Hi Good Peoples,
Its Sunday, what have you been drinking this week?
Sunday...drinking reports
Penfolds Magill Estate 2000 Shiraz
Far too young to be drinking this wine. If you have some, be content to allow them to rest for another five years before maybe checking one. Good nose after some initial stink blew off and it had time to show its stuff. More savoury than I was expecting but there is a good balance in the wine and a lovely long finish.
Magpie Estate The Election 2002 Shiraz
A really bright purple colour and an 02 Barossa nose. Good fruit for this wine and it shows. The oak is there but it does not take over. Feels nice in the mouth, has power and good length . This wine will live for over a decade.
OÂ’Leary Walker Shiraz 2002
This wine has settled in the bottle from the initial tasting some months ago. It is now far more reserved on the nose than the wine I remember. It has great depth of flavours and a structure that will allow this wine to drink beautifully for al least another five years. It is still one of my favourite drinks.
Far too young to be drinking this wine. If you have some, be content to allow them to rest for another five years before maybe checking one. Good nose after some initial stink blew off and it had time to show its stuff. More savoury than I was expecting but there is a good balance in the wine and a lovely long finish.
Magpie Estate The Election 2002 Shiraz
A really bright purple colour and an 02 Barossa nose. Good fruit for this wine and it shows. The oak is there but it does not take over. Feels nice in the mouth, has power and good length . This wine will live for over a decade.
OÂ’Leary Walker Shiraz 2002
This wine has settled in the bottle from the initial tasting some months ago. It is now far more reserved on the nose than the wine I remember. It has great depth of flavours and a structure that will allow this wine to drink beautifully for al least another five years. It is still one of my favourite drinks.
Chardonnay: A drink you have when there is no RED wine, the beer hasn't arrived and the water may be polluted
Graham,
You must have been drunk when you hit the submit button twice.
The O'Leary Walker Shiraz really is standout value of those guys are doing great things. The large corporate's could take a leaf out of their book. But then the large corporate didn't want to know them so that's what I started on their own.
I agree with your comments on the 02 Magpie. On new years eve, Brian and I cracked a 95 Magpie and it was the wine of the night, beating a substandard bottle of 83 Grange. The 95 Magpie had tons of oak, but it was well-managed, the wine was a joy to drinkand it would still last many years.
You must have been drunk when you hit the submit button twice.
The O'Leary Walker Shiraz really is standout value of those guys are doing great things. The large corporate's could take a leaf out of their book. But then the large corporate didn't want to know them so that's what I started on their own.
I agree with your comments on the 02 Magpie. On new years eve, Brian and I cracked a 95 Magpie and it was the wine of the night, beating a substandard bottle of 83 Grange. The 95 Magpie had tons of oak, but it was well-managed, the wine was a joy to drinkand it would still last many years.
Ric
Santa was good this year.
He managed to find a Glaetzer Amon Ra 02 and an O'L/W The Clair 02.
Smiling faces all around for those two.
Just have to hope we are still around to enjoy the fruits of the cellar.
Graham
Santa was good this year.
He managed to find a Glaetzer Amon Ra 02 and an O'L/W The Clair 02.
Smiling faces all around for those two.
Just have to hope we are still around to enjoy the fruits of the cellar.
Graham
Chardonnay: A drink you have when there is no RED wine, the beer hasn't arrived and the water may be polluted
GrahamB wrote:Penfolds Magill Estate 2000 Shiraz
Far too young to be drinking this wine. If you have some, be content to allow them to rest for another five years before maybe checking one. Good nose after some initial stink blew off and it had time to show its stuff. More savoury than I was expecting but there is a good balance in the wine and a lovely long finish.
Magpie Estate The Election 2002 Shiraz
A really bright purple colour and an 02 Barossa nose. Good fruit for this wine and it shows. The oak is there but it does not take over. Feels nice in the mouth, has power and good length . This wine will live for over a decade.
O’Leary Walker Shiraz 2002
This wine has settled in the bottle from the initial tasting some months ago. It is now far more reserved on the nose than the wine I remember. It has great depth of flavours and a structure that will allow this wine to drink beautifully for al least another five years. It is still one of my favourite drinks.
Graham, I see you're still drinking this 2002 SA rubbish...
