The Auswine Forum

Hi Good Peoples,

Its that time of the week again.

A good week for me, and top of the list were

1996 Kay's Block Six Shiraz - I think this is about as good as McLaren Vale can produce. Fantastic wine, all it needs a bit more complexity but it is a baby and hopefully, that will develop with time.

1994 Jack Mann - Another fantastic wine that is drinking well now but should continue to improve for many years.

1994 Aberfeldy - Not far behind the other two but a fraction outclassed. Best summed up by one of the other two at the table "A good, but not great wine."

Last night I cracked a 1998 Mamre Book Cabernet Sauvignon which is drinking well now but should last more many years to come. What incredible value. Very credible wine but not as good as the 96, I have to get some of the 2002 but keep telling myself I don't need more wine. But I always need more Cabernet at at the price....

Now what have you been drinking, notes vibes or impressions most welcome.

Another relatively quiet week with quite a few AFD's.

Seppelt Dorrien 1994

Solid dark ruby core with plenty of bricking in the edges. Mature, integrated bouquet of freshly-sawn cedar, sandalwood, savoury plums, chocolate and polished saddle leather. Ready to rock and roll, the medium-bodied palate offers up a melange of sweet red and black fruits (mainly plum and blackcurrant), more of the chocolate, leather and cedar found in the nose, nicely framed acidity, fine-grained tannins with a meaty/savoury oak backdrop. Resplendent with a creamy old-vine texture this excellent drop finishes with might and stupendous length. I can still can taste the savoury plum and gorgeous ripe tannins several minutes after swallowing. Marvellous enough to bump it to an Outstanding rating. Could not of picked a better moment to try my first bottle, don't you think?

Monday had a very long lunch at Dijon with Tony Wynd and the Radioactiveman -

5 courses for $27.50 per head - unbelievable deal, terrific food, excellent service, fine glassware, wonderful ambience and with good friends - a real treat.

The Wines

Domaine Servin Chablis 1er Cru Montee de Tonnerre 1996

Very bright pale lemon/white gold with green flashes. Intriguing nose of seaspray, oyster shell, cheese rind, underipe green melon and a slate/shale/mineral character I found hard to pinpoint. No discernible oak input. Steely, tight palate with shy fruit leaning more towards 'minerale', predictably well-endowed with acid, good balance and a moderate, crisp finish. Somewhat enigmatic, this wine seemingly needs more time to strut its stuff. Recommended.

Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling Vendange Tardives 1990

Still garnishing an infantile, starbright colour, this wondrous late-picked Riesling from Alsace leaps from the glass with a plethora of amazing scents - a written critique cannot do it full justice. For a wine to display such aromatic purity, focus and precision whilst so much multifaceted intensity attacks the olfactory senses is a balancing act only a handful of the world's finest producers could emulate. The bouquet reveals a potent mix of complex "sweet" florals, exotic spices, overripe yellow peach, kaffir leaf, limes, apricot and passionfruit, all butressed by a haunting minerality (something I only find in the finest whites from this region) and later, a perplexing petrol-like quality. Likewise, the palate fails to disappoint. Blessed with outstanding extract replicating the sublime nuances found in the bouquet, this mouthfilling beauty dances all over the tongue and is surprisingly light on its feet with seamless, balancing natural acidity providing a superb near-dry, refreshing finish that persists for nearly a minute.

For over 20 years I have been lucky enough to taste many great white wines, yet I cannot think of one that betters what we sampled this afternoon. For sheer Alsatian hedonistic pleasure, this bottle surpasses everything (this includes Trimbach's Clos St. Hune and some dazzling examples from Zind-Humbrecht from the great years of 1983, 1989 and 1990) I've tried to date. Rated as The Ultimate, I'm confident, on today's showing, for this to last at least another 15 years.

Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir 1998

Light to medium ruby with some age showing throughout, this attractive Pinot Noir offers up mainly sweet plum, sap and savoury oak in the bouquet with a touch of strawberry loitering at the death. Rounded, soft and supple in the front- to mid- palate with sweet plummy fruit, this relatively straightforward example has some fine, assertive tannins that belatedly kick in to provide a little structure. Moderate persistence. A little disappointing considering my expectations after trying the (much better) Bindi Original Vineyard from the same vintage a few months back. Recommended.

Frederic Esmonin Chambertin Grand Cru 1998

Solid core, medium ruby hue fading to brick red in the outer edges. Intense meaty, savoury nose over plenty of spicy, savoury (newish) oak. Perhaps a little shutdown. The palate confirms this viewpoint - fine mouthfeel, ample acidity and powerful powdery tannns dominating an explosive finish with dark plummy fruit lurking sheepishly behind the imposing structure. Highly Recommended with a question mark on the fruit content/balance at this point.

