Right, what are we/you drinking now .. tonight

[mychurch]

There are not many 24 year old wines that need a 24 hour double decant, but that's what I have just done with a bottle of 92 Coulee de Serant. Colour is not as dark as you would expect for its age, and from the decanter there as Enormous waft of earth and mineral. From experience chennins much older than this need a long decant, but a quick taste had me thinking about cancelling this evenings yoga...going to be a long 21 hours...

[Ian S]

Last night I found a 2005 Tahbilk "1927 Vines" Marsanne on a wine list.

Horribly overpriced in a typical London fashion, especially as this is intensely youthful still despite being 11yrs old. Very clear, unevolved colour. Typical honeysuckle on the nose, but still very fresh, still yet to develop the richer honeyed notes of aged Marsanne. The palate is very acid driven as well. Needs another 10yrs minimum. Incredible stuff really.

Ta for this. I have a bottle of the 2003 which I'm tracking CT comments for, the concensus being very good but still immature.

[michel]

Last night I found a 2005 Tahbilk "1927 Vines" Marsanne on a wine list.

Horribly overpriced in a typical London fashion, especially as this is intensely youthful still despite being 11yrs old. Very clear, unevolved colour. Typical honeysuckle on the nose, but still very fresh, still yet to develop the richer honeyed notes of aged Marsanne. The palate is very acid driven as well. Needs another 10yrs minimum. Incredible stuff really.

Ta for this. I have a bottle of the 2003 which I'm tracking CT comments for, the concensus being very good but still immature.

What closure are these?

[sjw_11]

Last night I found a 2005 Tahbilk "1927 Vines" Marsanne on a wine list.

Horribly overpriced in a typical London fashion, especially as this is intensely youthful still despite being 11yrs old. Very clear, unevolved colour. Typical honeysuckle on the nose, but still very fresh, still yet to develop the richer honeyed notes of aged Marsanne. The palate is very acid driven as well. Needs another 10yrs minimum. Incredible stuff really.

Ta for this. I have a bottle of the 2003 which I'm tracking CT comments for, the concensus being very good but still immature.

What closure are these?

I am nervous to open this debate again but from memory the 2005 was screw cap. I can't recall when Tahbilk switched predominantly over to screw caps but on their website now everything after 2009 shows a bottle with a screw cap for the regular Marsanne (and the 1927 is a delayed release) so that would make sense.

FYI what other winery in the world offers a choice of 2008-2016 for their most famous wine all at no more than AU$25/bttl (new releases even less) available to order at whim?

[Chuck]

Last night with a medium rare hanger steak we enjoyed a 2005 d'Arenberg Coppermine Road Cabernet Sauvignon. Very pleasant drop with black fruits and resolved tannin. Oak was a little heavy handed but overall it matched the steak well. McLaren Vale does cabernet well with the extra warmth allowing the grapes to ripen fully. A nice break from cooler climate cabs.

Carl

[Rory]

A couple of brilliant wines over course of the weekend:

2012 Petaluma Riesling is going to be a ripper in another 10 - 15 years. Tight with good balanced acid and intense fruit.
2003 Leonay Riesling looking fantastic, a little more advanced than the legendary '02, but still powerfull and long.
1998 St Huberts Reserve Cab Sauv, ageing beautifully, a great Yarra Cabernet. No decanting, kept evolving and opening up over the hour it lasted.
1998 Bin 389.Have seen many mixed reports for this wine. Double decant, served four hours later. Has still some powerfull primary notes, but the aromas were outstanding. The palate almost matches the complexity of the nose, it is big, complex, has good length and has decades ahead of it.

[Mivvy]

Have been drinking some US wines over the last couple of weeks...

2013 Cameron Rouge Clos Electrique - Oregon Pinot, red fruit, savoury earthiness, touch of funk, really really good.
2013 Cameron Blanc Clos Electrique - Oregon Chardonnay, quite light on its feet, citrus profile, good long finish, well balanced - reminded me of a good Yarra chardonnay
2005 Failla Syrah Phoenix Ranch - Napa Valley, was expecting a big ripe wine but this was all spice and white pepper with a bit of leather thrown in - took a while to calm down and get into balance but very good.
2013 Evening Land Vineyards Chardonnay La Source Seven Springs Vineyard - Oregon, this was a young and serious wine, very intense, citrus, cashews, good line of acidity all the way through the palate, long long finish.
2011 Sandhi Wines Pinot Noir Evening Land Tempest - Santa Rita, California, dark fruit, cola, medium bodied, crystalline acidity, very good but somehow did not seem that exciting.

Its a small sample but I really like the Oregon wines that I've had. They seem to be more lean than California, less ripe and more complex. The Chardonnays really hit the spot.

