The Auswine Forum

Had the Pfeiffer a few times. I reckon its their best wine.
Sandy Wahgunyah soil and the winemaking approach lead to making great Beaujolais styles.
Nice.

Multiple bottlings of the "same" wine aren't neccesarily the same. Too many times I've seen big differences with wines bearing the same label. Happens in the show ring too. It is still "08 Shiraz from J Blogg" so yes I can see the argument that the punter is getting what is on th...

Had the 08 Polish Hill Sat night.
Unbelievabley good. Bought it in 08, have a doz of the 09 PH and the princess just said she has the 10 Watervale and Polish Hill coming.
A big Monty Burns..."excellllllent!"

PR exercise. "A fool and his money are soon parted.". Once upon a time Penfolds were supposedly bidding on Grange to push the price up at auction. And set "record" prices...All it cost them was the commission and tax. That worked too. As for being Australia's most intense wine.....

Or through a process called Reverse Osmosis you can selectively remove water from wine pushing up the alcohol. Widely used in Bordeaux in the last few years, but there are also Aussie red winemakers doing it. I don't..don't like it! Enviromentally ugly. That said...the method is widely used in rever...

Not surprised. The US market had been corrupted in a fashion even before the GFC. The system of relying on points from gurus who tasted openly (labels on display) with very select importers and winemakers led to a massively distorted market. Some wines were very overpriced and a few did exceptionall...

The 15.5 % was so that we could enjoy Flor Sherry at cask strength. ie they don't have to be topped up to 17-18 when they come off flor to keep them stable.
My definition of fortified wine is easy..they have added spirit rather than being 100% naturally fermented.
cheers
Smithy

The odd DRC Grand Echesaux I've seen was greater than 14.5%
Can't be any good!

They are bad this year...its the seasonal summer rains thing. They die after the first few frosts. OPen the place up and freeze their little wings off for a few days and you'll see the numbers drop off dramatically.
Cheers
Smithy

Err..We are just talking age here. Pedigree is a bit different.
My guess would be that the oldest continous wine in the country would be a a Gehrigs Shiraz.
It may have been labelled different things over the years but I'd suggest its been made since the 1850's.
Pre dating the Tahbilk.

What you are grizzling about Adair is lack of balance. I agree...out of balance is a wine fault. Same as excessively Green/underipe wines..its a fault. Is it the High Alc thats the issue? Not as such, the problem is that Pinot Noir like Grenache or Zin etc is a medium weight wine which can lack tan...

Sparkling red. What you drink when there is no water and some bastard has just guzzled the remainding sheep dip!

Haven't seen the 08, but the 07 was wicked. Yalumba are on fire at the moment, pulling in gongs all acoss the board. (Puts some of the other similar size companies to absolute shame). The 07 was Burgundy, fine peach, cashew, sensational burnt match oak, pale straw colour and limey almost Riesling li...

Awesome notes Kris.
I'm Green with envy.
Love to taste more Salons.
Cheers
Smithy

Ask yourself the question : Do you like fine lean perfumed bubbles or the big fat rich vegemitey yeasty ones. Former go Dom/ Moet /Veuve etc Latter Go Krug Bollinger. ( For the richer 'food" bubbles I'm a superfine man myself so we like em lean and mean. I've had sensational Salon on occasion ...

Saw an absolutely sensational Yalumba Chardonnay the other day.
I thought it did well trophy wise at Barossa Wine show but it must have been elsewhere.
Top Burgundy in style, it was Adelaide Hills fruit.
Anyone got any ideas on what i could be?
And $
Cheers
Smithy

Ric. Sorry to hear liver function is down. Hope it wasn't my 82% alcohol free reds that did the damage! I'm disgustingly healthy and on track for the Benalla Triathalon in late Dec. (the full course) Hope to catch up soon. Does anyone know anything about a Yalumba premium Chardonnay which won some t...

Jeremy. We've never sold as much wine, so don't worry about being negative.....we'll survive! I found the articles very relevant to what we do. Whats scary is that there is anti-alcohol lobby out there that would increases taxes on wine and in particular higher alcohol table wines. Comments like th...

If 15% is un PC, then I guess 16% %+ is the sort of thing that is best done in the dark with consenting adults. What tripe! Our sales are at an all time high, and for the fashion police or style Nazis to try and tell you what you should or shouldn't be enjoying is a slap in the face to every wine d...

Blokes a tosser. "Man made engineered yeast'"(i think he means GM ) or thats the insinuation.
There is NONE.
And every criticism he makes is legal in the US (plus some extras!)
Not to mention the legal technologies of Europe.

Marketing as icon before they actually are. Yep. Happens all over the place. Morris's are releasing some "Icon" reds. Now I like Moriss's. Are the icon? Well the fortifieds are, but the reds? Nope. Iconic status comes from the hard yards over years and years, and its the punter shelling o...

Seeds are an interesting thing. At lower maturities seeds are very hard and phenolic with "Green" herbaceous charachters/ These soften and become more woody as they go brown, which is why some red wines can look "oaky"{ even with limited oak. Basically you don't want seed tannin...

Sad. Had to happen though. When it came down to brass tacks it was all about the water in the decommissioned Lake Mokoan. Heard they had fixed the problem (somewhat) the other day , but too little too late for Fosters. Pity. Once an icon...now a featherduster. Awesome potential, awesome site, aweso...

"You talk the talk Quimby, But can you walk the walk?"....Chief Clancy Wiggum.
Unfortunately red wine is a bit the same....

So its a Clint Eastwood year.
The Good, The bad & The Ugly!
Cheers
Smithy

Now thats vintage is nearly over ( should Finish Fri 3rd) its a chance to work out what its like. For those that stuck it out and waited to pick, my guess is that there will be some sensational gear from 09. For those that were short of water, smoke effected or those who just rushed in early after ...

The comment that RPJ "made and then destroyed " Aussie red is particularly good. He created the hype..the 100 point nonsense...and the wines didn't live up to it...especially as his liking was for soft reds with either not enough acid or too much Grenache or both. You can't expect wines l...

Crusty /Wayno
The same journalist refused to taste my wines based on their reputation.
He got really annoyed at another local winery who blacked out the alc on the sample of red he tasted.
He really got into it and was disgusted when told it was 17%.
I think he used the term...ambush?

Wine Advocate...Yawn! Frankly anyone who describes himself as worlds most influental ANYTHING deserves to be laughed at...a lot!Especially when they taste with labels on display and winemakers/importers present and piddling in their ear about how good the stuff is. RPJ and the Advocate have done im...

Agree totally on the St Clair. Lovely stuff.
The Giesen is so so . The Villa Maria Reserve is also pretty smart.
Cheers\Smithy