Couple of questions for Thursday
Is it a la Carte? or a Dego type thing?
Glassware? BYO or they have decent stems?
Sydney Offline?
Re: Sydney Offline?
dave vino wrote:Couple of questions for Thursday
Is it a la Carte? or a Dego type thing?
Glassware? BYO or they have decent stems?
No need for BYO glasses. Stemware is provided and I believe they have decent glasses.
It’s a la Carte http://www.bistrofax.com/menus
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Have a great night all. It is likely i would have been interested to join you had i seen this a little earlier however i would definitely be keen to join you at a future offline.
Re: Sydney Offline?
Hi David et al
really looking forward to tonight, however i'm now unlikely to arrive before 6.30 unfortunately. Of course very happy for things to progress as planned and i'll catch up.
See you all soon!
really looking forward to tonight, however i'm now unlikely to arrive before 6.30 unfortunately. Of course very happy for things to progress as planned and i'll catch up.
See you all soon!
Re: Sydney Offline?
Michael R wrote:Hi David et al
really looking forward to tonight, however i'm now unlikely to arrive before 6.30 unfortunately. Of course very happy for things to progress as planned and i'll catch up.
See you all soon!
No worries - the wines will be waiting for you and will have had some extra time to breathe ...
Re: Sydney Offline?
Thanks David & everyone for a fantastic night.
Very warm & friendly crew, with great banter. Thanks in particular to Polymer who was great company and put up with my ramblings throughout the dinner.
Sorry i had to bolt a little earlier than i would have liked, but i look forward to joining up again in future.
Bistro Fax was an eye-opener for me, never been before but will definitely go back. I can forgive them Tims overcooked steak as stemware was excellent (Riedels, vinum i think) and the service was great, plus my steak was cooked perfectly
. Again any small hiccups i can readily forgive as they seemed genuinely keen to make the night as enjoyable as possible.
The wines....
Unfortunately the 98 Semm had faded, and while the 96 BP while drinking well it was'nt showing as well as a bottle drunk a couple of months ago. Not sure what disgorged date the Black Shiraz was, but perhaps was also slightly past its best.
The 98 BP was my WOTN. Had everything, lots of Barossan class, one of the best Shiraz i've drunk and certainly now my favourite BP. If you have any, its showing some gentle secondary character, but will hold for plenty more. Right in the sweet spot now for my tastes. My other shout-out is for the 2010 BP. I get the hype and believe it. Was a pity the 06 didn't make it in the end as this is a vintage i really enjoy.
The Flaxman was an interesting counterpoint, and showed well, probably would have benefitted from a quick decant but i'm not convinced it will improve much. Although most seemed to disagree. Very different wine to the SVS Hoffman beast.
In fact i got the sense that the was a bit of variation in terms of peoples preferences, and it generated enjoyable debate.
Definitely a dinner to remember. Thanks again for everyones generosity. I didn't take any notes, but certain there will be plenty posted.
White Burg tasting tomorrow (spaces have filled, sorry), and 'raid the cellar' night at Felix on Tuesday...5 days of vinous bliss, and i'll aim to post some highlights.
Cheers
Michael
Very warm & friendly crew, with great banter. Thanks in particular to Polymer who was great company and put up with my ramblings throughout the dinner.
Sorry i had to bolt a little earlier than i would have liked, but i look forward to joining up again in future.
Bistro Fax was an eye-opener for me, never been before but will definitely go back. I can forgive them Tims overcooked steak as stemware was excellent (Riedels, vinum i think) and the service was great, plus my steak was cooked perfectly
. Again any small hiccups i can readily forgive as they seemed genuinely keen to make the night as enjoyable as possible.The wines....
Unfortunately the 98 Semm had faded, and while the 96 BP while drinking well it was'nt showing as well as a bottle drunk a couple of months ago. Not sure what disgorged date the Black Shiraz was, but perhaps was also slightly past its best.
The 98 BP was my WOTN. Had everything, lots of Barossan class, one of the best Shiraz i've drunk and certainly now my favourite BP. If you have any, its showing some gentle secondary character, but will hold for plenty more. Right in the sweet spot now for my tastes. My other shout-out is for the 2010 BP. I get the hype and believe it. Was a pity the 06 didn't make it in the end as this is a vintage i really enjoy.
