Schoolday Drinkie Poos- 24th to 28th August

[monghead]

Well, I was late at starting this one last week (thanks Carl for picking up my slack), so here it is, first thing at work today, morning coffee to kick-start the engine, and this thread is now open...

Cheers,

Monghead.

[jeremy]

Bloody hell Monghead, I can happily say no liqour of any kind has as yet passed my lips I'll get back to you. Hopefully not today. AFD and all

[Wayno]

Excellent work. None yet but the remains of an 02 Mount Horrocks Clare Valley Shiraz tonight. Started quite pungent and funky but drank through 1-2 glasses into quite pinot-like, with satsuma plums and some gamey, cured meat notes. Quite different to first impressions. Will be interesting to see how it is after a day's intermission.

[dlo]

Excellent work. None yet but the remains of an 02 Mount Horrocks Clare Valley Shiraz tonight. Started quite pungent and funky but drank through 1-2 glasses into quite pinot-like, with satsuma plums and some gamey, cured meat notes. Quite different to first impressions. Will be interesting to see how it is after a day's intermission.

Keep a look out for brett. The 1999 was full of it.

[Wayno]

No Brett in this baby, very fine on night 2, a lesson in style over power.
Washed down with a Glenlivet 18.

[monghead]

1998 Mount Langi Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot- Not so Good.

[jester]

Knappstein Hand Picked Riesling 2008 - Good mix of lime and minerals. Starting to love my rieslings younger.......... and older. Very nice.

Metala Original Plantings Shiraz 1994 - Lovely aged shiraz, drink now.

Penfolds Bin 389 1998 - Super wine , complex, still plenty of fine but firm tannins, great now but with years to go.

Bit extreme for a monday but must be done occasionally

[oakboy]

St Hallett Old Block 1994 beautiful balance and ready to go, but the fruit is just starting to fade. Still has a great mouthfeel, and the tannins have softened to refined. Drink up, a good barossa shiraz.

[jeremy]

2005 Grosset Chardonnay- lovely expressive nose. Lacked a bit on the finish. Shame. Just one glass. Alright. Not a bargain, but I didn't buy it, so...

[Steve]

Going from memory because I'm way too slack/disorganised to take notes...

1999 Leo Buring Maturation Reserve Clare Valley Riesling

Light gold, tinges of green - certainly doesn't look ten years old. Typical aged riesling nose, with surprising citrus freshness although not all that intense. Still fresh on the palate - good acidity and well balanced. All the usual older Clare riesling characters with plenty of lemon and lime and junk in there holding it together. Should keep aging nicely for a while. Incredibly long, fresh length.

1999 Knappstein Enterprise Cabernet Sauvignon

Previous bottles have been hit and miss but this is definitely a hit. Nice combination of aged characters and primary fruit, great tannin integration and overall balance. Very nice. Holding together, drink sooner rather than later.

2009 Skillogalee Riesling

The first 2009 riesling I've encountered, and I reckon it's great. Mouth puckering acidity with plenty of lemon, lime, and florals. Very long, intense length. The alcohol is a little higher than I'm used to (I think it was around 13% - or was that the O'Leary Walker?) but that doesn't seem to detract from the wine in any way. Will be interesting to come back to this when I can be bothered taking more complete notes...

[bacchaebabe]

Had a 98 Lengs & Cooter The Vicar last night. One of those single bottles dwelling in the cellar that I have no idea how I got it. Probably brought by someone to a barby or something. Anyway most overwhelming feature was a room full of blackcurrants. Unfortunately a bit thin on the palate but probably would have been super a few years ago. Still enjoyable enough. 89.

[Michael McNally]

2007 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz-Cabernet. SC. 375ml. $6.65.

Not bad at all. Acid a bit sharp on opening, but was quite pleasant after half an hour. Shiraz shines through. Good.

Also some Penfolds Bluestone Tawny Port
Lovely, but very sprity.

[oakboy]

So tonight, i thought i'd do a good hunter...
Has anyone(I'm sure we all have) pulled out a cork on a bottle and gone "Sh%t thats a great cork", and i shouldn't have opened this yet! Tonight i pulled out a beautiful white cork, only stained at most 1/2 mm. so the wine was McLeish Estate 2003 reserve shiraz wonderful hunter nose Choc, aniseed, earth and leather. Classic hunter, the palate full of good tannic structure, but slightly softing after bottle age. If only i could tell which wines had that great cork!
Cheers all
Simmo

[monghead]

So tonight, i thought i'd do a good hunter...
Has anyone(I'm sure we all have) pulled out a cork on a bottle and gone "Sh%t thats a great cork", and i shouldn't have opened this yet! Tonight i pulled out a beautiful white cork, only stained at most 1/2 mm. so the wine was McLeish Estate 2003 reserve shiraz wonderful hunter nose Choc, aniseed, earth and leather. Classic hunter, the palate full of good tannic structure, but slightly softing after bottle age. If only i could tell which wines had that great cork!
Cheers all
Simmo

Simmo,

I'm not sure if the amount of staining a cork had sustained is any indication of it's quality... Unless of course if there are obvious signs of seepage like staining all the way to the top, or crusted wine on the capsule etc. However, if it is important for you to determine the level of staining in deciding when to open a certain wine, you could just remove the whole capsule and inspect the cork...