Quiet weekend for me:
13 different Pinots, highlights being an 02 Desaunay Bissey 1er "les Rouges" and the 00 Bass Philip Estate
A Petaluma Coonawarra Vertical, 90 to 00 incl. Top wines for me were 96, 99, 91, but happ yto have almost any of them in the cellar.
About 15 other wines:
00 Jansz
Bindi Cuvee IV
Brown Bros Patricia
McWilliams Show Res Amontillado
NV Piper Hiedseck
00 SSRSS
04 Primo La Biondina
03 Petaluma Riesling
98 Bleasdale Frank Potts
91 Lindemans Reserve Shiraz Bin 8200
82 Seppelts Show Fortified Shiraz
97 Seppelt Great Western Reserve Shiraz
98 Orlando Steingarten Riesling
97 Howard Park Riesling
00 Heemskirk Riesling
Only Two Shiraz among the whole lot, and neither from SA!
AB
-
JamieBahrain
- Posts: 3754
- Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2003 7:40 am
- Location: Fragrant Harbour.
Greetings all-
Standout for me the Plantagenet 01 shiraz- powerful black fruits with crafted background French Oak complexity. Nuances of cloves and cinnamon. The next day the wine softned a touch, again powerful blackfruits and appropriate background oak. Needs 5 years.
Henschke 1995 Mt Edelstone- Not the best of bottles as some tertiary development. Lacked the melded fruit oak complexity of better examples. A lot was done here with a tough vintage; Caillard predicted it would be very good for a few years before the oak cam to the fore. Good call IMHO.
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 01- Excellent. A touch more black fruit concentration seperates this wine from some top flight Cote Roties. At $50 AUD in Hong Kong, a veritable bargain.
Standout for me the Plantagenet 01 shiraz- powerful black fruits with crafted background French Oak complexity. Nuances of cloves and cinnamon. The next day the wine softned a touch, again powerful blackfruits and appropriate background oak. Needs 5 years.
Henschke 1995 Mt Edelstone- Not the best of bottles as some tertiary development. Lacked the melded fruit oak complexity of better examples. A lot was done here with a tough vintage; Caillard predicted it would be very good for a few years before the oak cam to the fore. Good call IMHO.
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 01- Excellent. A touch more black fruit concentration seperates this wine from some top flight Cote Roties. At $50 AUD in Hong Kong, a veritable bargain.
Since I'm not opulent enough ( or is that silly enough ) to buy a Vineyard ( I'll leave that to retired QC's etc ) I have been growing Tomatoes for some years now and this Summers Crop in Adelaide has been a top vintage for lovely ripe tomatoes let me tell you.
1985 Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque ( $ 138 from auction ) : Deepish gold , lively bubbles still with nice aged chardonnay like fruit. Now I have one of those fancy flowery bottles for the top of the kitchen cupboard.
1986 Irvine Royale Blanc de Blanc : Twenty times cheaper than the above but not bad actually. More of sherry/browned apples than the Belle but opened up into a nice surprising drink in fact !
2002 Irvine Eden Valley Zinfandel ( $30 ) : Had no Irvine wine in Ages and now 2 in a row ! Decent enough Zin with nice soft tannins. Nice.
2001 Chateau Batailley ( $42 ) : Young Paulliac but probably just needs 5 years to be at its best. At this price this 5th Growth is pretty good value as a med termed cellaring proposition compared to many Oz wines.
1994 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche Grand Cru ( $102 auction ) : I'd read some criticism of this vintage and in particular this wine but decided to bid anyways as I always have enjoyed a good Red Burgundy and don't drink them as often as I'd like and so am not as jaded/critical as some. As I expected a very very interesting drink - very gamey and very different to local Pinots'. I have yet to try a 1er or Grand Cru Bourgogne that was not at least an interesting and exciting wine.
2002 Cascabel Grenache et al ( $22 ) : An old handmade favourite carefully presented in screwcap - but the supposed wine buff who served this up ( namely I ) served it way too warm - time to consider the fridge when needed methinks. Being served too warm made it taste sweeter than usual.
1985 Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque ( $ 138 from auction ) : Deepish gold , lively bubbles still with nice aged chardonnay like fruit. Now I have one of those fancy flowery bottles for the top of the kitchen cupboard.