The Flaxman was an interesting counterpoint, and showed well, probably would have benefitted from a quick decant but i'm not convinced it will improve much. Although most seemed to disagree. Very different wine to the SVS Hoffman beast.
In fact i got the sense that the was a bit of variation in terms of peoples preferences, and it generated enjoyable debate.
Definitely a dinner to remember. Thanks again for everyones generosity. I didn't take any notes, but certain there will be plenty posted.
White Burg tasting tomorrow (spaces have filled, sorry), and 'raid the cellar' night at Felix on Tuesday...5 days of vinous bliss, and i'll aim to post some highlights.
Cheers
Michael
Re: Sydney Offline?
Fantastic night drinking my favourite wines in great company. Food was very good given my disdain for hotel restaurants in general. Will post some notes/thoughts later. Thanks to all for their generous contributions. Soz about the pics were very rushed jobs.
Final Lineup was
1998 Rockford Semillon
NV Rockford Sparkling Shriaz
1996 Rockford BP
1998 Rockford BP
1999 Rockford BP
2002 Rockford BP
2003 Rockford BP
2004 Rockford BP
2009 Rockford BP
2010 Rockford BP
2004 SVS Flaxman
1998 Rockford CabSav pre Rifle Range moniker.
2007 Rockford Rifle Range
2010 Rockford Rifle Range
Final Lineup was
1998 Rockford Semillon
NV Rockford Sparkling Shriaz
1996 Rockford BP
1998 Rockford BP
1999 Rockford BP
2002 Rockford BP
2003 Rockford BP
2004 Rockford BP
2009 Rockford BP
2010 Rockford BP
2004 SVS Flaxman
1998 Rockford CabSav pre Rifle Range moniker.
2007 Rockford Rifle Range
2010 Rockford Rifle Range
Last edited by dave vino on Sat Mar 23, 2013 6:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Sydney Offline?
You must have been in heaven Dave.
What was the consensus for WOTN? The 98
What was the consensus for WOTN? The 98
Re: Sydney Offline?
Really good night, thanks David for organising! Lots of interesting discussion on the wines and so many different opinions. They're all good wines so it's really the stylistic differences across the vintages that seem to be the deciding factor.
For me the 98 BP and the Flaxman 04 were the highlights, followed by the Cab Sav 98 and BP 99. Enjoyed the rest, certainly no duds, although the Sem was a bit past it. Others loved the 96 or the 02 or the 03 or the 10 or the 09 etc etc.....
Oh and we had a Rifle Range 07 as well.
BistroFax was surprisingly good, service was trying hard to please, my steak was pretty crap but the rest of the steaks around the table looked great, so as Mick said, can happily forgive them one slip up. They were more than happy to replace it after a query was raised, but I decided the centre part was quite edible and couldn't be bothered waiting for another. Venue was pretty full so always a good sign. And a permanent BYO policy too! ($12 p/btl), nice work BistroFax, I shall certainly return.
Feelings of possible non-stonewaller inadequacy are soon erased thanks to being able to enjoy the range of wines via nights like this!
Cheers
Tim
For me the 98 BP and the Flaxman 04 were the highlights, followed by the Cab Sav 98 and BP 99. Enjoyed the rest, certainly no duds, although the Sem was a bit past it. Others loved the 96 or the 02 or the 03 or the 10 or the 09 etc etc.....
Oh and we had a Rifle Range 07 as well.
BistroFax was surprisingly good, service was trying hard to please, my steak was pretty crap but the rest of the steaks around the table looked great, so as Mick said, can happily forgive them one slip up. They were more than happy to replace it after a query was raised, but I decided the centre part was quite edible and couldn't be bothered waiting for another. Venue was pretty full so always a good sign. And a permanent BYO policy too! ($12 p/btl), nice work BistroFax, I shall certainly return.
Feelings of possible non-stonewaller inadequacy are soon erased thanks to being able to enjoy the range of wines via nights like this!
Cheers
Tim
Last edited by TiggerK on Sun Mar 24, 2013 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Sydney Offline?
Great night, thank you all for your generous contributions. Others have made detailed notes so I am only mentioning my thoughts.
