The Auswine Forum

Whoopie! Now what have you guys and girls been drinking?

Last night I had dinner at Eschalot (eat your heart out Craig) and the food was fantastic. Nicki and I had a bottle of 1995 Jack Mann. It's not often that Nicki says "Wow; that's good, what is it?" The wine has just entered its peak drinking window and there is no hurry to drink them. Fantastic complexity and length with lots of tannins still in evidence, although they have softened nicely. With desert we had my house special, the Morris CD Reserve Tokay which was as good as usual.

Please let us know what you have been drinking?

1996 Baron de la Charrière Corton-Perrières - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Aloxe-Corton (10/21/2006)
Vincent Girardin at his best. Ready now or hold for few more years, it's all good. (92 pts.)

1988 Domaine Mussy Pommard 1er Cru - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Pommard (10/21/2006)
I wonder if the bottle has passed it's prime or the bottle never had it's prime.... (85 pts.)

1996 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis (10/20/2006)
a small notch below 98. Spicy finish, forest floor on the nose. (91 pts.)

1999 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Ovello - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco (10/20/2006)
young, very young, with lots of promise for the future.
Balanced and quite drinkable now. Tannins are still not resolved. (91 pts.)

1999 Domaine Leroy Savigny-lès-Beaune Aux Serpentières 1er Cru - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune (10/20/2006)
The bottle we had at L'ATELIER de Robuchon was less than spectacular. Cherry on the nose, cherry on the palate and nothing else. The bottle was just cherry from the first sip to the last. Having 1998 Dujac 2 nights in the row showed this wine inferiority and in a big way. $160 for a bottle don't take you far at L'Atelier, what a pity. (89 pts.)

1998 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis (10/19/2006)
Despite that the 1998 was a tougher year than 1999, I place 1998 Dujac Morey St Denise a head above 1999
Clove, Indian spice on the nose, earthiness, loooong finish and excellent companion to aligator legs, fish and even desert. (94 pts.)

My wines over the last week and a few that I had not posted:

2004 Chateau Pato DJP Shiraz – 14.5% - Hunter Valley, NSW: Although there is definitely smoked meats upon opening, I found nothing of the reductive criticism others have found, maybe with a little consideration given to its screwcapped closure. Superb wine that was at its best on the second night. Beautifully textural without needing to be sweet. Medium-full bodied, packed with spices and plums and ripe, smooth grained, tannins. Wonderful finish. 94/100 (18.5/20)

2005 Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz – 14% - Canberra region: Full-medium bodied. Dark but floral, sweetly spiced and nothing overripe. Deep and silky textured. Refined and long finish due to ripe, very fine, abundant tannins that carry the well controlled fruit sweetness to a long finish. Has panache but is slightly simple on the middle palate, especially next to the DJP. 91/100 (17.5/20)

2001 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon - Margaret River, WA - 14%: Superb wine needing at least 10 years to show its best. Full of Cabernet complexity, latent power and small berry fruit. Structured and very long with tannins that would be overpowering too many at the moment but are of excellent quality. 94/100 (18.5/20).

2004 Rockford Eden Valley Riesling – 11.5%: Lovely drinking now but with acid to age. Juicy green apples and lime. Very good weight. Chalkiness providing interest. 91/100 (17.5/20)

1999 Jim Barry Watervale/Florita Vineyard Riesling – 12.5%: - Under Stelvin. Happy that it was out of a half bottle as it is a bit of a kero bomb at the moment although enough smooth sweet limes underneath so that it was not a disaster. Need to enjoy the kero “style” of Riesling. Have one more bottle that I will keep for another year or two to see if the kero dissipates. 85/100 (15.5/20)

2000 Györgykovács Imre “Barrique” Juhfark – 12.6% - Somlo, Hungary: A hard year for Somlo but this was still an absolute pleasure to drink for its pure varietal characters of pear and custard apple, and its palate weight and power, with Somlo dark minerals. It lacked the refinement of better Somlo vintages though. A hint of botrytis as is common with this vintage. Nonetheless, an honour. 92/100 (17.7/20)

