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

[Hacker]

Another 1991 Wendouree Shiraz, at SPN in Roseville, a favorite of a few offlines. Magnificent wine, mature but in no hurry of falling over anytime soon. Hint of eucalypt but that is more than balanced by a full bodied dark fruit velvet carpet of flavour. What a great year and winery. Brady's take a bow!

[Bobthebuilder]

2010 Rockford Moppa Springs GMS

Flowers, strawberries, and a touch of spice on the nose.
Rasberries and cranberries and a bit of red capsicum on the palate with nice acidity.
a bit of heat on the finish, but this died down with a bit of time.

Very enjoyable, I like

[Chuck]

We Arrived in Margaret River a few hours ago a few days late to catch the local round of the world surfing contest and a week to study local food and wine. With some local lamb loin cooked in our room with new potatoes and broccolini we enjoyed a bottle of Jamiesons Run 2001 Winemakers Reserve Cabernet Shiraz from home. Absolutely singing-full bodied yet delicate and elegant. Not much left in the tank so drink up. A much unloved label however these special releases from the era continue to impress.

Carl

[DJ1980]

Had another 1998 Wirra Wirra Penley the other night. This wine is no-where near its peak. Still SO tannic, colour looks 2 years old.

Won't be touching my last for at least 15 years. Will be phenomenal in time. Makes the 1998 Jonh Riddoch look like and old man.

[Rossco]

Had a 2010 Wynns 'The Siding' Cab Sav last night. This was a really enjoyable quaffer for $ 14.
Was a little thin and weedy, but easy to drink, and had enough fruit & red clay in there to be recognised as a
coonawarra cab. The quality of the 2010 vintage carried it through and I was pretty happy with VFM. Will probably
last at least another 5 years as well, as the fruit was still really bright & vibrant. I have two more left I may put away
for future drinking.

[Dang]

Friends came over so I fed them with (freshly frozen) fried Pacific sockeye salmon. The wine was a glorious 2006 The Colonial Estate Expatrie Reserve Semillon with bright gold colour. The nose and palate were restrained and elegant with a long dry finish. Lovely Barossa Semillon indeed, which is right to drink now due to cork closure.

[DJ1980]

My delivery from Mount Pleasant arrived and couldn't help myself. Popped the 1965 Vines.

Phenomenal wine. So pure. I am not used to Shiraz looking and tasting like this. I can't think of another I have enjoyed more.

[Andrew Jordan]

My delivery from Mount Pleasant arrived and couldn't help myself. Popped the 1965 Vines.

Phenomenal wine. So pure. I am not used to Shiraz looking and tasting like this. I can't think of another I have enjoyed more.

Notice Prince has a free tasting of this plus a few other 2014 McWilliams Hunter reds tomorrow here in Sydney. Anybody going?

[mjs]

Couple of wines from amongst a few others last night

2010 Ch Sociando Mallet AC Haut Medoc
55% Cab Sauv, 40% Merlot, 5% Cab Franc, 13.5% alc
dark red purple, beautiful cassis bouquet, very full, structure, black fruits, tannins, great to try now and see evolve, but you really want to try this in ten years at least

2010 Clos des Jacobins St Emilion Grand Cru Classe
80% Merlot, 18% Cab Franc, 2% Cab Sauv, 15.5% Alc
Right bank monster, impenetrable black red, huge, opened a little in the glass, but just a little, black fruit, tannins, clearly needs time, bring on global warming!

2008 Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Aszu 500ml
beautiful sweet nose, botrytis, but good acid on the palate as well, so not sickly, beautiful dessert wine

[swirler]

2010 Clos des Jacobins St Emilion Grand Cru Classe
80% Merlot, 18% Cab Franc, 2% Cab Sauv, 15.5% Alc
Right bank monster, impenetrable black red, huge, opened a little in the glass, but just a little, black fruit, tannins, clearly needs time, bring on global warming!

18%? Sounds terrible unless it's trying to be a vintage port.

[mjs]

2010 Clos des Jacobins St Emilion Grand Cru Classe
80% Merlot, 18% Cab Franc, 2% Cab Sauv, 15.5% Alc
Right bank monster, impenetrable black red, huge, opened a little in the glass, but just a little, black fruit, tannins, clearly needs time, bring on global warming!

18%? Sounds terrible unless it's trying to be a vintage port.

15.5% ... a Bordeaux for RP

[swirler]

Oops I was looking at the Cab Franc %

15.5% is still too high. Parker wine as you say.

[Hacker]

2005 Mamre Brook Shiraz. Perfect place right now. Fully resolved mix of acid, thick coating of dark fruits and and length of epic proportion. Great with BBQ sirloin. Ooh I love wine.

Last night a Wendouree 1998 Shiraz. Decanted for 4 hours. A hint of eucalypt but more than compensated by power and finesse. Lovely. One of the best Wendourees I have tried.

