The Auswine Forum

Hi Good Peoples,

As most of you bastards are probably on holidays and guzzling far more plonk than is good for your liver, if you haven't already done so, please let us know what you have been drinking over the last week.

Lists, vibes or tasting notes welcome.

1995 Tim Adams Clare Valley Aberfeldy Shiraz : good wine , noticed only on the last glass that quite oaky really.

1997 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape : sort of Barossa like ! Nice generous and soft dry red. Very good.

1997 Ashton Hills Reserve Pinot Noir Adelaide Hills : this was even better than I was expecting. Great balance , a real pleasure to drink , disappeared quickly. Complex but lovely and clean too - I cellared it myself. Very pleasing - wish I had bought more. I reckon this'd easily cellar 10 more years.

2004 Lake Breeze Cabernet Sauvignon Langhornes Creek : a massive wine , I guess bit of a wine show special perhaps but seemed pretty balanced too. Under stelvin this will keep for ages and hopefully gain complexity too. Not really the type of wine I'm looking for at the moment but that's my problem....

2005 Wendouree Cabernet Malbec : fresh raspberry fruit on nose and palate - tight as a crabs arse. 13.3 % alc.

Looking forward to some whites over the next couple of days as it is bloody hot here in Adelaide at the moment......

Been trying to detox and flush out my system over the last few days, so just the one bottle last night, although one of my perennial favourites:

The Warren Vineyard Cabernet Merlot, 1997, still a deep inky purple colour right o the edge. Mint and lots of it on the nose, with some blackberry and a touch of chocolatey port. Initially very minty in the mouth - when the wine was a bit warm, so dropped in the fridge to cool down a bit - deep, powerful blackcurrant fruit rises after a while and the wine is seamlessly integrated. Soft, drying tannins on a long dark fruit and hint of chocolate finish. Very very tasty.

Cheers

Dave

2004 Scarborough Semillon - Hunter Valley, NSW (Screw)

An abraisive alcohol finish but this is offset slightly by fresh citrus aromas including lime, which was expected. Needed to be warmer to appreciate characters of melon and musk. A good wine but alcohol stood out too much for me.

2006 Golden Grove Tempranillo - Granite Belt, QLD (Screw)

Among the best of the unusual varietals showing their heads in Australia. Showed excellent structure, I did decant after initial tasting and it brought out more cassis aroma, the palate is quite lengthy and the acid/alcohol/sugar balance was delightful. A great drop which will cellar well for at least 8 years.

Belting through some small grower champagnes of which the best were Bruno Michel NV Cuvée Blanche (good flavour but a bit on the sweet side) Roger Pouillon NV Brut Vigneron with the hideous label (nice and dry, quite yeasty and very fine). Love that many of these small makers are using DIAM Mytik cork.
Billecart Salmon NV - Spanking fresh stock direct from importers. Bit coarse but OK. Quality slipping?
I found some Voyager Cab Merlot under the house so I opened the 2003 Developing some beefstock character - excellent
and also a 2001 to re-confirm that this is a top wine.
2005 J.Confuron-Cotetidot Vosne Romanee - Backwards and tannic but plenty of promise.
2006 Tyrrells Vat 63 Chardonnay Semillon - Drink of champions.
etc.
GW

Gary W wrote:Belting through some small grower champagnes of which the best were Bruno Michel NV Cuvée Blanche (good flavour but a bit on the sweet side) Roger Pouillon NV Brut Vigneron with the hideous label (nice and dry, quite yeasty and very fine). Love that many of these small makers are using DIAM Mytik cork.
Billecart Salmon NV - Spanking fresh stock direct from importers. Bit coarse but OK. Quality slipping?
I found some Voyager Cab Merlot under the house so I opened the 2003 Developing some beefstock character - excellent
and also a 2001 to re-confirm that this is a top wine.
2005 J.Confuron-Cotetidot Vosne Romanee - Backwards and tannic but plenty of promise.
2006 Tyrrells Vat 63 Chardonnay Semillon - Drink of champions.
etc.
GW

** Hi Gary,

I'm interested in trying some white bubbles under alternative closures. Where can I source these from?

Thanks,

Stuart

PM Sent.
GW

2003 Pierro Chardonnay: very good. Lots of rich peach fruit with hints of grapefruit and lemon zest with an underlying nuttiness. There is a decent amount of oak at play but it seems to fit the wine. Plenty of acid drawing through the lengthy finish.

2000 Cullen Cabernet Merlot: very good Margaret River Cabernet. Generous in dark, brambly fruit but still quite taut. The fruit is complimented by nuances of olive, dried rosemary and dusty earth. Fine tannins and great structure. A few more years may add more complexity.

1998 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz: have had better bottles than this one lately but it was still very good. Great depth of fruit but it seemed a little dominated by aniseed/licorice flavours. Got better with air and may have needed some time in the decanter to show its best.

2003 Chateau La Tour Blanche Sauternes: rich yet balanced by a fine spine of acid. Dried apricots, pineapple, marmalade and a hint of honey. Delicious.

2001 was the first Cullen C/M vintage to be labelled Diana Madeline. I shared my one and only bottle of the 2000 two years ago at New Year, thought it was excellent, the palate length outstanding.

http://www.cullenwines.com.au/pages/win ... /csm00.htm

Happy New Year

daz

Daryl Douglas wrote:2001 was the first Cullen C/M vintage to be labelled Diana Madeline. I shared my one and only bottle of the 2000 two years ago at New Year, thought it was excellent, the palate length outstanding.

http://www.cullenwines.com.au/pages/win ... /csm00.htm

Happy New Year

daz

Cheers for the info Daz, edited accordingly.

