Weekly reports are now due, if you don't send them, I will employ Mr Salmon to come to you place to get them.
Last night, I went to the Journeyman in Berrima with Marion and had a terrific meal. We shared a bottle of Orlando 1991 Lawson. When Marion picked up her glass and took the first taste she said "I hope you have two of these so you can have some too." High praise indeed.
An amazing wine, when decanted there was a ton of fine sediment that had dropped out. The wine is silky smooth, seamless and glorious. Whilst there is a core of ripe fruit, it is just starting to develop those glorious aged nuances but the acid is really fresh so I would not be surprised if this lived for another decade. Rated as Outstanding, I am happy that I still have two left.
We had a three way chocolate desert (I can still taste it this morning) and had a couple of glasses of Seppelt DP 59 Tokay with it. Also Outstanding. What a great night.
Yalumba 2002 Barossa Shiraz Viognier Anne really liked this. Great fruit with the Viognier added good complexity but a bit hot and may not get much better. 14.5%.
Pepperjack 2002 Cabernet. Cool climate cabernet from Barossa? 2002 was the coolest summer I can remember with wonderful cabernets from Barossa, Clare and McLaren Vale the result. This is no exception - full bodied with great complexity and healthy tannin level. Should improve over the next 5 y- 10years . My style of wine. 13.5%.
Vynfields is a relatively new player from Martinborough that I haven't seen much of previously. The 13 acre plot was planted some 16 years ago and acquired by current owners Kaye McAulay and John Bell a number of years back.
2002 Pinot Noir: lightish blood red, a touch murky. Great nose, lifted spicy sour fruits, quite powerful and intense. Faithful replay in the mouth, with more powerful spice and sour cherry. Good length and mouthfeel. Smacks of quality. QPR ok in the Martinborough context at mid $40's. A little similar to the 2002 Yabby Lake from Mornington.
2003: Pinot Noir: much deeper dark red hue. Very closed nose - nothing doing. Again quite tight palate. Some sweet fruits are starting to poke through but very early days yet. Almost certainly will be a lighter weight wine than the 2002. Needs time and wouldn't be fair to pass opinion now.
IÂ’m sorry, but I know next to nothing about tasting, so I canÂ’t really give you TN, but I really do love wine and food. Anyway, these are some of the wines I had this past week (IÂ’ve left out the CA chards so as to escape the ire of all those red bigots).
96 Peter Lehmann Stonewell
The last of my 6 bot, this was just perfect. Some of the youthful power from 2 years ago was gone, to be replaced by wonderfully smooth integration. Under my poor cellar conditions, I think the wine would have suffered if left another summer. Even under ideal conditions I don't think it is going to be all that long-lived, but it sure is a pleasure to drink.
Rosenblum 01 Continente and 01 Sauret Zinfandel
I'm a recent (3 yr) convert to Oz shiraz, but I still enjoy an occasional zin for the spicy, full-bodied red berry flavors that are so accessible right from day one. When done right, zin is so nice with pizza. I wish more Oz winemakers would give this varietal a try; I'd love to see what they could do with it. This is not a wine for cellaring or for investment, it is just for drinking and enjoying.
99 Mitchelton Print Shiraz
Plenty of life left in this one. Lot's of everything - plums and spice and fine tannin - without being too much. It will probably have more finesse next year, but I don't mind a bit of assertiveness.
00 Water Wheel Cab
Some might snicker with derision, but this wine has done very well by me. We mostly start dinner with a half bottle of white, followed by a nice red, but then I always want some more red when that bottle is empty. I needed a quaffer, and in Japan that is sometimes the hardest thing to find. When a retailer wanted to liquidate their stock of this wine at the equivalent of A$12 (it costs me at least A$9/bot to fly in wine from Oz), I bought 4 cases and it has served me quite admirably. Usually a half of the bottle is left, and it does just fine for a week or so after Vacu-Vinning.
Cheers,
Bob
The best opinions, like the best wines, are well balanced.
Didn't get a chance to right any notes, as I was only given a small amount by a customer, but the highlight of the week was the
'94 Classic Clare Shiraz. I believe this may have been a Jimmy Watson winner, and a worthy one if it was.
