Weekly Drinking Thread Commencing 1/12/2013

[dlo]

Last night our family celebrated my parent's Diamond Anniversary.

We opened the following wines -

Maximin Grunhauser Herrenberg Riesling Auslese fuder 45 1994
Leo Buring Watervale Leonay Riesling 2002
Hoddle's Creek Estate Chardonnay 2005
Wynns Coonawarra John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon 1988
All Saints Vintage Port 1967

The Grunhauser was beautiful - neat, compact and fresh with a gorgeous line through the mouth and a crisp, delectable finish. The aromatics and flavours brimming with delicate brushes of nectarine, tangerine, apple and lime with equal proportions of slate, minerals, honey and candied orange. The balance of sweet'n'sour here, nigh on perfect within a remarkably youthful package.

The Leonay is just hitting its drinking window. Stunning mix of petrol, lime, minerals and toast with an ever-unfolding, somewhat restrained, linear palate of similar nuance and a rivetting acid rich finish of great length.

The Hoddle's blew me away. The D'Anna's should be rightly proud of this still young, tightly coiled beauty with delicate white peach to the fore with lovely meal and mineral notes in support. The wine glides through the mouth with ease but with much authority and class - terrific texture, great focus and counterbalancing cleansing acidity rounding out a very likeable equation

The Wynn's was right up there. A cooler year, this wine continues to deliver a complex amalgam of mature classic Coonawarra cabernet nuance but with a timeless sense of longevity lurking underneath. Should go at least another 10 years.

The All Saints was awesome. Incredibly dark colour, licorice and lantana leap the from the glass and flood the palate. Lots of amazing other things in there but at this stage I was a bit of an emotional mess and didn't pay too much attention to details.

Great night of wine.

[Chuck]

Congrats on this milestone and good to see the cork gods were kind on the day.

Carl

[phillisc]

2012 Wynns The Siding Cabernet Sauvignon, 13.5% Screwcap

Looking forward to this as a bit of a benchmark indicator of what the premium 2012s might bring for this label.
Opens with a slightly burnt smoky nose with spice and blackberry poking through.
Light to medium body on the palate, degree of opulence but not what I would call excessively over the top fruit expression of plums, savory tones and finishes with gentle tannins. Perhaps my palate was a little off, the wine (drunk over several hours) would be rich at one stage and then finish very short the next.

Certainly a much better wine than the 2011 BL, and at $13, 1/3 the RRP. A 6 bottle purchase and future 2012 cabs should be pretty smart.

Cheers Craig.

[Rossco]

2009 Dog Point Section 94 (fumé Sauv Blanc) - This was my first fumé sauv blanc. Never tried one before, and didn't really know what to expect....but Holy cr@p this was incredible. So weighty, flinty and funky. Not overpowered by the oak, but full of richness and fruit.....like licking a wet stone. Definitely not for everyone though, and I would think its an acquired taste.

To be honest, I didnt think much of it on my first sip.... totally my fault as I served it too cold. Once it warmed up a little, it was simply jaw dropping....where have you been all my life....will buy more.

2012 Hoddles Creek Chardonnayy -Not really much else to add from what others have already said. Stunning YV chardonnay for the money.....just stunning. Will have to order more, as this just simply wont last in my cellar.

[ticklenow1]

2009 Collector Marked Tree Red Shiraz. Canberra District. Very Pinot like nose with lovely florals and Cherry and blackcurrant. Palate delivers in spades as well. Black fruits with some nice 5 spice and silken tannins. I reckon Halliday gets his ratings wrong (too higher points) on a regular basis but he gave this a 97, and on the nose I can see why. This will age but I don't think the rest of my 6 pack will see it's peak as I just enjoyed this so much as it is now. 4/5

2008 Kalleske Clarry's GSM. Barossa Valley. Nice wine. A bit savoury at first with a bit of funk that blows off. Alcohol not really an issue but the red and black fruits may just be a tad cooked. But it doesn't take away from the end product too much and it only got better the longer it was in the glass. Great VFM and a more than reasonable quaffer. I'd much rather drink this than the $20ish French reds getting around at the moment. 3/5

2004 Greenock Creek Cornerstone Grenache. Barossa Valley. I just love this wine. It's everything I enjoy about Barossa Grenache. This wine hasn't budged since my last note. Down to my last 2 bottles now 4.5/5

2008 Seabrook The Merchant Shiraz. Barossa Valley. Quite a bit of oak, but doesn't seem to have any cooked fruit at all. Full bodied and the typical Barossa bruiser. Just a tad of alcohol heat but the hot weather doesn't help. Should carry on improving for a few years yet. 3.5/5

Cheers
Ian

[dlo]

Tonight with a remarkable piece of (specially hung and aged) grain fed Angus beef sirloin, a magnificent bottle of 2001 Seppelt St Peter's Shiraz. Exemplary mid weight red. Poised but effusive, elegant but laden with perfectly-judged juicy black fruit, ohso persuasive in nature but elusively haunting - a wine with great character but holding back plenty for many years of vastly superior drinking - verging on the exceptional. Great juice. Up there with the best St Peter's I've tried to date and rates on a par with Seppelt's classic 1972 Great Western Burgundy (which of course was most likely 100% shiraz!). Another great drinking experience.

