I rarely drink Australian wines, and apart from a few old Grange and other Penfolds wines, I have no experience with well-aged Aussie reds. So I decided to take advantage of a Chambers Street offering a month or two ago. It was a cellar of mostly American wines. The selection tilted toward old-style, balanced wines, so I figured it was worth taking a flyer on a couple of the old Australian wines included. I think I paid $45 for this.
I served this blindly to my brown-bag group three weeks ago. No one came remotely close to guessing it.
On the nose, there was a nice eucalyptus note at first, and some maturing scents. But there was also lots of fresh red cherries, so it wasnāt tired in any way. The cherries had an almost New World pinot quality.
In the mouth, the eucalyptus was more intense. āSvelt,ā someone said, and that described the structure perfectly. It was light on its feet. More of those cherries in the mouth, with a modest frame of tannin and acid to hold it all up. The tannins showed a bit more in the finish but werenāt harsh.
Bottom line: Totally balance and a great pleasure, and an education in a bottle. The antithesis of what Iād expect from an Australian grenache. Not unlike an old Vieux Telegraph in flavor and balance, but with less complexity. 90+ for me (Iām a hard grader) and a big hit with the group. 14.5% on the label.
Footnote: I believe it was this wine, from a mid-2000s vintage, that I had in a restaurant here in NYC two years ago and did not enjoy. That was overripe and hot.
Do you recall which vineyard ? I am not sure about the 1995 vintage but there are a few Old Vine grenache vineyards, Clarendon, Kangarilla, Romas and I think one in Onkaparinga.
A post of Jeremy Holmesās today reminded me that Iād meant to revive this old thread after serving a 1996 Clarendon Hills, Kangarillo, Old Vines Grenache on Thursday. It was lovely, though not as interesting as the '95 Clarendon āClarendonā that prompted this thread six years ago.
The nose showed quite mature cherry fruit, but was not tired. Though it was marked at 15%, it didnāt come across as overripe or hot. Just lots of sweet, mature fruit. Silky, but with just enough tannin and acid there to hold it altogether. The finish just got sweeter and sweeter as I returned to this.
Both the flavor profile and the mouth texture reminded me of mature Rhone blends from Terre Rouge in the Sierra Foothills. If Iād been served this blind, Iād probably have insisted it was a Bill Easton Terre Rouge wine.
This hadnāt gained a great deal of complexity ā it was a fairly simple wine. But it was a pleasure to drink, and balanced notwithstanding that 15%.