The Auswine Forum

Hi all, interesting to read your replies. We've had plenty of stuff delivered in the past but this was the first to go missing. I too prefer Aus Post and am happy to collect from the post office. Interestingly Aus Post left a carton on our front step last week that I was expecting to have to collect...

Hi all, haven't posted for years... anyway, we recently ordered a carton of wine delivered to Perth. Long story short, waited ages and eventually contacted the winery to see what was happening. They advised that according to the courier is was delivered about mid-morning one weekday but when I got h...

Checked Fedex and UPS, both $220+ for two bottles. It's good wine, but not that good. How about retailers in the US that stock a good range of Aust wines and will ship around US - sorry Gavin, but I figure as there are all sorts of restrictions being imposed on wine imports into the US, so it may no...

Anyone know of any transport companies that will ship a few bottles to the US? Aus Post won't do it, neither will Toll - apparently classed as a 'dangerous good' they tell me (because it's in a glass bottle).

Cheers,

Dave

+1 on the Jaycar datalogger. Keeps track of temp and humidity, there is a jpeg plot of data from the logger on a 12-month plot somewhere in a post under my name. Been running for more than 2 years now with no problems (except software won't run on 64-bit computer). It's pretty accurate, and you can ...

Have no fear, the food will be very good. I just know that I hate dinners where you are let down by very ordinary wines served via the package deals, so am strongly in favour of choosing off a list. Hopefully everyone will be pleasantly surprised by being able to choose their drinks, and that couple...

Hi all, I missed the wrong meeting and got landed with the job of treasurer for a smallish (140 attendees) conference early next year. We're looking at the conference dinner options, and we can pay for drinks by the hour or pay by consumption. In the 'by consumption' option at our preferred venue, t...

2000 Moss Wood Ribbon Vale Cab Merlot . A lovely deep dark colour but smelled really awful when first opened and I thought it was shot, but the unpleasantness blew off after a few minutes in the decanter and it started to taste pretty good. After about 30 minutes it was a very good drop, nice and s...

If you do ever head down towards Freo anyone, try Harvest in North Freo (opposite Mojo's). Very good tasting plate/degustation menu, which has changed recently from that listed on their website, and some interesting wines to go with it, but I noticed a BYO night $10/bottle on their chalkboard - can'...

Spring Vale 09 Gewurtztraminer. Good, I think. Haven't had many to compare it with but I could smell lychees and it had a little sweetness at the end. It went nicely with the chicken and eggplant green curry I made.

Hi all, I didn't put in any facility for drainage - no Council requirement for planning approval, and since the garage floor is a little above the local ground level and the hatch has a lip on it, I figure it will be okay. The flooding happened when there was no roof on the garage and someone (me) d...

Hi all, I know, the summer temps are way too high, but at least now I have a benchmark. It would have been useful to have another datalogger in the garage to see what the temperature was doing immediately above the cellar too - lack of foresight on my part. Now that we're back in the house and the t...

Fortunately only about 12 cartons of wine in the cellar, but a reasonable amount of thermal mass in the form of workshop tools and materials, plastic-wrapped packing boxes full of books and cloth. Total volume I estimate at 10 cubes, total cellar volume is about 30 cubic metres. The daily max temps ...

Hi all, finally dug the datalogger out of our passive cellar - the hatch has been closed for 14 uninterrupted months. The cellar is 3x4x2.4m, double brick with 100mm concrete-filled cavity. The ceiling is a 180mm concrete slab, at ground level, and forms part of the floor of our free-standing garage...

Quite a few AFDs since the drinking partner became pregnant. I find a glass of fizzy water helps alleviate the niggling feeling that the drink/glass is missing.

Dave

Q: When do bottles go from the wardrobe to the cellar? A1: When the bottom falls out of it - although that does give you space for a few more rows before you need to move everything. A2: Since there was no doubt a discussion about the priority of shoes over wine in the wardrobe, and given that you p...

...you just can't go past those cool changes in Melbourne - 35 deg at 4.30pm, 20 deg at 6.00pm. Awesome! Tonight we had 2008 Spring Vale Freycinet Pinot Gris - soft, smooth, good by itself and with soft cheeses. 2004 Yarra Valley Coombe Farm (owned by Dame Nellie Melba's family) Chardonnay - butter ...

Hmm, I let my subscription lapse last year, and when I was sent a invite to resubscribe recently I sent a prompt reply explaining why I hadn't done so. That was more than a month ago and I am yet to receive any reply.

Working cash-in-hand in a bottle shop in Freo in the late '80s, about the time Redback Beer shirts were popular and we were selling around 20 cartons of beer for each bottle of wine we sold, my boss, who's sole educational advice to me had been 'see all this expensive cognac - it all tastes like cat...

.. apologies for coming in late on this but: Michael McNally wrote: 1 x Pet Baby Lion TN: I was just going to write: 'Good', but I know you all like a bit more detail these days, so: TN: Good, although a bit sharp; 'fuzzy' 'round the edges and raw (or roar, take your pick) in the middle. Needs more ...

A recent visit to Seppeltsfield saw me posting a carton of the 1998 cleanskin back to Perth. Killer deal as reported here on the forum a few weeks ago. The 2006 was also great, but the receiver in Perth will probably drink most of it before I get home! Might send some anyway and see what's left when...

Try Somerset Hill (not sure if their cellar door is open very often though) and Old Kent River near Denmark for wines. Travel the Lower Denmark Road between Albany and Denmark/Walpole and visit Mutton Bird Island, Torbay and Cosy Corner (childhood home of The Waifs). Then drive Scotsdale Rd to visit...

Michael wrote: I had 2 out my dozen and decided that it was simply too closed at the moment and will not be trying another for at least 12 months. The two bottles I had both underwhelmed me, but showed promise and improved drastically on the second night. Maybe they have suddenly "come good&quo...

Had another 2006 Balgownie Estate Goldfields Cab Merlot last night - there was some discussion about this wine back in May I think when some found it okay and others including me, didn't. We're up to bottle 7 out of a dozen (persistent beggars we are), and this one was much, much better than any of ...

Hi there, sorry, the R values I quoted you came from a US website, and they use different units. The conversion for comparison with Australian values is to multiply the US value by about 0.17 (same result if you divide by 6). The numbers then match RB's. Extruded polystyrene has about a 50% higher R...

Why not try polystyrene foam sheet (beadboard is another name) like the stuff used in commercial coolrooms? It has an R value of around 3 or 4 per inch of thickness. It will take up less space for the same R value, and it won't compress over time (hence it will maintain R value unlike the batts). Fi...

Had this the other night at dinner. Started with lovely fruit and a little bit of earthyness, but within about half an hour the fruit was all gone and only the earthyness remained. It evolved a little further, becoming more gamey and meaty - still good to drink, but would've liked the fruit to stick...

1300 tunes?! At 3mins/tune that's gunna be a marathon weekend

We liked Clairault for lunch, but it's been a while since we went. Bunker Bay has a good view, but have only had brekky there so can't comment on lunch.

Dave.

... I had an encounter on Sunday with a car driver who must've had enough of Le Tour, since he had not one, but two goes at knocking me off my bike. First time was close, but the second time his wing mirror actually fell apart when it hit my forearm, and somehow I managed to stay upright. Thank god ...

Great to see you enjoyed the pinots and rieslings down there.

A shame Somerset Hill was closed, I really like their pinots - I think a certain Store in Leederville may have some. Apparently their 2002 was highly regarded, and I like their 2004 too.

Cheers,

Dave