2004 Györgykovács Imre Furmint - 13% - Somlo, Hungary: White flowers, white stone fruits, honey, rose water, sweet canned pineapple and some sweet spices. Deep, juicy, mouthfilling middle palate. More sweet flowers and rose water after you swallow with sweet nuttiness – very impressive. I served this to my Riesling-loving father-in-law as a “thank you” for looking after Vienna and Gordon for the day and he was able to grasp some of the greatness of the wine and indeed vineyard as tasting the wine hurled him into 5 minutes of serious study of the contents of his glass. Not as tight, powerful or controlled as some of the wines that strive for perfection from Somlo but this is sheer joy in the mouth… a bit like a well-controlled, complex, 14.5%, Barossa Shiraz, if you know what I mean! 93/100 (18.2/20)

2004 Blue Poles Merlot Cabernet Franc - Margaret River – 13.5%: Sweet aromatic spices, roses, raspberries, cranberry, red cherry, wet undergrowth, gravel minerals, hints of caramel. Medium/light bodied. Lovely rose petal silky texture on the front which extends down the palate with breathing, and with fresh but integrated acidity prominent on the back palate with ripe but sour red cherries. Fine, ripe, grainy tannins provide an excellent backbone and very good length. It has the marking of what Merlot Cab Franc should be and I thoroughly enjoy this, especially as I am a fan of the style, something that unfortunately New Zealand has focused on and seems to do better than Australia but this wine is a great start. 90/100 (17/20)

2002 Chandon Vintage Brut – Victoria - 12.5%: Greatly inferior to the 2002 Blanc de Blancs, as well as the 2002 Tasmanian Cuvee and 2002 Zero Dosage, but it came with an impressive box and was on special for $27 so I was still happy. 88/100 (16.5/20).

NV G.H.Mumm Brut - Reims, Champagne - 12%: Despite its lack of reputation, I thought I would give it a go and was happy I did. From a bottle with the new label, had creaminess, good depth, and structure that gave focus, length and balance. A definite consideration when under $50. 91/100 (17.5/20).

2002 Leasigham Classic Clare Shiraz – Clare Valley - 14.5%: Consumed a few bottles recently. Needs a decant for some bottle stink to dissipate and for the fruit to overtake some acidity, but opens to become a rich, quite complex, well structured and controlled, Australian Shiraz that will age well. No glycerin or jaminess. 93/100 (18/20).

2001 Margan Shiraz - Hunter Valley, NSW - 13.5%: Medium bodied Shiraz true to its terrior. Enjoyable food wine if you like the savoury and red berry style, although a little simple and needs to be consumed now. A wine made for friends and food. 87/100 (16/20).

2005 Hoddles Creek Pinot Gris – Yarra Valley, Victoria: Pear, lime, grapey flavours with florals. Medium body. Hints of glycerin that round the palate well with adequate fresh acid integrated well to provide good length. 88/100 (16.5/20).

2003 Tyrrell’s Brokenback Shiraz - 13.5% - Hunter Valley A powerful, savoury, controlled wine with all components required to be great but needs a little time to all meld, maybe 2 years. 92/100 (17.7/20) when it does.

Kind regards,
Adair

Mate's birthday last Monday, and he remembered a promise from seven months ago when I said he could raid the cellar for anything he desired on his birthday. So, he chose an '03 Amon Ra.

2003 Glaetzer Amon Ra - drank magnificently. One of my favourite shiraz. Heaps of sediment in the bottom of the bottle.
2004 Meerea Park Aunts Shiraz - all oak and no fruit. Poor.
2005 Mondillo Pinot Noir - textbook Otago pinot that can't be faulted, but lacks some character.
2004 Drouhin Laforet Bourgonge - very disappointing; extremely bitter with a stewed fruit, acidic finish and total palate disjointment.
NV Champagne Ayala - NZ$36 for top class champagne? It's a winner in my book.
2005 Giesen Pinot Noir - very average.
1995 Stonecroft Ruhanui Cab/Syrah (?) - still with some years to go; drinking surprisingly well.
1999 Seppelt Dorrien Cab Sauv - fruit is there, but tightly wrapped up in overbearing oak right now. Hard to know where it will go.
2004 Marquis Phillips Shiraz, Sarah's Blend and Cab Sauv - good value sub $20; rich styles.

