Mount Langi Ghiran
JUST returning from a weekend of pure indulgence visiting the Mt Langi winery and vineyards nestled in the ranges on the southern edge of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria.
The vineyards are spectacularly set at the base of a 540 metre cliff face extending down the side of ‘Mount Langi Ghiran’, which is the Aboriginal name for home of the Yellow tailed cockatoo. Unfortunately I never actually got to see the cliff face or Mt Langi Ghiran as I was in Victoria and needless to say it rained for 90 per cent of the weekend.I wasn’t, however, at Mt Langi to see the view, I was more interested in a tasting that included 16 vintages of Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz one of Australia’s icon wines made by Trevor Mast. The first vintage was in 1978 and was made in a pure concrete tank and was even on release almost undrinkable. The following year Trevor convinced the Italian owners to build new concrete tanks and give them a wax coating, thus preventing the raw concrete effecting the wine. The rest they say is history and the wine continues to be one of the collectable Australian Shiraz wines. There were many highlights of the tasting however it was the 1986 that was simply stunning. Here is my tasting note.
Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz 1986 19/20
Rich garnet red in colour. Powerful cassis, blackcurrent, cedary oak and leathery aromas that had plenty of enticing characters and appeal. The palate was a mass of rich sweet jamey fruit, blackcurrants prunes and chocolate with a spicy chervil character. The acidity and tannin balance was perfectly integrated, and the length on the palate was dynamic for a wine that is 15 years old, the way it looked at the weekend it has plenty more time ahead of it yet. This really was a gem!.
Let me know if you have any in your cellar, as I would love to get my hands on some.
