I finished my write-up on Winburndale Winery and Vale Creek. After much thought, I have decided to send my Vale Creek for publication instead. If it were to be rejected, I would put it on the website. Sorry for the delays. I overused my internet limit and the bandwidth slowed down significantly. Too much time was being wasted just for everything to load.
From now on, I will be taking longer to put up articles on the website as I will be sending them to publications first. I wouldn't call this website a website for rejected stuff that I write. I think that being able to write stuff here gives me a lot more freedom to be more technical, informal and personal in my views. It's a different flavour from an article written for a publication. Anything published will go on the website in pdf format.
There are more interesting stuff being lined up but I am going to keep a tight lip on it. It's going to be educational and I hope fun for people to read.
I also want to put in a few lines for a group of friends who are doing wine and food reviews in Singapore. The link is http://singapore.wineandonly.info/
The content on that website does not reflect my opinions or thoughts. I will neither contribute to that website or interfere in what they choose to write as long as it relates to wine or food. I hope the Wine & Only Singapore group will have much fun writing about wine and food as I do.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Winburndale Vineyard and Winery@Bathurst, NSW pt 1
Winburndale Vineyard is located at the end of a dirt road called Saint Anthony's Creek Road. Ten kilometers from Bathurst and fifty from Lithgow, it lies somewhere along the Great Western Highway. Without signs to assist me, I typed its address on my GPS, but even technology didn't help. Using my mobile, I dialed a number given to me. Loretta, the resident's viticulturist picked up the call and instructed me to turn into Glanmire Lane and keep going straight. It took me two phone calls to her before I finally found the place.
Cellar Door
In the cellar door
Unfortunately, the winemaker, Mark, just left that morning for his holidays. As Loretta and I talked, I learnt about the history of the vineyard. The name Winburndale is an alteration of the name Winbourn-Dale. This was the name given by Governor Lachlan Macquarie to the valley when he came here in 1815.
"This used to be a gold mining area," she said. According to her, Gold was discovered here by an Italian prospector named Carlo Fontana in 1864. The hill where the vines were planted in 1998, was called Mount Fontana in his memory. It was ironic that 145 years later, an American with Italian descent is making Fontana's wines. It would have been more ironic if the wines produced and labeled as Fontana were Italian varietals instead of Bordeaux blends.
Basket press, the machine used to extract out all the juice in the grapes after the grapes are crushed.
Loretta showed me around the winery. We did some barrel tastings of the wines-in-progress.
Where all the red wines are quietly aged to maturity
Winburndale produces only four wines under their label:
The Solitary Shiraz, which is considered their first and signature wine, won six trophies and seven medals including a Gold at the 2007 Sydney Royal Show for the 2005 vintage.
The Lost and Found label is considered as their second wine. Their 2005 vintage is made up of 50% Shiraz, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Fran, won a bronze at the 2006 National Cool Climate Wine Show. It was fermented for six months in French and American oak barrels. I did a tasting on the 2005 vintage of this label and found aromas of earth, pepper and redcurrants, typical of a cool climate Shiraz. The tannins were soft and plums were evident from the finish to the end. It would taste better with lamb racks.
The Fontana label which Winburndale produces is a classic Bordeaux blend of Cabernet, Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. According to Loretta, they will not be producing anymore Fontana as they will be replacing the Merlot with more Shiraz.
The Alluvial Chardonnay is the only white wine produced at the winery.
Where the wines are crushed and produced
When I asked her about the significance of the names of the Label and the logo, she laughed.
"It's a catholic joke," she giggled, "Saint Anthony was the patron saint of finding lost things. That's why as you travel along Saint Anthony's Creek, you have to go through the Lost and Found Bridge." She was referring to the bridge that I drove through to get to the winery.
The Shiraz plot
"That's how the names came up. Solitary, Alluvial and Fontana are the names of the gold mines that were discovered here. That's why our logo is the pick, shovel and pan," she added.
Next time, if I come back to the area, I will try and call the winery to see if Mark is in. It would be great to know more about how he makes his wines. The story doesn't end here for this vineyard with a long history.
