Monday to Friday Sept 7-11

[monghead]

While I'm here, let's get this rolling.

Let's share our week day drinkie poos...

Cheers,

Monghead.

[jeremy]

2006 Mitchelton Marsanne- Honey, peach, necatrine, syrup, almonds, thyme and a grapefruit backbone of acid. Textural and complex. And I'm only on glass number two!

[dazza1968]

[b]03 Seville estate shiraz, Very nice plenty of light plum flavours,vanillan oak holds it all together ,Yarra Valley has some wonderful reds and this is a good quaffer

Regards Dazza

[monghead]

2006 Brokenwood Sangiovese- Just No Good...

Monghead.

[TiggerK]

Mt Langi Cliff Edge Shiraz 2004. After some decanting time.... Notes of crushed ants, ripe black fruits and a bit of jam. A tasty wine overall, hardly elegant, but full of flavour and not lacking in character!

[daz]

Teusner Riebke 07, fruit, oak, acid, tannins all nicely (noicely? noisily? whackers?) balanced. Very good value, easy-drinking Barossa shiraz.

daz

[cuttlefish]

Mayfield Icely Road Chardonnay 2007 (Orange)
Not such a bad wine. Barely ripe honeydew melon, and silage aromas, and quite mealy. I get the overall impression that this wine is not yet showing all it has to offer. Could be a year or two off it's best drinking.

[monghead]

Bugger me! By chance, a mate had us over for dinner and we had this:

2007 Brokenwood Sangiovese- Sub Good.

Monghead.

[daz]

A fair dinkum quaffer is De Bortoli Sacred Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008, $5-$8, CM gave it 85pts but his TN reads better and I reckon it's 87pts:

"It’s berried, briary, sweet-flavoured through the middle and, while it’s not what you’d call a lengthy wine, it has a satisfying sense of persistence – I’ve tasted worse wines at thrice the price. Shop around and shop well.Sacred Hill has been a bargain for years and this release is a decent drink for sure."

It has some sour cherry flavours that I've started to enjoy recently, it's rather inoffensive but tasty enough and satisfying with the persistence that Campbell mentions. De Bortoli just seem to be scoring at all levels in recent years.

daz

[dlo]

Sub Good

Brilliant! Another category to add to the list.

[griff]

2002 Orlando St Helga Riesling
Under stelvin as part of VC's cellaring initiative. These stelvins were a little more delicate (looser) than current ones and this wine was culled as it had a dent on the edge of the cap. In the cap there was a little caramalised wine in the thread so a little concerned about the wine but needn't have been. A luminescent white gold that practically glowed. A nose of lime, toast and potatoe vine flowers. Slight spritz still on the palate that was dense in mouthfeel with strong, fresh, lime curd on cracking toast. Great purity. Finishes perhaps a little short in comparison to the palate but no doubt will lengthen with time. A Very Good/Excellent wine with potential.

cheers

Carl

[jeremy]

A fair dinkum quaffer is De Bortoli Sacred Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008, $5-$8, CM gave it 85pts but his TN reads better and I reckon it's 87pts:

"It’s berried, briary, sweet-flavoured through the middle and, while it’s not what you’d call a lengthy wine, it has a satisfying sense of persistence – I’ve tasted worse wines at thrice the price. Shop around and shop well.Sacred Hill has been a bargain for years and this release is a decent drink for sure."

It has some sour cherry flavours that I've started to enjoy recently, it's rather inoffensive but tasty enough and satisfying with the persistence that Campbell mentions. De Bortoli just seem to be scoring at all levels in recent years.

daz

Spot on Daz

2009 Arete Sauvignon Blanc- I loved this. But I guess not all will. It tastes of its origins in Woodside, but there is a lot of winemaker input. And for me it works. Textural lees, malo and oak. Guava, cabbage, citrus and some excellent mineral acidity carrying it through. Some funky sulfur is fine by me. The phenolic grip cries out for food, but in the best way. Someone has taken a risk on this, and my 2cents? It paid off. Complex, challenging, intrigueing and enjoyable

[rooman]

I spent the day bringing the cellar together from three different locations. It was the 21 century version of Dad working in the tool shed at the bottom of the garden and just as much fun. Found a few things I had forgotten about. Currently rewarded myself with a Seppelts Dorien Cab Sav 1994. Spicy leather and violet nose, bricking colour, lovely drying fruit, red currents, cassis, more leathery notes. Excellent wine which has opened up beautifully in the last hour or so. Have retreated to the study with the decanter to "do work". No real need to share everything in life. Tomorrow one of the Clonaklla SV 01 with a friend for lunch. That should be interesting.

