Right, what are we/you drinking now .. tonight

[odyssey]

i broke another Universal while loading the dishwasher

That's unfortunate news, surely a reason to pick up, say, some Zalto Burgs as consolation?

Only one wine opened in a massively failed attempt to fulfill a sudden Chardonnay craving.

2007 Domaine Des Nembrets Pouilly Fuisse Les Folles - Lacking something? interest? guts? balance? Then I discovered afterwards that I bought this without knowing it was entirely unoaked - no wonder! Definitely not my style of southern Burgundy. I will happily guzzle low-oaked Chablis, with plenty of acidity and minerality - absolutely! But I much prefer Macconais with old oak to back it up. This had died in the fridge by the second night. Not good.

[Hacker]

2010 Curly Flat Chardonnay 375ml bottle - full flavoured, none of your subtle, thin style here! Oak influence apparent, none the worse for it. Most enjoyable.

[ticklenow1]

2010 Jacob's Creek Orlando Barossa Valley GSM. Lovely wine that will live for at least 5 years. Bright colour, slippery tannins and plenty of red and dark fruit with a touch of spice. Only medium bodied and held on nicely on day 2. 3.5/5

Cheers
Ian

[odyssey]

2011 E. Guigal St Joseph - Ruby red. Nose of red currant and cherry, pepper, deli meat and pencil shavings. Red cherry with a touch of white pepper on the palate, tart acidity, slightly toasty oak, uncomplicated but well balanced. Medium bodied and medium length. A very pleasant weeknightly drinker.

[ads_11]

Over the last few days..

2004 Rockford Rifle Range - still a lot of fruit and really nice mid weight body.

2010 Rockford Rifle Range - Had this while out for dinner. Very approachable now, but will only get better.

2008 Richmond Grove Watervale reisling - I am not a whit drinker but actually enjoying this tonight.

[rooman]

2005 d'Issan …. great wine, but still too young, even after a decant. If you have any, leave until 2020.

How are you finding most of the 2005s? Even my 2005 QPR cheapies are not ready for the most part....Not that I expected most of the better ones to be in their drinking window but I did expect some of the cheaper ones to be...

yea, you are right, everything still pretty much tight as a drum. If I had one quibble, some, including classified growths, seem just a little hollow in the middle, but of course that may be because of their closed state. It is becoming a bit of a stubborn vintage for the lesser wines, which usually drink beautifully approaching their 10th birthday, and seems a little similar (but certainly better) to 2000.
I know many of the knowledgable scribes tout 05 as the greatest vintage of the modern era, but I prefer both 09 and 10. Still, it is a better vintage than even 90 and 82.

I think if you are finding the 2005s a bit hallow at present it is simply because they have gone to sleep. So far I have given in and tried just two, one being a Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste, the other being a d’Armailhac. The GPL was superb but still too young. the d’Armailhac thin and hallow. I will try to resist any more until say 2018/2020.

[rens]

2013 Teusner Avatar Everything I've come to expect from this wine. Surely a future classic. Well balanced and have put a few in the cellar to start drinking 5 years from now for about 6-7 years.
2010 Cirillo The Vincent This is a great little grenache batting well above expectations. Also a few for the next couple of years. Get some of this if you have not tried it. Ian Tickle I'd imagine you have a few...

[Hacker]

AFD

[ticklenow1]

2013 Teusner Avatar Everything I've come to expect from this wine. Surely a future classic. Well balanced and have put a few in the cellar to start drinking 5 years from now for about 6-7 years.
2010 Cirillo The Vincent This is a great little grenache batting well above expectations. Also a few for the next couple of years. Get some of this if you have not tried it. Ian Tickle I'd imagine you have a few...

You would be correct Rens. Plenty of the 1850's as well. Love the stuff.

[maybs]

2006 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru. Medium gold, attractive nose with plenty of minerality and fruit. The palate was rich but well balanced with good backbone. Citrus and ripe peach flavours and a long finish. Really pleasant with some Cantonese food. Excellent little pick up at Good Wine in HK for a BYO dinner last night. Actually that place was quite upsetting, stupid Australian taxes...

[felixp]

2006 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru. Medium gold, attractive nose with plenty of minerality and fruit. The palate was rich but well balanced with good backbone. Citrus and ripe peach flavours and a long finish. Really pleasant with some Cantonese food. Excellent little pick up at Good Wine in HK for a BYO dinner last night. Actually that place was quite upsetting, stupid Australian taxes...

