Fine and rare wines nowadays tend to be consumed by the increasingly privileged few: rich Chinese, (I suspect none of whom actually know much about wine – it’s more of a status thing), bankers and maybe the odd wine journalist, in the right place at the right time.
For us lowly masses, we must make do with more affordable wines, and occasionally we get the chance to try something truly amazing. Easter 2013 was one such pleasure for an exclusive group of Corks and their wags in central Victoria, at T. We were lucky enough to open a bottle of Morgan Vineyards Pinot Noir 2001. Without exaggeration, one of the finest Pinot Noirs I’ve been lucky enough to taste.
By way of background, Morgan Vineyards, in Seville, Victoria (Yarra Valley), was established in around 1984 by Rog. Rog had the foresight to plant Pinot Noir, amongst the Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot. Initial Pinot prototypes were extremely encouraging, including Rog’s infamous 1998 vintage – very Yarra Valley in style, but simply awesome – and the label a simple font in inkjet without graphics.
The 2000 vintage was Rog’s finest (in Cork and brother Cork’s opinions), but the 2001 was a photo-finish for second. Completely French in style, massively complex, delicate and elegant in appearance and palate, perfectly balanced, fruity and spicy. There are now only 3 bottles of the 2001 left in existence. Readers of this blog may recall Cork is critical of high priced wines that do not offer good value for money, such as a couple of central Victorian producers that sell their “reserve” wines for $60 when I think they should be more like $20. But Rog went to the opposite extreme, charging about $25 for the 2001, which I think could have commanded $300 a bottle and cult status to boot.
So Mr Harry Hindsight always got it right, and it’s now way too late to make any more of the stuff, given Rog and A sold the property in 2009. D’oh! But those three remaining bottles are priceless, and when Corks drinks them, always in the company of people he cares about, it’s one brief foray into the world of the super-rich enjoying the finest and rarest wines in the world.
Cork Talk 