100% Semillon from barsac. The Madame is not made every year- indeed it seldom appears.
I was looking forward to trying this after tasting the standard 1989 Ch Coutet in 2012, but the cork deity decided otherwise. The wine was faintly but definitely adversely affected by TCA. Underneath were layers of orange blossom, marmalade, spearmint and clean acid. What a shame that cork taint made this wine unenjoyable – at least for me.
Enormous sweet blackberry fruit power doused by TCA. Somehow Campbells (Rutherglen) lost the plot with their later VP’s – even though they did not make them every year
What a label though!
I have liked the style of JJ Prum since I began to become seriously interested in German Rieslings around 2006. JJ Prum are seriously structured wines, made in a reductive style. This means they can look downright ugly when young, and decanting is strongly recommended. A quick tasting of some JJ Prum wines from several vintages at Prince Wine Store was welcome. Very brief notes below, but the tasting reinforced my prejudices! And the wines were too good to spit.
2011 JJ Prum Kabinett – entry level, quite reductive, but showing spearmint and red apple
2009 JJ Prum Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett – still reductive, but more flesh, texture and white peach.
2010 JJ Prum Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese – a high acid year, and a beautifully detailed wine. Some smoke, tropical fruit not quite veering into pineapple, lovely texture, balanced. Will convert the uninitiated; stylish, delicious
2003 JJ Prum Bernkastler Badstube Auslese – a dismally hot year in Europe (that I witnessed). Yet again however, the better makers with better sites have no complaints – the wines just needed time. This wine is ready for business at 12 years age (and a bit more acid would have added to its appeal).
2011 JJ Prum Bernkastler Badstube Auslese – Super wine at such a young age, potent, long, classic minerally style. Mixed white and yellow stonefruits.
2012 JJ Prum Graacher Himmelreich Auslese – Denser, crunchy style, rich, lush, balanced.
2013 JJ Prum Bernkastler Badstube Auslese – a year of low yields, and mostly at the Auslese level. Citrus peel, sherbet, vibrant, creamy. Lovely.
2013 JJ Prum Bernkastler Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese. My “go-to” vineyard for Prum. Shows more mineral red apple and purity; fleshy, textural, a delight.
2013 JJ Prum Bernkastler Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Goldkap. A more intense selection; Has real drive, tongue-coating silky richness, extensive length; overwhelming, and so much promise for revisiting in 10 or more years.
Deep gold, but what a hedonistic melange on the bouquet! Honey, cinnamon and other baking spices, musk, white flowers. Its very concentrated with enough acidity to carry the 41 g/l sugar. ZH rows their own boat – this wine is 15% a/v, but is in balance; phenolics add interest and texture. Amazing vitality for a 13 y/o aromatic wine, and a very suitable match for the roast chicken. Cannot see improvement but it will provide a few more years of drinking pleasure. 95= points
Gold in colour, apricots and oranges and cream, citrus and spices. 100 g/l residual sugar, so it’s not a blockbuster, nor overwhelming in sweetness. Clean, all is in balance and the wine has a rich mouthfeel with genuine palate length. Faintly dry finish suggests it’s ready to drink, although the maker’s track record suggests it could surprise by lasting (much) longer. 94= points
This wine is available through auction, and is in a squat bottle.
Its believed to be bottled around 1955 from stocks at least 21 years old, predominantly from the 1930 vintage, and Grenache dominant. This was part of the series that included 1927, 1930, 1933, 1939, 1944, and 1947. (There was another series bearing the names of separate members of the very extended Seppelt family).
The prevailing wisdom is that Seppelt reverted to calling later blends 101, 102, up to 127, resuming with a 1976 when perhaps their records were such that they could amply demonstrate the vintage nature of the base.
These wines are matured in barrels, and the gradual oxidation (and evaporation) over time increases the sugar, the alcohol, and the VA. The wines do vary, despite their prolonged aging. The winemaker has numerous blending decisions as there may be varying sizes of barrels (and their location on top, outside, or middle of stack), plus the amount freshening required. I had a very educational tasting a few years ago at Seppeltsfield where I tried a mini-vertical of 1989, 1990 and my preferred 1991.
Naturally the 1930 wine has thrown a crust, so the 2 cautions are –the wine needs some decant time to breathe, and some filtering to remove the worst of the sediment. In the glass it has the absolutely typical Seppelt khaki/green colour. It’s rich, vibrant and long in the mouth, with a welcome cleansing alcohol and acid kick (perhaps 22%). It’s a treat to drink these venerable wines, remembering that most of those involved are no longer alive.
What great opportunity to try a big, big range of Riesling, mainly 2014 which have turned out very well indeed.
There was .almost enough room between the exhibitors, and very nearly, almost enough spittoons. Some producers put on older wines, and geographically included usa, Austria, Germany, NZ and Oz. Finally there was plenty of food – not just cheeses, but bread, meats, and oysters. Best of all, the food was included in the ticket price. Now if I only could have had a latte….
I tried 87 wines in just over 2 hours, and there were plenty I didn’t get to
Impressions, alphabetically
Brundlmayer (austria) You get what you pay for, the best of the 3 wines was the 2013 “reserve” – superb wine
Cherubino. I don’t have much experience with Larry’s wines but the 2014 Porongorups was ultra-fine and expressive
Crawford river; 2013 was a brilliant wine
Donnhof (nahe) 2013 Oberhauser Leisterberg Kabinett, was delicious
DR Loosen; again you get what you pay for, The 2013 Wehelener Sonnenuhr Kabinett was a step up on the bernkastler Lay Kabinett; the ws spatlese a further advance- gorgeous.
