Weekly Drink Thread w/c 5th Aug

[Craig(NZ)]

I might as well start with wine drunk as we watched our team the Chiefs go back to back in the Super 15 finals!! Good game Brumbies, but you know you were never gonna win at the Tron

Moa Pale Ale. Great craft drop. One of my favourite pale beers at the mo!

NV Morton Brut. Served dead cold, I don't actually mind this stuff. Pretty solid

2010 Te Mata Elston Chardonnay. One of the best vintages of the last decade, this wine is really starting to hit its straps. Nose is gorgeous with notes of lemon, grapefruit and nougat. The palate eally has multi layers to it. Lovely fruit richness with lemon,, grapefruit, fresh lyhee and cream. Also hints of oyster shell/ saline. A big rich magnificent chardonnay where the oak is very much beneath the fruit. A heavyweight Hawkes Bay Chardonnay that has increasingly been under pressure to give up its "best in the bay" tag. With efforts like this Sacred Hill and friends will need to keep on their game! Glad i went long on this vintage.

2005 Puriri Hills Reserve. It is clear to me after drinking this wine many times over the last few years that there are (for whatever reason) good bottles and not so good bottles of this wine. This one was straight from the top shelf and reminds me why i think so highly of this winery. The nose is crammed full of rich vanilla, cream, boysenberry and blackberrry fruit so smooth, refined and focused. the palate too is dripping with seductive black fruits and layers of subtle complexities. Of course the trade mark ultra fine tannins, focus and detail is all there. A highly impressive bottle. Cellar stocks are getting low on this now, only 3 or 4 left

2009 Crossroads Talisman. A blend of merlot and about five other grapes no doubt including Malbec too. From a great Hawkes Bay red vintage this was a opulent and primary wine showing great richness and interest even at this young stage. I wonder how close in style the 2009 Esk Valley reserve is to this. I am thinking it can't be far off. Dark black plum fruit and a lovely seductive texture. I was getting a bit on edge with the rugby by this stage!!

[mjs]

Romney Park 2012 Gloria Chardonnay pale colour, delicate, lemon, bit of pineapple, good acid, creamy texture, interesting to see how this develops

Philippe Leclere 2009 Gevry Chambertin a bit oxidised, quite savoury, not enough fruit

Romney Park 2005 Merlot good fruit, black olives, red currants, plums, ripe but fine tannins

Paracombe 2009 The Reuben red, purple, bit of funk initially, good tannins, good structure, black fruits

Paracombe 2010 The Reuben slightly more purple than the 2009, great structure, good tannins, black fruits, great value

[Thommo]

2011 Frogmore Creek FGR Minerals, lime zest and a touch of struck match on the nose followed by long, long sweet limey deliciousness. Beautifully balanced off-dry rizza.

2013 Pewsey Vale Riesling my first taste of 2013, and my word I am impressed. I prefer this to any of the 2012 SA rieslings I tried over the last 12 months, which to my tastes were intense, but a bit one dimensional. This has that beautiful classic eden wet stone and citrus blossom nose with a lovely complex and delicate lemon-lime palate, beautifully balanced acid and and a touch of CO2 to make it all zing across the tongue. Absolute cracker, and hopefully a good portent of things to come for the SA riesling vintage.

[Mike Hawkins]

2009 Clerc Milon x 2. Given the hype of the vintage, I thought I'd sample this. Bottle 1 was disappointing to say the least - essentially a simple, very short, albeit expensive, quaffer style. Bottle 2 - ditto. This is by far the weakest 2009 red Bordeaux I've tried. Yes, I know it is young, but really, if these bottles are representative, this wine will never amount to much. I expect a wine of this reputation to at least have serious length from such a fabulous growing season.

2006 Peter Lehmann Stonewell - I have dissed this wine quite a few times, but the last showing was pretty good. It lacked the hot finish others have had, and the palate was nice and plummy and round. Anyway, this was the last bottle and I'll wait till the 2010 comes out to see if it goes back on the 'buy' list. The 98 and 04 were pretty good, and some of the early 90s that I still have are ok if you can overlook the oak.

1990 Krug - a rockstar. The 88 and 96 get all the praise, but I prefer the 1990 (the Krug family rates it highly as well). It's still young, but has a lovely balance between the ripeness of the vintage and the trademark Krug acidity. This is a really complex Champagne and will improve over many more years yet. {As an aside, I've been informed the 2003 vintage will be released before the eagerly awaited 2002}.

[Matt]

The Willows 2009 Shiraz
Lots of choc mint and five spice. Lovely use of American oak. What a ripper!
A unique Barossa Shiraz.
Delicious!

[Ddavew]

Ruggabellus Fluus 2012

This is the first 2012 gsm i tried last week. To me, it taste funny(in a good way), different to other gsm i had (2010,09, 08) maybe it was the whole bunch that they used or its the good quality of grapes. very attractive light red fruit aroma , i didn't decant this wine and the first mouthfull sort of lighter than i expect from a gsm,the finish is short and i can feel my throat burns a bit afterwards.(about an hour to finish the glass,yes i drink slowly.)

