Sydney Inner West Tasting Group

[cuttlefish]

Firstly, (and I believe I speak on behalf of all who attended), a massive thankyou to our hosts on the evening for their generous and warm hospitality !

Speaking personally, I really enjoyed the night, and some superb wines and company, despite a quite heavy head-cold.

My brief notes were as follows:

Bracket 1

Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillon 1998
Cork. 10.5% alc. Lovely vibrant white gold colour. Seems to be a pine-needle sweetness to the aroma here. The palate fine and intense lemon and lime leaf. 15/20

Audrey Wilkinson Museum Release Semillon 2001
Cork. 10% alc. Colour is white straw into yellow. Some cut-grass aromas here and attractive lemon/lemon tart. The palate delicate but intense almost sherbetty. ALso some palate texture here. 15/20

Audrey Wilkinson Reserve Semillon 2001
Cork. 10% alc. White straw with a fleck of yellow/gold. Seems more phenolic and minerally, and eventually some honeysuckle aroma. Doesn't appear to have the delicacy of aroma, though, overall. Quite textured palate. Vibrant and then a faintly bitter citrus palate. 14/20

Mount View Estate Reserve Semillon 2002
Cork. 10% alc. Similar colour to above wines. Nose is closed. Lemon cream and appears a little phenolic. Palate is soft up-front. Perhaps not the quality of structure/acid here. Earthy. 13/20

My impressions of this bracket were that they showed fantastic palate weight and first class structure. These were four wines all with a number of years ahead of them in which they would likely improve. Remarkably youthful on the whole.

Bracket 2

Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillon 2002
Cork. 10% alc. Very light white straw colour. Piney/minty nose, and subtle buiscuity elements. Probably the first signs of the toastiness that aged Hunter semillon is so well known for. Mineral/flinty notes, and lemon meringue. The palate here is delicate and spritzy with very good length. Grippy. 15/20

Tyrrell's Belford Semillon 1997
Cork. 10.3% alc. Faintly deeper colour here with a fleck of gold. Showing toast, pine, sweet cut grass, and lanolin. Clear lemon cordial palate. Tasty, delicate and long. 15/20

McLeish Estate Semillon 2001
Cork. 10.5% alc. Very light yellow straw colour. Leaner, greener aromatics here. Palate not showing the vibrancy, but nice bath salts aromas. Quite short palate. 12/20

Waverley Estate Semillon 1991
Cork. 11.5% alc. Tawny gold colour. Some nice developed smoky/toasty aromas dominating here. Perhaps some toasty citrus. The palate showing fine firm acid, but perhaps past it's best. 12/20. Did interest a lot of the group. What were others thoughts here ?

Again the marquee makers shone here (ie. Tyrrell's). Top, top semillon in my opinion.

Bracket 3

Rothbury Estate Brokenback Shiraz 1998
Cork. 13% alc. Light ruby colour with fine clear rim. A lovely savoury nose of saddle-leather, stemmy/gamey characters, alongside sweeter fruit elements of leafy plum, cola, molasses and mint. The palate vibrant and bright plum juicy. Toasty and faintly bretty. 17/20

Waverley Estate Shiraz 1998
Cork. 12.5% alc. Light ruby colour with early signs of browning. Smells a little madeirised. Caramel, and faint soy. The palate is vibrant with firm acid that just overplays a little. Does have length. 12/20

Tyrrell's Vat 9 Shiraz 1998
Cork. 13.5% alc. Light ruby colour. The nose here more muted. Faintly meaty/earthy, and a dash of mintiness. Also faintly medicinal early on. The palate edgy, but this wine did improve a little with proper air time. 14/20

Lindemans Bin 9825 Steven Vineyar Shiraz 1999
Cork. 13% alc. Light ruby colour. Lovely savoury aromas again here, with leather, and a touch of brett. The palate is vibrant with berry and plum, and med-full bodied with fine tannins. 16/20

Some really, really nice wines here, with the Rothbury and Lindemans being the standout wines due to their balance, and nicely developed aromatics. I really, really appreciate the alcohol levels in these wines. 12-13% seems to be ideal to me, but not sure why.

