It' Sunday and I decided to sleep in....

[TORB]

but now that I am awake, I would like to know what you guys have been drinking. (Working for a living is a bitch and severely impacts on one's wine activities.)

[Maximus]

Working is no excuse for not drinking wine Ric.

I tasted in excess of 200 wines this last week, as opposed to my usual fifty or so....

Of particular note was a Waitaki tasting. Only a handful of wines but an experience nonetheless.

2006 Waitaki Braids Riesling (Waitaki, $32)
2005 Main Divide Riesling (Waipara, $20)

2006 Malcom's Creek Riesling (Waitaki, $27)
2005 Palliser Estate Riesling (Martinborough, $23)

2004 Waitaki Braids Pinot Noir (Waitaki, $65)
2004 Main Divide Pinot Noir (Waipara, $25)

2004 Forrest Collection Pinot Noir (Waitaki, $55)
2002 Leaning Rock Pinot Noir (Central Otago, $40)

2004 Valli Pinot Noir (Waitaki, $50)
2004 Greenhough Hope Vineyard Pinot Noir (Nelson, $40)

The two rieslings from the Waitaki were outstanding, and eclipsed their counterparts on the night. The Main Divide looked positively plain in its company, whilst the '05 Palliser Riesling is probably one of their worst. The Waitaki Braids in particular was class, with a superb acid/sugar weave that Mike Weersing aptly describes as a sinusoidal relationship. It's an up and down wave characteristic of top class riesling, balancing out with age. The Malcolm's Creek is yet to be bottled and was a tank sample, not showing its full potential, but providing an adequate glimpse. Only eighty cases of this wine made.

The first two pinot flights were a bit of a let down. The Waitaki pinots were very subtle and introverted, their flight partners good without being great. The Main Divide is always good value, a much more extracted style than the Waitaki Braids as evidenced by its colour. The Leaning Rock was a mature wine that just lacks freshness now; a bit stale (in a non-TCA way).

The final flight was the highlight, with the Greenhough Hope Vineyard best pinot on tasting. Intense nose, seamless palate though with structure to boot. The Valli was a very perfumed nose, just lacking the weight of the Greenough in the mouth but equally impressive by its own right. Two wines to keep a lookout for. Steve Harrop, brother of Matt Harrop (winemaker of Shadowfax) and the Harrop MW, came up for the night on his own back as project manager of the Waitaki Project. Very informative, casual and approachably guy. Though the prices look a bit ridiculous to me, the region is certainly establishing a reputation and based on the showing of these wines, will do very well with riesling.

In addition to those...

2005 St Clair Block 4 Pinot Noir
2006 St Clair Block 2 Sauv
2005 EC Sangiovese

The entire Fromm range...
The entire Clearview Estate range...
The entire Foxes Island range...
The entire Voss Estate range...
The entire Escarpment range...
The entire Pegasus Bay range...
The entire Main Divide range...

And a bunch of new vintage releases.
The '06 Greenhough Gewurz showed disappointing, a contrast to the '05 with a serious lack of acid. Bring back the '04 of old. The '03 Domaine Jacquiery Pinot and '05 Escarpment Pinot showed as some of the best from the week. Still lots of rubbish around though.

Cheers,

[n4sir]

We had the last Shiraz tasting for the year at Blacktongues this week (TNs to come) - now its Cabernets & fizzies for the remainder of the year. This group were the ones that didn't make the cut for the previous Super Shiraz tasting, and it was easy to see why - definitely B-team material.

I also tried Ben Glaetzer's range at an instore Thursday night except for the Godolphin which they were holding back until Saturday - bad move, as I expect they wouldn't have had a fraction of customers AFL Grand Final day.

The 2005 Amon Ra was best by a country mile. The 2005 Bishop was a fruit bomb on the nose, but the palate was another story with a hefty dose of oak and alcohol heat that seemed a lot higher than 14.5%. The 2004 Heartland Cabernet Sauvignon was pretty good, the 2005 Director's Cut had a sweet oaky nose but the palate was strange/funky - I didn't think much of the rest of the Heartland range either.