1986 Irvine Royale Blanc de Blanc : Twenty times cheaper than the above but not bad actually. More of sherry/browned apples than the Belle but opened up into a nice surprising drink in fact !
2002 Irvine Eden Valley Zinfandel ( $30 ) : Had no Irvine wine in Ages and now 2 in a row ! Decent enough Zin with nice soft tannins. Nice.
2001 Chateau Batailley ( $42 ) : Young Paulliac but probably just needs 5 years to be at its best. At this price this 5th Growth is pretty good value as a med termed cellaring proposition compared to many Oz wines.
1994 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche Grand Cru ( $102 auction ) : I'd read some criticism of this vintage and in particular this wine but decided to bid anyways as I always have enjoyed a good Red Burgundy and don't drink them as often as I'd like and so am not as jaded/critical as some. As I expected a very very interesting drink - very gamey and very different to local Pinots'. I have yet to try a 1er or Grand Cru Bourgogne that was not at least an interesting and exciting wine.
2002 Cascabel Grenache et al ( $22 ) : An old handmade favourite carefully presented in screwcap - but the supposed wine buff who served this up ( namely I ) served it way too warm - time to consider the fridge when needed methinks. Being served too warm made it taste sweeter than usual.
Wizz wrote:Graham, I see you're still drinking this 2002 SA rubbish...
Quiet weekend for me:
13 different Pinots, highlights being an 02 Desaunay Bissey 1er "les Rouges" and the 00 Bass Philip Estate
A Petaluma Coonawarra Vertical, 90 to 00 incl. Top wines for me were 96, 99, 91, but happ yto have almost any of them in the cellar.
About 15 other wines:
00 Jansz
Bindi Cuvee IV
Brown Bros Patricia
McWilliams Show Res Amontillado
NV Piper Hiedseck
00 SSRSS
04 Primo La Biondina
03 Petaluma Riesling
98 Bleasdale Frank Potts
91 Lindemans Reserve Shiraz Bin 8200
82 Seppelts Show Fortified Shiraz
97 Seppelt Great Western Reserve Shiraz
98 Orlando Steingarten Riesling
97 Howard Park Riesling
00 Heemskirk Riesling
Only Two Shiraz among the whole lot, and neither from SA!
AB
Andrew Andrew Andrew.....
How can you sleep at night after all the Peeeennnoooo.
I suppose you will just have to wash your mouth out with your Mexicana allocation. Next is a Pilsner Urquell (Chris & Mike choice). Maybe a Tiger next time.
The Petaluma Coonawarra vertical should have been a treat. Bit jealous on that one.
We missed you and Chris at the Saturday tasting ... Balnaves, Wirra Wirra, German Riesling and a farmhouse Peeennnnoooo of some sort but we managed.
Graham
Chardonnay: A drink you have when there is no RED wine, the beer hasn't arrived and the water may be polluted
2003 The Wilson Vineyard Polish Hill River Riesling (Screwcap): Pale straw/green colour. A tight, pithy nose of beeswax, lemon/lime and mineral, with some hints of toast and marmalade developing already. The palate is spicy and sprtizy, with some lemon sherbet on the rebound; this seems far more advanced than when it was released, although there’s still hints of that initial aniseed and herbs lingering on the nose and palate with breathing.
2002 Penfolds Koonunga Hill South Eastern Australia Shiraz (Screwcap): Dark, clear crimson colour with maybe a bare hint of purple on the rim. Slightly soapy nose at first with earthy blackberry, mint and obvious oak. The palate is extremely ripe, with spicy/porty raisin and blackberry fruit, confectionery, mint, cedar oak and black olive on the aftertaste, plus some vanilla on the rebound. The palate is quite hot (14% alc) suggesting there just isn’t the weight of fruit to back up the flavours they were trying to extract from it; for an initial release from a classic vintage like 2002, this was a again a major disappointment. Personally I feel Penfolds should scrap this and the Cabernet Merlot and concentrate the resources on the Shiraz Cabernet to at least make a decent attempt at reviving the quality. I can’t believe James Halliday can still continue to say the integrity of this label has been maintained since the merger with a straight face.