Beautiful vineyard
Tasting Notes
Many thanks to Loretta for showing me around and allowing me to do a barrel tasting.
Please note that the wines below are still in progress and not the final product. They have not even been blended or bottled yet and is still in its very infant stage of development.
Whatever tasting notes are produced for these wines are only a snapshot of what the raw wine is like at this stage and does not represent the final product. There is no guarantee that any of the flavours described in the wines at this time will be present in the final product.
Fontana 2008
This one was French barreled. It was fruit driven, with vanilla and cedar. On the palate, it had good structure but a little overbearing. I believe it will be alright after bottling. Hints of spice, redcurrant and peppers.
Solitary 2008 Shiraz
Deep purple core. Lots of meat, gamey notes but still muted on the nose. Needs more time. Darkcurrants, ink and dusty tannins are present. Good acid structure but still a little overbearing for me. Flavours of pencil lead, meat, game, spice and a meaty finish. It has aging potential.
Cabernet Sauvignon 2008.
This is the juice from the pressings.
Clear deep purple core. Aromas of vanilla, redcurrants, capsicum and slight floral, lead and nuts. Good acid structure with medium to full tannins. Spicy with a toasty finish like coffee.
Shiraz 2009
Bright inky purple. Still closed on the nose but a good sense of fruit and meat. Has good acid on it and the fruit flows through. Flavours of ink, custard, herbs, and plums.
Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
This is free-run juice aged in French oak. Aromas of coffee, toast with chewy tannins. Blackcurrants, an overwhelming acidity and finishes with coffee. Full bodied and no greenishness to it.
Chardonnay 2009
Wild-fermented and has gone through malo. Aromas of peach, banana, citrus fruits, sawdust, lees. Buttery on the palate, creamy with good acid. Flavours of stonefruit and citrus. Not overly creamy and the tang is still there.
Chardonnay 2009
Yeast fermented. Slightly cloudy. Aromas of lanolin and stone fruit. Still muted on the nose. Tangy grapefruit, not as creamy or buttery as the wild ferment. Grape fruit finish.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tonic@Millthrope, NSW
In between Bathurst and Orange is a really cozy restaurant called 
The empty table
Starter
Cauliflower and white truffle soup soup :
Succulent smell of cauliflower and cream, Frothy and well textured Not excessively cauliflowered. A savoury broth to it. Tasty.
Entrée
Lamb shank tortellini w pan fried sweetbreads & consommé:
Delicious shanks. Juicy and fatty drippings which complements the light broth. Texture is chewy yet like baby fat but not like bubblegum. It melts in the mouth. Very typical lamb shank taste in the pasta. The star here is the shank fats where all the juices were so focused.
The wine that I had with my Entrée was a Swinging bridge 2008 Chardonnay, 13.8% alch from Canowindra. The colour was pale straw yellow with aromas of peaches, stonefruit and slight mineral notes. Other aromas I thought I detected were melon, nuts, nectarines and a slight leesiness to it. On the palate was more nuts, lees, walnuts and a medium body, There was a slight bitter finish at the end but not excessive. The nice thing about this wine is that there are hints of honey from the beginning to the end as well as grapefruit. There is a bite to it but these nutty flavours seem a little overwhelming for me.
The flavours of the shanks were so concentrated but the Chardonnay killed them. I preferred the meal without the Chardonnay. The broth is very light and not salty at all, adding a savoury dimension to the dish.
Main
Roasted Blayney pork rack w rillette, cabbage & horseradish cream:
The mash potato had a creamy texture with sufficient salt. The cabbage was salty, which I felt was intentional to complement the pork shred and spinach. The dish had a slightly bitter and salty theme to it.
The sauce went well with the pork and it was cooked tenderly. Soft to chew though not squishy. Served with it was a simple salad with garlic and a sweet sauce.
The wine tasted with this dish was an Angullong 2008 Sangiovese, 14% alch from Orange. The wine had a deep dark purple core fading to ruby rims. On the nose were cherries, vanilla, blackberries, a slight spicy edge balanced with oak, sweet fruit, cinnamon. It also smelt a little stalky. On the palate is a dry, medium to full bodied wine with cherries, spice, leathery tannins. I felt the stalkiness there as well.
