Weekly Drinking Thread as at 24/03/13

[dlo]

Morning all. Hope you've had a good week of imbibing. Let us know of anything worth posting about whether good or bad.

Opened a newly arrived bottle of screwcapped Petaluma 2002 Hanlin's Hill Riesling that is a whole different animal to anything I've opened before. A certain oiliness has permeated here, something I haven't noticed to such an extent before. Otherwise the colour was pretty healthy (a good sign, I suppose) and there's a wealth of lime and toasty varietal fruit to burn with enough acidity to pull things together at the back end ... but something's just not quite right. If I had not seen so much of this in the past, I would score it at 88 points. It lasted reasonably well in the fridge for 3 days ... hardly budging an inch. I now have to open another bottle to try and make some sense of this.

A Seppelt 1999 Dorrien Cabernet from the same source also looked pretty good albeit different to what I've opened before. It seems to have lost some weight compared to the last bottle, although the fruit is still decidedly fresh and berried and delivered consistently very good drinking over the weekend. The cork was saturated almost to the end, so I would think this has not come from the greatest of cellars. 89 points.

Orlando's 1998 St Hugo Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon was the highlight of the week. This wine is in a very good place now with the fruit decidedly secondary and taking on some of the classic Coonawarra 'red dirt' character but displays enough youthfulness of structure to warrant extended cellaring for at least another 5 years. It should drink well for another decade thereafter. 92

[AndrewCowley]

2006 Leconfield Cabernet Sauvignon: Still youthful but starting to turn the corner. Rich fruit just starting to peek out and it should only get better in years to come. Reminded me of a more primary version of the 2002 Wynns Black Label that I had prior to Christmas. Is this turns out like that in 5 years time it will be a ripper. I have 3 left and will let them sit.

[gastrorob]

Two good ones this weekend. 2010 Eldridge pinot noir - savoury, soft, lengthy palate, dark cherry rather than strawberry, from the excellent 2010 pinot vintage on the Mornington Peninsula. 2009 Ruggabellus Efferus (85% mataro), modern Barossa, elegant, exciting, funky, soft tannins, not jammy or porty, would never pick it as Barossan, terrific stuff!

[Craig(NZ)]

1996 Cristal. Still plenty of life left in this. Plenty of bead as it wakes up. A fresh wine, quite bold and expansive in a fruit driven style. No toastiness or yeastiness on the palate. I thought it was more "new world" than a lot of luxury champagnes I have tried and had some similarities to the Quartz Reef we had next day. Polished and persistant. Compared to other great champagnes I have tried, it didn't have the wow factor of a great Dom, nor did it have the delicacy of say a Belle Epoque, nor did it have the authority of a Krug. Solid, layered and complete champagne but missed a touch of x factor and excitement to me

[monghead]

2012 Knappstein Hand Picked Riesling- Solid Good
2010 Neudorf Moutere Pinot Noir- Good Good

[Wizz]

Has been an unusual week in that I drank in three different countries

Vietnam
Ha Noi Beer: Nice. Right at home as a thirst quencher ona hot day, the same way Corona is - except this has the interest of some refreshign bitterness on the finish
Larue Beer: Less nice. Also refreshing and approrpiate for hot weather, but bland.
Tiger Beer: Yes, the singapore one, but brewed in Vietnam. More body and flavour than the others, in its slightly fuller, approachable way
Dalat Merlot: A great example of why drinking local beverages in Vietnam should mean beer.
Some Miscellaneous Export Label Australian Chardonnay: Guzzled in a hurry over dinner, but it was pretty nice all the same! Vietnam is not a country of cheap wine, and when French, South American and Australian wines are put side by side, it really shows where we are in the world on a like for like tax and cost footing. In the high volume area, South America wins easily. At the quality end, France is much more competitve without Australias ludicrous taz regime to weigh it down.

Singapore
On a 1.25 day stop, both these drunk at Iggys, at the Hilton on Orchard Road - which is spendy but highly recommended.
NV Laurent Perrier: A slightly sweeter, green apple and lime style with some brioche bits and soem autlytic character on the finish. Refreshing, but there ar eplenty of good NV's out there.
05 Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne: My pick form the Iggys wine list to go with the longer of the degustation menus. Just starting to open up, lovely taut white peach chardonnay fruit loaded with almond mealy cashew notes. Plenty of power here too, but it worked well enough with all the courses except the Wagyu.

