Sunday drinking reports 13/11

[Sean]

deleted

[TiggerK]

No, not a cellar visit, just happened to have been trying a few recently....

2004 Meerea Park Shiraz Alexander Munro - Pop and pour from cellar temp, quite hot on the nose initially with some menthol, palate was better, good HunterV fruit profile, earthy and savoury, nice aged characters at this point. Even better on day 2, nose has lost the heat, very enjoyable. Will go longer, just not too long.

2010 Meerea Park Shiraz - Bit of an oak bomb - too much for me, left in fridge for 4 days (bit warm for big reds, and the oak scared me off), once revisited it was surprisingly decent (for the price). But don't think I'll get again.

2005 Meerea Park Epoch Semillon - Needed a bit of time in glass to settle down and went much better with food. Zingy, lemon pith, subtle hints of bitterness with some aged sem characters. Quite interesting, and for $17 worth a visit, although I think will be better in a few more years. Got a 2002 at auction last week, be interesting to compare it.

also had a quick taste in the sun yesterday of Lark Hill 2011 Riesling and Lark Hill 2009 Sangiovese at a local community fair. Both good quality wines indeed, the latter being my pick.

Plus lots of #realPeroni !

Cheers
Tim

[sjw_11]

Vertical of Woodstock McLaren Vale Cabernet (2005, 2006, 2007): ... all nice wines, the 2006 and 2007 more richly fruited, chocolatey and ripe while the 2005 is much more fined boned, medium bodied and elegant. In order my preference was for the '05 then the '06 and then the '07. Overall I would say cellaring potential is medium - say 5-7 yrs.

Hugh Hamilton "The Madam" Sparkling Merlot 2004... Mid-red colour, medium red berry fruit spectrum with just a touch of more mushroom like complexity coming from the bottle age. This has been in my cellar since release. Drinking nicely. Not everyone's preferred style (some asked me "why not just make a sparkling shiraz?") but I find them enjoyable.

[Christo]

Tim,
were did u get the Peroni?
c

[TiggerK]

Hi Christo!, from DM's up my way, Thornleigh and Hornsby. Both of them were keeping the real stuff in the cooler, and the fake NSW stuff out in the shop. Same price too. Real stuff is easy to spot as most of the text is in Italian, plus a big imported by... label on it. Nice beer, fairly subtle compared to the bigger IPA's I've been enjoying recently (Sierra Nevada etc), but very 'sessionable' (too much so actually!), a great refreshing summer beer. Not sure how long it'll be available for though, don't think they have large quantities around their various branches.
Cheers Tim

[Luke W]

2010 Jacobs Ck Riesling - worth all the hype - $6.85 at DM's - Gold medal from a capital city wine show - very presentable (bought a couple of dozen)
2005 Wilson Polish Hill Riesling - after a minute or 2 in glass it settled nicely - all the hallmarks of a classy riesling that is made for the long term
2009 The Colonial Estate (Alexander Laing) grenache - dumb for the 1st hour but then blew us away with wonderful flavours and strength and depth

[Craig(NZ)]

Plus lots of #realPeroni !

Yeah until recently all of ours came from Italy now you stinkin Aussies make it and send it here

As for me not a lot of drinking but

2004 Unison Selection. This is in really tidy shape and at last it is in its drinking window. Bold and beguiling. Savoury aromatics and complex layers of deep set fruit. Argaubly the best ever vintage of this.

2008 Lawsons Dry Hills Riesling. Multiple award winner. This is not too bad with some aged kero characters coming through making me think more Aussie in flavour profile. The structure though is very marlborough. When I tasted this before purchase a couple of months ago I was more excited than both times I have drunk it since. Last bottle so hey.

2008 Pegasus Bay Bel Canto Riesling. There are so many compelling flavours in these Peg Bay Rieslings but i am just over them. Drunk too many over the years. I was fed weetbix every day as a kid and now can't face it. Similar issue me thinks.