The wine went well with the pork, neutralizing the bitterness and saltiness of the pork. I tried some of the leftover Chardonnay with the pork and I can say that oaked Chardonnay and pork are not one of my favourite combinations.
Dessert
Strawberry sorbet and vanilla bean ice-cream:
Simple flavor combination. A delicious pairing. They made their own ice-cream too.
Banana soufflé w chocolate ice cream:
The essence of the banana was in the soufflé. It paired well with the chocolate. The dish was soft, almost fluffy with the egg whites but banana-dominated.
The wine I drank with this was a Campbell's liquid gold tokay, 17% alch from Rutherglen. The colour was brown fading to amber rims with visible legs. Aromas of dried fruit, orange peel, honey, raisins, cold tea, liquorice. On the palate, it was sweet, raisiny, honeyed, caramel, dried fruit, slight toffee flavours and full bodied. The finish was vanilla.
The wine I chose didn't match the dessert as it was too overpowering.
The entire meal added up to A$101. Quite a good price for all the dishes and the wines together.
For anyone who is interested, visit http://www.tonicmillthorpe.com.au/.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Updates #1 and Personal Thoughts
I will be churning out a few articles in a week's time. The articles will be about a short restaurant review, write-up of two wineries, and much more.
I am thinking of doing a series of postings on this website once every 3 weeks like a newsletter format. I will just be flexible about it.
I would also like to say that my interest has always been to promote small wineries, and to write educational stuff about wine for people to read. My aim is to be able to make people more aware about the hard work that others have put in to make what they drink or eat. Aside from this, I also hope that people will come out more knowledgeable about wine. I would like people to get value from the information on this website by being able to identify what they like or don't like so that they would be able to choose and evaluate wines confidently for themselves, instead of relying solely on what the critics say.
I have been asked to write reviews and attach points to the wines I drink. I don't believe in giving marks to a wine before I know the amount of work that has been put into the wine. Neither will I grade a wine unless I have a panel of people with me to counter-check and hold me accountable to what I grade. I don't have any intentions of influencing people's decisions to buy something. They will have decide for themselves what is up to their tastebuds. If a wine is good, the tastebuds won't lie though they may not be able to describe it. Many times, I have read reviews and I usually skip pass the wines with low points to read the descriptions of wines with high points. I don't think it's very fair to the low point winemakers especially when we haven't tasted their wines and are relying on reviewers who have different tastebuds and preferences from us. So no, I won't be grading my wines anytime soon in the near future. I will stick to writing about winemakers and educational stuff for the layman to read.
I am thinking of doing a series of postings on this website once every 3 weeks like a newsletter format. I will just be flexible about it.
I would also like to say that my interest has always been to promote small wineries, and to write educational stuff about wine for people to read. My aim is to be able to make people more aware about the hard work that others have put in to make what they drink or eat. Aside from this, I also hope that people will come out more knowledgeable about wine. I would like people to get value from the information on this website by being able to identify what they like or don't like so that they would be able to choose and evaluate wines confidently for themselves, instead of relying solely on what the critics say.
I have been asked to write reviews and attach points to the wines I drink. I don't believe in giving marks to a wine before I know the amount of work that has been put into the wine. Neither will I grade a wine unless I have a panel of people with me to counter-check and hold me accountable to what I grade. I don't have any intentions of influencing people's decisions to buy something. They will have decide for themselves what is up to their tastebuds. If a wine is good, the tastebuds won't lie though they may not be able to describe it. Many times, I have read reviews and I usually skip pass the wines with low points to read the descriptions of wines with high points. I don't think it's very fair to the low point winemakers especially when we haven't tasted their wines and are relying on reviewers who have different tastebuds and preferences from us. So no, I won't be grading my wines anytime soon in the near future. I will stick to writing about winemakers and educational stuff for the layman to read.
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Basics of Lees
Lees are one of the many fascinating things about wine that many people do not know the significance about. Sometimes, there are phrases on the label of a bottle that says, "aged on lees" or "stirred on its lees". I thought it would be fun to do some explanation on what this means.