And 67 pinots last Monday evening at the Fine Wine Delivery Company pinot roadshow of 2005 vintage releases. I tasted every single one (or at least smelt - only a couple weren't tasted) over three hours, giving me just enough time to analyse every wine present.

Just like last year's, the first half of the room (clockwise) showed poorly, the second half showed better (is this done intentionally?). 2005 was marked by the wettest December in history for many regions, without the immediate threat of frosts but very poor flowering due to the rain. Hen and chicken was rife, and the berries were very small, alluding to very concentrated wines. Unfortunately many people have made a simple and sweet style of pinot that you can't be enthusiastic about, with no structure and fairly plain tannin, if even there.

My standouts of the evening were:

Fromm Clayvin Vineyard (barrel sample)
So, so young, but showing heaps of potential. Loved the herbs on the nose and the fruit parternship; kinda reminded me of Felton B3, though with less dark cherry.
Escarpment
I didn't rate the '04, but this new offering is IMO Larry's best yet. Brooding, plenty of depth, layers on the palate and fantastic structure.
Main Divide
Stylistic wine; extracted, richer and more textural than I remember it. Great value at the price.
Te Kairanga John Martin Reserve
The best Martinborough pinot on tasting, and best tannins of the show. The tannins were coarse and very similar to some Burgundies I've had recently. Fruit depth is definitely there. Had a chat with Andrew Shackleton of TK (MD) and he thinks it has the best ageing prospects yet; 10years plus.
Terravin Hillside Selection
The two Mikes are doing wonders. Why they don't have a cult following in Australia and the States and sell out of wine rapidly is anyone's guess. It's a textural wine, with acid there but lying low, and boy is it tight. Needs 3-5 years to truly shine.
Two Paddocks Picnic
An absolute bargain at $21. Plenty of pinosity without that cloying, over the top Central Otago fruit. A long finish too. Superb qpr.
Valli Gibbston Vineyard
Met Grant Taylor and had a great long chat with him. Definitely not the type of personality I'd imagined given his GV fame. He's made two wines, one from Gibbston and one from Bannockburn. They split people on the night, but I preferred the Gibbston for this low cropping, ripe vintage.
Craggy Range Te Muna
Cuddly. Oak and fruit married well with some super polish to the finish and mouthfeel. Class.

Cheers,

Some odds and ends from Friday.

Manzanilla in splits. Forget the maker. Anyway everyone should drink more dry sherry.
Pol Roger NV - Very nice. Just a sip.
Some very reductive 2004? Adelaide Hills Viognier - Forget the name. I don't need to know it based on this tasting..
2003 Tower Estate Hunter Chardonnay - Nice oak, lots of peaches. Fat old school Hunter style. Good.
2005 Lawsons Dry Hills Gewurtz - Hugely aromatic. Pineapple, lychee, musk. Rich slippery spicy palate. Very good.
2004 Hugel Riesling - Delicate. Lovely wine. Yum.
2003 Mon Redon Cote du Rhone - Yuk. At least this glass.
2003 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico - Very meaty. Not bad.
2004 Giles Robin Crozes Hermitage - Yum. Supple and peppery and very good to drink.

GW

Maximus wrote:2004 Meerea Park Aunts Shiraz - all oak and no fruit. Poor.

..and undoubtedly corked. This is the only wine in which they still use natural cork.
GW

Not my bottle Gary; it was under screwcap.
Which is funny, because given all the hype about the wine, I would have said corked for sure if it was indeed under cork. Two glasses and the rest was tipped out.

Maximus wrote:Not my bottle Gary; it was under screwcap.
Which is funny, because given all the hype about the wine, I would have said corked for sure if it was indeed under cork. Two glasses and the rest was tipped out.

.....which again raises the question of what reaction is taking place in relation to reds under screwcap that makes moderately oaked wines( for which the Aunts qualifies) appear oak dominant? I've had this wine and thought it was quite solid and good value for money too, but not overoaked, and have also seen notes on the Majella Musician ( from more than one person) saying that it was over oaked when it hardly see's any at all. Again, not my experience of that wine either. Is it a screwcap issue? Any thoughts?

