WineLife365

From: Adelaide Hills, Australia

Price: $40 marked down to $19.99 “Last Call”

Most so-called wine experts will tell you that nearly 95% of the wines made nowadays are meant to be consumed within one to three years of their labels’ “born-on-date”, or vintage.  Unfortunately for wine collectors, that doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for options (or error!) when making their selections.  Otherwise, a mouthful of dissatisfaction will be swallowed after they have waited patiently for greatness to occur.

I recently stumbled across the 2004 Longview Vineyard Black Crow Nebbiolo at one of my familiar stomping grounds.  This wine originally retailed for around $40-$45 back in its hey day.   However, the last remaining bottles that sat on the shelf collecting dust over the last few years were just marked “Last Call” and slashed down to $19.99 to make room for new product.  I decided to pick up a bottle to see if this baby still had some mojo left in its tank, or if I would find out that it was marked down because the sun had set on this Aussie red.

After sitting on this wine for about two months, I finally popped the cork.  What this wine unveiled completely caught me by surprise.  To start, this red wine is not your usual Aussie specimen (i.e., Shiraz/Syrah, whatever you like to call it).  This wine is made with 100% Nebbiolo grapes.  Nebbiolo grapes have been grown and used for centuries to produce fine wines in Northern Italy, and recently many Australian growers have started working with this noble grape because of its drought resistant capabilities.  To this point, Australia’s drought problems have been well publicized in the news over the past years; and as a result, Shiraz plantings have not faired well at all.  However, Nebbiolo has proven to be much more tolerant to the heat and lack of water and has adapted very well to its new surroundings.

The back label of this particular wine offers would be buyers this cellar note:

“No other red wine rewards cellaring than a great Nebbiolo, the high tannin and acid of this wine ensures it will develop more complex qualities with careful cellaring of 5-10 years”.

After tasting this wine over a 4 night span, I’d say that the peeps at Longview Vineyard certainly know their wine.  This wine is still so very young.  On the first night, I could barely drink this brawny beast.  By night two, it had calmed down a bit, but it was still ornery.  By the third night, maraschino cherries, dry herbs, and black pepper were beginning to show through.  And finally on night 4, it had surrendered and was approachable.

The 2004 Longview Vineyard Black Crow Nebbiolo was reminiscent of a 25 year old tawny port wine to me.  It bursts with big fruit, spices, and nut flavors, and really socks you with the cedar.  The alcohol content is listed at 14.7%.  I mention this, because it tasted extremely hot on my palate, just like an aged port wine.  Additionally, this wine received 18 months in 2-3 year old French barriques prior to being bottled.

If you’re looking for a bruiser of a red wine that you can “forget about” for say 5-7 years at least, this $20 gem is a good bet for all you cellar rats!