Brisbane Offline - 26 May

[Rednick]

Beef Cheeks look great to me - happy to try either the Ducru or La Dame, will also bring a French Chardy

[Michael McNally]

Wine ideas:
Rens - ???? Dominique Piron Morgon Côte du Py and 2005 Penfolds St Henri
Will - 2016 SRC Rivaggi and a 2010 La Dame de Montrose or 2010 Branaire Ducru
Nick - 2008 Te Mata Colerine and “a French Chardy”
Ian – “a Red and a White of some description”
Michael – 2010 Xanadu Chardonnay + 2009 Chateau Citran Haut-Medoc + a 2015 SRC Etna Rosso (to go with the Rivaggi) or a 2007 Sons of Eden Zephyrus (to match the Coleraine?) - and probably another white/bubbles as Yasmin doesn't do Chardonnay......

Cheers

Michael

[rens]

Hi Michael,
I'll lock in the Morgon and the St Henri.

[Willard]

I’ll bring the Branaire Ducru along with SRC. See you all tomorrow night.

Will

[Michael McNally]

Have changed the Chardonnay for some bubbles to kick us off (and so Yasmin has more options). The SRC and the Citran have been breathing quietly for a few hours now.

See you all soon

Cheers

Michael

[Hunter]

Good luck tonight gents

[ticklenow1]

Another fantastic offline. I didn't take formal notes but the Ducru was amazing. Janine really liked the Krelinger bubbles as well. Food was good as per normal from Miskin St. I'll let Michael and Will supply the tasting notes.

Cheers
Ian

[Bytown Rick]

I'd be interested in how the 2008 Te Mata Colerine is showing, if someone could post a tasting note. I have a few in the cellar that I have yet to try.

[Willard]

We had a great night at 85 Miskin once again. Thanks Michael for organising!

Some notes I took on the night. My scrawl, which is not fine at the best of times, got nearly indistinguishable by the later flights so some impressions from memory.

2007 Kreglinger Vintage Brut - this was a very nice aperitif to start with. Refreshing citrus, a little bit of brioche toast but largely fresh and youthful feel. Very good and something I'll likely buy.

2005 McLeish Estate Semillon, Hunter Valley. A tasty maturing Semillon, 2005 a very good vintage. This is a lighter style for me than say Belford, flavours typical of good Hunter Sem, great line and length, drink now or hold for more development, has the acid still for a few more years. Thoroughly enjoyable, and a reminder I probably need to diversify my Hunter Semillon purchases.

2012 Jean-Claude Bachelet et Fils - Chassagne Montrachet La Boudriotte 1er. White Peach/stonefruit, texture a highlight for me, creamy but not heavy, acid almost invisible. Went more pineappley when revisited later.

2015 Dominique Piron Morgon Cote du Py, Beaujolais. Opened a little dusty and leafy. Black cherries and a little aniseed, the finish dry and much more tannic and serious than I was expecting. Was a little closed tonight, Rens suggested more time for Morgon or decant if drinking young and I agree. I liked it.

2005 Penfold's St Henri. Double decant the night before, and felt quite open and settled as a result. Blackberries, little leather, savoury, dusty tannin. A pretty good vintage of St Henri I reckon and one I've not tried before, time on its side.

(2002 or 2004?) Radford Eden Valley Shiraz. Much more forward than the St Henri, had a sort of lifted minty entry, sweetly fruited. Comments around that it was a richer style than perhaps expected from Eden Valley. Improved in the glass.

2009 Chateau Citran, Bordeaux. Juicier and more forward than the two other Cabernet wines, perhaps product of both the vintage and the wine. Nicely ripe red fruits along with blackcurrant, cedar and sweet earth. Structure is there but not imposing. Nice wine, be happy to drink this anytime, just overshadowed by the others in the flight.

2010 Chateau Branaire-Ducru, St Julien, Bordeaux. Decanted this at lunchtime for maybe 5 hours and a couple of hours back in bottle before drinking. Opened up significantly over that time but still certainly young. Having said that, it has a lot to offer at this stage, brambly blackcurrant and black cherry, mahogany and cocoa powder. Medium body, so composed, wash of fine tannin just so. My WOTN and the majority as well.