Cheers,
Ian

[Red Bigot]

In my one small concession to the current extreme Hunter theme, possibly the best wine I had this week was a 96 Lakes Folly Cabernet, with pan-fried flathead and whiting fillets and the best home-made chips we've managed so far. A fragrant and enticing nose right out of the decanter, blackberry, spicy, the mid-weight palate is elegant, smooth and seamless, finish long and lovely. This is probably just entering it's drinking window and has a long life ahead of it yet, but I like it like this, right now, can't see it getting much better unless you like your wines in the more mature spectrum than I do.

Well, maybe the LF was not the best for a red bigot palate, I also tried the Glaetzer Godolphin 2005 (twice) and Seppelt St Peters Shiraz 2004 in single-blind tastings. Within the one hour or so tasting format the Godolphin blitzed the field both times, easily trumping the St Peters too, but having the remainder of the St Peters the next day (onite in the fridge) it blossomed and developed complex spicy aromas and flavours that weren't evident previously, a truly great wine.

[Wayno]

The inaugural 'hunk of meat and massive SA reds at Gauchos' night...

Grant Burge Meschach Shiraz 2000
Superb wine, beautiful nose of Barossa cigar box and chocolate, lovely balance and poise. Changed over the course of the evening, through spices, aromatic vanillan oak and then powerful mocha, coffee aromas. Beautiful length. A great package, good too from not the greatest of years. Plenty of time to go as well, and will improve. WOTN for me.

Lindemans Pyrus 1999 Coonawarra Cab Merlot CF
Decently corked and this rendered the wine thin and green. Kind to call it austere and reserved but probably just a bit stuffed. We still drank the sucker though!? Not especially varietal, probably the crappy taint not helping.

Hollick Ravenswood 1998 Shiraz
Fantastic - savoury, leathery and meaty nose with whiffs of menthol and eucalypt declaring it's upbringing. Round, mouthfilling, fruit still there but stepping aside for the secondary characters. A caricature of the Coonawarra profile, as many of those flagship wines seem to be but who's complaining? I think this is now entering it's prime years and will sustain for a number more yet. WOTN for the others.

... and then, last night

Mitchell Clare Semillon 2002
Overly developed already, strong yellow colour with strong, overexaggerated semillon characters and perhaps a bit of sweet cloy. Good structure but not for me really.

Oyster Bay 04 Pinot Noir
Easy, uncomplicated NZ pinot, drinking quite well and improved with some breathing time. Went very well with soy/star anise marinated pork belly.

[Billy Bolonski]

Torbreck "Descendant' Shiraz 2000

Funky! Typical Torbreck stink that really didn't blow off in the decanter. Heaps of fruit in there somewhere. Better than some other bottles of this wine I have had. Is this wine worth the price they ask....?

Clonakilla Shiraz Viogner 2005

Absolute cracker! Plush, soft, packed with fruit. Not as approachable as the 2004 but great fun right now. Lovely white pepper finnish really adds interest.

Mountadam Riesling 1988

Bargain! This was purchased as part of 6 bottles at auction years ago for a couple of bucks each. Fully developed, toasty, waxy and layers of lemon fruit.

Georg Breuer Rheingau Riesling 2000

Soft, fruity and balanced to perfection. Such an easy drink compared to the Aussie examples. This was under cork and in better condition than some screw cap examples I have had from the same producer..? Very little development and this wine will live for decades.

A Hungarian Tokaji I didn't catch the name of. Really amazing. The acid was incredibly intense and dominated the wine. Fruit really didn't play a role. It was still brilliant and offered a great savoury style dry white. Can we make a great Furmint in Aust?

Campbells Empire Port - Series 2 No 1.

Very intense and showing lots of age and development. No detailed notes taken but it seemed a little dead and over the hill. Still a nice finish to the night.


Billy B[/b]

[Ian S]

Friday was a cheap Barbaresco (partly to establish a baseline for an upcoming trip to Piemonte).

2003 Araldica Barbaresco Corsini (at £7 on special).
Certainly had some Barbaresco character (more tar than roses) and surprising strong tannins (for the cheapness of the wine) and acidity (for the hot vintage). Surprisingly this really needed some more cellar time (I'd say 3-4 years but might actually take a lot more). I'd figured cheap label & warm vintage would = early drinking, but was wrong. At the (reduced) price, good competition for Langhe Nebbiolo, but with more structure.

