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

[Mike Hawkins]

I had an 06 disgorgement of Rockford Black Shiraz. Excellent wine albeit a tad sweeter than other disgorgements if my memory serves me correctly. It was a real crowd pleaser.

[Redwine&Rum]

Over the last couple of nights had a few bottles of Wild Duck Creek Springflat Shiraz.
We had a 2005 and a 2006 last night.

The first night we had around 5-6 bottles of red. Nothing noteworthy except for the 2005 Wild Duck Creek. Absolutely superb. Glorious fruit, beautiful mouthfeel, supple tannins and length. Was everyone's favourite wine by a long shot. There was a definite lull in the conversation for 10-20 minutes as we just all sat there and enjoyed the wine. So glad I have a heap more of these.

Cracked the 2006 Springflat last night and again was everyone's favourite. But it didn't pip the 2005. For me personally, the mouthfeel wasn't as elegant as the 05, and the tannins were just a tiny bit grippy. The 05 went down like mothers milk.

Also had an 01 Springflat a week ago. I enjoyed it, but in my opinion it was fading a little bit. I'll be drinking my remaining bottles soon.

[Hacker]

About to open a 2006 Fourrier Cherbaudes for dinner away for a long weekend with Mrs Hacker. Will report in later how it was. I have high expectations!

[griff]

After some virtuous abstinence we elected to open a Charles Melton Sparkling Shiraz with chinese. Disgorged 2005. Not as old as the one we had courtesy of TomA a few years back which opened my eyes to the ability for this wine to age. Lovely cherry red with a bouquet of anise, red berries and tar. A touch sweeter than we would like on the palate, perhaps some desiccation if one were harsh. But the long, complex, savoury finish could not be faulted. Excellent wine.

cheers

Carl

[Tom A]

After some virtuous abstinence we elected to open a Charles Melton Sparkling Shiraz with chinese. Disgorged 2005. Not as old as the one we had courtesy of TomA a few years back which opened my eyes to the ability for this wine to age. Lovely cherry red with a bouquet of anise, red berries and tar. A touch sweeter than we would like on the palate, perhaps some desiccation if one were harsh. But the long, complex, savoury finish could not be faulted. Excellent wine.

cheers

Carl

Great to hear Carl!! That Melton stash did drink well.
Cheers
TA

[Hacker]

About to open a 2006 Fourrier Cherbaudes for dinner away for a long weekend with Mrs Hacker. Will report in later how it was. I have high expectations!

Ok, the most masculine Pinot I think I have ever had. Almost Shiraz like in its structure. Hard to describe but I tasted hints of iron and blood/meat (in a good way) but not the raspberry and cherry spectrum that one expects of Burgundy. Maybe that is a trademark of Gevrey? More dark fruits and power but balance and a high degree of complexity. Still quite young; I expect another ten years of life from this puppy. Loved it!

[Andrew Jordan]

2001 Two Hands Shiraz Ares - Ruby/Garnet in colour, rich (bordering jammy) bouquet of ripe blackberries, raisin and dark fruits, with a touch of vanilla in the background. Palate envelopes the tongue with plenty of savoury dark fruit, spice and gamey/earthy undertones. Balanced, riding that fine line between finesse and power with style. Long, long finish of dusty, fine grained tannins. Drinking great now with a decent decant, or will do just fine with another 3-5 years of bottle age. Save for a special occasion!

[rens]

2008 Marqués de Murrieta Rioja Ygay Reserva: Shimmering purple in the glass with red and black fruits on the nose and a hint of vanilla. The palate has layered red an black fruit with nice acidity, tannins and length. The oak is in check and this is a pleasure to drink. Modern Rioja is where it is at for me lately.

2008 Yarra Yering Agincourt cabernet merlot:Recommended by the wine dude in the big green warehouse. dark red with purple hues, this wine even on the nose is big and stewed. The palate gives me a big stewed red and blue berry tart with a wack of oak. Not at all my thing. If you're a fan of the Robert Parker type styles then there is something here for you but I will not be following this guys recommendations again.

