The Auswine Forum

A really good mix of grapes and regions, and lovely to see Tahbilk marsanne part of it. It looks like the Gavi producer is Michele Chiarlo of Calamandrana, but well known for Langhe wines, as well as others from Piemonte. I've just noticed the founder was born in Bubbio, a pleasingly humdrum rural v...

That is awful news, but thank you for sharing. My sympathies to family and friends. I never met him, but very much appreciated his posts here.

Trento Brut, from north-eastern Italy worth trying as an alternative to Franciacorta, and not being so close to Milano, IMO leads to it being better value. At bargain basement level, I'm not a fan of Champagne, feeling various French cremants and also Vouvray Brut can offer more interest and depth. ...

I'm sure we've all been influenced by others, be they critics, friends, colleagues or drinking associates. I know I have, although the effect is more subtle now. In terms of value for money, the most prestigious rarely offer anything near value as a pure drink (I'd probably only include Avignonesi's...

Sometimes its hard to neglect the rating from the wine critic when buying wines. All the 'highly rated' wines that I mentioned are not cheap as well but they have similar rating (just one or two points lower) to the Grange. Unfortunately without spending I don't know why these wines are so highly s...

Personally no. Especially if you've not tasted a Grange yet, as how would you know it suits you (rather than those that sell their opinions)? You've got that bottle of the 2017 to look forward to, so you'll be able to say you've had a Grange. For some, that's the main reason for buying it, and one r...

6 x 2022 Wynns Black Label Cab Sav via cellardoor @ $28pb. You just can’t go wrong with Wynns. At some point I fear the corporate ownership will f*ck up the brand, just as they've done for so many other historic brands. For now though I agree, they've survived remarkably well, and prices for this s...

Good to see Thelema there, a winery I first experienced about 25 years ago, in a Cape Dutch style restaurant in Norwich. It was run by an ex-pat South African, who had about 150 different South African wines, plus a Liebfraumilch and Piesporter "for people who don't like wines" :wink: The ...

Tonight a modest wine 2021 Rivera Fiano Scariazzo Puglia IGT (Fiano the grape, more commonly associated with Campania), bought recently, and this was a single bottle as part of trying a few other wines from their stable (prior to this order, I'd drunk plenty of the Il Falcone, 2-3 bottles of the cap...

Agreed on availability, as even though the UK often a wide selection, brexit has certainly trimmed that back a bit. There are a few Italian retail outfits that have the paperwork set up to ship to UK (VAT paid), albeit also less than before brexit, and prices are no longer the super bargain they use...

Trying out a new Italian based retail outfit Svinando. Early reviews showed some significant teething troubles, but despite never getting any tracking info, the parcel arrived today, with solid packing and everything looks fine. "Il Falcone" Castel del Monte Riserva DOC 2017 3x "Viola...

The Gaja was mine Ian - I was hoping to bring a top white from Alto Adige, but I never quite made it into town and the choice at home was very limited. Lovely wine, but it needs a lot more time in the cellar Not Tiefenbrunner's Feldmarschall by any chance? One of the cheekiest wines to put blind in...

I haven't yet tried the Inama Soaves, but do intend to, and a supermarket chain over here stocks one or two of the single vineyard wines. Plenty of brilliant Italian dessert wines, and Donnafugata a good producer with a broad range of table wines as well. As far as labels go, their mille e una notte...

You could always ask the restaurant if they'd sell you some.

Hi All I suggested this site to SVG as a good place to tap into local knowledge of Aussie wine shops with strong Italian selections including back vintages. I figured if anyone would know, you would. From the discussion on the other site, think of a wine that would appeal to someone who already know...

Welcome Scott! Wine searcher is a very useful price comparison tool, and whilst it doesn't include all retailers, it's got good coverage. In Australia there is a single listing for the 2020 vintage (see below), Vine on Bourke St, Redfern, Sydney, but I see a note that it's pick-up only, and there's ...

crusty2 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 04, 2024 1:41 pm My order is on the way, Clare to Adelaide - via Sydney

There's probably logic in that routing, but I'm struggling to see it At least it's not shipping in summer.

agreed

But to me it is still a mystical art form that I will never quite understand. That's a rather healthy perspective on it :) Don't expect that view to change much over time. I've encountered different results for sure, and that's when I've given it some attention. There are plenty of decent reasons t...

Re: the Chinon, yes for now prices seem generally low for Loire Cab Franc, but there again the oft leafy green-edged aspect of the region's wines suit my tastes. I suspect a growth of interest in the wines will see a steady (but not daft) rise in prices.

The exposure of old wines to air is something of a quasi-religious source of debate. Lots of beliefs, not a lot of science. Audouze, comes from Francois Audouze, very much not the originator of the idea, but he's popularised it on a US wine forum. He himself loves *very* old wines and runs (paid) ev...

Yes, we're all in agreement re: the lack of respect, even understanding, of Lindies' place in the history of Aussie wine.

"Sail off into the sunset"?

More like "Scuttled off Scapa Flow"

Lindemans has certainly been a basket case of brand mismanagement for a very long time. A shame as there used to be stars in both S.Aus and Hunter labels, but the brand was kicked around by an ownership who never really worked out what they wanted it to be. I guess the peril of a company trying to c...

Although for obvious geographical reasons I never used their services, it's clear they did so much very well, and that was recognised in this forum and another I used to post on.

Hoping Mark can regain his health.

A half-dozen of 2015 Rivera Castel del Monte reserva Il Falcone (a wine I've enjoyed a few times before, from Northern Puglia). The wine is the big name in the DOC (albeit not the most expensive), and a fine example of top examples in lesser known appellations, often still being quite modestly price...

A grape that took me a while to realise how well-suited it is to my palate preferences, and it certainly seems to avoid the 'generic red' feeling wherever it's planted. In particular I really like the leafy green aspect that seems very common. I recall really enjoying one made by Bests, which may ha...

Indeed!

I'm probably more conscious of this through having to work with UK data protection laws (and remembering the crazy laxity we used to have ~2 decades ago). As an aside, I recently read about a (now shut) wine shop, that used to keep customer CC details on scribbled bits of paper

Holding CC details for a year

I remain aware of the risk of poor storage when buying at auction, which is why I'm something of a bottom-feeder! Similar for me, though it's been a while since I dabbled in local auctions. If bidding, I always researched the retail price (and browsed CT TNs). Given retail prices could be out of wh...