It’s not very often that you experience one of the greatest tastings of your life in the company of a winemaker who no longer works for the company whose wines he is showing you. Even rarer, when the winemaker in question departed the services of the company in question under something that at very least, could be described as a black cloud. But time is a healer, individuals have moved on, the Barossa Valley’s future has been secured and Peter Lehmann is today again a very proud former winemaker for Saltram. Seeking to arrange a tasting to demonstrate to key elements of the English wine media that Australian wine is indeed about the same sense of history, place, feeling and terroir as anything Europe can produce, I spent an extraordinary afternoon not only with Peter and Margaret Lehmann, but also with the keys to his cellar. Needless to say, I’d like to think I did myself proud in what I chose, for if there is better mature Barossa red lying beneath the Lehmann kitchen, I’d like to be there when it’s opened. Nobody could experience this tasting without feeling better about the Barossa, its wines and their longevity, its place amongst the world’s most significant wine regions and in its inherent ability to shape its own wines as much as any winemaker might try to. From one of the best Barossa cabernets I have ever tasted, Lehmann also presented some shirazes from the firmer and the finer ends of the spectrum. The firm and relatively youthful Saltram Bin 71/70 Shiraz 1971 epitomises what Australians used to know as ‘Claret’, while the HP (Hydraulic Press) Shiraz 1970 is the definitive Australian ‘Burgundy’. The Bin 06 Shiraz Grenache Mataro 1966 and the ORC Shiraz Grenache Mataro 1962 serve to remind us that the Barossa has been making fine and long-living Rh̫ne blends for at least as long as anywhere else in the New World, while the imaginative blend between Shiraz and Muscadelle from 1966 heralds a new concept on the Peter Lehmann drawing-board. The fact that the Bin 18 Shiraz from 1957, only three years short of its half-century, remains in such fine condition today should be enough to dispel any doubts concerning the longevity of warm-climate Australian reds. My sincere thanks to PL for his old wines and his willingness to open them, and to Margaret for another memorable luncheon of authentic and utterly delicious Barossa fare. Saltram Bin 123 Cabernet Sauvignon 1975 19.1 Fullish red brown in colour, with a sweet, cedary fragrance of violets, cassis and dark chocolates, with suggestions of capsicum and vanilla. Smooth and supple, tight-knit and supremely refined, its long and silky palate sits astride a firm spine of fine, bony tannins. There’s some appealing meaty complexity about this elegant cooler year Barossa cabernet that exudes tightness, balance and structure. Drink 2015-2025+. Saltram HP (Hydraulic Press) Shiraz 1973 18.3 An earthy perfume of mulberries, cassis and black pepper, with suggestions of cream and chocolate, plus a whiff of mint and medicine. Powerful, firm and generous, with a sweet, almost smooth centre before a drying and rather tarry finish of firm tannins and tarry licorice flavours. Not a rough edge in sight. Drink 2003-2013. Saltram Bin 71/70 Shiraz 1971 18.6 Deepish red-brown, richly endowed with deep scents of prunes and treacle, tar and blackberries, dark chocolate and a whiff of iodide. Robust, ripe and masculine structure of exceptional depth and weight, profoundly flavoured with dark berries, plums and prunes, finishing long and dry. Drink 2001-2011+. Saltram Bin 88 Shiraz 1971 18.2 Deep, browning red, with a rather cooked, tarry bouquet of briary dark fruits, prunes and chocolate. Very firm and extracted, with concentrated, tarry and spicy – if not especially complex – flavours of slightly stewed plums and prunes. Very powerful and full of impact, but not especially long. Drink 2001-2011. Saltram HP (Hydraulic Press) Shiraz 1970 19.2 Fullish red-brown in colour, with a mature and complex perfume of smoky cedar and camphor, walnuts and licorice, cassis and dark plums, plus an ethereal scent suggestive of viognier. There’s smoothness and softness, almost a fatness about this juicy, supple old-fashioned Australian burgundy style, while it’s tightly framed by velvet-smooth tannins. Balanced and willowy, it’s beautifully crafted and surprisingly youthful. Drink 2000-2010+. Saltram Bin 06 Shiraz Grenache Mataro 1966 19.0 Deep, meaty Barossa blend whose deepish tawny red appearance and evolved bouquet of tarry black fruits, licorice and animal hide precedes a sumptuous and assertive but tightly integrated palate of structure and astringency. Constantly changing in the glass, it’s exceptionally youthful, finishing long and savoury. Drink 2006-2016+. Saltram Bin 42 Shiraz Muscadelle 1966 17.3 Medium to full mature red-amber, with a sweet and tarry bouquet of licorice allsorts, musky animal scents and dark, rather jammy plums and berries, with an unexpected whiff of rancio. Almost port-like, the palate is warm, pruney and spirity; rich, ripe and assertive. Remarkably firm and youthful, it isn’t however hugely complex. Drink 1996-2006. Saltram Mamre Brook Shiraz Cabernet 1963 18.8 Firm, textured red of structure and balance with a fullish browning red hue. There’s a smoky bonfire note beneath its tarry bouquet of mocha, chocolate and game meat. Asssertive, smooth and sumptuous, it’s rich and creamy, superbly integrated and seamless, with an excellent length of mature, but lively fruit and a firm finish. Drink 1993-2003. Saltram ORC Shiraz Grenache Mataro 1962 18.2 Medium amber red, with a sweet and lightly tarry fragrance of chocolate, cinnamon and animal hide. Supple, smooth and creamy, quite sweet and spirity, perhaps lacking in length but offering pleasing richness and flavour. Beginning to dry out. Drink 1982-1992+. Saltram Bin 18 Shiraz 1957 18.6 Very mature, with only the smallest suggestion of breaking up, this smoky, leathery old shiraz has a fullish red-brown hue and a fragrance of camphor, ground coffee and chocolate. Smooth and creamy, it’s long and savoury despite a lingering fruit sweetness that reflects the wine’s brightness and freshness. Drink 1987-1997+. Peter Lehmann Bin 80/2000 Vintage Port 1979 18.8 Deep, dark rusting red with an intense, spicy fragrance of cassis, plums and licorice, now developing sweet earthy and meaty complexity. Wild, spicy, spirity and elegant, full in flavour but finishing spicy, savoury and meaty, with lingering confiture-like cassis and chocolate flavours. Classic Australian expression of Vintage Port; sweet and voluptuous, made with excellent and now mature and integrated fortifying spirit. Drink 2009-2019. Peter Lehmann Old Redemption Tawny Port NV 19.3 Medium amber-brown, this superbly unctuous, concentrated and spirity old tawny port style has a musky, mature fragrance of liqueured citrus fruits, nuts and rancio. As voluptuous as a port can be, smooth and creamy, it culminates in a slightly drying, savoury finish of walnuts, spirit and lingering fruit sweetness. Still amazingly vibrant and alive, despite its not insignificant, if indeterminate age.