…..glad you enjoyed it Maybs!!!!! Hope you bought six and got the 10% off Great little convenient store, I often go into dreamland browsing there, until the wife rudely awakens me from the enchantment hehe
if you got an HSBC credit card, you can get lots of wines at 35% off at Etc., which then becomes pretty competitive with the e-tailers

[maybs]

2006 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru. Medium gold, attractive nose with plenty of minerality and fruit. The palate was rich but well balanced with good backbone. Citrus and ripe peach flavours and a long finish. Really pleasant with some Cantonese food. Excellent little pick up at Good Wine in HK for a BYO dinner last night. Actually that place was quite upsetting, stupid Australian taxes...

…..glad you enjoyed it Maybs!!!!! Hope you bought six and got the 10% off Great little convenient store, I often go into dreamland browsing there, until the wife rudely awakens me from the enchantment hehe
if you got an HSBC credit card, you can get lots of wines at 35% off at Etc., which then becomes pretty competitive with the e-tailers

I had a good wander around that little store for about 40 minutes Felix. Very interesting.

Tonight a nightcap of a 1997 Fonseca vintage port following a few Tsing Tao with dinner. Open, enticing nose. Opulent rich palate. Looong finish. Very solid port but lacking X factor for me.

[JamieBahrain]

Lazy way of doing things but here's my last 2 weeks of quaffers-

[Michael McNally]

2010 Cirillo The Vincent This is a great little grenache batting well above expectations. Also a few for the next couple of years. Get some of this if you have not tried it. Ian Tickle I'd imagine you have a few...

Having the second half of a 2011 Vincent tonight. Last night I thought it a pleasant savoury number but perhaps a little thin. Tonight, almost a sour morello nose, gorgeous acid and lovely texture, though a little one dimensional.

Cheers

Michael

[Michael McNally]

And that wasn't enough so now on a 375ml 2010 Teusner Riebke.

Wow this is good juice. Straight from opening.

Cheers

Michael

[felixp]

had my one remaining bottle of 1999 Palmer last night, about 3.00am, as a celebration for me.
this is a great wine, but unfortunately, comes with a great price tag. If you ever see it south of $300, snap it up.
drinking now-2040+, I would rate it 97+ points.

[ticklenow1]

2007 Spinifex Espirit. GSMCC. Barossa Valley. I've been a huge fan of this wine for a while now and even though it's a supposedly poor vintage, this wine is very good. Lots of red fruits and some spice on the nose. Similar on the palate but with a bit of meatiness which I assume is from the Mataro. Medium bodied and colour is starting to fade, silken tannins and whilist I got a bit of heat from the 14.5% alcohol, it seemed to dissipate very quickly. Balance is good and while I'd suggest this won't get much better over time, it should hold for another 2-3 years no problems. Drinking very well right now. 3.5/5

Cheers
Ian

[Phil H]

2008 Clover Hill Brut Everything that I want in a sparkling- showing some slight aged characteristics, but yet still showing freshness and vibrancy. For under $40 it is hard to beat. Excellent.
2004 Mount Pleasant OPOH Shiraz A very classy wine drinking at its peak. Classic Hunter characteristics, medium bodied with elegance. On opening showing a bit too much acid, however with decanting, everything came back into balance. Excellent.
2004 Chateau Lanessan Refreshing to try a wine at 12.5%, slightly muddy colour, however an interesting wine as I am discovering affordable Bordeaux wines. Certainly showing lots of aged characteristics, Very Good.

[Hacker]

After a big exhausting night at 'Carols on Clanville' I am sitting back with a 2010 Teusner Riebkie Shiraz from 375ml. Such a delicious drop.

[Michael McNally]

After a big exhausting night at 'Carols on Clanville' I am sitting back with a 2010 Teusner Riebkie Shiraz from 375ml. Such a delicious drop.

It would be interesting to taste these little bottle rockets against a 750ml of the same vintage. These are in a great place right now and I only have 30 left......

Cheers

Michael

[Hacker]

After a big exhausting night at 'Carols on Clanville' I am sitting back with a 2010 Teusner Riebkie Shiraz from 375ml. Such a delicious drop.

It would be interesting to taste these little bottle rockets against a 750ml of the same vintage. These are in a great place right now and I only have 30 left......

Cheers

Michael

Michael are these from the current offer or from a few years back?

[bigtinnie]

A novice red drinker here.
I enjoyed a 2008 Lake Breeze 'Bernoota' Shiraz Cab last night.
I know it's not a terribly great vintage etc but I love it. I tend to really like the Langhorne Creek reds.
Perhaps someone who has had this lately and has some wine education could tell me in 'wine speak' what this wines characteristics are so I can look for those in other wines?
I like the fact it isn't overly 'fruity' and it has some 'savoury' tastes. Also it smells 'old' or a little bit smoky. Is this oak that I'm picking up?
How would this wine compare to other shiraz/cab blends like Bin 389 and Yalumba Signature?
Thanks in advance.

