Peter Lehmann Vintage Library Tasting Comes to Vancouver

PETER LEHMANN VINTAGE LIBRARY TASTING

It’s not often that the media are stunned by vinous volume, but shoehorned into the Koi room at Goldfish Pacific Kitchen on October 23 were a couple dozen gaping wine writers from all over BC and Alberta -- wedged shoulder to shoulder for a rare vertical tasting. Peter Lehmann’s chief winemaker from Australia, Ian Hongell, had lugged in 24 back vintages of Shiraz (starting from the very first 1980 vintage) for the only Canadian visit on an international tasting tour. Vancouver was the last stop for this educational library tasting following similar events hosted in San Francisco, New York, London, Paris and Singapore.

There were three distinct segments in this liquid time-line. The first represented the early years, from 1980 when grapes were $200 per tonne (when money was scarce and quality selection rare) to 1989. These wines showed leaner flavours, their colours bricking with age, and tasting of higher acidity and lower alcohol. Note: there were approximately 10,000 cases of the Peter Lehmann Barossa Shiraz produced in 1980, which in comparison to current production at most wineries in British Columbia, is still a generous amount of juice.

The second segment recalled an interesting era starting around the exceptional 1990 vintage (with grapes at around $650 per tonne). industry confidence was building and alcohol levels beginning to rise slightly. It was in these vintages that the more recognizably upfront Aussie-style made its appearance and the Lehmann style started to become more evident with each vintage.

By the decade old 1996 (and $1,400 per tonne) vintage, grouped in segment number three, the wines were drinking well. They were still fruity and intense with deeper, cherry-garnet hues and the requisite black current, chocolate, eucalyptus, liquorice and coffee notes. The acidity levels also dropped in the mid '90s giving the wines a rounder more unctuous palate. The 2002 vintage was one of Wine Spectator’s “Top 100