I'm another in agreement with the above comments about the 2002 Magpie Estate Election. At the Blacktounges Super Shiraz II blind tasting last September it was my favourite against top opposition. For that matter it had to be close to my favourite 2002 release of last year, period.
http://www.auswine.com.au/forum/viewtop ... ght=#13303
Cheers
Ian
2002 Penfolds Koonunga Hill South Eastern Australia Shiraz (Screwcap): Dark, clear crimson colour with maybe a bare hint of purple on the rim. Slightly soapy nose at first with earthy blackberry, mint and obvious oak. The palate is extremely ripe, with spicy/porty raisin and blackberry fruit, confectionery, mint, cedar oak and black olive on the aftertaste, plus some vanilla on the rebound. The palate is quite hot (14% alc) suggesting there just isn’t the weight of fruit to back up the flavours they were trying to extract from it; for an initial release from a classic vintage like 2002, this was a again a major disappointment. Personally I feel Penfolds should scrap this and the Cabernet Merlot and concentrate the resources on the Shiraz Cabernet to at least make a decent attempt at reviving the quality. I can’t believe James Halliday can still continue to say the integrity of this label has been maintained since the merger with a straight face.
Magpie Estate The Election 2002 Shiraz
A really bright purple colour and an 02 Barossa nose. Good fruit for this wine and it shows. The oak is there but it does not take over. Feels nice in the mouth, has power and good length . This wine will live for over a decade
I agree with your comments on the 02 Magpie. On new years eve, Brian and I cracked a 95 Magpie and it was the wine of the night, beating a substandard bottle of 83 Grange. The 95 Magpie had tons of oak, but it was well-managed, the wine was a joy to drinkand it would still last many years.
I'm another in agreement with the above comments about the 2002 Magpie Estate Election. At the Blacktounges Super Shiraz II blind tasting last September it was my favourite against top opposition. For that matter it had to be close to my favourite 2002 release of last year, period.
http://www.auswine.com.au/forum/viewtop ... ght=#13303
Cheers
Ian
Forget about goodness and mercy, they're gone.
Merry New Year Everybody 
It's been a while, so just a few notes from the recent trip. I was a good scout, and did take some Australians along...they just never fail to impress. Here are some imnotepressions of a few of the interesting ones, more as I get the energy and time
Chateau Margaux 1975 - Supposedly a sub-standard vintage, this took a few hours to start showing itself as the elegantly impressive and highly enjoyable wine it was. If this is one of the worst vintages, I've had my suspicion that that this Chateau can't do wrong affirmed. That floral (violets and roses even!), yet minerally, velvety yet restrained elegance that Margaux so deserves be famous for. Lacks nothing but maybe a little weight and length (that sounds more serious than it is). No doubt a great bottle of this year, if other (puzzling?) reviews of the vintage are taken into account. Drink now-2010(?). Excellent; almost, but not quite, Outstanding.
Penfolds Grange 1983 - A great wine. Stunning depth of flavour with complexity to boot, length to make John Holmes blush. Wow. Now to 2015+? Outstanding. Australia, hold your vinous head high!
Grant Burge Meshach 1994 - Easily held it's own with the 1983 Grange, with (yes!) more length and waves of mouth-coating flavour. A touch more refinement than the Grange but still takes no prisoners, with a buttery toffee and chocolate edge. Going out on a limb, this is just as good value as the following...also warrants an Outstanding, having proved itself in regal company. Drinking now till who knows when?. (wave a small Australian plastic flag!)
Wynns John Riddoch 1994 - Just starting to sing with the last glass. Gravelly chocolate vanilla cocoa notes, dark blue and black berries and vanillin oak. This just isn't quite ready to be consumed, but my word what a wine! Remarkable concentration, great depth with impressive latitude of flavour. It's just all here. Somebody was ridiculed (I think on 'the other forum') recently for saying Riddoch could be seen as Bordeaux-like. Well, it is. And magnificently so. One of the world's best Cabernet wines, period. Hugely undervalued in the second market. So shoot me, it gets an Excellent with potential for Outstanding. Now with a day's decanting, until at least 2015. I want more than the few bottles I have left. (wipe a tear from your eye, it's that good)
Penfolds Grange 1975 - Grows with every breath. This is a massive wine, bigger than the 1983, but perhaps a little more, forgive me, 'four-square'. Incredible length and concentration, just lacking that real complexity right now (...but Outstanding is not being terribly generous ) No real sign of ageing, give it 5-10 years?
