Various bits & pieces:
2009 Dopff au Moulin Riesling Schoenenbourg - France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru AOC (6/21/2013){screwcap, 13.5%, A$29} Mid yellow. Somewhat aging nose; dense smoky & earthy aromas rich with yellowing fruits morph into a fairly dense, medium-full bodied palate, close to dry for my taste (despite the mid-range marking on the back-label scale), and with a medium length finish. Reasonable level of acidity; it's very drinkable even if it does fall short of enthralling, but for the price its OK, and provides a flavour that's nigh on impossible to find in local examples of riesling. Suspect this will be best in the shorter (5-ish year) term, especially given it's four years old already.
2012 Grosset Riesling Springvale Watervale - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Watervale (6/21/2013){screwcap, 12.5%, A$35} To my surprise, I find I tasted this 6 months ago. Similar note now; this is pure and almost watery in a limpid Clare sort of way. Limes and grass, some acid prickle but it's in no way hard, or in fact even that persistent; for all the refreshing quality that this wine possesses in spades, the finish is quite short. That might be due to the subtlety of the flavours; the finish is more of an impression that a taste. Maybe it'll age gloriously, but I'm still a bit doubtful, somehow.
2007 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Vat 47 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley (6/18/2013){screwcap, 14%} Mid yellow/straw. Developing nose of nuts and grapefruit. Just a lick of cedary oak. Palate is juicy with stone fruits, rich cream and butter, yet not gloopy; there's a real acid spine. Saw barey six months in oak, acording to the label. Medium-full weight, just a little warm on the finish. Classy warm-climate chard. Good for another five years at least.
2004 Rockford Rod & Spur - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (6/17/2013){cork, 14.5%} Decanted & drunk immediately. Looks dark garnet. Smells enticingly of black fruits and fruit-cake. Palate is a different matter; it's suddenly hollow and metallic, with a thin sort of astringency and no generosity on the finish, which is shallow and hollow. The whole thing has a slightly baked quality to it; I'd suspect heat damage in storage (provenance was unknown) except for the fact that the nose was quite expressive. No obvious cork-related problem. Just not up to scratch, somehow. A disappointing showing from a quite well-regarded vintage.
2012 Lindemans Early Harvest - Australia, South Australia (6/17/2013){screwcap, 8.5%} If you could somehow liquify carbon monoxide and serve it at 12C, it would resemble this. Odourless, colourless, tasteless. Well, that's not entirely fair; this does have a little pale straw colour. And, of course it won't kill you, unlike CO, although there's a very good chance you could be bored to death. The palate, such as it is, is enlived with just a dash of sugar, so it's not quite off dry. Naturally there's no acid or alcohol to offer any balance. There's a very faint touch of greasy green (bean? asparagus?) flavour; but you needn't worry if it's not to your taste, just wait a second or so and the flavour is gone. I don't know why anyone would drink this as opposed to pure cold water; all this does is remind you of all the things it doesn't have. Water has a noble purity to it, at least.
2005 Warrabilla Shiraz Reserve - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (6/16/2013){diam, 16%} Perfectly consistent with May's bottle. Decanted first, drunk over about 2 hours; this did seem to give an extra sweetness to the fruit towards the end. As before, however, a better wine than pre-concieved notions would allow.
2007 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Sémillon - Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina (6/16/2013){375ml, screwcap, 10%} Dark yellow with orange flashes. Very developed nose; caramel, apricot. Palate has a distinct burnt caramel touch to it, almost oxidised in style; marzipan and molasses. For all the medium-full bodied richness, there's something of premature age about this; the finish is just too simple and abrupt, and there's a staleness somehow that just detracts from the overall epxerience. From half bottles, a drink-now proposition for sure.
2010 Craigow Riesling - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River (6/16/2013){screwcap, 11.5%} Light straw. Still youthful nose of lime and green apples. Palate swings between a dry Kabinett style and the more traditional mainland Oz style; a mix of appley fruits, a touch of chalk, some pronounced but rather loose acid; in all immensely drinkable, light-bodied, and probably terrific drinking for another 3-5 years.
2003 Tahbilk Shiraz Eric Stevens Purbrick - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes (6/14/2013){cork, 13%} There's certainly a nod to the typical Tahbilk liqueured plum and strawberry sweetness on the nose of this developing wine. It's all fruit, with little oak. But there's just a little too much drying astringency about this to have much confidence in its future (which may explain why Tahbilk is flogging it off in their wine club shiraz dozens just now at an average of half the usual $50 asking price). The palate isn't without redeeming features; it's nicely balanced, with medium-bodied weight, and a medium-length finish; it has a polished texture which hints at richness but just fails to hit the mark somehow. Tastes - flavourwise - in line with the aromas, although at lower intensity; it's always a let-down when the palate can't quite match the nose. Perhaps a victim of a hot, drying vintage as much as anything; this should be drunk fairly soon.
The Lindemans was described on the label as Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon; that may have been the case - it certainly wasn't evident from the taste...
cheers,
Graeme
