Our regular blog readers and customers probably know that Dave Powell, our proprietor and Chief Winemaker at Torbreck, is a rather quiet and reserved sort of guy. Not really one to blow his own trumpet and talk his wines or himself up.
It was with great joy that we discovered the RunRig had received an enormous vote of recognition from the market. Taking its place under the Exceptional category in the Langton’s Classification V, RunRig will now be recognized as one of the truly great wines of Australia.
For the first time since inception, Langton’s organized public tastings of all 117 classified wines in both Melbourne and Sydney. Limited to 400 tickets per tasting, both events were a sell out with over 2000 requests for tickets. The tasting proved to be a sought after event which hopefully will become a regular occurrence following Langton’s future classifications.
The tasting in Sydney was held on October 26th at the Carriage Works in Redfern. It was impressive to witness a single space holding not only some of the country’s greatest wines, but also its top winemakers and their egos. Attendees received the opportunity to compare, analyze, criticize and exalt wines of fellow peers and to have the general public do the same. Dave and I enjoyed hearing the wine banter amongst the audience as well as the candid discussions of what wines were enjoyed, disliked or in some cases a compete revelation.
Not typically a fan of Australian Pinot, Dave was absolutely blown away by the 2009 Bass Phillip Premium Pinot Noir. It was not only his favorite wine of the night, but also one of the best Pinot’s he has tasted worldwide.
I know that in such a room there are not any bad wines, just different styles and tastes. This uniqueness across wines is so important to the story of Australian wines and is a message that we must all propagate to the rest of the world.
I could hear the guests who loved the Noon wines or the Old Bastard looking a little perplexed and disappointed when tasting the Clonakilla and Giaconda Shirazes. I loved them all for their diversity of styles and undeniable quality, but we all know none of them could hold a candle to RunRig!
I would also have to say that in a room full of such fantastic wines, it thrilled me to hear the number of comments about the 2007 Descendant which is now recognized in the Outstanding Category of the Classification. Comments ranged from love to dislike to confusion. Great wines are generally unique wines with undeniable and identifiable characteristics specific to that wine. Not just a regional or house style but something intrinsic in the wine that not everyone will love but those that do know the wine and know why they love it. Descendant, I am proud to say, is one such wine.
Even with all the egos and bravado in the room there was certainly a wonderful mood of camaraderie and a sense of a shared purpose that is encouraging for the future of fine Australian wine.
We would like to congratulate Stuart Langton and his team for doing such a wonderful job promoting the quality and unique story that great Aussie wines have to present.
A special thanks to Kevin Cam and the crew at Golden Century for their charm and hospitality while looking after so many of the winery teams at dinner later that night.
Thankfully, I don’t have any photos of the dinner or the debauchery of the after party.