A very interesting tasting today with Chris Hatcher, chief winemaker of Beringer Blass in Australia, revealed that the company is very serious about elevating itself in the quality stakes. The two brands whose forthcoming releases impressed me most were Jamieson’s Run and Wolf Blass. In particular, I’m now convinced that despite some issues regarding the consistency of the bottlings of 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2001 Shiraz, that this brand is being pushed in the direction of excellence. There is an excellent 2001 Reserve in the pipeline, plus another ‘ultra-premium’ Jamiesons Run label of considerable quality. I won’t steal the company’s thunder on this, but the rather plump but beautifully balanced 2001 vintage shares much in common with some top-notch California cabernets. I’m also impressed that having decided that the Platinum Label Shiraz should sit above the Black Label red in the pricing stakes, that its 2001 and 2002 vintage releases will build on some fine previous and current wines. I’m especially taken by the elegance and power of the sample of 2002 that I tasted, which reminded me of another fine 2002 Adelaide Hills shiraz to look for, to be released under the (entirely unrelated) Shaw and Smith label. I’ve long been critical of this company for having too many wines crowded around similar levels of price and quality, and for even having its best wines priced considerably cheaper than its most expensive. Now, I’m convinced that the wheel is turning in the right direction.