Ch. Coutet Barsac 1997

Glorious bright, very light gold colour. Way too young for immediate gratification, this Excellent, elegant Sauternes displays the prerequisites for future enjoyment offering up layers of honey, pineapple, nectarine, mandarin, subtle oak and toasted almonds with a strong underpinning of bright acid throughout. Probably best left alone for at least 5 years, this wine should drink impressively during the second decade of the new millennium.

The other wine enjoyed this week was an Excellent bottle of Pol Roger 1995 Vintage.

1995 Hardys Tintara Shiraz
Has softened nicely and now drinking well. Rich blackberry fruit with a fair input from vanillin (albeit quality) American oak on both nose and palate (17).

1996 Dalwhinnie Shiraz
Also drinking well, although on a fairly long plateau. Typical powdery, spicy blackberry fruit and well integrated (French ?) oak (17.5)


regards
Chris

1998 Petersons Back Block Cabernet Sauvignon - Drinking well but was a little better in 2002. Drink up now.

1999 Writer's Block Mark 1 Grenache - Opened up beautifully and was a credit to all who played a part in it's creation and sentiment.

2002 Saltrams Mamre Brook Cabernet Sauvignon - One of the most awaited wines in this house and it is a cracker

Graham

Hi everyone:
this week at some good wines:

Pikes Clare Valley Riesling 2004: great match with Chinese. Probably not the best 04 Riesling I have tried, but not too bad. Lime, minerals and plenty of acidity.

Yalumba Hand Picked Shiraz Viognier 1998: Yalumba's first comercial release of this wine and it is a beauty. Just starting to unwind, with lovely fragrant fruit and plenty of structure.

Leo Buring Leonay 1994: still vibrant and fresh, with plenty of acidity and fruit. This will go another 10 years easy.

Chrismont La Zona Pinot Grigio 2003: great with dumplings. I'm tipping Pinot Grigio (and Pinot Gris) to be the big white winners this summer.

Scorpo Pinot Gris 2003: Australia's best example of the style. Paul Scorpo and Sandro Moselle have nailed this wine. Great wine, plenty of apple and pear flavours as well as some acidity.

cheers
anthony

2001 Cave De Turckheim Reserve Vin d’Alsace Gewurztraminer: Golden yellow/green colour. Beautiful, floral nose of rose petals, spiced green apples, lime blossom, lychees and green curry paste that flow on to the palate. This wine puts the Australian examples I’ve tried to shame, and predictably is a perfect match for a spicy Thai green curry.

1999 Yarra Burn Bastard Hill (Hoddles Creek) Chardonnay: Rich straw yellow colour. Like the 2002 Cape Mentelle, the nose is dominated by toasted oak, but it’s far from unpleasant, with buttered toast and cinnamon sugar leaping from the glass. The palate is rich with those nutty oak and extended malo characters that match the buttery/citrus fruit, and more than just a hint of smoky bacon on the finish. For me to actually like a Chardonnay is one thing, but to shelve out over thirty bucks for a bottle is a real statement. Perfect with a rich, freshly made carbonara pasta, or even perhaps traditional Osso Bucco with braised onions, white wine butter and Risotto alla Milanese.

1998 Leasingham Bin 56 Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec: Mid to heavy crusting; decanting is recommended. Dark inky garnet colour with a hint of purple on the rim. Gorgeous open nose from the first glass, with deep cassis, earthy dark chocolate, and supporting malty oak, black tea/green leaf/tomato, cocoa, choc-mint and some pencil notes. The palate is just as massive and sweet at first with a mouth-drenching burst of cassis/liquorice fruit, entwined oak and chalky tannins. I drank this over a few nights and the wine gradually became more savoury, with soy sauce and typical barnyard/stewed jam characters from the Malbec becoming more prominent. The wine will be very long lived, but drink soon with something equally powerful if you’re not a fan of those Malbec characters.


Cheers
Ian

1994 Voyager Cabernet merlot
Drying out. Bitter tannins. OK.

1994 Xanadu Reserve Cabernet
Lovely sweet fruit; mouthfilling. Serious wine. Holding firm, but drinking well now.

2001 Paringa Chardonnay
Delightful bargain at $17.50. Fruit holding fine; lovely finesse typical of better Peninsula premiums.

Blind mini chardonnay tasting: PWS- Old World v New World

2002 Savaterre
Confirms its reputation as a world class premier cru. Top Aussie gear.

2002 Michelot Meursault Clos St Felix
Soft round supple and long. Nooice.

2001 Gerard Chavy Puligny Montrachet
As the French would say: "à point"; precise well delineated minerally wet stones, persistent length. Refined.

