for a finish of some length. As mentioned it really came into it's own on the 2^nd day, so decanting may be helpful, as would stashing a bit away, if only for a year or two (that's also known as a clever move!).   92+.

Wine time; A Hunter interlude.

 

Diverting from the Yarra Valley for an evening...  Let us raise a glass or two to Cruickshank Callatoota Estate, a winery located in the Upper Hunter Valley at Denman, New South Wales.  The opportunity to open a few bottles with dinner guests was a great way to sample a few of their offerings together. Cruickshank is an interesting winery for a few reasons and I thought rather than just a raw review here was presented an opportunity to look at wine from a few slants.

note the poor quality and graininess in shot...

Personally, it's one of the first producers I can remember singling out as one I particularly enjoyed and was attracted to for their style and approach. Being small producers, they could be forgiven using another winery and contract winemaker to produce their wines. Instead they do it all in house, formally at Wybong and now at the new vineyard and winery at Denman. This allows the wine to be made the way they want, and to pursue wine styles as they feel appropriate and compelling. Cruickshank has had to relocate in the last few years as a result of a new open cut coal mine which was opening adjacent to the Wybong site, thus the move to the new Denman locale. I find it appalling really that a piece of prime agricultural land and producer come second to a coal mine, but this seems the way of things unfortunately.

A few wines were tried, both old and new, we even had a lovely 2007 Brangayne Cabernet (Orange, NSW) for a bit of difference and comparison. The Cabernet franc comes from the Wybong site, the Cab Sav and white from the newer Denman vineyard.  

  

Cruickshank Chardonnay/Verdelho 2011

Something a bit different, here's a 50/50 blend.  Fruit salad nose, citrus and tropical fruit. Rich with some fruit sweetness, in the mouth similar to the nose but with a lovely melon note, dryness on the finish retains line and refreshment. Here's a great little summer quaffer, 88.

Cruickshank Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

Deep Ruby wine, lightens at the edges, smells rich with fruit and chocolaty vanilla oak. This somewhat masks the inherent cedar wood cabernet characteristics that are present, though these came up with a little air. The palate presents considerable power and generosity, there is something of grandma's Christmas cake here and the American Oak is very present. Thus toasty vanilla and even hints of coconut combine with the fleshy fruit elements of the wine, the cedar and spice also come through. The finish is surprisingly savoury with a satisfying lick of acidity and tannin tying it all together. Flavour lingers nicely in the mouth. Needs more time and should age well. 90.

Cruickshank Cabernet franc 2003

Quite a lovely autumnal colour to this wine as it fades to brick red tones at the edges. Smells of barnyard floor, straw and sweat, remarkably fresh fruit peeking through as well. The palate is redolent of these lovely elements mingling with fruit and cigar box/tobacco notes.  Nice vegetal characters and fine tannins.  Line and length complete an elegant wine of finesse and rustic charm.

We enjoyed the wines with a lovely rare seared whole eye fillet, potatoes and greens.  Simple but beautiful and a recipe which I will post in the future.

I'm loathe to score the Cabernet franc because it really was beautiful and somehow a score diminishes it all a bit. Being as objective as I can I still think it's a 93+ wine! As I have stated before I only like to score to give a rough guide, it's also usually reflective (or tries to be!) of quality and style as I try and take my personal preferences out as much as I can. If indeed this is possible, is really a valid question and challenge of any taster or commentator.  Can personal taste and opinion ever be practically moderated in a meaningful way to this end?  I think not, but I'm all for personal musings and lively discussion.

It seems that over time the wines have been tidied up and are cleaner and more polished in their production. Again it's arguable as to the relative pros and cons of this; cleaner wines promote the purity of fruit and varietal expression, but the slightly dirty rustic quality does lend some charming idiosyncrasies to the wines. Overall it's probably a move in the right direction, the wines should last better and indeed they still have the qualities that appealed previously. The dirt and paddock are still there but with a degree of subtlety absent previously. It may also be prudent to remember that the new source of fruit has no doubt changed the equation somewhat as well.  With regard to the fruit I'm tipping some great things as it settles down and the vines get a little older, heady times!

At the moment I thought the Cab Sav a good wine, but not to my taste entirely as the oak component seemed rather overpowering. The wine should integrate nicely over a few years though as it settles down and things harmonise a bit. On the Oak; and I'm being picky here, (I have a bit of an American oak thing!) I prefer french or atleast old oak, as otherwise I feel like things are a bit of a coconut vanilla bomb. For those who love it, this may be your thing.  For myself it just comes across as heavy handed, sticking out everytime I taste.  Time to pour another Malibu and Pineapple by way of training... 

In The land of Verdonnay/Chadelho/Denman gold things were suprisingly good. There has been much speculation amongst others who enjoy a Cruickshank drop as to what this wine would be like. Well, here it would seem is a lovely summer afternoon/evening drop!  I'm not a huge fan of the straight Vedelho, so this impressed and may even be something better than the individual varietals offered.  Regarding a name for the wine, perhaps a more oblique name or reference might give it a suitable title. 

So finally to the Cabernet franc much lauded previously, not much needs to be said; lovely wine and one so identifiably of the Hunter Valley, perhaps even more than the varietal characteristics.  Bliss!

Have a look at their website for more info, well worth a glance http://www.cruickshank.com.au/