Cheers

2002 Penfolds bin 389

Strangely enough the first time I have had this wine and I can see what all the fuss is about. Will quite obviosuly age really well but it is a stunning young wine that softened up nicely after an hour in the glass. Was this a good vintage? I would think that it was, if not I'd love to try a good one. Must get some of this for the makeshift cellar.

Unless people mistake charry reduction for charry oak then I don't understand. Screwcaps look very consistant to me.
GW

I had a bottle of Schubert Pinot Noir 2003 last night at a friend's birthday party. It had a slightly confected cherry nose. On the palate, it was velvety with soft tannins. This bottle tasted better than one that I had late last year when there were hints of bitter dark chocolate on the palate. Some of the people there, who usually do not drink red wine, found this this wine quite easy to drink.

I also drank a bottle of Montes Limited Selection SB 2005 last weekend. It lacked the texture of the more expensive NZ SB like Neudorf and SB / Semillon mix like Cape Mentelle's. However, it is cheaper and compares well with same price-level SBs like Morton Estate, Palliser, and Nepenthe. That is around 2,000yen or about A$22 in Japan.

A couple of days before the Montes, I had a bottle of Grosset Watervale 2005. It was very fresh, lovely nose of limes, steely with lemony acids, but the wine seems a little closed and one-dimensional. It's my first experience drinking a Grosset Riesling, so I am probably not a good judge of this wine, and I know that I have drunk it way too young, but I just wanted to see what a Grosset Riesling is like. I have a couple more bottles in the cellar, so will check them out again in 4 to 5 year's time. The Watervale certainly tasted better than an aged Nikolaihof Von Stein Riesling Smaragd 1995 had in late September, but did not have that balance of fruit, weight, and acid that I found in some Wachau / Kremstal Rieslings like the Schmelz Riesling Steinriegl 2005 and Loimer Steinmassl 2004, both tasted at their CDs last month. Perhaps, my tastes are for Rieslings which are somewhere between the German and Aussie style of Rieslings.

Cheers,

Raymond

Gary W wrote:... then I don't understand.GW

That's okay Gary, we can't expect you to know everything.

On the showing of this bottle, I will not pay for another Meerea Park Aunts and it's somewhat of a worry that bottles like this could be circulating around NZ and showing similarly in what would be a market they'd no doubt wish to be tapping into. I'll send Meerea Park an email and advise of outcome.

Nice to hear from you Raymond. You've been MIA. Kai Schubert is a really nice guy and he's producing some pretty sharp wines. Is the Schubert Pinot worth the money do you think? I haven't tried it, but I had his '03 Syrah a few weeks ago and it's a pretty complex and beefy style. There aren't many people that can ripen syrah in Martinborough (or NZ, for that matter) to 14.5% resulting alcohol, and have such concentrated fruit that warrants 27months of oak handling...

Cheers,

It's Sunday and I DON'T have to work......

In a pigs..... I spoke to soon; no sooner had I posted that and the **** phone went and I had to go into work for the day!

As far as bottle variation etc, I have seen a bit of it underscrew cap (admittedly far less than under cork) and some bottles that were rank with "something" (not reductive).... yes and even a few bottle that I would have sworn were so muted that they were corked, yet there were not corked as they were screwed.

In answer to Grant, yep, it is the screwcap; it can and does some funny things to wine from time to time. Its a very complex issue. Some of it can be explained here and this will give you a brief idea of the complexities involved.

Damned if You Do - Screwed if You Don't

Adair wrote:2004 Chateau Pato DJP Shiraz – 14.5% - Hunter Valley, NSW: Although there is definitely smoked meats upon opening, I found nothing of the reductive criticism others have found, maybe with a little consideration given to its screwcapped closure. Superb wine that was at its best on the second night. Beautifully textural without needing to be sweet. Medium-full bodied, packed with spices and plums and ripe, smooth grained, tannins. Wonderful finish. 94/100 (18.5/20)

We will obviously have to get our bottles for Blacktongues blind tastings direct from you Adair, as they keep sending us the dud ones to assess.

