The Auswine Forum

2002 Tim Adams Aberfeldy Shiraz 14%
Clare valley, old-vine shiraz – and current vintage is very fairly priced.
Garnet, dense, and mainly black liquorice, lesser blackberry and some spices. The palate is vibrant, there is creamy vanilla oak, the very intense fruit is not jammy; it possesses old-vine charm and lush mouthfeel; a soft decadent long finish with tannin and acid balanced. Its drinking well, but the years shall not weary it. (lucky since I have a magnum -my daughter’s birth year). Memorable stuff and a bit churlish – but necessary - to state a little less oak would have seen this as a giant-killer.

2000 Mt Mary Quintet 12.2%
Immaculate cork, from the Yarra Valley, Cabernet dominant with some Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit verdot. I paid $82.50 each for a few bottles at cellar-door way back in 2002. Its still ruby coloured, It is leafy but not green; dark blackcurrant and cedary oak are first impressions; Lacks the extract and tannins of best Bordeaux, and the sweet fruit also pulls us back to New world; its somewhat softer than expected from this marque. My much better half – who is not a Cabernet fan – thought the wine was pretty impressive- and went back for a second glass- a strong recommendation; and the wine displays generosity, balance and length. It will still be kicking in 10 years, but I would drink while the tannins are still evident. Excellent in its own right, but missing the “x-factor”.

A few wines over the last two days.
2001 Stella Bella Cab Merlot. Stunning rich fruited mix that exceded my expectations.
2004 Woodlands 'Margaret' Cab Merlot. I was expecting a lot from this as everyone raves about the producer. At first just a little thin and acidic, but over the night developed more structure and fruit depth. Still quite primary, but has lost its early prepubescent nature. Many years left to enjoy.
We are moving from our house soon, so we had a family dinner tonight with 'birthyear' wines of the kids (grown up now)
1991 Wendouree Shiraz. A birth wine for our daughter Amelia. Stunning complex dark berry overtones and quite a hint of eucalyptus. Very long but leaving a tannic coat that slightly distracted, but overall a joy to experience. Will keep this drinking plateau for a while yet. Privileged to have a dozen left. Rated by the Brady's as the best vintage ever from Wendouree.
1996 Penfolds Bin 389. Birth year wine for our youngest, Evie. Tired with little fruit to excite. It was hard to impress following the Wendouree. Difficult to pick actual faults, but there was little fruit or tannin structure.
2004 Voyager Estate Cab Merlot. Lovely mix of acid, fruit and structure. Happily surprised how smooth and enjoyable this was. It is in a very good place right now with lots left in the tank for many years.
1989 Bollinger Grand Annee. Birth year for our eldest, Jeremy. Early fizz quickly dissipated to sherry like overtones which in turn morphed into a honeyied and toasty enjoyable but not excitable drink. To balance this we cracked a Selosse 'Initial' NV with its typical oxidative style that I enjoy.

2004 Murdock "The Editorial"
15% alc from memory. Completely soaked cork. Has leaked a little.
These have been a real mixed bag for me over the past 8 years or so. They've all had leaking corks, and I recall others having this issue with purchases from this ex-producer around the same time I got mine...
That said, this is a great bottle; rich and heady roast jus elements on the nose, quality oak evident, a touch leafy, and on the palate the entry is slick but has real volume with some still fairly substantial tannins pounding out the finish. Really, really nice bottle.

2005 Barossa Valley Estate, E & E Black Pepper Shiraz

These are treasured in my cellar because they will be increasingly hard to find, as the winery has now been taken over and revamped by the New Zealanders.

Does anybody have any views on the quality of the new BVE wines? I must say I'm not a fan of the branding change from the traditional burgundy colour to bright red!

Hacker wrote:A few wines over the last two days.
2001 Stella Bella Cab Merlot. Stunning rich fruited mix that exceded my expectations.
2004 Woodlands 'Margaret' Cab Merlot. I was expecting a lot from this as everyone raves about the producer. At first just a little thin and acidic, but over the night developed more structure and fruit depth. Still quite primary, but has lost its early prepubescent nature. Many years left to enjoy.
We are moving from our house soon, so we had a family dinner tonight with 'birthyear' wines of the kids (grown up now)
1991 Wendouree Shiraz. A birth wine for our daughter Amelia. Stunning complex dark berry overtones and quite a hint of eucalyptus. Very long but leaving a tannic coat that slightly distracted, but overall a joy to experience. Will keep this drinking plateau for a while yet. Privileged to have a dozen left. Rated by the Brady's as the best vintage ever from Wendouree.
1996 Penfolds Bin 389. Birth year wine for our youngest, Evie. Tired with little fruit to excite. It was hard to impress following the Wendouree. Difficult to pick actual faults, but there was little fruit or tannin structure.
2004 Voyager Estate Cab Merlot. Lovely mix of acid, fruit and structure. Happily surprised how smooth and enjoyable this was. It is in a very good place right now with lots left in the tank for many years.
1989 Bollinger Grand Annee. Birth year for our eldest, Jeremy. Early fizz quickly dissipated to sherry like overtones which in turn morphed into a honeyied and toasty enjoyable but not excitable drink. To balance this we cracked a Selosse 'Initial' NV with its typical oxidative style that I enjoy.

