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Ray Jordan rates Woodlands No. 1 at Bordeaux Wilyabrup tasting
I suppose if you’re going to take on the world’s best head-to-head, you’d probably better make sure you have the artillery to at least make a contest. Not much point, I would have thought, if one shot across your bow has you running for cover.
No, you’d want to make sure you could return fire. The Watson family, which runs Margaret River’s Woodlands, needn’t have worried when they faced off against the greatest names of Bordeaux.
OK, they made sure that in the trenches with them were some of the heavyweights of Margaret River, so whether it was bombing some heavy fruit in to the opposition or engaging in hand-to-hand, they were well armed for a scrap.
But given the exceptional quality of their Woodlands Emilie May 2002 cabernet sauvignon, I’m sure they could have brought down some of the big names of Bordeaux to their knees.
Before you accuse me of drifting off into a column of indulgence, let me strike a pre-emptive blow by saying that the results of the tasting will hopefully allow you to put the values of our own home-grown wines into perspective. Yes, for Australian wines Margaret River is considered pretty exxy but, when stacked up against wines selling for more than 10 times the price, they are almost bargain basement.
And in these days of globalization, just as Bordeaux can be considered to produce wines for the world, so too can Margaret River.
So, to the tasting. The wines were all cabernet sauvignon or cabernet blends from the 2002 vintage in Bordeaux and Margaret River. The lead-up to the 2002 vintage in Margaret River was one of the coolest on record while Bordeaux, though initially cool, had a long Indian summer. After all the points were collected from the 20 or so lucky enough to be at the tasting, the Chateau Margaux emerged as the favourite wine – obviously some people like the afterburners in the oak barrels, though I have to admit it was a super wine.
This is where it gets interesting. Against the likes of Mouton Rothschild, Latour, Lafite and Haut-Brion, the next two wines, in order, were from Margaret River – the Woodlands and the Gralyn.
And for what it’s worth, my preferred wine of the night was the Woodlands. Not surprising really because it was my wine of the year last year. The Gralyn too, is a terrific wine and clearly reflects the impact of those old dry-grown cabernet vines from which it’s sourced.
Woodlands were one of the 'first wave' of wineries to set up in the Margaret River in the early 1970s and today that heritage is in the capable hands of Andrew and Stuart Watson, sons of the pioneering David.
An Australian winery at Wilyabrup, in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia. Established in 1973 by David and Heather Watson, it held its first vintage in 1978, and by the end of 1982 had won trophies at wine shows in Mount Barker, Perth and Canberra with its Cabernet Sauvignon .In the latter part of the 1980s and the early 1990s, Woodlands sold all of its harvest to other Margaret River wineries. In 1999, the Watsons began a major expansion program. Two years later, Woodlands opened a cellar door, and rejuvenated its own label. Since then, Woodlands wines have received international acclaim
Holding hue well; medium-bodied; classic cassis and blackcurrant, with fine, ripe tannins running through the length of the palate, and controlled French oak. 94/100 James Halliday
Wine Maker's Note
2002 was a cool dry growing season in Margaret River. Our Cabernet Sauvignon yielded a mere 1.2 tonnes per acre while our Malbec yielded 2 tonnes per acre. The low crops provided fruit of extraordinary density and integrity.
Our 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Malbec. In late April, the parcels of fruit for our Cabernet Sauvignon were crushed into 2 small open fermentors. The wine was fermented at temperatures ranging from 20 to 24 degrees Celsius, and was pumped over four times a day. Near the end of primary fermentation, the wine was pressed and transferred into new French oak barrels to complete primary fermentation in barrel.
Following primary fermentation, the wine was racked and returned to oak where it underwent malolactic fermentation. When the wine had completed malolactic fermentation, the wine was racked again and transferred back into barrel. Our 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon remained in new French oak for a total of 24 months.This wine has been bottled with 54mm chateau corks. Peak drinking from 2012-2023, with the potential to cellar till 2026.
Tasting Notes on Release:
This wine has a intense rich purple colour. The nose shows lifted primary characters of mint, cassis and blackberry. The nose also shows dusty ‘pencil shavings’ fine grained French oak characters enhanced by vanilla and cedary notes. The palate is tight, restrained and powerful. The sweet fruit characters of the palate mirror the nose, while the tannins are mouth coating, long, and ripe.
The wine finishes cool and elegant. Still tight and reserved, this wine shows amazing intensity and power.
Tasting Note September 2010:
Deep crimson colour
The nose shows lifted mint, mulberry, cassis and white spices.
The palate is balanced, with primary characters of mulberry, blackberry and red fruits combining with cinnamon and white spice notes. The tannins are long and the wine finishes cool in the mouth. Excellent.
Hold
http://www.woodlandswines.com.au/Wines/ArchiveWines.aspx?wineid=91
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