2002 Kabminye Irma Adeline Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre Marsanne/Rousanne/Ugni Blanc (Screwcap): Dark to inky crimson with a hint of purple. Slightly stinky/reductive at first, smoky/diesel, apricot & underlying dark chocolate; a double decant through the breatheasy (forcing the equivalent of about 2+ hours breathing) initially didn’t do much, but with more time it blossomed showing some complex celery/petrol characters against a rich backdrop of blackberry/chocolate. The palate was mid-weight and punchy, rich blackberry and dark chocolate with a hint of apricot, developing some more petrol characters but also some alcohol heat with breathing (14.5%). There are some good things here but I’m not sure where this one is going - it seems to needs a lot of breathing, and yet the alcohol seems to stick out as a result.

2002 Grant Burge Miamba Barossa Shiraz: Dark to inky ruby red with a hint of purple. Gorgeous blackberry/blueberry/cherry fruit on the nose with some underlying chocolate and spicy oak. Likewise the mid-weight palate is all about the sweet blackberry/cherry fruit: while there’s a thin vein of black olive and fine tannins ensuring a very fine finish, it’s hard to ignore that incredible kick of sweet fruit mid-palate. While I’ve mentioned some over-achievers this year, this bargain from two years ago is still looking very smart.

Cheers,
Ian

n4sir wrote:2002 Grant Burge Miamba Barossa Shiraz: Dark to inky ruby red with a hint of purple. Gorgeous blackberry/blueberry/cherry fruit on the nose with some underlying chocolate and spicy oak. Likewise the mid-weight palate is all about the sweet blackberry/cherry fruit: while there’s a thin vein of black olive and fine tannins ensuring a very fine finish, it’s hard to ignore that incredible kick of sweet fruit mid-palate. While I’ve mentioned some over-achievers this year, this bargain from two years ago is still looking very smart.

Cheers,
Ian

I got to try this wine at Easter 2004 in the Barossa. My local rep had set up a visit for me and when I asked about tasting the 2002 Filsell & Miamba was advised they were not tasting these wines yet. No sooner said than someone came into the tasting room with a bottle of each for us to try.

The Miamba was one of the wines of the week we were in the Barossa.

I bought a case of the Miamba when released but was disappointed with the bottle variation in the carton. I did buy more and still found variation.

Still, the good ones were great.

Graham

G'day Max,

Thanks for the welcome back. Been very quiet for quite a while because of work and a 3-week holiday in Austria, Southern Germany and a couple of days in Strasbourg. I did post a few messages on the UK Wine Forum a couple of months ago.

I got in a couple of days of visiting some cellar doors in the Wachau / Kremstal / Kamptal regions in Austria while I was on holiday in Austria. They make some fabulous Rieslings, but not really sure if they are exported to the Oz and Kiwi markets.

It depends on how much the Schubert cost in NZ, Max. In Japan, it goes for around 3,800yen or about A$40. At that price, it has a lot of competition from village level pinots from Burgundian winemakers such as Michel Gros and Dujac Fil & Pere. I would pay no more than A$30 for the Schubert Pinot Noir 2003, so I guess that should translate into around NZ$25 in the Kiwi home market (being cheaper at home.) The playing field for wines is a lot more leveled here because everything is imported, so no real home ground advantage for any wines (except for a few local labels). Most imported wines have markups of between 20 to 40% over the prices in their home markets. In extreme cases, like some of the Loimer Riesling Steimassl that I want to get my hands on, I have to pay double the price at the cellar door in Langenlois, Austria. BTW, how much does the Schubert Pinot 2003 go for in NZ? So far, the best Pinot that I have had this year is a bottle of Robert Ampeau Volnay-Santenot 1991, and that cost the same as the Schubert.

Thanks for the info about the Schubert Syrah 2003. I can get that here for the same price as the Pinot 2003, but right now I have no space in my wine fridges. I have picked up some Grosset Watervale 2005 and Polish Hill 2003, Cape Mentelle SB Semillon 2005, and Penfolds Bin 389 1998 recently, so I need to drink a few more bottles before placing another order. Do you think the Schubert Syrah 2003 is worth a go at around A$40 a bottle?