Last night, half bottle of
2004 Cuvee a L'ancienne Pouilly-Fuissé Vieilles Vignes
Really quite dull and vielle vignes do not seem to have given this wine any great depth. Pleasant aperitif wine, but more expected than that. Give me Chateau Fuisse (at twice the price mind) any day.

regards

Ian

[Mahmoud Ali]

Had the 2002 Mount Pleasant Phillip Shiraz last week based on a couple of good reviews I happened to see. I had tasted an earlier vintages of the Phillip on my previous visit to Australia, including one at cellar door, and wasn't impressed. They were a bit leathery and astringent, somewhat short on fruit, a function of weak vintages I thought. The 2002 Phillip is a different story altogether, a medium-bodied, savoury, fruity wine with plenty of oak and considerable depth. I think the spaghetti bolognaise enhanced the fruitiness of the wine.

The next day it seemed to make sense that we should taste the 2001 Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon (Cellar Release) and it was delightful. It is already starting to show some developed lanolin characters. Why am I not drinking more Hunter Semillon, especially the mature ones? (The 2001 Margan I tasted at Wine Australia was also very nice though not as evolved).

Both wines were on special and at under $11 dollars it was worth getting a few extra bottles to have around.

Then, on Friday, running into the bottle shop to pick up some cold beer for a "wife is in the hospital with the baby, lets have the boys over for a barbecue party" I found a couple of wines on tasting. The 2006 Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc was everything I didn't like about most New Zealand sauvignon blanc, far too grassy and herbaceous. But the surprise was the Zontes Footsteps Cabernet/Malbec. I can't remember the vintage, probably 2004 or 2005, but for the price it was quite a sophisticated wine, good dark berry, chocolatey fruit, not too sweet, a well-built wine with soft grainy tannins in the finish. It was reasonably long, and the flavours lingered as I ran to the parking lot. I will definitely buy a bottle to try at home. Good price too.

While I was at the party finishing off (literally) on single malt Scotch, the people at home had opened a bottle of 2005 Chateau Tanunda ‘The Chateau’ Riesling made by Ralph Fowler. I had a glass of it Sunday night, two days after it was opened, and I was very surprised. It was a thick, viscous wine with great legs. It had a honeyed, perfumed nose with spicy notes, while the palate was dense and rich with just enough acidity to keep it fresh. If it was served blind I would have guessed it to be an Alsatian Pinot Gris. An excellent wine despite the identity crisis.

Then it was time for the 2005 Chateau Tanunda 'The Chateau' Shiraz. I opened the bottle but forgot to decant it as I rushed out to buy the Mount Pleasants. The wine was pretty good and it had the elements to be a good wine though I felt that it hadn't yet come together in the bottle. It had tight red berry fruit, hints of oak, and soft fine tannins. The wine had some depth but seemed a bit disjointed and somewhat low in acidity. I would like to try it in a few months but with a good decant. I had it with lamb shanks and perhaps the fattiness of the shanks made the wine appear too soft. Next time roast beef or steaks?

That was my week, some inexpensive but good wines that I would be happy to drink everyday.

Cheers……………….Mahmoud.

[rednut]

1998 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet/Shiraz

Lovely drop, smooth as the proverbial, hints of chocolate, vanilla with a nice plum aftertaste.

[Sean]

deleted

[Jordan]

Enjoyed at Gauchos with a great slab of meat:

St. Hallett Old Block Shiraz 1998: Fantastic Barossa shiraz with some aged characterisitcs. Nose had aromas of ripe berries, chocolate, coffee, some smokiness and a little vanilla. The palate was very smooth with soft tannins. Lots of typical Barossa flavours of plum, espresso, chocolate, raspberry, liquorice and spicy oak. A 1998 a little looking more advanced than expected but should hold well for a while yet. A very good to excellent wine.

Mesh Riesling 2006: lots of fresh citrus flavours of lime and lemon with apples and pears. Not as slatey as the brilliant 2005, but riper and fuller but still pertaining excellent balance. Very good riesling.

And too much Carlton Draught over the GF weekend

[pstarr]

I went to the Murrambateman Cool Climate Wine Show public tasting day on Saturday, visiting Clonakilla and Jeir Creek afterwards, but that's probably a separate post.

