by Fredric Koeppel
The Commercial Appeal Last week we reviewed a group of wines from Clos du Val in California's Napa Valley. The winery is owned by John Goelet; company president and director of wine operations is Frenchman Bernard Portet.
Clos du Val's sister winery, also owned by Goelet, is Taltarni, located at Moonambel in the Pyrenees mountain district of Victoria, in southeastern Australia, about 160 miles northwest of Melbourne. When Goelet sent Portet on a worldwide search for vineyard land in 1970, Portet visited Victoria's Pyrenees as well as the Napa Valley (and other sites around the world), and in 1972, when Goelet founded Clos du Val, he also started Taltarni, an Aboriginal word meaning "red earth."
Another link ties the wineries that exist so many time zones and latitudes apart . From 1976 to 1998, the manager at Taltarni was Bernard Portet's brother, Dominique. The winemaking team now consists of Chris Markell, the winery's chief executive, Shane Clohesy and Philippe Bru.
The Taltarni wines we see in the United States are the sauvignon blanc, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, as well as sparkling wines made at Moonambel and at Clover Hill in Tasmania.
The Taltarni Sauvignon Blanc 1999 is not only the Pick of the Week but a Bargain of the Year. You won't be able to resist this snappy wine's classic tarragon-thyme leafiness nor its intense citrus flavors with a drop of currant at the core. Also irresistible are its burgeoning camellia-honeysuckle scents and the remarkable creamy lushness you expect to find in a sauvignon blanc that costs twice as much. All this detail is riveted by zinging acid. About $10-$12.
Taltarni's Tache (imagine an accent over the "e") Brut is touched with a blush of coppery-salmon color and blessed with beguiling toasty fresh bread and strawberry scents; strawberry and orange zest flavors are bolstered by clean crisp acid for an effect that's ethereal and elevated. Excellent. About $21.
The Clover Hill Brut 1996 sports a limpid pale gold color and a big, rich, creamy bouquet; it's full-bodied, nutty, crisp and elegant together, mildly toasty, very spicy and imbued with a generous limestone element. Excellent. About $29.
Perfect with a roasted pork loin glazed with apple sauce, the Taltarni Shiraz 1997 is robust without being supercharged. Intense, fleshy blueberry-blackberry scents are touched with a powerful black pepper quality so specific that a pepper expert could probably identify the species. But, in the mouth, exotic spice and very ripe plum and boysenberry flavors don't quite hold a tide of supporting oak and tannin at bay. Excellent. About $16.
I first tasted the Taltarni Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 in Melbourne in October 1998, at a tasting of every vintage of Taltarni cabernet back to 1979. My impression today, retasting the wine, is of a wonderful bouquet of lavender and violets, black currant, black raspberry and black cherry with a sheen of olive and thyme; in the mouth, as is the case with most Taltarni cabernets, the wine is firm and solid, expansively endowed with the underbrush, forest and dried mushroom elements that result from judicious oak aging. Enjoyable now but better in two to five years when the flavors develop. About $16.
Here are my brief notes about 18 vintages of Taltarni cabernet sauvignon wines:
1996
Very young; creamy oak, dust and tar, core of potpourri; lots of concentrated black currant, plum and black cherry; tight but luscious. Excellent potential.
1995
Dried herbs and walnut meal, lavender and tar; appealing in nose but reticent in mouth; bigger and edgier than '96. Very good+.
1994
Dried herbs, slightly mossy, muted floral element; heaps of walnut meal and forest floor; smooth but all about structure now. Very good.
1993
Carries forward the reticent theme; oak, spice, black cherry and currant but leans toward austerity. Very good.
1992
Clean earth and minerals, wheat meal and beet-root, slightly leafy and cedary; very big structure. Very good+, perhaps, but wait and see.
1991
Oaky, dusty, floral bouquet, tar and minerals; plenty of tannin and firm oak for structure, a bit creamy, plum, cassis and black cherry. Excellent.
1990
Lovely; damp leaves, cedar, anise and lavender; tons of black cherry fruit; solid but almost voluptuous, almost velvety; years to go. Great wine.
1989 Beguiling bouquet of spicy cassis and black cherry; sweetly ripe, cool minerals; intense and luscious, almost furry, great intensity, liveliness and length. Excellent.
1988
Much more closed than '89 and '90, very dense but lacking resonance and depth. Very good-.
1987
Core of sweet black fruit and potpourri opens reluctantly; primarily focused on density and structure. Very good potential in short-term.
1986
An extremely fragrant bouquet of earth and minerals, intensely plummy and cedary, that turns rather wet and doggy; lively in the mouth, bright, vivid flavors, but altogether doesn't quite work. Very good-.
1985
Initially attractive and lively but becomes quite dry, austere and astringent. Where's the fruit?
1984
Mint and minerals, cedar, earth and ripe, roasted black fruit; a big, slightly austere wine but mellow and creamy. Excellent.
1983
Tough and voluptuous together; rich, cool, ripe and minerally, sweet black currant and raspberry; a hard edge on the finish; excellent nonetheless.
1982
Rich, warm and wheaty; plum, cranberry and blackberry, lots of tannin but balanced by flavor. Excellent.
1981
Very solid, a tad resiny, minerals, tar and cedar; very firm in the mouth but not astringent; fruit fading. Very good.
1980
Cedar, leather and tobacco, stewed plums, roasted and fleshy, gets quite earthy, a tide of astringency comes up. Could actually age a year or two. Very good+.
1979
Attractive, mellow, smooth, ripe and nutty, cool with minerals; good structure and flavors but not much complexity. Very good+.
(E-mail koeppel@gomemphis.com or write The Commercial Appeal, PO Box 134, Memphis, TN 38101.)
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