Bracket 4

Glenguin Pokolbin Vineyard Shiraz 2000
Cork. 13.5% alc. Rich mid-ruby colour. The nose shows a touch of straw, leather, meat-stock, dry earth, and some toasty mocha from the oak. The palate is fine and vibrant with firm acid being almost lemony. Good length. 17/20

Glenguin School House Block Shiraz 2002
Cork. 14% alc. Mid-ruby colour. Aromas of leather and dust, like the easter-show stockyard. Some sweet stewed red fruits, and what I think to be fly-tox ???
Poo, faintly leafy, and liquorice. The palate is up-front, but does drop away. Quite grippy. 15/20

Mount Pleasant Rosehill Shiraz 1991
Cork. 12.5% alc. Very light ruby with amber to the rim. Seemingly typical aromas of meat stock, straw, leaf, and mint. The palate here is lively, fine, and well balanced. There's fine developed juicy berry and good length. Light to medium bodied. 17/20

Audrey Wilkinson Lake Shiraz 2004
Screwcap. 14% alc. Darker ruby colour. A youthful wine. Rich and clean smelling, dominated by charry oak, but with new leather behind some sweet berry fruit. The palate here medium to full in weight. 15/20

A couple of nicely developed red wines here, with complex and somewhat resolved or well-knit aromatics. Overall a top bracket.

After these four brackets a number of fortified wines were brought forth. I saw one or two taking notes, but I chose to just sip the wines. The Seppelt VP 1998 was there, and I'd be interested to know peoples thoughts. My first and most overwhelming impression of that wine was the quality of the base spirit. Looks like good gear, but the overall aromatics of the wine I struggled to pick apart. Lovely wine, but to me was a little indefinable for some reason.

Thanks everyone for being there (great company), and also for bringing along some lovely wines. Hunter Valley rocks !!

Cf

[Alex F]

I've sent an email to everyone who wrote down their address last night. There is the chance that I might not have transcribed your address properly, if you have not received an email drop me a pm with your email address...

This also goes for everyone else who was interested but unable to attend. Please pm me with your email address.

I will collect all the email addresses and hopefully we can arrange them via yahoogroups.

[odyssey]

We had a fantastic night with great hosts, great company and great wines... thanks to our very welcoming and ultra-generous hosts (Softie reckoned they were disorganised!? If that was disorganised I can't imagine the definition of organised)!!

Totally looking forward to all upcoming tastings, gonna take quite some researching to find some interesting champagnes and sparkling reds for the next tasting!!

Although I guess the benefit of having none in the cellar is that the range of choice is quite wide for finding something of unusual interest!

Cheers

[Softie]

Guys, Kerry and I are sitting here after a good movie and decided to check the postings. Thank you all for your kind words.

We had just the perfect night. Sensational company and simply a shared feeling of comraderie [must learn to spell] and a shared passion for fine food and wine. Of the many thoughts Kerry and I have shared over the evening this is one: this forum and the delightful quality of the people we have meet through it, and the activities of Sydney members has added considerable friendship and enjoyment to our lives.

We are cheered by the thought of many more occasions of shared enjoyment.

Very best wishes, until next time.

John and kerry.

[dave vino]

Many thanks for the night really enjoyed myself. Huge thanks to John and Kerry for hosting the evening in their lovely house. They had obviously put a lot of effort into getting everything set up so it was very much appreciated.

I didn't take notes so I'll just give my 'vibe' on the wines, besides I was next to Cuttlefish and Bacchaebabe who can express what they are tasting way better than I can. The Semillons showed an amazing ability to hide their age, appearing fresh and youthful but with 10 years already in the bottle. I thought the Tyrells Bedford Semillon was fighting well above it's weight. My thoughts on the Waverley was that it was oxidised as when I was trying to get the cork out it essentially fell in the bottle, so I think there was some shrinkage in the cork leading to increased ingress.

The Shirazes were typically Hunter, nothing enforced this more than having 4 glasses in front of your from 4 different producers all exhibiting the same worn leather, earthiness and cherry undertones. The Rothbury Estate Shiraz was showing remarkably well for it's age proving that even the winemakers can underestimate their own wines.

I enjoyed the 98 VP even if I didn't know it was only $5 a bottle. Huge bargain.