Cheers,

Monghead.

[monghead]

DaveB wrote:
And Friday....which I am really looking forward too

2006 Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux
2007 Ch Laville Haut Brion Blanc (magnum)
2002 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc (double magnum)
2007 Ch Smith Haut-Lafite Blanc
1996 Ch d'Yquem (Jeroboam)
1989 Ch Suduirat (magnum)
2004 Ch de Fargues (double magnum)
1998 Pavillon Rouge (double magnum)
1998 Ch Margaux (magnum)
1988 Ch Palmer (double magnum)
1996 Ch Palmer (double magnum)
2000 ch Pamer (double magnum)
1982 ch Branaire-ducru
1996 Ch Mouton Rothschild (double magnum)
1982 Ch Cos d'Estournel (magnum)
1996 Ch Cos d'Estournel (double magnum)
2004 Ch Cos d'Estournel (magnum)
1994 Ch Haut Brion (double magnum)
1995 Ch Haut Bailly
1990 Ch Petit Village (double magnum)
1994 Ch L'Evangile (magnum)
1995 Ch Trotanoy (magnum)
1996 Ch La Fleur Petrus (double magnum)
1996 Petrus
1994 Ch Angelus (double magnum)
1998 Ch canon La Gaffeliere
1990 Ch Figeac (magnum)
2000 Ch Figeac
1992 Ch Pavie (magnum)
1997 Domaine Leflaive Batard Montrachet
2000 Leroy Meursault
2002 Coche Meursault Les Perrieres
2005 Bouchard Montrachet (Methusalem)
2001 Bouchard Chevelier-Montrachet (Jeraboam)
2004 Faiveley Corton-Charlie
2005 drouhin clos de Mouches (Methusalem)
2000 Comte de Vogue Bonnes Mares
1999 Armand Rousseau Chambertin
2006 Domaine Gros Echzeaux
2006 Domaine Grois Richebourg
2006 Domaine Ligier-Belair echezeaux
1988 DRC La Tache (methusalem)
1992 Leroy Musigny
1967 Leroy Gevrey-Chambertin
1991 Chapoutier Barbe Rac
1993 Chapoutier barbe Rac (jeroboam)
1998 Chapoutier Barbe-Rac (jeroboam)
1994 Chapoutier La Pavillon (magnum)
2001 Chapoutier La Pavillon (jeroboam)
2004 Chapoutier La Pavillon (jeroboam)
2004 Guigal d'Ampuis
2005 Guigal d'Ampuis
1996 Guigal La Landonne
2005 Guigal La Landonne
1996 Guigal la Mouline
2005 Guigal La Mouline
2000 Guigal La Turque
2005 Guigal La Turque
1991 Jaboulet La chapelle (magnum)
1995 Jaboulet La chapelle (jeroboam)
2003 Jaboulet La Chapelle (jeroboam)
1990 Jaboulet Domaine de Thalabert (magnum)
1995 Jaboulet domaine de Thalabert (jeroboam)
1998 Domaine de Saint-Pierre

So Dave, how did this go?

Any highlights?

In particular, how dod the '96 Petrus, La Fleur Petrus and La Las go?

Cheers,

Monghead.

[Steve]

Again, improper tasting notes...

2003 Peter Lehmann Margaret Semillon

Developing nicely. Still looking very young, but with emerging aged characters. Very, very nice - and for the money it's an absolute steal.

2007 KT And The Falcon Churinga Shiraz

A very good example of a young Clare Valley shiraz. Very well balanced, great fruit and varietal characters. Will be interesting to see how it develops over time.

[Wayno]

Petalume Riesling 2008
Crisp, pert, lemony, great structure. A touch weak on the end palate but I suspect this will only get better.

[oakboy]

So tonight, i thought i'd do a good hunter...
Has anyone(I'm sure we all have) pulled out a cork on a bottle and gone "Sh%t thats a great cork", and i shouldn't have opened this yet! Tonight i pulled out a beautiful white cork, only stained at most 1/2 mm. so the wine was McLeish Estate 2003 reserve shiraz wonderful hunter nose Choc, aniseed, earth and leather. Classic hunter, the palate full of good tannic structure, but slightly softing after bottle age. If only i could tell which wines had that great cork!
Cheers all
Simmo

Simmo,

I'm not sure if the amount of staining a cork had sustained is any indication of it's quality... Unless of course if there are obvious signs of seepage like staining all the way to the top, or crusted wine on the capsule etc. However, if it is important for you to determine the level of staining in deciding when to open a certain wine, you could just remove the whole capsule and inspect the cork...