2008 Te Mata Estate Coleraine, Hawkes Bay. This is a class wine, still young. Blue & black fruits, floral, violets, graphite and gravelly tannin. Long, cool acidity through the finish. This stood with the Branaire-Ducru, easily. Long life ahead too.

2015 SRC Etna Rosso. Bright juicy red fruits and fennel, it was the bit of spritz and lift that was unexpected, not sure if typical. Next to the Rivaggi, they were just so different.

2016 SRC Rivaggi. Sour cherries, alpine herbs, rocky, earthy minerally delight. Pumice and amaro bitterness. Freshness and tannin. Such good tannin. Toothsome and unstoppable. Clarity. Complex now but so much more in the future. Only one more bottle but I'm glad to have opened one now to see what it was about. If you can resist, hold for a while.

Will

[Willard]

I'd be interested in how the 2008 Te Mata Colerine is showing, if someone could post a tasting note. I have a few in the cellar that I have yet to try.

Hi Rick,

I loved the Coleraine, in the top wines on the night for me, my note above. It is still pretty youthful. It is certainly a terrific drink now, but hold if you are looking for more secondary or tertiary development.

Will

[Bytown Rick]

I'd be interested in how the 2008 Te Mata Colerine is showing, if someone could post a tasting note. I have a few in the cellar that I have yet to try.

Hi Rick,

I loved the Coleraine, in the top wines on the night for me, my note above. It is still pretty youthful. It is certainly a terrific drink now, but hold if you are looking for more secondary or tertiary development.

Will

Thanks Will. I generally like my wines on the older side, so I should probably sit on them a bit longer. But its tempting . . .

[Michael McNally]

Great notes Will

My take:
While settling in
2007 Kreglinger Pinot Noir Chardonnay. Some yeast and brioche but still quite youthful. Nick commented on the “granny smith”. Lemon pith and guava. Really delicate but persistent acidity. Nice start.

With the crispy confit chicken wings, béarnaise & kimchi powder
2005 McLeish Hunter Semillon
Reserved nose. Young! Delicate lime juice and fresh acidity.
2012 Domaine Jean-Claude Bachelet et Fils Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru La Bourdoitte
Will thought the texture was beautiful. Nick noted the butterscotch on the nose. I found crème brulee on the nose and a palate of tropical fruits – not tinned pineapple. Nice length
2015 Dominique Piron Morgon Côte du Py.
Bright cherry fruit. Quite tannic. More powerful than I was expecting,

The braised beef cheeks with creamed potato & fricassee of mushroom arrived while we had moved onto the:
2005 Penfolds St Henri
Rens got the decant spot on with this one. No oxidation on the nose or palate. Essence of Shiraz. Black plum. Looooong. Not had too many St Henri but would drink this any day in any company.
2004 Radford Eden Valley Shiraz
Full Throttle. Almost jammy nose. Palate full but no dead fruit and not OTT. Retains balance – just.

Given the beef cheeks were the size of a child’s head, we were able to pour the next flight which was the:
2008 Te Mata Colerine
Gorgeous nose of violets and fruit. Harmonious vibrant fruit, with cassis predominant. Lovely tannin profile. Only just entering its drinking window, and possibly still too young. This was the best wine I had tried to this point.
2009 Chateau Citran Haut-Medoc
Next to the Coleraine this was clearly ‘Old World’. More restrained and savoury. Noticeably gravely tannin, which are quite moreish. Very happy I have 5 more.
2010 Branaire Ducru St Julien
Powerful wine with an array of black and red fruit, graphite, chalk and chocolate on the nose. More of the same on the balanced mid-full bodied palate. Everything in place in terms of acid tannin, fruit and oak. Evolved beautifully in the glass. A different style to the Coleraine and a clear rung above the Citran, probably the nicest Bordeaux I have tried.

The cheese platters arrived while we still had some Cabernet so there must be a God. We then moved onto our Etna duo:
2015 SRC Etna Rosso
When I opened this wine at home the slight spritz had worried me and the recorked wine gave a pop when I pulled the cork. Light and frizzy, Kellee described it as Ribena with fizz, which while harsh wasn’t too far from the mark. This was quite pleasant with the chesses, but disappointing and hopefully a bad bottle. Is this normal Ozzie?
2016 SRC Rivaggi
Contrasting completely, the 2016 Rivaggi was a powerful wine. A tannin festival and way too young, this wine has the stuffing to go the distance.

