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

[scribbler]

1994 Seppelt Show Sparkling Shiraz 13.5%
Under crown seal, this wine is outstanding, (but unfortunately my last bottle).

A terrific Australian style; old vines from the St Peters vineyard at Great Western, and around 8 years on lees. Plenty of mousse, touch of brick on the deep colour but good for age; a multitude of spices, black cherry, and plush leather; palate is super rich, ripe and creamy; the combination of freshness and bottle development, blackberry, complex dark fruits, spices and a super, long, long finish is stunning. Perhaps 25 g/l residual sugar to mesh with the evident, fine tannins.

Anytime over the next 20 or so years; some mushroom development will appear, but the fruit power, balance and freshness make this wine an absolute winner and a complete delight to drink.

[Michael McNally]

1994 Seppelt Show Sparkling Shiraz 13.5%
Under crown seal, this wine is outstanding, (but unfortunately my last bottle).

A terrific Australian style; old vines from the St Peters vineyard at Great Western, and around 8 years on lees. Plenty of mousse, touch of brick on the deep colour but good for age; a multitude of spices, black cherry, and plush leather; palate is super rich, ripe and creamy; the combination of freshness and bottle development, blackberry, complex dark fruits, spices and a super, long, long finish is stunning. Perhaps 25 g/l residual sugar to mesh with the evident, fine tannins.

Anytime over the next 20 or so years; some mushroom development will appear, but the fruit power, balance and freshness make this wine an absolute winner and a complete delight to drink.

Sounds like I will have a long wait for my 2007! 2032!

Great note thanks

Michael

[Chuck]

Tapanappa 2008 Whalebone Vineyard Wrattonbully Cabernet Shiraz. After finding the 2005 model surprisingly developed and past its best we opened this one. Better quality and more full bodied with lots of oak that perhaps dominated the fruit. Nice without being great as was expected. Perhaps just a little bit too technical lacking real personality. Anyway that's my take. Others may probably disagree.

Carl

[Raymo]

Tapanappa 2008 Whalebone Vineyard Wrattonbully Cabernet Shiraz. After finding the 2005 model surprisingly developed and past its best we opened this one. Better quality and more full bodied with lots of oak that perhaps dominated the fruit. Nice without being great as was expected. Perhaps just a little bit too technical lacking real personality. Anyway that's my take. Others may probably disagree.

Carl

I've bought a number of Tapanappa wines over the years, and continue to be interested in what they produce, but I agree with you in a sense: nice as they can be, and I do enjoy them, but - and this makes no sense at all in the context of wine evaluation, since it is purely emotive - they lack a certain 'soul'. They feel 'constructed', formulaic, lacking that 'je ne sais quoi' that many other wines impart to the drinker.

[Ozzie W]

Tonight it's Rosé... made from Nebbiolo... from Margaret River of all places.
Something outside the box, just like unseasonably warm Melbourne night.

2018 Nocturne Nebbiolo Rosé

[url=https://postimg.cc/MX5KPzWz][img]https://i.postimg.cc/MX5KPzWz/MVIMG-20190416-185814.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://postimg.cc/MvkydKHv][img]https://i.postimg.cc/MvkydKHv/IMG-20190416-181201.jpg[/img][/url]

13% ABV

Made by Julian Langworthy who was the winemaker of the 2016 Jimmy Watson winner -- the Deep Woods Estate 2014 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Nocturne is a Julian's own label.

White nectarine, sour red cherry, underripe strawberry, sweet orange. Tangy and savoury at the same time. Light tannins round it all out with a nice texture. A little sweeter than I like my Rosé.

[Matt@5453]

A few impressions from the weekend:

2017 Kilikanoon Morts Block Riesling, Clare Valley – lemons/citrus, good intensity. Very good
2011 D’Arenberg ‘The Dry Dam’ Riesling, Adelaide Hills – slight kero on the nose, lime cordial, hint of residual sugar. Very good also
2009 D’Arenberg ‘The Feral Fox’ Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hills – cherries, slight sour notes, still quite acidic. Not overly exciting
2015 Ashton Hills Reserve Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hills – cherries, raspberries, spice, earthiness. Very good.
2012 Rusden ‘The Good Shepard’ Cabernet Malbec, Barossa Valley – like velvet, nice core of rich fruit and spice. Tannins integrated nicely. Loved it.
2016 Hugh Hamilton Wines ‘Black Ops’ Shiraz Saperavi – beautiful fruit, you get the Shiraz and then the dark fruits and tannin of the Saperavi that creep and linger. Loved this also

