Weekday Stuff 28th Sept to 2nd Oct

[monghead]

Well, for those who want to post prospectively, let us know what's excited and what's disappointed.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[rens]

2008 clos pierre Pinot Noir Not a bad pinot for the sub $20. lovely pinot berrys with subtle oak. 13/20 good quaffing.
2006 D'Arenberg The Custodian Grenache Nice french style Grenache lacking the sweetness and spice that most Aussie Grenaches have. Another nice sub $20 wine. 12.5/20.

[Nick11]

Farrside By Far 2007 Pinot - Disappointing.

[griff]

2 x 1997 Rumball Sparkling Shiraz
The first a little flat and dull. Most likely scalped. The second a gorgeous aged Coonawarra shiraz with bubbles. Liquorice and spice predominant. Excellent/Outstanding wine.

cheers

Carl

[seddo]

McWilliams Mount Pleasant Elizabeth 00 - honey and marmalade very nice with a roast chook


cheers
Seddo

[bacchaebabe]

After a run of disappointing wine I opened a goodie last night. 98 Jacob's Creek Reserve Cab Sav These were around $12 on release and have proven to be worth every cent. A lovely full bodied perfectly mature example. No primary fruit but just a solid and delicious wine delivering in bucketloads, especially for the price. 94

[rooman]

Wirra Wirra RSW Shiraz 2002 Lush opulent McLaren shiraz, blueberry and dark current fruit, good depth of flavour. Drinking well now but I see little upside to holding onto it for much longer.

Rosemount Cab Sav 1998 Mature cab sav style. Some red bricking around the rim, dark chocolate, cigar box and tobacco flavour. Some degree of complexity coming through but I doubt it will ever turn into something truly memorable.

Seppelts Sparking Shiraz 2005 I don't recall actually ever drinking this style though I have seen numerous write-ups. Dense deep red colour, a bizarre wine for those who haven't tried one before but definitely moreish.

Phi Chardonnay 2005. I was looking forward to this after some of the hype I read about it but found it overall disappointing. I found the wine finished quite short with slightly flabby fruit.

CJ Pask Chardonnay 2007 Compared to the Phi Chardonnay, this Hawkes Bay chardonnay was a much better wine. Lovely lemon and pineapple flavours with good acid on a long refreshing finish.

Moillard Pommard Epenottes 1st C 2005 I have had very little experience with Pommards so I wasn't really sure as to how to benchmark this wine. More robust in style than some Cote de Beaune wines I have tried previously. Amazing bouquet, the strong floral aroma literally leaps out of the glass at you. Dusty earthy style of red. Good concentration and depth of flavour with firm tannins as I had expected given the vintage. It will be a few years until I open the next bottle.

[jeremy]

2006 Villa Wolf Rielsing- seemed very honeyed and developed for its age to me. Just started drinking German Riesling. Won't be getting any more of this.

[griff]

2006 Villa Wolf Rielsing- seemed very honeyed and developed for its age to me. Just started drinking German Riesling. Won't be getting any more of this.

Hi Jeremy,

It might be the 2006 vintage doing this. The 2005 was a good QPR. 2007 is a good vintage again but have yet to try the Villa Wolf from that year.

cheers

Carl

[jeremy]

2006 Villa Wolf Rielsing- seemed very honeyed and developed for its age to me. Just started drinking German Riesling. Won't be getting any more of this.

Hi Jeremy,

It might be the 2006 vintage doing this. The 2005 was a good QPR. 2007 is a good vintage again but have yet to try the Villa Wolf from that year.

cheers

Carl

Thanks Carl, much appreciated. Someone familiar with German Riesling suggested it may be the bottle (which it still could be I guess), but it's screwcap and I couldn't see any damage to the container or the seal. I'll seek out a 2007 now I know it's a good vintage.

[monghead]

2008 Neudorf Sauvignon Blanc- Slightly sweet for me. Just Good.

[Wayno]

Spinifex Papillon 2008 - survived Indian well. Upfront, musky, fruit driven, honest wine! Nice.

[Chad]

2008 Mike Press Adelaide Hills Shiraz- What a ripper wine for $10/bottle. Mike's wine have always impressed me, but this and the 2007 Cab Sauv are the pick for mine. Lovely fruit & jubes on the nose with a glorious rounded finish.

2006 Martinborough Vineyard Te Tera Pinot Noir- Possibly the best Pinot I have tasted this year. Big wrap as I actually purchased this last year without great expectation alongside the best Pinot I tasted in 2008 which was a 2007 Mt. Difficulty Estate Pinot Noir.

2004 Rockford Moppa Springs- Chewy berries and jamminess. Great wine.

2008 Boireann Vigne Juvenile Shiraz Viognier- Glad I opened this as it has reassured me that purchasing the 2008 Boireann Maggie's Shiraz Viognier was a great idea. A thoroughly engaging wine that more people should be drinking.