Then John cracked open the 91 Macallan, Glenfiddich, Dalwhinnie or Balvenie.

I think everyone enjoyed the format tasting the wines blind? and thanks to 9RedPens for doing all the hosting.

It might be worthwhile getting a set of these? Save mucking around with the brown paper bags.

[monghead]

Sounds like a great night. Would have loved to try those semillons. I am still unconvinced of the greatness of this variety...

Hopefully I can make the next one.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[cuttlefish]

Sounds like a great night. Would have loved to try those semillons. I am still unconvinced of the greatness of this variety...

Hopefully I can make the next one.

Cheers,

Monghead.

Monghead, my recommendation to you would be to start purchasing better releases of top Hunter Semillon wines. You don't want to miss what these will become in 12+ years. They really are world-class in my opinion. If you're worried about wasting your money, then buy Vat 1 only, as that should hold it's value. Vat 1 is good gear, but boy, they appear to develop slowly. Immaculate on the palate. Credit must go to the winemakers at Tyrrell's. They obviously have the variety sussed right now.

[TiggerK]

Yep, I took the remains of my Vat 1 1998 Sem home and the next day (cork was left out overnight) it was even better. Still had that spine of acidity that will see it go for a decade or more, but the flavour had developed even further, it was youthful and still a little 'bitey' for my rich-red-oriented taste, but a great wine nevertheless. I'm going to buy a couple more and try one in 2015, and one in 2020. I'm a convert to the style, and given my general red bigot nature, that's saying something. There's something quite addictive to the taste profile I think, I'm still craving it a bit!

The Vat 9 1998 Shiraz on the other hand was basically undrinkable the next day. The last time I had this wine in 2006 (original label BTW) it was just amazing. This bottle wasn't. Pity. Might dare another just in case this was the exception.

Look forward to seeing you at the next one monghead.

Cheers
TiggerK

P.S I hope it wasn't rude of me to take my remains home?? It the etiquette to leave them behind?

[monghead]

P.S I hope it wasn't rude of me to take my remains home?? It the etiquette to leave them behind?

He He. If everyone did that, that may have been too much for the host to safely to enjoy... Even for Softie...

Yes, hopefully I'll be able to make it to the next one.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[RedVelvet]

A very big warm thank you to our gracious hosts, John and Kerry for a fantastice evening. I thoroughly enjoyed the tasting and it was great to meet many of you and put some faces to your nicks. I also very much enjoyed the conversation, discussion on the wines and sharing of various views on the wines. I am looking forward to the next one with great interest.

[RedVelvet]

It might be worthwhile getting a set of these? Save mucking around with the brown paper bags.
[/quote]

Dave, do you know of anywhere in Sydney that stocks these exact ones? I have done a net search and can only find them in the UK???

[odyssey]

P.S I hope it wasn't rude of me to take my remains home?? It the etiquette to leave them behind?

For that matter I hope it wasn't too rude of me to sneak another taster of the 1998 Vat 1 at the end of the night! Hard to resist.

[odyssey]

Did anyone go to that 25 vintages of Tyrrell's held by Ultimo a few weeks ago?
http://www.ultimowinecentre.com.au/Product.aspx?id=9187

Very curious as to how the older bottles turned out.

[bacchaebabe]

Guys,

With my latest job I don't have a lot of time to check this site much these days but I do want to say a very late thankyou to John and Kerry for being wonderful hosts once more and also thanks to everyone else that contributed to the beaut spread.

Unfortunately my notes are at home and I can't see that I'm going to get the time to write them up in any detailed way but I obviously agree with what everyone has said so far.

I guess most of all I was stunned at the freshness and youth of the two Vat 1s. They really are for the long haul and will take quite some time to develop and come out of their cocoon. It was also great to sample all the hunter shiraz and get a good grip on the region and its nuances.

And of course, thanks to all involved for both bringing wines and being the usual fun lot of people I've come to expect from those that frolic on this board. Still to meet an axe murderer.

The next do is at my place in Newtown on 14th November and the theme is champange and sparkling reds. Please PM Alex F with your email details if you wish to be kept in the loop on the Sydney tasting group. And BTW, we agreed to combine the North Shore and Inner West groups and hold them around Sydney as venues suit. Some people will be able to make some and others not but we'll keep it open. This is obviously in addition to any offlines organised for other reasons but I would advise anyone remotely interested to get on the list so you're kept informed.

