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Pinot Gris 'Clos Windsbuhl'..... Brokenwood, 'Graveyard Vineyard'.....


22-Aug-98

Saturday special dinner for a rare visit of my 'Kibbutznik' brother Rami, his wife Dalit and their three kids Shahar, Rotem and Nir. Not that they don't live well in their Kibbutz, but the delicious dinner Dorit prepared and the wines are not exactly your everyday Kibbutz fare...

Halved cherry tomatoes stuffed with quail eggs
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Shrimps al 'Pil Pil'
1995 Pinot Gris 'Clos Windsbuhl', Zind-Humbrecht
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Beef Stroganoff
1993 Shiraz 'Graveyard', Brokenwood
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Exotic fruit compote


Pinot Gris 'Clos Windsbuhl' 1995 Zind-Humbrecht

8/98. Bought in auction Nov-97 for $65 (Imported for $85 net).
I don't get to drink as much good Alsace wines as I would like to. The Pinot Gris (or Tokay d'Alsace as it is called locally) is less flashier than the top Alsace varietals, the Riesling, Gewurztraminer and the aromatic Muscat. It lends itself well to the sweet and concentrated Vendange Tardive and SGN forms, but this bottle is supposed to be dry.
COLOR: Medium golden yellow with a greenish tint. Looks viscous and fat. A few tiny bubbles cling to interior of the glass.
NOSE: Full, supple, mellow aromas. Not much of the 'vineyard-nose' so typical of Alsatian Riesling, Gewurz and Muscat, but nevertheless complex and extremely enticing bouquet with hints of minerals, flowers and honey.
TASTE: Not completely dry but certainly not sweet. More rich and fat than sweet, but mouthfilling and savoury with a touch of honey at the end. Played a beautiful kontrapunkt with the mildly spicy and delicious shrimp dish.
LENGTH: Very long honey-flavored aftertaste.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: At 14% alcohol this is a full bodied white wine. Rich and viscous texture and taste. What it lacks in freshness and acidity it brings out in richness and complexity.
OVERALL: Superb! A good Meursault found in Alsace? :)) I feel that in spite of its low acidity, the wine will continue to develop in the next 3-5 years.
MARK: 18/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Yes.


'Graveyard Vineyard' Shiraz 1993 Brokenwood

8/98. Present from my Sydney-based dad, received March-98.
Both my father and whatever material I could find on the web suggest this is one of Australia's top wines. My father warned me this wine takes years to mature. But as I have three bottles I decided to try one.
The label actually says Graveyard Vineyard 'Hermitage', but I find it hard to adopt such a sacrilege. You Aussies out there - Hermitage is in the Northern Rhone, not in the Hunter Valley...
COLOR: Very dark, almost opaque purple-red with hardly any clearing around the rim.
NOSE: Deep and concentrated, but of... wood. All I can think of is that someone shoved my head into a smoky wood oven. Heavy fruit is there too, but everything is soooooo overshadowed by oak to the point of unpleasantness.
TASTE: If the nose was dominated by oak, the taste is oak and tannins! Both as harsh as I ever tasted. There is jammy fruit and plenty of winyness there, but the oak and tannins make it simply hard to drink...
LENGTH: Did I say oak?
TEXTURE & BALANCE: A concentrated blockbuster that - at the present at least - is so out of balance that I see no point in analyzing it. Let there be no mistake here though. This is a giant wine, with tons of everything. I know, the simplest "way out" is to say given enough bottle age, it will shed its monstrous tannins and some of its oak. Perhaps. I sure hope so. But somehow I don't believe a wine that can be so undrinkable at 5 years will ever become finely balanced.
OVERALL: Many years ago I (and Dorit too) did not care for Australian wines for the very same 'qualities' that are here. Then I had the good fortune to taste quite a few wines that were both tasty, complex and balanced. This here Brokenwood 'Graveyard' (what a name!) brought back old unpleasant memories.
MARK: 14/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? No.

I know many Australians visit my web site. I would be very grateful if anyone who had this specific wine recently will chime in with his/her take.


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Jacob "Yak" Shaya.