[dlo]

I spent the day bringing the cellar together from three different locations. It was the 21 century version of Dad working in the tool shed at the bottom of the garden and just as much fun. Found a few things I had forgotten about. Currently rewarded myself with a Seppelts Dorien Cab Sav 1994. Spicy leather and violet nose, bricking colour, lovely drying fruit, red currents, cassis, more leathery notes. Excellent wine which has opened up beautifully in the last hour or so. Have retreated to the study with the decanter to "do work". No real need to share everything in life. Tomorrow one of the Clonaklla SV 01 with a friend for lunch. That should be interesting.

Lovely wine that '94 Dorrien .... glad you're enjoying it. I've still got a few 90, 91 and 92's to get through as well several 94, 96, 98 and 99's. Alas that will be it, I reckon, Mark. There was talk of a 2005 Dorrien or some such but Seppelt's South Australian days are, seemingly, kaput.

[monghead]

2008 Stefano Lubiano Primavera Pinot Noir- Just Good.

Monghead.

[rooman]

I spent the day bringing the cellar together from three different locations. It was the 21 century version of Dad working in the tool shed at the bottom of the garden and just as much fun. Found a few things I had forgotten about. Currently rewarded myself with a Seppelts Dorien Cab Sav 1994. Spicy leather and violet nose, bricking colour, lovely drying fruit, red currents, cassis, more leathery notes. Excellent wine which has opened up beautifully in the last hour or so. Have retreated to the study with the decanter to "do work". No real need to share everything in life. Tomorrow one of the Clonaklla SV 01 with a friend for lunch. That should be interesting.

Lovely wine that '94 Dorrien .... glad you're enjoying it. I've still got a few 90, 91 and 92's to get through as well several 94, 96, 98 and 99's. Alas that will be it, I reckon, Mark. There was talk of a 2005 Dorrien or some such but Seppelt's South Australian days are, seemingly, kaput.

Funny thing, whilst I was drinking it, for some reason it crossed my mind you might enjoy it. You must have written one up previously on your own site. Older wines are also not to everyone's taste. This is the first wine for quite some time that Lisette (my wife) and I have not agreed on. Not enough primary fruit for her.

[TiggerK]

Mumm Champagne 1999 - Yumm. Good value vintage champers.
Felton Road Cornish Point Pinot Noir 2008 - Great wine, just needs a bit more time to get complexity.

[Jay60A]

Was on holiday in Scotland (a bit rainy) but picked up three bin-end bottles of Jadot Pommard - 2 from 2000 and 1 from 2001. The price was £22 for the three.

The 2000 rocked. I'm not a Pinot-head let alone a Burg-head but this wine was just lovely - plump, sweet fruit, long, savoury, fantastic perfume exploded from the bottle. Most of all it seemed a very content and balanced wine that makes most of the oz/nz efforts I have tried look a bit gauche. I'm afraid tasting this wine could be expensive in the long run. Makes me want to track down some values in 2005 burgundy.

[jeremy]

2002 De Iuliis Aged Release Semillon- stupidly good for $20.

2006 Thorn Clark "Morello" Nebbiolo- I owe the guys at The Wine Front and the Big Red Wine Book in many ways, but introducing me to this Nebbiolo at sub $20 is high on the list. Completely Varietal. Amazing. Didn't know you could do Neb in the Barossa.

[platinum]

Dr Loosen Blue Slate Riesling 2008, Dry style of Riesling with just a little bit of sweetness thrown in, Lovely lovely Riesling and a bargain too..94 points

Rockford BP Shiraz 2004, After a double decant it still seemed so rich, too rich (rich black fruits and liquirice) so sat half a glass for a few hours to see where it went and it opened up pretty well. With this in mind I put the Cork back in and put the bottle into 2 fridge for the next 10-15hours or so then let it warm to room temp for a few hours and bingo it was super super Barossa Shiraz. I am not sensetive to young wines but I can honestly say that this needs somewhere from 6-12 more years before it will be super super wine. If you drink before then give it a really good decant. I have a 2002 Rod and Spur on the bench for sometime over the next week, will be interesting 96+ points

[rooman]

Had lunch today at the sugaroom in pyrmont with an old friend. For those who haven't tried it, the sugaroom has an amazing location at the end of Harris St right on the water with a large deck and 20 odd tables under umbrellas. French style food and great value, entries are $14 and mains $28 and all very eatable. The really big plus however is that it is BYO Tuesday to Thursday and if you become a member (which is free) you can BYO at any time. So today I took along a Clonakilla SV 2001. I realised recently I have 8 vintages and have yet to try one. So today we remedied that oversight. Boy this is serious stuff. The bouquet reaches up, grabs you by the nose and says "you better appreciate just how good I am" with deep earthy forest floor tones. On the palate, perfectly balanced fruit, not a hint of overripe or other such fault. A combination of red and black berry fruit, savoury and restrained. Great seamless length that just builds and builds as it moves across your tongue. I would happily take 6 of these over 1 bottle of grange. An absolute Australian classic.

