The Auswine Forum

yes, and 20 years ago on this very forum, people were laughing at the "backward French" for not switching GC Burgundy and FG Bordeaux to stelvin.
those forumites include a now prominent Australian wine scribe lols.

any trust in Aussie wine critics went out the door when they continually rated the DM red so highly. IMHO, along with anything coming out of the Bass Phillip stable, amongst the most over-rated wines in Australia. Absolutely head-scratching, they are just such mundane wines, devoid of any true perso...

I didn’t mean to be so grim. But gee auction house reserves frustrating when we all know there’s oceans full of fine wine and a generation coming through who aren’t so thirsty! United Airlines starts flying direct SFO to ADL in November. Rich Californian’s will love our Basket Press. Cheap bargain ...

thanks Allan,
2018 a fabulous vintage for MR cabs, the Moss Wood is sublime. Thought you guys would have piled on MR cabs given where you live!!!

2021 Mayer Yarra Valley Cabernet found this in the cellar last weekend, I think it was a birthday present from a couple of years ago. In my pledge to myself to drink something other than Burgundy or Bordeaux, lols, I decided to put this on the chopping block. bizarre wine, pretty much impossible to...

Hi Graeme,'
thanks, awesome notes, as usual. I'm not really a fan of Aussie pinot, but I had that exact 2015 MM pinot about a year ago and thought it was really good and still pretty young. Any chance your bottle wasn't quite right?

a few Bordeaux First and Second Growths have been putting a few cases under SC since the late 90's to see what happens. Hard to find anything about it, so I guess they are keeping their conclusions to themselves. But either way, Diam and the like will be the future for closures of premium wine, no SC.

I don't buy reds under screwcap any more, they don't develop that same as under cork. interestingly, I have some red Burgundy under screw cap,. even GC's, from the 08-09 vintages. Again, they are universally disappointing. But, of course, if you are buying a wine to drink over the next 12 months or ...

yes, Moss Wood started in 2001, the Cab was sold under both stelvin and cork

oh, forgot to mention, the 86 Lafite has always been a dud, so you didn't miss a lot.

fantastic to see an Aussie tasting with wines that are actually ready to drink lol
89 Haut Brion is an all time desert island wine for me, sadly, I only have two or three left.
90 Montrose is an infuriating wine, when on, its 100pts, but every second bottle (even from the same case) is brett city.

Great notes, thanks 14 Graveyard a super wine, as is the Mount Pleasant stuff from that incredible Hunter vintage. I still think that 14 Hunter is the best vintage of anywhere in Australia in the past 50 years. Hard to make a bad wine that year. Would have guessed it as clear winner, TBH, the remain...

Faiveley's Beze just might be the most under-rated GC in all of Burgundy. Label drinkers won't touch it, which can only be a great thing, but when shown blind, it is almost always the number one or two in any Beze line-up.

still have a couple of bottles of the 1991 version of this, it has consistently been incredible. Has, IMO, the complexity that the vast majority of Aussie shiraz lack. easily the best "mature" Aussie red wine I have in my cellar, and probably the only one I think about drinking when I'm lo...

2018 Hurley Vineyard Garamond Pinot Noir at seven years this is at peak. Let slow ox for five hours prior (it initially opened very closed) this displayed pretty red fruits, decent length and some interest in complexity. Quite sweet-fruited, but balanced by a nice acid and tannin spine. I am not a ...

PS, I make a point of never buying red Burgundy from white Burgundy producers, they are virtually never much good.

thanks for the notes Allan, an interesting read. the two "premier crus" are about the same price as a bourgogne from the Cotes de Nuits, so I'd be wary talking about the quality comparisons. the most expensive bottle there is the Faiveley, probably $120 (in Australia, in HK closer to $60) ...

thanks for the notes.
Geoffroy was also a magnificent Chef de Cave, but yes, I did hear he was also great with a good Japanese knife.

hmmm, was 2020 really a "disastrous" vintage in the Barossa?. I thought yields were low, but quality ok.
I'm genuinely asking, not that I have tried any 2020 Barossa wines.

for wine you can easily access, Mt Lofty Ranges has a tete de cuvee "S and G chardonnay" that I personally prefer to Giaconda. It is made in the Puligny-style, if that helps. It's between $85-90 and is fabulous. It is actually similar to Giaconda, without the absurd amount of gunpowder and...

What is it lately with the direction of this forum that no wine is any good unless it costs a lot or is insanely expensive :roll: :roll: Cheers Craig actually, Craig, for me its the (almost) exact opposite. Whilst most insanely expensive wines are incredibly good, the wines I chase are those that a...

lastly, VinoEd, google. I am now residing in Australia, and have been most and pleasantly surprised at what Burgundy you can purchase here for prices that are amongst the best in the World. Many of these small importers have now closed their lists, such is their growing popularity, but Google is alw...

having said that, Buisson-Charles is becoming another Burgundy "darling" and the prices will become astronomical. Patrick Esser is a great marketer (as well as great wine-maker) so I'm sure the critics and lemmings will jump in within the next 24 months. then it just becomes annoying for m...

The cheapest price for the Buisson-charles in oz is $350... my point exactly. You are looking at wine-searcher, I assume, and probably at that bloke who purcahsed what was left of Ross Duke's business. none of the small importers are on wine searcher. I purchased another Buisson Charles, the 2019 M...

if you are prepared to get off your bum and look around, there are plenty of independent Burgundy importers now. Even in the last five years, they are springing up everywhere. Small businesses that import and pass on at a VERY real price. I can quite easily get Meursault premier Cru in Australia for...

I forgot to add has anyone tried the Savaterre and what that is like for a comparison to Giaconda? Savaterre is very good, but not in the same league as Giaconda. Sorrenberg, OTOH, is fabulous and a genuine alternative (if not as reductive). However, that too is extremely difficult to purchase outs...

Robert Arnoux Echezeaux 2002 fabulous wine, the pretty 2002 vintage is a perfect counterpoint to the (then) austere Arnoux style. A wine full of enticing red fruits, tobacco, wildflowers, liquorice, with a ridiculously long and expansive finish. Genuine peacock's tail. 23 years of patience, and wel...

shared in a bottle of the 2017 Grange the other night, a birthday wine. (yes, too young, but whatever) also had, side-by-side, a glass of the 2018 Ogier La Rosine syrah. All four of us preferred the latter, and you can buy about 20 bottles of it for a single bottle of Grange. It's no different to ma...

great point Jamie, and lost on most people including virtually all critics. waste of time drinking a Leeuwin younger than 15 years old, the wine needs time to show its wares. Actually, very similar with Moss Wood, horribly under-rated by the critics who only see it young. At 15 years, most vintages ...

Going on track record, although some stunning new stuff is arriving every year, Leeuwin Estate, consistently number one for me. Giaconda Sorrenberg Moss Wood Mt Lofty Ranges S and G. this is just amazing, and probably heading to the number two spot for me Pierro Savaterre Tyrrells Vat 47 Tolpuddle C...