Rich yet elegant nose followed by a truly wonderfull palate that went for a long, long time.
A quiet weekend saw us try a few shiraz from the 1998 vintage:-
Peel Estate
BlackJack
Tyrells Stevens Reserve
Rockford Basket Press
Majella
McWilliams Maurice O'Shea
Henschke Hill of Grace
Turkey Flat
Guigal Chateau D'Ampuis
Scarpantoni Block 3
Mount Langi Ghiran
Plantagenet
Guigal Hermitage
Eileen Hardy
Jim Barry Armagh
Seppelt St Peters
Penfolds Grange
Peter Lehman Stonewell
Torbreck Run Rig
Paul Jaboulet Anie
plus a Peel Estate 99 Shiraz to round out the day.
Brief notes and my ratings for what they are worth in a separate thread, when I get my head back together and my teeth re-whitened and replaced.
Fettler's Rest Gewurztraminer 2001 - Fruity nose and palate; bone dry finish. Recommended (maybe a bit better). Excellent value at the $11 I paid.
T'Gallant Demivache 2001 - Sweet but not overly so, very light for a sticky. Only 10% alcohol. If I knew European wines better I'd probably say this is an Alsacian style. Very attractive bottle, with cute labels and all of the text on the capsule.
Versace Ruspantino Sangiovese 2002 - Simple sweet raspberry fruit. A little thin. OK food wine. Agreeable. Fair value at the $12.50 I paid; poor value at the RRP of $20. For the record, Ruspantino is a wild rooster.
Bright pale lemon with flashes of pale gold. High calibre nose of toasted meal, yellow peach, melon, citrus fruit (mainly oranges and a touch of lemon), hints of grilled cashew. Tight, focussed palate with exemplary delineation, punchy citrus fruit, terrific acidity and oak handling followed by a sensationally long crisp, minerally/citrussy finish. Excellent bordering on Outstanding. Long cellaring potential. Tyrrell's are fantastic exponents of this cellar-worthy style.
Orlando St. Helga Riesling 2002
Thought I'd try another after my last two suffered from varying degrees of reductive character. Thankfully, this one was right back on form - lime, herb and mineral nose; clean, tight palate (good acid cut) with good fruit aka nose followed by a crisp, lengthy finish. Highly Recommended.
Robert Chevillon Nuits-St-Georges 1er cru les Chaignots 1996
Medium ruby/red, slight translucence, grading to brick red and then onion skin in the outer edge. Shy red cherry nose at first with just a hint of amaretto and beautifully-judged spicy background oak. With a good breathe, the bouquet blossomed revealing much more intensity and added complexity from masses of sappy pinot fruit, truffles, plums, sweet earth and more savoury (than spicy) oak characters.
The palate offers a sleek, silky mouthfeel accompanied by an old-vine creamy texture that provides good weight and an appealing roundnes with sweet cherry/plum fruit, melting fine tannins and relatively low acidity (for the vintage). Unfortunately the fruit falls away a tad on the back-palate, although things kick back with remarkable puckering tannins that hover in the mouth for over half a minute. Just misses out on a Excellent rating beause of the dip at the back. My guess is this may right itself with 2-3 years cellaring. Probably best drunk before 2010.
Having, now, been opened for over 3 hours and tasted with a sweet and sour chicken caserole, this wine needs a relatively flavoursome bird/game dish to counterbalance those powerful tannins in the finish.
Heggies Riesling 1998
Starbright light lemon. Sensational fresh zesty nose of honey, lime, grapefruit, oranges and a trace of toast and mineral. These characters are replicated on a powerful, beautifully structured, tight palate with rapier-like, indelible acidity perfectly meshed to the pristine fruit. Finishes long and citrussy. Long aging potential. Fan-bloody-tastic (read Outstanding). This particular wine fights well above its weight and price point.
Revisted this around 10 PM and was decidedly more tropical on both nose and palate revealing green pineapple and passionfruit and almost dominating the classic varietal characters from before. A touch more petrol and toast on the nose, too. Not as good as earlier.