Cheers,

Raymond

Gary W wrote:Unless people mistake charry reduction for charry oak then I don't understand. Screwcaps look very consistant to me.
GW

We are moving through a doz 2004 Chalambar as our house wine at the moment and so far of the 5 that have gone down only 2 have been the same. No undrinkable, but different none the less, and they (the 3 that is) all had obvious reductive elements.

Charles Melton Shiraz 2002: This is a wine that more Barossa Shiraz should aspire to. No overt vanilla oak, not reeking of coffee and no a sickly sweet syrup of Shiraz. This appeared to be very tight on opening and benefits from a bit of time in the decanter and glass. Nose exhibits a little cedar, some dusty earth, crushed dark berries, mint, a little lavender and aniseed. The palate has a sweet/savoury complexity showing liquorice, a hint of pepper and spice but with deep plum and dark berries. The tannins are quite fine and the wine exhibits a splash of acid which makes it seem very fresh. An excellent wine that is fantastic with food and should gain more savoury/earthy complexity with age. 92/100

William Downie Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2005: Believe the hype. This wine justifies the high scores and rave reviews. Sexy packaging too. Brilliant ruby red when poured into the glass. Nose wasn’t very giving at first but a long stint in the decanter allowed it too open up a bit, showing spice and a forest like character. The palate is lean and long with fruit in the refined red fruit pinot spectrum with a spicy, sappy finish. Fine tannins and a vibrant acidity make for an excellent pinot noir. Hard to describe but I think poise and focus is what this wine is all about. 94/100

Also quaffed a Zema Estate Shiraz 2001 – great quality mid-weeker at the price and benefits a few years in the cellar

Wynns Michael Shiraz 94 -a little closed on the nose - toasty on the palate - oak - some slight berry flavours - overall may have needed another hour or two to open up.

Coldstream Hills Pinot 05 - very nice - food friendly wine - cherries predominant on the palate- starting to enjoy this pinot lark

regards

seddo wrote:...starting to enjoy this pinot lark

I am with you on this one seddo. Who could believe there is more than Shiraz and Cabs out there!

2000 Bests Cabernet Franc
Had I tasted this blind, I might have thought it a Pinot. Light in colour, strawberry, nicely integrated velvety tannins. Nothing like the last bottle I had a year ago. Very pleasant and went down very quickly - just not what I was expecting.

Raymond W wrote:I got in a couple of days of visiting some cellar doors in the Wachau / Kremstal / Kamptal regions in Austria while I was on holiday in Austria. They make some fabulous Rieslings, but not really sure if they are exported to the Oz and Kiwi markets.

Raymond,

I'm a riesling fiend, and would love to know more about these places you went in Austria (PM is fine). Do you have some names or websites (unlikely) so that I could contact them and enquire about freight/shipping a case to NZ? Were they spatlese style wines, or a mixture?

Raymond W wrote:Thanks for the info about the Schubert Syrah 2003. I can get that here for the same price as the Pinot 2003, but right now I have no space in my wine fridges. I have picked up some Grosset Watervale 2005 and Polish Hill 2003, Cape Mentelle SB Semillon 2005, and Penfolds Bin 389 1998 recently, so I need to drink a few more bottles before placing another order. Do you think the Schubert Syrah 2003 is worth a go at around A$40 a bottle?

Around $40 for the Schubert Syrah is very sharp. They only make about 110 cases of it, and those cases are six packs, so it's actually quite a rare wine. Cost price is about $40 in NZ, which means it's retailing upwards of NZ$60. I liked the wine - a lot - and the review will be in Wine Front before too long. It did fall over the following day, but it's quite an interesting wine on song; not a caricature of syrah, but something a bit different. Make sure you report on how those '98 Bin 389s are travelling.

