The Auswine Forum

A few with some friends on Friday night.

NV Craiglee Sparkling Shiraz. Not being a Sparkling Shiraz lover, this was a bit lost on me. Someone said it's just like a Craiglee Shiraz, but with bubbles. Didn't have the sweetness of say a Rockford Black Shiraz, a bit more subtle, but nice all the same. 3.5/5

2007 Cape Mentelle Chardonnay. In a really good spot right now. Enough creamy oak and some stone fruit to make it really interesting. Some nuttiness but not over the top. Really good wine that should get even better with another 2-3 years in the bottle, if you like the style. Luckily I do. 4/5

1996 Paul Jaboulet Aine La Chapelle Hermitage. My words can't describe how much I enjoyed this wine. Happiness in a bottle. Still had enough fruit to make it interesting, oak in incredible balance and tannins so silken. Colour was still good. I have had a couple of great Hermitage's now and they are without doubt the best wines I've had the pleasure of drinking. Just wish I could afford them! My WOTY so far. Thanks for the privilege Jamie. 5/5

1998 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro. Wendouree is one of those wines that polarise wine drinkers, including plenty on here. I admit, I have never quite got the attraction but the wife loves it so I got on the mailing list a while back. But this bottle was a light bulb moment for me. Just beautiful. Perfect cork. Lots of camphor, menthol, a little lavender and dark fruit on the nose. Colour is still very bright with little or no bricking. The palate is superb. Probably medium bodied but still with some oomph. Dark fruit, mint and some earthiness dominate. Drinking really well and well stored bottles should go another 10 in a canter. Can only get better too. 4.5/5

1994 Wendouree Shiraz. Not quite as good as the Shiraz Mataro but this was an auction purchase so no way of telling the provenance. The cork was partially soaked and fell apart a bit. Jamie was convinced that storage was less than optimal. That being said, it was still a cracker of a wine. The nose was similar to the SM but a bit less lavender if anything. It was probably a little bigger than the SM. A little deeper on the palate, if that makes sense. Still full of quality fruit and those tannins! They stood out a bit more on this one. The wife gave them both a massive thumbs up and was still talking about them the next morning. If stored well I'd hazard a guess that this will go another 10 as well easily. 4.5/5

2004 Charles Cimicky Autograph Shiraz. Perfect cork and still has good colour. Probably not the right wine to have right after those two Wendouree's, but it was still pleasant enough. Nice nose and is in a good spot now or close enough to it's peak. Fruit is starting to fade and some secondary flavours are showing. Good balance but was just blown away by the Wendouree's. 3.5/5

I will certainly be putting all my Wendouree's at the back of the cellar and forgetting I own them. I have had too many of them too young and been disappointed. I just hope I'm still enjoying my wine in 20 or 30 years time!

Cheers
Ian

Liked the CM chardonnay. The Hermitage ex-cellars and a controversial vintage, bilgey notes blew off with air though I thought I may have overdone the aeration before you arrived. Glad you enjoyed!

Best bottle for me since is a Stonewell 93 Shiraz. Ghostly Amercian oak and lasting fruit intensity. A shitty stored bottle of John Riddoch 1994 turned me away from the auction scene for a while as did a string of lessers.

1996 Mount Pleasant Lovedale

Man, this was a great bottle...
Cork was half soaked, colour was fantastic, almost lemon yellow. On the nose a very young Sem... still had the lemons, a bit of toast...
Still had some nice acid to it, and still alot of primary fruit but with secondary buttery, toasty, vegemitey characteristics of aged hunter sem.

Even better, this paired extremely well with our food from the Chinese restaurant: Ginger & shallot mud crab, Grandma tofu, special fried rice...

I'm sad this was my last bottle as this one could've seen another 5 years easy....

2008 St Hallett "Blackwell" Barossa
Opened this amongst some similar vintage Gemtree at a BBQ as my guests like the warm-climate Shiraz style. Not really my thing but is a good example - dark & sweetly fruited, oak there but folded in, good balance. My one and only bottle - I'd drink now before the primary fruit fades much more. I don't have any history with this wine, but seems there's no hurry to drink.

2013 Craggy Range "Te Kahu" Merlot blend Hawkes Bay
Opened this one more for myself - redcurrants, more blackcurrant on the palate, graphite and a bit of chocolate. Has a cool feel about it, long fine tannins through the finish. Probably wasn't paying enough attention at the party, and was disadvantaged by the other wines around it. I think will improve with mid-term cellaring.

2015 De Bortoli "Windy Peak" Pinot Noir Yarra Valley
Varietal, light across the palate but with a little texture and grip. Can't ask for much more for $10.

2000 Plantiers de Haut Brion Blanc
This used to be the best QPR 1st Growth produced Bordeaux wine., but eventually the marketing men took over and re-branded this wine as Le Carte de Haut Brion Blanc for double the price. Shame, as its a great wine. This particular bottle was singing and looked to be perfectly mature. Smoke, pinapple, touch of glyceryne. Long finish. Buy if you ever see this at auction - it needs 10 years to hit its stride and well stored it can last 20-30 years.