Other drinking:

Pankhurst Chardonnay 2001, Canberra district 13.2%
- I've a few chardonnay hanging around with some bottle age on them that I don't quite seem to get to drinking. This one got opened to test out a recommendation that chardonnay with a bit of age goes well with cashews. And it did. This one got made by the Carpenters at Lark Hill, and showed good French oak handling, with both age and lees creamyness, plus peachy fruit characters hanging on well.

Balnaves Sparkling Cabernet 2005 disgorged NV, Coonawarra 13.5%
- This was a disappointment on the first day - good colour but the mousse a little coarse and evident green capsicum (more on the palate than the nose). I'm not a fan of green capsicum in cabernet, and considering this is a non-vintage blend from six vintages of reserve wines, thought I'd be getting more ripe fruit characters. The 24 months on lees showed, with good mouthfeel. Surprisingly, half the bottle resealed and kept until the next evening showed up much better than the day before, with the capsicum going away.

Yendah Sangiovese 2005, Clare Valley 14.5%
- Saw this in the bottlo and remembered Mr Walsh having had a look at some of these new 'varietal label' wines produced by Casella, so thought I'd try one. It was better than I thought, even if well into the spectrum of big-dry-red it retained some of the distinctive cherry characters I look for in sangiovese. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a dollop of grenache or shiraz in this, but I could be wrong. Having it alongside Mitchell's Grenache Sangiovese Mourverdre blend would be an interesting experiment.

Lustau San Emilio pedro ximenez, Jerez 17%
- This is not too expensive and a decent sticky pedro. There's a good shiny polished-wood colour to it, and a length of flavour I like. What I don't like so much are some spikes of acid along it's length, but a good sipping sweet sherry to finish a meal or have as a nightcap.

Coriole sangiovese 2004, McLaren Vale 14%
- Having thought the 2005 Coriole sangiovese was the best I'd had from them, I thought I'd go back and have a look to see how the 2004 was travelling. Better than before was the answer. This seems to have filled out with time, the fruit, acid and tannin becoming better integrated. A couple of glasses left in the bottle for a day or two came on even better, especially with food.

Battle of Bosworth White Boar shiraz 2004, McLaren Vale 15%
- The alcohol level doesn't bother me with wines I know have been through amarone-style drying processes, for the most part. I'd had the standard Bosworth shiraz without knowing that a portion of cane cut (2 weeks of hanging) fruit usually makes it into the normal shiraz. When the fruit is good enough, and there is enough of it, Bosworth does a small separate bottling of the dried gear, as White Boar. This was excellent - a deep dark staining purple-black colour, a lovely lifted nose suggesting sweetness, but a palate that was not at all cloying, confected or over-heated with alcohol. Lovely wine for the league grand final, and one that confirms my interest in trying passito/amarone processes with shiraz fruit. Skipping the use of a full capsule, allowing people to check the cork through the glass of the bottle, was also something I liked.

[oakboy]

Hello all, with all the fuss on 96's lately had a 96 cab night, just some impressions though

Geoff Merrill reserve Cab Sav 1996 milk chocalate, needs alot more time
Seppelts Drumborg Cab Sav 1996 lots of berries, drink now
Grant Burge Coonawarra Cab Sav 1996 nice early, but fell apart after 2 hours
Wynn's John Riddoch 1996 Cab Sav started with an ugly vegemite smell that blew off after a couple of hours, then started to open up, definitely needs time, but that vegemite was a worry
Penfolds bin389 1996 wow! this is the stuff!! coffee, vanilla and berries, great juice.!
Penfolds bin 128 1996 good considering the company, but just lacking a bit of intenseness...in a hole?

other wines of note lately
Tyrells Vat8 2002 typical shiraz/cab v8 great juice, but drink now can't see it getting any better
Heathcote Estate shiraz 2003 big style, lots of vanilla
Roche Tallawanta old vine shiraz 2000 great hunter quaffer, but still needs a couple more years, but not too much more
Houghtons Gladstone 2000 shiraz lovely wine, needed a big decant 6+ hours, but this wine has the 'core' to go well into the 2010's.!