Hmmm, we had 30 people for Christmas Day and then 25 or so for Boxing day and put out 2 crates for recycling so I really can't remember everything that went down so this is just a list in no particular order:

NV Lanson: Very good
NV Bollinger: Good
NV Moet: Noice
04 Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz: Good
?? Stephen John Sparkling Shiraz: very good
03 Rockford sparkling Black: Very complex, excellent, very wet cork (of course)
98 Leasingham Bin 61: Mulberries, very good indeed
06 Wither Hills Sav Blanc: Fruity, reliable, good.
07 Oyster Bay Sav Blanc: Fresh and Good
04 Peter Lehmann Cab Sav: Very good
Got through a variety of beer too.

Can't remember anything else. Strange thing is that I put out a heap of wine and seem to have more left over than what I originally put out. Doesn't anyone drink anymore?

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

2003 Rockbare Barossa babe - Intense Barossa shiraz, Sweet rich and concentrated. Great wine!. $40.

2005 Kooyong Estate Pinot Noir - Smooth rich pinot. Would be great with further cellaring. $38.

2006 Black Chook Shiraz Viognier - For $16 this is another great wine from Ben RIGGS. Full bodied, joosy flavours, with the distinct apricot and black pepper background. Great value.

HNY
Leigh

Gary W wrote:Billecart Salmon NV - Spanking fresh stock direct from importers. Bit coarse but OK. Quality slipping?

Ditto, these were exactly my thoughts but on the BS NV Rosé. I was going to buy a 6 pack but opted for just 2 bottles, now wish I had only bought one.
Very disappointing.

You simply can't see supply ever-increasing and quality remaining the same!

I also noticed this on Lanson NV a few months ago, once my bread & butter Champers, now wouldn't touch it at any cost. Probably goes for most NV's really. Afterall, the world economy has never been so good, so just about everybody is celebrating something. Definately time to focus on the smaller producers, as well as the best of Aussie, NZ and English if you can find it.

Glen wrote:

Gary W wrote:Billecart Salmon NV - Spanking fresh stock direct from importers. Bit coarse but OK. Quality slipping?

Ditto, these were exactly my thoughts but on the BS NV Rosé. I was going to buy a 6 pack but opted for just 2 bottles, now wish I had only bought one.
Very disappointing.

Oh great. I bought 2 bottles of the BC NV Rosé for tonight...might have to prep myself with a few beers before opening...

GW

Hi all, Sunday night drinks and nibbles with a few neighbours.

Rockford Sparkling Black Shiraz 2004 disgorgement - very complex, lovely wine, no cork problems. Had everyone asking for more.

Rockford Alicante 2007 - bit of a cleanser before the next wine.

Rockford Home Block Cabernet 1999 magnum - very elegant wine that went down too easy between 3. 12.8%

Glaetzer Godolphin 2004 - in hindsight didn't really need this but we finished it anyway. Huge wine, very peppery & spicey on back palate - maybe alcohol? 15%

Cheers, Damian

Very lean on the wine front for a while, been way too hot, hence much beer has been consumed instead, however here are some notable wines worth mentioning:

NV Tigress 'Bay of Fires' Sparking Rose - really enjoyable wine, very good value at about $20 too, recommended

2007 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc - for a cheapie this was very approachable and enjoyable also

2006 Howard Vineyard Shiraz Viognier - a new release for them. Very bright in colour, black pepper/spice on the nose, on opening the viognier was not real noticable however after 30 or so minutes later it showed more and more. Only a few weeks out from bottling it showed quite well, very closed at first but opened up showing some promise. I bought a couple of bottles to try down the track.

At various times over the Christmas break actually.

Bay of Fires Tigress Pinot Noir 2006 - excellent, streamlined, varietal

Faiveley Bourgogne Rouge 2005 - very average indeed, nice nose but shallow and flaccid palate. $27 buys better at home.

Pierro Sem Sauv Blanc LTC 2006 - lemon and limes, more Riesling than SSB but steely and delicious

Tatachilla Foundation Shiraz 1999 - drinking very well, rich and long

Bests Bin 0 Shiraz 2001 - one of my wines of the holiday, very long, great palate weight (not heavy) with sweet, minty notes. Delicious

La Tour Blanche 2001 - good, effective Sauternes but can't enthuse much more than this and it was a couple of days opened by the time I got to it

Tolleys Pedare Cabernet Sauvignon 1993 - in remarkable shape, quite eminently varietal, good length

Conde Valdemar Riserva 2001 - subtle, savoury wine not especially long but more-ish and eloquent

Majella Sparkling Shiraz 2004 - fantastic, lovely oak treatment and depth of fruit flavour with hints of telltale Coonawarra menthol. Better than Rockfords in the benchmark stakes.

Yarrabank Vintage 2001 - good secondary honeyed characters, a wine of stature and depth.

Coldstream Hills Chardonnay 2004 - nice, quite fruit sweet but balanced still

Golding The Leap SB 2006 - nice palate weight and length, some lovely grass and herb notes amongst the fruit

Tim Adams Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 - excellent wine, stately, composed, lead pencil shavings, blackcurrant, will look for some of this

T'Gallant Imogen Pinot Gris 2006 - quite sweet, pleasant enough but not memorable

Green Point Chardonnay 2004 - slightly bitter finish, OK, good weight