We started going back through the leftovers with the Rhubarb & raspberry, spiced apple, ginger wafer, violet ice cream & cranberry foam.

In terms of WOTN the Ducru Branaire was the clear winner with 6 out of the 8 first votes cast (Yasmin didn’t vote as she didn’t taste much). There were two firsts for the Coleraine. Other wines to feature in people’s top three were the St Henri (two seconds and one third), the Mcleish (two seconds and one third), the Rivaggi (one second and two thirds) and the La Bourdoitte (one second and one third).

A great night as always!

Cheers

Michael

[Rednick]

Wonderful night as always, great wines and company, thanks to 85 Miskin for the lovely food, Michael for organising, Michael and Will for the notes and everyone for sharing such wonderful wines. Roll on the next one.

[Ozzie W]

2015 SRC Etna Rosso
When I opened this wine at home the slight spritz had worried me and the recorked wine gave a pop when I pulled the cork. Light and frizzy, Kellee described it as Ribena with fizz, which while harsh wasn’t too far from the mark. This was quite pleasant with the chesses, but disappointing and hopefully a bad bottle. Is this normal Ozzie?

I've only tried the 2015 vintage once before. There was no spritz in my bottle and it's certainly not supposed to be that way.

SRC is an ultra low intervention wine -- no filtering, no fining, and low to no sulfur used throughout the winemaking process. Sounds like unintentional secondary fermentation may have occurred in that bottle. Was the wine cloudy and/or did have a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle?

Good cellaring extremely important for these low intervention wines. How was it stored, at what temperature, and do you know the history of the bottle?

[Michael McNally]

I've only tried the 2015 vintage once before. There was no spritz in my bottle and it's certainly not supposed to be that way.

SRC is an ultra low intervention wine -- no filtering, no fining, and low to no sulfur used throughout the winemaking process. Sounds like unintentional secondary fermentation may have occurred in that bottle. Was the wine cloudy and/or did have a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle?

Good cellaring extremely important for these low intervention wines. How was it stored, at what temperature, and do you know the history of the bottle?

Thanks Ozzie. Yes, it was slightly cloudy. The secondary fermentation explanation certainly fits. I bought it from our kind host in August last year and it has been at 15 degrees C in my cellar since arriving.

I guess there is always the risk with low sulphur wines that they don't get it right?

Anyway, I have another bottle, which I'll try sooner rather than later to see if it was an aberration.

Cheers

Michael

[Ozzie W]

I've only tried the 2015 vintage once before. There was no spritz in my bottle and it's certainly not supposed to be that way.

SRC is an ultra low intervention wine -- no filtering, no fining, and low to no sulfur used throughout the winemaking process. Sounds like unintentional secondary fermentation may have occurred in that bottle. Was the wine cloudy and/or did have a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle?

Good cellaring extremely important for these low intervention wines. How was it stored, at what temperature, and do you know the history of the bottle?

Thanks Ozzie. Yes, it was slightly cloudy. The secondary fermentation explanation certainly fits. I bought it from our kind host in August last year and it has been at 15 degrees C in my cellar since arriving.

I guess there is always the risk with low sulphur wines that they don't get it right?

Anyway, I have another bottle, which I'll try sooner rather than later to see if it was an aberration.

Cheers

Michael

The cloudiness adds merit to the secondary fermentation explanation.

The cult Etna winemaker Frank Cornelissen started the low/no SO2 trend that SRC has followed. He's a full-on zero additions zealot. To make it work, one has to be obsessive when it comes to cleanliness. He maintains perfect conditions during wine making via lots of technology. Any mistakes and the risk of the wine going off is greatly increased.

I've had a good track record so far with SRC, but these have all been drunk young. They are designed to age and I hope the ones I'm aging in my cellar don't end up faulty. Might pull out one of my 2014's in the near future and see how it's faring.

[Willard]

Thanks for the extra info Ozzie, it didn't seem right.

I have a few more 2016 Rosso, Albarello and one more Rivaggi, so I also hope they age truly as there is so much upside. In professional storage so give them the best chance.

Will

[ticklenow1]

The Radford Shiraz was a 2006.

Cheers
Ian