Lees are basically sediments that end up at the bottom of a barrel or stainless steel tanks after fermentation or aging the wine. They are made up of stuff like grape pulp, seeds, dead yeast cells and other particles remaining in the wine after fermentation. What happens during the winemaking process is that the wines are being separated from the lees to avoid yeast autolysis. This separation is usually done by racking the wines into another storage vessel. We will get to what is yeast autolysis later on. However, there are occasions when the winemaker decides to add some complexity and mouthfeel to the wines. That is when they decide to leave the wines on some of the lees and this is called lees contact. The French call it "sur lie". This practice of wine making has been done since the days of the Romans and is usually followed by what is called bâtonnage by the French or lees stirring. This is an additional and optional practice by winemakers. Both practices enhances the mouthfeel of the wine by releasing mannoproteins, which binds with proteins to make the wine less astringent.
Both practices are done mostly on white wines especially for Chardonnay and Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur Lie (also known as Melon de Bourgogne), but not so much for red wines unless the winemakers intend to make their reds go through malolactic fermentation or MLF in short. I will get to MLF later on as well. Burgundy and other wine-producing countries are known for using these practices for their Chardonnay. The final product usually results in a creamier Chardonnay with flavours such as cheese, bread, toast, vegemite, custard and custard. Some people would describe the combination of these characters as leesy.
Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur Lie is a wine that is most famous in the Loire for being light, fresh, crisp and mostly neutral in flavor. The wine is served cold and goes wonderfully with oysters. The wine is bottled from the tank of cask after being on its lees all winter, developing more body and yeasty character to it. Some of the best Muscadets are bottled directly from the barrels without any racking or filtration, leaving behind some of the lees in the bottle. The lees act as natural antioxidants which give the wine its freshness.
Although sur lie is a method used by winemakers to make their wines more complex, they are not without potential problems. When wines are left on a thick layer of lees at the bottom of the storage vessel for more than a week, the wine starts to develop unpleasant smells caused by sulfide. This happens because the dead yeasts in the lees start to "eat themselves up" and consume oxygen in the process. The same lees that gives Muscadet its freshness by consuming oxygen gives the wine an off-odour as well. That is why some Muscadet smells like rotten eggs or stale. Racking the wine is important to prevent the lees level from becoming too thick.
Bâtonnage is often used when the white wines are to go through fermentation in the barrel. The stirring is done by a stick. The purpose of lees stirring is to prevent the formation of the thick layer of lees at the bottom of the barrel so that sulphur won't develop into hydrogen sulfide from the lack of oxygen. Stirring up the lees also allows the lees to act as a partial barrier between the wine and the wood to prevent the wines from extracting too much tannins from the oak into the wine.
Now we are getting to the part about autolysis. This takes place when the dead yeast cells digest itself by its own enzymes. Autolysis is something which winemakers try to avoid in their wines except for sparkling wines. The dead lees are left in the sparkling wine after its second fermentation in the bottle that produces the CO2 gas that we all love. This aging on lees in the bottle can sometimes go up to five years or maybe more, improving the mouthfeel and imparting flavor characteristics such as flowers, biscuit bread and other complex aromas.
Lees also provides for micro-nutrients to lactic bacteria so that MLF can take place in the wine. MLF is a process in which lactic bacteria converts the sharper malic acid into the soft, rounder lactic acid. The wine becomes less crisp and more creamy. Many Chardonnays go through MLF in the barrel so as to get extra complex flavours such as caramel, butter or butterscotch. Winemakers tend to be careful about excessive MLF as they do not want to produce too much diacetyl, the component which imparts the buttery aromas.
So next time when you come across this terms, at least you can tell your mates about what it means. Hopefully, by knowing a little more each day, you become a smarter drinker and a smarter consumer.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Boutique Wine Awards 2009
The Boutique Wine Awards was held from 08/06 to 15/06. The show judging has been running for 14 years and it has been a real pleasure to be involved in being one of the stewards for this event which allows small boutique wineries to win something. I am grateful to Judith Kennedy, the Chief Executive of the wine awards, for giving me this opportunity to understand how the event was being setup and how the wines were being evaluated. It was inspirinh to hear her story of why she started the awards. Years ago, her brother used to make wines and being a small producer, he was could not enter his wines into any wine shows to recieve any awards. Judith then decided to start a wine show that allowed small boutique wineries to compete, got into contact with Huon Hooke, who is still the Chariman of the wine awards. The rest is history.