2002 Neudorf Nelson
Totally beguiling; Seemed very old world. Utter utter bargain at $32.
This has finesse, complexity and restrained richness.

2002 Kemeu River (Brajkovich) Village
Totally out of its class. Looked the most ordinary. Justa

2000 Hubert Lamy St Aubin 1er Cru En Remilly
A new world styled wine. Very rich and flavoursome. But clumsy when juxtaposed to Savaterre.

Monday night- out with friends for Japanese. Tasted friend's chardonnay; I think it was Blue Pyrenees 2002 (or 03). Oak on the nose, some nice fruit swamped by oak on the palate. Almost left splinters! Stuck to Kirin Ichiban thru the meal. Afterwards, back home to share a bottle I had meant to open for a special occasion every winter for the last few years:

Chateau Reynella Vintage Port 1975 Intense, a bit medicinal - wild cherry, lots of licorice, rasin, plum, spice, really nice but not as good as I hoped. However, the next night, all medicinal characters gone, simply stunning, complex, warm, delicious. Third night, starting to go a bit sour, but still good.

Wednesday, final night of Wine Apreciation course, played Wine Options after finishing exam, went incredibly badly . Wines worth noting:

Trevelen Farm Riesling 2002 Showing some aged characters already, but excellent drinking. Limey, good acid, showing a lot better than when JH tasted to write up in 04 Companion ("...arms and legs all over the place. Clearly, needs time in bottle to come to terms with itself.")

Fermoy Estate Verdhelo Interesting. Sweet fruit finishing dry, with lychees on the nose. A bit gewurtz.

Millbrook Shiraz Very nice, smooth, has a touch of viogonier added. Worth trying if you can find it.

1997 Penfolds RWT
Dark red with no browning on the edge. The wine showed lovely fruit followed by a silky and drying tannins. The nose was unremarkable as I was drinking this wine in the wrong glass. This wine has reached its peak and will not improve with more cellaring IMHO, but will certainly hold for many more yeasr to come.

Just impressions of a few of many...brief ones at that

Haselgrove 'H' Shiraz 2001 - After 3 hours breathing, this has opened up beautifully; there's a lot of oak there but great fruit to complement. Great depth of flavour, clearly McLaren Vale; excellent length over fine, chalky tannins. This should improve over the next 5 years, and will last 10. Very good.

Tim Adams Shiraz 1998 - Much better than the last bottle. Still a little closed after 2 hours, black sweet sour fruits, red currants. Very well structured, good length. Will last 5 years plus, but may not develop?

Chateau Brane-Cantenac 1996 - Apparently some fool sold Mouton-Rothschild to buy this property in the 1800s. "Doh." This is supposed to be one of the better vintages, but is totally and utterly unimpressive. Nothing to fault, in fact a good wine to accompany a meal, just plain boring. Anyway, very pleasant but nothing noteworthy. Good.

Chateau Leoville Las-Cases 1993 - Brilliant for the vintage. Let it sleep for at least 4 or 5 years, it just may turn into something bordering on excellent. Great balance and depth of flavour. In a subtle way this wine finishes with substantial weight. For now, very good.

Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz 2002 - After the extraordinary last bottle, I thought I'd repeat the experiment. In a decanter for 24 hours, and this is almost enough to bring tears to the eyes...it's beautiful! This could pass as a Meshach and will only get better. Excellent.

Cheers,

Jakob

Not been too lucky this weekend.

2002 TAYLORS Shiraz A decent little red, smooth, vibrant and young. O.K. at AU $12, well balanced but nothing special.
1998 CORIOLE Shiraz Wow, what a mixture of oak and unripe fruit masked with some ripe stuff. Very ordinary winemaking with the goodies going to a reserve?
2001 WENDOUREE Muscat of Alexandria A rare dessert wine I believe but still a little odd tasting and definitely ordinary. I still thank Adair for the gesture.

Cheers,
Attila

1994 Leo Buring Eden Valley Leonay - Great wine, still got plenty ahead of it.

2002 Dalrymple Sauvignon Blanc - Just the way my wife likes them, gooseberry and plenty of tomato bush. Another good wine from Dalrymple.

1998 Hungerford Hill Hilltops Cabernet Sauvignon - Nice easy drinker, probably its peak, great value for money as I picked it up at the cellar door moving sale.