Jean Grivot Nuits-St.-Georges 1er Cru les Boudots 1996
Medium ruby with brown and amber in the the edges; solid core for a Burgundy. Complex, ethereal perfume - spicy plum and black cherry with intriguing touches of beetroot, game, sweet earth, sap and savoury oak - much more Vosne than Nuits in nature (which is understandable as this vineyard is the most northerly of the commune and adjoins Malconsorts in Vosne-Romanee). Medium-full in the mouth, predictably moorish, intense fruit, beautifully balanced and blessed with fine, crisp acidity and firm but ripe tannins. Long, satisfying finish. Marvellous potential and built for the long haul. About Excellent, presently. Drink from 2006- 2016.
Lake's Folly Cabernet 1992
Another bottle bites the dust with almost identical notes to my most recent bottle. The only difference being detection of a slight confectionary character (slight negative). Still think it's an Excellent wine. Previous TN reprinted for your information:
Plummy red with a distinct amber edge, this wine offers up sappy plum and cherry fruit over perfectly judged savoury oak and the vaguest hint of mocha and old leather. The silky light to medium weighted palate revelas a creamy texture and is beautifully balanced with bright acidity and the finest, laciest tannins imaginable matched to moderatly sweet green plum and red cherry fruit and more of that great oak handling. Still amazingly youthful, yet soft, round and so easy to drink, this beauty has much to commend, especially the way it lingers so well with a plummy richness hovering in the mouth for over half a minute. It begs you to go back for more with each whiff and sip.
1998 Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon (Barossa) Still dark, with warm climate ripe red berry aromas - chocolate, cocoa, coffee, blackberry. Some development - the flavours have that rounded quality that comes with a few years bottle age. Quite soft and fleshy - takes a few mouthfuls for any kind of tannin to build up on the palate. Not too bad (if hardly classical cabernet), will doubtless hold for quite some years but I wouldn't be hopeful of great complexity developing.
1989 Chateau Lafon Rochet (St Estephe) A previous bottle last year was very good indeed, this one is a light brick red colour, with somewhat washed out aromas - dried leaves & twigs, some brambly fruit. Some classic cedary notes are present too. The palate is dry and a bit short - I think this wine has developed a creeping oxidation. Disappointing.
2001 Stefano Lubiana Pinot Noir (Derwent Valley) Prompted by my notes on the 2002 posted last week, and Winefront Monthly's comments on recent vintages, I opened this wine, purchased from the CD a year ago. The nose is the best part of the wine (at least from Riedel Vinum): ripe strawberries, a splash of fine oak adds a dimension to the bouquet. It's a little gamey, but neither too earthy nor simple-fruit in tone. There's no stalkiness on the palate, but the flavours are somewhat muted and the finish is short. Not faulty, just not offering very much, despite attractive palate coverage. Is either closed and needing another few years to blossom properly, or will just gently fade into nothingness. I suspect the former...
2003 Catherine Vale Chardonnay (Hunter) Pale straw with a green tint. Grapefruit/melon aromas, with a nutty oak layer. Palate is clean and fresh (minimal malolactic influence), although I feel much of the texture is coming from the oak, not the grapes. Pleasantly drinkable, and at $15-odd from the CD, hardly worth complaining about.
1998 Leasingham Buin 61 Shiraz (Clare) Still a deep red colour. Some chocolate and mixed-spice on the nose, soft feel with minimal acid on the palate. Not overly tannic. Generally warm, mostly front-palate balance. OK wine, drinking well now - give it 5 years tops.
Tyrrell's 1991 Vat 1 Semillon Cork broke on pulling with the bottom half absolutey saturated. Oxidised, maderised, no fruit. Grrrrrrrrr. Glad they are moving to stelvin. This happens so often with Tyrrel's whites that I always now have a second on stand by.
Tyrrell's 1993 Vat 1 Semillon. beautiful fully dry cork, hooray! And the wine was excellent. Still pale yellow green colour. Nice lemony, straw and hay, even some wet slate. Palate was fresh and complex with lots of depth and nice long finish - good acid cut. ill last another 5 years and improve as long as the cork holds!