[Matt@5453]

2014 Eperosa Elevation Shiraz, Barossa Valley

I had high levels of anticipation to try this, unfortunately corked

[phillisc]

Chris Ringland 2013 Reservation Shiraz Barossa. Not sure what went on here but at $60ish a bottle certainly not worth the money...could not get past stewed fruits on the nose and battery acid on the palate.

A real pity because anything I have had of Ringers in the past, 3 Rivers, BP has always been very very good.

Ingoldby 2015 MV Shiraz, for $10 and top golds at Adelaide and Melbourne, a belter. This label has been in the wilderness for a decade or more...but shows what can be done with good fruit and good winemaking.

Cheers
Craig

[ticklenow1]

2014 Eperosa Elevation Shiraz, Barossa Valley

I had high levels of anticipation to try this, unfortunately corked

I really like Eperosa Wines and have done a few tastings with Brett. Some of the individual vineyard barrel samples were out of this world, particularly a couple of the Grenache's. The Eden Valley Elevation Shiraz is a personal favourite of mine.

I'm sure if you contact Brett Grocke he will organise a replacement.

Cheers
Ian

[Michael McNally]

Chris Ringland 2013 Reservation Shiraz Barossa. Not sure what went on here but at $60ish a bottle certainly not worth the money...could not get past stewed fruits on the nose and battery acid on the palate.

A real pity because anything I have had of Ringers in the past, 3 Rivers, BP has always been very very good.

Ingoldby 2015 MV Shiraz, for $10 and top golds at Adelaide and Melbourne, a belter. This label has been in the wilderness for a decade or more...but shows what can be done with good fruit and good winemaking.

Cheers
Craig

Matches my experience of the Reservation exactly. Yuk.

Interesting about the Ingoldby. Wrote this label off many moons ago, after it had been a fave, as the quality plummeted. Will pick up a taster, thanks.

Cheers

Michael

[michel]

Chris Ringland 2013 Reservation Shiraz Barossa. Not sure what went on here but at $60ish a bottle certainly not worth the money...could not get past stewed fruits on the nose and battery acid on the palate.

A real pity because anything I have had of Ringers in the past, 3 Rivers, BP has always been very very good.



Cheers
Craig

I tried his Carignane this year and his nebiollo
V v v stewed
Undrinkable for a table of people

[Michael McNally]

Ingoldby 2015 MV Shiraz, for $10 and top golds at Adelaide and Melbourne, a belter. This label has been in the wilderness for a decade or more...but shows what can be done with good fruit and good winemaking.

Cheers
Craig

Thanks for the recco Craig. Picked one up on the way home tonight. Good deep colour. Restrained nose (might be my slight cold) but some black fruit and a bit of light charring. Acid-driven, certainly, but there is ample good fruit there and a twist of tannin grip on the medium length finish. Not sweet. Not hot (although label says 14.5%). Some mild bitter choc on the finish so some locality (OMG - terroir ) shining through. Stirling effort for this price point! Would benefit from 1-3 years so will get a six and see what happens.

Cheers

Michael

[Luke W]

2005 Wendouree Shiraz - simply beautiful - an elegant medium weighted masterpiece of viticultural excellence.

[Luke W]

Chris Ringland 2013 Reservation Shiraz Barossa. Not sure what went on here but at $60ish a bottle certainly not worth the money...could not get past stewed fruits on the nose and battery acid on the palate.

A real pity because anything I have had of Ringers in the past, 3 Rivers, BP has always been very very good.

Ingoldby 2015 MV Shiraz, for $10 and top golds at Adelaide and Melbourne, a belter. This label has been in the wilderness for a decade or more...but shows what can be done with good fruit and good winemaking.

Cheers
Craig

[Luke W]

Chris Ringland 2013 Reservation Shiraz Barossa. Not sure what went on here but at $60ish a bottle certainly not worth the money...could not get past stewed fruits on the nose and battery acid on the palate.

A real pity because anything I have had of Ringers in the past, 3 Rivers, BP has always been very very good.

Ingoldby 2015 MV Shiraz, for $10 and top golds at Adelaide and Melbourne, a belter. This label has been in the wilderness for a decade or more...but shows what can be done with good fruit and good winemaking.

Cheers
Craig

I haven't tried the 2013 but am familiar with a couple of other vintages (I think 2010 and 2012). Both of these are quite tart to start with but settle with a few hours in the decanter. Have you given the wine 6 or 7 hours in a decanter and tried them? The previous vintages are not overly stewed IMHO (but then I don't mind those flavours).
Next time buy them from GWD for $18 - slightly better value.

[phillisc]

Cheers for that Luke, was actually given a couple of bottles, so might try the decanter. But its certainly not worth the $60 that I spotted in a shop a few weeks back....$18 would be around the mark.

99 Katnook Cabernet...another small cache of lost bottles. Beautiful nose with a wisp of blueberry and mixed spice. Lovely soft gentle balanced fruit profile on the palate...an absolute treat in the prime of its life.