1994 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet-Shiraz
Bought from Langtons. Immaculate condition, no ullage. Deep purple colour. A 'house' nose of tar, oak and ripe blackberries. Fine so far. But what's this. Merely hot and oaky on the palate. Where's the fruit? Tastes almost stewed or cooked. I wondered if it spent much of it's life under warm conditions. Not nearly as good as the last 94 I had. Unrepresentative, I think. 2 bottles to go....

Harmand-Geoffroy Clos Prieur (Gevrey Chambertin)
From the non-premier cru part of the vineyard, according to research sources. Bright red. Clean varietal, strawberry fruit. Not a lot of earth here. Lovely soft balance on palate - fine gentle tannins, no real stalkiness, ripe fruit. Mid-weight at best, it still has a sweet persistent finish. 13.0% and that's quite enough. Lovely wine, and easily trumps any pinot from this country at the price I paid ($45). But I still think the notion of classified and non-classified parts of the same vineyard is bizarre...

Also went to the Tyrrell's 2004 Vat release tasting at Epping on Saturday. General impressions; the Vat 4 Stevens Semillon showed sweet grass/straw and zingy acid - very drinkable now and a lovely wine. Vat 18 Belfords Semillon and Vat 1 Semillon were loaded with sulphur (not denied by Bruce Tyrrell) and forebiddingly austere. There's perhaps a touch more lemon fruit to the Belford, but it's madness to drink them now. There were relatively quite full and heavy for such young wines - it seems to me that the greatest and longest living semillons have almost no flavours or textures (acid excepted) when young - not the case here. Tyrrell reckons much of this apparent excess sulphur is absorbed iin the foirst 6 months after bottling - irrespective of closure. The Vat 63 Chardonnay Semillon is it's usual stylish self; the grapefruit flavours and the subtle french oak make for a classy if unfashionable wine.

The Vat 91 Chardonnay I always find a bit simple and coarse, but at $15 you get what you pay for. The Vat 47 Chardonnay has terrific fruit - austere melons, nuts and grapefruit - with subtle oak, and a tight buttoned-up mouthfeel. Super.

Last year Tyrrells rejected 29 batches of corks until they found the 30th was acceptable for bottling the Private Bin whites. This year they're all in screwcap.

The 2003 reds were all very young for my palate, and I didn't take specific notes. Vat 5 presented very upfront bubblegum-type fruit, Vat 9 was more restrained and generally good without being outstanding, Vat 55 and 8 were very tannic. Private Bin reds will be in screwcap for the 2004 vintage.

Last year Tyrrells production was 85% under cork. This year it will be 85% under screwcap. Hoo-bloody-ray is all I can say!

cheers,
Graeme

Hi Graeme,

I like your new hair style.

1991 Wynns Cab Shiraz
Fantastic wine, fully mature, and an absurd $11 upon release.
Drink: now-2006...........................91pts
1994 Greenock Creek cabernet
Well made, lovely fruit, but little complexity. A good quaffer.
Drink: now-2008...........................88pts
1993 Kellermeister Black Sash shiraz
Another Barossa cheapie representing great value. True to terroir.
Drink: 2006-2016..........................89pts
1997 Picardy Merlot Cabernet
A voluptuous red if ever there was one. Good example of Oz merlot.
Drink: 2005-2010..........................90pts
1994 Giaconda chardonnay
Deep gold, with lovely aged characters. Touch flabby, but good.
Drink: now...................................87pts
2002 Hudellot-Noellat Chambolle Musigny
Didn't show nearly as well as it did in London 14 days ago. Travel weary? Try in threee months after it settles from the trip over.
Drink: 2009-2015.........................88pts
Rockford Black shiraz 1996 disgorge
These icons need at least 8 years to show their best, and this was, simply, the ant's pants. Dreams are made of this.
Drink: now-2020..........................98pts
1995 Clerc Milon
Currently as dumb as a Port Adelaide cheerleader. Like drinking dirty water. Don't mis-interpret as a poor wine. Patience.
Drink: 2014-2030.........................80pts, expect 90+pts when mature.
1996 Ducru Beaucaillou
OMG Cassis, cassis, mint, flowers, everything. What a wine!! Needs another 10 years, but I'll probably drink the rest soon, given this showing.
Drink: 2015-2050........................98pts
1996 Barwang Cabernet
Way better than expected. Lovelt structure, with its austerity on previous showings resolved into a complex, complete wine. Excellent
Drink: Now-2010+........................90pts

1990 Leasingham Domaine Cab Malbec This was a clear highlight of the week, scented nose, soft rich fruit with nice delopment. This is the last of the Bin 56s before the Classic Clares were introduce. The Domaine label lasted from about 87 to 90 in Australian bottlings before they went back to the Bin range. Rated as excellent

1996 Tyrrells Vat1 Semillon great nose showing toast and honey development. Palate still a bit acidic to my way of thinking should continue to develop Highly recommended with possible upgrade if the mouth fills out a bit.