Cheers,

2001 Howard Park Chardonnay Initially buttery with a little spicy stone fruit, little too oaky but still very pleasant, oak became more apprent with time in the glass
2005 Hugo Unwooded Chardonnay After the Howard Park seemed to lack a little of everything, nice fresh green apple and citrus but a little underwhelming
2001 Ebenezer Shiraz Still some pleasant red fruit on the palpate but not helped by a very metallic finish, not that inspiring
1999 Serafino Shiraz Very strange wine, dominated by confected bouquet and palate. There was some nice McLaren Vale red fruits there somewhere, but it was belted by what I can only describe as candy. Not for me.
2001 Wolf Blass Brown Label Shiraz Now that's what we're looking for. Sexy slinky Barossa Shiraz. Still some fairly firm tannins & plenty blackberry and blackcurrant with a little liquorice with just the right amount of vanillin oak. Wish I'd been drinking this all night.
2006 Groom Sauvignon Blanc Best white this weekend, very racy acid with a hint of banana, a touch more passionfruit and a little grassy but nothing overpowering, very tasty.
?2005 Longview Riesling A touch disappointing, just lacked some zip. Plenty of citrus but seemed to fall a little flat.
1997 Jansz Late Disgorgement Sparkling Not sure of the grape type, dominated by yeasty flavours. Plenty of nutty toasty flavours. A little flat on the mousse, but quite tasty for its style.
2004 Glaymond Landrace Shiraz Mataro Opened 3 hours before consumption, opened up to be in-your-face in every way. Blackberry, blackcurrant, some mulberry, allsuper fresh and super strong. Obvious oak, but not offensive, maybe a touch of varnish on the finish. Some alcohol heat to finish as well, but considering the 16.5%, not too much. Expecting this to settle into a belter of a wine, should probably have decanted in for a week or so. Still my wine of the weekend, mainly because it hit me over the head!
Cheers
Nick

A couple of weeks to catch up on.....
St Halletts Old Block 1994
Great Juice this!!!!! In its window of balance of coffee, vanilla and blackberry. My WOTY (so far)
Turkey Flat shiraz 2001
Just coming into the window, still a little primary but i like em like that!
nice barossa fruit with that great "turkey" finish!! Do these guys make a bad wine??
Pokolbin Estate shiraz 2000
If anyone is going to the hunter and doesn't stop off here your nuts!!
this is some of the best style of hunter going around and plenty of back vintages to choose from. The 2000 classic deep earthy hunter, well in balance lots of cellaring infront of it, the reserve labels are great in every vintage.
Seppelt St Peters 1999
Had this tonite after reading a great review on the W* and it didn't let down
Had this about 12 months ago and was very tight and closed, but now slight choc/mint/berries but all fruit on the palate, didn't get too much sediment. Great drop!!

Finally a tribute to Mr M Schumacher who retired tonite in a typical schume style, Great racing, if not for him our "group'' (and my appreciation) of wine-o's may have never had the chance of being so!?!

Cheers, Good drinking to ya all
Simmo

2004 Vasse Felix Chardonnay
This has actually come on a bit in the last few months, finely structured with some lush white peach starting to peek through the restrained nutty oak. Good stuff.

1999 Mildara Coonawarra Cabernet
Reasonably attractive coolish climate fruit, violets and menthol, some slight DMS/geranium like characters. Not really going anywhere.

1999 Silesian 'Scribblers' Shiraz Grenache
Opened up pretty baggy, but blew off to reveal an attractive sweetly scented Grenache nose. Crushed berries, licorice, sarsparella, and some aged leather characters beginning to develop. Relatively loose-knit with some attractive black fruits. I would suspect this is about as good as it will get, drink up.

1996 Bethany GR Reserve Shiraz
The last of what has been an enjoyable few bottles. This was probably the poorest showing with perhaps the slightest trace of TCA. Fruit has faded to reveal overt old leather, slightly stewed character, but still some attractive dark chocolate through the middle.

2002 Vasse Felix Shiraz
Enjoyed this immensely with slick blueberry fruit, attractive cinnamon and nutmeg characters and well judged oak. Will leave remainder for another 2-3 years.

2004 Jones LJ Shiraz
This one the trophy for best North East red at last months Rutherglen Show. Concentrated rasberry fruit with some darker blackfruit characters. Tight savoury oak, which at this early stage brings a hardness to the overall structure, but this is a superb wine that will absolutely blossom in time.

1993 The Barkly Durif
I have an interest to declare, but this was the WOTN for all. Still relatively fresh and chewy fruit, surpremely balanced with hints of ground spice, new leather, aniseed, bitter chocolate and fine tannins. Complex, long and savoury.