Cheers
Craig

[JamieBahrain]

I've had a few Aussie quaffers this week- Bests Bin No 1 Shiraz 2013 and a Claircault Semillon Sav Blanc 2013. The Bests was good on day two, full, ripe, four-squared completes with a herbal-medicinal end. Not quite the Bests I remember from my youth but the planet has warmed I guess. Claircualt was a yawn, a bistro effort, and I'm not sure I believe in quaffing something so boring. Perhaps it's just the diversity of quaffing from all quarters of the globe, that farmed, bottled sunshine is so boring!

[Matt@5453]

2014 Eperosa Elevation Shiraz, Barossa Valley

I had high levels of anticipation to try this, unfortunately corked

I really like Eperosa Wines and have done a few tastings with Brett. Some of the individual vineyard barrel samples were out of this world, particularly a couple of the Grenache's. The Eden Valley Elevation Shiraz is a personal favourite of mine.

I'm sure if you contact Brett Grocke he will organise a replacement.

Cheers
Ian

thanks Ian, I have some of the Eden Valley Elevation Shiraz also, but will sit on them for a while.
Brett has kindly offered to replace the corked bottle

[Matt@5453]

2015 Jaeschkes Hill River Clare Estate Sangiovese

Fruit grown in the Polish Hill River sub-region in the Clare Valley. Medium bodied wine displaying dark fruits, cherries, a savoury edge with some spice, rounded out with a touch of French oak. Good mid-week drinking with good tannin and medium finish. Really good with pasta.

[rooman]

Cheers for that Luke, was actually given a couple of bottles, so might try the decanter. But its certainly not worth the $60 that I spotted in a shop a few weeks back....$18 would be around the mark.

99 Katnook Cabernet...another small cache of lost bottles. Beautiful nose with a wisp of blueberry and mixed spice. Lovely soft gentle balanced fruit profile on the palate...an absolute treat in the prime of its life.

Cheers
Craig

I found some 01 recently and was equally thrilled with the wine on trying it. It really does seem to age well. Consequently I put down a 6 pack of the 12 this year for the first time in a decade.

Mark

[Hacker]

Currently drinking a 2004 Woodlands Margaret. I should have decanted it 6 or more hours ago. Still lovely, but a touch too racey just now. Needs to settle into the more silken velvety wine I remember.

[rens]

2015 S.C. Pannell Tempranillo Touringa: Made from Iberian grapes, but the nose tells you it is Aussie. Cherry, strawberry florals and spice dominate the nose and palate which is not as big as the nose suggests. The tannins give it a bit of oomph and it has a nice finish. I think I have served it a tad too warm, but this will go well with the souvlaki and Greek salad I've made for dinner, but only after I cool the wine down a little.

[Michael McNally]

Tonight I am drinking the second half of a 2007 Marius Simpatico Shiraz and the first half of a 2010 Burge Family Winemakers Mouvedre Grenache I opened tonight.

This is why I cellar wine. Both of these wines are drinking beautifully, albeit differently. The Marius all dark, brooding and spicy. The BFW a savoury masterclass of red fruit and pastel flavours. Both long and satisfying. Great to compare the two. Either would satisfy any person. Both is indulgent.

Interestingly both went brilliantly with the simply done medium rare eye fillet with tomato, bocconcini and basil salad!

Happy days

Michael

[Andrew Jordan]

Celebrating a new job ...

2002 Pierre Gimonnet Champagne Special Club - WOW ... this is good! From the initial notes of brioche, nut and lemon to the refreshing and precise palate of green apple, citrus and minerality. Very much in the Gimonnet style, lots of acidity and mineral flavours which pairs well with food. Great mouthfeel and structure and finishes long. Still quite youthful but even now drinking very well. A champagne that has a very long life ahead of it. No rush to drink now but if you have that special occasion then this wine will not let you down. Beautiful.

2012 Venge Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Silencieux - First bottle of this since initially tasted in Hawaii 2 years ago. Decanted for 2 hours prior to consumption. Quite a fruit forward cabernet, rich and dense with a lovely supporting role of American oak in the background. Great balance. Soft tannins and a long, complex finish. Pretty much everything you want in a Napa Valley cabernet. Should get better with bottle age. Speaking of the bottle ... the weight and heaviness of it could classify it as a weapon!

