The Auswine Forum

Well, I'll kick this off...

2010 Pegasus Bay Primadonna Pinot Noir

Bright, perfumed dark sweet fruits. Good length, juicy crunchy tannins, and just the right amount of stalkiness to add interest and complexity.

Very Good

2 things..... Never had this label before, and it's now on my radar. Number 1, need to get more of this, and number 2, need to try their "standard" label.

Their standard label PN is my favourite value-for-money buy each year. I try and grab 3 on the way out of NZ ports as I travel, and beg others to do likewise, be it for them, or me - preferably me!

Have tried a few NZ pinots over the years, and just cannot find one I enjoy as much as Peg Bay. That said, I have not taken the upgrade to this one, so must take the time to do so.

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2010 Domaine Jamet Cote Rotie

Wow...... just wow… What an absolutely deliciously moreish, yet elegantly structured wine! Explosive perfumed aromas of dark berries, violets, pepper, smoky coal barbecued meats, and touches of herbs de Provence fills the air that surrounds you as you slurp away… A rich, voluptuous palate follows, threatening to be too expansive and flabby, then schlooop, everything tightens up with the delicious juicy acidity and fine integrated tannins. Presence, poise, and precision…

Very Very Good to Extremely Good

2003 Grant Burge Holy Trinity- Nothing wrong with it. Won't get any better. Still packing fruit, mellow and smooth but nothing really jumps out at you.

2010 Domaine Hubert Lignier Bourgogne Rouge

Gamy, red fruits with dry undergrowth. A little short on the palate though, with tart acidity and firm tannins.

Good

monghead wrote:2010 Domaine Hubert Lignier Bourgogne Rouge

Gamy, red fruits with dry undergrowth. A little short on the palate though, with tart acidity and firm tannins.

Good

Morey St Denis fruit, or a mix, do you know?

2008 Freeman Rondinella Corvina Secco Light to med bodied. Not what I was expecting (in a good way). Slightly "tart", a complete opposite to the "jammy Australian Shiraz". Not overly complex, with Morello Cherries featuring. Wine will benefit from a good decant. It hides its 14.5% alc well. A couple of years in the cellar will help. Very good, a wine for those who want to try something different.

Hacker wrote:

monghead wrote:2010 Domaine Hubert Lignier Bourgogne Rouge

Gamy, red fruits with dry undergrowth. A little short on the palate though, with tart acidity and firm tannins.

Good

Morey St Denis fruit, or a mix, do you know?

Don't know for sure, but I am assuming that it will be a mix, as I think they have another village wine labelled Morey St Denis...

It's just too damn hot for reds up here at the moment and until the air conditioners sitting in the garage get installed, I don't think I'll be drinking too many reds for a while.

2007 Glen Eldon Eden Valley Riesling. Not a bad drop but nothing earth shattering. A bit of lime and citrus but finished quite short. 2.5/5
2010 Paringa Estate Peninsula Chardonnay. Mornington Peninsula. This was much nicer than the Glen Eldon. Not an expensive Chardonnay at all but it ticks all the boxes. Nice finish and very enjoyable. Should go for a couple more years easily as well. 3/5

Cheers
Ian

Quiet week this week...lining up some deliveries if the cooler weather sticks around

Pressing Matters R9 2012: and normal service resumes! I've been mixing up 12's and 13's to see where my preference lies and I'm confident that 2012 is a once every 10 years kind of vintage. Superb. Less lime, perhaps more lemon, less pith and not as phenolic than 13. All in all perhaps not as 'big' as 13 and that's a good thing. Good bones. Good good to very good. Coal river Tasmania.

2012 Grosset Alea- First one of these I have ever tried even though I have bought the "off dry" since he started making it. a bit of spritz opened up to the standard lemony but not bone crunching dry with the sugar getting you more on the back pallet. May be slipping into that hole because not that piercing acidity that I have had with drinking some 2012's earlier. Still very good and great with the Thai we had for dinner.

Had some friends over for dinner last night, one who doesn't drink wine and one who does.

We had a 2011 Cape Mentrlle Chardonnay, which I like but didn't jump out at me as fantastic. I'm not sure if there may be some bottle variation but it didn't seem to have as much life as one I opened over Christmas. It just seemed a little dulled.

I had half a bottle of 2011 Freycinet Vineyard Pinot that I had opened the night before. First evening it was all intense spicy and slightly earthy, even smokey, on the nose, really intense dark red fruit, mostly cherry, on the palate with a nice long finish and a beautiful silky texture. It held up fantastically overnight but developed into a mellow secondary phase with more chocolates flavours and a warmer, rounder mouth feel. I really enjoyed this wine both nights and am looking forward to laying down the other three bottles I have for a while.

