Weekly Drinking Thread 22/3/2014

[crusty2]

starting the weekend with some nice wines
1985 Marc Bredif Vouvray 12%av. pale lemon in colour, ripe quince jam nose and a sweet(ish) palate. Some hints of apricot that i associate with botrytis. Has the acid to carry the sweetness. Nowhere near the structure of the brilliant 1986 but really nice stuff. Drinking better on day 3.
2001 Chapel Hill "The Vicar" This has just started to come together after looking sombre and withdrawn for the last 3 years. Opens with a nice forest floor mulchy nose and soft smooth palate. mulberries. the tough oak in its youth has finally integrated to add structure. Day 2 has some leafy characters emerging but now the bottle is empty.
1991 Hardys "Eileen Hardy" Shiraz McLaren Vale, Padthaway and Clare Shiraz : 20% French and 80% American oak. 13.5%av. This is on another level up from the previous wine. Fresh, young blackcurrant and plums backed up with toasty, but integrated, oak. Oak, alcohol and aged characters in harmony and such a brilliant alive wine. Matched with duck and veal sausages on the BBQ tonight, Yum.

love to hear from everybody else what you are drinking this weekend/week

cheers
Phill

[cuttlefish]

Cracked a couple tonight:

1978 Jacobs Creek Claret (Shiraz, Cabernet, Malbec)
12.5% alc. Mid- to high-shoulder. This was hanging on nicely, with some dry leaves, and later some roast tray aromas. Fairly gentle in the mouth. Still some fruit there. Simple, but nice drinking.

1988 Taltarni Reserve des Pyrenees
12.2% alc. Into the neck. Am assuming this is a bordeaux type blend of some description. Amazingly youthful cork. Stank at first, but opened up a bit. Probably a touch too much brett influence, but really this wasn't too bad at all. Looked French 'n all.

[Chuck]

Brookland Valley 2011 Verse 1 Margaret River Chardonnay. Their entry level wine and not too bad. A bit old school in the buttery and oaky style. Not much finesse but good for the price. It's hard finding a bad MR chardy

Eldredge 2002 Clare Valley Blue Chip Shiraz. A wild card from auction and pleasantly surprised. Very nice fruit although the use of 100% new US oak showed with a bit too much vanilla. It's cooling down here in Adelaide and time for the more fuller bodied style and ports.

BTW if you are looking for the ecological way of catching cockroaches leave an empty glass of port on the bench. Next morning they are there in numbers.

Carl

[rooman]

Penfolds BIn 389 1999 & 2002 I took the 2002 to dinner last night only to discover my friend had the 1999 ready to go so we had a mini vertical taste-off (who said no one cares about vertical differences ) In truth really nothing between the two wines, both from excellent vintages, both aging so well and entering their respective drinking windows. Softening tannins in both wines, both opening up nicely to show that classic shiraz cab sav blend that Penfolds have helped establish as a true Aussie classic. Lovely length with a full mid palate and a long finish that makes you want to slowly sip the wine over the course of the meal, small sip by small sip.

[Brucer]

2008 Chapel Hill Vicar.
A shut shop. Closed.

[Matty01]

Had a few at Fix St James- superb food,
88 John Riddoch from magnum, very nice but past its best
94 Wendouree Cab Malbec, ok but really tight and closed, opened up after a couple of hours in a decanter
2012 Lino Ramble GSM, really hitting its straps, full of lie, spice
09 Wellbush Shiraz, soft,veasy
2011 Alpha Crucis Shiraz, magnificent and with a very big future ahead of it
2010 Turkey Flat Cab, closes but opened well, quite fruit after a couple of hours

[GraemeG]

Sundries from the last week:

2004 Kreglinger Brut - Australia, Tasmania, Pipers River (3/23/2014)
{cork, 12.5%} Still pale in colour: has lightly developing aromas of toffee apples, with a vague leesy suggestion. Fairly light-bodied, with quite fine but active (almost aggressive) bubbles. Remains fresh and clean; has a slight browning quality to the finish which hints at its age. Misses a little complexity; could have used more time on lees without risk; has a slightly vague, just-medium-length finish. Pretty good, not outstanding. COuld be kept longer. Drunk on our 12th wedding anniversary; by complete coincidence it's also my 5000th Cellartracker tasting note. How 'bout that?

2007 Pooley Riesling - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River (3/22/2014)
{screwcap, 13.2} Meltingly gorgeous; fruity limes with a lemon touch; a suggestion of sweetness which competes with a fuller-bodied warmth; it's not a coquettish come-hither mystery wine, but something rich and glorious which seduces you instantly with mass appeal. Rich and gorgeous. Sailing along beautifully; seems to have acidity to carry for some while yet too.

2006 Taltarni Cabernet Sauvignon - Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Pyrenees (3/21/2014)
{cork, 14.1%} Almost exactly what I said a year ago. Dusty, astringent, vaguely herbal and eucalypt cabernet. Medium-bodied. Just doesn't draw you in somehow. Back label says 8-10 years; doesn't auger well if this is at its most interesting. Drink anytime really, just don't expect too much exciting drinking. Great cork, by the way.

