Weekend drinking thread 23/4

[dave vino]

Had a small get together with Mr and Mrs TiggerK on Saturday. The deal was I supplied the wines and he supplied the food/venue as always generous to a fault he kicked in with 2 great wines as well. Many thanks to your hospitality.

Started off with an unusual choice in an 11 year old Beer with some smoked trout and chives? dip/green olives and prosciutto.

2000 Hahn Vintage Ale.
This was a bit of an unknown quantity, but turned out to be better than I expected. Nice malty and port like characteristics on the nose, still a bit of froth, finished off to a nice sultanas and muscat overtone. I'd be drinking now if you have been hoarding any.



NV Joseph Perrier Champagne
Nice lemony/apple flavours, big bouquet, very austere type finish with nice acid, great palate cleanser.



2006 Tyrrells Vat 47 Chardonnay
Great balance to this wine, not too much oak but enough to add a bit of complexity. A very elegant wine, good tropical fruit flavours, just right.



2009 Ata Rangi Martinborough Pinot Noir
Huge nose, cherry and rose petal jelly, palate saw more cherry trending towards the sour cherry spectrum, great length and finish with good tannic structure and body. Very good wine.



Then Tim got stuck into dinner while me and Michelle got stuck into the big issues of drawing cat paws and faces on Mothers Day cards (long story ) while keeping an eye on Tim's efforts. I don't care what people say but I reckon Tim is a seriously good cook. You hardly notice him doing anything while chatting away about anything and everything then he'll just come up to the table with a wonderfully put together meal which tastes great.



2005 Mount Langhi Ghiran Shiraz
One of favourites, I love the cool climate spiciness and the cherry flavours which seem to meld together so well. The structure and mouth feel is great, the oak treatment is not in your face and complements the whole package so well.



1996 Hardys Reynell Basket Pressed Shiraz
This a big wine, especially after drinking the Mount Langhi, big stewed fruits nose with blackcurrant on the palate and a rich, velvety mouth feel, almost Durif like. Textbook big SA Shiraz.



Then they wheeled out the patisseries and chocolates which by this time I'd eaten waaaaaaaay too much as it was, but managed to soldier on through the cakes

2001 Stanton & Killeen Wines Rutherglen Vintage Fortified
Nice lighter style of fortified, good length, great way to finish off the proceedings as I think a Tokay/Muscat may have been too rich. Well balanced.

[Craig(NZ)]

I can't stop drinking top shelf at the moment! For the 2nd week in a row some faultless kiwi drinking

2008 Shubert Block B Pinot Noir Martinborough. This is their top dawg wine. This is really good stuff, sturdy and structured with plenty of interest and complexity. Nicely ripe and substantial. Nice!! This is still a young pinot though quite drinkable now. Should go another 4-5 years if well stored.

2008 Fromm Spatlese. I haven't been over awed by this vintage before, even though I consider it NZ's best riesling. This time though really good, seems to have come into its own. Drinking now

2006 Kumeu River Mates Vineyard Chardonnay. This wine did go though an awkward gawky phase for a couple of years but pleased to report it has come together and is now absolutely humming. Awesome focus, precision and clarity on the palate. One of the best NZ chardonnays I have ever tried. Drink now for a couple of years and even longer if you want to roll the dice.

2005 Riverby Noble Riesling. Just an awesome experience paired with Mercer Cheese's Walnut Harvarti styled cheese. A real good buy at $25 a bottle, and starting to drink very well now.

2007 Church Rd Reserve Cabernet Merlot. Just a bit much tonight, it seems a bit brash, powerful, rich and youthful. It certainly needs some time to lose some of its puppy fat and regain some of the harmony it showed on release. Lagging behind 07 Te Mata Awatea at this stage of its life. I bought heavily on this wine so I am trusting it will come back. It certainly has time on its side, this is easily a 15 year wine. Wait.

[Sean]

deleted

[griff]

I tried this earlier but for some reason Auswine logged me out after a while and I lost the text. Cookie problem I assume?