[monghead]

Bugger.

I won't be able to attend the next one either! Will be in France still...

Alex, thanks for the email to include me in the list for notifications though.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[daz]

It's great to see offlines go well. Although not an Hunter afficianado, look forward to the tns.

Well done

daz

[Alex F]

I've added a few people to the contact list. I have also asked Cuttlefish for the emails of people who attended the first NS tasting, and I will add them to the database and yahoogroups. If you haven't already given Cuttlefish or me your email and are interested in participating please drop me a pm with your real name, phone number, and email. I've finally worked out how to use the pm thing! (My email keeps thinking it's spam and I used to have a pop up blocker that would block notifications of new pms!

Anyway, I thought I would just post my tasting impressions from the other night, with my preferences in each flight. This was an excellent! tasting. All the wines very interesting and really showed what the Hunter can do with these varieties.

Flight 1:

Tyrrell's 1998 Vat 1 Semillon
This is a top wine! What a way to start the evening. Very, with some honey and lemon. The toast especially is exactly the way I think these semillons should develop. One of my favourite wines of the evening! Rank 1st.

Audrey Wilkinson Museum Semillon 2001
Funnily the following wine is the same as this one. But what a difference, and I blame the cork. I did not like this. I thought it smelt a bit musty, it was much more limey on the palate than the vat 1, and finished without much definition. Rank 4th

Audrey Wilkinson Museum Semillon 2001
This had a different label design to the first, but afaik it is the same wine. And what a difference. Grassy and honeysuckle notes made me think this was maybe from 2000. Still very lemony and citrusy on the palate, with good weight, almost talc like. Rank 2.

Mount View Semillon 2002
I honestly thought peaty/whisky when I first smelt this. It’s softer in the mouth than the previous wine, some slight honeyed characteristics. Rank 3.

Flight 2:
Tyrrell’s Vat 1 semillon 2002
I thought it especially fortunate that we could try two vat 1’s, and another aged Tyrrell’s. This was very very young, a very pale colour. I could not believe it was a 2002, I was thinking like 07. Very very citrusy. Not the type of sem I like to drink, but give it another 5-10 years and it will get there? Rank 2

Tyrrell’s Belford Reserve Semillon 1997
Another very good aged Semillon. In contrast to the toast of the first vat 1, this was very honeyed and had quite an intense palate and was excellent! It was lovely to see the characters I associate with Semillon in the three Tyrrell’s wine. From toast, to citrus, to honey. Rank 1

McLeish Semillon 2001
Someone commented this was like a Riesling which I agree with! It had quite a chalky texture, and notes of granny smith apples, haw flakes, and ginger. Rank 3

Waverley Semillon 1991
Golden in colour with almost burnt orange hues. Nose a bit cheesy/palate seems slightly oxidized, reminds me a bit of oloroso sherry. The colour suggests to me smells of dying leaves and dried fruit. A very, very interesting wine which will lead me to investigate Waverly more, but more like a curio than something that I would want to drink. Rank 4

Moving on to the shiraz:

Flight 3: Some great wines here. A wonderful opportunity to contrast 3 98’s and one 99.

Rothbury Brokenback Shiraz 1998
This was a good wine. Quite the archetypal developed Hunter shiraz. I thought it was at its peak, and was one of my favourites for the flight. Rank 1

Waverley shiraz 1998
This again had great interest for me. iirc the palest wine in the flight. Exotic nose: garlick, gamey, slightly sweet, sweaty. Spices and raisins on the palate. Rank 3

Tyrrell’s Vat 9 Shiraz 1998
This did not look that good when it was first poured, but it improved tremendously. Lifted, I could almost believe it had viognier. Dark fruit on nose, I thought initially it had a midpalate hole but it filled out nicely. Flavours of kirsch. Tasted and looked very young to me. I would think this would improve, not sure what to make of Tim’s comments that it went downhill the next day. Although, I did try this at the cellar door from a bottle that had been open a while and it was nowhere as good as this. Rank 2