Then to celebrate after the Brisbane Broncos great win in the NRL 2006 GF
Heathcote Estate 2002 shiraz This was way better than the 2003, much more elegant with a better structure, 'leave it in the cellar'
Jamiesons Run Alexander Block Cab Sav 1998 Choc/berries on the nose then liquorice plus++ , nice wine, needs a little more time
Cheers

[Adair]

As well as all the other wines and cellar door tasting I have posted about over the past week, I have had bottles of the following:

2001 McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon – 11%: the best bottle of this I have tasted. Bought a few days before from Dan Murphy’s, it was complex with honey, cream, lemon butter, grass, etc., truly harmonious and powerful. Lovely example of the style. 92/100 (17.7/20)

2003 Yarra Burn Sparkling White - 13% - Yarra Valley - PN/C/PM: A very good sparkling at its price with flavour and adequate tightness. As good and probably better than recent previous releases. 90/100 (17/20)

2002 Barossa Valley Estate Ebenezer – 14% - Barossa Valley: Great fruit, complexity and structure, as is typical of the great 2002 Barossa Cabernet vintage, spoilt by one of the worst examples of unbalancing and un-harmonising American oak (I confidently presume) I have tasted for a while. Every sip is worse than the one before with more dill and fennel. A massive shame. 82/100 (15/20)

2003 Rockford Eden Valley Riesling – 11.5%: After being a bit taken back by the unusual acidic intensity of this wine on release, the palate is now starting to fill out into its structure with the typical Eden Valley limes and lemonade and with great weight; however, it lacks minerality or true Riesling distinction. 90/100 (17.3/20)

2006 Pewsey Vale Riesling – 13% - Eden Valley: Not showing much Riesling distinction. A little disappointing actually. 85/100 (15.5/20)

2005 Tahbilk Marsanne – 13.5%: After having a bottle that was not showing as pristine flavours as others, I tried it again to make sure that my faith in this wine was founded, and it was. Typical Marsanne potpourri, white flowers, lemon, some tropicals, honeysuckle and lemon. Not as powerful as the 2004, but enjoyable for its flavour and freshness. 90/100 (17/20)

2001 Crabtree Watervale Riesling – 12% - Clare Valley: With the 2004 Lake’s Folly, the wine of my holiday. Amazing as a young wine, this is amazing as an aged wine. Although this particular bottle was stored in a garage and has probably developed a little faster than the ones sitting in my cellar, its balance was still exceptional. Juicy sweet limes, honey and sweet spice with some kero showing, its acid structure and palate length were all that one could hope, but even this bottle would have preferred another year or two to develop. 94/100 (18.5/2)

2004 Meerea Park “The Aunts’” Shiraz – 13.5%: Medium/light body. Opens very reductive/sulphurous and needs at least 2 hours to breathe. Red berries, smoked meats and sweet herbs. Fine tannins. Lovely acid. Elegant, balanced and long. The wine gets more fleshy after 12 hours. 91/100 (17.5/20)

Back to work!

Adair

[Finney]

Sunday night at Dijon in Canberra with friends (Yes I do have a few!) :

French Champers - Can't remember what it was but it was lovely!

2003 Houghton's Pemberton Chardonnay - Excellent, flinty, minerally, well balanced acid, fruit and French Oak. Went and bought a 6 pack on Monday. Will enjoying seeing how this one develops!

1998 Wynn's Black Label - Excellent shape and a long way to go. Excellent wine!

1991 Wynn's Black Label - Again in excellent condition, with the green'ish characters in check by the fruit. Excellent! Glad I have 3 more. I had one of these a month ago and it was corked (Wynn's replaced with current vintage), so I was freaking out about this bottle, but I had nothing to worry about

WOTN......Buggered if I know, we enjoyed them all!

Regards

Finney

[Sean]

deleted

[mattECN]

2002 Tamar Ridge Pinot Noir, TAS

Absolutely love this vintage from Tamar Ridge, it’s a belter, I have tried 2000, 2001, 2003 and none of these come close to the 2002. Medium bodied wine, the fruit hits your senses from the outset; ripe cherries inter-twined with hints of charry oak. Great mouthfeel and excellent finish. It says on the bottle 14% alcohol, but I suspect higher, as there is a hint of warmth. This wine is drinking beautifully now, will be a good medium term cellar prospect.

