2014 WOTY

[Mike Hawkins]

Best Champagne... 1996 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne.... And WOTY again
Best Australian red ..... Toss up between 1990 Rockford Basket Press , 1990 Penfolds Bin 90A and 1982 Henschke Mt Edelstone
Best Australian White..... 2002 Petaluma Riesling in front of 2001 LEAS
Best Foreign White... 2001 Trimbach Clos St Hune
Best Foreign Red... 1990 Lynch Bages
Best Fortified... The Seppeltsfield Muscat in Qantas First

[Wizz]

(honorable mention to the 11 Anne Gros Richebourg - wow).

Yours, or a tasting somewhere? I have a few stashed away and am reluctant to touch them for a decade or more.

Tasting at a friends house. We saw the 08 Anne Gros Richebourg the same day, and the same friend showed us the 09 DRC Richebourg earlier in the year (!)

You're safe to leave these alone for a long while yet!

[michel]

Top 12
Thanks to everyone whom shared

1964 Latour
1964 Petrus
1995 vogue musigny
1995 Leroy musigny
1988 Vogue Musigny
1988 Leroy clos vougeot
2008 Ramonet Batard Montrachet
Arnaud Ente white burgs
1993 Tarrawarra blanc de blanc
2006 Henri Boillot puligny
2011 Vietti scarrone barbera d'alba
2004 Conterno barolo

[JamieBahrain]

2011 Vietti scarrone barbera d'alba
2004 Conterno barolo

Wow! A barbera. Good for you! If it's not the vigna vecchia try and source a bottle from a beautiful vineyard below the winery in Castiglione Falletto that's 90 years old.


Assuming the 2004 is Monfortino?

[Wayno]

05 Hill of Grace on Christmas Day was pretty decent and as clear a highlight as I can recall.
An 03 Pertaringa Over the Top Shiraz was also a nice surprise.

[TravisW]

Evening all,

Great to see lots of praise for the Wynn's 1991 Centenary Cab Shiraz. We opened a bottle of this and it was absolutely neutral. Bizarre. I contacted Wynn's and Sparky emailed me back. They tested the bottle and TCA had stripped the fruit. Very kindly Sparky organised a few replacement bottles as a like-for-like wasn't possible. Bravo Wynn's and Sparky!

Wizz - What was the Clonakilla 2006 Syrah like? Potential for the future? We have a few bottles of this tucked away.

Cheers, Travis.

[Diddy]

Evening all,

Great to see lots of praise for the Wynn's 1991 Centenary Cab Shiraz. We opened a bottle of this and it was absolutely neutral. Bizarre. I contacted Wynn's and Sparky emailed me back. They tested the bottle and TCA had stripped the fruit. Very kindly Sparky organised a few replacement bottles as a like-for-like wasn't possible. Bravo Wynn's and Sparky!

Wizz - What was the Clonakilla 2006 Syrah like? Potential for the future? We have a few bottles of this tucked away.

Cheers, Travis.

What did you get as a replacement if you dont mind me asking?

[TiggerK]

Did a Top 13 in 2013, so went for a Top 14 in 2014!

Sparkling
1998 Krug Vintage Champagne
2004 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne

White
2011 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne
2011 Ramonet Batard-Montrachet

Red
1955 Woodley's Treasure Chest (WOTY)
1965 Lindemans Hunter River Burgundy Bin 3110
1970 Saltram ‘Hydraulic Pressing’ Shiraz
1971 Penfolds Grange
1990 Étienne Guigal 'La Mouline'
1992 Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz
1994 Étienne Guigal 'La Landonne'
2000 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve

Sweet/Fortified/Spirit
1973 Staatsweinguter Hochheimer Domdechaney, Rheingau Eiswein-Beerenauslese
Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 Year Old Solera Rum


Heartfelt thanks to all my wonderful, generous friends for another fantastic year of great wine, food, company and laughs. Happy New Year!

[Wizz]

Wizz - What was the Clonakilla 2006 Syrah like? Potential for the future? We have a few bottles of this tucked away.

Cheers, Travis.

Like this:

http://www.brisbane-book-club.com/tasting-notes/2006-clonakilla-syrah/

Damn tasty now, and a long slow evolution on a long plateau i think.

PS 93 points on the scale we use is about 96 on Winefront, and about 101 points from Halliday.

[Mark Carrington]

Red: La Gomerie 2000
White: Leeuwin Chardonnay Art Series 2006
Budget red: Julian Sunier Fleurie 2011
Budget white: Denis Jamain Reuilly Les Fossiles
Rosé: R. López de Heredia Rioja Rosado Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 2000
Sweet: Rieussec 2009
Sparkling: Bereche NV
Fortified: D'Oliveiras Madeira Terrantez 1988
Dud: Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Spätlese 1989La Gomerie edged out R. Engel VR Les Brulées 2002. A thoroughly modern take on claret & none the worse for it. Sad to read Beau-Séjour Bécot are folding the parcel back into the main cuvée. I was fortunate to try the 2006 Leeuwin three times during the year. The best Chardonnay producer, outside Burgundy? This pipped Lafon's Goutte d'Or 2007, which had the advantage of being drunk in situ, after a long absence from the region. Sunier was a merchant's tip. Bojo is priority destination for 2015, after an aborted trip this year. Finally managed to meet Denis Jamain. An authentic vigneron. Les Fossiles always provides value. An underwhelming year for sweet wines: Rieussec '09 for the potential. Terrantez was an eye opener. At a tasting, there was a neglected table. Another presenter told me to try the Madeiras. The elderly couple presenting showed more passion about 'their' wines than anyone else I met this year. Moreover, the quality was in the bottle. All five D'Oliveiras vintage releases were a minimum of outstanding. The Terrantez WotY. It shames me to list the Egon Müller. The man is a genius & this has previously been a stunning wine. Spotted on a list at a very fair price: it was utterly disappointing. Scalped? A fellow diner just kept muttering 'root day'.