Day One and Two
We basically took care of the logistics by trasnporting the wines, glasses and other needed stuff to the venue. The event was held at ANZAC stadium at one of those VIP rooms overlooking the entire field.
The set-up
What we did was:
- Transport wines, glasses, and logistics to room
- Set up tables for wine judging. We covered the tables with paper and then plastic. On the plastic, we drew lines to indicate the areas where the different glasses of wine will be placed along with the numbers of the wine. Note that the judges do not know the wines they are tasting and they will only be able to identify what wines they are tasting according to the number that the glass of wine is sitting on.
- Separate the wines into different classes. For example, Shiraz can go to the Shiraz or Shiraz Viognier class, White wines and red wines are separated.
- Arrange the wines in order what is to be tasted from first to last. Then, label each bottle with a sticker. The sticker has the order number of the wines to be tasted.
- Check the wines in that class against the list we have containing the brand, producer, origin, vintage, varietal etc. Ensure that the wines are in order of tasting and what wines are missing.
- Wash all glasses and dry them. I think we washed over 700 glasses.
- Prepare the spit buckets and feel them with sawdust. The sawdust is to prevent the wines from splashing out of the buckets when the judges spit into them. Place the buckets on carpets so that any dribbles won't tarnish the floor.
Checking the bottles
That's what we did for Day One and Two. Basically, it lots of checking and double checking that we will be serving the right wines in the right order, otherwise, we would be giving the awards to a different wine producer since the judges do not know the wines they are tasting except for the grape type and vintage.
Look at all these wines
Day Three to Five
The judges came in at 8.30 in the morning. The judges make up some of the best and seasoned palates in Australia so this is serious business. They have a lot of reputation going for them here. They sat around the table and the chairman started his brief.
How does the wine judging work? Each class of wine is made up of one panel of judges. One panel consists of three judges and one associate judge. The associate's score does not count and his purpose of being there is to score the wines and see if it is consistent to the other judges. The associate is there to learn from the senior judges.
The wines are graded using a 20 point system split into units of 0.5. A wine being given a score of 15.5-16.9 is a bronze, 17 - 18.4 is a silver and 18.5-20 is a gold. The wines are judged bsed on 3 criteria, colour (max 3 points), aroma (max 7 points) and taste(10 points). So an average is usually 15 points and anything below 15 points is usually considered below average due to several reasons like a wine fault, out of balance, not up to the style which the judges are looking for etc. More than one medal can be awarded to each class and no medals if all the wines in that class do not reach the desired quality. Next time when you see a gold medal on the bottle, you know that it doesn't mean that it won all the rest of the other wines in the same class.
Usually the judges who are judging each class of wines would discuss and lay down the criteria of what they are looking for and people's tastes for that class. With that in mind, they will run through each wine invidually and write their notes and points on the sheets provided.
The judges are busy
During this gruelling exercise, they may call the stewards to pour them another glass to analyse the wine again or to open a second bottle if they suspect a fault in the wine such as cork taint or oxidation. All the pouring of the wine is done in the back room. The judges are not to know who has made the wine.
Once everyone in that class is done, they would regroup and combine their scores and calculate the final score out of sixty. In this period, they would look for discrepancies in each other's score. For example, if one judges score is 15 and the other is 19, they would have to work it out among themselves and give reasons to support their scores. If none of them can come to a consensus, the chairman would step in to decide what the score should be for that wine.
Finally, they would single out the best wine in that class by having the stewards repour all the wines which have scored fantastically for that class and go through each of them one by one to select the winner.
So as the judges are debating and discussing on the score, we stewards would have to clear all the glasses on their table, start washing them and setting up for the next class. The wonderful thing being a steward is that we are allowed to taste the wines(providing if we spit) that are already opened while the judges are scoring the wines.