Sami-Odi Little Wine V
Perfect BBQ wine. Shiraz liquer on the nose, big fruit intensity, but light as well and so easy to drink. A friend thought it was like a top, young Grenache, and I can see the resemblance. Not sure its a wine to age, but its so tasty that its hard to resist

Wendouree Shiraz-Malbec 2006
Seems closed to me. Perfect fill and cork. Red fruits. Well balanced. Opened up in the Riedel Swan Decanter, but never really shone. My Burg loving friend was much more positive though, so maybe its a style thing. First bottle from 6 and I will wait before openeing the next

Sepplt 1998 Sparkling Shiraz
Who needs Champers when we have this ? Still my favourite style of bubbles, this was in a very good place, with plenty of primary fruit still in evedince and the secondary flavour of bacon fat just starting to develop. Went well with the big rib we had.

Rousseau easily outgunned by a more solid Dujac

Jamie is that Queenstown in the background?

Being a snow forecast tragic I was thinking the same thing (aligns with the weather at the time and the snow on the hill tops)

2014 Alamos Malbec, Mendoza


In recent days I have completed a tasting of over 20 Malbecs from Argentina, France and Australia, for me the 2014 Alamos was a stand out. I re-visited it again tonight over an Italian Dish, it reconfirmed my initial scoring. For ~$25 it is bang for buck. Medium bodied; blackberry, pepper, red fruits, with a very clean and very nice finish. At 13% Alc, its a winner in my book, drink now for the next 5 or so years.

JamieBahrain wrote:Rousseau easily outgunned by a more solid Dujac

I have had many delightful 06s including Dujac.
07's hold no appeal for me almost regardless of maker

Yes Queenstown from the last house on the Queenstown hill.

Working my way through some Central Otago pinots now which have been nice.

2015 Warrabilla Parola Shiraz
Opened this one just before serving up the pasta last night. Muted masses of fruit in the red/black range (blackberry, plum, blackcurrant, etc), some oak and tannins - but lacking any real nose. Of course, after 10 minutes this started to change, with the nose and the fruit coming to the fore and the oak disappearing and the tannins toning down a little. Very difficult to discern that this is a 17% monster, as there's no hint of it in the drinking (although there is in the standing up after finishing).
Will be keen to taste this over then next 10-15 years

rooman wrote:Jamie is that Queenstown in the background?

JamieBahrain wrote:Yes Queenstown from the last house on the Queenstown hill.

Haha... I was going to ask the exact same question. Jealous!

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Gibbston reserve 2006 a watershed for me with aged kiwi Pinot . Screw cap and a decade in the cellar producing a mighty drink .

Too many CO pinots so a nice change was a cuddly 2002 389 which was noticeably more crafted. Wonderful ambience by an outside fireplace .

Pyramid Valley was pleasant though not sure of the hype. We have been using a number of excellent private chefs in Queenstown and I recommend the experience .

A few wines over Dinner at Hotel Centennial in Sydney. Great food and ambience. We had many many bottles of wine but these were the stand outs:

2015 Farr Rising Chardonnay, Geelong, VIC - a bit too young, high acidity; revisit in 2-3 years once it settles down
2014 Neudorf Chardonnay, Nelson, NZ - lovely chardonnay
2014 Byrne Pinot Noir, Ballarat, VIC - similar to a recent burgundy I had, drinking very well
2012 Oakridge ‘Whitsend Vineyard’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Yarra Valley - stunning.
2014 Best’s Bin 1 Shiraz, Great Western, VIC - very good shiraz
2013 Parc St Charles ‘des Moines Hospitalieres’ Cotes du Rhone GSM, Rhone Valley - not liked by some, perhaps a bit too 'sweet, great with blue cheese though
2013 Terrazas Reserva Malbec, Mendoza - very good example of Mendoza

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1999 Yunbar estate Bush Vines Semilion.
Barossa Valley and don't really know where the vineyard is now, JH rated them years ago in the WC.
Beautiful colour, wonderful nose of fruit salad and honey, just fantastic on the palate.

Cheers
Craig

2013 St Hallet Blackwell Shiraz. Barossa Valley. A very good follow on from the amazing 2012. Not quite as good, but still a very good wine for the money ($25). American oak is dominant once again along with the dark fruit and a little spice. I found it to have a bit of a hole in the mid palate, but that is being picky as it did fill out somewhat with some air. Will only get better with a few years slumber in a dark cool place. 3.5/5

Cheers
Ian

2011 Mount Pleasant Mount Henry Shiraz Pinot Noir

51% shiraz, 49% Pinot, I think or thereabouts.
Pop and poured into a decanter and gave it some agressive swirling
A very clean bright red with little purple. Appearance doesn't give off any age yet. Nose immediately had opened pack of sultana's which blew off after some time and revealing more red fruits, some white pepper and some earthy Hunter dirt.