Chapoutier 1999 Chateauneuf Du Pape "La Bernadine" Mid red with some bricking - quite translucent. On the nose roasted coffee, cinnamon, cherry, morello cherry and roses. Mid weight palate with lots of depth - some earth and arabian spices. Excellent structure with some tannins still to resolve which just shortens the palate at the moment . Will be excellent in a couple of years.
Mt Difficulty 1998 Pinot Noir [Central Otago] Excellent ruby red colour. Nose has a lot of lifted vanillan and plums and red cherries with a hint of barnyard. Soft fruity palate without the complexity of the nose and just starting to fade at the end. Not a bad effort.
1996 Chateau Climens [Barsac] beautiful dessert wine. : Lovely light yellow gold. Rich nose with hints of nuts, honey and a touch of apricot. The palate displays a good deal of botrytis as well as honey and vanillin. Good acidity. A sumptuous, feminine wine but with a great deal of strength. Will live for a long time. excellent
PaulV wrote:Tyrrell's 1991 Vat 1 Semillon Cork broke on pulling with the bottom half absolutey saturated. Oxidised, maderised, no fruit. Grrrrrrrrr. Glad they are moving to stelvin. This happens so often with Tyrrel's whites that I always now have a second on stand by.
Tyrrell's 1993 Vat 1 Semillon. beautiful fully dry cork, hooray! And the wine was excellent. Still pale yellow green colour. Nice lemony, straw and hay, even some wet slate. Palate was fresh and complex with lots of depth and nice long finish - good acid cut. ill last another 5 years and improve as long as the cork holds!
Chapoutier 1999 Chateauneuf Du Pape "La Bernadine" Mid red with some bricking - quite translucent. On the nose roasted coffee, cinnamon, cherry, morello cherry and roses. Mid weight palate with lots of depth - some earth and arabian spices. Excellent structure with some tannins still to resolve which just shortens the palate at the moment . Will be excellent in a couple of years.
Mt Difficulty 1998 Pinot Noir [Central Otago] Excellent ruby red colour. Nose has a lot of lifted vanillan and plums and red cherries with a hint of barnyard. Soft fruity palate without the complexity of the nose and just starting to fade at the end. Not a bad effort.
1996 Chateau Climens [Barsac] beautiful dessert wine. : Lovely light yellow gold. Rich nose with hints of nuts, honey and a touch of apricot. The palate displays a good deal of botrytis as well as honey and vanillin. Good acidity. A sumptuous, feminine wine but with a great deal of strength. Will live for a long time. excellent
Cheers
paul
Excellent notes, Paul.
Climens is a perennial favourite. Haven't got the '96, might now try and get some on the secondary market. I sometimes prefer the contrasting elegance of Climens, Coutet and some of the lesser crus than the bigger, heavier impact stlyes of, say, Rieussec and De Fargues (can't afford D'Yquem)
Climens is a perennial favourite. Haven't got the '96, might now try and get some on the secondary market. I sometimes prefer the contrasting elegance of Climens, Coutet and some of the lesser crus than the bigger, heavier impact stlyes of, say, Rieussec and De Fargues (can't afford D'Yquem)
Thanks David - always enjoy your TNs as well - love this mutual admiration club - with 3 teenagers don't get much at home
yes was mightlily impressed with the Climens - went halves with a friend on a case and this was the 2nd - to celebrate a close friends 55th birthday. '96 while initially rated very good as a vintage, has always been in the shadow of the '97's , '98's and 99's but now I think it is being reevaluated and moving up while some of the latter years look a bit too rich and may turn out a bit flabby.
It has already gained quite a bit in depth and complexity in the couple of years since I last tried it and the balance was so superb that I am sure it will last a couple of decades at least - it has the track record to probably last 50!
Hi everyone,
had some pretty good wines over the week.
Pizzini King Valley Nebiollo 1998: very italian on the nose, dried herbs, tobacco. The palate is probably not as savoury as I would like but a damn good effort.
Chrismont King Valley Sangiovese 2003: I think this is due out in a few months and well worth tracking down. A very good wine .
