Melbourne offline

[cuttlefish]

Tom
I offered to b a coordinator. I'd check and balance from my cellar.

John

G'day mate !

Ok, I'll pm you my short-list.

Tom.

[via collins]

Hi,
I'm holding booking at 8 to 10 people at this stage. With comings and goings I figure we'll end up in that number.
Travelling today and tomorrow, but will be back at desk on weekend, and happy to discuss formats.
Never done a wholly blind session, and would be very keen to do so if others are agreed.
Perhaps if anyone attending could send a note through with what they are bringing along (ie VIc shiraz, Margs Chardonnay), we could even forewarn the chef if we are favouring red over white. A long shot, but what the heck.

So, please advise one more time: are you coming? Will you have guest? And what wine will you be armed with?

Cheers!

[cuttlefish]

Hi,
I'm holding booking at 8 to 10 people at this stage. With comings and goings I figure we'll end up in that number.
Travelling today and tomorrow, but will be back at desk on weekend, and happy to discuss formats.
Never done a wholly blind session, and would be very keen to do so if others are agreed.
Perhaps if anyone attending could send a note through with what they are bringing along (ie VIc shiraz, Margs Chardonnay), we could even forewarn the chef if we are favouring red over white. A long shot, but what the heck.

So, please advise one more time: are you coming? Will you have guest? And what wine will you be armed with?

Cheers!

Well I am definitely bringing a + 1 (Tet), and will advise (John) of the wines I am bringing if he is happy to play the role of cellarman/flight co-ordinator.

[mjs]

I am a definite as is grb2001. Not sure what wine I am bringing - dont have a lot of victorian shiraz, bugger all in fact. Might have to be a rogue state!

happy with a blind session

[via collins]

Confirmed attendees:

Via Collins
Waiter's Friend
Softie + 1
Cuttlefish + 1
MJS + 1

Total = 8

Simon1980, can you not be tempted?

Cheers.

[grb2001]

I am a definite as is grb2001. Not sure what wine I am bringing - dont have a lot of victorian shiraz, bugger all in fact. Might have to be a rogue state!

happy with a blind session

Vic Shiraz for me.

[via collins]

Thanks GRB2001
I'll be carrying vic Chardonnay.

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

As the WA rep, I will be bringing 2 WA Great Southern shiraz, and 2 Margaret River chardonnays.

See you Wednesday - I'm looking forward to it.

Cheers

Allan

[cuttlefish]

I've got a WA Shiraz, and a WA Chardonnay singled out, but could also bring Vic. versions to get a good spread.
I also have a sparkling Shiraz to open early on if you're interested.

[Softie]

Hi Folks,

Yes Sherry (The Chardonnay Princess, SWMBO) and I'll be there.

Tom - I'll go all Vic (Sh and Ch) to counter balance your effort. I'd thought of Sparkling Sh too - good idea, but an alternative is serving pre-Entree 2 younger, leaner Chardonnay as Aperitif so we get to try all 3 bottles of Ch from each State with two served from each State with Entrees.

Range seems to be:

WA Sh ... 3 ... Allan x 2; Tom
Vic Sh ... 2 ... Grb, Softie
Other Sh ... 1 ... mjs
WA Ch ... 3 ... Allan x 2, Tom
Vic Ch ... 3 ... Via, Softie, Mjs?

Cheers, John

[Softie]

Reminder it's 7pm start.

Moretons Brasserie
166 Rathdowne St
Carlton Vic 3053
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=map+Moretons+Carlton&hl=en&ll=-37.794389,144.970994&spn=0.008054,0.016801&fb=1&gl=au&hq=Moretons&hnear=0x6ad642d153982dd1:0x5045675218ce780,Carlton+VIC&cid=0,0,3794707483725626899&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A

[via collins]

John,
How should the "blindness" be facilitated?
I'll get there at 6.30pm. There will be some decanters there, is there something else that is de riguer for blind tasting?
Cheers,
Via Collins.