[Chuck]

Another random lost bottle from the cellar. Who knows where it came from. Jacob's Creek 2009 St Hugo Winemakers Series Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot. Try saying that 10 times. Don't know the blend ratio nor find any reference to it anywhere on the net so any info would be great. Thought it may have been well past it but surprised with generous black fruits and some nice oak. Resolved tannins allowing for great mouthfeel. A very nice wine that's just perfect now and should hold for a few more years. Over the past 2-3 years I have been pleasantly surprised with how 09 SA wines have come together. Early on they were what I call hard wines with tough tannins suppressing the fruit and bitter edges. A bit like 07 SA reds that IMO have never softened their iron grip. With bottle age the tannins have softened allowing the fruit to shine with the merlot really adding to the wine. Just wish I had more.

[Rossco]

My Notes for an Italian Themed wine evening. All wines served blind.

#1 - 2016 Vini Biondi Etna Pianta - Carricante
Etna DOC, single Vineyard on the northern slopes, so hotter (the volcanic side?) Even though it says Carricante, apparently
it has some other varieties in there too. Cashews, slight hay, slight lemon, some roasted nuts as well, but this beautiful line of acid that is the star of the wine. Feels like there is some old oak in there. Not a powerful fruit forward wine at all, this is about the texture and crisp acid. Alcohol seems very low, 12%-ish? A comment was made about sitting over the water eating some fried whitebait is exactly what this wine was for.......... now I want fried whitebait!

# 2 - 2002 J. Hofstatter Pinot Noir (Nero) Alto Adige - Sudtirol Barthenau Vigna S Urbano
Some Cola and sarsaparilla on the nose, quite intriguing to be honest how is this Italian?. Menthol and some lovely oak that has integrated
beautifully. So when i tasted this, it was an astonishing mouthfeel and one I have never experienced before. All the tannin were on the front of the tongue, none on the side of the cheek where I usually get them. Colour was a brick reddish meaning this had some age on it. Nice length, still cant beliveve that its a pinot! Apparently very northern Italy near the boarder.

#3 - 2015 Calabretta Etna Nerello Cappuccio
One of only 6 bottles bought into the country, true unicorn wine we will never experience again. This wine was all about the aromatics. Such a enthralling nose, I could smell this for days. Red rope liquorice, raspberries, Rose Petals. Not quite pot purri, unless it was all roses. This was so very floral was truly a wonderful (nasal) experience. Palate didnt back up the nose though with the fruit weight, mouthfeel and mid palate lacking. Lovely length and again those tannins were on the tongue not cheeks. Loved the acid structure, no noticeable oak, not sure if this was fermented in stainless steel or ceramic egg or something else? (since confirmed 100% stainless), but gee I could put my nose in the glass for a long time.

#4 2006 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino (Sangiovese)
What structure this has... wow amazing. Huge, beautiful tannins ('structure for dayz') Largish (vanilla) oak, this feels very young still, 2010 or 2012 or something (nope.... way off) - At the moment the oak and tannin overpower the red cherry fruit, and that length is there, this will keep aging for a long time yet. Expressive and powerful wine.

#5 - 2005 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia (Nebbiolo)
Smells old, red brick/brown in the glass, this feels like it had some serious age on it. Late 1990's? (wrong again... im not very good at this). 2005 was an apparently 'feminine' year, but i missed most of those nuisances and felt very 'masculine' to me. Dry dusty tannins, black cherries, quite earthy as well, leather and some dry herbs. Tannins became larger in the glass, this has a lot of time left in it. Again I get a lot of power here, acidity was nice. slight tar at the end too. What a wonderful wine

#6 2011 Elio Grasso Barolo Ginestra Casa Mate (Nebbiolo)
How approachable are the 2011's! One of my favourite Vintages in the north.
Liquorice and Aniseed, Rhubarb adds to the tartness here, but not in a bad way. Again Red Cherries, and some strawberry/rose petal floral aromatics. Felt more of a fruit forward wine, but the tannin were quite prominent holding everything together. Medium body at best, and was a much lighter colour than I expected (quite bright translucent red). Supporting acid in the structure, really nice length with some wonderful oak (Slovenian apparently). I was worried (after some comments before this was served) that Elio Grasso was known for heavy and over use of oak, but this wasnt apparent (I was VERY relieved) and the fruit was doing the talking. Lovely wine

