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Pinot Noir Craighall Chardonnay Petrie Chardonnay Pinot Gris
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Célèbre
Current Célèbre blends have more emphasis on Syrah and Merlot, and somewhat less austere Cabernet influence than in the 80's and 90's. We feel that Syrah and Merlot ripen more fully and consistently here, although Martinborough is undoubtedly capable of producing excellent Cabernets in the hotter years. Célèbre spends around 16 months in oak, and is released two and a half years after the vintage. Having had that extra year, it is generally very delicious and accessible when released. Its potential for cellaring is really quite vintage-dependent; Célèbre from hot years can age very well; those from cooler years (more typical) show best at 3 to 4 years from the vintage, to be relished while still fresh and bursting with vibrant, spicy Syrah and primary plum/cassis characters.
We recently (June 08) had an in-house winemaker tasting of all the vintages for which we have library stock. As you can see below we are missing quite a few of the earlier ones. Anyone with 94, 95, 97, 98, 99 or 2000 - let us know. These updated notes are a consolidation of 4 experienced tasters notes. Overall we were surprised and impressed with the quality and Celebre's ability to age gracefully. It seems to reach a plateau in good years at about year 6 or 7 and just hold there.
We feel we have been too conservative with cellaring recommendations since many of the better years were looking lovely. 94 a good example, though this was an outstanding vintage,
Read Regional Wines Raymond Chan's Tasting Notes and musings from our Celebre Vertical Celebrations held in August 2008.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah %'s [CS:M:S]
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05 [CS35:M35:S30] now to 2012 (tasted June 08)
Dark blood red, very lifted nose, raspberry, cranberry and thyme, pepper licorice and hints of clove.
Toast oak, well integrated. Very ich, mouth-watering palate with great intensity, shades of olive tapenade.
Quite tight structure, fine chalky tannin, good length and balance. Season was very low yielding, warm/hot summer, some rain before harvest, more settled during harvest.
04 [CS35:M30:S35] now to 2010 (tasted June 08)
Lighter, bright red fruits nose. Attractive whole berry notes, with a lovely leathery meatiness. Mid weight wine. Broad, almost creamy palate with good length. Good crop levels; we crop thinned which is very unusual here! February was very wet, April thankfully more settled and warm.
03 "Stella" [CS33:M33:S33] now, but better later - up to 2013 (tasted June 08)
A favoured wine. Still very youthful. Dark, inky and dense. Redcurrant, raspberry, boysenberry, cherry, dark chocolate. Very primary nose with lovely sappy edge, touch of mushroom. Vibrant, juicy entry. Tight wine but opens out into a more savoury finish with a hint of dry tobacco tannin and black olive. Sweet, fine, pure palate. The season was very low yielding due to a severe spring frost. Warm summer though some cold weather in Feb. Harvest settled and dry.
02 [CS20:M40:S40] now to 2009 (tasted June 08)
Lighter in density than most others. Slightly spicy and herbal, sweet fruit and lightly charred, vanilla oak. Lacks stuffing. but very pretty wine that is soft on the palate. 02 Season was wet - saved somewhat by three weeks of fine weather in March and generally dry April.
01 [CS30:M40:S30] now + 1 (tasted June 08)
Savoury nose, reduced at first but gamey hints and slight pong soon blows off in the glass with some swirling. Dark fruits underneath. Very gentle palate with good fruit - quite primary on the palate compared to the nose. Sinery tannin, hints of licorice, good complexity and lean but elegeany. Dense and fine and focused. Drink now or 1 to 2 more years,
00 [CS40:M20:S40] now (tasted Jun 08)
Slightly lighter in the line up. Sweet, pure, still fresh. generous primary fruit - black currant and plum with some spice and pepper from the Syrah. Enticing nose, some savoury flavours, choc/mocha. Somewhat shorter finish but nice tannin strcuture. Drink now.
99 [CS60:M30:S10] now - 2007 Tasted Sep 05.
blackberry, ripe dark plum, sweet aromatics, leather and spice
98 [CS42:M40:S18] Does anyone have any of this wine they would like to swap?
concentrated, sinewy firm fruit tannin - good structure and savoury complexity
96 Encore drink nowish. Encore is a repeat bottling of the 2006 blend after that portion had a further six months in oak. We were aiming to release later and to give the wine more time in older oak. This vintage was split to allow that step. Lovely rich nose, brambly sweet fruit, hint of meaty/savoury. Toasty oak, berry fruit and fine supple tannins carry the palate right through. Drink now. Some tasters thought it had another 2-3 years. .
96 NOW + 2 years Bottle opened for this tasting was moderately corked. Library stocks too low to open another. Sweet, juicy fruit underneath, good colour density and hue, good structure - but difficult to evaluate through the TCA cork taint.
The Season: 1996 was a textbook season which started with mild, settled weather right through flowering. This resulted in excellent fruit set and the promise of a good-sized crop. Although the summer months were hot, rain arrived almost exactly when needed and consequently no irrigation was required. Summer was followed by a dry and warm autumn. These ideal-growing conditions allowed a crop of close to 3 tonnes per acre to ripen perfectly (and also allowed us enough volume to hold half the wine back in oak (Encore). There was no rain over harvest and grapes came into the winery in pristine condition. The new winery was completed with the luxury of crusher, new press and purpose-built fermenters under cover.
94 Drink now + next 3 yrs
Slight brick hue, but still strong colour. Moreish dried mushroom/blackcurrant/ boysenberry/raspberry. Still has amazing primary fruit flavours. Lovely entry, still alive and well, good structure and length. Sweet tobacco. Soft tannin, sexy/silky . Delicious sweet fruit. Obviously on plateau - most tasters thought this still had a few more years. A favourite with the tasters.
The Season: The influence of the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo continued (not as dramatically as in 92 and 93) with more low yields, and a medium dry, relatively cool growing season (1162 degree days). We enjoyed a perfect long, dry autumn, conditions well suited to preserving aromatics. Depth of flavour and concentration were enhanced by the very low yields. Picking started quite late.
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