2010 Brygon Reserve Shiraz Birds of a Feather Humming Bird - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River (3/19/2014)
{cork, 13.5%} Sweet raspberries, with a gentle vanilla oak tint. Rich and ripe, and quite fruit-sweet; there are fine powdery tannins, fairly low acidity; this is very much in a crowd-pleasing mode, to the point where I wondered about a dash of possible residual sugar, so slippery is the texture, so disappointingly short the finish, and so cloying the aggregate effect of subsequent glasses.... The kind of wine that you serve to a party crowd, and everyone thinks its terrific, mainly because they only drank it once...

2003 Tahbilk Shiraz Eric Stevens Purbrick - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes (3/17/2014)
{cork, 13%} A fabulous copy of last July's note - or it would be fabulous if the wine was just a bit more exciting. There is a nod to fruit sweetness here, but it's very drying on the finish, and becomes more so with subsequent glasses. Reasonable wine at peak drinking.

2012 Shingleback Cabernet Sauvignon The Davey Estate - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale (3/16/2014)
{screwcap, 14%} Ruby colour. A raw blast of youthful, jammy, baked fruit in the initial nasal experience. This really is jubey and ripe and seemingly sweet. The palate has medium rather coarse tannins to give it a distinct astringency, and hard acids. Has a really artificial feel to it, despite the flavours being pleasant enough, although a bit on the roasted side. Slightly warm on the finish, which is medium/full-bodied but a touch hollow, this is the quintessential BBQ wine to be quaffed without much thought. A bit gritty and rough to provide much pleasure. Not a keeper.

2005 Neudorf Pinot Noir Moutere - New Zealand, South Island, Nelson, Moutere (3/15/2014)
{screwcap, 13.5%} Developing, clearly. Meaty; delicatessen-like, a touch of soy. Memories of black cherry fruit. Still plenty of fairly hard acid; tannins have softened out into a gentle powdery texture. Full-bodied pinot, and with some alcoholic warmth too; it's a pretty big mouthful of flavour, but rthere's not a lot of complexity to it. Medium-length finish; I don't think there's anything to be gained from further cellaring. A handsome mouthful of wine with plenty of general appeal, but not better than that.

2012 Orlando Chardonnay St. Hilary - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Padthaway (3/14/2014)
{screwcap, 13.7%} Straw yellow. Fresh, youthful nose of figs, nuts and a touch of butter. The palate shows off some overt but quality oak, nutty grapefruit flavours, clunky but effective acid, and a fairly forward aspect in the mouth. It's medium-bodied for chardonnay, perhaps a touch hollow, dry but ripe, and has a slightly oak-tinged, malo-influenced, medium-length finish. Nice enough, if perhaps a little woody as you work you way through the glasses; something to drink in the short (pre 2016 for instance) term.

cheers,
GG

[sjw_11]

Grosset "Gaia" 2009... Medium red, relatively light hue. Green, herbaceous nose with hints of tomato bush, a touch of fresh blackcurrant. The palate begins relatively light to medium bodied, but gathers weight with breathing to pick up some liquer blackcurrant nuances. The finish is long, with grippy, furry tannins. This bottle seems a bit leaner and greener than the last one I had. Still a delightful medium bodied "claret".

[Tucker Wine Studios]

Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay 1998:
Golden yellow colour, similar to a botrytis Semillon. Flavours dominated by roasted nuts, fudge, marzipan, malt and maybe a bit of dried apricots. No sherry notes here. Had first a bit of a mineral(?) edginess just after opening but got rounder with some breathing time. Reportedly past its best but still very drinkable and enjoyable if you like developed whites, definitely nowhere near dead. Nice with pesto and pasta.

Lofty Valley Steeped Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2012:
Winner of the Adelaide Review Hot 100 Wines 2013. And indeed this is really lovely. Nice sour plum aromas wafting from my glass, lively acidity, interesting herbal savouriness, very juicy and round, so approachable and easy to drink. Was great with roast pork.

Eldredge Estate JD Sangiovese 2009:
Hedonistic, very ripe and rich, 15% alcohol, contains 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Stewed fruits, kirsch liqueur and rum, spicy oak. Full bodied and bold but also soft and round. Tastes much sweeter and juicier than the more common savoury Sangiovese styles. Was a good match with a rich roast beetroot-haloumi-dukkah-pomegranate molasses salad.

Geoff Hardy Undressed Limestone Coast Verdelho 2012:
Lovely quaffer, fruit salad at its best. A great starter wine for the afternoon of a weekend day.

Cheers,
Mario

[Teisto]

2007 Clonakilla O'Riada Shiraz - Very good. Very savoury and definitely a food wine for me. Everything in balance with the addition of 2% Viognier which was only faintly detectable on the nose (apricots). Interesting to see how this develops a little further.
NV Bollinger- Enjoyable.