2001 Woodstock ‘The Stocks’ Shiraz, McLaren Vlaue

Decanted for 1 hour prior to drinking. On the back label it says 15% alcohol, but there is no sign of this on the palate. I think this is a pretty classy wine, savoury fruit, subtle peppery characteristics and well integrated oak. The palate is well rounded and the finish is very good. It is such a smooth wine, the tannins are well integrated, overall a pretty decent wine, but probably not representative of its price tag.

2004 Schild Estate Shiraz

This wine impresses me more and more, we had this after The Stocks, this wine has a lot more upfront ripe fruit, hints of chocolate and mocca. Its such a good drink now, it will be interesting to see how this wine cellars.

2005 Tylers Stream Sauvignon Blanc (Malborough, NZ)

Promising nose of gooseberries, tropical fruits and a touch of citrus. On the palate citrus characteristics dominate, with underlying tropical fruit, with good acidity. It was pretty dry and finished a little short. Overall a pretty good wine, went very well with a marinated prawn salad. I’ve had a few NZ Sauv Blancs in recent times and this was probably my least favourite.

2006 Evans & Tate Classic White

Excellent nose of lemon, hay and a hint of flint. Palate backed up the nose with lemon, tropical fruits, minerally characteristics, nice acidity, finshing with a hint of pinneapple. Really like this wine and will drink well over the next 12 months. Followed this wine with a 2006 Houghton Classic White and this was no where near the standard of the E&T.

2004 Crittendon & Co Cabernet Merlot

Given to us as a gift. Wasn’t expecting much at all but this was a surprise. Cassis on the nose, with hints of raspberry and even chocolate. In the mouth it did not dissappoint, nice ripe fruit with Cassis, red fruits and lovely fine tannins. The mouth finished very well for a quaffer and overall had a good mouth feel and was a surprise packet.

[GRB]

Magpie Estate The Sack 2004
Brought over by some friends, something seemed a little out of wack with this bottle. Not as good as the taste I have had previously. Underscrew cap but obviously still some bottle variation. Loved it last time but was not so impressed this time around.

Noon 12 Bells 2004
Interesting enough without being mindblowing. Wouldn't have picked it as Grenache.

Yalumba Signature 1996
Now we are talking lovely aged characters starting to develop in this wine. Great drinking now but will hold for some years yet.

JJ Hahn Cab Shiraz 2002
Think this one had a slight hint of TCA that stripped the fruit out. Will have to get another bottle to try.

Glen[/b]

[Michael McNally]

2004 Scarpantoni 'Block 3' McLaren Vale Shiraz. Cork. 14.5%. $21

Dark. Brown/red at the rim. Nose of spicy oak with hints of clove and cinnamon. Lovely varietal fruit, with mulberry and blueberry supporting. Tannin a little prominent at the moment, but flavours quite harmonious. Tannin fades in prominence as the decanter does its job. Longish finish. Doesn't flaunt its 14.5% alcohol. Rating: Very, Very Good. QPR: Medium/High.

[mkcoleman]

Lindemans Pyrus 2001 (Magnum)

Opened this on Monday while hosting a BBQ. Decanted for 1 hour, and throwing some sediment considering the age. This was a really enjoyable wine that just got better as the time went by. Lovely berry smell and the palate was full of fruit and also soft grainy tannins, could drink this all day. Good for several years, although I think I will be opening another soon as I just found it too easy to drink.

Annie's Lane Shiraz 2004
Drank round the bosses house folllowing a BBQ the other week. Really surprised by it considering it was only $12.99. I think this a really good quaffer wine, we also drank the Taylors Shiraz $12.99 and thought it was of a similiar standing. Definitely recommend both as easy drinking wines.

Mind you we opened the Annie's Lane after 2 previous bottles plus the odd beer hjad been consumed ... ending up playing Playstation until 3am ... what am I doing playing kids games at 33 !!!! We were playing Cricket 2004, so it was a warm up for the Ashes ... boss Australian and me the Brit ... unfortunately England lost 2-1 ... let's hope that doesn't reflect the Ashes score!

[Muscat Mike]

We were playing Cricket 2004, so it was a warm up for the Ashes ... boss Australian and me the Brit ... unfortunately England lost 2-1 ... let's hope that doesn't reflect the Ashes score!

It won't. The Poms will not win any.
Mike.

[Julio]

The weekend marked the end of a self imposed 5 week dry spell. I went away with a large group so not conducive to breaking the drought in too much style.