Hacker, I'd believe the 389 was perhaps TCA tainted at a low level. Stripped. That wine should be outstanding.

It's for my wife's birthday so we have 2001 Markus Molitor Spatlese (lovely nose, just opening with honey and slate, and a long finish) and a 2001 Opus One (Napa Valley Cab, but a bit overated and overoaked), noneless interesting away from our standard Aussie stuff.m

Dang wrote:It's for my wife's birthday so we have 2001 Markus Molitor Spatlese (lovely nose, just opening with honey and slate, and a long finish) and a 2001 Opus One (Napa Valley Cab, but a bit overated and overoaked), noneless interesting away from our standard Aussie stuff.m

Welcome! hope you will contribute lots and enjoy this community.

Rory wrote:

Hacker wrote:1996 Penfolds Bin 389. Birth year wine for our youngest, Evie. Tired with little fruit to excite. It was hard to impress following the Wendouree. Difficult to pick actual faults, but there was little fruit or tannin structure.

Hacker, I'd believe the 389 was perhaps TCA tainted at a low level. Stripped. That wine should be outstanding.

Hi Rory, you could be right. It just wasn't obvious on the night. And we were having too much fun to worry about it.

2014 Tyrrell's Vat6 Hunter Valley Pinot Noir. Although the Hunter is not a natural climate for Pinot there is apparently some history of growing it here. I have had a couple of Hunter Pinot Shiraz blends (Meera Park?) that i enjoyed. Anyway back to this wine.

Fabled 2014 Vintage. Colour is a light cranberry juice red. A light style Pinot. Strawberry, slight chalk-iness. Very smooth with lingering finish. Enjoyable and a bit different.

2013 Monti Garbi Tenuta Sant Antonio Valpolicella Ripasso. First Italian wine for me. Ok, quite different.

Quite a big nose. Spicy, musky, leather bound books. Taste includes dark chocolate, plum, spiced fruits. There is quite an aftertaste or secondary aromas post imbibing. Tobacco leaf and pencil shavings here. Quite a lot going on. Interesting wine. 3/5.

Fattoria La Rivolta Taburno Fallanghina Del Sannio 2104

Pity about the name of the producer, coz this wine is anything but rivolta!
Lovely Fallanghina, savoury aromas, complex fruity palate with a textural mouthfeel. A great distraction from Aussie whites and quite affordable. Good length.
Always a measuring stick... if you want a second and third glass, it's a well made, good wine. This is one.

2013 passing clouds graeme's blend shiraz cabernet - years ago i used to drink a lot of passing cloud but for a long time had not - sort of dropped off my radar - read up on all the changes and so on via a recent book -and now found a bottle in adelaide - still a great drink - viz. - true australian wine with a generous smooth and full bodied aspect with a good dollop of mint/eucalypt character - very good

2011 Mandoon Estate Reserve Research Station Cabernet Sauvignon

Highly rated wine out of the Swan Valley

Opened a couple of bottles at a BBQ today.

1992 Petaluma Coonawarra. This didn’t look right from opening. Lots of earthy, leathery aged notes. Very little fruit on the nose and palate.
Revisited when I got home and think it might be mildly corked.

1998 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz. Dark plums, medium body, tannins fully resolved.
Good wine but the vanilla oak was a bit distracting for me.

I will be drinking the rest of these I have sooner rather than later.

Cheers Con.

Dang wrote:It's for my wife's birthday so we have 2001 Markus Molitor Spatlese (lovely nose, just opening with honey and slate, and a long finish) and a 2001 Opus One (Napa Valley Cab, but a bit overated and overoaked), noneless interesting away from our standard Aussie stuff.m

We went to Markus Molitor's cellar door in the, very hot, summer of 2003. Amazing. The girl serving us had done a vintage or two in the Clare Valley. The list of wines and back vintages available to taste was truly remarkable.

Love the wines from M-S-R.

Cheers. Travis.

2012 Hurley Vineyard Loadstone Pinot Noir. An absolute delight. surprised me as to how well it was drinking at still a relatively youthfull age. Lovely lifted aromatics, soft and sweet middle palate fruit with very good length. Supporting acid and structure, but everything is in such great balance.

1996 Petaluma Coonawarra A freak of a wine. Stunning.

2005 penley reserve coonawarra shiraz magnum.
Quite stunning and a real surprise. Sweet fruit but not porty or overdone. Older oak really is the backbone and keeps the acid and tannins balanced beautifully. Long life ahead. This is the second penley wine i have thoroughly enjoyed. May have to re-assess the cellar and add some more in there.

Right now, enjoying a 2012 Chris Ringland Barossa Vintners Shiraz. Absolutely awesome wine.

