this week, we have tasted a flight of piedmontese wines against a flight of syrah and shiraz so that we can make the comparisons and highlight the differences.

this post is short as i just returned from italy and have much to catch up.  for your more information on piedmont and syrah/shiraz, you can click here to get my notes on:

- piedmont and its terroir;

- syrah/shiraz grape characteristics.

as usual, our notes are made using the wset level (diploma) systematic approach to tasting and you can download the full notes by clicking on the link of each wine names.  we only publish our conclusion.

marks & spencer chateau de surville costière de nîmes 2006:

acceptable entry-level wine – good complexity, concentration and depth of fruits on the nose, however surprisingly disappearing on the palate.  slightly higher acidity in relation to tannins and fruit on the palate.  short length.

bridgewater mill shiraz 2005:

good mid-level wine.  good balance acidity, tannins, and alcohol well supported by good quality fruits on the palate.  complex both on nose and palate, however elegant, and fine.  very smooth.  well made from quality fruits and techniques.

les launes crozes-hermitage 2006 – delas frères:

good mid-level wine – good intensity, complexity and balance of aromas and flavours between nose and palate.  good balance of acidity, tannins, with alcohol and fruit.  well made from good raw materials and wine making techniques.  elegant & refined.  firm tannins & quality fruit shows promise for ageing.

Published by jc on April 13, 2009

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  Filed in: Italy, australia, france, tasting notes

love it or loath it, riesling is a special grape indeed.  producing wines of all degrees of sweetness, riesling is grown all over the world and finds it's home in germany's mosel region where it can produce some of the finest, most complex, longest lived white wines.  in fact, german rieslings were once commanding higher prices than today's most expensive bordeaux and its wines are sought after by wine lovers from all over the world.

the grape can produce wines of refreshingly high acidity with a lightness of body that is rarely matched by any other whites.  it is highly aromatic, delicate, racy, and expressive.  it can make a totally different wine depending on where it is from and sweet wines can be extremely complex with layers after layers of mind boggling flavours, refreshing acidity, and fantastic length.

from germany, wines are produced as per various levels of ripeness.  kabinett wines will be dry, crisp and light.  spätlese, one level more ripe will be off-dry and medium dry.  at their best, they will be complex, fuller, rounder with a long lingering after-taste.  up one level, auslese wines will be made from very ripe grapes in a sweeter style.

from alsace, the wines are bigger and more alcoholic with riper fruits, flavours and touch of spices.  there are various levels of sweetness and the best are from grands crus vineyards.  from austria's wachau and kremstal's regions, the best in the country for fine riesling, the wines will have similar classifications as in germany with generally higher alcohol content.

from australia, they will be fuller bodied, with limey, tangy, and tropical fruit character.  the best come clare valley and eden valley. from new zealand, especially from the cool central otago region, the softness and extreme purity of fruit will show more elegant and complex wines with peachy and kerosene characters on the nose and palate.

typically, you will find a crisp and refreshing acidity together with powerful aromas, reflecting minerals, lemon, lime, grapefruit, muscat, apples and pears.  white flowers, roses and peach.  as it evolves, wonderful spices, honey, and some say kerosene or petrol notes will be detected.

today, we tasted 4 wines from various regions of the world (our notes are available in pdf format by clicking on each link):

darting estate dürkheimer michelsberg riesling kabinett 2006 - michelsberg

an acceptable mid-level wine in balance, some varietal characteristics, but lack complexity, a little short.  more complexity on nose than palate.  simple.

our tasting notes are based on WSET systematic approach to tasting:

appearance:

clear bright with a deep intensity purple at the core all the way to the rim, multiple unctuous & luscious legs at bowl.

nose:

clean, youthful, medium intensity of black pepper, red current, black berries, blue berries fruits - jammy & spicy.  layers of roses, dark chocolate, leather, tobbacco.

palate:

dry, medium (-) acidity, medium (-) tannin, high alcohol level (almost hot), medium body, medium (+) intensity as nose with a nice soft and silky mouthfeel and a medium lenght.

conclusion:

a good wine, plenty of promise from the complexity of its nose and pleasant to drink with enough complexity to make it look forward to another sip.  however, a big wine, almost hot in alcohol.  to drink now.

Published by jc on October 12, 2007

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  Filed in: australia, tasting notes