The Auswine Forum

Nice to know wineries read my comments here! Still, I presume those early HP wines were made (by John Wade) from purchased grapes in GS. If Leston in MR wasn't planted til 96, then clearly there's a hole somewhere... AI tells me the Burch family first partnered with Wade in 93. So they effectively t...

Terrific write up and tasting. Those 90s wines - made by John Wade, as I recall? - were always pretty good. Odd to see the focus shift over the years from Great Southern & Mt Barker to Margaret River. Has that been for the better I wonder?

Also remember having a chat with Brett Sharpe a few years ago. He got out because he was pi$$ed off at the demolition job that Treasury inflicted on the Trio wines, which we both lamented. Criminal really. Plus losing the talent. It will just be Pennies and Wynns before too long. No doubt the fruit...

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - 2016 AUSTRALIA NIGHT - Glass Brasserie, Sydney (7/10/2026) A slightly smaller group meets to look at local wines at a decade old. A few more whites than expected, but everything was bang on theme! And apart from a little cross-over in South Australia, nearly every wine hailed f...

Your note on the Tahbilk could be repeated virtually word-for-word to describe the 2018 vintage of the very same wine I'm sitting here drinking now. I think brett is part of the Clarendon style, to be honest... I agree with the general idea that they're (almost) all too young. I had a dinner the oth...

Port style reds? Rutherglen durif with high alcohol? Agree with Sicily as option.

I get what you mean, Ed. I struggle with the barely there tannin profile in local Pinot as well. It's hard to get excited over and usually doesn't warrant the price for me. That being said, maybe Eastern Peake or one of the single vineyard Pinots from Joshua Cooper? My memory isn't super clear but ...

Do they not still own Rosemount as well? I mean, how could you destroy the brand value in that...? I guess you practice on Lindemans, Seaview, Wolf Blass, (Seppelt), Tollana, Leo Buring...
It seems like only only brand to survive NOT being the "golden boy Penfolds" is Wynns...

...since Treasury seem to be run largely by third-rate marketeers these days who think they should spend scarce marketing dollars inventing new brands out of thin air instead of utilising the vineyards and resources (& faint remaining residual goodwill!) of the once glorious brands they already ...

Most likely "at", in that case, Travis. They had help & guidance from various people in the earlier years. It's hard enough getting notes on the wines at these dinners, never mind trying to shorthand the guests' comments as well!

Notwithstanding parochial pride, I always like to see a wider smattering of regions - for better of worse - at tastings like these. On average, yes, MR Chardy is probably the best bet, but that's the very reason why it'd be better to drop some of the less-heralded MR efforts (Fraser Gallop sounds li...

What a terrific tasting! Agree on the admin that goes into note-taking, & the time needed! Would have been interesting to see the relative indicative retail prices in Aus for these wines...

Hmmm. Thinking back to the relatively small number of BPs I've tasted, I'd say Command is a bit more savoury, less overtly rich and chocolatey; perhaps a bit less full-bodied. Although, honestly, they're probably two wines where - for 21st century vintages at least - there's only a fairly small diff...

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - GORDON'S COMMAND VERTICAL W/ CAM ASHMEAD - Glass Brasserie, Sydney (2/09/2026) Special guest Elderton co-proprietor Cameron Ashmead generously supplies four bottles of his flagship shiraz to book-end a generous lucky-seven from Gordon’s cellar. What a terrific night. It was gre...

I gather Printhie have the best restaurant in the Orange region. I visited CD earlier this year; WSET Diploma lady behind the counter. What with my note-taking sheet we got on like a house on fire!

Gosh. Some tasting. Wow. Think I've had most JRs over the years, but never in a single run. (Although, checking my notes, I must say I'm a bit light on for the last 15 years or so!) I'm a touch ambivalent about the label, to be honest. Expectations always high - basically the best fruit from the who...

Comprehensive write-up, thanks. I'm also not convinced by Wynns 23 O'Dea. Interesting, your comments on Menzies - will have to keep an eye out.

It’s fairly easy to see how this will be turned around. Keep flogging labels and wineries, retain the decent vineyards, and reallocate those grapes to Penfolds given the decent margins. I can see a time where Penfolds volumes will double or triple, particularly at the lower ‘bin’ levels. It will be...

I've always reckoned it's a hard sell to ship your wine into a wine-producing country and expect to have long-term success. They tried that enough already, so buying a local operation was always a better bet. But it seems a rule that Oz wine companies ALWAYS overpay when buying overseas businesses. ...

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - SOMETHING EXCEPTIONAL - Glass Brasserie, Sydney (5/08/2026) Bring something exceptional from your cellar, was the command. Ten of us showed up with what turned out to be a couple of thousand dollars’ worth of wine, with every post a winner. Reds were served in pairs of broadly ...

I thought she might have been in town as part of the Sydney Royal wine show, but she said it was for the Real Review Tastings, so presumably heading to Brisbane next week as well.

REAL REVIEW TOP WINERIES TASTING - Margot Kimpton Hotel Sydney (25/07/2026) The Real Review (subscriber website) hosted their annual walk-around tasting with representatives from the “Top 52 Wineries” of the year in Sydney. Similar format to the last time I attended in 2023, but without the backgro...

WYNNS-KEMENYS-GLASS WITH SUE HODDER - Glass Brasserie, Sydney (24/07/2026) A special invite to a dinner at Glass Brasserie jointly hosted by retailer Kemeny’s in association with Wynns Coonawarra, including the informative presence of Wynns’ long-serving senior winemaker Sue Hodder. Legend! Whateve...

I picked it up from someone else years ago, and it seemed just right. There's a sweet eucalypt almost (but not really), like a sort of perfume that just reminds me of old-style flysprays before they got all allergy-friendly, etc.

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - LANGTONS CLASSIFICATION - Glass Brasserie, Sydney (1/07/2026) Another Langtons theme. The 8th classification (in just 30 years – a triumph of marketing!) has 100 listed wines, with 21 in the top tier; our theme for the night. 2018 Printhie Swift Cuvee Brut - Australia, New Sout...

Hacker wrote: ↑Tue Jul 07, 2026 1:11 am $600 each for NSG? Really? Check Langtons auction pricing. Absolutely nowhere near.

Fair enough. About half that! Nicks have the Chevillon for $360. The MM's trickier being an older vintage, but $250-300 looks the go.
Just the $600 in total, then!

Wow. Two corked wines out of twelve bottles. I thought things were supposed to be getting better? A pair of NSG 1ers! That's be $600 each down the drain? Gawd.

Wow. Super line-up. I've always been frightened of old Wynns, for some reason. Maybe because I never seemed to see a bottle that had a decent ullage level. One of the great ironies; 90 BL is a much better wine than 90 JR ! I've had varying experiences with Centenary 750 bottles too; I have one magnu...

Jeez, that little Tassie pinot was batting well out of its price league... And I reckon the Woodlands would have looked a bit "fruit-juice" too...

Oh, wow, excellent and comprehensive analysis. Thanks a bunch!
No JR or Michael from 2023, is that the deal at the moment?