[Softie]

I have seen covers used numbered 1 to n.

However, I favour socks: green, brown ...

I'll bring the socks - some of which will even be clean.

[cuttlefish]

I'd like to have my wines served from a paper bag

I don't finish work until about 6, so I think we'll probably be a few minutes late.

Oh, and yes, confirming WA for both Shiraz, and Chardonnay from us

See ya's all tomorrow !!

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

I'm currently esconsed at the right end of Little Collins Street, so it is a moderate stroll to the venue. I'm likely to be able to get there a little before seven as well, with my parcel of challenge - winning wines

Seriously, I think it will be a top night. I don't mind if it is blind or not, just that the matches with the food work.

See you tomorrow

Allan

[mjs]

Grb and I will have a couple of older Vic Shiraz. I might also bring a rogue

Should be there by 7, any form of blindness is ok by me

Malcolm

[Softie]

After mjs's advice the adjusted line up specifications seem to be:

(mjs ... I assume you're brnging one wine, not two ... I wasn't sure if you're +1 and +1 more wine ... but as you see - as expected - we've got heaps already.)

WA Sh ... 3 ... Allan x 2; Tom
Vic Sh ... 3 ... Grb, Softie, Mjs

WA Ch ... 3 ... Allan x 2, Tom
Vic Ch ... 2 ... Via, Softie

John

[cuttlefish]

Well that was a fun evening ! Some really nice wines and great company. Thanks everyone !
Very generous contributions from all, and I'm looking forward to the next one!
I'll leave it to others to add notes, as some were taken.
WON for me was the 1999 St Peters Shiraz. Drinking just beautifully.

[mjs]

A strong second to those comments. Some great wines and food with good company. WOTN for me was also the 99 St Peters, but there were several close seconds. I am sure Allan will post some comments shortly

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

Eight of us met at Moretons, on Rathdowne St in Carlton for the WA vs Vic challenge. Some of the best chardonnays and shiraz on offer in each state were presented for the assembled company to analyse, critique and savour, with Moretons take on French bistro cuisine in full support.

The wines were served individually, and blind (I’ve never used socks at a dining table before!). We tried to mix up Victorian and WA, and served generally young before old, but it was difficult to do when only one person knew what was in each bottle. So I have listed the wines in the order they were served (and un-socked). I won’t describe colour for any of the wines, as it was difficult to compare in the less-then-glaring lighting.

It was a pleasure to meet a bunch of people who knew their subject and were passionate about it. Discussion was intelligent and more animated as the night went on, with some sharp observations and profound analysis. I hope my hastily scrawled notes reflect this …..

Cobaw Ridge 2010; Macedon, Vic: This was an impressive wine to start the chardonnay games with. Nougat, cashew and a little oatmeal, with light buttered toast. The wine had a savoury streak to it, and was quite full and rich. John advised that the wine had seen some barrel fermentation. For a youngster, this is a full and complete wine, and a great start to the evening.

Hoddles Creek 1er 2009; Yarra Valley, Vic: A lovely nose of grilled nuts, and strong lemon and grapefruit characters. In fact, the citrus carried through very strongly with lemon pith, some toasty oak and finishing with a load of clean acid. Personally, I was very impressed by this wine – it was my first taste of the 1er, despite the standard Hoddles being a regular for me.

Voyager Estate 2009, Margaret River, WA: A little leaner and not as acidic as the Hoddles Creek, but still with grapefruit / citrus, along with a streak of minerality. The oak was less dominant also. A clean, long finish – Tom reckoned the wine suffered a little in comparison by perhaps being too clean. The Chardonnay Princess went back for seconds.

Marchand and Burch 2007, Porongorups (Great Southern), WA: Made (deliberately) more in a white Burgundy style, with some tropical fruit (most tasters commented on this) along with almost smoky oak and nutty characters permeating the wine. For me, this was OK without blowing me away, but it was much more to the tastes of just about everyone else at the table, and definitely a departure from the modern Australian style of chardonnay.

