It's Sunday and Ric's on the road...

[Red Bigot]

...back to Mittagong after a night of too much food and wine to accompany our irregular swap-meet to handover the wines we've bought for each other over the past 4-5 months.

I think we drank these:
Lanson Champagne NV - faq bubbly.

Bullers RLB Sparkling Shiraz, the one with some 1968 component, seems more integrated and ready to go than it did a year ago, lovely start.

St Huberts Yarra Cabernet 1990, smart wine, nice now, still a few years in it if you like a more mature cabernet.

Wynns Centenary Shiraz Cabernet 1991, a step up from the St Huberts, classy wine.

Wynns Michael Shiraz 1991, Ric found too much charry oak, I thought there was enough fruit to handle it, starting to mellow a little, but has 5+ years in it yet.

Bricco Rocche Barolo Brunate 1997, interesting wine, good with the food, all about structure rather than fruit/oak, didn't quite have the power I was expecting though, not really worth the price for my tastes.

BVE E&E Black Pepper Shiraz 1991 - a contrast to the Michael, softer, sweeter, oak starting to integrate, just getting into it's prime drinking window.

Morris Cellar Reserve Tokay.

So, what have you all been drinking?

[Chuck]

Hi all,

Chapel Hill 1998 Cabernet. 60/40 split of Coonawarra and McLaren Vale fruit this wine has started to really shine with oak now in balance. Yum. 13.5%

Yalumba 2002 Shiraz Voigner. Whilst high in alcohol the quality fruit is a good match. Needs more time for the oak to integrate, 14.5%.

Chuck

[Anthony]

Had some great wines this week with the highlight being the 2000 Giaconda Warner Shiraz. Still evolving but absolutely perfect.

A 91 Vintage Pommery was very good. I didn't think 91 was such a good year in champagne. This was very mich is the Bollinger style of champagne.

Also last night a 91 Louis Roederer Vintage Rose was superb. Drunk over a variety of dishes it is at it's peak now.

cheers
anthony

[Anonymous]

Not much to report this week. A few wines and some comments:

1. <b>2000 Charles Melton Grenache</b>: 1st bottle was corked, and the 2nd was partly corked. I drank the second as I couldn't face pouring another bottle down the sink.
2. <b>2000 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz</b>: First bottle from the case. Everything is going along nicely. I am a fan of bin 61, although the 2000 was not as good as the '96 and '98. The 2002 is on the shopping list.
3. <b>2000 Brian McGuigan Hunter Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon</b>: Near the end of its life. Not an overly complex wine, but it was only $9 a bottle. Enjoyable none the less.

[TORB]

Thanks for putting the post up Brian, I think I have just about recovered from a night of excess wine and wonderful food.

... our irregular swap-meet to handover the wines we've bought for each other over the past 4-5 months.

I hired a forklift to unload at the other end.

St Huberts Yarra Cabernet 1990, smart wine, nice now, still a few years in it if you like a more mature cabernet.

I could not believe how good this wine was, excellent complexity, seamless and a joy to drink. A far cry from the very ordinary stuff they are pumping out now! Excellent!

Wynns Centenary Shiraz Cabernet 1991, a step up from the St Huberts, classy wine.

The wine of the night for me, I just loved it! Has not changed much and will hold for sometime. Outstanding!

Wynns Michael Shiraz 1991, Ric found too much charry oak, I thought there was enough fruit to handle it, starting to mellow a little, but has 5+ years in it yet.

It was very interesting to try this straight after the Centenary considering that the former wine has 60% of the best Michael barrels in it and the Centenary shows no sign of high toast oak. I did not mind the oak level, it was the high toast level that turned me off. Not Rated!

Bricco Rocche Barolo Brunate 1997, interesting wine, good with the food, all about structure rather than fruit/oak, didn't quite have the power I was expecting though, not really worth the price for my tastes.

A very enjoyable drop but not exactly good value considering the price. I liked it, but then I used to drink a lot of Barolo when I was living overseas and it was a lot cheaper in those days. Excellent!

BVE E&E Black Pepper Shiraz 1991 - a contrast to the Michael, softer, sweeter, oak starting to integrate, just getting into it's prime drinking window.

An interesting wine with a decided petroleum character that one of the guests noticed and pointed out. I must have been having a very good time as I missed it, but still liked a wine a lot. Excellent!

Morris Cellar Reserve Tokay.

Nothing needs to be said about this drop!!

What a night! The highlights (and there was other stuff too) of the food were:-

The sardine fillets cooked in mustard oil.
The homemade dried tomatoes with ask cheese and basil.
The homemade prawn filled ravioli with marrow etc.
The reduction sauce (on the beef) that only used one cow and a bucket of plonk as its basis.
The cold potato salad with home grown greens and onions.
The blue cheese (without the **** honey )

And the death by chocolate with the Morris Tokay.

....And Brian, you slacko... you forgot about the heart starting drop of Mumm this morning with breakfast.

From both Marion and I, thanks to both you and Andrea for a great night.

[Chow Chow]

K1 Merlot 2002 - A Very good Merlot which is rare fr AUS. You guys should try this.

Kaesler FAVE 2003 - Perfumed nose, cherries, ended with residual sweetness that lingers. Despite of the size, it's lacking in something...

Mitolo Reiver 2003 - Using the GAM'03 as a yardstick, this appeared slightly monolithic without the layering of flavours. Loads of mocha, the fruits are being buried by toasty oak. The RP points on the GAM is fully justified but for this I've my reservation.

[Pelican]

To avoid some rain on the way to the TISM gig ( 95 points ) on Friday night had a drink in The Apothecary wine bar in Hindley St Adelaide. It's been open a while now and IMHO is the best wine bar in Adelaide due to its interesting wine list and the nice furniture and ambience of the place. Had a pleasant Te Mata red wine for $8 a glass. Having said that I don't frequent wine bars too often as it is uneconomical to do so but they have their time and place.

1994 Penfold's St Henri Shiraz-Cabernet : drinking nicely now and I intend to drink the remaining 6 I have over the next 5 to 15 years as it will certainly keep.

1996 Petaluma Coonawarra : hmmmm. Bought a case of this from the cellar door in Bridgewater and have stored it properly. Was very subdued even after lengthy decanting. I am currently sceptical about the Coonawarra region and it's ability to make interesting ageworthy enjoyable cabernet'. I'd like to be proven wrong as I still have 8 of these in the cellar - next try 2006....

[Red Bigot]

The highlights (and there was other stuff too) of the food were:-

The sardine fillets cooked in mustard oil.
The homemade dried tomatoes with ask cheese and basil.
The homemade prawn filled ravioli with marrow etc.
The reduction sauce (on the beef) that only used one cow and a bucket of plonk as its basis.
The cold potato salad with home grown greens and onions.
The blue cheese (without the **** honey )

And the death by chocolate with the Morris Tokay.

....And Brian, you slacko... you forgot about the heart starting drop of Mumm this morning with breakfast.

Just for calling me a slacko, I'll correct your food notes

The crumbed, fresh sardine fillets cooked in Indian mustard oil.
The homemade dried tomatoes with ash-coated goats cheese and basil.
The homemade prawn filled ravioli with veal glace and bone marrow etc.
The blue cheese was the heavenly St Agure with Ligurian honey (from King Island, the only place with pure Ligurian bees now) a combo featured by the now closed Darling Mills resturant in Sydney.

[Guest]

Y don't u just email him?

[TORB]

Y don't u just email him?

Guest,

Based on the above comment, I can only assume my posts about food are not to your liking or interesting enough and that as a result, Brian's correction to the menu does not meet with your approval either.

[PaulineW]

Domaine Hudelot-Noellat Chambolle Musigny 2002: Wanker-juice. Rubbish. All tannin, no fruit, built to last, which it will, but it will never be a good drink. If you bought some, sell now. If you were thinking of buying some, don't. Shocking burgundy from what is supposed to be an okay vintage.

Curlewis Reserve pinot 2002: simple, but stylish. Don't drink it now. Give it five years. It will be very good.

Torbreck Factor 2002: Awesome. Minorly bretty. But great.

Seppelt Show sparkling shiraz 1994: Beautiful. Best for years, by a mile. Just when I was thinking seppelt had lost the sparkling red plot.

Battely syrah 2002: Herbal. Aniseedy. Weird. But amazing. I want more. Punchy, ripe, mouthfilling.

Pauline.

[Adair]

Some of wines I have had over the past few weeks:

1998 Chapel Hill Cabernet Sauvignon
I had this on Friday. Unfortunately, unlike Chuck's bottle, this wine seemed as if the fruit had started to pass away leaving bitterness. Barely drinkable.

Chapel Hill 1998 Cabernet. 60/40 split of Coonawarra and McLaren Vale fruit this wine has started to really shine with oak now in balance. Yum. 13.5%

1995 Yanmah Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot (Manjimup, WA)
I love this wine. Beautiful Bordeaux-like nose, not powerful like Pauillac, maybe more St.Julien. It would make a good second level wine of a good Bordeaux. Harmonious although not greatly powerful or intense. Long and smooth on the palate. Drinking at its peak and will hold for a few more years. Rated Highly Recommended/Excellent.

2001 Villanyi Kekoporto Blauer Portugieser (Hungary - 12.5%)
If you are unfamilar with the grape Blue Portugese, this is a red grape. This bottle was given to me by a friend (no prize guessing who) without any great expectations. I likened the wine to an Hungarian Penfolds Koonunga Hill from a good vintage. Harmonious. Smelt like “fresh rain on earth”. Light Pinot Noir-like body. A most interesting array of mineral flavours on a very light raspberry base, with nothing dominant, nothing off-putting. Lovely wine. The reason why I compare it to Koonunga Hill quality is that it did not have much depth – not that it was at all unenjoyable for that, as despite its body and quite dull and translucent appearance, its intensity was very good. Amazingly, the 3 others I drank the wine with, all very basic Australian palates, loved the wine. Very unusual! Rated Recommended/Highly Recommended.

1982 Leo Buring Cabernet Sauvignon (Barossa Valley)
Glorious wine, even better the next day! Obviously cellared very well. Maybe 3 or 4 years past its peak, this was full of savoury nuances and with a bold structure holding together good fruit weight. Rated Excellent.


1979 McWilliam's Mount Pleasant Tawny (19.5%)
Sensational wine not needing to reply on lusciousness or intesnity for its greatness, althought it indeed possessed both. Complexity and massive, massive length. Worth every cent at $40. Rated Excellent/Outstanding



2001 Clonakilla Shiraz / Viognier
I served this blind and quickly received the comment: "Well, this obviously not Australian". Indeed, Rhone characters definitely dominated the base of Australian ripe Shiraz. This also highlights my opinion that this wine is currently a bit fruit-muted at the moment. I will not open another of this wine for 2 years. This bottle opened with a fair bit of Viognier but this soon melted with the wine to create a complex, spicy, long and highly classy wine. Rated Excellent/Outstanding.


1989 Hugel Riesling Vendange Tardive
Very good wine from a great vintage. The sort of wine that makes you pour another glass without thinking. Superb balance between sweetness, fruit and acid. Great breadth and length. Not as intense and complex as the 1989 Trimbach "Selection des Grains Nobles" Pinot Gris of the same style, but still definitely worth an Excellent rating.


1998 Giaconda Chardonnay
My first Giaconda Chardonnay. This is one wine that definitely needs more time to show its best, or at least a few hours in the decanter. The wine is unique in the Australian context. In fact, it seemed a total contradiction. The wine was ripe and highly worked with great skill, displaying broad melon and nectarine flavours with excellently integrated nuttiness. Its mouthfeel smooth and quite creamy, especially on the front palate. Then the wineÂ’s middle and back palate hits the senses full of tightly coiled power with its strong, harmonious acid backbone. A bit like Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay meets Chablis. Extraordinary length. Its complexity amazing. I needed a second glass to begin understanding this wine, and need another bottle soon to cure my curiosity. AustraliaÂ’s greatest Chardonnay? I have not had better! Outstanding probably, I need another bottle to be sure. It needs at least another 5 years to start delivering on its potential.


1981 La Mission Haut Brion
Colour showing considerable age. Beautiful nose. Very good power but greater harmony. The wine continues to build on the palate, even after 24 hours. Sensational slate/gravel flavours on the back. Tannins are fine, abundant and powerful, and coat the full breath of the tongue. Classy wine. Outstanding.


1982 Chateau Beychevelle
Much brighter than the La Mission. Another beautiful Bordeaux nose, quite rich and ripe with quite prominent cedar and cigar. Not looking as good as the La Mission HB after 24 hours. The structure once again is this BordeauxÂ’s highlight. Its chalky tannins were so fine that they were like silt. I actually checked the bottle to ensure that I was not mistaking this with sediment. The tannins coated the mouth fully in its powdery, supple way to create great length. Wonderful sensation. Rated Excellent/Outstanding.


1971 Penfolds Bin 389
Overly savoury upon opening and very thin, I thought I had wasted good money on this wine. However, this wine bloomed after 6 hours in the decanter to reveal beautifully developed red berry Cabernet fruit with a dark Shiraz ripeness with sensational layering of joyously aged character. Seamless and harmonious. Good palate weight. A very faint touch of astringency on the back palate was gone the next day, the wine still very alive. It did not build as extraordinarily on the back palate as the 1966 Bin 389 I tasted a few months ago, a wine I rated Outstanding/Ultimate. The tannins on this 1971 were not as big, ripe and prominent. Rated Excellent/Outstanding.


1998 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 1998 (14%)
Full of chocolate, malt and cherry, like a Black Forest cake, with sweet spices and sweet peppermint. Ripe but nothing flabby or overripe. Powerful and balanced, and even harmonious at this early stage of its life, in a very intense way. Acid and tannins in abundance, yet neither at all abrasive. Outstanding. Maybe the best ever Basket Press. It will have no trouble gaining more complexity over the next 10 years.


1990 Bourillon D'Orleans Vouvray Moelluex (13%)
Pear, honey, and apricots. Very lush. A bit of spice. Very classy acidity, quite awesome actually. Before the wine was revealed, I commented that despite the pear, I did not believe a sweet wine of such structure could come from anywhere but Sauternes. I learnt something. This wine was still great 24 hours later. Rated Excellent/Outstanding.


Kind regards,
Adair

[Attila]

Not much excitement I'm afraid.

2004 HUIA Sauvignon Blanc- Pretty run of the mill, commercial, pleasant style. Not a bargain at AU $25.

2003 HUIA Gewurtztraminer- Exciting nose and a pleasant palate but not enough length to be serious. AU $25

That's all folks.
Cheers,
Attila

[Baby Chickpea]

Thx for the TNs and piccies Adair. I've got the 82 Beycheville ready to go sometime soon so your TN was timely ($26pb I paid for them at auction years ago).

[Neville Nessuno]

Adair

Good TN's - presume none of these qualify for the under $15 best buys on the other thread!

The Giaconda Chardonnay 2001 is also drinking very exceedingly well.

Interesting what you say about the 389 as this was a consistent and great wine throughout the late 70's and early 80's. Needs that level of decanting.

NN

[Sean]

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[Sean]

deleted

[Adair]

Adair

- Are those pics getting a bit fuzzy? Is it your camera, my computer or me?

They looked fine went I took them.
Seriously though, yes, my camera skills are not up to scratch. I was a bit rushed. I will try harder next time... this weekend!

Adair

[Rory]

Had some great wines this week:

'04 Murdoch James River Run Riesling, Martinborough, N.Z.
The only wine I didn't like out of the week, too much residual sugar for my liking, however the nose was very Gewurz, so I could have just smelt it all night.

'93 Kays Block 6 Shiraz.
Great wine, lovely ageing nose, yet still quite a bit of primary fruit and acid on the palate, good length and finish. This wine had been cellared well, and is another 3-5 years off hitting it's peak. Great suprise, lovely wine.

'90 Tyrells Vat 1 Semillon.

Another testimony to good cellaring, this wine is like drinking a piece of Australian heritage. Truly amazing wine that morphed through so many wonderfull changes on the nose and palate, you need a sportscar to keep up with it.
Took all of an hour for the nose to really start to open up into the rich honeysuckle/toast and the palate to go from honeyed toast to an amazing lemon/honey that tasted younger by the minute?!?.
Amazed every single person that drank this (8 people) from male to female to red bigot.
We Victorians really do miss out on this Semillon thing.


'92 Penfolds Bin 128.

Again, the emphasis here is great cellaring.
Aged cigar box nose that with time changed into honeyed leather with a beautifull sweetness to it. The palate also only got better with time in the glass, not a big wine by any means (Coonawarra fruit), but once the sweet fruit and honey/leather/chocolate swept in, was beautifully smooth to drink. A joy.


Rory

[Sean]

deleted

[GraemeG]

2003 Catherine Vale Chardonnay (Broke, Hunter Valley)
Pale straw, this wine has a nose of lean grapefruit and melon underpinned by cashew & woodspice oak. The palate is predominantly structural in emphasis, with stony fruit flavours, the faintly bitter oak texture cutting through, and fresh acid. Light-medium body, the finish is of moderate length. Very satisfactory all round. Under screwcap, and at $15 from the cellar door, you could do a lot worse.

1995 Bolla Amarone della Valpolicella
Deep reddy-purple, the nose is very hard to pin down, some burnt raisin notes, brambly spices, a bit of earth. Seems to smell different each time you sniff at it. Palate is good and even; fine tannins carry a very dry bitterness, like dark chocolate. Good length finish, warm (14.0%) but not overly so, altogether a very good wine. Cost me $54 a year or two ago; perhaps a bit expensive but interesting wine and certainly recommended.

2003 Driftwood Estate Cane-cut Semillon (Margaret River)
In 375ml bottle, pale yellow. Sweet honey nose, minimal botrytis if any (should have read the back label!), attractive peach/honey flavours. Light on the palate, clean sweetness stopping just short of cloying, forward balance, acid just enough presence to keep some interest but not a long ager. Quite short finish. Attractive enough.

When you win trivia nights, they hand out cheap booze as a prize. I only enter for the glory of winning (my motives are pure), not for some tawdry trinket to keep. And it's just as well, because I tried a 'prize' wine on the weekend. Some went in the lasagne (probably a mistake), and some was drunk on Sunday night.
2002 McGuigan The Black Label
Devoid of varietal identification or geographic location, this purple-red wine is utterly dominated by sugar. There is no acid, no tannins and no finish, but oh my, is there sugar. Heavily chilled it can be forced down, but once it gets above 15C it's quite undrinkable. Anything this sweet needs bubbles - I find more satisfaction drinking Coke than this stuff. How do they sell it?

cheers,
Graeme

[Adair]

2002 McGuigan The Black Label
Devoid of varietal identification or geographic location, this purple-red wine is utterly dominated by sugar. There is no acid, no tannins and no finish, but oh my, is there sugar. Heavily chilled it can be forced down, but once it gets above 15C it's quite undrinkable. Anything this sweet needs bubbles - I find more satisfaction drinking Coke than this stuff. How do they sell it?

This is one of the vinous wonders of the world!

Adair

[markg]

Got invited over to Gavins house to cook some meat on the BBQ and drink some wine and Gavin pulled out some very nice wines to try. I didn't take notes as it was more a social occasion so simply a general impression:

2003 Brick Kiln Shiraz
2003 Oliverhill Jimmys Section Shiraz
2003 Heartland Directors Cut
2003 Viking Grand Shiraz

All excellent wines in a similar style with the Viking being more structured and elegant that the preceding ones.

[Guest]

Pauline,
The H-N Chambolle Musigny is, IMO, a very good wine most years, and is stupendous in 2002. I have seen it several times, and rate it around 90. Needs 3-5 years to peak, but drinks beautifully now. Plenty of showy fruit and a bit of oak at this stage, typical of a young CM villages in a great vintage.
Perhaps you had a poor bottle?? Maybe a bit of TCA or travel sickness??

[Aussie Johns]

sorry, that was me- Aussie Johns

[markg]

Oh... I forgot, I bought over a 1992 Greenock Creek Cabernet to try.. although very much anticipated it failed to meet expectations, probably more because of the youth it was up against, to me it was all aged jam and leather flavours, nice but nothing to write home about. I think this should be tried in different company or on its own.