[Hacker]

2008 Yarra Yering Agincourt cabernet merlot:Recommended by the wine dude in the big green warehouse. dark red with purple hues, this wine even on the nose is big and stewed. The palate gives me a big stewed red and blue berry tart with a wack of oak. Not at all my thing. If you're a fan of the Robert Parker type styles then there is something here for you but I will not be following this guys recommendations again.

Pity, as the Dry Red No 1 of that year is lovely. I remember it being a star at a Langtons tasting about 18 months ago

[Rory]

2010 Yabby Lake Block 6 Chardonnay
Single Vineyard release. 100% Mendoza Clone.

Drank over two night, the lovely elegant aromas just got a level higher from first to second night, the quality balance between fruit and oak evident.
The palate is likewise well balanced.
However, for the quality of the vintage, and the price, and a single block release to boot, it just lacks drive and length of finish.
Yabby Lake have long been the vanguard for the leaner higher acid style of modern Peninsula Chardonnay, I guess the proof will be in the pudding as to whether another 3 - 5 years in the cellar elicits more complexity, or it just stays "nice" .

[Mahmoud Ali]

Last night with some lovely snapper, salad and crusty bread we enjoyed a Patrick of Coonawarra 2013 Riesling. Surprisingly good for a Coonawarra rizza. More Clare like.

SWMBO and daughter have gone to Melbourne for a girls weekend so with crocodile tears we waved goodbye. So here I sit doing f-all drinking a Vale Ale Pale Ale at 3.30pm in the arvo listening to some old Leon Russell songs on Spotify looking longingly at a Jamiesons Run 2001 Winemakers Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz wondering if there will be any left after a take away sushi dinner and a Tarantino flick. Can it get any better? Life indeed does have some sweet spots.

Carl

Post script to this. The Jamiesons Run was a stunning wine forcing me to finish it on the night. People may laugh at this and many other high quality wines made under this label between 1998 and 2003. Basically the Coonawarra winemakers were given access to selected batches of grapes to make a wine that would start shining only after considerable time in a cellar. There was the Alexander Block Cabernet, O'Dea Block Shiraz this wine and maybe one more. They were also given some great new oak and excellent cork and retailed around $55+. Unfortunately like the Jacobs Creek Limited Release range the winery's name destined the wines to the graveyard.

Carl, didn't Jamieson's Run once win the Jimmy Watson Trophy? It was sometime in the 80s I believe since I recall hearing about it when I bought a few bottles of the '91 and '92. Back then it was an inexpensive wine and there may have been any single vineyard bottlings.

Mahmoud.

[Rory]

2010 Montalto Estate Pinot Noir.

A very good example of high quality Peninsula Pinot. Drinking soft, long, elegant and sweet.
From an exceptional vintage. Montalto often flies under the radar, sometimes the lower level Pennon Hill drinking better young, but the Estate seems to always outshine in the long run.
I found this one to be a very good example of higher level Peninsula Pinot right now. Good elegant sweet fruit, soft sweet tannins, lovely drinking, good length.

[Duncan Disorderly]

2009 Paracombe 'The Reuben'

Coming good on some of its early promise, but still some years away from its best. Despite being cab sauv dominant the acidity reminds me of the '07 Blue Poles Allouran, and the rhubarb, plums and fine tannin are also quite similar. Open from 2017/18+

[catchnrelease]

2010 Canti Estate Barbera d'Asti Superiore DOCG - Meh. Opened with a nice and powerful nose but the palate was underwhelming. Front palate was nice but fell away very quick. What was there was nice, but just needed more oomph, more length and more substance.

2013 Maretti Langhe Rosso DOC - Blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera. Much more well rounded than the Canti, better back palate although still faded a bit faster than I'd like. Got better with air, red fruits, bit of savoury spice and surprisingly good tannin structure (particularly after an hour or so breathing). Length also improved with breathing to be a very well rounded wine. If you really want a cheap easy drinking Italian red, this would have to be up there for the <$20AUD. Apparently the 2012 was better than the 2013 so may try to hunt some of that down.