We would break for lunch at around one plus. The food that they serve the judges and the stewards is a small gourmet buffet. Pretty fancy if you ask me with meat, seafood, salads, small assorted dessert and cheeses. I could get used to this. We also got to take home some of the bottles at the end of the show.
The judges and us at the end of the show. What a bunch of nice people.
Toni Paterson MW, Gary Baldwin with the cap, Huon Hooke - wine writer of SMH, Chris Smales of Blue Pyrenees,Caton Hicks of Langton's, Peter Leske, Philip Shaw and Peter Dredge of Petuluma (hands of his hips). The other stewards , James (bending, Julian (on the second right), and Jeremy (far right).
Julian, James, Judith aka CEO of the wineshow, me and Jeremy
At the end of the three days of judging, the judges would get to together and taste the top wines of each class. This time there isn't any 20 point system. They would rank the wines in sequence for example, if there are seven wines, they would rank the wines from one to seven. Then, they add up their total scores and decide the Wine of the Show.
Toni Paterson MW and me. My wine idol.
After the whole show is done, it's cleaning up, packing the glasses back in the boxes, clearing out all the wine bottles in the backroom and making the room look the same as it was before we used it. What a wonderful experience.
Below is a list of the results. Look out for some of these bottles in your shops.
2009 wine wards results
Wine of Show Dan Murphy’s Trophy: Blind River Wines Pinot Noir 2007 (NZ)
Estate Grown and Produced AABW Trophy: Stanton & Killeen Grand Muscat NV (VIC)
Top of Class Wines
Class 1. No 1 Family Estate NV (NZ)
Class 2. Rumball Vintage Sparkling Shiraz 1997 (SA)
Class 3. Saddler’s Creek Semillon 2005 (NSW)
Class 4. Blind River Wines, The Sisters Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (NZ)
Class 5. Hamelin Bay Chardonnay 2007 (WA)
Class 6. Eden Springs High Eden Riesling 2007 (SA)
Class 7. Swish Wine Tin Soldier Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (NSW)
Class 8. Johanneshof Cellars Marlborough Gewurztraminer 2008 (NZ)
Class 9. Knee Deep Rose 2008 (WA)
Class 10. Blind River Wines Pinot Noir 2007 (NZ)
Class 11. Protero Wines Gumeracha Merlot 2006 (SA)
Class 12. Protero Wines Gumeracha Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (SA)
Class 13a. Mulyan Shiraz Viognier 2006 (NSW)
Class 13. Harewood Estate Shiraz 2007 (WA)
Class 14. Neagles Rock Mr Duncan Cabernet Shiraz 2007 (SA)
Class 15. Pokolbin Estate Belebula Vineyard Tempranillo 2007 (NSW)
Class 16. Johanneshof Cellars Marlborough Noble Late Harvest Riesling 2007 (NZ)
Class 17. Stanton & Killeen Grand Muscat NV (VIC)
Day One and Two
We basically took care of the logistics by trasnporting the wines, glasses and other needed stuff to the venue. The event was held at ANZAC stadium at one of those VIP rooms overlooking the entire field.
The set-up
What we did was:
- Transport wines, glasses, and logistics to room
- Set up tables for wine judging. We covered the tables with paper and then plastic. On the plastic, we drew lines to indicate the areas where the different glasses of wine will be placed along with the numbers of the wine. Note that the judges do not know the wines they are tasting and they will only be able to identify what wines they are tasting according to the number that the glass of wine is sitting on.
- Separate the wines into different classes. For example, Shiraz can go to the Shiraz or Shiraz Viognier class, White wines and red wines are separated.
- Arrange the wines in order what is to be tasted from first to last. Then, label each bottle with a sticker. The sticker has the order number of the wines to be tasted.
- Check the wines in that class against the list we have containing the brand, producer, origin, vintage, varietal etc. Ensure that the wines are in order of tasting and what wines are missing.
- Wash all glasses and dry them. I think we washed over 700 glasses.
- Prepare the spit buckets and feel them with sawdust. The sawdust is to prevent the wines from splashing out of the buckets when the judges spit into them. Place the buckets on carpets so that any dribbles won't tarnish the floor.