Eden Hall. Liked the 2014 and 2010, did not like the 2011.
Egon Muller (mosel) Their wines can be frighteningly expensive, as might be expected from their place in the hierarchy of German wines 2013 Scharzhof Kabinett and 2013 Spatlese were terrific
Framingham (NZ) There were 2 wines I actively disliked; but the 2013 “classic: and even more so the 2014 Noble (with notes of ginger and limes) – were very very good
Mt Horrocks. Another winery whose wines I only know via reputation. 2014 and the 2014 Cordon cut – in particular- were very impressive.
Henschke – 2014 “julius” is a super fresh, ultra-aromatic wine.
Hugel – Kudos for showing 08, 09 and 10 Jubilee Riesling. Of these the 10 was by far the best – rich and mouth-filling
Jim Barry; 2014 Lodge Hill clearly superior to their standard, and great value; the 2013 Florita is a distinguished vineyard and a wine with power still to uncoil; the 2007 Florita is at a nice “in-between” stage; fresh but showing some development.
Knappstein; a range of single sites, of which the 2014 Ackland was utter classical Clare limes; the others Bryskys Hill. Slate Creek and the Insider were lesser wines (the latter 2 with some skin contact, which in my view didn’t help, adds to texture but I think coarsens the bouquet.)
Mitchell -Under-rated! A terrific set from the standard 2014, a 2006 and the special block 2007 mcNicol.
Mt Majura (Canberra) 2014 pristine, and a 2005 was still amazingly fresh
O’leary walker; I preferred the 2014 Waterville to the Polish Hill; its denser and more powerful. The one-off 2012 cane cut was a wine of exotic spices and potpourri; another gram of acid would make this a killer.
Peter Lehman, As expected, the 2009 Wigan was a smart wine; but the 2014 H&V is the “almost-Wigan” and is another great value Riesling
Pikes -Great show results recently; the awesome 2014 Merle leaves the -pretty damn good- standard in its wake. Neil recommends his 2002, 2005, and 2012 wines as his favourites. The 2014 Gaelic Cemetery is more phenolic, but the “black” has the fruit density to carry t.
Pressing Matters (tasmania) Great press, great show results too; the 2012 R9 is stunning.
Robert Weil (rheingau) Can do no wrong, The 2013 Grafenberg GG shows how good a slow-ripened Riesling can be- not likely to be cheap!
Rebholz (pfalz)-I preferred the 2011 GG to the 2012 GG; packed with stony mineral flavors combined with delicate refined palate. Stylish, possibly even affordable….
Treasury; 2014 is the year of musk and sherbet; 2014 Leonay Eden Valley just had more finesse than the reliable standard Eden Valley. If you want a wine to confound people, I was thrilled with the 2013 “Leopold” from Tasmania; just like a crunchy Granny Smith apple, searing acid.
2013 Seppelt Great Western – a cellar-door only wine, packed with minerals and some well-judged residual sugar- will be long lived.
Vickery The man is a legend, but the 2 2014 wines did not have the “x” factor.
Wilson. Another excellent set of wines with the 2014 “wilson” better than the watervale or DJW.
Wines by KT. The 2014 “churinga” had real drive and power. Yum
PS – Spoke with a number of the OS contingent; even though some of their wines are under screwcap, I think in the hearts they think Aussies are a bit weird in their preference for screwcap; its also possible that the winemakers don’t want corks but are outgunned by the marketing arms
Its been roughly 25 years since I learned of the heartbreak and processes involved in bottling wines, and I was overdue some further education on a portable line (one that moves form winery to winery) The winemaker prepares the wine, supplies bottles, capsules, label, cartons, and the machinery takes over (to provide membrane filtration and fill the bottles). This still means that very repetitive manual labour has to
Each task is tough.
The pace is relentless. So, sore back, sore feet, sore hands and a more modern understanding of the exercise.
Gambero Rossi has many tasting panels that assess 40,000 wines from 70-odd regions of Italy. The best of these are re-assessed and may be awarded 1,2 or 3 glasses (aprox 423 wines) . There is a worldwide roadshow at 30 cities of a selection of these wines, and for the first time, this came to Melbourne.
The event was held at the Windsor hotel, and after tasting many of the wines, I was able to attend a masterclass hosted by the ebullient Marco Sabellico with Max Allen conscripted onto the panel with interjections from Jane Faulkner.
What did I learn?
Highlights
AA Terlano Pinot Bianco Vorberg Riserva 2011 (alto aldige)
Lively, textured, pears and nettles, supreme balance and will keep. A white wine of enormous interest
Colle Massari Montecucco Sangiovese Lombrone Riserva 2010
Medium- bodied, but superb balance and a true savoury style. Dark chocolates, Bravo!
Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella 2010
Amarone can be a bit weird, with dangers of botrytis intrusions, oxidation, high alcohol and some pruney or burnt/dead fruit. When it works however it activates your senses and is thrilling! This wine was dense, rich and ripe, with some pine-like elements on the bouquet, Beautiful and complex, with a long future
Congratulations to the team – the organisation and the importers. There was plenty of room, plenty of spittoons, and plenty of food – including coffee. The only quibble was the very ordinary tasting glasses supplied.
This is the start of my wine blog, mainly about sweet wines – or more exactly wines that contain some residual sugar. This means I can legitimately include sparkling wines, white wines and fortified wines.
But of course I’ll cheat and include red wines, and dry whites that excite me.
sweetworldwines 