[conformistpete]

Spinifex 2014 rosé
Great with grilled vegetables and chicken sausage on a sunny Sunday arvo.

[paulf]

A 2014 Turkey Flat Rose. Perfect for the current weather.

[VINH NGUYEN]

week 2 of decadence

[Michael McNally]

Michael are these from the current offer or from a few years back?

I bought a couple of dozen from the first offer a couple of years ago, then found a retailer here in Brisbane flogging some about 6 months ago, and got another dozen. I was down to seven when the latest offer came round and got another 2 dozen.

Cheers

Michael

[Michael McNally]

A novice red drinker here.
I enjoyed a 2008 Lake Breeze 'Bernoota' Shiraz Cab last night.
I know it's not a terribly great vintage etc but I love it. I tend to really like the Langhorne Creek reds.
Perhaps someone who has had this lately and has some wine education could tell me in 'wine speak' what this wines characteristics are so I can look for those in other wines?
I like the fact it isn't overly 'fruity' and it has some 'savoury' tastes. Also it smells 'old' or a little bit smoky. Is this oak that I'm picking up?
How would this wine compare to other shiraz/cab blends like Bin 389 and Yalumba Signature?
Thanks in advance.

Hey BT

I really like the Bernoota. Had a couple of 2006s last year and they were excellent. As a younger wine it often has blackberry and black plum fruit, but the acid is always balanced and generally the oak (American I think) is quite noticeable as a young wine, along with a little mint, but not to over the top. These do seem to resolve themselves into good all rounder with 3 or 4 years on them (though some vintages remain mintier than others). Great bang for your buck too.

As compared to the 389 or the Signature, I think you would find both more powerful generally, and the fruit would probably still be a feature of the wine for longer. That said, if you can wait I think you will see some similar characteristics in stronger, longer form as the Bernoota (though possibly a little more towards the red fruit spectrum and without the overt mint).

The Metala can be a similarly good wine in good vintages (2010 and 2012)

Long live Shiraz-Cabernet!!

Cheers

Michael

[bigtinnie]

A novice red drinker here.
I enjoyed a 2008 Lake Breeze 'Bernoota' Shiraz Cab last night.
I know it's not a terribly great vintage etc but I love it. I tend to really like the Langhorne Creek reds.
Perhaps someone who has had this lately and has some wine education could tell me in 'wine speak' what this wines characteristics are so I can look for those in other wines?
I like the fact it isn't overly 'fruity' and it has some 'savoury' tastes. Also it smells 'old' or a little bit smoky. Is this oak that I'm picking up?
How would this wine compare to other shiraz/cab blends like Bin 389 and Yalumba Signature?
Thanks in advance.

Hey BT

I really like the Bernoota. Had a couple of 2006s last year and they were excellent. As a younger wine it often has blackberry and black plum fruit, but the acid is always balanced and generally the oak (American I think) is quite noticeable as a young wine, along with a little mint, but not to over the top. These do seem to resolve themselves into good all rounder with 3 or 4 years on them (though some vintages remain mintier than others). Great bang for your buck too.

As compared to the 389 or the Signature, I think you would find both more powerful generally, and the fruit would probably still be a feature of the wine for longer. That said, if you can wait I think you will see some similar characteristics in stronger, longer form as the Bernoota (though possibly a little more towards the red fruit spectrum and without the overt mint).

The Metala can be a similarly good wine in good vintages (2010 and 2012)

Long live Shiraz-Cabernet!!

Cheers

Michael

Thanks Michael.
I also love the Metala. Another Cab Shiraz blend I like is Majella Musician.
I will have to lash out and try some of the pricier wines of the same style.

[Michael McNally]

Thanks Michael.
I also love the Metala. Another Cab Shiraz blend I like is Majella Musician.
I will have to lash out and try some of the pricier wines of the same style.

Yes, that's the only way to really find out.

Call it 'research'!!

Cheers

Michael

[Phil H]

2004 Leconfield Cab Sav Another 2004 vintage wine that I am having a good run on. Drinking really well, showing nice clean Coonawarra fruit. Very Good.

2002 Saltram No 1 Shiraz unfortunately my run of good wines came to an end. Flabby, disjointed and muddy. Despite this bottle being kept in a Vintec for all its life, it was certainly past its best. Unable to finish the bottle with friends.