#7 - 2012 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve Colli della Toscana Centrale (Sangiovese)
What smells like a cabernet, looks like a cabernet and tastes like a cabernet? This 100% Sangiovese. Was probably my the surprise of the night (maybe apart from the Pinot), with a great wine that completely dumbfounded me as to what it was. 15% alcohol was not noticeable at all, no heat or burning, just a silky and fleshy wine. Ripe blue/black fruits with a hint of raisin. Quite herby as well. Oregano, dry basil and possibly thyme. This is quite a big, powerful wine... didnt know a Sang could be like this without some blending of other varieties. Wow what a long time this has left. Great structure great wine.

#8 - 2004 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Pianrosso Brunello di Montalcino (Sangiovese)
Again a red/brown brick colour indicated to me it has some age on it. Some Brett on the nose that blew off towards the end, was a little distracting for me. Didnt feel like it had the tannin or structure for a Barolo/Neb, so im thinking Tuscan/Sang type wine.... (wow I actually got one right for once)
This was interesting, quite minerally in fact. Some slatey/metal filings, which was really interesting, earthy with a real sense of place. Fruit spectrum was more the darker cherries and pastilles blackcurrant. Leather, violets, and lovely woody notes rounded off a great wine.

#9 - 1947 Seppeltsfield Para Liqueur
Blurry olive green tawny in the glass. GSM blend apparently, but you would never pick it as its all tertiary/secondary characters now. Completely
different to the 1939 we had a few months ago. Nowhere near the level of creamy butterscotch the 39 had, this was more Roast Coffee, burnt
toffee notes which others described as much richer, but I wasnt so sure. it was amazingly silky and textured, some chesterfield leather, and shoe polish as well as rich rancio characters that never seemed to end. The length was again astonishing... I can almost still taste it.
What a stunning way to finish the night!

[Mike Hawkins]

2006 Taittinger Comtes.... a tad young for my tastes, though it drinks best when about 14 degrees IMO. Will be very good down the track

2004 Taittinger Comtes.... awesome wine, but also young. Lots of lemon acidity and minerality.

2000 Taittinger Comtes... while I felt in the past this was the best champagne from the vintage, I’m getting less convinced. Seemed a bit simple.

1996 Taittinger Comtes... superb. Just superb. Perfect blend of ripe fruit and acid. Waves of complexity and incredible length. Has many yeRs of brilliant drinking left.

1996 Dom Perignon.... another superb wine, just entering its drinking window for my taste.with age, the Pinot characters become more noticeable and the formerly rampant acid is softening. Will be great to compare the 96 and 08 in 10 years and beyond.

[Con J]

Just got home from my local Italian restaurant, a few minute walking distance.
Took along a 1975 Baileys of Glenrowen Bin 24 Shiraz recently bought for around $35. When I removed the plastic capsule the cork looked like it had borer in it. Colour was amazing for a 44 year old wine with a very dark core with hardly any bricking around the edges. It smelt mature, very rich, dark ripe berries, jammy and a little vintage port like. Palate was sweet and reflected the nose with some very fine tannins. Amazing condition for the age, a little simple but can't complain for what it cost.

Cheers Con.

[Chuck]

To help celebrate our son's graduation yesterday we went to Parisis restaurant in King William Rd. Really good honest Italian food at very reasonable prices plus BYO. Their legendary slow cooked lamb shanks and goat ragout are not yet available. Bummer with the weather now cooing after a long hot summer and autumn. Took along a Wynns 2008 Davis Single Vineyard Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. Great fruit and everything in balance. I'm not sure it will get any better. Quite typical of 08 vintage with generous flavours. Northing hidden too deep.

Carl

[phillisc]

To help celebrate our son's graduation yesterday we went to Parisis restaurant in King William Rd. Really good honest Italian food at very reasonable prices plus BYO. Their legendary slow cooked lamb shanks and goat ragout are not yet available. Bummer with the weather now cooing after a long hot summer and autumn. Took along a Wynns 2008 Davis Single Vineyard Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. Great fruit and everything in balance. I'm not sure it will get any better. Quite typical of 08 vintage with generous flavours. Northing hidden too deep.

Carl

Carl, thanks for the note, purchased a case on release, must look at one.
Cheers Craig

[Chuck]

Mildara 2008 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. This was a burgundy coloured label rather than the traditional white one. Special run? Have never seen it before.Seems like the same wine. Pleasant without being noteworthy with acid sticking out a bit. Not sure the acid will reduce before the fruit subsides.