[timmspe]

Haven't managed to think about any of these in great detail, but have enjoyed the following...

2011 Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz. Always a favourite.
2011 Cape Mentelle Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. Nothing to write home about.
2013 Hart of Barossa Alicante Bouschet. Was informed this was less sweet than the Rockford, but I disagree. It's pleasing, but reminds me of regular fruit juice.
2010 Rymill Cabernet Sauvignon. Dark fruit, chocolate bullets and a bit of mint. Thick. Opulent. Spectacular. Very glad to have more of these tucked away.
2011 Arboleda Cabernet Sauvignon. Was able to spend a bit more time with this one. The first thing I noticed about the nose was Grenache-like fruit roll-up, followed by wood, pencil shavings, vanilla and mint. The palate was straightforward red fruit with a few savoury notes. Carrying a bit of excess heat. Average. If this is representative of Chilean Cabernet, I believe that better value-for-money to be had in Australian examples.

[dlo]

Tonight a beautiful bottle of bubbles - Bollinger NV. New packaging .... absolutely first class juice at a ridiculously good price. Auction purchase.

[dave vino]

As a big fan of Single Malts, Cognacs, Bourbons and Caribbean Rums I thought I might post some tasting notes of a different kind.

I may go on a bit about the alcohol heat, so let me qualify this that I’m not some random first time drinker of spirits and love my cask strength single malts. It’s like they are the Lanson champagne or Hunter Semillon of Cognacs. They either use very good coopers who can minimise the angels share or they top up regularly to minimise loss of alc or they use the glass demijohns more than they let on. The overall theme I took from them is a sense of dryness and spiciness, not a full bodied one in the Hennessey/Remy Martin/Martell mould.

The tasting pack at $50 is a bargain in the context of what they are worth.

Tesseron 90 ($151) – Fairly simple and lightweight on the palate. Nose is dominated by alcohol, with some sweet characters coming through, maraschino cherry, dried fruits. Very different style to the big house XO cognacs.

Tesseron 76 ($202) – Bit more weight on the palate, still seems somewhat unbalanced and hot belying it’s 40% alc, almost feels like a cask strength Single Malt. Softens on the palate as you work and settles down with a richer flavour of Brandied Xmas Pudding, subtle spices.

Tesseron 53 ($412) – Nose has settled down and more burnt caramel, and sweet characteristics coming to the fore. Weight has gone up another notch, quite spicy on the palate, flavours are more integrated and melding better (seem somewhat compartmentalised in the younger ones) Still a touch hot on the palate, heaps more length, leading to a nice mild chocolate coffee aftertaste.

Tesseron 29 ($745) – Overall the balance is a lot better but still not what I expect from what is to be a 80-90 year old Cognac. Good length, chocolate liquers, to me it is just starting to get into the groove which in context is probably a bizarre statement. A little thicker again, and more ethereal in the mouth, heaps of length but it’s not in your face – a cognac of finesse. The cool climate shiraz of cognacs if you will.

Parker gave this 100pts fwiw.

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[AaronL]

The tasting pack at $50 is a bargain in the context of what they are worth

Bargain indeed! Considering the Tesseron 29 miniature alone should be worth more than $50, you're essentially getting the other 3 for free. However, I'm not a fan of cognacs. As Goldilocks would say, "This porridge is too hot"

[sjw_11]

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I notice, looking at the picture, that the 2nd oldest is termed "Perfection" while the oldest is termed a mere "Exceptional" ... interesting scale?? Whats better than being perfect? ... "Ice Cold"

[TiggerK]

Careful Dave, I'll start doing beer notes next..... Oh, OK maybe just one, it is summer after all.

Ballast Point Big Eye IPA - Lovely beer. Great combo of maltiness, copper notes and floral big hop notes. Not a sessionable 'smash em down from the bottle' BBQ beer, just a good glass of beer enjoyment.

Back to wine... GrapeMates Xmas party tonight!! Bring on the Magnums (and one Imperial!)!

[Dan]

As a big fan of Single Malts, Cognacs, Bourbons and Caribbean Rums I thought I might post some tasting notes of a different kind.

Thanks for the notes.
I am also a fan of scotch and cognacs, can you tell me where I can grab one of these packs?
Also do you think it would be ok with a few ice cubes in? or best to have it neat?

Thanks
Dan