Checking the bottles
That's what we did for Day One and Two. Basically, it lots of checking and double checking that we will be serving the right wines in the right order, otherwise, we would be giving the awards to a different wine producer since the judges do not know the wines they are tasting except for the grape type and vintage.
Look at all these wines
Day Three to Five
The judges came in at 8.30 in the morning. The judges make up some of the best and seasoned palates in Australia so this is serious business. They have a lot of reputation going for them here. They sat around the table and the chairman started his brief.
How does the wine judging work? Each class of wine is made up of one panel of judges. One panel consists of three judges and one associate judge. The associate's score does not count and his purpose of being there is to score the wines and see if it is consistent to the other judges. The associate is there to learn from the senior judges.
The wines are graded using a 20 point system split into units of 0.5. A wine being given a score of 15.5-16.9 is a bronze, 17 - 18.4 is a silver and 18.5-20 is a gold. The wines are judged bsed on 3 criteria, colour (max 3 points), aroma (max 7 points) and taste(10 points). So an average is usually 15 points and anything below 15 points is usually considered below average due to several reasons like a wine fault, out of balance, not up to the style which the judges are looking for etc. More than one medal can be awarded to each class and no medals if all the wines in that class do not reach the desired quality. Next time when you see a gold medal on the bottle, you know that it doesn't mean that it won all the rest of the other wines in the same class.
Usually the judges who are judging each class of wines would discuss and lay down the criteria of what they are looking for and people's tastes for that class. With that in mind, they will run through each wine invidually and write their notes and points on the sheets provided.
The judges are busy
During this gruelling exercise, they may call the stewards to pour them another glass to analyse the wine again or to open a second bottle if they suspect a fault in the wine such as cork taint or oxidation. All the pouring of the wine is done in the back room. The judges are not to know who has made the wine.
Once everyone in that class is done, they would regroup and combine their scores and calculate the final score out of sixty. In this period, they would look for discrepancies in each other's score. For example, if one judges score is 15 and the other is 19, they would have to work it out among themselves and give reasons to support their scores. If none of them can come to a consensus, the chairman would step in to decide what the score should be for that wine.
Finally, they would single out the best wine in that class by having the stewards repour all the wines which have scored fantastically for that class and go through each of them one by one to select the winner.
So as the judges are debating and discussing on the score, we stewards would have to clear all the glasses on their table, start washing them and setting up for the next class. The wonderful thing being a steward is that we are allowed to taste the wines(providing if we spit) that are already opened while the judges are scoring the wines.
We would break for lunch at around one plus. The food that they serve the judges and the stewards is a small gourmet buffet. Pretty fancy if you ask me with meat, seafood, salads, small assorted dessert and cheeses. I could get used to this. We also got to take home some of the bottles at the end of the show.
The judges and us at the end of the show. What a bunch of nice people.
Toni Paterson MW, Gary Baldwin with the cap, Huon Hooke - wine writer of SMH, Chris Smales of Blue Pyrenees,Caton Hicks of Langton's, Peter Leske, Philip Shaw and Peter Dredge of Petuluma (hands of his hips). The other stewards , James (bending, Julian (on the second right), and Jeremy (far right).
Julian, James, Judith aka CEO of the wineshow, me and Jeremy
At the end of the three days of judging, the judges would get to together and taste the top wines of each class. This time there isn't any 20 point system. They would rank the wines in sequence for example, if there are seven wines, they would rank the wines from one to seven. Then, they add up their total scores and decide the Wine of the Show.
Toni Paterson MW and me. My wine idol.
After the whole show is done, it's cleaning up, packing the glasses back in the boxes, clearing out all the wine bottles in the backroom and making the room look the same as it was before we used it. What a wonderful experience.
Below is a list of the results. Look out for some of these bottles in your shops.
