More Cellar Purchases

Hi Bob – Two new ones for the Cellar!

2010 Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay

The next release of 2010 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay will be available for purchase through this website from 1st November 2011. This includes a limited En Primeur offer of the 2011 vintage.

Giaconda Estate Chardonnay is fully barrel fermented with approximately 33% new French oak. This wine is aged in barrel for 22 months, deep underground in our granite maturation cave.

2011 Barrel Tasting notes: The notes below certainly also apply to the 2011 vintage. This wine is a little more racy again, a further example of power and concentration. It should develop amazing depth and complexity.

2010 Tasting notes: Our first Chardonnay completely fermented and aged underground in our cave. This means a slower and more even ageing process, combined with the cooler season this has resulted in a wine with very long ageing potential. The wine has a signature nose of matchstick and meal with powerful underlying minerality. While similar in style to 2008 this wine is a little more racy with slightly less oak showing at this stage. The palate is highly refined and harks back to some of our best vintages from the 90s. The fruit is powerful but very well integrated with the other components.

Tasting update (October 2011) - The most recent tasting of this wine has exceeded my expectations. Although the above notes still stand, the wine has now developed a traditional Burgundy nose and the palate is showing more power.

Giaconda Nebbiolo 2008

Does Nebbiolo travel? I was just reaching the conclusion that it probably doesn’t fare too well outside of Piedmont when Rick had me try a barrel sample of his 2008 Nebbiolo from about 1.5 acres that have just been included into vines that have been designated for the joint partnership with Chapoutier. Aged in large old oak for 2 years, it will receive another year in barrel before being bottled. Possessing a medium ruby color, the rose petal character on the nose is pretty profound, with quite a lot of tar and some funky game notes Layers of aromas include rose hip tea, tobacco, some loam, a bit of dark chocolate and a touch of anise amongst the stewed Ceylon tea leaves. The medium to full body, crisp acidity and firm, chewy tannins confirm this is a wonderfully varietally expressive wine with a long complex finish. When I was told they were considering grubbing these vines up and replanting with Shiraz I strongly objected that this would be a crime! Personally, I can’t wait to see this wine in bottle...though only around 2000 bottles will be produced.  95-97 points (Barrel sample). Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW - Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate June 2010. 

Rick Kinzbrunner fancies himself as a bit of a nebbiolo fan, so six or so years ago he grafted over about half a hectare of the older vine pinot noir in the Giaconda holdings to the Italian variety. The vineyard sits somewhere between 500 and 700 metres above sea level on schist and granite filled soils. The wine matured in a single, large, Italian-made French oak cask and was matured for a longer than anticipated spell. There are follow up vintages, but I am yet to see them. Fresh cherry and floral as the aromas might be, there is a seething depth of char, charcuterie, earth and savouriness that adds seriousness to the bouquet. The palate is slender yet chock full – layered with suggestions of the classic nebbiolo ‘tar and roses’ characters, but shows a drier, mineral edge with bergamot and a warm meatiness that sets this apart from Italian appropriations. Tannins are superb – complex, with herbal inflection, and feel feathery yet taut. Finishes very long, focussed and elegant with a prickle of spice and florals. Superior debut. Rated : 94/95+ Points; Drink : 2012 - 2022+ Mike Bennie; The Wine Front

Dinner Menu 723

723rd Dinner - May 17, 2012

Lydiard Wine Bar

15 Lydiard Street

President: Dean Stevens 

Master of Ceremonies: Bob House

CANAPES

Sugar cured Salmon, pomelo & apple

Oyster, celery & lemongrass salad

1998 Pol Roger Vintage 

1st MAIN COURSE

Grilled Hervey Bay Scallops with a sweet fish sauce

2004 O’Leary Walker Polish Hill Riesling

2008 Heemskerk Coal River Valley Riesling 

2nd MAIN COURSE

Smoked Duck & Quince

2007 La Gibryotte Bourgogne

3rd MAIN COURSE

Roasted saddle of Hare, slow cooked leg & mushrooms

1999 Whitehorse Wines Pinot Noir

1999 Whitehorse Wines Sparkling Pinot Noir

Tel for purchase 0417348749

DESSERT

Pears with Prickly Pear sorbet

1997 Riverina Wines Balingal Estate Botrytis Semillon

Chef: Damien Jones

Food Master: John Coco

Winemaster: Mal Anderson

Cork award, Mike Sheedy (Whitehorse Sparkle)

