The Auswine Forum

It's not quite as self indulgent as it sounds Carl. We were touring with another couple.

Yeah Carl, you are right about Bowmore's peat content. I mentioned it in an earlier post. We stayed at a tiny place called Kiels, about a mile from Port Askaig. It was a three bedroom cottage owned by Islay's gamekeeper and his wife. Lovely people. They left us about 10 beautiful gutted trout which ...

Absolutely correct Mahmoud. Glengoyne was the distillery I was thinking of for unpeated malts. Which is near Loch Lomond and nowhere near Islay. I'm drinking the 17 year old now and a lovely smooth drop it is too. The polar opposite to Bruichladdich's Octomore.

Ah Caol Ila. A lovely distillery which took us about an hour to walk to from our accommodation. The return walk took a little longer. Nothing like a breakfast dram before 10 am. And it went down a treat given how cold the morning was. While on Islay malts, you probably should also try Bowmore. My me...

Chuck, given that you aren't a big fan of the heavily peated style of malts, I'd suggest you start your malt journey by trawling through some of the distilleries in Speyside and the Lowlands. That's not to disqualify some of the Islay or highland malts, not all of which come in with smoking levels o...

It will be a totally Aussie red Christmas at our place. We'll be starting with 2001 Ashton Hills sparkling shiraz followed by a range of Bin 389s, possibly comparing vintages from 1994, 1996 and 1998. Hopefully the corks behave themselves but if they don't, I know what to do. And in memory of the gr...

It's cold and wet in Canberra this morning. A bit like a balmy Islay summer day without the gale force winds. Just right for a dram of Jim McEwan's brilliant Octomore - comes in at about 150 ppm. You can smell it in the neighbour's house when the bottle gets opened. But not for breakfast. I went to...

A turn in the weather meant I got a chance to have a dram of the Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Scottish Barley. Absolute cracker and One for the islay fans of heavy peated single malts. It's cold and wet in Canberra this morning. A bit like a balmy Islay summer day without the gale force winds. Just...

Kanga Rouge anyone? Vin tres ordinaire. Much more expensive than vin ordinaire.

Yeah, this has happened to me a couple of times. Bloody irritating when the capsule just screws around without going anywhere. Reminds me of several people I know. I've taken to cutting through the restraining crimps with a sharp knife which gets the job done, although slowly and potentially painful...

2005 Marius Symposium. Bliss. If you have any, be very happy. But no need to rush. This isn't going away any time soon.

I'm the same as sjw_11 with my purchase patterns. Probably buy fewer than 6 bottles per year from the chains and then only when something potentially interesting appears. I also used the chains as a fall back option for beer in the past. However, living in Canberra, I now buy these from an independe...

Exactly. Australia makes the best Australian wines in the world. If you want Italian, go Italian.

Sad isn't it TrickyH. The same old story repeating endlessly. You start with something like Riparosso thinking that's where it will stay. Before you know it, you're dabbling in entry level sangiovese and nebbiolo. Then it all goes crazy and your living room is littered with empty bottles of Barolo, ...

Hi Chris. I've been buying Italian wines for a number of years now. My starting point was entry level stuff - chianti classico, nebbiolo langhe and barbera - and gradually shifted to the lesser known varietals such as nerello mascalese, nero d'avola, frappato, aglianico and sagrantino. Some were jus...

Last time I looked, Rubicon in Griffith still offered a BYO option at, I think, about $15 pb. Owen Kenyon has been running this place for over a decade and his team consistently provide a quality product. I've also never had a problem with BYO at Courgette. I think the real questions are how many bi...

What's not to love about Argentina. Tango, asadas, pisco sours and great value reds. Wouldn't be surprised to see Argentinian and Chilean wines raising their consumption profiles over the next few years as the market moves to the next interesting flavour.

Hi Peter. I'm a big fan of Avatar (I must have more than 2 dozen accross 6 vintages in the cellar) and just wondered what it would be like with the very best fruit. FG, I'd imagine (Just before a smart arse gets in)...[/quote] I'm with you on that Rens. I'm also drinking Roger Pike's 2007 shiraz mou...

I had similar thoughts the other day. I was at the local big chain looking at the Teusner FG range. Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro all single vineyard stuff. Every time I've had it (I've only had the shiraz- 06 and 09)I've thought they were very good wines. But I did wounder what an GSM FG would be li...

I was going to joke I need an antique leather arm chair, fire place, and to be stroking a Spaniel to property enjoy wine... But as to Panda 9D... I don't even know where to go from that... I might hazard a suggestion Mr Panda, that you have perhaps been in Japan too long? I'm more into Spaniards th...

Despite the billions of words wasted on the subject, food and wine matching is neither art nor science. It's simply an exercise in common sense and the application of the bleeding obvious, like no vintage port with seafood or sauvignon blanc with cassoulet. Actually make that no sauvignon blanc with...

Many years ago, a friend and I bought a bottle of a Chateau Margaux, from Roseville Cellars as I recall, around which to build a dinner for the night of the turn of the millenium. We kept it for a number of years and, on the night, found it to be indescribly stuffed. And it had been well stored. Hor...

Choosing cognacs/armagnacs is fairly straight forward. XO Hennessy was the brew that initiated me into cognac and it's still my favourite cognac of that richer orange peel christmas pud style. Jean Luc Pasquet is what I moved to. It's lighter, just as interesting but significantly cheaper. The Armag...

Wouldn't it be easier if she just seasonally adjusted her birth year to 1986?

Sounds like a wonderful night of well deserved celebration. David - was that really a 1927 VP. At 85 years of age, it must have been remarkable in its youth to have held up for so long. I recall buying some halves of Gould Campbell 1977 VP many years ago (at an outrageously good price) and knocking ...

[quote="GraemeG"] NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - 1996 SOUTH AUST REDS - Alio's, Surry Hills (5/11/2012) 1996 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra [cork, 13.5%] {Graeme} Double decanted 3 hours prior. This should have been a...

Also agree that Bruce Tyrrell is a top bloke and a champion of Australian wine. His sister Ann shouldn't be forgotten too. Just watched this feature and hooked back into those lovely long passed times when you could buy Grange from Farmer Bros at Manuka at under $10 a bottle - they actually had a pa...

I had the 05 shortly after release, and thought it was very, very good. I bought 8-9 bottles or so. After a couple of years in the cellar I was less sure - the alcohol was taking over, the overall impression one of increasing jamminess and undue warmth. The 06 on release was less good than 05 imo, ...

Thanks so much again, everyone. Just a quick further question: I have no idea about the wine style of the Toro Albala Don PX - Is that something that one can open and enjoy over a period of time, or will it oxidise and need to be drunk in one or two sittings? I'd have a guess that after it's been o...

Not going to be easy given the timeframe and budget!! Riddoch 82 is a stupendous wine, but even if found, will be way over budget. Noble One also rare and while cheaper, finding it is the key, not likely. Maybe a so called 'lesser' Bordeaux if you're lucky?? But to buy and have delivered within a w...