The Auswine Forum

Thanks for your responses. It sounds as though I shouldn't expect much from this wine!

Hello all. Greetings from England. Recently I purchased a mixed case of Aussie Rieslings and Hunter Semillon at an auction. One of the semillons is by Twin Wells. I have not heard of this producer and have found out nothing on the internet. The vintage is 1999. Is this likely to be still drinking OK...

Greetings from Pom-land. Tonight I opened a Hunter Valley semillon: McWilliam's Mount Pleasant Elizabeth 2005. Bottled under screw-cap. I decided to try an experiment and I drank this from three glasses: a Schott Zwiesel white wine glass, a Riedel vinum Bordeaux glass and a Riedel Vinum Pinot Noir g...

A couple more recommendations for wine shops: Highbury Vintners - a good all round selection and they also sell a wide range of bottled beer. You need to get a bus from Finsbury Park station to Highbury Park - about a 10 minute ride. Amathus - an under the radar wine merchant. Gets virtually no publ...

A few other suggestions for wine shops: Lea and Sandeman: Italian specialists but also a good selection from Bordeaux and Burgundy. Three branches in west London. Nearest to the city centre is the one in Kensington Church St. Bottle Apostle: two or three branches. Nearest one is in Hackney, a short ...

Hello all I remembered that I'm supposed to let you know how good the Lovedale and Grange turned out to be. Well, in the end I served the Lovedale 1998 and the Grange 1981. Both were in excellent condition and there was no hint of corkiness or any other problem. The Lovedale was superb and one of th...

I should add that I'll be serving a lot of wines in pairs and I'm planning to serve the Grange alongside J-L Chave's Hermitage rouge 1995! Rewards of Patience suggests that the 1988 Grange is much more elegant than the 1981.

Thanks all. I'm not sure where I obtained the impression that the 1981 Grange was given only two stars out of five! I have a copy of Robin Bradley's Australian and New Zealand Wine vintages guide for 1995! He gives the 1981 six stars out of seven and suggests it could be drunk from 1997. I have a co...

For the Grange, I may open the 1981. I'm taking about 20 wines to the restaurant, so back-ups are not really an option! I have read in some places that Grange is not highly regarded in 1981. I'm sure it was either in the Rewards of Patience or some other guide that the 1981 had a bare two stars out ...

Thanks for the replies. I appear to have just one bottle each of the 1998 and 2000 Lovedale remaining. The 2000 looks to be a slightly deeper colour. Is this likely to be a problem? I'm just wondering if it has aged more quickly than the 1998, perhaps as a result of less than ideal storage at some p...

Hello from England. I have a big birthday to celebrate soon and I plan to open a number of wines to 'celebrate' it. I'll be taking some to a dinner including a bottle each of Penfold's Grange and McWilliams Lovedale semillon. I have the following vintages: Grange 1981, 1988 and 1990; and Lovedale 19...

Dave

Thanks very much. Of course I'll be happy to bring some wine out with me to share. I have a good selection from most parts of Europe, as well as a few mature Aussie wines. I could even bring some sparkling Pom wines and hope they don't get impounded at the airport.

Hello everyone I'm the travelling Pom! Thanks very much for your suggestions. I am especially grateful for the offer to arrange a trip to the Hunter. I'm really looking forward to that. I'm hoping to visit in May but it might be July. I'm hoping to visit Melbourne and take in an Aussie Rules game, a...