[pc79]

A Christmas Party with another tasting group

The Food

Korean (Kentucky) Fried Chicken
Sydney Rock Oysters
Tiger Prawns
Sticky Pork Ribs
12hr Slow cooked lamb with pita pockets, salad and carrot yoghurt - wow
Roast Pork with cous cous, glass noodle salad and roast veggies
Ham off the bone
Chateaubriand


The Wines

2013 AB&D Golden Mullet Fury - tropical fruits, passion fruit and funky yeast, orange peel, tiny hint of sour, nice texture, drying and long 90
2009 Peter Lehmann Wigan Riesling - kero, minerals and talc, flinty lemons, slight touch of banana lollies. 90

2009 Coolangatta Semillon - fresh hay and limes, balance impeccable between sour and residual sugar, drying. Stonker 92.5
2005 Lovedale Semillon - limes, lanol, yeasty and buttery and toasty, white peach, more rich and opulent than the linear Coolangatta. 93
2011 Giaconda Chardonnay - mass whack of gunsmoke, nectarines, flinty, dried crackers, marzipan, oaky cashews. Long finish, a typical Aussie chard 92
2005 Tyrrell's Vat 1 - hint of spritz, young, mellow, strong and long, lemon lime, hint of sweet, green grass, dry, wet rocks, super 93
2014 Tyrrell's Old Vine Semillon - booms of lemons and minerals, Not overly enamoured. Young. An unfair comparison to the Other 3. nice thing for the price 90

St Hallett The Black NV - red plums, blackberry jam, bourbon and cola, nice, but a little sweet for mine 89
2005 Leasingham Classic Clare Sparkling - cherry jam, coffee oak and cola, generous, but enough savoury to suck the wine together with great balance. Good gear 91

2007 Lakes Folly Cabernet - light blackberry, barnyard funk, earthen and herbal, tomato leaf, dark cherry, aniseed and long gentle caressing finish 93
2005 Moss Wood Cabernet - smells of an old dirt road, earthen and brooding, graphite and capsicum, blackcurrant, a whiff of mint, nice silty tannin, more time needed. 93
2010 Woodlands Heather Jean Cabernet - absolute cracker, cassis, long, dark chocolate, pencils, spicy tomato leaf. Needs time, but will be a ripper in 5-10 yrs 94

2003 Standish - boom, black plums, caramel oak, sweet balance, flavour drives, this is a ripper WoTD so far 94
2006 Standish - spiky acid, unresolved and sadly overwhelmed by big and little bro. The ugliest child. Black chewy plums, licorice and black fruited. earth, a little jangly. beaten in this flight, but a good wine 92
2012 Standish - a lot of 2003 in this. A baby. A man child. Beef stock, black plums and cherry, purple flowers, earthen, nice oak treatment, crazy good silty tannin. Dry savoury, needs another 5yrs 94

2004 Penfolds St Henri - caramel, sour cherries and black plums, Violet, cocoa, nice balance, sweet but savoury oak 93
2005 Turners Crossing 'The Cut' Shiraz - spicy oak and blackcurrant, blackforest, tar, all arms and legs. A little pokey acidity. Pepper and spice. Needs more time. Big thing 90
2009 Grant Burge Meshach - coconut oak, dark choc, black cherry, a little hot, dominated by oak but with enough ripe fruit to carry. Good wine though. 92

Blind 1 - 2009 Collector Reserve Shiraz - red and blue fruited, lovely light peppery lines, supple, complex, excellent 92
Blind 2 - 2015 Big and Bold Shiraz - black jubes, plums, for $5 a belter, nice tannin line, smells of cheaper wine, light and a little confected, but the palate drives through and fairly long. QPR winner 89
Blind 3 - 2012 McGuigan 'Farms' Shiraz - crushed ants, milk choco, dark plum, pulls a splice of acid through the finish 92

1998 Penfolds RWT - Another mystery - wow, dark choc, plums and lovely oak treatment, leather, and beaut spice, a great one 93
2008 Gnadenfrei St Michael - black fruit, briary, got strong fruit and long finish. Not quite up to the standard of the night 91

2009 Chateau Sudauraut - ripe apricots and honeyed pineapples, orange, goodness, sweet brioche, just an amazing beautiful wine 95

[JamieBahrain]

2002 Meschach- Beautiful Barossa shiraz. Outstanding!

2010 Lascombes- Stunningly good my only negative note the acidity spiking a little but will work in time.

Stonyridge Larose 2014- Bit early for drinking though shows its class.

[Redback]

2006 Giaconda Chardonnay - buttery/nectarine flavours that go all the way to the last drop. Under screwcap, fresh but complex. A fantastic wine.

[Ian S]

1998 Domaine La Garrigue Gigondas yesterday, but we finished the 2nd half of the bottle tonight. It held up very well across both nights. The tannins have softened a lot, but there is a little grip still there, and some pleasing (to my palate) barnyard helped give complexity to what is now a moderately delicate wine.

Bought from a local wine shop that purchased a private cellar. Lovely to have the option to pick up some mature wines at a local wine shop.

[Bytown Rick]

Stonyridge Larose 2014- Bit early for drinking though shows its class.

Interesting. We had a 2002 a few weeks back with our tasting group that was showing very well. WOTN for the group against some stiff competition. But elegance carried the day over raw power.