[seddo]

Charles Cimicky Trumps Shiraz 06 - as always ever reliable - lovely Barossa shiraz only wish that it was bottled under screwcap



cheers
Seddo

[dazza1968]

02 Mitchell Clare Valley shiraz ,[b]Wow plenty of poo on the nose (This means good wine as a general rule )Inky red ,red plummy fruit ,olives roll off the palate , Must say this wine is riding along really well

Regards Dazza [/b]

[griff]

And the last of the week's wines.

2007 Dog Point Vineyard Chardonnay
Almond meal nose. Crisp grapefruit palate that is silky at the same time. Tangy finish that lingers. Classy! Excellent wine. Beautiful with sashimi.

2004 Rockford Moppa Springs GSM
Cherry red. Raspberry nose with candystick, musk, licorice, earth and chocolate. Nice. Juicy ripe palate of spicy raspberries with nice glycerol. Cool finish. After a few hours in the decanter it starts to get a little hard and leathery. Don't decant! Very Good wine and matched well with pizza.

cheers

Carl

[monghead]

2005 Wedgetail Pinot Noir- Sub Good.

[Jay60A]

Dr Loosen Blue Slate Riesling 2008, Dry style of Riesling with just a little bit of sweetness thrown in, Lovely lovely Riesling and a bargain too..94 points

Rockford BP Shiraz 2004, After a double decant it still seemed so rich, too rich (rich black fruits and liquirice) so sat half a glass for a few hours to see where it went and it opened up pretty well. With this in mind I put the Cork back in and put the bottle into 2 fridge for the next 10-15hours or so then let it warm to room temp for a few hours and bingo it was super super Barossa Shiraz. I am not sensetive to young wines but I can honestly say that this needs somewhere from 6-12 more years before it will be super super wine. If you drink before then give it a really good decant. I have a 2002 Rod and Spur on the bench for sometime over the next week, will be interesting 96+ points

+1. So great I wonder if I need a second case also. Makes Grange look unjustifiable. At the 04 UK prices I can get 8-9 BPs for a Grange which is a no-brainer so I MUST need another case.

[Aaron Lovett]

2002 Somerled Shiraz- Still a broody little adolescent this one. A brilliant, dark red that just screams "Drink Me!". It has that real tarry quality that I'm finding in the 2002 South Australians, amongst an array of other flavours going on. Cherry, licorice, plums. Very good depth of fruit, and certainly not in any danger of falling over any time soon. Yum!

[jeremy]

1999 Mitchelton Marsanne- golden orange colour but very much alive. Marzipan, lavender, soap, marmalade, orange oil and some stone fruit. Quite fascinating.

[daz]

First Chapel Hill wine I've tried, I believe. [b]Chapel Hill Shiraz 2006[/b] Archetypical McLaren Vale shiraz fruit in this one, true to the back label, "blueberry, licorice and dark chocolate". It also has some mixed spice with ripe blood plum, well-integrated oak, fine chewy tannins, dark cherry/berry acid on a good length, lightly peppery finish. It's a very nice (not noice, noicey noice dickhead speak) Vale shiraz, more medium than full=bodied. Not a long term cellaring proposition but should see 7-8 years. I'm happy enough with the $16 + $1 freight cost, reckon Halliday's 91pts is close enough.

Cheers

daz

[jeremy]

First Chapel Hill wine I've tried, I believe. [b]Chapel Hill Shiraz 2006[/b] Archetypical McLaren Vale shiraz fruit in this one, true to the back label, "blueberry, licorice and dark chocolate". It also has some mixed spice with ripe blood plum, well-integrated oak, fine chewy tannins, dark cherry/berry acid on a good length, lightly peppery finish. It's a very nice (not noice, noicey noice dickhead speak) Vale shiraz, more medium than full=bodied. Not a long term cellaring proposition but should see 7-8 years. I'm happy enough with the $16 + $1 freight cost, reckon Halliday's 91pts is close enough.

Cheers

daz

2005 and 2007 are much better Chapel Hill Cab Savs. I won't say they are "Noice" But they are very good!

2005 Battle of Bosworth Cabernet Sauvignon- starting to get a feel for these Bosworth reds. Really nice, helped me deal with my footy team loosing. Red fruits, violets, vanilla, spice and some coffee. Some of the blend was Amarone and that worked well, mix of new and old French and American oak fine by me to. Linear wines. Would like to be able to get some more of this, doubt I can.

2008 De Bortoli Gulf Station Pinot Noir- Cherries, Strawberries, undergrowth, spice, sap, rhubarb and beetroot wrapping up a long finish. Excellent Pinot and a snip at the price. Silky.

2008 Knappstein Cabernet Sauvignon- much less than good. Too sweet and clumsy.