[mychurch]

05 Rosccos Shiraz
Menthol and eucalyptus, big blackcurrant fruit. Very rounded. Nice smooth end of the night drinking. No rush to drink this up. Very long finish. Only drank half last night and today its even better. I reckn another 10 years will add a lot of complexity.

05 Talbot, St Julian, Bordeaux
We were actually trying a few glasses out - I was given 2 glasses of ' breathable glass' for my birthday. In the new glass this was open and fruity, in the standard Riedel Cabernet it was a bit closed and in the Riedel Somelliar it was complex and drinking lovely. Iron, red fruit, lovely balance. Highlight, as is normal with aged Bordeaux, was the nose which was iron, Earth and mineral. Just starting to drink.

08 Chateau St Jean, Chateauneuf de Pape
Not my thing. Enormous extract, big on the oak, lots of alcohol. Undrinkable for me.

96 Cote Rotie, Brune et Blond, Guigal
Came from my ex wives loft storage, which cooks wine over the summer. Survived well though, with the best aromatics: a complex
mix of leather and stables. Bit lean in the mouth though, with modest cool climate fruit and mellow tannins. Would have went well with food, but we were just drinking.

[Rossco]

2012 Wynns Black Label Cab Sav: I hope this was either a bad bottle, or its in a dumb phase as it just wasnt that good. Thin, green and lacking the generosity of fruit I have had in previous vintages of this wine. Lets hope it improves with age, as it was in the decanter for 2 hours and it didnt really move. Lots of acidity and I really hope this will come together with time. I have 2 cases of this, so I wont be opening them for a very LONG time.

2010 Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz: I had high hopes for this, as I have had a few bottles of previous vintages and been very happy....but this bottle was just rubbish and utterly undrinkable. Searing acidity that overtook absolutely everything. The acidity was so harsh it felt like your mouth was burning. At first I thought it was the alcohol, but it was a different type of burn. Poured it out of the decanter and back in the bottle. Not even sure I can cook with it. Like the wynns, I hope this was a bad bottle. I have one more I will lay down for 5+ years, but this experience will stick in my mind forever.

1997 Tahbilk Reserve Cab Absolutely singing and in perfect condition. Cork was stunning with a precise round red disk at the very bottom. No leaking or seepage (which older tahbilks can be affected by). Barnyard and funk on the nose that blew off quickly. Old leather and polish with the oak simply playing a perfect supporting role. Drinking this took me back to walking around the tahbilk cellars. I closed my eyes and I was right there amongst those massive barrels; Quite surreal. No tannins left but was silky and quite fragrant of violets and lavender. Just superb and is the reason Tahbilk is my favourite winery.

2004 Dutschke St Jakobi Magnum In a great spot at the moment. Decanted for an hour and it just kept changing in the glass. Really dark black fruits at the start. Blackberry, dark plums and balck currents. They subsided after a while and the herbs started to come through. Dried oregano and sage, which was quite surprising for a barossa shiraz. Just goes to show they are not all the same....true single vineyard wine. This lacked the power of a usual 'Barossa Shiraz', but instead was replaced with finesse and elegance. Absolutely intriguing and a fascinating wine .....the length went on and on and on. I noticed this was personally signed by Wayne himself (in gold pen) after I opened it. LUCKY i have one more left

2011 By Farr Sangreal Pinot Noir: Wow.... so fragrant and sublte. Had the colour of watered down raspberry cordial, which is surprising as the past vintages of this wine have been much darker. All that went out the window when i plunged my nose into the glass. First whiff was real stemmy and had some tomato leaf in there as well. Quite savoury with sour cherries, tart raspberries and rhubarb.... Stunning and im going to get a lot more of these. I have one 2010 and two 2011's left.

[Matt@5453]

2014 Henschke Archer's Vineyard Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills

A very tasty drop. Like most Henschke wines the balance here is the winner; very good fruit, subtle use of oak and very good finish. Peachy, fresh rock melon (not overripe), a touch of butter, a nice back bone of acidity and fine use of french oak, without being dominant but supportive of the fruit. The mid palate is full and luscious with a touch of roasted cashew, the finish is long and satisfying. Not an overly complex wine, but it does need to be, its just drinking very well.

[Phil H]

2006 Chateau Haut-Monplaisir Prestige Cahors Inspired to open a bottle after reading a review (amongst others) in the current edition of Gourmet Traveller Wine.
100% Malbec, dark in color, dry dusty tanins evident, earthy, a bit of old leather shoe, with blackberry fruit. Priced around $33, great value for a 10 year old French Wine. Very enjoyable, and a bit different.

[mjs]

:oops: Oops I was looking at the Cab Franc %

15.5% is still too high. Parker wine as you say.

It actually opened up a little in the glass, but it was still a massive wine and still in its components. Given that it was 80% merlot, it was certainly something different. Could be very good in 20 yrs, but might still be too tannic and disjointed

[swirler]

High alcohol wines don't cellar well according to most experts I've read. As I don't buy these wine, I wouldn't know!