1999 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée
Light hazy red colour. Opens with a lot of barnyard and leather. Some cherry fruit in the mix and finishes short, bitter and metallic. After an hour in the decanter the fruit plumps up and the barnyard blows off to just leave the leather. The finish lengthens as well with fine tannin support but I am still not a fan. I am not having much luck with Rhone reds over here as yet. Do I drink through gritted teeth or open something else? OK you convinced me.

1999 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva
A moderate intensity purple red. A nose of mixed forest fruit, geranium flowers and vanilla. Nice. The palate of continues the theme with the addition of a little dill and some meaty flavours. The wine is fresh with a lovely acid line providing structure in the mid-palate and finishes with ample tannin for its age. You need to like American oak for now but I think it is an Excellent wine now with potential.

1994 Tesco Finest Vintage Port
Shipped by Symington. Dense dark blood red. Anise and chocolate nose with boysenberry fruit. Some heat on the finish. This is the most Australian Portuguese VP that I have had and evokes memories of Stanton and Killeen's efforts and that 1982? Vintage Cellars Cowra VP many moons ago. Excellent wine.

2008 Domaine Valliere Cotes de Beaune Villages "Roches Blanches"
Pale light red. A correct pinot. A flavour of wild strawberries that is nice and fresh. Simple yet elegant and doesn't purport to be anything other than that. Good wine.

cheers

Carl

[via collins]

rk Shiraz 2008, Beechworth Powerful dark berry, pepper and vanilla nose, super dark purpley black colour, and the palate fresh raspberries and sour plum. Complex and very lively palate, and fine tannins through the journey. Super wine, and with hindsight and a 6 pack deal, great value too. This has improved leaps and bounds over 2 years, can't wait until the next.

Howard Park Leston 2005 cabernet sauvignon, Margaret River Cherry red in colour, and quite shy on the nose. Tobacco leaf and menthol opening, dark fruits that follow on a fair length, not overly sweet, but bold in texture and flavour. Blackcurrants to the fore on the close. Nice wine, think it's got a while to go.

Grosset Watervale Springvale 2010, Clare Valley riesling lime and lemon balanced beautifully with a mineral and bath salt spine. Balance is the key word, not a fault from beginning to end. Delicious riesling

[Red Smurf]

Nice work Tim and Dave, sounds like a nice evening.
Good to see a nice beer started proceedings.

Odyssey and I got together with the old man to have the replacement 86 707 after his cellaring didn't hold up to the test of time. Or the cork didn't anyway!

1986 Penfolds Bin 707 The ah so had the cork under control and was in good condition this time.
Apon decanting, Andrew had a waft of beautiful dark fruits surround him so we knew we were in for a treat.
The nose was a stunner, still full of ripe dark berries, cassis, and the nice tobacco and cigar box waft with hints of mint and the sweet cedary oak poking through and controling things, maybe a little too much?
Palate was just as good with no signs of fading, lots of rich blackberries, a velvetly mouthfeel that filled the palate with a long finsh completing the wine.
A long life ahead still.

Cheers,
Red Smurf

[TiggerK]

Wow, thanks for the kind comments Dave, much appreciated. So happy you enjoyed the meal, was great having the pleasure of your company, talking animal pics , life, greek food, turntables, valve amps and yes even wine! And a lot more besides, hope the power cut at 3am didn't wake you up (house full of 6 beeping UPS's....hmm, very annoying, must remove speakers from them). And I hope your Sunday was a good one.

Your Langi Shiraz 05 was a major highlight, I loved that balance of the cooler climate style, still aussie, but with a touch of classic old school restraint. Wonderful wine, and went so well with the meal (As you can see in the pic, the 'cheffy' description menu would read 'mustard and panko crusted lamb rack, duck fat roasted kipflers with garlic swiss brown mushrooms and rocket'). Never thought I'd see it online, but it looks OK, so cheers Dave!