Fork award Rob Campbell (Hare)

Course of the Night Smoked Duck

Best Match Scallops and  Reisling

Best Wine Pol Roger

Best's 2010 Great Western Shiraz

Hi Bob – a few interesting notes on my latest acquisition. Jim 2010 Best's Great Western Thomson Family Shiraz
Great Western, Victoria, AUSTRALIA

RATING: 98	VALUE:	CELLAR: 10 - 15 years (2022 - 2027)	ALC/VOL: 14.00%	TASTED: 8 Mar 2012

The Thomson Family Shiraz is produced from Henry Best’s original 1867 Shiraz plantings, and is only produced in exceptional years with yields typically at less than two tonnes per acre. Opaque black dark purple crimson colour with deep purple crimson hue. The nose displays strong white and blackpepper top notes followed by some more subtle liquorice, vanillin oak and spice scents. The palate delivers an explosive yet beautifully controlled flavour experience of blackberry, blackpepper and liquorice followed by some vanillin confectionary and cedar characters with a strong white pepper back palate. Magnificent concentration, power, richness and depth all delivered with great finesse and refinement. Velvet smooth perfectly balanced tannin structure. Exceptionally long blackpepper, liquorice, cedary vanilla and spice aftertaste. A youthful Thomson Family Shiraz that will potentially evolve into one of the greats with the components eventually all seamlessly integrating. Cellar 10-15 years (2022-2027) Alc 14.0% It’s a $30 increase on the 2008 release, and I’m never a fan of hefty increases. That said: the make is only 350 dozen, it’s from a single vineyard planted in 1867, and from a vintage like 2010, the quality result is Grange-like. How much would Grange cost if they only made 350 dozen of it? This is a tremendous wine. Just terrific. The tannin feels so mature, so long, so sinewy. The fruit flavours are ripe and blueberried – and intense – but there is no heaviness here. Musky, vanillin oak plays an assertive role but given time, this won’t be an issue. Has an iodine character to it. A small amount of spice. A commanding presence. It finishes – eventually – with searing length. Drink : 2020 - 2030+ 96 points Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front An amazing Great Western Shiraz. Already a complete and focused wine that will continue on this line and length for the next twenty to thirty years. Dark purple in colour; the nose is a mix of blueberry fruit, spice and cloves. The palate is interwoven with dark red fruits, dark chocolate, spice and integrated tannins. Drink 2017-2037 96 points Anthony D’Anna Every time I think of Best’s Bin 0 Shiraz I hear estate owner Viv Thomson saying: Best’s Bin 0 is built on acidity, rather than on fruit flavour. From a tasting I attended over a decade ago. The Thomson Family Shiraz is produced from Henry Best’s original 1867 Shiraz plantings, and only available in exceptional years, on average about six times a decade. The vines are cropped at less than two tonnes per acre (four tonnes per hectare) and are then meticulously hand-harvested, selected and sorted. Thomson Family Shiraz was first made in 1993, one hundred years after the Thomson family settled in the area. It is produced predominantly from the fifteen rows of vines planted by Henry Best, recorded as “Hermitage” by Henry in his daily journal. Today the clone is referred to by the CSIRO as the Concongella clone and it is the mother clone of all subsequent shiraz plantings at Best’s Great Western. Thomson Family Shiraz is hand harvested, hand plunged and fermented in small open fermenters and the wine is only produced in years when the quality is second to none. The Langton’s Classification is “Outstanding”.