[Loztralia]

Hi Christo!, from DM's up my way, Thornleigh and Hornsby. Both of them were keeping the real stuff in the cooler, and the fake NSW stuff out in the shop. Same price too. Real stuff is easy to spot as most of the text is in Italian, plus a big imported by... label on it. Nice beer, fairly subtle compared to the bigger IPA's I've been enjoying recently (Sierra Nevada etc), but very 'sessionable' (too much so actually!), a great refreshing summer beer. Not sure how long it'll be available for though, don't think they have large quantities around their various branches.
Cheers Tim

They were pulling the same stunt with Beck's last time I was in the Alexandria Dan's. One big pile of cases with an apparently random mix of imported and "Germany's No.1 Worldwide Beer" ie brewed up in the same stinking chemical spill they get VB from.

I'm convinced the chains are using imported beer as a loss leader. A few months ago I was cheerfully buying imported Grolsch at $40 a case as a midweek slugger, then overnight all the imports were gone to be replaced by brewed under licence filth. They've actually taken the origin label of cases of Stella - you have to examine individual bottles for the tell-tale Southbank Victoria mark of the devil. It amazes me how many people can't tell the difference.

[sjw_11]

For those in Sydney at least, the real peroni Peroni Red which is the normal peroni to drink in italy not the premium version is regularly available direct from Italia at local independents around the inner west for $36/case...

[Wizz]

This kind of substitution really irks me. Our favourite watering hole a few years ago used to have a happy hour with Becks for $4. The minute they switched from imported to local everyone noticed, and the game was up.

Power to the Australian boutique breweries, a chance at a good beer, and at least you know what you're getting,

[TiggerK]

The one at DM's is the Nastro Azzurro ($45), so the 'premium' one. Must find some Red, sounds interesting... and cheaper! Yes, all power the Aussie craft market, so many good beers, and it's always easy to enjoy Little Creatures!

That said, German and English beers still regularly rock my world, and as mentioned the USA Sierra Nevada beers are very good too, albeit rather pricey.

ACA or TT need to feature this issue in order for the masses to realise....

[Craig(NZ)]

Man you guys get a right royal rogering with beer pricing. Peroni is around 22 kiwi paso a dozen on special here, that's about $5.50 Australian isn't it??

[Gavin Trott]

Man you guys get a right royal rogering with beer pricing. Peroni is around 22 kiwi paso a dozen on special here, that's about $5.50 Australian isn't it??

We get rogered on beer pricing AND wine pricing!



.

[TiggerK]

Totally agree Craig and Gav, whenever in an NZ supermarket, it's always annoying to see decent beers by the six pack for 11-13 bucks, and even cheaper (per 6pack) by the case! And NZ dollars, so yeah 5.50 a dozen.

[Craig(NZ)]

We get rogered on beer pricing AND wine pricing!

Gav, my local supermarket had a 2006 Penfolds Grange Magnum for NZ$949. What's that about AU$750?? How does that compare to over there?

[dlo]

Had a few over the last week - several bottles of the 2005 Hoddle's Creek Chardonnay - stunningly good wine for the price and will last at least another 5 years. 2004 Highbank Cabernets - first class Coonawarra Cabernet blend with some of the best oak seen in a Coonawarra wine by this taster in some time - add some marvellous mint, blackcurrant, cedar and herbs and you have a first class wine. The other wine I tried was a Barbarians 2008 Shiraz made by Tyrrell's. Gorgeously fruited with some excellent structure - a top wine for a fundraiser label.

[Matt]

Flying Fish Cove Wildberry Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Wow - Lovely use of oak in this cabernet. Bay leaf and chocolate with a hint of raspberry. I found the balance to be impeccable for such a young wine. Will age gracefully.

For $30 forget the big names as this is a benchmark wine and a quality example of MR Cabernet.

Highly Recommended.

[ticklenow1]

A few we had early last week with dinner, didn't take notes and ended up a little "fragile" the next morning.

Had a burgundy to start with, that I can't remember the name of. Made by an American wine maker and I really enjoyed this (Jamie may elaborate on the name). Not being a pinot fan, I actually enjoyed this and was a nice start to the night.

