If you are a small winery, it takes considerable foresight to keep enough museum stock to celebrate the first 30 years of wine production. Having reached the milestone, it took unusual courage for the Pyrenees winery Dalwhinnie to present unbroken vertical tastings of its two main wines, the Moonambel Shiraz and Moonambel Cabernet Sauvignon.
One of the problems is the vagaries of the cork, and the near certainty that there will be bottle-to-bottle variation that will become more obvious as the wines age. This must have been the case with the ’86 Cabernet Sauvignon I tasted. In a dress rehearsal in February that included the winemaking team, the wine was rated past its best, lacking concentration on the mid-palate, and a dry to slightly unripe finish. The bottle opened for the October tasting stood out like a beacon as the best wine from the ’80s, full of life and delicious, cassis-accented cabernet fruit. On the other side, both bottles of the ’88 at the February tasting were considered faulty.
Moving on to (much) better things, there was the consistency that only comes from a distinguished single vineyard source that also reflects the quality of the vintage. To reinforce the courage – integrity may be a better word – of owners David and Jenny Jones, there was no spin. By way of example, ’89 was “a cool, wet year, tricky vintage”, the ’90 “a classic year, the wine virtually making itself in the vineyard”.
Sod’s Law led to this summary of ’09: “Our 30th vintage happened to be the driest and toughest on record. There were two massive, prolonged heatwaves that scorched the foliage and grapes. No chardonnay was made and very small volumes of very well structured red wines.” Having subsequently tasted the ’10 reds, I can promise you some great wines will be released this year.
Finally, there is the beautiful chardonnay from 2010, and the single block super-cuvees of shiraz: Eagle (since ’86), Southwest Rocks (since ’03), and Pinnacle (since ’08). Dalwhinnie only knows how to make great wines.
2010 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Chardonnay
Light, bright green-straw; there is a precision and clarity about the wine that puts it in a class of its own, as its line spears through from the first sip to the aftertaste without any break whatsoever. Unfairly, stands in the shadow of the red wines of Dalwhinnie. Screwcap.
13.5% alc; 94 points; drink to 2018; $42
2010 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Cabernet
Classic Dalwhinnie style with abundant aromas, fruit on the fore-palate likewise; tightens up on the finish with tannin grip that will relax as the years go by. Shiraz is easy to please in the vineyard, cabernet more demanding, but seldom fails to succeed at Dalwhinnie. Screwcap.
14.5% alc; 95 points; drink to 2030; $50
2010 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz
Typical deep crimson-purple; intense dark berry fruit aromas join with quality French oak on the bouquet, the svelte palate adding perfectly balanced and integrated tannins; top-class finish and aftertaste; purity and power. It was one of the first examples of cool, continental climate shiraz to gain public acclaim. Screwcap.
13.5% alc; 96 points; drink to 2035; $58 wine.