Penfolds RWT Shiraz 1997 - Mmmm...Lemony French oak. Maybe too much of it, but this is an excellent wine considering the vintage. Very good weight and great mouthfeel. A little VA to start blows off and we've got a wine that brings a pretty big smile. Lay it down another 5 years to let the fruit come out and play. Excellent.
Orlando Centenary Hill 1995 - Chocolate, mocha (sounds more right than coffee right now), vanilla notes and the red berries go on and on and on and o...for a wine in this bracket anyhow. Probably ready, but won't go downhill. Very Good/Excellent.
Greenock Creek Alices 2001 - Such a joy to drink. Disturbing depth of colour, wonderful silky mouthfeel and very good length. Just plain Excellent now, who knows where it'll go?
Redbank Sally's Paddock 1997 - Ahh...this is a bit different. Glyceriney red fruits in (restrained) buckets, if that's at all possible. Always reminds me of a good Graveyard. Excellent.
Reynell Basket Press Shiraz 2001 - Gorgeous ripe (but never overly so) black and red fruits with vanilla cream topping. McLaren Vale's (very much cohesive) answer to Rockford BP? Very Good/Excellent.
A bunch of Bordeaux from $15-$100 - Some downright poor, some good, most very much so but never really that impressive. I'm ever more sure that Australian wines offer a better drink for the money, right up to the point where we get to the very heavy hitters (think Chateau Margaux, Latour, Mouton and the best of Pomerol...that 1982 Trotanoy resounds). The standout of this bunch was the 2000 Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Excellent with a slight leaning towards Outstanding, but the rest are just plain ordinary wines, though they will be very very pleasurable dinner accompaniments in the future.
Happy Drinking in the New Year!
Jakob
It's been a while, so just a few notes from the recent trip. I was a good scout, and did take some Australians along...they just never fail to impress. Here are some imnotepressions of a few of the interesting ones, more as I get the energy and time
Chateau Margaux 1975 - Supposedly a sub-standard vintage, this took a few hours to start showing itself as the elegantly impressive and highly enjoyable wine it was. If this is one of the worst vintages, I've had my suspicion that that this Chateau can't do wrong affirmed. That floral (violets and roses even!), yet minerally, velvety yet restrained elegance that Margaux so deserves be famous for. Lacks nothing but maybe a little weight and length (that sounds more serious than it is). No doubt a great bottle of this year, if other (puzzling?) reviews of the vintage are taken into account. Drink now-2010(?). Excellent; almost, but not quite, Outstanding.
Penfolds Grange 1983 - A great wine. Stunning depth of flavour with complexity to boot, length to make John Holmes blush. Wow. Now to 2015+? Outstanding. Australia, hold your vinous head high!
Grant Burge Meshach 1994 - Easily held it's own with the 1983 Grange, with (yes!) more length and waves of mouth-coating flavour. A touch more refinement than the Grange but still takes no prisoners, with a buttery toffee and chocolate edge. Going out on a limb, this is just as good value as the following...also warrants an Outstanding, having proved itself in regal company. Drinking now till who knows when?. (wave a small Australian plastic flag!)
Wynns John Riddoch 1994 - Just starting to sing with the last glass. Gravelly chocolate vanilla cocoa notes, dark blue and black berries and vanillin oak. This just isn't quite ready to be consumed, but my word what a wine! Remarkable concentration, great depth with impressive latitude of flavour. It's just all here. Somebody was ridiculed (I think on 'the other forum') recently for saying Riddoch could be seen as Bordeaux-like. Well, it is. And magnificently so. One of the world's best Cabernet wines, period. Hugely undervalued in the second market. So shoot me, it gets an Excellent with potential for Outstanding. Now with a day's decanting, until at least 2015. I want more than the few bottles I have left. (wipe a tear from your eye, it's that good)
Penfolds Grange 1975 - Grows with every breath. This is a massive wine, bigger than the 1983, but perhaps a little more, forgive me, 'four-square'. Incredible length and concentration, just lacking that real complexity right now (...but Outstanding is not being terribly generous
) No real sign of ageing, give it 5-10 years?