Friday night was 1999 Willespie Shiraz
The alcohol tended to dominate what would otherwise have been a very nice wine. Nice stewed fruit and burnt smokey aniseed flavours but too warm in the mouth... a much nicer wine when I bought it a few years ago.

Saturday was mainly beer watching my boys win the best GF in living memory. I decided to give the 2004 Taylors Shiraz a run after reading some favourable things... not bad, fairly simple and a little bit oaky for my liking but at $12 you can't go too far wrong.

Sunday evening was kicked off with the 2004 Taylors Cab Sauv - a much better wine than the Shiraz with great fruit up front not dominated by oak and reasonable finish. Not the most complex wine but excellent value for money. Then came the 2002 Montrose Black Shiraz... I really liked this wine when I tasted it a few months ago and bought a few bottles and I am very pleased that I did. A wonderful balance between fruit and oak, strong but not over bearing tannins and a wonderfully long finish. Suspect that this wine will age a couple more years yet. [/b]

[mkcoleman]

It won't. The Poms will not win any.
Mike.

As a Brit I am always hoping and at least I was in England for the last Ashes and now in Sydney for this one ... so no watching in the middle of the night ... that's a plus!

Come on you under-dogs!

[Adair]

It won't. The Poms will not win any.
Mike.

As a Brit I am always hoping and at least I was in England for the last Ashes and now in Sydney for this one ... so no watching in the middle of the night ... that's a plus!

Come on you under-dogs!

If England win this upcoming Ashes series, I will drink a bottle of McGuigan's!
Adair

[Ian S]

If England win this upcoming Ashes series, I will drink a bottle of McGuigan's!
Adair

Oh shit. Now I've got to support the aussies, as no-one should suffer a fate THAT bad. C'mon Warrrney!!

[bacchaebabe]

Just a couple of wines among more beers than I have fingers and toes. Big weekend with not too much time for wine.

96 Leasignham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz Nice wine but not mind blowing like some fizzy reds can be. Bit of berry, bit of chocolate, bit of bubbles. Credit.

NV Lanson Rose Another nice champagne with hints of strawberry. Nice clean palate and very enjoyable. Credit.


04 Mamre Brook Cab Sav A better bottle than my last one. Nice body and dark purple colour. Hints of plums, blackberry and vanilla. Just a touch of licorice. Easy drinking. Credit.

[Gary W]

It won't. The Poms will not win any.
Mike.

As a Brit I am always hoping and at least I was in England for the last Ashes and now in Sydney for this one ... so no watching in the middle of the night ... that's a plus!

Come on you under-dogs!

If England win this upcoming Ashes series, I will drink a bottle of McGuigan's!
Adair

..and I will make sure you do Fluffy. A magnum of Blackie coming up...
GW

[Davo]

96 Leasignham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz Nice wine but not mind blowing like some fizzy reds can be. Bit of berry, bit of chocolate, bit of bubbles. Credit.

Either you had a bad bottle or your tastes are different to mine. Or, you may be just very hard to please.

I've had this twice this year and was gobsmacked at the quality for the price on both occasions. A lot more complexity than you describe, a truly wonderful example of the style, and certainly up there with the Rockies.

But this, of course, is just my mileage.

[davidg]

Stoniers Reserve Pinot Noir 2001 Mornington Peninsula

Disappointing - I suspect a bad bottle.

[bacchaebabe]

96 Leasignham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz Nice wine but not mind blowing like some fizzy reds can be. Bit of berry, bit of chocolate, bit of bubbles. Credit.

Either you had a bad bottle or your tastes are different to mine. Or, you may be just very hard to please.

I've had this twice this year and was gobsmacked at the quality for the price on both occasions. A lot more complexity than you describe, a truly wonderful example of the style, and certainly up there with the Rockies.

But this, of course, is just my mileage.

Thanks for the feedback - interesting. To be honest, I was pissed virtually the whole weekend and had this after about 8 schooners and two glasses of champagne but it didn't rock my world and I was hoping it would. It was very good but it did feel just a little muted and didn't have the clarity and complexity I was hoping for (or maybe that was just me). Maybe a bad bottle. Maybe a bad time to drink it. I have a couple more bottles and will post on the next ones.