With dessert we had a 2008 Chateau Suduiraut Premier Cru Sauternes. Le sigh. The passion fruit and sweet melony flavours coming out of this little bottle were superb and it was the perfect balance of sweet but not too sweet, thick but not cloying. Had some sexy legs on it too. I actually sat smelling and looking at this wine for a good 5 minutes before taking my first sip which is unlike me! Wish I had more of it to put away but someone have it to me as a gift

Ran out of Sauternes and the two girls were still chatting so opened a Penfolds Grandfather rare tawny. A really nice fortified that I actually hadn't tried before. For myself I think I preferred the Morris Old Premium Rare Muscat I had over Christmas, but am looking forward to finishing this tawny.


I am just starting my cellar so a lot or what I am drinking is young, with a view to working out what I want to cellar and so on. Sorry I am not very good at tasting notes etc yet but thought I would just share what was an enjoyable night of good but not freakish wines (although the Pinot was damn good)

Three brilliant wine's over the last week -

Tyrrell's 1999 Vat 1 Semillon - infantile and destined for greatness - still retains intense acid cut, lovely melon, grass, straw and lanolin charcters with just the first hints of honied character emerging. Mouthfeel is pure sex. Finish to die for. In excess of 95 points with more to come. Exceptional

Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon 2000 - almost fully mature with loads of lemon butter on toast character and a honied nuttiness only the best sem's get with time. Outstanding

Michel Lafarge Clos de Chenes 2000 - a beautifully resolved and delicate pinot with an eerie power lurking under all the femininity. Drink up. Lovely wine.

Haven't had one of these for a while...
Willespie 2005 SBS - This is coming along beautifully. Had some green edged smoky/mineral notes on opening, then opened up in the glass to show some lovely blackcurrant aroma, believe it or not. With swirling you could bring out the green bean type aroma. Remarkable. The palate has softened a little in the last couple of years, I think, become a little rounder. Good drinking !

1986 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Cabernet Shiraz This was a blast from the past. Opened and drunk immediately, only decanted to eliminate sediment. Cork was sodden and had shrunk resulting in an easy extraction, but probablly means this wine was not at its best.
anyway to the wine , colour was browning but still had a slight purple hue, fresh nose pencil shavings and tobacco and some lighter red fruit spectrum. Palate was smooth and more like pinot red fruit. Nice enough drink but probablly a shadow of its former self. has anyone had one of these in better condition? 86 was a stellar vintage so thinking there may be better examples out there.

Passing Clouds 1997 Graeme's Blend Shiraz Cabernet.
Good colour lovely plums and violets on the nose with a lovely silky structure on the palate. Perfectly balanced between the two varieties. Tannins softened as the wine opened up.
Don't make them like this any more....v. v. good.

Cheers
Craig.

phillisc wrote:Passing Clouds 1997 Graeme's Blend Shiraz Cabernet.
Good colour lovely plums and violets on the nose with a lovely silky structure on the palate. Perfectly balanced between the two varieties. Tannins softened as the wine opened up.
Don't make them like this any more....v. v. good.

Cheers
Craig.

... a truly excellent wine ... not generally a noted vintage but this particular wine is firmly planted in my memory banks. Bought quite a few of these for sub ten dollars a bottle at auction years ago and every one was memorable. Graeme Leith and the late Sue Mackinnon did some wonderful things over the years. Graeme subsequently passed the reins over to his son, I believe. No recent tastings from this winery.

Broughy wrote:1986 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Cabernet Shiraz This was a blast from the past. Opened and drunk immediately, only decanted to eliminate sediment. Cork was sodden and had shrunk resulting in an easy extraction, but probablly means this wine was not at its best.
anyway to the wine , colour was browning but still had a slight purple hue, fresh nose pencil shavings and tobacco and some lighter red fruit spectrum. Palate was smooth and more like pinot red fruit. Nice enough drink but probablly a shadow of its former self. has anyone had one of these in better condition? 86 was a stellar vintage so thinking there may be better examples out there.

The last one I had 5 plus years ago was looking pretty tired. Other Coonawarras from 1986 have held up much better.

Mike

2003 Rosemount Show Reserve Cabernet. After reading other posts about Rosemount, it inspired me to dig this one out. Although not from a great vintage, and paying under $20 seven years ago, this was thoroughly enjoyable. Right at its peak, soft tannins in the background if not all subsided, med bodied, cedar, cigar box, all the classic Coonawarra characteristics, and all in balance. Not exceptional, however at the price point fantastic.