[Mike Hawkins]

Nice line up Tigger....

[TravisW]

Wizz - What was the Clonakilla 2006 Syrah like? Potential for the future? We have a few bottles of this tucked away.

Cheers, Travis.

Like this:

http://www.brisbane-book-club.com/tasting-notes/2006-clonakilla-syrah/

Damn tasty now, and a long slow evolution on a long plateau i think.

PS 93 points on the scale we use is about 96 on Winefront, and about 101 points from Halliday.

Thanks Wizz!

[daz]

Penfolds St Henri 1996

[Bytown Rick]

Penfolds St Henri 1996

Thanks. Gives me an excuse to pop a bottle .

Rick

[Croquet King]

Wine of the Year

Paringa Estate Pinot 2010

Honorable mentions

Kay Brothers Amery Block 6 1998
St Hallet Old Block 1998
Grant Burge Meshach 1999
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet 1996
Seppelt St Peters Reserve 1998
Pol Roger Winston Churchill 2004

Discoveries
Lanson vintage 2004 - have always drunk Bollinger as my $50 bottle but discovered the Lanson.

[Scotty vino]

Red; 2008 Charles Melton Nine Popes GSM (just wow)
White; 2007 Mitchell McNicol Riesling (took me by surprise. Stunning)
Fortified; Morris old premium rare liqueur muscat (never disappoints)

Worth a mention;
NV Primo Estate Joseph Sparkling Red (incredible mouth feel as always)
2007 Henschke Tappa Pass Shiraz (very muted on first taste but sang like a canary in the hrs following)
2010 Mount Horrocks Sémillon (lovely little wine, a go to white for me)
2006 Rockford Basket Press (close to WOTY but the nine popes was just that bit better)
2011 Greenock Creek Alice's shiraz (had 3 of these this year and it defied the poor vintage tag every time)

[Willard]

Wine of the Year - 1986 Penfolds St Henri.
Runner up - 1994 Houghton Jack Mann.

Best Young Red - 2010 Kay Brothers Block 6 - knocked my socks off.
Runner up - 2010 Bannockburn Pinot Noir.

Best White - 2007 Voyager Estate Chardonnay - at a wonderful peak.
Runner up - 2007 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay - this was younger than the Voyager, and got shaded. Still think there's improvement here - will it top the Voyager in time? Maybe.
Another runner up - 2000 Crawford River Reserve Riesling.
Yet another runner up - 2006 Vat 1. Come back in 5 years or more, so young. Still, awesome now.

Sweet Wine - 1982 De Bortoli Noble One. Glory.
Runner up - Nothing even remotely close.

Will

[Mike Hawkins]

Wine of the Year

Paringa Estate Pinot 2010

Honorable mentions

Kay Brothers Amery Block 6 1998
St Hallet Old Block 1998
Grant Burge Meshach 1999
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet 1996
Seppelt St Peters Reserve 1998
Pol Roger Winston Churchill 2004

Discoveries
Lanson vintage 2004 - have always drunk Bollinger as my $50 bottle but discovered the Lanson.

Where did you get the 04 WC? It won't be released in most markets for another year.

Thanks

Mike

[Croquet King]

Where did you get the 04 WC? It won't be released in most markets for another year.

Thanks

Mike

Sorry about that - I meant 2000. Getting a bit ahead of myself.

I've run a few Champagne tastings and it is always in the top 2 with Krug.

[Mike Hawkins]

Thanks. If you like the 2000 (which sadly they no longer serve on Qantas) you'll go crazy over the 2002.

[maybs]

Thanks. If you like the 2000 (which sadly they no longer serve on Qantas) you'll go crazy over the 2002.

As far as I can tell they never served it in the part of the plane I sit in

I'm itching to open a bottle but I only got 2. Might have to buy one more to sacrifice to the tasting gods.

[Mike Hawkins]

I was given a bottle of the 2000 as a 'thanks for visiting our (Pol Roger) maison' gift. With that sort of hospitality, I figure I'll be back !

[Croquet King]

I fly quite a bit for work and often use points to upgrade on the way home from London via Dubai.
For 60k points (business to first) its a good use of points.

The last trip I had
2004 La Grand Dame
2012 RWT (there was a promotion on and they served it only for a week)
2010 Paringa Estate Pinot
2009 Leeuwin Art Series Cab

Lilypilly sticky
Seppeltfield Rare muscat and Tokay.

I have had the Pol Roger Winston Churchill twice though - the latest was June of 2014. Do they not serve it anymore?

[Mike Hawkins]

I fly quite a bit for work and often use points to upgrade on the way home from London via Dubai.
For 60k points (business to first) its a good use of points.

The last trip I had
2004 La Grand Dame
2012 RWT (there was a promotion on and they served it only for a week)
2010 Paringa Estate Pinot
2009 Leeuwin Art Series Cab

Lilypilly sticky
Seppeltfield Rare muscat and Tokay.

I have had the Pol Roger Winston Churchill twice though - the latest was June of 2014. Do they not serve it anymore?

When I last visited Pol Roger they told me Qantas had given them the boot. The only Champagnes they now serve in First are the Grande Dame and Taittinger Comtes. Unlike most airlines, they tend to only serve one of the two on each flight.