Medium fine tannins and some oakiness from the Shiraz component, and also had the red fruits and acid of the Pinot component. Was very nice. Could definitely feel the Hunter earthiness of this.
All the components feel a little disjointed at this stage, and not quite all melded together yet. I think time will sort this out though.
Still a very young wine and will keep for at least another 5-10 years.

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2005 Knappstein Ackland Vineyard Riesling
Screwcap. 13.5% alc. Nice deep yellow straw colour. Very aromatic; kerosene, river stone, a touch cheesy, and talc. Quite powerful on the palate, and it's all about getting it to the right temperature to drink. Too cold and it's a brutish and slightly tart wall of flavour without enough roundness, and then too warm you start to sense the alcohol and that detracts...maybe I should stick to slamming this stuff back in summer.

Clonakilla SV 2004 - just opened it for lunch. Under screwcap which is excellent because the 2001 I took to share with a winemaker friend of mine in NZ was seriously off. First sip out of the bottle and everything seems to be in the right place. Now give it a couple of hours to open up and lets see how we go.

Last night. Cullen Mangan Vineyard Margaret River Merlot Malbec Petit Verdot 2007. Roughly equal portion of the three varieties. A good solid fruit driven wine that was an absolute pleasure to drink. Quite moreish. Slightly sweeter than I was expecting with the merlot and malbec contributing to this I think with the petit verdot providing the backbone. Could go a few more years easily but ready to drink now. Not cheap though but that's MR. Great MR stuff showing why I am in love with Bordeaux grape varieties from this region including Chardonnay. Not so the shiraz which lacks the sweeter fuller flavours from warmer areas.

Carl

Down in Belgium for a friends 50th and brought a few bottles of Shiraz to go with the barbie

1998 Bin 389
Majestic wine that took me back to the Penfolds wines drunk at the start of the 90's. Blackcurrant nose, spice, chocolate, thick texture, but with a light feel. Very long finish. Brad, the birthday boy, thought it was the best wine he had drunk and while I have had better, for sheer joy, it was a pleasure to drink. Miles better than the 97 Grange I drank a few weeks ago.

1998 Dead Arm
More intense than the 389, but it misses the oomph. Slight bitterness to the mid palate and I'm not sure if this needs more time or is started my to dry out. Lovely mature attack though and great with the food. Better than a few years ago, so my intention is to hold onto the last 6

Sami-Odi Little wine V
3rd bottle and this was obviously very young. It was chosen as the best red at my birthday meal in April, but the textured black fruit is primary and it misses the complexity of the others. Lovely purity though. Won't age like the first 2, but I'll keep the remaining 6 for a year or 2 now to see what happens.

1937 Shepards Port
I gave this to Brad for his 40th and after 10 years it was finally time to drink up. Old tawny colour, with lots of burnt sugar, white pepper and caramel. Very spicy, with alcohol on the finish. Not great, but after 78 years you have to make allowances.

Plenty of vino, a 2001 Cape Mentelle C/S 2001 was very good though not as good as expected. Long and elegant, loaded with spicy cassis fruit and berries, it didn't have an appropriate fruit intensity leaving it at a modest 90pts for me.

Plenty of poorly stored wines or perhaps even an equal curse, poorly presented wines in terms of glassware styles and pollutants ( gee there's a lot of chemicals in the Aussie water ). May as well be drinking beer!

2012 Rockfor Rod & Spur Shiraz Cabernet

Cork felt spongy, actually began ripping whilst trying to pull out of the bottle. Not soaked at all, just typical of something this old/young.
Dark purple in appearance, with blackberries, dark chocolate and smokey nose.
Similar taste profile with some very fine and silky tannins. Tasted young but also very approachable with lots of blackberries, and a bit of oak.
Initially I couldn't pick out the cabernet component, but with a bit more time in the glass it was there with a tiny bit of greenness?
This should last longer, I'll open my next bottle in 3-5 years time I think.

2013 O'Leary Walker Cabernet Malbec, Clare. Very good value for money. The Malbec plays a really good supporting role in smoothing out the Cabernet giving the wine a fragrant 'lift' and nice mouth-feel. Great match with Lamb Loin.

2016 Pikes “Luccio” Pinot Grigio, Clare. Very young in bottle still and very 'raw'. A nice vibrant colour. On tasting, my first impression it needs a bit of time to settle down a bit in bottle but has a 'racy' acidity about it. Think fresh crisp apples with a good mouth-feel. Really enjoyable now but I think this will be drinking at its best in 12-24 months. I've tried a few '16 Clare whites now; of note is the vibrant colour of the wines, intense flavours and driving acidity. Should see some belters and very long lived wines from 2016.

2014 Pikes “Los Companeros” Shiraz Tempranillo. Clare. Not your traditional blend but it works. Not what I would consider very varietal, but it is well crafted wine displaying milk chocolate, blueberries and good supporting oak and tannins. An easy drinking, 'smooth' wine, serve with a decent pasta or cheese in my view.