Beer was fab, best in small amounts as it's a big mouthful, but very tasty. I totally enjoyed the Vat 47 Chardy too, I was so surprised at the lack of apparent oak that I'd found obvious in some other 47's. It was really good indeed. The Reynella 96 was also a great example of big silky decadent Barossan shiraz. Bordering on porty, but just having enough sexy structure to keep it on the fresher side of big and beautiful. As was the 'fortified' S & K, might have a bit more of that tonight with some leftover patisseries actually......

Took it easy yesterday after our big Saturday, but started a Pio Cesare Barbera D'Alba 2008 and enjoyed its' floral hints, juicy blueberries and robust tannins. Having some more now on day 2 and happy indeed. Tannins more prominent, more about structure than fruit, a lovely Italian for $33.

Cheers
Tim

P.S And nice one Red & Odyssey, pleased you and Mr M got to enjoy such a gem.

[ticklenow1]

2002 Kaesler Stonehorse Barossa Semillon. Not bad at all. Light in colour and some herbs on the nose. Enjoyable. 3.5/5

2002 Rosemount Show Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet. Drinking really well but I'd say getting towards the end of it's drinking window. The primary fruit is almost gone but we still thought it was a fabulous wine. 4/5

2002 Fire Block Old Vine Clare Valley Shiraz Still drinking like a young wine and needed a couple of hours to breathe a bit. Lots of dark fruit and oak in the background. Still has several more years to travel yet. 4/5

2004 Murray Street Vineyards Shiraz Cabernet. Barossa Valley. Lovely inky colour with a beautiful nose of black fruits and a little oak. The palate was huge. Maybe should have decanted for longer. Full bodied with the black fruits continuing on with a bit of chocolate and some spice as well. Long finish. Will go for several more years before it hits it's prime. 4.5/5

[Teisto]

2004 Peppertree Wrattonbully Cab Sauv - Still very fresh. loaded with cassis. Would leave for longer yet
2006 Yering Station Shiraz Viognier - Very soft and none of the viognier nose. Mid strength and drinking very well.
2004 Elk Cove Pinot Noir - Thought this was shot as it took around 3 hours to even start resembling something drinkable. Turned out to be excellent in the end and very reminiscent of CO pinot. A lot deeper in colour and more of the darker fruits
1998 Leeuwin Estate Cab Sauv - Great drink still some primary fruit in there. Wouldn't let it sit too much longer myself but was totally blown away by
1999 Grant Burge Miamba Shiraz - This was superb with everything hitting the right spot.

[Michael McNally]

2005 Kabminye Shleib's Block Barossa Red (blend of just about everything) on Thursday which was very nice. Really transformed after about 90 mins in the decanter. Only medium-bodied but great fruit and still some petrol in the tank. Pleased I have some more. VVG - Excellent.

Last night and tonigt the 2006 Parker Coonawarra Estate Terra Rossa Cabernet Sauvignon. I really loved the 2005 and thought this was a little lightweight and angular last night. Tonight it is much more in the groove with some clear blackberry/rasperry flavour with a hint of green bean and some nice tomatoey beefy goodness. Not as good as the 05 at the same point of development, but a nice wine. Very Very Good.

2009 Battle of Bosworth McLaren Vale Shiraz. Had this at the brother-in-law's, who is into things "organic". Nice fruit and tasted of its region, but the acid balance was a little out for me. Very Good wine, though and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately I thought I was supplying the wine, and this was overshadowed by the wine I took. Hate it when that happens. Really. The 2006 Marius Simpatico McLaren Vale Shiraz simply had more fruit, more body, more regional character and a longer finish than the BoB.

Happy drinking

Michael

[reschsmooth]

Moet & Chandon NV Lovely citrus on the nose.

2004 Wirra Wirra Woodhenge Shiraz plums, red and black fruits, slight leather. Silky tannins and well integrated oak. Good length.

1984 Chateau de la Gardine Chateauneuf de Pape Whilst past it, it had some nice forest floor and raspberries. Reasonable length.