Carl

[Ozzie W]

Last night a pair of Cabernet dominant blends from the 1994 vintage.

[url=https://postimg.cc/dD2LvVsn][img]https://i.postimg.cc/dD2LvVsn/MVIMG-20190510-191227.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://postimg.cc/ZvxRLV7X][img]https://i.postimg.cc/ZvxRLV7X/MVIMG-20190510-191249.jpg[/img][/url]

1994 Houghton Jack Mann
13.5% ABV. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Shiraz. The first vintage of Jack Mann.
Fresh & remarkably vibrant. Chewy black fruits, tar, chocolate, capsicum, dusty tannins. Many, many years left in the tank, however, the cork was already starting to crumble.

1994 Château Léoville Poyferré
12.5% ABV. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.
Light, mature & elegant. Blackberry, cassis, forest floor, earth, dark cherries, soft tannins, tart acid. Don't think this is going to get any better. Cork was pristine.

[phillisc]

1990 Wynns Oven Valley Burgundy.
Simply a superb bottle, brick red hints on a browning meniscus. Nose of spice, olive, blackberry. Wonderful palate mellow, rich with drying tannins.
At $4 on release for a wine entering its fourth decade, very happy. A dozen left and might stretch the last one to 2030.

Cheers craig

[Matt@5453]

1990 Wynns Oven Valley Burgundy.
Simply a superb bottle, brick red hints on a browning meniscus. Nose of spice, olive, blackberry. Wonderful palate mellow, rich with drying tannins.
At $4 on release for a wine entering its fourth decade, very happy. A dozen left and might stretch the last one to 2030.

Cheers craig

Was the meniscus torn or intact? I have not heard meniscus used in wine terms for about 20 years, last time I heard of it was when I torn mine playing football

[Con J]

1990 Wynns Oven Valley Burgundy.
Simply a superb bottle, brick red hints on a browning meniscus. Nose of spice, olive, blackberry. Wonderful palate mellow, rich with drying tannins.
At $4 on release for a wine entering its fourth decade, very happy. A dozen left and might stretch the last one to 2030.

Cheers craig

Hi Craig.

If the 1971 I had last month is something to go by the 1990 should have no problem getting to 2030.

I love it when you find a wine like this that surprises nearly 30 years down the track.

Cheers Con.

[Matt@5453]

A few different Shiraz's:

2018 Spinifex Syrah Barossa Valley

Light/Medium bodied. Bluish type fruits, with a touch of plum, white pepper and spice from the oak. In all it was looking very promising on opening, but the palate fell short and quite hollow on the mid-palate, with a sour note on the finish.
The 2017 of this wine was very good with great depth of flavour, whilst still enjoyable and I can see where the winemaker was headed, but this fell a bit short for me. Maybe needs some time to integrate?

2013 Tim Adams Shiraz Schaefer Clare Valley

Nice dark rich fruits immediately jump from the glass. The palate delivers plum, red berry fruits & spice, with a touch of development adding further interest. Medium to full bodied it delivers exceptional fruit weight and balance. The use of oak supports and encases the fruit with the finish being long and lingering. Very good Clare Valley Shiraz.

2016 Marius Wines Shiraz Symphony McLaren Vale

Decanted 2 hours in advance. Maybe it was my mood at the time, or the glassware, but the nose did not reveal a lot except for the spice of the French oak. Very good fruit weight and balance to the wine with plum, vanilla, chocolate/moca and spice from the French oak. An elegant style of wine, perhaps missing some palate and fruit ‘drive’ I was expecting and seemed a bit flat. Dusty type tannin on the finish. I will have to have another look at this at the end of the year

[Alex F]

The Marius is probably too young!

[phillisc]

1996 Passing Clouds Cabernet Shiraz (55/45) 13%. Bendigo.
Not a forerunner to the Graeme's Blend, which I believe has been going since the early 80s, but a bottling/label that seems to be an one off. Similarly, to the Carisbrook which I have only ever seen one vintage of.

Perfect cork, beautiful dark colour with purple tints. Opened with an aroma of blueberry, florals, assorted fruits. Lovely palate of Cabernet softness with Shiraz poking through, finishing with dry chalky tannins. At 23 years a delight, with many years in the tank, still has some primary characteristics.

