The Auswine Forum

Only three wines this vintage so skinny allocations. Yep, a shiraz, a cab malbec and a malbec. Better load up on Muscat of Alexandrina :wink: :wink: Cheers Craig That's weird - my order form offers Shiraz, Shiraz/Mataro and Cab/Malbec. Are different people getting different order forms this year?

Hmm, received only a politely worded hand-written letter to say we weren't getting anything this year as they'd run out of everything except the shiraz/malbec, which was the only wine we didn't order. In our seventh year of continuous ordering, this is very disappointing. Oh well, I guess we save ou...

[takes a sip of Koonunga Hill, reads of sjw_11's Emirates dilemma] ... [clears throat] ... Well, Sam, I feel terribly aggrieved for you, and I shall write a terse letter of complaint to the airline immediately. [takes another sip of Koonunga Hill, blinks several times] ... [sobs uncontrollably].

I like stemless glasses (for outside use, after I've had a few). I double decant nearly all my wines (after blind taste testing proved to me the value of it), and I'm more than happy with Wendouree's mailing list system (I got on their list straight away by just asking nicely). I even like some (but...

If people are willing to pay those prices (and clearly, they are), then good luck to the winemakers. It makes me all the more chuffed when I find a fantastic wine for under $20 (usually in my cellar, bought 10+ years ago) in knowing someone has payed $1,000 or more for something not ready to drink a...

I've never had any problems with Langtons; that said I choose my purchases carefully thus minimising the risk.As for the site freezing, there's no way you can be sure the problem was Langtons, but in any case, yes, when I desperately want a wine I will put in my max bid early, otherwise you just hav...

I can understand successful restaurants sticking with a no BYO policy but when the place is half empty night after night it is time to rethink the business model. I have said to local restaurants that I am looking to bring aged wines they can't source or offer and hence don't mind higher BYO charge...

Blood Brother Republic 'BBR' Blewitt Springs McLaren Vale Grenache 2017 This wine won the 2018 Halliday Grenache Challenge, and I approached it with high expectations, although it must be said, I was more than a little perplexed by the wide disparity of awards it had received, from national trophie...

I agree Mahmoud ... oxidised, older whites really do make a fine substitute for cooking sherry. Which reminds me of something, as a bit of a warning. A handful of years ago we had half a dozen 1998 Lindemans Show Reserve Riesling, which sadly had been caught in a broken down car for two days in the ...

Do we really need an excuse to drink Ch. Leoville Barton?

Welcome to the forum, savingforgrange! I won't bag Penfolds, as they were a fantastic entry for my wife and I to the world of wine when we first seriously began drinking wine back in the early 1980s. For many years we regularly bought Bins 707, 389, 128 and 28 which were affordable in those days, an...

My wife and I have been buying and cellaring wine since the early-1980s on a modest budget. For a long time we had a house with a cellar in Adelaide, which was brilliant, but now live in Sydney without a cellar. Whilst we do have a wine fridge for the better wines, the vast bulk are stashed around t...

Hmm, well perhaps not quite in the same league as some here, but we did have a bit of a dinner party the other night with some decent drops: Howard Vineyard Amos Adelaide Hills Chardonnay 2015 : Pale lemon with a gentle, floral nose of honeysuckle and frangipani. On the palate, apricots and melon. B...

Compared to comparably priced wines from South Australia, I believe BP to be good, maybe even great value. Like everything in that price bracket though, in a bad year (eg 2011) you find yourself questioning the price, but really, there are very few bad years, and the good ones are pretty astonishing...

michel wrote: Btw where did the fruit come from?

According to the back label it was made entirely from fruit grown at their Milawa vineyard.

1984 Brown Brothers Cabernet Sauvignon Ordinarily you wouldn't expect much from a mainstream cabernet from an average year after 34 years, but this bottle looked in superb condition, with minimal ullage and the label in perfect condition. The cork was soft and required surgical extraction in multip...

1999 Warrabilla Glenrowan Cabernet Sauvignon We've been buying Warrabilla wines for a few years now, and they're always huge monsters: somehow they manage to cram 16.5 to 17.5% alcohol into these beauties and yet maintain them as lovely table wines. When I saw this '99 cabernet at auction I bid on ...

2017 Peter Lehmann H&V Eden Valley Pinot Gris I normally run a mile from Pinot Gris, but this one is actually rather good: classic apple & pear plus a bit of citrus on the palate, all very clean and well balanced and not at all over the top like so many of them are. Just the thing to have w...

2017 Peter Lehmann H&V Eden Valley Pinot Gris I normally run a mile from Pinot Gris, but this one is actually rather good: classic apple & pear plus a bit of citrus on the palate, all very clean and well balanced and not at all over the top like so many of them are. Just the thing to have w...

2015 Clydesdale Southern Highlands Shiraz Well, this is a surprise. I bought half a dozen of these at auction for $2 each to use as cooking wine, but one has to try them to ensure they're suitable first before putting them in the beef bourguignon, of course. And blow me down, this is actually very ...

2008 Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon The first one of the 2008s we've opened ... Dark, vibrant ruby red; very lustrous. Big bouquet of blackcurrant, plums, chocolate, blackberry, undergrowth, spice, toasty oak and vanilla. Very lovely palate of elegant, creamy plums and dark berries, chocolate...

I've been buying quite a bit off them lately and have had no problems with delivery: yes, it does vary between 1 - 2 weeks, but always arrives in good condition; extremely well-packed, etc. I am based in Sydney, though; perhaps that makes a difference, although I don't see why it should.

Wow, thanks TiggerK, what a great line-up!! Thanks for sharing!

Everything we ordered arrived today in (as usual) excellent condition. Very happy!

Over the past week I have had an interesting comparative tasting between the Wynns Black Label 1998 and the Wynns John Riddock 1998. . The former is now drinking beautifully, soft velvety tannins, cedar, leather, tobacco box secondary flavours on full display. By way of contrast, the Wynns JR is st...

Still no sign of the credit card taking a hit here. I do wonder if Sydney-siders get their orders filled last?!

Thanks, Wizz. The acid in the Sinapius is still apparent, although no longer 'backbone' in nature, but it is already 9 years old so not unexpected. I'm feeling more confident now that these will go the distance. And yes, I love old Rieslings!

They’ll cellar perfectly well if stored well. I do not know the specific wine, but I have a bunch of similarly made Aussie rieslings that are marvelous drinking at 10+ years. The total acidity will play a role in keeping it fresh across the decades. Frogmore Creek have one called FGR, (Forty Grams ...

Hi, I'm not familiar with Sinapius wines but am assuming that when you say "residual sugar riesling" you mean a late harvest wine. I have experience with two older Aussie late harvest rieslings. The first was a 1989 Lindeman's Botrytis Riesling that was elegant when it was young and devel...

Like Sam and wiggum I was pissed off after last year's let down and considered moving my money elsewhere, but boy, prices have skyrocketed so much for premium wine everywhere else that I can't turn my back on them. Wendouree is now looking decidedly cheap compared to even average offerings from othe...