Chad

[TiggerK]

Guerrieri Rizzardi “Pojega” Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC Ripasso 2005 - big long name for a great wine. 85% mix of Corvina and Corvinone with 15% mix of Rondinella and Molinara grape varieties (none of which I have heard of before this). Dark cherries, leather, subtle herbs, savoury slightly burgundy pInot-like palate (to my limited experience anyway). Extremely enjoyable after 30 mins breathing with some tasty Italian food. Extra Good.

[monghead]

2004 Wantirna Amelia Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot- Sexy Good. Man, these guys rock!

Monghead.

[Gavin Trott]

2007 Sons of Eden Kennedy (GSM)

Lovely lovely wine, clear red black colour, incredibly aromatic, lifted, perfumed almost with raspberries and red fruits initially, then asian spices, white pepper, a touch of tobacco, liquorice and more dark fruits. Its really quite a beautiful nose, ever changing and developing! The palate too is wonderful, medium bodied but with real intensity and great balance, oak really in the background, following through from the nose, peppered raspberries again, star anise, tobacco, red and black berries moving to plums. On the very long finish the Mourvedre really shows itself, that incredible liquoricy/spicy lift jumping in. Did I say it had a long finish ... wow.

It has great length, its as smooth as a babies you know what, luscious but with some real structure and fine ripe tannins. Indeed, it reminded me in many ways of a Pinot Noir! Not in its flavour profile of course, but in its layers of fruits and flavours that kept opening and changing over some 3 hours.

Quite simply, one of the best GSM's I have enjoyed in a very long time, and some real class wine making in action here .. stunner!

(thought I'd add a rider here, disclosure and all that stuff! I sell this wine, well, I certainly will be now!)

(Oh, and I'm ITB )

[griff]

2007 Sons of Eden Kennedy (GSM)

Lovely lovely wine, clear red black colour, incredibly aromatic, lifted, perfumed almost with raspberries and red fruits initially, then asian spices, white pepper, a touch of tobacco, liquorice and more dark fruits. Its really quite a beautiful nose, ever changing and developing! The palate too is wonderful, medium bodied but with real intensity and great balance, oak really in the background, following through from the nose, peppered raspberries again, star anise, tobacco, red and black berries moving to plums. On the very long finish the Mourvedre really shows itself, that incredible liquoricy/spicy lift jumping in. Did I say it had a long finish ... wow.

It has great length, its as smooth as a babies you know what, luscious but with some real structure and fine ripe tannins. Indeed, it reminded me in many ways of a Pinot Noir! Not in its flavour profile of course, but in its layers of fruits and flavours that kept opening and changing over some 3 hours.

Quite simply, one of the best GSM's I have enjoyed in a very long time, and some real class wine making in action here .. stunner!

(thought I'd add a rider here, disclosure and all that stuff! I sell this wine, well, I certainly will be now!)

(Oh, and I'm ITB )

I had a Cigale GSM last night and it was Very Good. Makes me want more of them. This sounds a cracker!

cheers

Carl

[dlo]

Today over lunch with members of the Keira Jazz Band, a Ch. Pibran (Pauillac) 1996 - travelling quite nicely with earthy fruit and a little unresolved tannin - very good indeed.

Tonight a few mouthfuls, as an aperitif, from an ancient bottle of Chambers Special Old Liqueur Tokay - smashingly good and .....

Another bottle of 1971 Kay Brothers Cabernet Shiraz - amazingly good for its age.

All in all, an extremely good day.

[bacchaebabe]

Last night I enjoyed a few special wines to celebrate the birthday of a special person - me - ha ha. If you can't drink some of the best of your cellar for your own birthday, what's the point really.

Anyhoo, two bottles of each of the following between 12 people:
NV Lanson rose champagne Absolutely delightful. I've had these for quite a while and was going to drink the vintage 96 bottles but then thought I really should drink up the NVs. Delivered lovely honeyed nuances. Good bead, more a yellow colour with tinges of pink. Very happy with these. 94

96 Lake's Folly Cabernet Both bottles opened beautifully. Deep red. Plums, spice, black fruits, silky mouthfeel and just delicious. Drinking right in the window for my tastes. 95

96 BVE Black Pepper Shiraz Definitely the wine of the night and had everyone on the table exclaiming and even thanking me the next day and all my friends are not wine tragics - very far from it. A bit minty after the Folly but also with a lovely complexity and elegance you don't usually find in the Barossa. Perfectly aged with black fruits, pepper and spice and a delicate lightness combined with the structure and body of a very good barossa shiraz. Heaven in a glass. Is this what they mean by an iron fist in a velvet glove? 96

96 Wynns Black Label cab sav One bottle corked and the other very fine indeed. A good educator for my friends who were quite enjoying the mildly corked bottle until we did a comparison. The corked bottle obviously a bit musty on the nose but still tasted Ok but just muted really and a bit dusty. The non corked bottle was glorious. Full bodied and singing, in fact, dancing out of the glass in comparison. These are really on the money right now but it's got a few more years in the window too. 95

02 DeBortoli Noble One Another beauty in fine form. Deep rich yellow colour. Apricot marmelade, honey, cumquats, toffee and a thousand more things that defy description. Never a better match for the Linda's on King dessert tasting plate. Luscious without being too much. Great clean finish. 94

[Muscat Mike]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRIS.
MIKE.

