Weekly Drinking Thread commencing 31/03/2013

[dlo]

It's Easter and my mother celebrated her 83rd birthday this weekend, so I pulled a couple of older bottles that needed to be opened and to suit the occasion.

Tyrrell's 2002 Vat 47 Chardonnay can be quite a beast (and also annoyingly variable with cork and oxidation problems) and although I have not tried one for some time now, I wasn't expecting a whole lot. Upon opening, the colour was a gloriously bright yellow with virtually no evidence of any significant age. The nose delivered a bevy of fresh complex scents of butter, yellow peach, honeydew melon, grilled nuts, fresh cream with a substantial but not overpowering delicious oak backing. Likewise, the palate delicious and loaded with bucketloads of crunchy green fruit, grapefruit, a distinct vein of minerality, plenty of lively acidity and subtle oak. Possessing excellent poise and fine balance, finishing with very good length and some attractive astringency, this excellent white is worthy of something approaching 90 points.

Chapel Hill's 1990 Reserve Shiraz is a bit of a legend with me. I bought quite a lot of this and cellared and drunk over a case until circa 2005. This bottle was acquired recently on the secondary market and again, not many expectations accompanied its procural. In top condition, harbouring a delightful medium ruby core, stunning aromatics of sweet plums, blackberry and licorice with leather and earth in the background. The palate's fully resolved with sweet mature fruit aka the nose, of medium weight with subtle integrated oak, melted tannins and a long soft finish. At the end of its drinking window most probably but a wonderful experience all the same. 91 points.

Early in the week I opened an impressive bottle of 1996 Ch. Du Tertre, a classified growth from Margaux. The wine displayed a slightly transparent but bright and healthy ruby red colour and a typical damp earth nose enhanced with attractive notes of cassis, herbs, green bean, truffle, leather and iron that improved and intensified with extended breathing. The palate, only of medium weight, revealed very similar flavours to what was found in the bouquet. The structure here was exemplary with a wonderful elegance, a tight line, excellent persistence, bright acidity and lacy, fine tannins. About ready to be drunk but could have a ten year drinking window. 89 points.

Opened a bottle or two at your end? Please feel free to post hereunder with anything that's gone down the hatch in recent times.

[monghead]

2004 Saltram Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon- Ripe, dense, prunes and cigars, slightly hallow mid palate. Good.
2004 Bests Bin 0 Shiraz- Bold, spicy black pepper, licorice and plums, hints of leather. Good Good.

Cheers,

monghead.

[rens]

2004 Saltram Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon- Ripe, dense, prunes and cigars, slightly hallow mid palate. Good.

Perfect wine for Easter judging by the tasting note.

[Rossco]

forest hill estate chardonnay 2011. This is sensational. Subtle peach &
Nectarine. oak seamless and interwoven perfectly beautiful and creamy too . Balanced
Acidity and not oily or buttery in the slightest. The fruit has been handled amazingly
Well. 14% seems high, but its not noticeable. Mouthfeel is silky and
Length long. Best chardonnay I have had in a long time.

[phillisc]

2001 Bests Bin 0 Shiraz
A really nice mellow balanced red with subtle plums, berry and dusty mixed spice.
Palate was of medium weight with savoury earthy flavours
Solid and has a few years left in it.
A nice wine to have round the camp fire at Easter

2001 Jamieson Run Rothwell.
A supposed $85 wine being flogged a few years ago as a $15 clean-skin at the Coonawarra CD.
This was largely declassified, Fosters, Southcorp whoever they were back then could not decide if this wine was to be released as a JR or something under the Mildara label. It has a JR heavy tapered bottle.
Me thinks that this wine was never released because it is all oak oak oak.
A tiny bit of fruit poking through, at 12 years it is still a brilliant iridescent purple, slight berry sweetness on the nose, balanced on the palate but no fruit really coming through.
Still for 15 bucks I have had a lot worse.

Cheers Craig.

[Luke W]

A tale of 2 x 96 Galah Shiraz - one a little uninteresting and a touch banal and one that celebrated all the glorious nuances that one would expect of Wendouree fruit. Bottles from the same dozen, as the saying goes great bottles rather than great vintages.....
A 2006 Wynns BL C/S which I mistreated by not decanting and then suffered the ignomy of indifferent wine until it decided to show itself many hours later.
A 2000 Pepper Tree Reserve Semillon from the Hunter that is just starting to hit its straps and would give even the finest of this genre a run for its money.

Cheers

Luke

[colin d]

Two Heathcote wines.
A 1999 Red. Went down to parents for long weekend. Dad has a large wine rack in his garage without a lot on it, but he pulled out a bottle given to him by the real estate agent who sold their house to them in 2001. The label was simply an advertisement for the agent with 1999 Red as the only thing identifying the wine. Now the garage suffers from exteme temperature variation so I held little hope this would even be worth opening. The first surprise was that the cork was still firm and in good condition. Second surprise was the bouquet didn't offend, in fact it was down right inviting. In the glass the wine showed signs of browning on the edges from ageing. On the palate it was holding up beautifully with bold liquorice and dark chocolate up front belying any hint it was 14 years old. Left for half an hour leather, cut hay, moss and dusty flavours came through adding to it's character. Tanins were subtle but it held up unbelievably well given where it had spent its life. There was no doubt this was a Heathcote wine with the usual tell tale characteristics of a shiraz from that region.

2001 Shadowfax One Eye Shiraz. By chance I opened this bottle a couple of days later at a French restaurant for our wedding anni. I have had this since purchase in 2003 or 2004. The sommelier didn't get off to a great start, he had to push the cork into the bottle, ugh. But he decanted it through a filter without any sign of floating bits. Colour, opaque, impenetrable. Bouquet, rich dark fruit cake, dark berries, succulent, lively. Palate, loads of dark fruit, liquorice, bursting with youthful fruit flavours, an absolute mouthful. Still a pup and the remaining four bottles will stay in the cellar for another 5-10 years I'm thinking. The Pink Cliffs Shiraz is supposed to outshine the One Eye, well it must be a an absolute stunner if that is the case because this is up there with the nicest I have tasted at 13 years of age.