The Auswine Forum

It is disappointing to see this happening to Penfolds products. Up here in the sticks where variety and good advice were traditionally hard to come by, it was always an easy decision to buy the latest Penfolds releases and just put them down for varying periods. In the past I have been a big support...

I did sample the Turkey Flat Rose at DMs on Saturday. This is a little too dry and lacked fruit for my taste. It was a bit cooler than optimum but I doubt that would change my assessment. I don't want to use Rose as an aperitif - I want to quaff it on the deck on warm Queensland summer afternoons - ...

Thats a blast from the past Daz. Back in the '70 we consumed gallons of Kaiser Stuhl Gold Medal Rose and Mateus Rose. Not to mention McWilliams Rose in the 2 litre flagons. These are still my favourite styles of Rose. I hate jammy intense Rose with a sickly sweet palate OR pale pink with little frui...

I've always considered myself a HUGE fan of Rose, but on reflection, I probably prefer a particular style similar to the Mateus 'model'. I particularly dislike very dry Rose without much fruit, and alternately, the dark coloured very intensely fruity syrupy styles without a good acid balance. I used...

That's a good question about the emails Vs Newsletters. I confess to not taking too much notice of either as I know I will be in the store on Saturday anyhow and don't intend going to the evening mid-week tastings/clinics. You are right about the problem of how you would get home - even if you staye...

Hi Luke, sorry to hear about the medical issue. No surgery is insignificant. Hope you make a speedy recovery. Do you get the DM electronic newsletters? They always mention any upcoming clinics/tastings etc. I'm sure Chris would try to solve that problem for you. I'm about 12 months out from retireme...

Thanks for the tips. Have a few of these myself and marked it initially as suitable around 2017/8. I won't bother tasting one for a while.

Luke, you are probably aware that there is quite a vibrant little 'enthusiast' thing going on through the efforts of a couple of knowledgeable and passionate wine staff at the Rocky Dan Murphys. I haven't attended any of the wine dinners or educational evenings yet (doesn't suit me just at the momen...

Hal here, Luke. I manage surprisingly well with a little 'cellar' in the enclosed space under the internal stairs. I would not have lost more than half a dozen bottles in 30 years. It's all about conservative estimates of when a wine will be ready to drink. I don't do whites however (except in the f...

Luke, I'm guessing your avatar depicts the Byzantine towers of the Strand Hotel at sunset.
Sounds like a great 6oth.
Probably a good move to trot those out as it is shaping up as a long hot CQ summer.
Cheers,
H.

Is that really "$20./bottle" corkage or is that a misprint.

Well, I just had to open a bottle to see whether it had been kept too long. The answer is no. Cork was quite sound. I let it air for an hour before the first sip. Lovely Coonawarra colour and bouquet in the big Riedel. Nice dark fruit flavours with distinctly earthy tones. Mushroom and leather &...

I have some bottles of the 2001 in my cellar and my notes on them are "91 pts (Oliver) DRINK ABOUT 2012" so I hope their corks are also good ones.

Thanks T1, that will help me to get through the trying times to come. (that and a lot of red wine)

1969 Grange in 2002 - Vinegar. what a shame.
1970 Grange in 2002 - nice but past its best.
1971 Grange in 2002 - lovely, complex, astounding.
All at the Penfolds Wine Clinic in 2002.
Yalumba Thoroughbred Series Vintage Port. Series 1. (70s) Consumed circa 1990. All terriffic.

Thanks once again, all those good suggestions have been noted & I will be on their trail on Saturday. I nominated $30. because where Port is concerned I find it's easy to get carried away and spend more than intended - and in the 80's I could always find something good for under $15. (was that r...

Thanks Guys, Michael, the Bluestone sounds like it is worth a try as someone else also mentioned it to me. Hanwood and particularly Macquarie port were old favourites of mine from the 70s along with Galway Pipe and many other well known ones. Perhaps its just age & nostalgia that makes me think ...

For about 40 years I have been a keen consumer of fortified wine. Tawny port, Muscat, Tokay, white port & the occasional vintage port. In recent years I have noticed the move to lighter, more elegant, drier styles of tawny port more akin to a Portuguese style. Whilst I like these styles I often ...

Seems to me that when I first got into the Ports (about 40 yrs ago) there were lots of big gutsy heavy tawnys around and few of the lighter elegant spirity 'Portuguese' styles. I can remember hunting down the lighter styles for something different. Now its the opposite and all the brands I used to e...

Mate brought a bottle of Penfold's Grandfather port around for a dinner party last week. Last time I drank this was a decade or more ago but I have always had more favourable memories of this port than were elicited on this occasion. We all agreed that this was a lighter more spirity Grandfather tha...

Well, I went back to Uncle Dan's this arvo with the intention of giving the Red Knot another chance to impress me, it didn't. I asked whether they had sold all the Rosemount SR Cab Sav and they had one case left at the discount price of $9.40/bottle. So I took it. So in view of the above comments, I...

Yeah, me too. I tasted it again at Uncle Dan's this arvo and still feel the same way about it. Gave it a miss.

Uncle Dan has Shingleback's '08 Red Knot Shiraz on special again for $9.40(in any 6). They rate it a 94. The BRW Book rates it an 88 but does say "Forget the score - its good value & good drinking". I tasted it a month or two ago when they previously had it on special and thought it wa...

All this is making it sound like I might have wasted my money on the case of SR '07 Traditional that I bought. Whilst (as I mentioned) the BRW Book gave it only an 89 and thought it was not fresh or refined, the SR Cab Sav (08) did get a 93 & considerable praise - so maybe all is not lost for th...

I'm another vote for a good local sherry. Fino, Oloroso, Amontillado, I don't really mind. Up here in the sticks, I have however found it to be almost impossible to get a glass of sherry that is not stale as the demand for it at restaurants is clearly very low and I shudder to think how long some bo...

You may say I should get out more, but I will never forget the very pleasant experience of my first (and only) Penfolds Clinic at the Ridge Hotel in Brisbane in 2002. I arrived with my six early '70s Grange and was invited to taste the current Penfolds releases while I waited for my appointment. I h...

Confusing isn't it Allan. For it to make sense you need to know that the Barwang was one of the other reds 'on special' at Uncle Dan's that week. The story is that the Reserve trio normally sell in the $18. range so $9.90 would be a pretty good price if the wine is any good. No, Mahmoud, they are no...

I went in to buy the Barwang which seemed like good value as I have had quite a few bottles successfully through the cellar in the past. I was intrigued by the Rosemount range on tasting as I had no knowledge of this normally higher priced range. I would normally have tasted the full range on offer ...

Hi Carl, I thought the '02 was very similar to the '03 I'd had the week before. I had noticed previously that the '03 did seem to soften a bit towards the end but as it was finished within an hour or so of opening it never got the chance to show what it could do. The '02 opened exactly the same as t...

Its amazing how a wine (an older wine) can change with a little bit of breathing time. I have been working my way through a half dozen Rosemount Hill of Gold Cab Sav 2003. Different friends all commented that it was a bit 'sharp' - meaning a bit more acid or maybe tannin than they expected. I had to...