Lindemans Stevens Shiraz 1999
I got a whiff of bamboo on thse nose. Peppery and slightly stalky/dusty on the palate, I thought it was a bit boring. Rank 4

Flight 4:

Glenguin Shiraz 2000
Very interesting to contrast this to the following wine. I thought the core of the wines were quite similar, but this expressed itself differently on the nose/palate by being more charry/earthy. More developed as well. Rank 2

Glenguin School House Block Shiraz 2002
In contrast to the chariness of the first wine this one was much more floral and lifted on the nose and in the mouth. Rank 1

Mount Pleasant Rosehill shiraz 1991
I would have liked to have this wine earlier in the night I think. In this bracket it was lighter in the mouth, more savoury and red fruited. I would have appreciated this more on its own. Rank 3

Audrey Wilkinson Lake Shiraz 2004
This was hard going coming after the previous 3 wines. Very in your face style, lots of vanilla, creamy oak, crushed ants… I thought it was not bad at the start but after reflection this was my least favourite wine… Rank 4

It was a great evening and I would like to thank everyone for being there, and especially our hosts, and also Daniel who did a very good job in arranging the wines into brackets.

[daz]

What were you doing drinking all of those RANK wines?

[Alex F]

not all of them are equally rank...

[craig loves shiraz]

Hi Everyone,

I'm in Alexandria and would love to join in for a wine tasting night. Happy to take my turn hosting but will probably need to be shown how first!! Let me know if there's an evening planned and you could squeeze me in.

Thanks,
Craig.

[dave vino]

Dave, do you know of anywhere in Sydney that stocks these exact ones? I have done a net search and can only find them in the UK???

No, the only ones I could find were in the UK, but if you want a set I can get 2 to save a bit on postage and give them to you at the off-line?

[cuttlefish]

Hi Everyone,

I'm in Alexandria and would love to join in for a wine tasting night. Happy to take my turn hosting but will probably need to be shown how first!! Let me know if there's an evening planned and you could squeeze me in.

Thanks,
Craig.

Hi Craig,

Of course you're welcome to join us anytime. You should PM to Alex F your personal email and phone, and get on the list to find out about future tastings.

Cheers,

Cf

[TiggerK]

Dave, do you know of anywhere in Sydney that stocks these exact ones? I have done a net search and can only find them in the UK???

No, the only ones I could find were in the UK, but if you want a set I can get 2 to save a bit on postage and give them to you at the off-line?

Hi Dave, hey if not too much trouble, please put me down for a set of those. Will fix you up at the Champers offline if that's OK??

Cheers
Tim

[cuttlefish]

...nothing wrong with my Australian flag socks, is there ? I promise I've never worn them...

[dave vino]

Cuttle: Lies, I've been reliably informed you sleep in them every night, along with your Batman pyjamas.

TiggerK - No problems will do.

[cuttlefish]

Cuttle: Lies, I've been reliably informed you sleep in them every night, along with your Batman pyjamas.

TiggerK - No problems will do.

I am undone !

I may actually decide to make it my mission to find the ugliest socks for concealing my bottles at future offlines. I estimate that there is a rich minefield out there somewhere just waiting to be struck.

[RedVelvet]

Dave, do you know of anywhere in Sydney that stocks these exact ones? I have done a net search and can only find them in the UK???

No, the only ones I could find were in the UK, but if you want a set I can get 2 to save a bit on postage and give them to you at the off-line?

Dave, if you have not already ordered i would be more than happy to share the postage with you and anyone else and order a set. PM sent.

[dave vino]

Yep no problems. I'll get 3 sets and you can fix me on the Offline day if you're going.

[monghead]

Hmmm, socks and champagne.....

That mustiness / yeastiness may be slightly artificial...

All the best guys.

Monghead.

[craig loves shiraz]

Hi Everyone,

I'm in Alexandria and would love to join in for a wine tasting night. Happy to take my turn hosting but will probably need to be shown how first!! Let me know if there's an evening planned and you could squeeze me in.

Thanks,
Craig.

Hi Craig,

Of course you're welcome to join us anytime. You should PM to Alex F your personal email and phone, and get on the list to find out about future tastings.

Cheers,

Cf

Done and done!!!

Look fwd to catching up with you all soon.

Craig.