1996 Chavelier de Bayard Past it and after the Gardine, pale.

2006 De Iuliis Show Reserve Hunter Shiraz black olives, red berries, very nice but little oak.

2005 Brand's Laira 40th Vintage Cabernet Sauvignon very nice, but no specific notes. Recall plums and mulberries with good oak and tannins.

[chillwrx]

pulled out some roughies - so low expectations but I was pleasantly surprised;

2000 Darenberg Footbolt Shiraz (magnum) -One the downward slide but for such a poor vintage this is holding on well. Lovely dark fruit. Opened up after decant for about 90 minutes before falling over.

2001 Fox Creek GSM (magnum) This bottle has had a tough life and whilst it was a bit dried out it was drinkable.

Also

Turkey Flat Butchers Block 2006 - tasted heat affected/scalped. Dissapointing.
Samuels Gorge Grenache 2008 - badly corked.
Bethany Old vine Grenache 2006 - drinkable but clearly on the way out.
Darenberg the custodian 2007 - drinkable but clearly on the way out.

All of the above with the exception of the Samuels Gorge were bought at a local dm on the same day. Not sure what happened?

Olivers Taranga Grenache 2008 - superb drinking, sweet jubey, mid weight, fragrant. everything I want from a grenache.
Olivers HJ Reserve 2002 - Definitely in theline up for my wine of the year. Big wine, Huge fruit but not jammy and a clean structure. Long time to go but great wine. I just flat out enjoyed it.

Kumeu River estate Chardy - Nice wine but a bit broad and flabbyfor me.
Wither Hills Chardy - As above but with better cleaner structure for me.
Ravenscroft Gewurtz (Qld) - OK - to oily for me.

[Sharkey]

Started off with an unusual choice in an 11 year old Beer with some smoked trout and chives? dip/green olives and prosciutto.

2000 Hahn Vintage Ale.
This was a bit of an unknown quantity, but turned out to be better than I expected. Nice malty and port like characteristics on the nose, still a bit of froth, finished off to a nice sultanas and muscat overtone. I'd be drinking now if you have been hoarding any.

I had a case of the 1999 vintage of this. It was called Hahn Millenium Ale. I drank the last one a couple of years ago and it was pretty good.

It is a good way to start a dinner.

[Sharkey]

I haven’t posted much for quite a while as I have been busy building a wood fired oven in my back yard. It took over a year on a jack hammer to create the area and then it has taken nearly 4 months to build the oven. There is still a lot of work to finish it but it was up and running for the Easter weekend.

We consumed plenty of wine over several nights. All wine was accompanied by the best pizzas I have ever eaten. Here are a few of the more memorable wines. Not much in the way of notes – I am doing well to remember the names and vintages.

Benson Rise Cygne Blanc 2008 – An interesting wine, easy to drink.

Kilikanoon Covenant Shiraz 2004 – Excellent

Winburndale Fontana 2004 - A Cab Sav, Cab Franc, Merlot blend from Bathurst. Smooth, spicy and lingering. Right at it’s peak. A shame it was my last bottle.

Orlando Trilogy 2002 – Another Cab Sav, Cab Franc, Merlot blend. I would have considered this pretty good if I hadn’t had the Winburndale the night before.

Huntington Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 - I love Mudgee Cabernet when it is done well and Huntington are probably the best. Lovely, meaty flavour. This was the first one of these I have opened and it has years left in it.

Penfolds St Henri 1992 Magnum – This spent an hour or two in the decanter as we sat around the oven eating, drinking and soaking up the ambiance (see the picture below). It was probably a bit subdued because it was too cold but it was such a pleasure to drink.

[rens]

Nice pic Sharkey. I wish I had a wood fired oven (oh, and a magnum of St Herni). Very Jealous.

