Southern hemisphere blind tasting notes

2008 Jackson Estate Grey Ghost Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) - an
instantly recognizable SB with gooseberry and notable levels of
sulphur in the nose, that turned more to lime with time, and a clean
representative wine. Ready now.

2007 Montes Alpha Chardonnay – this Chilean entry had more interesting
things going on in the nose, and less (but not zero) sulphur. Herbal,
and later with a cheesy almond overtone, and with medium length,
softer with decent finish.

2003 Cullen Ephraim Clarke – a Bordeaux blend of 54% Semillon and 45%
SB, this had ripoe fruit in the nose, a hint of sulphur (note a
consistent theme….). Sweet entry, it went a bit soft in the middle and
would have been better with slightly higher acidity, but nonetheless
an interesting well made wine.

2001 Plaisir de Merle Cabernet – I have been a fan of this wine since
the very first vintage, but I had never experienced one with a minty
element in the nose, so it threw me. It went away, but had steered me
away from the Cape. The other element in the nose was oak and the
wine was young and still fairtly tannic, but not bad, though probably
not my favourite vintage. Must dig out my older ones to reassess
them.

2001 Thelema Cabernet – this wine in older vintages has been a real
favourite of mine, but I think the style may have changed and I didn’t
recognize it this time. Ripe minty nose was atypical, although I do
recall one other vintage in the previous decade showed a bit of this,
good acidity and balance, and good length. Nice flavours and at a good
place in development now.

2006 Penfolds RWT – I guess it is OK to kill a baby as long as I am
there to partake…. A crème brulée nose, ripe and spicy, lots of body,
lots of tannin, and a chalky mouth feel. Needs (much) more time.

2000 Cono Sur 20 Barrel Merlot – corked but still decent fruit and a
fair bit if tannin. Too bad, might have been good.

1997 Finca Flichman Dedicado – an Argentine blend of cab, merlot,
Malbec and syrah. Good nose with smoke, tar and blackberry, smooth and
balanced with good length. ready now. Pretty international in style
and hard to peg.

2001 Saxenberg Private Collection Shiraz – from Stellenbosch, this
wine showed some pepper in the nose and a sort of candied wood ash
thing, undifferentiated fruit in the middle and juicy acidity. Not
bad.

Valdivieso Caballo Loco #7 – cocoa fruit and oak in the nose, not too
hot, well structured with reasonable tannin levels. Pretty decent.
Apparently done in a sort of solera method so no vintage date, being a
blend of vintages.

1999 Stonyridge Larose (Cabernet, Waiheke Island) – Hadn’t tasted this
hard to find New Zealand wine before. A simple sweet fruit nose, some
green, mellow and fairly soft and ready, very much in the Bordeaux
idiom.

Rutherglen Estate Muscat – frankly, I think this sort of sticky would
be better poured over ice cream than drunk. Browning colour, ripe
figgy nose, very, very sweet and as it lacked sufficient acidity to
balance it, cloyingly so.

2003 De Bertoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon – seemed more like a late
harvest Riesling than a Semillon as it had some elements suggesting
the former in the nose. Yellow wine, sweet but also balanced with a
fair bit of caramel. Skirts being too sweet.