Morris Old Premium Muscat
Eight bottles later I really should have opted for a cheapie, but one should never lament sharing a wine like this with friends. All of the goodies one would expect of a Rare Rutherglen Muscat. Great power, surpreme length, all wrapped up in the squeaky clean Morris house style.

LL

Max,

I'm at work now, so I will PM you after dinner tonight with details about some of the Rieslings that I like and the winemakers' contact details. I need to dig up some TNs and TVs that I took.

Cheers,

Raymond

Lots of samples to try, some good, some bad, many indifferent.

but one that was none of the above, it was outstanding.

2004 La Curio Reserve Shiraz

Lovely stuff, really good fruit, meets great McLaren Vale vintage meets sympathetic wine making. Medium bodied, not huge, but impeccably balanced, and already complex. The nose is a knockout ... plums, berries, fruits of the forest style, with hints of earth, chocolate, spices, constantly changing and evolving. The palate is no let down, again, medium bodied, not a huge blockbuster, but it has loads of fruit, intensity and style. Again a myriad of darker fruits, with oak well in the background, it has great length and balance. My style of Shiraz.

Probably hard to find, but worth the effort.

1998 Peterson Cab Sauv
This was a rare Hunter Cab Sauv buy for me - often horrible young and just taste like an old Hunter Shiraz when old. This was interesting and tasting when young now Oh my God what boring boring wine. Nothing obviously wrong just no interest half bottle first night second night couldn't be bothered beyond a glass (and that's between 2). One more left hopefully it will be more interesting.

2003 Petaluma Riesling
Ooops almost misspelt riesling (something I find ridiculously annoying given I'm lousy at spelling)
Over Sunday lunch very pleasant drop now but should improve. I'm finding this style beginning to apeal more. Floral sented and oh so quaffable.

2002 Leasingham Bastion Cab Sauv
Coming to the end of 2 cases of this wine. Up there with best bargains of the last few years. Lovely rich ripe fruit great length - the bottle just disappears.

Howard Park Scotsdale Shiraz 2003
Hard and green and pretty tough going, not my cup of tea at all.

Penfolds Koonunga Hill 2003 and 2004
The was the best of a bad lot available at the local RSL club where we went to a trivia night on Sat. I think the 03 was a slightly better wine but maybe the extra year had held to round it out a bit more.

Petersons Petit Verdot 2003 (Mudgee)
Nice medium to full bodied wine, plenty of dark berry fruit with some pepper and a bit of oak in the mix. Nice drop all around.

Glen

In addition to the 1969 Tyrrells I wrote about earlier;

2005 Warrabilla Cleanskin Durif

Did someone order a port? This was really good but more like a port than a typical dry red. Deep purple/red, rich fruity aroma showed no real sign of the elevated alsohol level. Lots of licorice and sweet fruits. This wine is really ripe. The palate was smooth easy going and packed with fruit. Not too complex or subtle but never the less a good wine at a good price in a style that is different from the mainstream.

2005 Clonakilla Viogner

I have had this a few times lately. Yum! Lots going on. Intense ripe varietal chatacters of apricot, peach, spice etc. Plenty of citrusy acid to balance the slightly elevated alcohol levels. A fantastic match to the corn fed roast chicken it was served with.

2004/2005/2006 Kamberra Viogner

After the Clonakilla I tried a variety of vintages from another Canberra producer.

All very good. 2004 was the first vintage and is still showing very well. The 2005 was a little more restrained and not quite as interesting. The 2006 is unreleased and this was a tank sample. It was looking very smart at this stage, picked a little earlier it showed lots of fruit character balanced nicely with the acid, oak influence etc. These are great value in the $10-$15 range.

2005 Houghtons Late Picked Verdelho

Matched to a mid week laksa. There is somthing about Verdelho and chilli that works really well. The slight sweet nature of this variety and style also worked very well with the dish. The wine was a bit simple and tropical to be of much interest by itself.

2005 Tyrrells Lost Block Semillon

What do you know...... two hunter wines in a week. Very strange, and both Tyrrells??

This was classic young Hunter Semillon. Loads of acid, grassy, floral. Bargain to boot. Nothing amazing but this is a great value, consistant wine. Why don't I drink more Semillon? It might be a task for this summer.



Billy B