[The fish]

'La Pousse d'Or - Volnay 1er Cru En Caillerets 2011 375ml: I said to the wife on my mobile last night as I was driving home "Do you mind grabbing one of those half bottles out of the pantry and opening it for me?" I figured she'd grab one of my remaining halves of the Espiers Gigondas . I arrive home and she's grabbed and opened a 2011 Burg my mistake. In my defence I thought that they were well hidden and that the desired wine would be reasonably obvious....but apparently she knows all of my secrets

Before writing this I should stress that I'm a burg novice. I've only been buying semi-regularly since the 07 vintage and have tried 20 or so bottles of varying pedigrees from vintages prior to that. So my thoughts might seem a little simple but I should state that I certainly didn't think the wine was anything complex.

On first inspection the nose isn't giving much away and it's very closed. On the palate I'm getting red currants and raspberries - red fruit spectrum. On entry the wine is slightly crunchy and maybe even a touch hard - it's medium bodied.

At first, and I might be mistaken, the wine also seems a bit 'varnishy' (perhaps VA?). After about 5 minutes this little 'feature' disappears and the wine softens but not to any great or enjoyable degree. With my limited experience I'm not confident about identifying ' green meanies' but I can say there's no apparent astringency or unripe fruit flavours present. Tannins seem delicate. I've kept a glass for tonight and will report back if it's improved or of there have been any other dramatic changes.

I reckon that this wine has been opened way ahead of it's time but it might also just be that this is what '2011' looks like. Even though it's a half bottle I reckon it probably needs another 2 to 3 years before I'd consider opening it for reassessment. I enjoyed 2009, loved 2010...and 2011...well it's a good thing I haven't gone long on this vintage.

I'd be interested to hear how others are finding their 2011 Burgs.

Cheers
Matt

[Matt]

Hewitson Ned and Henry’s Barossa Shiraz 2006
Age has tamed this wild beast. Soft blackberry/blueberry and violet fruit. Full bodied and rich earthy overtones. Use of oak is subtle. Drinking beautifully now.

[Michael R]

'La Pousse d'Or - Volnay 1er Cru En Caillerets 2011 375ml: I'd be interested to hear how others are finding their 2011 Burgs.

Cheers
Matt

Reds are very much a mixed bag Matt.
I dont get the 'across the board' 2004 greeness that others do, but definitely noted in some.
Its a try-before-buy vintage as much as possible, with producer snobbery advised but not guaranteed (i had a Dom Dujac Malconsorts which was very disappointing).
Have had more consistency with whites though. Chablis too, if you like the leaner style.

[The fish]

Reds are very much a mixed bag Matt.

Thanks Mike. Have you got any favourites from the vintage so far?

I have a few bottles of the 2011 Domaine de la Vougeraie 'Corton Clos du Roi' sitting in the cellar along with a half dozen more of the half bottle Pousse d'or. If the Pousse is representative...it wasn't fun. Night 2 and the wine had a opened up a fraction more but it still wasn't that enjoyable. I even toyed with decanting it to try and get something out of it - I'm hoping that given that it was kind of muted it might have been faulty?

I managed to backfill late last year with a 2 dozen 2010's coming in from across Jadot (La Dominode and Close des Ursules), Faiveley (Vosnee Romanee, Chambolle-Musigny et al) and Bouchard Pere et fils (the Baby J). 2012 is supposed to be bad and 2013 equally not as good in Burgundy. Burg wine critics are interesting beasts...One can only hope that 2014 heralds a return to better vintage conditions across Europe.

Cheers
Matt

[Panda 9D]

2004 Cheval Blanc - Probably the best wine of the year for me so far. Nose and tastes that are hard to put a finger on. Rusty fruits, tar, earth, rocks, roasted meats, herbs and spices. Good to go now. If it was served blind I could very well have picked it as a Romanee St. Vivant… which would make me a terrible blind taster. Has anyone else had this wine? What were your thoughts? I was blown away by it but I have never had any other Cheval Blancs to compare it to.

[Michael R]

Hi Matt

Not much really grabbed me on reflection, however I've only tried maybe 20odd reds. One producer though I thought worth recommending is Michel Noellat. Had a few villages and prem cru overseas late last year and they all drank well, a couple particularly showed some weight and softness. Not sure if these are available in Oz though.
There is a wiser school of thought that says eventually this vintage will fill out, soften etc....only patience is required.
I don't have as much experience as Hacker and others, but I quite like young burgs and so will focus on other vintages.

Fwiw you can hopefully expect lots of 2011 notes here in the next couple of days. There's a 3 day Burgundy festival on currently and last night quite a few Grapemates attended a tasting, littered with 2011.
In fact I'm bringing a 2011 white to the byo dinner tonight

[maybs]

2007 Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz

Nice nose of slight cedary aromas and stewed red berries, strong emphasis towards strawberry. Pepper, mild spice and strong red berry fruit on the palate. Smooth, elegant medium bodied texture. Very fine tannin but still noticeably present. Incredibly moreish but enjoyed sitting on it. Very long finish. Quite enjoyable.