[Michael McNally]

Carl, didn't Jamieson's Run once win the Jimmy Watson Trophy? It was sometime in the 80s I believe since I recall hearing about it when I bought a few bottles of the '91 and '92. Back then it was an inexpensive wine and there may have been any single vineyard bottlings.

Mahmoud.

Hi Mahmoud

Without using Google, I think it was the 89.

I drank lots of the Jamieson's Run around that time and it was very good VFM. Then the "brand" took off with various single varietals etc. I haven't revisited for a decade or two since I tried the blend and found it thin and short.

Cheers

Michael

[Sean]

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[Sean]

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[catchnrelease]

2013 Mandoleto Nero d'Avola - Get on this. Crisp acidity, gamey blue and red fruits, some spice. Nice lick of fine/soft tannins for structure. $13.99 for an import and it tastes this good?! Super drinkable, bottle disappeared in a flash. Not overly complex but if you're after a medium bodied easy drinking red to go with pizza (or on its own) then buy a few of these. I've seen it for $10 if you buy a case - absolute bargain. Drink now.

[Rossco]

Sorry for the long post (havent caught up in a while) and have definately missed some here too:

2011 Brokenwood Shiraz - Was ok, nothing special. Was a blend of McLaren Vale & Hunter fruit. I have a severe dislike for anything 2011 from South Eastern Australia. I have yet to have anything good. Some may say im prejudiced against the vintage, but so far nothing has excited me....this included. I think I wish this was just a straight Hunter Shiraz.

2011 Vasse Felix Shiraz - There was something serioulsy wrong with this wine. Not sure if it was a bad bottle, but a
massive pooey/barnyard funk that put everyone off. Not sure if this is what Virginia intended the wine to be like, but it was bad!

Langmeil Valley Floor Shiraz 2012 - WOW............WOW! cracking wine! Everyone LOVED it. So juicy straight out of the bottle. Beautiful wine. Oak, Tannins, fruit and spice. Perfect example of how good the 2012 vintage really is.

John Duval Entity 2012 - Absolute stunning wine, but WAY WAY WAY too young. Its not a crack, decant & pour wine unfortunately. I looked at this over 3 days and only on the 3rd day it started to open up. Pure class and going to be magical in 10+ years time (probably 15-20).

20013 Granite Hills Riesling - WOW! Absolutely stunning and worthy of all the accolades. Beautiful floral, citrus notes. Not highly acidic and well structured.

2009 Granite Hills Merlot - Didnt excite anyone. Was just ok.

2008 Granite Hills Shiraz - Polarising wine and split the tasters directly down the middle. Half LOVED it and half didnt. I loved it and really could see what
a cool climate shiraz should be. The trouble is that we put it back to back against the 2009 Mt Langi Ghiran Cliff Edge Shriaz, and the langi won hands down

2013 Woodlands Cab Merlot - Very thin, acidic and disappointing. Not really sure what all the hype is surrounding this wine. Really average bordering on bad. Maybe it was bottle shock. 6 People tried this (no one new the brand or had heard of it, so there was no prejudice) No one like this (including myself). Fruit was not very generous bordering on thin. I wonder if they tried to stretch this vintage out based on demand? Needs plenty of filling out/time, but even then I wonder about it. I would really like to see this in 5+ years time and see how wrong (or right) I was. I think/hope it suffered terribly from just being way too young. I left the other half over night and decanted it with dinner last night. Was still very closed and tight which is unfortunate.

I would like to see a back vintage of this though.

Woodlands Emily Bordeaux blend - Again suffered too much from being just way to young. Again i had another look at this the next night
and it was much better. I can see this being stunning in 10+ years. Definitely a wine to cellar and not look at again for a long time.

2010 Anvers The Warrior Shiraz - Langhorn Creek and Adelaide Hills. Bit of a confused wine. Its trying to be to much I think. Has a cool climate edge at the start (white pepper and herb) with the adelaide hills fruit, but then smacks you in the face with the Langhorn component (dark chocolate, mint). Maybe time will settle this down....MASSIVE heavy bottle (think Wild Witch Dry Grown Reserve). Glad I didnt pay the RRP though.... I would have asked for my money back.

