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

[JamieBahrain]

Underwhelming 82 Lafite. Not a fake, the length was too good. Just a trophy purchase no doubt and poorly kept!

[Michael McNally]

1999 Kay Brothers 'Hillside' McLaren Vale Shiraz
Some browning/bricking. Nose of beef stock, black peppercorns. Medium-full bodied palate of leathery, woody black ripe plum. Wonderful resolved tannin in a long semi-savoury finish. Something black (aniseed?) in the aftertaste. Excellent.

[Teisto]

2008 Kooyong Pinot Noir - Really good, tea leaf, cherry and weird I know but lemon thyme notes. Starting to brown a little. Drink now if you have some. Don't think it will get any better

Interesting on the Hillside Michael - I have some 2005 and was contemplating whether to start looking at it. Based on your assumption of the 99 I might hold a little longer yet.

[Bobthebuilder]

Interesting on the Hillside Michael - I have some 2005 and was contemplating whether to start looking at it. Based on your assumption of the 99 I might hold a little longer yet.

I had one of 2005 about a year ago and it was drinking very nicely after a couple of hours in the decanter, so if you have quite a few I would hit one now as you definitely won't be committing vinfanticide

[griff]

A corked 2012 Sons of Eden Remus tonight. The second bottle was glorious. Blueberries and anise. Plush, long palate and evolved in the glass. Excellent/Outstanding and certainly worth the thought to post.

[Teisto]

Thanks Bob for the heads up.

Last night and one of the best wines I have had so far this year

2006 Meerea Park Alexander Munro Shiraz - This is incredibly good. Volume, length and depth of flavour is just all there. This was the first of a number of cleanskins they did of this a few years back for $30 a bottle that they offered to a mate that was a member. Very good juice if you like Hunter shiraz

[rooman]

Voyager Shiraz 1999 had this yesterday with friends for lunch. I found the bottle when reorganising the cellar recent. i had thought I had finished the last of these wines off years ago so I was a little concerned the wine might have thinned out and dried out with the passage of time. No worries about that, it was simply superb and drinking like a heavyweight from Northern Rhone. Perfectly balanced tannins, savoury fruit, great weight through the middle with a wonderful finish that just kept rolling on for ages. I have had a few dudes out of the cellar recently, wines from slightly off vintages that just delivered nothing. This wine on the other hand reminded me why I love cellaring my own wines. At a tad short of 20 years, it was a killer.

[Sean]

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[Redback]

A couple of "tenners'" during lunch .

2006 Charles Melton Nine Popes
Label note from Charlie Melton 1st July 2008 reads: "The wine of 2006 shows its traditional Grenache perfume but is made more complex by the rich sweet spice aromatic that is a hallmark of this vintage. This wine is matured in French Oak (65%) and American Oak (35%) ,on its lees for 20 months and cellaring in proper conditions will see it complex and richen into and even more distinctive style".

Bought and cellared since release and have to admit, CM has nailed in. Under stelvin, on opening it smelt fresh as a daisy. Fully balanced,with savoury berries on the palate, and the oak fully integrated. A very good wine.

2006 Turkey Flat Shiraz
Benchmark Barossa Shiraz. However for me, the Nine Popes was the better wine for me.

[Rory]

2008 Domaine De La Vielle Julienne.
Rhone.
Don't know much about this producer, this was a gift from a friend. Was a little hesitant, as my low tolerance to Brett gets me a bit gun shy about Chateauneuf. Happily this was as clean as could be (either a great bottle or great producer! ).
The Grenache showing lovely and clean, typical fruit sweetness on nose and palate. Some good complexity from the rest of the mix. Good length. Looking fresh as well.
All round a lovely wine, easily go another 8+ in a good cellar.

[Con J]

Hacker, I'd believe the 389 was perhaps TCA tainted at a low level. Stripped. That wine should be outstanding.

Hi Rory, you could be right. It just wasn't obvious on the night. And we were having too much fun to worry about it.

I remember reading this so I thought I’d report back.

Opened one of these tonight decanted half in a half bottle and put it back in the wine fridge, had the other half with dinner.

Lots of dark fruit, liquorice with a touch of vanilla oak still remaining but not overpowering, tannins are just about resolved.
Drinking superbly and think this will hold for at least another 10 years.

Just finished the other half of the 389, nearly a week later just as good as the first half.


On Saturday at a BBQ I thought it was too cold outside for a red so I opened a 2008 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay. This was in the melon and nectarine fruit spectrum and still very fresh.
Then I opened a red anyway, which was a 2001 Yeringberg Cabernet and yes it was a bit cold for the wine to open up until we went inside and as it warmed up turned into a lovely medium body Cabernet.

This was a BBQ with non wine drinkers so didn’t look at the wines that close and probably why I woke up with a headache.

Cheers Con.

[Ian S]

2014 Luccarelli Primitivo Puglia - A wine like this gets me really interested in trying others from where it comes. Gets me thinking about the land, the people, the food and how life is lived there. Funny because it is often wines like this that are not expensive to buy or hard to get that do that. A primitivo from Puglia, in the south of Italy, and tastes like it. Red-purple colour, almost sweet and lush fruited aromas coming out of the glass and much too easy to drink. That will be the fruit and clean acidity in it. Cherry, red fruits, spice, aniseed and prune. Feels medium-bodied with soft, earthy tannins. Must drink more wine like this or just go there for a while I suppose.

