The Auswine Forum

I'm a sucker for a grape I've never had before, I gotta say! Often it only confirms why a grape might be obscure, but often you think 'this isn't bad at all', almost to the point of wondering whether the 'noble' grapes are truly better, or just benefiting from a historic accident. That said, there's...

Does anyone else have the problem of not being able to proceed to the target URL when clicking on links such as the one above? Yes. It's been a problem here for a couple of years. The http part of the URL for some reason does not get included in the hyperlink. I generally copy the whole URL into th...

Anyone read Andrew Caillard's mega-book (3 volumes) on the history of the Oz wine industry?
Since nothing ever seemed to come of that tour Andrew Jefford did all those years ago...
Anyway, anyone seen it? Browsed it?

Oh dear. Very low level in the bottle = leaky cork = likely to be oxidised and undrinkable.
Couple that with no name or pedigree (ie. it's not Grange!) and a very average vintage in 1974 and you've got nothing of value.
Sorry.

Yes, likely some proprietary label, not a stand-alone business. Points mean nowt, as Ian says.

I have reasonable experience with Grange, but largely 20th century stuff. The most interesting/best vintages in between based on my experience would be 76, 80, 83, 86, 90, 94, 96; anything beyond that - 98, 04, 08 - I would regard as too young (along with 2010!). But here's a thing. 1989 is a truly ...

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - <>A$40 BLIND - Fix, St James, Sydney (1/11/2023) Waaaay too many wines! Under or over $40 blind tasting was the theme, leavened with another near-case of novelty samples from Andrew. So many bottles that animated fights seemed to break out over table at various points. And I mi...

Mahmoud Ali wrote: ↑Fri Nov 03, 2023 8:50 pm "Christopheroz" in April 2023 said: Beautiful. Still robust but now ageing with elegance and grace

Not only were we at high school together, he's also my wife's second cousin.
(Which, btw, was completely unrelated to our engagement.)
Small world, eh?

I travelled QF international business regularly between 2005 to 2009. Back then it was not uncommon to find a RWT, St Henri or Clonakilla SV in business class. It started going downhill noticeable around 2010? to now when business class means a $25 red. I expect by 2010 the Irish gnome had run his ...

Is there big price competition around business class at the moment, as they're certainly not trying to compete on quality!?!! As I recall the business flight to BKK was booked about 4 months ahead and cost around $7k. Amazing. I used to fly Etihad SYD>Frankfurt annually for a few years, and the 201...

QANTAS BUSINESS CLASS - GROUND & AIR - Sydney, Antique aircraft, Bangkok (3/10/2023-6/10/2023) Qantas Business Lounge Sydney International 3-Oct-23 7.30am breakfast at the increasingly busy Business Lounge at Sydney International. Still, it’s an airport – normal drinking rules don’t apply. And ...

Nice write up, thanks. I've always wanted to like Bowen, but they've never hit the spot with me for some reason. Had some 20-year old Highbank that was very good, but the random bottles of 2013-2016 I've drunk lately were not impressive. Family schism, or something? So most of my cellared Coonawarra...

Yikes - is that it? 12 auction lots displayed on a page before you have to hit "Load More"? Click, click, click... No more option to download a pdf catalogue? Can't filter search results to auction only? They're essentially making casual browsing impossible. Took them forever to fix these ...

WAIHEKE ISLAND WINERIES - Waiheke Is, New Zealand (11/10/2023) Lots of high quality, very expensive wineries here in Auckland harbour just 40 mins by ferry from downtown (I don’t think there’s any Island wine for less than about $40); but this is my first time visiting cellar doors by bus and on fo...

The world is addicted to getting as much white space as they can onto websites, for a 'clean, uncluttered' look. I don't suppose it's easy trying to manage phones, tablets, laptops, big screens. But it usually seems that for every step forward there is a step back somewhere else. And, of course, the...

I've a few days for work in Auckland in the 2nd week of October.
Any bottle shops there selling good kiwi wine cheaper than it's available over here?
I'm thinking Waiheke Is., good Martinborough pinot, Hawke's bay reds, that sort of thing?
cheers

I'm only on the list at: Tyrrells (the white dozen - not that I dislike the reds but they've had exponential price rises over the last decade which I haven't emotionally adjusted to!) Bakkheia - a random single dozen a year - good value wines generally Mount Mary - but getting exxy, and often lookin...

I did the WSEET L3 certificate back in 2006; the one-night-a-week variant hosted at then Fine Wine Partners office (shared with Lion Nathan) in Sydney CBD. I wasn't the oldest there (42 at the time!) but it was the same mix of younger, in-the-trade crowd leavened with a few "connoisseurs" ...

Same answer as the last 20 years...!

Well, it's not Burgundy, but I offer this local example: 2015 Bonics Estate Shiraz - Australia, New South Wales (13/10/2021) NobleRottersSydney - New South Wales (Fix, St James, Sydney) : {screwcap, 13%} [DavidH] According to the label, this hails from Jerilderie. When David said it cost $720, it se...

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - MOSTLY PENFOLDS - Fix, St James, Sydney (7/06/2023) We used to have Penfolds nights a bit more regularly, but no-one buys them any more due to phone-number pricing. So we just work through stashes of antiques; those of us with them still. And on this occasion they were all very...

I did check a few winery websites and the prices seemed to tally with what TRR published, but then buying direct from a winery's website is usually the most expensive way to acquire wine, obviously. Unless you join their 'club', which usually gets you a highstreet price, at the cost of the commitmen...

REAL REVIEW TOP WINERIES TASTING - Ovolo Hotel Woolloomooloo (28/05/2023) This event is run by “The Real Review” (an Oz review website) in association with their annual “Australia’s 52 Top Wineries” ranking and website publication (plus newspaper media). I had a comp ticket (subscribers’ price = $9...

Ropey! Does 'cellared' mean temp-controlled? Not just under the house somewhere?
I wouldn't pay more than $40 for either, and even then only really for research purposes, not really in expectation of a great drinking experience.
And that apart from cork, yes.

I have something in the vicinity of 160 different grapes tasted (mono and in blends) documented on Cellar Tracker and I'd like to get to 200, so am always on the lookout for something new! Schiopettino is certainly new to me.

I seem to recall it was a great storm in 1866 which diverted the river (long name I've forgotten) and revealed the stones that form the Gimblett Gravels.
This cyclone Gabriel seems to have been fairly cataclysmic.
What's the effect on the ground long-term? Any changes?

2017 First Creek Wines Sémillon Winemaker's Reserve - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley (26/02/2023) {screwcap, 10.5%} pretty much as for Oct-20, but it does feel a bit dumb or shut down. Classy and grassy, acidity was a bit dull, subdued finish. But I would avoid this for a while now and g...

Taken over the holiday period. Various family events, into which I had some vinous input. Not all these wines are from my cellar, I hasten to add. 2020 Maretti Chianti - Italy, Tuscany, Chianti (30/01/2023) {screwcap, 12.5%} Fading brick-like rim. Doing a nebbiolo impersonation. Nose is a bit dilute...

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - GERMAN NIGHT - Fix, St James, Sydney (1/03/2023) Rotters’ German wine nights have often been problematic in the past, with the wide range of sweetness on offer making a balanced selection of bottles hard to assemble on a random basis. On the grounds I was building up too many G...

NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - BURGUNDY - Fix, St James, Sydney (1/02/2023) Kicking off 2023 with a Burgundy theme. I think we rather missed the depth of DavidM & Paul’s cellars here. I was surprised at so much white wine, but that might reflect prices for decent red burgs. And Chablis seems a lot more r...