Australia
10 Castagna Adams Rib Shiraz Nebbiolo: Just felt like somethign bigger and redder after 3 weeks without. Nebbiolo topnotes with the fragrant perfume ti gives, and spicy shiraz underneath for body. This is a nice wine, dont overlook it in the Castagna range, and dont be fooled by the "wine for everyday drinking" approachto marketing, it is a much better wine than that and I tihnk will age for a few years too.
06 D'Angerville Volnay Tallepeids: This bottle mgiht have been scalped. Dusty, very austere, just a waft of cherry but not a lot else. I thought on 06 Volnay woudl be more perfumed and approachable now.
08 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Kabinett #3: Lemon curd, lime pith, passionfruit and creaming soda, and some slatey sulphur. Also a cucumber, asparagus like "salad element"here. Lovely on night 1, lower acid than the years that surround it, this will drink earlier than many vintages - but these wines are deceptively long lived - early could mean by 2025!

Cheers
Andrew

[GraemeG]

Caught up with friends on the 23rd, which was our 11th wedding anniversary. Had a few 2002s, but never got around to the Grosset Polish Hill I had. Never mind. We drank well enough.

2004 Stuart Wines Shiraz Cahillton - Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley (3/25/2013)
{cork, 14.5%} Fascinating to see the cork comment below from other tasters; the cork from this was a bit short, but otherwise utterly immaculate - and smooth and fine-grained (no visible grain) in fact. The wine was developed; rich and ripe; all the elements of a warm season in a cooler climate are present; some spice, but a mass of mulberry, exotic cherries with a cinnamon twist; along with a tart but sweet quality I can't quite identify. Tannins are pretty soft now, but the alcohol isn't obvious on the palate (at least not initially - it gradually emerges as the wine sits in the glass); it fills the mid-palate quite well, and has a pleasant medium-length finish. Clearly at peak, and doesn't need decanting time. This was around A$35 when released, to drink it from auction now at around A$7 negates any complaints.

1979 Château Brane-Cantenac - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux (3/23/2013)
{mid-shoulder} Decanted just before service. Almost mahogany, turning brown. Intense tobacco/woody/cedar nose; sweet and aged and almost lovely to the point where you just know the palate is never going to live up to this... which turns out to be true. Faded. Gentle, ancient mulberry fruit, dominated by cigar-box/oak flavours, but turning astringent and volatile; generally quite light-bodied, and with a short finish. Yes, could be drunk with food, but it’s really on the downward slide. Indifferent cellaring (see level) has taken its toll. I wouldn’t be surprised if well-stored, less-ullaged bottles were still sailing along nicely.

2002 Craggy Range Pinot Noir Te Muna Road Vineyard - New Zealand, North Island, Wairarapa, Martinborough (3/23/2013)
{13%, screwcap} Bricking garnet colour. Perfumed, spicy, and quite aging nose; all composting leaves and sweet rotting meat (in a good way...) The palate isn’t hugely varietal, but has lots of compost flavours, gentle spices, a touch of fungal/mushroom character, but not unpleasant. There are still some medium-level powdery tannins, the acid is fairly soft; overall it’s about medium-bodied, with a medium length dry finish. Pretty decent but not outstanding wine at the end of its maturity plateau I reckon.

2002 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (3/23/2013)
{375ml, cork, 7.5%, AP 54 03} And another disappointment with this wine. Medium-dry apple-ish flavours are still overwhelmed by a brown staleness; it’s light-medium bodied and just manages a medium-length finish, but it’s just too oxidised to be very interesting. Hadn’t obviously leaked at all; the cork looked sound, but if this is typical (as it has been for me) this is a wine fading fast. My last bottle, thankfully.