Second night gives me similar results from the aroma, just a little lighter ,i think this is the right time to drink ,abit more going on around my mouth , still getting that little burn afterwards, and thats the whole bottle.

very different style of gsm and don't cellar too long with this.

[rooman]

A wine rep friend dropped past week and kindly dropped off 4 bottles of wine he has opened during the day and a lovely whiskey (Talisker Storm). Much to my joy, it turns out he does not like Scotch, oh well what is one to do but relieve him of the bottle.

In terms of the wines, first up that night was a Paulett Polish Hill Riesling 2013. A superb wine, more open and with more depth than some 2012 I have tried recently. The colour had a more advanced yellow hue compared to greenish palour of the 2012 I have tried recently. The fruit was also more developed with acid less aggressive, I did wonder how much of the difference could be attributed to the fact he cracked the bottle at a mid day tasting. Either way I will be aiming to put away a case soon and I was interested to see a similar comment above regarding a 2013 riesling especially since I believe the winemaker may prefer the 2013 over the 2012.

Also of interest was a Burton Mcmahon Yarra Valley Chardonnay 2012. a crisp style of chardonnay with grapefruit at the beginning of the palate and lingering quince at the end. Good acid and lovely length.

[dan_smee]

2012 Tyrrell's Lunatiq Heathcote Shiraz - Dark and crimson tinted. They tell me at the winery that this one has been put under cork because of the Chinese market - the 'Lunatiq' has proven popular over there given the lunar yada yada, and their investors are more responsive to cork. A quality cork though.

Nose is spicy and clean. Rich red and black fruits; a really smooth, pure fruit bouquet.

The palate is wonderfully intense, almost Cabernet like at times with cassis and black fruits dominant. Medium weighted and loooooooooong. Great pick-up for 30 bucks or so at the CD with members discount.

[simon1980]

We had a little $25 reds tasting. Blind, with 6 "voters", and 6 wines. Four wines tied for 3rd, with a clear 2nd place, and a very clear winner. All were 2012's apart from one. The idea was to investigate some good value drinking for a group of friends, rather than be too serious!

The 4 wines (all good wines) tied in 3rd were:

Head Red Shiraz 2012. Bit of floral Viognier lift I think. Intense textural Shiraz, but nicely balanced. Seemed a bit simple and one dimensional to me compared with a couple of the others. Stonking value, however...I have seen as low as $17.
Head Red GSM 2012. Obviously a different beast to the Shiraz...and a little more grown up. Alex's Grenache often has a lovely pepperyness, and this is no exception. Medium bodied, with great acidity.
Langi Cliff Edge 2010. The oldest wine, but also the one needing the most time. Clear Grampians pepper, with plummy fruit...and then a wave of tannins. I was not as impressed as I hoped, as it seemed a little disjointed at the moment.
Tim Smith MSG 2012. Big brawny dense, with powerful red fruits, and smooth tannins.

2nd place went to the Ruggabellus Fluus 2012. This was the most contentious wine by far, with an extreme stalky nose. The palate is light, but so drinkable. Red cherry fruit, nice spice and fine tannins. My favourite.

The winner was...The Story Tinkers 2012 Shiraz. This was universally loved. It had power, but in a lighter frame than most of the SA wines. The tannins very fine. A nice bit of whole bunch complexity on the end. An absolute steal at under $25. Everyone else's favourite...it won by a long way.

Simon1980

[calm]

We had a little $25 reds tasting. Blind, with 6 "voters", and 6 wines. Four wines tied for 3rd, with a clear 2nd place, and a very clear winner. All were 2012's apart from one. The idea was to investigate some good value drinking for a group of friends, rather than be too serious!

The 4 wines (all good wines) tied in 3rd were:

Head Red Shiraz 2012. Bit of floral Viognier lift I think. Intense textural Shiraz, but nicely balanced. Seemed a bit simple and one dimensional to me compared with a couple of the others. Stonking value, however...I have seen as low as $17.
Head Red GSM 2012. Obviously a different beast to the Shiraz...and a little more grown up. Alex's Grenache often has a lovely pepperyness, and this is no exception. Medium bodied, with great acidity.
Langi Cliff Edge 2010. The oldest wine, but also the one needing the most time. Clear Grampians pepper, with plummy fruit...and then a wave of tannins. I was not as impressed as I hoped, as it seemed a little disjointed at the moment.
Tim Smith MSG 2012. Big brawny dense, with powerful red fruits, and smooth tannins.

2nd place went to the Ruggabellus Fluus 2012. This was the most contentious wine by far, with an exterme stalky nose. The palate is light, but so drinkable. Red cherry fruit, nice spice and fine tannins. My favourite.

The winner was...The Story Tinkers 2012 Shiraz. This was universally loved. It had power, but in a lighter frame than most of the SA wines. The tannins very fine. A nice bit of whole bunch complexity on the end. An absolute steal at under $25. Everyone else's favourite...it won by a long way.

Simon1980

Good concept, thanks for sharing.