My favorite was the 2004 Flaxman, a wine of considerable power, depth and fruit balance. Still with many years of development ahead of it, I will be hunting some down, even if I have to get to the Rockford cellar door to do so. This was followed by the BP 1996 which was in it's secondary phase and quite broadly flavored, soft and velvety. It did slip after a hour though. Others found a little too much brett in this, but I missed it. Also the BP 1998 was remarkably well structured with trademark Barossa dark plumb fruit profile. I also loved the BP 2010 and will be lining up again later this year for another half doz. Yet another winner was the BP 2002, more of a fruit forward style, but most enjoyable because it was not OTT.
The only BP that did not join the impressive heights of the previous wines was the BP 2003 due to it's heat both in the mouth and wafting from the glass, but we were setting a high bar on the night.
Rockford deserves all accolades that the wine public pour on it's wines.
My favorite was the 2004 Flaxman, a wine of considerable power, depth and fruit balance. Still with many years of development ahead of it, I will be hunting some down, even if I have to get to the Rockford cellar door to do so. This was followed by the BP 1996 which was in it's secondary phase and quite broadly flavored, soft and velvety. It did slip after a hour though. Others found a little too much brett in this, but I missed it. Also the BP 1998 was remarkably well structured with trademark Barossa dark plumb fruit profile. I also loved the BP 2010 and will be lining up again later this year for another half doz. Yet another winner was the BP 2002, more of a fruit forward style, but most enjoyable because it was not OTT.
The only BP that did not join the impressive heights of the previous wines was the BP 2003 due to it's heat both in the mouth and wafting from the glass, but we were setting a high bar on the night.
Rockford deserves all accolades that the wine public pour on it's wines.
Imugene, cure for cancer.
Re: Sydney Offline?
Great night...Thanks for letting me be a part of it. Always great to meet people from the forum and of course, just the opportunity to meet and talk to fellow wine lovers...
I didn't take any detailed notes but the wines that stuck out to me the most were..
96 BP...I think this started off tight..I didn't think there was any brett present, to me this was just some secondary characteristics but either way, I thought it was a good thing...It really started to open up for me a bit later..about when we started on the 02/03.. I liked that it had a bit more acidity than the rest of the lineup.
98 BP. This was in everyone's top 3 or 4...Everything seemed in the right place with this one. I actually preferred the higher acidity of the 96 but I can definitely see why everyone had this at or near the top of their list.
04 Flaxman. This was the wine that stuck out as the most interesting wine to me (but not my favorite) only because it was so different from the BPs. When comparing it to the 04 BP I could hardly believe the same fruit was blended to make the BP.....I think initially it was very herby (if that is even a word), a bit awkward...it definitely started getting better and opening up as it got more air...I would've liked to see this with another hour or so...
I also really liked the 02 BP and 98 Cab...
The 10 BP...Seems to be showing quite well right now, better than I thought it would..it'll be interesting to see how this one looks with more time....
Special thanks to Michael R, TiggerK, Dave Vino and Burges for making a newcomer feel so welcome....(everyone did but you guys had to put up with me the most
)
Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!
I didn't take any detailed notes but the wines that stuck out to me the most were..
96 BP...I think this started off tight..I didn't think there was any brett present, to me this was just some secondary characteristics but either way, I thought it was a good thing...It really started to open up for me a bit later..about when we started on the 02/03.. I liked that it had a bit more acidity than the rest of the lineup.
98 BP. This was in everyone's top 3 or 4...Everything seemed in the right place with this one. I actually preferred the higher acidity of the 96 but I can definitely see why everyone had this at or near the top of their list.
04 Flaxman. This was the wine that stuck out as the most interesting wine to me (but not my favorite) only because it was so different from the BPs. When comparing it to the 04 BP I could hardly believe the same fruit was blended to make the BP.....I think initially it was very herby (if that is even a word), a bit awkward...it definitely started getting better and opening up as it got more air...I would've liked to see this with another hour or so...
I also really liked the 02 BP and 98 Cab...
The 10 BP...Seems to be showing quite well right now, better than I thought it would..it'll be interesting to see how this one looks with more time....
Special thanks to Michael R, TiggerK, Dave Vino and Burges for making a newcomer feel so welcome....(everyone did but you guys had to put up with me the most
)Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!