February 15, 2007 - Greg Bunnell's Office
Greg hosted the tasting at his downtown office. As usual, Steve got lost. In addition to our alternate, Bill Kimmer, Greg invited his longtime college buddy, Rhett Murfitt. Neal, still in Colorado, and Paul were unable to attend.
The theme for the tasting was Australian wines. The tasting started with two Chardonnay's, a 2004 Rockbare and a 2004 Trevor Jones Virgin - most agreed that the Trevor Jones was more complex; the Rockbare seemed a little too acidic. The food pairing with the Chardonnay's included some smoked salmon and marinated mozzarella.
The flight of eight reds for the evening included four Shiraz from McLaren Vale, a 2003 Hewiston The Mad Hatter, a 2004 Penny's Hill Red Dot, a 2004 Mitolo Jester, and a 2003 Mr. Riggs'. The second flight of four included three from Barossa Valley, a 2003 Turkey Flat Vineyards, a 2005 Thorn-Clarke Terra Barossa, and a 2003 Branson Greenock Block. The second flight also included the only wine from Clare Valley, a 2002 Jim Barry The Lodge Hill. Robert Parker had rated all of the wine somewhere between 90 and 93 points.
The wine was served with some Assagio Cheese Sourdough and Artisan bread, cheeses that included Chevre, cage-aged Swiss Gruyere, Double Gloucester with Blue Stilton, a Norwegian styled Triple Cream and a French Triple Cream, and meats selctions of Calabrese, Salame and Capocollo.
Everyone seemed to comment on the ink-staining characteristics of the wine - a sure sign of the grape. The wines were high in alcohol (as measured by Brant's ears) and had soft tannins. The Mitolo and The Lodge Hill received an average score of 87, the two lowest rated wines. The Lodge Hill had some definite aroma issues. The Mat Hatter was the highest rated wine of the evening at 92 points. Close behind at 91 points were the Mr. Riggs' and the Greenock Block. Overall, the tasting scored an 89. Surprisingly, Loren rated the tasting at 92 (usually a low scorer) and Steve rated it at an 86. The others rated it somewhere between an 88 and 90.
We finished the evening with two non-vintages selections that inlcuded a Yalumba Museam Release Muscat and a Dutschke The Tawny 22 Year Old, rated 96 and 98 points, respectively, by Robert Parker. The wine was paired with chocolate cake.