[Rossco]

So took a trip over to tassie (Tamar Valley) this easter to visit some amazing friends....there were great wines drank & tried...and some disappointing ones

Highlights:

2010 Moores Estate Riesling - Wonderful & sincere floral nose. Amazingly different to those of the clare. Great structure & length. Had the acidity as the backbone, but the lemon/lime notes definitely took a back seat to the floral delights!
2010 Moores Estate Late Harvest Riesling - Again very floral notes, not sickly sweet but an amazing mouthfeel. Like drinking liquid silk.
2010 Bay of Fires Pinot Gris - Best Pinot Gris i tried during the week. Stunning pear and (I got) crunchy green apple flavours. Great colour and acidity.
2004 Cullen Margaret River Chardonnay - WINE OF THE NIGHT - Simply stunning in every respect. Body, structure, oak, fruit...all were there in the perfect quantities. Simply amazing. Have to hunt more down now
2005 Kooyong Estate - Estate Pinot Noir - Beautiflul light cherry/rasberry fruit, with strawberries and that wonderful oak. Great colour but was slightly blurry....probably the age?
2008 Langmeil Valley Floor Shiraz - full bodied barossa shiraz. Has massive american oak (a bit too much for me to call it wine of the night) with the vanilla taking over a little. A bit of pepper (white?) and great dark plum/cherry fruit.
2010 Villa Maria Private Bin Sauv Blanc - A cheapie but surprisingly drinkable. Passionfruit and tropical flavours, with some acidity and the typical Marlborough slate/mineral tones.
2010 Velo Wines Riesling - Not as good as the Moores estate (surprisingly as its made by the same winemaker and is only 10 minutes up the road) however had good citrus and acidity. Slight floral nose.

Dissapointing:
2010 Bay of Fires Riesling - Had the 08 & 09 before and loved it, but wasnt impressed with the 2010....especially at $31.50 @ cellar door when i can walk into my local DM and buy it for $24.....hmmmm
2008 Bay of Fires Chardonnay - Way too much oak, not enough fruit. Some butter in there, but not to my liking. Apparently has won a lot of awards however.

[via collins]

Jeebus Sharkey, what a glorious photo - well bloody done!

Nice line-up of drinks, you must be feeling pretty good about the world right now, ready and armed for winter.

Another for me yesterday

2006 Henschke Kyneton Estate Euphonium - sixth bottle now, mixed b/w 375ml and full whack, all under screw cap, and a remarkable consistency throughout. Dark colour, red fruits & black olives on fore palate, hints of pepper and cinnamon as the finish gets underway. Perfect match for saucisson and lamb last night, but lost a lot of its vigour on night two. That's the first dud note in what's been a very good relationship. Question: was 2006 an especially good Barossa year?

[Rudy]

I haven’t posted much for quite a while as I have been busy building a wood fired oven in my back yard. It took over a year on a jack hammer to create the area and then it has taken nearly 4 months to build

[Wizz]

I haven’t posted much for quite a while as I have been busy building a wood fired oven in my back yard. It took over a year on a jack hammer to create the area and then it has taken nearly 4 months to build

Hey mark I've got magnums of St Henri downstairs, what say you?

[Red Smurf]

Nice one Sharkey,
You are keen though, cutting your Pizza oven into what looks like a side of a solid sandstone wall. By hand!
Any tips for a wannabe pizza oven builder. Did you build the main dome by scratch or was it premade and you built the surround?
If it was pre made, who did you sorce it from?

Cheers,
Smurf

[n4sir]

Some brief impressions of some Pirramimma wines at an instore last weekend :

2010 Eight Carat Sauvignon Blanc (screwcap): Lots of passionfruit & tropical/banana sweetness, but has a rather sour and tangy finish

2008 Gilded Lilly Sparkling Shiraz (cork): Sweet raspberries and liquorice, chocolate bullets at times, the finish very dry. It’s not the biggest or creamiest fizz going around, but for under $10 on the day it’s more than fair.

2008 Pirramimma Stock’s Hill Cabernet Merlot (screwcap): I really liked the nose of this, soupy/meaty notes with liquorice and blackcurrant; the palate’s a lot leaner than I was expecting, with a thin and rather green finish.