2009 Noon High Noon Rose. McClaren Vale. If you are going to drink Rose then I prefer the Grenache based ones like this. This is quite dry with just a hint a sweetness to give it a bit of edge. Nice for a Rose. 3.5/5 (Had another bottle a couple of nights later for good measure that I actually enjoyed a little more as it was quite warm that night)

2002 Torbreck The Steading GSM. Barossa Valley. I bought this at the cellar door after tasting it and at the time I thought it was a stunner. Sadly to my taste, age has not been as good to this wine as I thought it would be. 3/5

2002 Virgin Hills. Cabernet Blend. Macedon. I actually don't think this was as good as the last bottle I had, but I still enjoyed it much more than the Torbreck. I can remember a bit of mint in this one (could have been from the roast lamb though!). 3.5/5

2001 Meerea Park Alexander Munro Shiraz. Hunter Valley. I actually got a bit of a shock with this one. I am not a fan of Hunter Shiraz as a rule, but gee I enjoyed this (thanks Jamie). A good lick of oak, some boot leather and some earth but still a bit of nice fruit there to balance it all up. Nice. 4/5

2010 Head Old Vine Grenache. Barossa Valley. Really should not have opened this. Poured straight into the decanter and then into the glass and this doesn't do the wine justice. It was very closed and didn't really offer up much. I could sense the wine wanting to come out, but we just didn't give it time. One of the drinkers said it was reductive. Way too young and thankfully I still have plenty more. 3.5/5 (I suspect this will be very good in say 5 or 6 years time if cellared properly)

Cheers
Ian

[Gavin Trott]

2010 Head Old Vine Grenache. Barossa Valley. Really should not have opened this. Poured straight into the decanter and then into the glass and this doesn't do the wine justice. It was very closed and didn't really offer up much. I could sense the wine wanting to come out, but we just didn't give it time. One of the drinkers said it was reductive. Way too young and thankfully I still have plenty more. 3.5/5 (I suspect this will be very good in say 5 or 6 years time if cellared properly)

Cheers
Ian

Ian

If its like the 2009 version, even 18 months made a huge difference!

.

[Brucer]

2010 Head Old Vine Grenache. Barossa Valley. Really should not have opened this. Poured straight into the decanter and then into the glass and this doesn't do the wine justice. It was very closed and didn't really offer up much. I could sense the wine wanting to come out, but we just didn't give it time. One of the drinkers said it was reductive. Way too young and thankfully I still have plenty more. 3.5/5 (I suspect this will be very good in say 5 or 6 years time if cellared properly)

Cheers
Ian

Ian

If its like the 2009 version, even 18 months made a huge difference!

.

Reduction !!!
I have a real problem with reduction, and I bought this. The only grenache in the cellar.
I will leave it there for a while, and if its reduction, then its off to Langtons.

[ticklenow1]

2010 Head Old Vine Grenache. Barossa Valley. Really should not have opened this. Poured straight into the decanter and then into the glass and this doesn't do the wine justice. It was very closed and didn't really offer up much. I could sense the wine wanting to come out, but we just didn't give it time. One of the drinkers said it was reductive. Way too young and thankfully I still have plenty more. 3.5/5 (I suspect this will be very good in say 5 or 6 years time if cellared properly)

Cheers
Ian

Ian

If its like the 2009 version, even 18 months made a huge difference!

.

Reduction !!!
I have a real problem with reduction, and I bought this. The only grenache in the cellar.
I will leave it there for a while, and if its reduction, then its off to Langtons.

Brucer

I think it will be a great wine. I have tasted a few young Grenache's that have been in a similar vien in that you can tell what is lurking underneath, you just need to be patient. If this had of had 6 hours in a decanter (or better still 5 years locked away), I really believe it would have given a better showing. You don't drink a big bruiser young Barossa Shiraz with no airtime and good Grenache is no different. I didn't get the reductive thing but the guy who mentioned has a really good palate, who drinks a lot of very good Italian and French wine. It was just his opinion though and others liked it, so my suggestion is keep them in the cellar and wait at least 5 years. I'd be amazed if you are disappointed.

Gavin,

To me the '10 is a lot bigger than the '09. Quite different actually. My guess is the '10 will cellar longer and the '09 will be approachable sooner.

Cheers
Ian

[Chuck]

Nothing much of note recently but have been sucking on a Penfolds Grandfther Port over the past week or 2. Great juice!

Carl

[Gavin Trott]

Gavin,

To me the '10 is a lot bigger than the '09. Quite different actually. My guess is the '10 will cellar longer and the '09 will be approachable sooner.

Cheers
Ian

Agreed, to me the 09 is (almost) Pinot like in its fragrance and weight, the 2010 much more 'serious' for want of a better term.

For now at least, the 2009 is drinking way way better, but then time will tell!

I love both.

.