2008 Keith Tulloch Semillon 11.5%
All class
For me, this is text book hunter semillon made to age yet will drink well young, if you can call 8 years young
Just a superbly balanced wine that will age gracefully
The acid and fruit are perfectly in check
The finish is long, the palate tongue coating and just delicious, moorish in every sense
underated In my opinion

Cheers for the review Bob.

A lot of what Keith does is very classy.

Elephant Hill Le Phant 2009
Screwcap. 14%alc. I opened this a couple of nights ago, and it's probably drinking its best now. Quite a dark red plum colour. Good dark earthy aromatics. Leafy, ironstone, texta, and green cedary aromas. Medium-full-bodied palate has a fairly smooth entry, but builds weight in a green way in the tannin department. Not bad. Touch bitter so maybe needs food to offset that.
According to Michael Cooper, the inaugural release of this wine was 2012, so not sure what's going on there.

2005 Greenock Creek Wines Alice's Shiraz. Barossa Valley. I have been shying away from these big alcohol monsters as I don't seem to be enjoying them as much as I used to (but my wife loves them). I blame the Brisbane offline crew for opening my eyes to so many different styles of wine! But even though this is labelled as 17.5%, I wouldn't have picked it as that, as I got very little heat from it at all. The cork was not in great shape, with it soaked up one side to within a couple of mm from the top, but the wine was fine. Still had a very bright colour and the nose did take a while to open up. Lots and lots of dark fruit and a touch of biscuity oak were present with even a lick of chocolate. The palate was a little porty but not over the top at all. The tannins have all but disappeared and even though this wine only sees old oak, it was certainly there. A bit one dimensional and didn't offer the complexity I'd have liked but it was enjoyed. Typical Barossa RPJ wine. Maybe as I'm not been drinking as many of these SA monsters recently, when I do now, I don't try to think too hard about them and just take them as what they are - big fruit monsters. I'll be drinking my remaining bottles in the next year or so. 3.5/5

Cheers
Ian

ticklenow1 wrote:2005 Greenock Creek Wines Alice's Shiraz. Barossa Valley. I blame the Brisbane offline crew for opening my eyes to so many different styles of wine!

Nothing wrong with Barossa Shiraz, but there are so many great wine out there. I can't wait for the day you really like a Pinot!

rens wrote:

ticklenow1 wrote:2005 Greenock Creek Wines Alice's Shiraz. Barossa Valley. I blame the Brisbane offline crew for opening my eyes to so many different styles of wine!

Nothing wrong with Barossa Shiraz, but there are so many great wine out there. I can't wait for the day you really like a Pinot!

Be a cold day in hell

Cheers
Ian

Benchmark wrote:A lot of what Keith does is very classy.

Sums it up. I have enjoyed his semiilon and shiraz on number of occasions.

2012 D'Arry's Footbolt MV shiraz, a simple but enjoyable quaffer...at $12 who's complaining!

Cheers
Craig

2008 Gomersal Grenache Shiraz Mataro (Barossa - screw cap) - decanted a couple of hours ago and a massively aromatic fruit bomb (16.2%) but no obvious heat. Mouth coating, full of cassis, black currants, satsuma plums, thyme and milk chocolate. Thanks Ticklenow for the recommendation. A wonderful wine......

Watching Richmond butcher the ball in tonights AFL. And Souths just getting demolished by a clinical Cowboys outfit.

Cracked 2 similar priced pinots for the grand occasion.

14 Coldstream Hills - strawberries, red cherries and vanillan oak. A real pretty thing. Slight poopy chook stuff happening in the background and some wet earth which gives it interest. Nice silty tannin carrying it through the finish. Cracking value. 93

13 Yering Station Yarra - a little harsher and a bit more grimier than the Coldstream. Smells like its a bit oxidised, but under screw cap. Cured meats to the fore, darker cherry, marzipan and mulchy goodness. Changing in the glass. 91

2010 Kurtz Family Vineyard Boundary Rd GSM.
Holds its 15% alcohol well.No heat on the nose. No candyshop either. Ripe plum / raspberry fruit with some length. A touch of savoury acid to clean everything up and encourage the next sip. Will see how this opens up tonight. Used to be a bargain,but price has crept up a bit (to $26 so knto some pretty stiff competition!).

Cheers

Michael

Time for me to hit my 2002 Kurtz Lunar Block! Apparently there are'nt too many of them made.
Last night we finally polished off the 2000 Yarra Yering Potsorts after dinner. The bottle was opened two weeks ago and the cork fairly wet broke apart. I continued double decanting and filtering the sediments for the last inch. It took more than two days to get rid of the TCA smell and the port became drinkable: lovely rancio, raisiny fruit and warm spice, very much like a VP Fonseca or Graham (with good reason, the Yarra is made with similar fruit), but a bit reserved, not unctuous like some of the Oz Shiraz-based ports (eg Chateau Reynella). With a new cork on the bottle, we took our time to have a sip now and then were happily surprised that the Yarra held up so well.