2012 Gomersal Shiraz - Geebus I have a new favourite Barossa Shiraz. Crack, poured and drank. I CAN see what all the fuss is about with these guys. I get to taste the Reserve soon but if its anything like their standard offering (Bought 2 dozen straight up) im going to be very broke very soon. A lot like the langmeil. Everything balanced nicely and really generous fruit (not a big alco fruit bomb though) that just makes you lick your lips. Love

2014 Moores Hill Riesling - Just cracking. One of my favourite Rieslings in Australia (and very underrated) Love the floral and herbal notes this has. White flower and lavender. Just superb. Needs a little more time to come together, but is really nice right now.

2013 Forester Estate Sem Sav B - Quite textural and a little chewey. Not sure about how its fermented but surely a small part is barrel. Peach, lychee and the lime with a touch of straw & cut green grass. Perfect summer drinking.

[Redav]

Cracked a few over the weekend as we had our parents over for a roast lamb on Saturday and friends over for BBQ steak on Sunday;

2012 Penfolds Bin 407 - smooth and clearly young but also seemed a bit closed. It was nice but I didn't enjoy it as much as I do Rockfords Rifle Range. We have a second one so I'll be keen to see how it goes a several years down the track.

2012 Henschke Keyneton Euphonium 375 ml - we quite enjoyed this and we'd still like to find a full bottle for when the misses isn't with child. We'll certainly stick three away (small fridge )

2014 Kalleske JMK Shiraz VP - obviously young and obviously opened too early but I was keen on seeing what it's like as we're trying new things. It's probably unfair to judge it this young but I'm not entirely sure it's to our tastes (yet?). Fruity with a little warmth. I had wondered if it might be something we could keep for significant years for our kids birth years. I'm not entirely convinced but still tempted to size a few away just to see what happens to it.

We also tucked into some tawny's;

Stanton & Killeen Classic Rutherglen - our fathers didn't like it and to be fair, it was the dregs however I'd consumed most of it and I never really warmed to it. I thought my father might have liked it as he prefers dry tawny over sweet but he didn't

Penfolds Club Tawny - cheap and it shows. We'd bought a few to qualify for the Vintec offer

Penfolds Grandfather Rare Tawny - clearly a lot better than their entry bottle and I like it. I'd bought it as a gift from my grandfather last year so am slowly drinking it. Wonder whether it should be kept in the fridge?

Rockford P.S. Marion Tawny - still our favourite

[phillisc]

Craiglee 2000 Shiraz
a fantastic wine showing very little age for a 15 YO, I think its in the middle of a lovely drinking window.
Earthy savoury with that little hint of white pepper.
Gloriously rich on the palate, vibrant fruits, everything in balance with a really plush finish....a great example from a ho hum vintage

Cheers
Craig

[Andrew Jordan]

A few freinds over for dinner Saturday night.

2006 Franck Bonville Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Cru Millesime - For the price this 100% based chardonnay champagne punches well above its price point. Small bead. Great structure and balance. Long acidic finish. Wonderful way to start a night with friends. Back the truck up for this one!

1994 Peter Lehmann Sparkling Shiraz Black Queen - The initial release I believe of this label. Didn't start well with the cork breaking on opening! But managed to jimmy out with a traditional corkscrew. Fine bead. After a brief time in the glass the wine had a very savoury nose of earth and sweaty leather. Palate, continues along the same theme with still a lick of black fruit on the mid palate. Complex, clean, smooth and beautifully balanced, this is gloriousness in a glass which finishes long. A fantastic aged sparkling shiraz which should hold for a few more years but will not improve any further.

2001 Leconfield Cabernet – Decanted for 2 hours. Dark rich ruby red in colour. Nose shows big red fruit backed by vanilla, leather, and savoury undertones. Palate surprisingly still has a lovely backbone of soft dark red fruit. Great mouth feel. Integrated. Long finish of silky, fine tannins. Beautifully aged Coonawarra cabernet. Based on this bottle should hold for another 2 or 3 years but why wait! Outstanding.