I'm in agreement here. As long as they don't try to make a Zinfandel (there are 17% alc versions in Puglia these days), Primitivo can offer ridiculous value, often a bit rustic, but IMO all the better for it

[deejay81]

1986 Chateau Talbot

Cork was soaked halfway up, and fill was bottom of neck. Cork came out in one piece with Ah So

Still pretty dark in colour with very very little bricking, did not look like a 30 yr wine. After opening some barnyard, poop, and hidden black fruits. Def some leather, sweat, all that funky stuff.

Let it decant in a wide decanter whilst removing sediment for about 30 mins, and alot of the pooey smell went away.
Still some leather, sweat, graphite, and the black fruits

Tasted similar to the nose, alc was 12.5% but seemed a tad higher, not in a bad way, but not a good way either. Tasted kinda similar to a 2003 Pape Clement I had earlier this year. Still had a little bit of primary fruit, but def alot of secondary characteristics. Tannins very silky. This particular bottle could go at least another 5 years I think, however it's drinking beautifully right now.

[George Krashos]

Friend brought a few bottles over for lunch on Monday:

Bodegas Bilbainas Reserva Cosecha Rioja 1970 - Lovely perfumed noise, tannins resolved, still velvety on the palate. Lovely old wine.
Laurent Tribut Chablis Premier Cru Montmains 2012 - Balanced with a good lick of acid on the palate. Needed (and got) food.
Chateau Filhot Sauternes 2000 - Found it quite brassy and didn't have that unctuousness (is that even a word?!) of a top notch sauternes. Good enough with the lavender and honey panacotta.

-- George Krashos

[Sean]

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[michel]

Sean
Most excellent notes

[Sean]

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[Redback]

2013 Samuel's Gorge Grenache - Raspberry upfront but not too sweet. The 2012 I had a few weeks ago was a better wine for me.

[Hacker]

Had these three for lunch today with the family.
Selosse Sous le Mont lieux dit. Didn't check disgorgement date, but oxidative style, very yellow and lost its bubbles quite quickly. But it also opened up for an hour revealing caramel, pear and sweet spices with a long finish. Quite white burgundy like. Delicious.
2006 Leeuwin AS Chardonnay. Wow. Such a full yet gentle wine. Broad flavour of pear, lemon, subtle but mouth filling. So good, but not as complex as the Selosse.
Giaconda 2008 Chardonnay. Perhaps should have had this before the LEAS, as it showed more angular and one dimensional. More minerally and just overshadowed by the previous two.

[TiggerK]

Slumming it there Hacker.. Curious that the Giaconda 08 showed like that based on it's young decadent spiced oak characters.

[michel]

Do you enjoy Selosse?
I have some serious bottle variation even @ cellar door.

[Hacker]

Do you enjoy Selosse?
I have some serious bottle variation even @ cellar door.

Yes I do. I am lucky enough to receive an allocation each year, and whilst there is some variation most are lovely.

[Sean]

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[Sean]

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[Michael McNally]

On Saturday at a BBQ I thought it was too cold outside for a red so I opened a 2008 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay.

Sorry, this just did not compute. Too cold for a red so you went with a white? As one of our local Senate candidates would say: "Please explain".
Cheers

Michael

[Con J]

On Saturday at a BBQ I thought it was too cold outside for a red so I opened a 2008 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay.

Sorry, this just did not compute. Too cold for a red so you went with a white? As one of our local Senate candidates would say: "Please explain".
Cheers

Michael

Hi Michael.

The temperature outside was in the low teens and thought it was too cold for a red and better suited for a white.
I think that reds that are served too cold just don’t show well.

Cheers Con.

[Chris H]

Cooler in Melbourne than Brisbane Michael.

[Michael McNally]

Right now a 2009 Wild Duck Creek Estate 'Springflat' Shiraz. 16%. SC.
It is teeming here and has been all day so a comfort wine tonight. Just opened so needs to breathe but the screwcap liner is stained. Dairy milk chocolate and malt over red and black berries on the nose. Concentrated fruit, but light on its feet for such a big wine. Good length. Very, Very Good.

[Michael McNally]

Cooler in Melbourne than Brisbane Michael.

But not wetter I'll wager. Thought the house was going to float away there this evening (one of the wheelie bins did...)

I was only partly being a smart alec. I tend to go for reds in cooler weather and it has never occurred to me to drink white at any time because the ambient temperature is cooler than I would drink my wine. I hardly drink any white at all in winter.

When it is really cold I probably keep my glass in hand to keep it at a higher temperature, but I guess really cold here is 5-10 degrees.

When it is that cold I tend to have port in my glass!

Cheers

Michael

[Pelican]

2012 giaconda mcclay rd nebbiolo beechworth & king valley - looks rather old - maybe 25 years so - but lovely fruit - a pleasure to drink - full of character - premature senescence - excellent.

2014 by farr chardonnay geelong - beautiful not ashamed to be chardonnay - full bodied - complex - excellent with oysters then gnocchi

in adelaide we say that " vics are pricks " - but the good wines from victoria are very good