2008 Pirramimma Stock’s Hill Quintrex (screwcap): Shiraz, Petit Verdot Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat. It’s a lot more noticeably funky on the nose than the Cabernet Merlot, while the 5% Tannat of the blend makes for quite a bitter/tannic finish. It’s lean and needs food, but I doubt it will fill out.

2008 Pirramimma Stock’s Hill Shiraz (screwcap): Porty with black liquorice and mint characters, yet it’s not that big; seems alcoholic for all its lack of fruit.

2008 Pirramimma Katunga GTS Grenache Tannat Shiraz (screwcap): It’s soft and fleshy, and seems to do a good job of covering those Tannat tannins; that said it’s still no more weight than the Stock’s Hill and lacks length.

2007 Pirramimma White Label Grenache Shiraz (screwcap): I’ve had a soft spot for the Old Bush Vine Grenache in the past, and this blend made up of the guts of what would usually be that wine was again a highlight today. Its balance of soft raspberries with meaty and liquorice nuances with good length really stood out.

2007 Pirramimma White Label Petit Verdot (screwcap): The usual wild blueberry and violet florals and tarry characters of petit verdot are there, but with breathing the oak makes its mark; the palate’s medium-weight, a fraction lighter and shorter than usual, but overall it’s a good effort from a bad vintage. Maybe I’m slightly under rating it at the moment like the Reynella Cabernet, time will tell.

2007 Pirramimma White Label Shiraz (cork): Very ripe and hot with earthy/liquorice characters matched to tarry, raspberry fruit, a little jammy at times; it’s medium to full bodied, but the finish suffers from very noticeable alcohol heat (14.5%). A bit of a disappointment.

2007 Pirramimma White Label Cabernet Sauvignon (cork): The nose has menthol, ash and blackcurrant, but there’s also a leathery/stocky character and flatness that suggests maybe some random oxidation; the palate’s better but still seems to have a hole up front, although the tarry/blackcurrant fruit and length are decent. The sales rep checked it and thought it was okay/consistent with previous bottles, but I’m still tempted to call this one faulty.

2010 Pirramimma Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 375ml (screwcap): The touch of botrytis does give this a little sweetness, but overall it’s very controlled and quite good, the passionfruit drifting into banana and kiwi fruit, and a crisp, clean finish.

2002 Pirramimma Digby Old Tawny Port (cork): Apparently this has some 50+ year old material in this, and I loved the nose which was full of rancio, bright walnut, vanilla, and varnish/paint stripper characters. The palate isn’t as convincing and is on the thin side, especially where the spirit really seems to stick out on the minty, dry finish.

Cheers,
Ian

Ps. Great pics & stories Dave & Sharkey.

[Rudy]

I haven’t posted much for quite a while as I have been busy building a wood fired oven in my back yard. It took over a year on a jack hammer to create the area and then it has taken nearly 4 months to build

Hey mark I've got magnums of St Henri downstairs, what say you?

PM sent

[Sharkey]

Nice one Sharkey,
You are keen though, cutting your Pizza oven into what looks like a side of a solid sandstone wall. By hand!
Any tips for a wannabe pizza oven builder. Did you build the main dome by scratch or was it premade and you built the surround?
If it was pre made, who did you sorce it from?

Cheers,
Smurf

Hey Smurf

Yeah, we had this spectacular rock overhang that I always wanted to do something with but there wasn’t enough flat area under it to do anything with. So we bit the bullet and started jack hammering and building rock walls and stairs. Can’t even get a wheelbarrow there so everything has been carried in and out by hand.




We built the oven from scratch out of fire bricks. All the bricks, insulation, high heat mortar etc were purchased from Field Furnace Refactories at Wetherill Park. They actually build ovens so have lots of experience and advice.

The source of knowledge for wood fired ovens on the internet is Forno Bravo - http://www.fornobravo.com. You can download the plans for free and get advice and ideas from hundreds of ordinary people who have built these things.

[Red Smurf]

Cheers Sharkey,
Again, nice work!

Smurf