Taltarni Shiraz 1981 Wholesale Price $145.00 It’s not terribly often that a wine of this nature re-appears for sale, especially when targetted so deliberately to the restaurant market. Taltarni’s red wines are legendary for their muscle, flavour and texture – all of which adds up to a package barely ready to drink by the time most consumers see it and buy it first time around. With eight years of cellaring under its belt, the 1981 Taltarni French Syrah is ready to go, although I believe another three years or so would do it no harm whatsoever. It is marginally out of the Taltarni mould, with perhaps a little more elegance and a little less rigidity than the label would have you expect. But here, for the restaurateur desperate for something with a little personality and bottle-age which was not made by one of the larger companies, is the perfect solution for the wine list. I don’t mean to denigrate the wines of the Penfolds, Lindemans and Orlandos etc., but these days it is a challenge indeed to find other companies prepared to cellar their wines for any length of time prior to release. Taltarni has just celebrated ten years since its first red wine release and a recent tasting of all the shiraz and cabernet sauvignon bottled under their label reveals a successful story of skill and patience. Patience indeed. It’s just what you require to establish a wine company with a financial future and exactly what is required if you purchase a bottle of young Taltarni rouge. The tasting merely underlined what I and many people expected all along – the wait is worth it. Taltarni is one of the most important Victorian wineries. Found near Moonambel in the picturesque Pyrenees ranges, Taltarni is managed by Frenchman Dominique Portet, whose brother, Bernard, performs a similar role at the well-known Californian property of Clos du Val in the Napa Valley. Born and bred in Bordeaux, Portet’s red wines exhibit a combination of structure and finesse rare in Australia. Like the wines of his birthplace, they respond in mean fashion to an extended sentence in the cellar. I tried the wine with crayfish mornay and found it perfect. It will suit fuller-flavoured seafoods and white meats, even with rich and creamy sauces. It would also be close to heaven with mascaponi cheese and a bunch of fresh grapes. Distribution is via Caldbecks.