2009 wine wards results
Wine of Show Dan Murphy’s Trophy: Blind River Wines Pinot Noir 2007 (NZ)
Estate Grown and Produced AABW Trophy: Stanton & Killeen Grand Muscat NV (VIC)
Top of Class Wines
Class 1. No 1 Family Estate NV (NZ)
Class 2. Rumball Vintage Sparkling Shiraz 1997 (SA)
Class 3. Saddler’s Creek Semillon 2005 (NSW)
Class 4. Blind River Wines, The Sisters Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (NZ)
Class 5. Hamelin Bay Chardonnay 2007 (WA)
Class 6. Eden Springs High Eden Riesling 2007 (SA)
Class 7. Swish Wine Tin Soldier Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2008 (NSW)
Class 8. Johanneshof Cellars Marlborough Gewurztraminer 2008 (NZ)
Class 9. Knee Deep Rose 2008 (WA)
Class 10. Blind River Wines Pinot Noir 2007 (NZ)
Class 11. Protero Wines Gumeracha Merlot 2006 (SA)
Class 12. Protero Wines Gumeracha Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (SA)
Class 13a. Mulyan Shiraz Viognier 2006 (NSW)
Class 13. Harewood Estate Shiraz 2007 (WA)
Class 14. Neagles Rock Mr Duncan Cabernet Shiraz 2007 (SA)
Class 15. Pokolbin Estate Belebula Vineyard Tempranillo 2007 (NSW)
Class 16. Johanneshof Cellars Marlborough Noble Late Harvest Riesling 2007 (NZ)
Class 17. Stanton & Killeen Grand Muscat NV (VIC)
Silk's Brasserie@Leura, NSW
I went to Leura near the Blue Mountains on 14/05/09 and had dinner at Silk's. What a fantastic meal it was. One of the best dining experiences I have had. It ain't Tetsuya's but it's still good. A must go if anyone wants to stay for a night at Leura.
Nice Ambience
To Start
Provençale fish soup + aioli, served with tempura-batter prawns on side $21: Fish stew was delicious. Had tomato purée and cream. Fish was well minced. Flavours would have been enhanced with chives. Tempura was done well with good salted batter. Crisy but batter seemed a little thin layered compared to Japan and peeled easily from prawns.
Main Course
Tenderloin of grain-fed beef on creamy mash with baby English spinach + black olive butter $36: Tenderloin Beef was cooked to perfection. The wine, which was a 2001 Canobolas-Smith Cab Sauv and Cab France blend from Orange, was too high in alch and the tannins needed to be softer to match a beef of this quality. A 13 to 13.5 % wine like a aged Bordeaux would be perfect. The beef had so much juice that I felt it overpowered the taste of my wine.
That's how well my beef was cooked. Medium rare.
Dessert
Warm bitter-sweet chocolate fondant served with chantilly cream + black cherries $15: Fondant was right in texture and taste. Well presented. Not too sugary. Delicious with port. I had a pickwick's NV tawny port with this. Best fondant I ever had in my life.
I paid about a 100 bucks for the meal but it was well worth. Good ambience and I loved the selection of jazz music played. Lighting was good too and the service was fantastic. Every dish was timely served.
Go to their website http://www.silksleura.com/ for more info on what they serve.
Nice Ambience
To Start
Provençale fish soup + aioli, served with tempura-batter prawns on side $21: Fish stew was delicious. Had tomato purée and cream. Fish was well minced. Flavours would have been enhanced with chives. Tempura was done well with good salted batter. Crisy but batter seemed a little thin layered compared to Japan and peeled easily from prawns.
Main Course
Tenderloin of grain-fed beef on creamy mash with baby English spinach + black olive butter $36: Tenderloin Beef was cooked to perfection. The wine, which was a 2001 Canobolas-Smith Cab Sauv and Cab France blend from Orange, was too high in alch and the tannins needed to be softer to match a beef of this quality. A 13 to 13.5 % wine like a aged Bordeaux would be perfect. The beef had so much juice that I felt it overpowered the taste of my wine.
That's how well my beef was cooked. Medium rare.
Dessert
Warm bitter-sweet chocolate fondant served with chantilly cream + black cherries $15: Fondant was right in texture and taste. Well presented. Not too sugary. Delicious with port. I had a pickwick's NV tawny port with this. Best fondant I ever had in my life.
I paid about a 100 bucks for the meal but it was well worth. Good ambience and I loved the selection of jazz music played. Lighting was good too and the service was fantastic. Every dish was timely served.
Go to their website http://www.silksleura.com/ for more info on what they serve.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)