1996 McWilliam's Sémillon Limited Release Botrytis - Coming to the end of its life. Very dark in colour. Plenty of apricot on the nose and palate. Not overly complex but went well with New York baked cheesecake.

[Andrew Jordan]

Craiglee 2000 Shiraz
a fantastic wine showing very little age for a 15 YO, I think its in the middle of a lovely drinking window.
Earthy savoury with that little hint of white pepper.
Gloriously rich on the palate, vibrant fruits, everything in balance with a really plush finish....a great example from a ho hum vintage

Cheers
Craig

Craig,

Good to hear this is still going strong. Have a few of these in the cellar and with it being our wedding year, saving at least one for our 20th!

[rooman]

20013 Granite Hills Riesling - WOW! Absolutely stunning and worthy of all the accolades. Beautiful floral, citrus notes. Not highly acidic and well structured.

.

I agree. I visited the winery up in Macedon twice last year with a friend who lives in Kyneton. This was clearly the best wine by a country mile. I suggested to the owner he regraft all his stock over the riesling and just specialise in riesling. Also picked up a case to keep in Kyneton with a growing cellar of local wine.

[felixp]

2004 Chateau Montrose
early-drinking and under-rated year in Bordeaux, this is a beauty. structure of cabernet compliments the sexy merlot. A wonderful "quaffer" purchased for the price of Penfolds 407. 92pts, drink now-2025

[Sean]

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[Sean]

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[felixp]

2004 Chateau Montrose
early-drinking and under-rated year in Bordeaux, this is a beauty. structure of cabernet compliments the sexy merlot. A wonderful "quaffer" purchased for the price of Penfolds 407. 92pts, drink now-2025

Really? The 04 Bin 407 was $27.90 when it was released. The 08 was a bit more, the sticker on my bottle says $33.70. The 2012 is around $75.

What do you pay for a 2nd Growth like Montrose?

purchased December 2014 in HK, for the equiv of $73.50 a bottle. I was comparing it to the available 407, which was the 2012.
HK drinkers are extremely lucky, not only with pricing, but also so many 10+ year old wines selling dirt cheap. Bordeaux extending back as far as 1982 is very easily purchased, although you pay a premium for top "Parker" vintages (and conversely, out-of-favour vintages like 2004 are ridiculously cheap as merchants try to offload their excess stock)

[rens]

2004 Chateau Montrose
early-drinking and under-rated year in Bordeaux, this is a beauty. structure of cabernet compliments the sexy merlot. A wonderful "quaffer" purchased for the price of Penfolds 407. 92pts, drink now-2025

Really? The 04 Bin 407 was $27.90 when it was released. The 08 was a bit more, the sticker on my bottle says $33.70. The 2012 is around $75.

What do you pay for a 2nd Growth like Montrose?

purchased December 2014 in HK, for the equiv of $73.50 a bottle. I was comparing it to the available 407, which was the 2012.
HK drinkers are extremely lucky, not only with pricing, but also so many 10+ year old wines selling dirt cheap. Bordeaux extending back as far as 1982 is very easily purchased, although you pay a premium for top "Parker" vintages (and conversely, out-of-favour vintages like 2004 are ridiculously cheap as merchants try to offload their excess stock)

One man's quaffer is another man's special occasion wine.

[Hacker]

WOTY experience..... 1986 Wynns John Riddoch. The level was lower neck, quite good for this age, and the Ah So performed perfectly revealing a perfect cork with staining only 1cm. a good sign! Left to Audoze for five hours, then into a glass as big as a swimming pool, revealing absolute Coonawarra perfection! Deep color, perfect structure with still dominant fruit but draped in a generous velvet cloak. It filled my mouth with voluptuous yet smooth fruit flavours that define Coonawarra. Length to burn. One of those wow wines that only come along only every now and then.

I was leaning towards Margaret River as my preferred Cabernet region, but this is making me reasses......