1979 Chateau Reynella Claret openned largely as a joke. I was given this about 5 years after orginal owner asked the shop I was working in to take it away. This is a Geoff Merrill 10% alc. Amazing to think that's what was being tried in the late 1970s. Nose all aged to oxidised character, palate had a little fruit and some interest - rated as Interesting well past its prime but amusing to open

1997 Miranda Golden Botrytis as you'd expect rich sweet not sure the aged character sat very well but very good with custard tarts.

1995 Reynell Basket Press Shiraz
Lovely sweet, ripe, blackberry, cassis, and dusty oak on the nose, backed up by a similar palate with good length and still quite persistent tannins although certainly not harsh. Excellent and will go quite a bit further yet.

1998 Hardys Tintara Shiraz
Slightly more subdued nose with plum, earth and liquorice, palate fading but improved a little after a while in the glass. Tannins integrated quite well. Seems to be a bit past its best which is a surprise given what a big monster it was on release. Not a disaster by any stretch but drink up if you have any left. V.Good-

97 Edwards and Chaffey Shiraz.
Took a while to open, then the fruit came up and it was rich and balanced. Will hold for a couple of years. Pretty good wine.

96 Edwards and Chaffey Shiraz
Not as good as the 97, strange nose, and cant quite put my finger on it. Really not a very good wine at all.

96 d'Arenberg Dead Arm.
With all the talk about the 02, I thought I would open one, the changed my mind, and pulled the 96. First Time I have tried, and it is a very very good wine. Beautiful fruit, and balanced tannins. At the start of its drinking window, and will hold for many years. A real treat.

96 Penfold Kalimna.
OK. You know the story, usual Penfolds style, which is getting a bit boring. My current Penfolds wines are about a fifth of what there used to be in my cellar.

91 Seppelt Dorrien Cabernet.
I think Dorriens are quite a different style of wine to any other Barossa Cabernet. Its like they dont come from the Barossa. It took a while to open up, and is rather lean, and reserved. Its better than the 90 (which I dont like), and has years ahead of it. It may just be a great wine in around 10 years.


Sat night, with a wine head mate.

99 Charlie Melton Sparkling Shiraz.
I think Charlie makes the best SS around. This was just sensational.

Things then started to go downhill, in the wine department.

96 Henschke Mount Edelstone.
Really disappointing. Smells and tastes like a Henschke, but a bloody poor one. Just didnt get any better, even the next day.

96 Orlando Centenary Hill Shiraz.
Bottle is covered with award stickers. First nose, the caramel, coconut wood just hits you in the face. Get past that, and its a good wine, and will last for ages, another 10 years at least, and it may be okay then, but I have my doubts. If you love lashings of American oak, then you will love it. Why do they wreck good wines with too much oak?

96 Hardys Tintara.
Boring. At least its not over oaked, but the fruit is not aged well, and its off to the auctions for this lot.

By this time, I am not very happy. All I want to do is drink a really nice wine. That cant be asking much? Can it?

90 Grant Burge Meshach.
This has got to be fantastic! I hoped! Well, its the best wine of the night so far (Bar the Melton Sparkling), but it really is not singing. All the stuff is there, but at an auction price of around $120.........give me the money.

okay, now there must be something in my cellar that will give me some excitement.

96 Haselgrove H Reserve Shiraz.
This wine made me smile. While its not complex, like the Meshach, it sure is a better drink. (Its now around midnight). Rich lush fruit, balanced oak, bloody lovely. Its no wonder I have a cellar of McLaren Vale Shiraz.

97 Haselgrove H Reserve Shiraz.
While on a good thing............. This was in the same mould of the 96, but not quite as good, but still a very enjoyable wine.

98 Charles Cimicky Shiraz
(Next night) Corked.

[quote="Aussie Johns

Currently as dumb as a Port Adelaide cheerleader. Like drinking dirty water. Don't mis-interpret as a poor wine. Patience.
Drink: 2014-2030.........................80pts, expect 90+pts when mature.

(a) Thanks for the above tasting note as I was thinking of trying one of these soon...

(b) Watch what you say about us Port fans mate .....

TORB wrote:Hi Graeme,

I like your new hair style.

ROTFLMAO!

bacchaebabe wrote:

TORB wrote:Hi Graeme,

I like your new hair style.

ROTFLMAO!

I thought GG might have had the snip and tuck
MM