Skillogalee Shiraz 2002: very chocolatey at the moment. If you like wines loaded with heaps of sweet fruit, you would probably like this.
cheers
anthony
Good wine ruins the purse; bad wine ruins the stomach
Spanish saying
2002 Grant Burge Fisell Shiraz - after the comments from TORB (SA Diary) I had to try this one. Lovely scented nose, expected a little more richness on the palate but the better palate of the house remarked how nice it was so probably better than my assessment - Highly recommended
2002 d'Arenberg D'arry's Original - from the cork this was slightly corked although it wasn't obvious in the glass - if this is what a corked one is liked I have high hopes for a good bottle - great mouth feel good complexity - highly recommended.
2003 Taylors Promised Land Cab Merlot - brought to dinner a few weeks a go. This is a relatively simple but pleasant wine - recommended
1994 E&E Black Pepper Shiraz - initally showed the vanilla milkshake I'm beginning to expect on these but opened beautifully. Great fruit with secondary characters great length and balance - Excellent
1993 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz - I'm currently cleaning out the cellar of pre 96 Leasingham Bin range. This is a pleasant wine but beginning to dry out - recommended
1997 Knappstein Riesling - Don't know whether to drink up or leave a couple more years - it seems to have promise of a bit more toast and honey bottle age but it may be just threatening to become oxidised. Fruit is fading - recommended plus
David
David J
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake 1Ti 5:23
Davo wrote:A quiet weekend saw us try a few shiraz from the 1998 vintage:-
Peel Estate; BlackJack; Tyrells Stevens Reserve; Rockford Basket Press; Majella; McWilliams Maurice O'Shea; Henschke Hill of Grace; Turkey Flat; Guigal Chateau D'Ampuis; Scarpantoni Block 3; Mount Langi Ghiran; Plantagenet; Guigal Hermitage; Eileen Hardy; Jim Barry Armagh; Seppelt St Peters; Penfolds Grange; Peter Lehman Stonewell; Torbreck Run Rig; Paul Jaboulet Anie... plus a Peel Estate 99 Shiraz to round out the day.
Brief notes and my ratings for what they are worth in a separate thread, when I get my head back together and my teeth re-whitened and replaced.
Come on Davo. We have waited a few hours. Where are the notes? You are killing me here! At least give me the 1998 Rockford BP soon... please!
Had a couple of friends around at 5 on Saturday and started the long slide... he he he he. First up:
Torbreck Juveniles 2001. Quite powerful pong to start off but after a double decant enough lifted for it to become a welcome forest mulch part of the wines GMS personality. at $28 from the local it's a bit on the expensive side but worth it.
Charles Sturt University Cabernet/ Merlot 2002. Repulsive nose of aldehyde which quickly became bubble gum and only bubble gum. Forced my self to try a sip and nearly gagged. This thing was going through a second fermentation with a spritz, and was yak before it had started to oxidise. Under Stelvin, it was bought from a Liquorland in Wagga and I think went through some seriously bad treatment. No wine could be made this badly, and certainly not placed on the shelf. Shame, I was looking forward to trying it. Next morning was very badly oxidised despite a mere slurp being poured and being capped within 5 mins of opening.
Turkey Flat Cabernet 2001. Babe in the woods with a bouquet of sweet blue jubes to start off, leading in a range of sweet blackberries and fruits, and mocha and cigar smoke in simple layers at this point in time. Very noice. The palate has an excellent, voluptuous silky texture and length, length, length, length. Impeccable balance
Wolf Blass Grey Label langhorne Creek Cabernet 2001. I love a good Langhorne Creek. A bit broader and more oak but over all not too dissimilar to the Turkey Flat in profile without the blue jube sweetness and a bit more of the chocolate.$23/bottle, excellent value and wish I had bought more. Would think twice at a retail of $40 or so.
Brucer wrote:95 Charlie Melton Shiraz. A good wine for a crap vintage. Still good the second night, which surprised me.
Crap in the Coonawarra doesn't necessarily mean crap in the Barossa. Charlie reckons his 95s will go 15+ years - drought vintage, very low yielding with intense flavours. I had a 95 Popes earlier in the year and it was still going strong.