[Sigmamupi]

In HK with a HK resident friend at Choi Fook seafood restaurant in Northpoint which allows byo at $HK 50 per bottle (plus 10 per cent service charge which is standard in HK). We took our own Riedel Magnum overture glasses as their glasses are nothing special. 2006 LEAS Chardonnay with some lobsters from the tank (about 400 Gm each at $HK 99 per lobster) and 2006 Castello dei Rampolla Alceo with suckling pig. The Tuscan wine is a Cabernet/Petit Verdot blend and well short of its peak but was high class and equivalent in standard to a first or second growth left bank Bdx.

[JamieBahrain]

Forgetting to post here-

1999 Nine Popes was typical of the vintage with plump Barossa fruit with its typical shades and nuances in a seemingly shiraz dominant year with a good run of acidity. Holding pretty well. 91pts

Domain A Cabernet 2001 - Last of 6 magnums from a defunct wine investment fund in Singapore. WTF invests in Aussie wine ? Quite a presentable cool climate style I enjoyed at near quaffing prices. A tad short but as expectations at this price modest I was very happy. 91pts

[JamieBahrain]

HK resident friend at Choi Took seafood restaurant in Northpoint which allows byo at $HK 50 per bottle

Well done !

The joy of HKG is BYO and IB purchases. Some of the best food/wine QPR in the world.

Go to a restaurant and buy off the list, sheesh, I know we all pay the landlord here but pricing ridiculous.

[Hunter]

2015 Rieslingfreak No.2 polish hill
Precise, impeccable balance .. green apple and honey nose. Limes and flinty mineral.
Delicious acid/mouth feel
Johns wines always deliver!

[Con J]

A few bottles opened in the last couple of weeks.

1998 Cullen Cabernet, 13.5% – This was awkward and not very enjoyable.
After a while I decided to decant into a half bottle and put it in the fridge. A couple of days later it looked better. Not sure whether to drink the rest soon or leave for a few more years after this showing.

2000 Yeringberg Cabernet, 13% – Medium body. Blackberries and some spice, tannins have softened out nicely. Very nice wine.


1999 Lake’s Folly Cabernet, 13.2% – Medium body, this was lighter than the 1998 I had a few months ago. Cassis, blueberry and some leather. This was a little hot on the nose for me. Long blueberry after taste that I usually get with Coonawarra.

Cheers Con.

[conformistpete]

Jamsheed Yarra Glen Shiraz 2012.
Fragrant nose with black pepper, olives and dark berries. Later nutmeg and spices come to play.
Medium bodied with fine dusty tannins and a lick if acidity. More of those berries and savouryness on the palate.
The longer in the decanter it sits the more it opens up, unfortunately the end of the bottle comes too quickly.

[cuttlefish]

Tyrrells Stevens Semillon 2001
Clean cork stained maybe 5mm. 10% alc.
Mid-golden straw colored. Quite mature and doesn't show its best until it has warmed up a bit. Strong toasty/honey aromas, dry pine-needles, and a sandy earthiness. Just great terroir. Touch of spritz on the palate, with a good level of that toasty honey richness, lanolin, and mature lemon flavours.

[Ian S]

A nice midweek treat & it even held up well to the second night.

1996 Houghton Cabernet Sauvignon Jack Mann - Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Frankland River (26/04/2016)
In fine shape, the wine barely penetrating a few mm from the bottom of the cork.
Still a very deep dark claret / people colour tending to more of a crimson / claret at the rim. Very young looking for 20 year old wine.

On the nose there is a lovely leafiness with supportive blackcurrant fruit. Swirling releases richer fruit with a slight mocha accent.

On the palate there is good depth of fruit, supportive acidity and a hint of balsamic/barnyard more often encountered in Italian reds. The leafiness is also there in the background but it does play second fiddle to the fruit. No noticeable tannins and a decent length to the quite light finish - nicely avoiding a sense of heaviness, and so inviting another sip.

Overall, really enjoyable and whilst not fitting the unfair cliché of Aussie reds, doesn't stick out as stylistically very far away from (say) the better Margaret River Cab blends.

[Benchmark]

Cheers Ian.

Thoughts on a drinking window for the above?

[rens]

Last night with a couple of close friends we tried:

2010 Wynns Black Label Cabernet
2005 Glen Eldon Cabernet
2008 Churchview The Bartondale Shiraz
2008 Cappellano Otin Fiorin Pie Rupestris Barolo

Cheers
Ian

Hi Ian
What was the Barolo like?

[ticklenow1]

Last night with a couple of close friends we tried:

2010 Wynns Black Label Cabernet
2005 Glen Eldon Cabernet
2008 Churchview The Bartondale Shiraz
2008 Cappellano Otin Fiorin Pie Rupestris Barolo

Cheers
Ian

Hi Ian
What was the Barolo like?

Rens,

From memory it was quite tight and needed plenty of air. I'm no expert on Barolo so probably best if JamieBahrain adds to the discussion. I did enjoy it though, as it's quite different to what I normally drink. No way near as fruit forward and I'd suggest it needs many more years of rest.

Cheers
Ian