Cheers,

Monghead.

Oh, let me go throu the cellar with a stanley knife and remove all the capsules, Gosh I can tell what will be the corkie's.....
I was just saying isn't it a good when you get a good cork without much staining on a older wine and say "Gee thats a good one" should have left it in the cellar....
Cheers
Simmo

[griff]

A couple of AFD's this week and the Coonawarra Roadshow last night.

2006 d'Arenburg d'arry's Original Shiraz Grenache
The better half had made lasagna and I picked this wine. Dense dark red colour that stained the glass when swirled. Rich primary red fruit on the nose with just a touch of meat in there. Gobs of fruit but not sweet on the palate. Has tannin and acid to allow cellaring underneath that fruit as well. Very Good wine and a bargain. A good vintage of this to my taste.

cheers

Carl

[Wayno]

A couple of AFD's this week and the Coonawarra Roadshow last night.

2006 d'Arenburg d'arry's Original Shiraz Grenache
The better half had made lasagna and I picked this wine. Dense dark red colour that stained the glass when swirled. Rich primary red fruit on the nose with just a touch of meat in there. Gobs of fruit but not sweet on the palate. Has tannin and acid to allow cellaring underneath that fruit as well. Very Good wine and a bargain. A good vintage of this to my taste.

cheers

Carl

I reckon this is a pretty trustworthy wine most vintages. I've finished off of a few random vintages of this from the cellar in the last year or so and been disappointed with none of them, impressed rather.

[bacchaebabe]

Had some friends over for dinner last night to help finish the remains of the Adriano Zumbo Chocolate Mousse cake that I managed to score. (Yes, the one everyone was talking about on masterchef) So thought I'd open something half decent.

My friends brought a 06 Wantirna Estate Isabella Chardonnay. Bloody fantastic. Lovely pears and stone fruits and cashews. Great complexity and depth to this. Most impressed. 94

And then a 97 Penfolds RWT. Another absolute blinder. Jeremy Oliver recommends drinking this vintage 05-09 and I had three of them so I thought I'd best at least try one soon. A maroon red colour. Gorgeous plums, black and red currants, spice and pepper. Lovely round mouthfeel. I decanted this for about an hour or so but I definitely think it's in its window and should probably go another two years but if you have any, I'd be looking at drinking them soonish. I think JO's pretty good with his drinking window here. Really very good. 95

Then some Muscat from the barrel to accompany the mousse cake. Both delish.

[griff]

A couple of AFD's this week and the Coonawarra Roadshow last night.

2006 d'Arenburg d'arry's Original Shiraz Grenache
The better half had made lasagna and I picked this wine. Dense dark red colour that stained the glass when swirled. Rich primary red fruit on the nose with just a touch of meat in there. Gobs of fruit but not sweet on the palate. Has tannin and acid to allow cellaring underneath that fruit as well. Very Good wine and a bargain. A good vintage of this to my taste.

cheers

Carl

I reckon this is a pretty trustworthy wine most vintages. I've finished off of a few random vintages of this from the cellar in the last year or so and been disappointed with none of them, impressed rather.

I just think it is great that they haven't watered this wine down over time so to speak. Even Phillip is going multi-regional next year Not many red wines $25 or under with a history going back over a couple of decades or more that still have cellaring ability. Wynn's Black is all that I can think of off-hand.

[jeremy]

2007 Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz- it's not ready to give much just yet, but what it gives is an overwhelming sense of intelligence and promise.

[orpheus]

Wendouree shiraz malbec 2004 - lovely wine, powerful but restrained dark berry fruit, lovely, substantial tannins giving the wine great structure, focus, and length.

Bannockburn shiraz 2002 - enticing forest floor and plum nose, lovely plummy wine in the mouth, drinking well now.

[Alex F]

Had some friends over for dinner last night to help finish the remains of the Adriano Zumbo Chocolate Mousse cake that I managed to score. (Yes, the one everyone was talking about on masterchef)

Is it worth it? (The price and the wait)

[Tom A]

My friends brought a 06 Wantirna Estate Isabella Chardonnay. Bloody fantastic. Lovely pears and stone fruits and cashews. Great complexity and depth to this. Most impressed. 94

And then a 97 Penfolds RWT. Another absolute blinder. Jeremy Oliver recommends drinking this vintage 05-09 and I had three of them so I thought I'd best at least try one soon. A maroon red colour. Gorgeous plums, black and red currants, spice and pepper. Lovely round mouthfeel. I decanted this for about an hour or so but I definitely think it's in its window and should probably go another two years but if you have any, I'd be looking at drinking them soonish. I think JO's pretty good with his drinking window here. Really very good. 95

Thanks Kris, got the 97 RWT and 05 Isabella on the tasting bench this weekend. Hopefully the red will shine like your bottle did. I really enjoy the Wantirna Chard. Price has stayed pretty steady over the last few years as well, always pleasing.