2002 Lanson Champagne Gold Label Brut - France, Champagne (3/23/2013)
{cork, 12.5%, A$50} Mid yellow; quite mature bouquet of cheese, yeast & toast; the yellowing fruits seem more chardonnay-influenced than pinot, that’s for sure. The palate has great presence & body – as champagne goes, this is pretty full-bodied; the bubbles are quite large though; there are rich meaty, malty flavours. Could easily use more time to settle; don’t think it’s quite to the level that the 1996 achieved. Decent champagne, especially at the price.

2007 Carpineto Brunello di Montalcino - Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino (3/23/2013)
{cork, 24%} Dark garnet. Slightly developing, full-ish bodied sangiovese, dry and savoury and powerful, not too oaky, with a medium-length finish. Not too oaky, but seems rather blocky and dense at this age. Probably just too young to show much personality at this age.

2009 E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (3/23/2013)
{cork, 14%, A$20} Bang on form; this fruit-driven grenache-based wine avoids too much oak or tannin, but has juicy acidity and an almost medium-length finish. It’s a bit simple; there are generic-red flavours on the palate, but it’s dry and almost savoury in a light-medium bodied way. Good effort – but still a bit costly in this country for what it is.

2007 Warburn Estate Premium Reserve Cabernet Merlot - Australia, South Australia, Barossa (3/22/2013)
{screwcap, 14.5%} The primary fruit has faded away into a sickly, sweetish generic red wine. Sweet plum compote nose; the palate has a simple vaguely acidic character to it, almost wholly artificial. Can a wine taste like it's made from Lego? It's not 'bad' to taste, but it's not real, either. Just like drinking liquid plastic. It's kind of medium-bodied, rather like a sugar-reduced alcoholic cordial might be, but has almost no presence on the palate whatever, apart from that bestowed by the alcohol. Well. Glad this only cost $5, and I'm not cellaring cases of Warburn...

2001 Jamiesons Run Winemaker's Reserve - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (3/20/2013)
{cork, 13.5%} This vintage at least is a cabernet-shiraz blend. And this bottle has a distinctly volatile, varnishy nose. Composting oak is the primary aromas, not hugely intense. The palate is rather falling apart, although in a nice way; it's a loosely-clumped collection of vague aged blackberry flavours, a touch of spice, stiffened with some medium grainy oak tannins. Finished a bit hollow, and short-medium in length; avoids heat thanks to the sensible alcohol level, but tastes a bit baked all the same. Provenance is unknown; so heat damage can't be ruled out, although it's not hugely distinct if this bottle is suffering from it. On this tasting then, definitely drink up; perfect cellaring might offer a better experience.

2005 Tyrrell's Vat 63 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley (3/18/2013)
{screwcap, 12.5%} Mid/dark yellow with a green flash. Beautifully developing nose of citrus, grapefruit and nutty oak. The palate has some initial acid spritz, terrific presence across all the tongue, with the semillion tantalising the edges and the chardonnay filling out the middle. Oak is quite discreet; being almost a footnote to the grassy/stonefruit flavours. It's medium-bodied, with a medium-long finish. Very tidy indeed. Another 3-5 years won't hurt either, but I doubt there's any real need to keep it.

cheers,
Graeme

[Wizz]

2002 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (3/23/2013)
{375ml, cork, 7.5%, AP 54 03} And another disappointment with this wine. Medium-dry apple-ish flavours are still overwhelmed by a brown staleness; it’s light-medium bodied and just manages a medium-length finish, but it’s just too oxidised to be very interesting. Hadn’t obviously leaked at all; the cork looked sound, but if this is typical (as it has been for me) this is a wine fading fast. My last bottle, thankfully.

I've also been constantly disappoined with Loosen's efforts from the Wurzgarten, they do seem to fall over quickly. His Auslesen from Erdener Pralat, right next door, are lovely and long lived, and JJ Christofel seems to do OK from Wurzgarten,

[sjw_11]

Just a couple of wines for me...

Graham Miller Wines Shiraz 2006... Very nice, elegant, lightly red fruited, some hints of redskin lollies, nice balance.

Oleary Walker Polish Hill Riesling 2012... Great purity. Some lemon curd/honey blossom notes. Lovely line and length. Terrific QPR.

Rosemount "Roxburgh" Chardonnay 2002... Auction buy. Cork. Mid-gold colour. I like this still. Definitely aged, but a lovely rich nose of French oak, toast, melon and honey. Drink quickly, but not at all bad for $10.

