Penfolds Grange vertical tasting at Wine Watch

Wine Watch (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) consistently offers interesting wine tasting events to its customer base and the recent Penfolds Grange Collectors Tasting was in keeping with that tradition. The event was divided into two components:

1. A Penfolds Grange vertical tasting
2. A five-course dinner accompanied by non-Grange Penfolds wines

This was a limited-attendee event with the wines on offer sourced from the cellars of the attendees, no duplicate vintages allowed. The vintages included in the tasting were 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2013, and 2014.

My offering was the 2004. As advised by Wine Watch, I took the bottle out of the rack on the evening before the tasting and stood it up to allow the sediment to go to the bottom. I had to travel from Orlando to Ft Lauderdale, so I double-decanted the wine prior to the start of my journey.

Unlike recent tastings that I have attended at Wine Watch, this one was held in the retail space rather than the wine bar. Pre-tasting socializing was facilitated bottles of 2015 Penfolds Bin 51 Riesling and the 2017 Penfolds Chardonnay Max's Cuvée South Australia.

The Bin 51 was originally introduced in 1990 and is made from fruit sourced from Eden Valley. I was so taken by this wine that I brought some home with me that night. This wine was all about lemon, lime, and minerality to begin with. With residence in the glass, petrol and green herb notes began to emerge. Dry and weighty with citrus flavors and a long mineral finish.

The Chardonnay is a tribute to Max Schubert, the "legendary" Penfolds wine maker, and is made with fruit sourced from Adelaide Hills in South Australia. Herby funk on the nose along with mint. Bright on the palate with lime and dried herb flavors and minerality. Weighty. Drying finish.

Suitably lubricated, we were shown to our seats where Andrew introduced the event, the wines, and the Penfolds Brand Ambassador.

The 1997 Grange was 96% Shiraz and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, made with fruit drawn from Kalimna, Barossa Valley, McLaren-Vale, and Bordertown. This wine was aged for 20 months in new French oak. A somewhat challenging vintage combining a cool start to the season with high heat in the summer.

A elegant nose with dark fruit, baking spices,  and rust. Open on the palate with tar, orange liqueur, herbs and spices. Long creamy finish. Great acid level in this wine. This turned out to be my WOTN.

The 1999 Grange was made from Shiraz grapes grown in Kalimna, Barossa, Magill Estate, Mclaren-Vale, and Padthaway. This was the first 100% Shiraz Grange since 1963. This wine was aged for 17 months in new French oak.

Elegant and restrained. Baking spices, herbs and red fruit on the nose. Broader-based on the palate with red fruit, licorice, dried herbs, and a long, creamy finish.

The 2000 Grange was another 100% Shiraz and, together with the 2001, the only vintages made with grapes only from Kalimna and the Barossa Valley. Some rain between Christmas and New Years but very dry and very hot until March.

Eucalyptus, green herbs, black fruit, baking spices, leather and licorice on the nose. Black fruit, black olives, mint, chocolate on the palate. Smooth tannins. Finish not as long as the preceding wines.

The 2001 Grange was 99% Shiraz and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon from Kalimna and Barossa Valley. Aged for 17 months in New American oak. Good red wine vintage conditions.

Core of black fruit surrounded by eucalyptus, mint, tobacco, and cassis. Rich on the palate with sweet fruit, tobacco, and dark chocolate. Great acidity. I liked this wine.

The 2003 vintage was initially warm and dry, becoming milder later in the season. The wine was 97% Shiraz with the remainder Cabernet Sauvignon. Matured for 15 months in new American oak.

Florality accompanying dark fruit, herbs, mint and baking spices. Mint, black cherries, cassis, and black olives on the palate. Medium-bodied with medium acid levels.

Two thousand and four was an almost perfect growing season and, as such, delivered near-perfect fruit from Kalimna, Barossa Valley, McLaren-Vale, and Magill Estate. 96% Shiraz matured for 16 months in 100% new American oak .

Hint of oxidative character, orange skin, anise, black cherries, black tea, tar, herbs, and spices on the nose. Nose carries through to the palate. Balanced with long finish. One of the classic Grange's in my estimation.

The 2013 and 2014 were still way too young for my style and for this wine. These wines were 96% and 98% Shiraz, respectively, and spent 20 months in new American oak. Massive powerful, primary with Eucalyptus and dark fruit. Thick, rich with bright, fruity finishes.

The wines on offer showed well but it would have been nice to have seen some older vintages. My favorite Granges of the night were the 1997, 1999 and 2004. I will cover the dinner phase of the evening in a subsequent post.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Wine Watch Wine Bar (Fort Lauderdale, FL): A welcome addition to a wine bar desert

Wine Watch is a "boutique" wine retailer located at 901 Progresso Drive in the Flagler Village section of Fort Lauderdale. The store, for me, has been characterized by a lack of external signage, a nondescript exterior, no visible/easily detectable entrance, and, once you enter, a wide range of wines from around the world scattered throughout the darkened interior on a mix of shelves, carts, boxes, etc. That being said, this is one of the few retail establishments in Florida where you can walk in and buy very old vintages off the shelf.

The store is well known for its winemaker dinners and other wine-themed events. Wine-tasting dinners, when held on site, were squeezed into a devoted area in the shop. There is no kitchen so these events were always a logistical challenge.

No more. As of June of this year, Wine Watch has opened an honest-to-goodness wine bar just down 3rd Street from the retail store.

Location of new Wine Watch Wine Bar shown in relation to the
wine shop

I was unaware of this development so when I went to last Thursday's Aldo Conterno dinner, and I got there early, I went into a bar down the street to pass the time. And, as in the case of the retail shop, there was no external signage to alert me to the fact that such an entity existed.

As it got close to the time for the dinner (and I saw no cars outside the retail shop), I called to double check as to where the event was going to be held. I was told at the wine bar across from the retail shop.

As I stepped through the door, this amazing tapestry unfolded before my eyes. Beautiful wood floor; OWC ceilings; front walls adorned with original bottle labels (many signed by producers); cork-and-bottle chandeliers; lots and lots of racks containing neatly stacked bottles; a well-appointed bar to the left front; beautifully appointed and apportioned customer spaces; and, in the distance, a full kitchen.

Wine-label festooned walls

Cork-and-bottle chandeliers

According to Andrew (Lampasone, Proprietor), the bar is open Wednesday to Saturday in the evenings and he is trying to get patrons acclimatized to that schedule. Friday night folks tend to bring great bottles from their cellar to share and Saturday is "Brown-Bag Day" for those willing to participate.

The wines on display in the shelves are available for purchase by the bottle but there is also a phenomenal by-the-glass program. For example, on the night after the dinner, they were going to be serving 1995 L'Evangile out of magnum by the glass. All BTG wines are opened fresh each day.

For our event, a long table was set up to the back left of the bar. The setup was pleasing to the eye. The one shortcoming was a lack of separation between the participants in the dinner and the other patrons. From time to time it was difficult to hear what the winemaker was saying.

I tasted three dishes from the kitchen and each was extremely good.

This is a welcome addition to a wine bar desert with the only other wine bar of substance (now heavily outclassed) in the area being Vienna Cafe and Wine Bar in Davie. I will be visiting this bar frequently.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme