Bringing a Mersault from Burgundy, shows a reasonable amount of oak, from memory honey, melon and white stone fruits, medium acidity with a slight spritz - and yeh love the hoddles 1er - both pinot and chardy
Date and Time: 22nd of July 2017 6:45 for 7pm start
Theme: Bring A favourite (If agreed by the group)
Attendees: Rens + Kellee Nick Ian, Dave Joe, Margaret & Neville Michael +?1
Wines- Rens: Rockford black sparkling & 2006 Marques de Murrieta Reserva Joe: His portfolio of wines Margaret and Neville: Michael: ? Hoddles 1er Pinot Nick: Mersault & Sticky Ian and Dave:
never underestimate the predictability of stupidity
Great to see everyone as always, thanks to Rens for organising and Sprout as usual putting on a great feed. Lovely to meet Joe, always good to talk to a passionate wine maker. Probably the highest failure rate for the wines we've had in a while (including my own sticky which had suffered from being moved a few times in and out of the cellar). Still some crackers on display, especially enjoyed the Rioja and the Monty that Joe bought and I think both Michael's Chardonnay and Pinot will be very special with a few more years under the belt.
That's 3 Greenock Creek failures in a row for me. '05 Cabernet and '05 Grenache both stuffed. No cork taint or oxidisation to me, just undrinkable. They have been kept perfectly cellared since release too. I am at the point of no longer buying GCW. They don't seem to age that well at all. Having said that the '02 and '04 Grenache's I have had in the past year have been fantastic, but they have been lower in alcohol. I guess the high alcohol fruit monsters just don't go the distance, contrary to what many critics have predicted.
'04 Rockford Semillon was miles past it as well. No faults, just over the hill. They certainly don't age like good Hunter Semillon!
Really enjoyed both the Chardonnays and also Joe's 2014 Shiraz and 2016 Monty. As a non-Pinot drinker, the 2013 Hoddles 1er was a wine I would be happy to drink. I wasn't as sold on the Roija as I thought I would be. Ren's has a great knack of bringing amazing Spanish wines to these offline's and I always go out and buy a few, but I found a strange metallic tinge to this one that I couldn't get my head around.
Food was excellent but quite a cramped space. Being tall my knees didn't fit under the table!
Many Thanks to Joe Evans from Ballycroft for coming along and presenting his wines. It was interesting to hear his knowledge on some of the other wines that were served.
Looking forward to the next Brisbane offline.
Cheers Ian
If you had to choose between drinking great wine or winning Lotto, which would you choose - Red or White?
JamieBahrain wrote:I've found Australian red served way too warm at restaurants .
Port is best served at 18 degrees . As I dare say is Greenock.
Yes they were up there a few vintages back. Ian, the '97 7 Acre and '98 Creek Block are beautiful wines, have had both this year and have around 6 each . I think the Alice's, Casey and Apricot have potential Never been a fan of the grenache, like the Rockford one better.
JamieBahrain wrote:I've found Australian red served way too warm at restaurants .
Port is best served at 18 degrees . As I dare say is Greenock.
Yes they were up there a few vintages back. Ian, the '97 7 Acre and '98 Creek Block are beautiful wines, have had both this year and have around 6 each . I think the Alice's, Casey and Apricot have potential Never been a fan of the grenache, like the Rockford one better.
Cheers Craig
The mid 2000's Greenock Creek just went stupid with their alcohol levels. Some up to 18.5%. I am finding they are just not coming together at all. Actually they are very average now. Not my thing at all.
The Cornerstone Grenache is one of my favourite wines, as is the Cabernet. Sadly on this occasion both the 05's were just undrinkable. And not for the first time either.
Ren's bought a 2001 GCW Creek Block to a Brisbane offline (yes the RPJ 100 pointer) and I found it undrinkable, as did several others. Just a mess and I don't think it was faulty either, much the same as my 2005's weren't faulty. I have really enjoyed the GCW wines over the years but I think they are best consumed young. Each to their own though.
Cheers Ian
If you had to choose between drinking great wine or winning Lotto, which would you choose - Red or White?