Late drinking reports 28/9

[Sean]

deleted

[reschsmooth]

Opened a 2010 Keith Tulloch Merlot last night - not thinking much of merlot so thought "what the heck", as it were.

Liquorice, plums and some savoury notes carrying through to the palate which was integrated with very soft oak. Not too bad and could have done with a few more years.

[BlaCkAdDa]

2009 Pirramimma Stocks Hill Shriaz/Petit Verdot opened last night
Definite tartiness/plum flavours, drinks well nothing spectacular but solid and enjoyable, not sure its going to developmuch. Will see how it is tonight.

[sjw_11]

Briar Ridge Hunter Valley Merlot 2009... Drinkable but unimpressive. Mid-red colour, quite light. Notes of slightly tart and confected berries on the nose, a little spice and more earthiness on night 2. Finishes a bit short.

[Teisto]

2006 Milton Pinot Noir Opened this and still as fresh as a daisy. Took about an hour or so to really start singing. Cherry Fruit driven and very primary still. Tannins have integrated nicely. This still has a lot left in the tank but drinking very well now.

[Peter NZ]

A couple from the weekend:

2004 Dr Loose Urziger Wurtzgarten Spatlese Struck a fine balance between viscosity & lightness, if that makes any sense at all. Typical minerality on the palate, & good balance between acid & sugar. Overall very good.

2000 Newton Forrest Cornerstone Great food wine -- bright acid, nicely integrated tannins & good fruit; medium bodied. Very enjoyable.

Cheers
Peter

[Waiters Friend]

Not been able to do a new topic until now. A few from me. What has everyone else been drinking this week or lately?

2008 Leasingham Bin 56 Cabernet Malbec A bright red-purple colour and almost perfumed with red and dark berries, chocolate, tobacco, mint and charry/vanilla oak and has an appealing smooth mouthfeel balanced by the fine grained tannins. It is drinking well enough now and while it has some potential to improve over a number of years no point comparing it with the thumping big ones from the 90s, because it is nothing like them.

2008 Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Quartage This is purpley and very aromatic with sweet dark fruits, spice, chocolatey oak and dry powdery tannins. Lots of flavour interest and typically smooth and harmonious making this one to enjoy now.

Sean, your assessment of the 2008 Bin 56 seems pretty good. I must admit to being disappointed with 2005/2006 to some degree and haven't seen them since. Is this a return to form, or the evolution of a different product?

Also, I will back up your assessment of the Quartage (although I believe it is now a quintage!). This has been a consistent (ly good) wine for the price since 2002, with 5-6 year old bottles showing quite well.

Cheers

Allan

[Sharkey]

We had a few good wines with good food on Saturday.

1998 Penfolds Adelaide Hills Semillon – Previous vintages of this were called Trial Bin.
Served with deep fried crumbed camembert for afternoon tea.
This had developed a bit of colour but did not look past it. Great creamy texture and honeysuckle flavours with a good, long finish. This was liquid gold in a glass.

2006 Rockford Local Growers Semillon – Served with jerusalem artichoke soup and fresh, wood fired bread sticks.
Obviously paler in colour but still quite rich with a bit of nuttiness to it. Another good Semillon and a great match with the soup.

Both of the next wines were served with Duck Breast with a red wine reduction sauce with candied cumquats that had been cooked in our wood fired oven. Again the wine went pretty well with the food.

1996 Redbank Sally’s Paddock – Cab Sauv, Shiraz, Cab Franc, Merlot. Some bricking around the edges but generally still quite dark. Lots of cherry and plummy flavour with a bit of spice thrown into the mix. We have been drinking through some ’94, ’95 and ’96 Sally’s over the last few months and this was the best bottle so far. Well developed wine that will hold for a while, but I don’t think it will get any better.

2001 Orlando St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon. I really enjoyed this wine but think it has a few years to go before it is at its best. Still plenty of tannin that was quite noticeable after drinking the Sally’s.

For dessert we served home made crème caramels with Chambers Muscat. This has been the ‘house muscat’ for quite a few years now and is always superb with dessert.

All up a great night of good food and wine.

[reschsmooth]

Had some of the outlaws stay with us, so on Tuesday night had:

Piper Heidsieck NV - very dry, nice acidity with some citrus.
2001 Kilikanoon Covenant - colour was a deepish red, just starting to turn. The nose was complex with beautiful red fruits, spiciness and some tobacco and leather coming through. The palate was long, very soft tannins. I would say that this has a couple of years left.
2009 Henschke Henry's Sevens - after the Kilikanoon, this showed itself to be the baby that it is. Massive plum and other fruits up front, almost a bit tart. Not a good wine to follow the Covenant.

[sjw_11]

Kilikanoon Prophecy (CD release, cork says Secret Places) Barossa Shiraz 2002... Bought a dozen of these from the winery a few years ago and they drink very nicely for $20. Still a dense, plummy red colour. Loads of fine sediment. The nose is intense, with notes of plum, vanilla, and chocolate, leading into an elegant palate with tannins beginning to smooth out with age and just a hint of warmth on the finish.

[BlaCkAdDa]

2006 Morgan & Simpson Row 42 Cabernet/Shiraz
Good wine for mid week but very heavy on the fruit and sweetness.