Cheers
TA

[griff]

2006 Domaine Leflaive Mâcon-Verzé
A glowing yellow robe. Shy nose with perhaps some floral notes. Broad slippery palate with yellow peach, tangelo and a little minerality that I so like followed by a lingering fine english toffee oak finish. Was a wine that grew on us and took time to show its finesse. Contrasted nicely with a bouillabaisse tonight. Very Good and drink now.

cheers

Carl

[bacchaebabe]

Had some friends over for dinner last night to help finish the remains of the Adriano Zumbo Chocolate Mousse cake that I managed to score. (Yes, the one everyone was talking about on masterchef)

Is it worth it? (The price and the wait)

After the show Adriano decided to raffle the opportunity to buy the cake as demand was so high. He got over 2,500 email entries for the raffle. He's on twitter and last weekend, not everyone who got the opportunity to buy their cake turned up so on Saturday afternoon he put out on twitter that anyone who wanted one could come and get it. I rang as soon as I saw this and had my name down for one, drive over to Balmain and picked it up just before closing time. It was $90.

I had a friend's birthday picnic to go to the next day and she is a mad foodie and a masterchef tragic so it was a huge surprise for her and her friends. I wanted to sve some of it for other foodie / masterchef fans so we ate half there that day. For the reaction and the fun it was certainly worth it. We had another quarter the other night and I'vegot another friend coming around to have the last quarter tonight.

It's a lot of money for a cake but given that about 18 people will have enjoyed it by the time it's all gone and the work that has quite clearly gone into it, I would definitely say it's worth it. It really is something special from the alcohol infused pears to the salted caramel to the biscuit base and the chocolate mousse and chocolate decoration it's a work of art and is absolutely delicious.

I'm trying to insert a picture but it's not working so just follow this link:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2343203&l=d8ed59db96&id=625093018

[bacchaebabe]

My friends brought a 06 Wantirna Estate Isabella Chardonnay. Bloody fantastic. Lovely pears and stone fruits and cashews. Great complexity and depth to this. Most impressed. 94

And then a 97 Penfolds RWT. Another absolute blinder. Jeremy Oliver recommends drinking this vintage 05-09 and I had three of them so I thought I'd best at least try one soon. A maroon red colour. Gorgeous plums, black and red currants, spice and pepper. Lovely round mouthfeel. I decanted this for about an hour or so but I definitely think it's in its window and should probably go another two years but if you have any, I'd be looking at drinking them soonish. I think JO's pretty good with his drinking window here. Really very good. 95

Thanks Kris, got the 97 RWT and 05 Isabella on the tasting bench this weekend. Hopefully the red will shine like your bottle did. I really enjoy the Wantirna Chard. Price has stayed pretty steady over the last few years as well, always pleasing.

Cheers
TA

Be very interested to hear what you think of them both, Tom.

[monghead]

Had some friends over for dinner last night to help finish the remains of the Adriano Zumbo Chocolate Mousse cake that I managed to score. (Yes, the one everyone was talking about on masterchef)

Is it worth it? (The price and the wait)

After the show Adriano decided to raffle the opportunity to buy the cake as demand was so high. He got over 2,500 email entries for the raffle. He's on twitter and last weekend, not everyone who got the opportunity to buy their cake turned up so on Saturday afternoon he put out on twitter that anyone who wanted one could come and get it. I rang as soon as I saw this and had my name down for one, drive over to Balmain and picked it up just before closing time. It was $90.

I had a friend's birthday picnic to go to the next day and she is a mad foodie and a masterchef tragic so it was a huge surprise for her and her friends. I wanted to sve some of it for other foodie / masterchef fans so we ate half there that day. For the reaction and the fun it was certainly worth it. We had another quarter the other night and I'vegot another friend coming around to have the last quarter tonight.

It's a lot of money for a cake but given that about 18 people will have enjoyed it by the time it's all gone and the work that has quite clearly gone into it, I would definitely say it's worth it. It really is something special from the alcohol infused pears to the salted caramel to the biscuit base and the chocolate mousse and chocolate decoration it's a work of art and is absolutely delicious.

I'm trying to insert a picture but it's not working so just follow this link:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2343203&l=d8ed59db96&id=625093018

Gee, I wonder what price it was retailing at prior to the Masterchef bonanza.