[dlo]

Opened a newly arrived bottle of screwcapped Petaluma 2002 Hanlin's Hill Riesling that is a whole different animal to anything I've opened before. A certain oiliness has permeated here, something I haven't noticed to such an extent before. Otherwise the colour was pretty healthy (a good sign, I suppose) and there's a wealth of lime and toasty varietal fruit to burn with enough acidity to pull things together at the back end ... but something's just not quite right. If I had not seen so much of this in the past, I would score it at 88 points. It lasted reasonably well in the fridge for 3 days ... hardly budging an inch. I now have to open another bottle to try and make some sense of this.

Made the necessary sacrifice and thank the wine gods this next bottle is in absolute magnificent condition. Gorgeous colour and sublime aromatics followed by wonderful freshness, balance, perfect symmetry, wonderful line, great purity, amazing texture and terrific length .... 94+ points. And the fruit and acidity ain't half bad either.

[phillisc]

Opened a newly arrived bottle of screwcapped Petaluma 2002 Hanlin's Hill Riesling that is a whole different animal to anything I've opened before. A certain oiliness has permeated here, something I haven't noticed to such an extent before. Otherwise the colour was pretty healthy (a good sign, I suppose) and there's a wealth of lime and toasty varietal fruit to burn with enough acidity to pull things together at the back end ... but something's just not quite right. If I had not seen so much of this in the past, I would score it at 88 points. It lasted reasonably well in the fridge for 3 days ... hardly budging an inch. I now have to open another bottle to try and make some sense of this.

Made the necessary sacrifice and thank the wine gods this next bottle is in absolute magnificent condition. Gorgeous colour and sublime aromatics followed by wonderful freshness, balance, perfect symmetry, wonderful line, great purity, amazing texture and terrific length .... 94+ points. And the fruit and acidity ain't half bad either.

David, I was talking to Con Mischos last month, who made the 02 at Petaluma and he said that the bottles under cork are developing better than those under stelvin. Interesting. I have a case of each, but in the long run will back the stelvin.

Oh and another bottle of the Pikes 2012 Merle...the best reisling ever. Wish I could buy more but a few put away for a long sleep.
Cheers
Craig.

[dlo]

Opened a newly arrived bottle of screwcapped Petaluma 2002 Hanlin's Hill Riesling that is a whole different animal to anything I've opened before. A certain oiliness has permeated here, something I haven't noticed to such an extent before. Otherwise the colour was pretty healthy (a good sign, I suppose) and there's a wealth of lime and toasty varietal fruit to burn with enough acidity to pull things together at the back end ... but something's just not quite right. If I had not seen so much of this in the past, I would score it at 88 points. It lasted reasonably well in the fridge for 3 days ... hardly budging an inch. I now have to open another bottle to try and make some sense of this.

Made the necessary sacrifice and thank the wine gods this next bottle is in absolute magnificent condition. Gorgeous colour and sublime aromatics followed by wonderful freshness, balance, perfect symmetry, wonderful line, great purity, amazing texture and terrific length .... 94+ points. And the fruit and acidity ain't half bad either.

David, I was talking to Con Mischos last month, who made the 02 at Petaluma and he said that the bottles under cork are developing better than those under stelvin. Interesting. I have a case of each, but in the long run will back the stelvin.

Oh and another bottle of the Pikes 2012 Merle...the best reisling ever. Wish I could buy more but a few put away for a long sleep.
Cheers
Craig.

All my bottles under cork were outstanding ..... all gone now (I think) .... I might have close to eighteen under stelvin .... but the one I opened last week was admittedly the worst bottle I've tried, but remember, 88 is verging from very good to excellent on my scoresheet, so I shouldn't complain (too much).

[TiggerK]

David, I was talking to Con Mischos last month, who made the 02 at Petaluma and he said that the bottles under cork are developing better than those under stelvin. Interesting. I have a case of each, but in the long run will back the stelvin.

Safe to assume that 'developing better' equates to 'developing faster' ?? The aged qualities of good Riesling are fantastic, hence 'better'...... Better that is, except for the 10% or more that will be ruined by the cork. Worse.