Another Pinot and Duck night...

[markg]

Alright, I think now we have done the pinot and duck nights to death, two is more than enough and we need a different theme for the next one ! Anyway, a great night last Friday at Gin Ling on Marion Rd. had by all for the 2nd Auswine (Adelaide) Pinot and Duck night, tremendous service, fantastic food, excellent wine, terrific company and an outstanding price ($25 per head including corkage !!!!!). Many thanks to our blacktounge organisers who brought along some excellent wine-wanky glasses (I hate those default ones that the resteraunts provide, and I mean wine-wanky in a most appreciative way by the way) and had some clout with the management to get us a great price.

We started off the evening with a great little comparison of Brian Barrys Juds Hill reisling, a lovely 1994 with a dark amber color, a nose of honeyed toast and butter with a still zesty palate of lime and toast, followed by a 2004 that was fresh and lively with lovely citrus flavours and a good length, very nice reislings.

Next we tucked into a bottle of Grosset 2004 watervale reisling accompanied by our first course of Ginger and Shallot Scallops, yum, some of the best scallops I have tried, lovely and creamy textured with just the right amount of ginger. The reisling was very pale in color with a lovely spicy nose of talc, lemons and lime, a very fresh but somewhat austere palate, full bodied with great length and a good dose of acidity that went well with the scallops and cut through the creaminess to give a great counterpoint to the food.

Next was a bottle of the 2001 Leeuwin Estate Art series chardonnay, jeez they make great charddy over in the west ! A rich, full bodied, silky palate of cinnamon,fig and cashews with lovely lingering layers of cheesy, smoky fruit that subtly differed each time I took a sip. On my personal scale this ranks second only to the 2001 Cullen chardonnay.

Then, with the whites over, the shallots soundly squared away in our bellies and the talk getting more serious, it was time to pull out our pinots.

The first pinot to get slapped on the table was a 1999 Bass Philip Village pronounced veelaaasch according to Steve), a very cloudy, murky brown color, with barnyard smells, and a very savoury palate of forest floor and truffle, not everyones cup of tea but very interesting and a bit controversial.

Next, the salt and pepper squid was served and a bottle of 2000 Paringa reserve special barrel selection pinot was presented (Voted the 2nd best pinot of the evening). The salt and pepper squid was wonderful, fresh and crispy, tender and buttery.. The Paringa reserve was very nice, light ruby in color and a perfumed nose of cherry, musk, plums and strawberry. The palate was lovely with lingering layers of black cherries, black tea, rhubarb and strawberry.

About the time the Peking duck was served up a bottle of 2002 Seville estate hit the table (voted 3rd best of the evening). A lighter style than the previous pinots, it was more elegant with subtle flavours of plum and cherry wrapped in a layer of cinnamon and asian spice, good body and length.

I know size isn't everything but I think everyone was looking forward to laying their hands on a nice big pinot and with hushed expectancy a magnum of 1995 Bannockburn pinot was presented and poured.. At first it was a bit disappointing, nice body and length, but a bit lacking in the flavour department. We should have realised that it was a premature pinot and given it some time, as the night wore on we all came back to it again and again and it developed some lovely rich meaty flavours with an underlying core of rasberry and cherry. This kept on getting better and ended up being one of the first empties for the night.

The pinots kept on coming and we next had a 1997 coldstream hills reserve pinot. Cloudy with a slightly feral nose and a smooth integrated palate of red fruits and cherry.

Then came a 2002 Yabby Lake pinot, a fresh nose of strawberry and cream with a hint of gooseberry. The palate seemed a bit simple, although with good fruit intensity. Very pleasant and a couple of people remarked how it seemed a bit too commercial.

Then came the pinot of the night, a bottle of 2002 Grosset Pinot Noir. Yum a generously, fragrant nose of dusty strawberry and plums with a full bodied, full flavoured, intense palate of generous fruits and a long lingering finish. It simply filled the entire mouth with flavour and sat there for a long time afterwards, changing each time a mouthful of air was sucked into the mouth.

At the end of the evening we cleansed our palate with some green tea and according to the scrawl on my notepad (which tends to become harder to read as the night wears on) we had an 1996 angoves vintage port, I THINK I wrote that it was lovely, rich and complex with something that looks like the word intriguing, anyway, it was a very nice VP and a wonderful conclusion for the evening !

[PaulSheldon]

I hate to disappoint Mark, but the Perth Pinot and Duck night is going ahead tonight! Great notes by the way...

[TORB]

Good notes Mark, the red bigots do Pinot and Shiraz nights, it works well too.

[707]

Thanks for the notes Mark. This was again an outstanding epicurian evening but I thought the Pinots this time didn't match those of the first evening at Ying Chow.

I've now had enough Pinot to last me twelve months so next night out with this group had better be something a bit gutsier wine wise.

TORB, I only did these nights on the promise of meeting some nice girls, I wouldn't drink Pinot otherwise!

[TORB]

TORB, I only did these nights on the promise of meeting some nice girls, I wouldn't drink Pinot otherwise!

Steve,

Thank God for that, I was beginning to worry about you. I knew there had to be a good reason.

[Red Bigot]

Good notes Mark, the red bigots do Pinot and Shiraz nights, it works well too.

Perhaps you mean "Duck and Shiraz"?

[TORB]

Good notes Mark, the red bigots do Pinot and Shiraz nights, it works well too.

Perhaps you mean "Duck and Shiraz"?

Ooops, that could get be barred from the next red bigots chapter meeting.

[Kieran]

I guess to satisfy the traditionalists, it has to be shiraz with "Burgundy" on the label.

Kieran

[Gavin Trott]

Alright, I think now we have done the pinot and duck nights to death, two is more than enough and we need a different theme for the next one !

Mark

Good evening, thanks for the notes.

You've got the gig, next one, about 6 weeks, your choice of theme and venue.

Thanks for offering mate

[markg]

Actually trying to organise something for the 11th of December, KMP from the forum will be in town from the USA and has expressed an interest to drink a few glasses of red with us Sth Australians..

[scottv]

Last night went out to dinner for my father-in-laws birthday. I had an excellent twice cooked duck on sweet potato mash with a red wine sauce. Matched with a 1982 Koonunga Hill that was still very drinkable. The cork just crumbled into the bottle but the waiter decanted into a carafe through a fine filter. Happy to pay corkage for this service. At 22 yrs, my oldest wine drank so far.

Cheers
Scott

[Gavin Trott]

Actually trying to organise something for the 11th of December, KMP from the forum will be in town from the USA and has expressed an interest to drink a few glasses of red with us Sth Australians..

Great we'll be there.

[Adair]

Good notes Mark, the red bigots do Pinot and Shiraz nights, it works well too.

Perhaps you mean "Duck and Shiraz"?

Ooops, that could get be barred from the next red bigots chapter meeting.

I thought you were extolling the virtues of this great Hunter blend. I even took a bottle of the 1998 Mount Pleasant "Mount Henry" Pinot Shiraz off my wine rack to remind me to take it to the next offline that you are at.

Adair

[markg]

I hate to disappoint Mark, but the Perth Pinot and Duck night is going ahead tonight! Great notes by the way...

Looking forward to read some notes Paul. Don't forget a photo or two !

[PaulV]

Looking forward to read some notes Paul. Don't forget a photo or two !

yes but where are your photos from the duck and pinot night in Adelaide

Paul

[markg]

Looking forward to read some notes Paul. Don't forget a photo or two !

yes but where are your photos from the duck and pinot night in Adelaide

Paul

Yes, well... um... I forgot the camera