[cuttlefish]

Happy Birthday BB !

[Christo]

happy b'day kris.. good to see u celebrated with some goodies.
c

[monghead]

Happy Birthday Kris.

Sounds like a very civilised evening. The Lakes Folly I really like too. Nice to see it is still going well.

Monghead.

[GRB]

Happy B'day Kris

[odyssey]

Happy birthday, looks like you celebrated in true style!

[Michael McNally]

2007 Sons of Eden Kennedy (GSM)

Lovely lovely wine, clear red black colour, incredibly aromatic, lifted, perfumed almost with raspberries and red fruits initially, then asian spices, white pepper, a touch of tobacco, liquorice and more dark fruits. Its really quite a beautiful nose, ever changing and developing! The palate too is wonderful, medium bodied but with real intensity and great balance, oak really in the background, following through from the nose, peppered raspberries again, star anise, tobacco, red and black berries moving to plums. On the very long finish the Mourvedre really shows itself, that incredible liquoricy/spicy lift jumping in. Did I say it had a long finish ... wow.

It has great length, its as smooth as a babies you know what, luscious but with some real structure and fine ripe tannins. Indeed, it reminded me in many ways of a Pinot Noir! Not in its flavour profile of course, but in its layers of fruits and flavours that kept opening and changing over some 3 hours.

Quite simply, one of the best GSM's I have enjoyed in a very long time, and some real class wine making in action here .. stunner!

(thought I'd add a rider here, disclosure and all that stuff! I sell this wine, well, I certainly will be now!)

(Oh, and I'm ITB )

Had the 2006 Kennedy a couple of months ago and agree totally about the complexity/layers aspect. I like the comparison to pinot. It is one of those wines where something new reveals itself with each sip until...it's all gone.

Gavin, will you be stocking the Zephyrus SV? Again it was the 06, but what a stunner. Really high QPR with both these.

And for the label freaks out there...beautiful, beautiful labels.

Cheers

Michael

[Gavin Trott]

Hello

Yes I have access to the whole range of wines, including Zephyrus, plus the top end wines as well, and the Remus too is sensational!

[Luke W]

A not so quiet week with my brother up from Brissie - he too likes the occasional drop.
Tuesday nite: 1998 Limestone Ridge - beautiful classy lady of a wine with quite a bit of life in her yet
1999 Houghtons MR Cabernet - JO gave this wine 85 - we gave it 93 - a lot nicer than the one he had obviously
1999 La Testa Merlot - had this because we were eating roast lamb and I have this silly idea that lamb always tastes better with a good merlot and this didn't disappoint
Wednesday night: Green chicken curry and a green prawn curry with a 1995 Lindemans reserve semillon - nice but took quite a while to open up (had almost finished it by then) and a 2001 Knappstein hand picked riesling which was gorgeous and I reckon could go another 4 or 5 years yet to reach its peak
Thursday nite: great slabs of dead cow on the barbie washed down with a 1993 Wynns JR (not too bad but there are better wines for the price) and a 1998 Pyrus (which didn't overly impress) and a Yalumba Kingston Town (took a bit of time to come together or maybe that was my palate by then) with a couple of cubans

Its a tough life (even got 2 birdies and a couple of pars at golf yesterday!)

cheers

Luke

[bacchaebabe]

Thanks for the birthday wishes guys. It was a very pleasant night. Good food, good wine and good friends - my three favourite things.

[bacchaebabe]

A not so quiet week with my brother up from Brissie - he too likes the occasional drop.
Tuesday nite: 1998 Limestone Ridge - beautiful classy lady of a wine with quite a bit of life in her yet
1999 Houghtons MR Cabernet - JO gave this wine 85 - we gave it 93 - a lot nicer than the one he had obviously
1999 La Testa Merlot - had this because we were eating roast lamb and I have this silly idea that lamb always tastes better with a good merlot and this didn't disappoint
Wednesday night: Green chicken curry and a green prawn curry with a 1995 Lindemans reserve semillon - nice but took quite a while to open up (had almost finished it by then) and a 2001 Knappstein hand picked riesling which was gorgeous and I reckon could go another 4 or 5 years yet to reach its peak
Thursday nite: great slabs of dead cow on the barbie washed down with a 1993 Wynns JR (not too bad but there are better wines for the price) and a 1998 Pyrus (which didn't overly impress) and a Yalumba Kingston Town (took a bit of time to come together or maybe that was my palate by then) with a couple of cubans

Its a tough life (even got 2 birdies and a couple of pars at golf yesterday!)

cheers

Luke

Thanks for these Luke. I have a mixed six pack of the 98 limestone ridge, pyrus and st george so I should open them and get stuck in by the looks. I was contemplating taking the 1995 Lindemans reserve semillon to the inner west tasting group session next week so I'll give it a bit of airtime first.