Cullen 2006, Margaret River, WA: This was the star of the chardonnays. Grapefruit and nectarine, a strong acid structure, fullness and weight, and many layers of complexity unfolding. From a quirky cool year for Margaret River (in which some reds were not made or declassified), it shows that there were great whites made nonetheless. Overwhelmingly voted White of the Night.

Then we moved onto reds. While this was happening, small flutes of bubbly red liquid materialised in front of us. This turned out to be Anderson’s Sparkling Shiraz 1995, Rutherglen, Vic, and what a revelation it was. Medium bodied, with bubbles still evident, dusty tannins and some leathery overtones, secondary fruit and very very drinkable. We were able to sit on this while the ‘serious’ reds got underway.

We started with a couple of relatively younger reds. The Seppelts St Peters 2005, Great Western, Vic, opened with some soy and a hint of licorice. There was plenty going on around the outside of the tongue, but the finish was short, and we agreed this would be a much better wine when it grows up.

Likewise, the Capel Vale Whispering Hill 2009, Great Southern, WA, generated comments about raspberries and violets (and one taster noted caramel). Powdery tannins and a slightly slippery mouthfeel added to again what will be a top wine in a few years’ time. My previously posted tasting note on this wine can be found here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12780&p=102184&hilit=capel+vale+shiraz+2009&sid=c4552448876b8d6ba51e824472f23524#p102184

The next wine was the ‘ringer’ for the evening. The Katnook Prodigy 2008, Coonawarra, SA will be a fabulous wine in years to come. It’s medium bodied and elegant, with mocha the predominant character. Comments included ‘big structure’, ‘drying tannins’, and ‘long finish’. It looked for a while there that the WA / Vic challenge might be won by a South Australian!

However, the next wine restored order to the proceedings. The Seppelt St Peters 1999, Great Western, Vic, was a rich and complete wine, with strong peppery characters over plum, blueberry and mulberry. Some mocha on the palate and a superb structure made this the wine of the night.

The Plantagenet 2005, Great Southern, WA, offered lots of white pepper over blackberries. It got better with time in the glass (some wines were decanted but some were not, as circumstances permitted) and the fruit came out more than the pepper. At 8 years old, still too young, and I’m glad I still have a couple of these in the cellar.

The Willespie 2000, Margaret River, WA, was fully mature, and richer and fuller bodied than many of the other wines. Black pepper was the theme for this one, which probably suffered in comparison by being bigger while served towards the end of the night.

The final wine was another St Peters – this time the 1997. Similar notes to the 1999, and a similarly classy wine, but slightly out-gunned on the night by its younger brother.

Overall, a fine line-up of wines, well supported by simple yet delicious French bistro fare. More importantly, the company was fabulous and it was a pleasure to meet (or re-meet, in some cases) you. I look forward to doing it again next time I am in Melbourne – possibly with Riesling being the white theme next time?

Cheers
Allan

[Softie]

Lovely summary Allan. The Chardonnay Princess and I look forward to seeing you in France in June. Thank you for your generosity.
John

[simon1980]

Simon1980, can you not be tempted?

Apologies, i'm in a new job, and a bit pushd at the mo...and missed this. However, please do not discount me for the future. Previous events Softie has hosted have been excellent (both company and wine!).

simon1980

[Moneyback]

Sounds like a great night.

How was cuisine? I do like a good French restaurant and am from melbs. Wine list any good? although a byo to a French restaurant can't be beat.

[Waiters Friend]

Sounds like a great night.

How was cuisine? I do like a good French restaurant and am from melbs. Wine list any good? although a byo to a French restaurant can't be beat.

Simple but effective, and well prepared. Even the green salad was delicious enough for me to remember it. I suggest you try it (with a coupole of appropriate drops of your own), and you can post your opinion. Go on, do it!

Cheers

Allan

[via collins]

What Allan said.

Simple, and good. Recommended.

And Simon 1980, good luck in the new job. Hope to see you at the next one....