GOURMET TRAVELLER WINE - COLLECTOR’S ISSUE

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2008

TEXT SOPHIE OTTON

STAR TURNS

Our panel – Peter Bourne, Nick Bulleid MW, Andrew Caillard MW, Peter Forrestal, Huon Hooke and Sophie Otton – broke with tradition for this tasting, gathering together a range of exciting four- and five-star red wines that have more to do with star quality than regions or varieties.

For this issue, the Gourmet Traveller WINE tasting panel set out on a journey of discovery to assemble a collection of terrific, high-quality reds for winter consumption. Normally, we select wines that follow a regional or varietal theme, such as the Yarra Valley reds of the tempranillo profiles we published earlier this year. This time, however, we have adopted a multi-perspective approach in the form of a panel show and tell. Each member of the panel presented several exciting wines we’d encountered on our travels, wines we believed deserved group assessment and discussion.

The panel sampled 80 wines, including some debut releases from new industry ventures, emerging wines from adolescent producers and wines from established winemakers that deserve recognition for continuing improvement. Hooke, though contribution to the original selection, was in France at the time of the final tasting.

Grouped by variety and presented in masked flights of 10, the field was narrowed to some 32 labels, presenting a cross-section of wines. It was an exploratory exercise that was more about star quality than regions or varieties, highlighting wines from ambitious newcomers as well as established stalwarts.

2005 Picardy Shiraz (Pemberton). A portion of this wine is harvested at 12.5 Baume for savoury restraint and structure, but most is picked a degree later for a richer, mouth-filling fruit component. Forrestal was taken with the wine’s “opulent, dense, dark berry fruit”, describing it as “supple, round and fleshy with good depth; its substantial tannins held in check by the fruit weight”. “Delicious red fruit with a soft, fine, elegant palate showing good savoury character and length.” Bourne added. Caillard noted “fresh redcurrant, rose-petal aromas with a touch of lead pencil. Medium concentrated redcurrant/plum flavours, with soft, fine tannins finishing long and mineral.”