Cheers Craig

[Ozzie W]

2013 Argatia Xinomavro

[url=https://postimg.cc/PLhFMrmK][img]https://i.postimg.cc/PLhFMrmK/MVIMG-20190515-201013.jpg[/img][/url]

100% Xinomavro from Naoussa. 13.5% ABV.

Light-ish bodied red cherry, cassis, mint, black olive, liquorice, leather, chocolate. High tannins and high acid. Long finish. So many similarities to a 2013 Barolo. Needs another 5-10 years to really strut it's stuff, but still approachable now.

[Redav]

We cracked a 2011 Rockford Rifle Range Cab Sauv on Sat night. It was an absolute delight. I wish I'd bought more as we only have one left now which I'll give some more rest. It was far better than the 2016 we opened on Thursday night but that was my fault in that it was a rushed decision and almost straight from the wine cabinet.

[Alex F]

Dutschke st Jakobi shiraz 2002 - still sound with good tannin support. Unfortunately has developed in an unsatisfactory way for my palate, time to drink up. Not much complexity. Cedar oak on the nose leads to peppery, spicy sweet/stewed red fruits in the mouth. Quite mouthfilling and the finish is long due to the acid.

[mychurch]

Sami-Odi Little Wine Nr 8 arrived a few weeks ago and I pulled a cork open on Sat night. Big, huge wine with lots of raspberry and creamy oak. Towering structure and massive concentration. One of those wine you can say “Wow” at, but don’t finish a glass of. Fraser says that it’s meant to be drunk young while you wait for the Single Vintage wine, but this needs time. It did not budge much on Sunday nor Monday, but last night the final glass had started to blossom. Still full of life, more blue fruit notes had emerged and the beast had calmed down into a lovely, round, voluptuous wine. A younger palate may appreciate it now, but the rest of my bottles need to be stored for a long time.

[Hacker]

Sami-Odi Little Wine Nr 8 arrived a few weeks ago and I pulled a cork open on Sat night. Big, huge wine with lots of raspberry and creamy oak. Towering structure and massive concentration. One of those wine you can say “Wow” at, but don’t finish a glass of. Fraser says that it’s meant to be drunk young while you wait for the Single Vintage wine, but this needs time. It did not budge much on Sunday nor Monday, but last night the final glass had started to blossom. Still full of life, more blue fruit notes had emerged and the beast had calmed down into a lovely, round, voluptuous wine. A younger palate may appreciate it now, but the rest of my bottles need to be stored for a long time.

This may be testament to the great 2018 vintage in the Barossa.

[Ozzie W]

Sami-Odi Little Wine Nr 8 arrived a few weeks ago and I pulled a cork open on Sat night. Big, huge wine with lots of raspberry and creamy oak. Towering structure and massive concentration. One of those wine you can say “Wow” at, but don’t finish a glass of. Fraser says that it’s meant to be drunk young while you wait for the Single Vintage wine, but this needs time. It did not budge much on Sunday nor Monday, but last night the final glass had started to blossom. Still full of life, more blue fruit notes had emerged and the beast had calmed down into a lovely, round, voluptuous wine. A younger palate may appreciate it now, but the rest of my bottles need to be stored for a long time.

I also find that the 'Little Wines' need some cellaring time. They're still too big for me at release. But I can see how those that like big Barossa Shiraz would love it at release and there's nothing wrong with that. I'm probably in the minority here. A Little Wine No 4 which I tasted in mid-2017 was just entering the ideal drinking window for me.

[phillisc]

2009 Metala LC Shiraz/Cab/Malbec. 45/50/5.
One of the less common blends released under this label, at 10 years its hardly budged, inky black, big glycerol hangs on the glass. Whilst the Malbec fills out the palate, there is a little heat on the end...will revisit in 5 years...but this thing will out last me.
Cheers Craig

[DJ1980]

2018 Tyrrell's 8 Acres

Soooo young. Purple in both colour and palate. Blueberry, earth and mixed berry lift. Really to young to get much. Palate is beautiful even this young. Creamy, silken tannin. Needs 5 years to settle.

[Matt@5453]

2016 Hugh Hamilton Wines “The Oddball” Saperavi, McLaren Vale

Blue type fruits, violets, graphite, earth, spice, silky texture with great depth of flavour. Ripe and lovely tannins round out the palate, lovely long lingering finish. 15% Alc was unnoticeable. Top stuff.

[Mike Hawkins]

Krug and DP to celebrate the Champions of Europe...Liverpool