Penfolds RWT Shiraz 1997 - Mmmm...Lemony French oak. Maybe too much of it, but this is an excellent wine considering the vintage. Very good weight and great mouthfeel. A little VA to start blows off and we've got a wine that brings a pretty big smile. Lay it down another 5 years to let the fruit come out and play. Excellent.
Orlando Centenary Hill 1995 - Chocolate, mocha (sounds more right than coffee right now), vanilla notes and the red berries go on and on and on and o...for a wine in this bracket anyhow. Probably ready, but won't go downhill. Very Good/Excellent.
Greenock Creek Alices 2001 - Such a joy to drink. Disturbing depth of colour, wonderful silky mouthfeel and very good length. Just plain Excellent now, who knows where it'll go?
Redbank Sally's Paddock 1997 - Ahh...this is a bit different. Glyceriney red fruits in (restrained) buckets, if that's at all possible. Always reminds me of a good Graveyard. Excellent.
Reynell Basket Press Shiraz 2001 - Gorgeous ripe (but never overly so) black and red fruits with vanilla cream topping. McLaren Vale's (very much cohesive) answer to Rockford BP? Very Good/Excellent.
A bunch of Bordeaux from $15-$100 - Some downright poor, some good, most very much so but never really that impressive. I'm ever more sure that Australian wines offer a better drink for the money, right up to the point where we get to the very heavy hitters (think Chateau Margaux, Latour, Mouton and the best of Pomerol...that 1982 Trotanoy resounds). The standout of this bunch was the 2000 Grand-Puy-Lacoste. Excellent with a slight leaning towards Outstanding, but the rest are just plain ordinary wines, though they will be very very pleasurable dinner accompaniments in the future.
Happy Drinking in the New Year!
Jakob
-
Mike Hawkins
- Posts: 2747
- Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 9:39 am
2002 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier - medium bodied & perfumed (possibly overly apricotty). Excellent oak handling and tannin structure, and a perfect foil to some of big brooding Barossa wines.
1999 - Evans and Tate Redbrook Cabernet Sauvignon - textbook cabernet characteristics (cassis, cedar etc), great length and a highly enjoyable drop with plenty of life in front of it.
1999 - Evans and Tate Redbrook Cabernet Sauvignon - textbook cabernet characteristics (cassis, cedar etc), great length and a highly enjoyable drop with plenty of life in front of it.
-
James T
Have been doing my best over here to try as many European wines as I can, including some pretty smart stuff from the Languedoc . However occasionally there is a need to cook up a Sunday roast, make the most of a mild winters day and just feel happy - and what could be better than...
Bests Bin "O" Shiraz 2000 - Third bottle from a case - the first was fantastic with incredible pure, deep fruit; the second a much lesser wine that I hoped was just an off bottle. Opened with a touch of VA/bottle stink which blew off quickly, tasted quickly and then double decanted which was a good move. Apparent off the bat this has high quality, intense dark fruit flavour. Licorice, mint, some real forest floor/undergrowth charchters all combine with well held alcohol and good acid levels. Everything was in balance but I did find the fininsh a little short. Overall Highly Recommended and while not the best of Bin 'O's (no pun intended
) it certainly made my day a good one .
. However occasionally there is a need to cook up a Sunday roast, make the most of a mild winters day and just feel happy - and what could be better than...
Bests Bin "O" Shiraz 2000 - Third bottle from a case - the first was fantastic with incredible pure, deep fruit; the second a much lesser wine that I hoped was just an off bottle. Opened with a touch of VA/bottle stink which blew off quickly, tasted quickly and then double decanted which was a good move. Apparent off the bat this has high quality, intense dark fruit flavour. Licorice, mint, some real forest floor/undergrowth charchters all combine with well held alcohol and good acid levels. Everything was in balance but I did find the fininsh a little short. Overall Highly Recommended and while not the best of Bin 'O's (no pun intended
) it certainly made my day a good one .-
dereksalmon
- Posts: 28
- Joined: Tue May 11, 2004 6:08 am
- Location: uk
I just can't stop laughing at that. I'm hysterical. Will look forward to coming in tomorrow and seeing what has been added.
A late entry, consumed over the last 2 nights.
2001 Stefano Lubiana Pinot Noir (Derwent Valley)
Mid red, with a slight opaqueness about it. A varietally correct nose, all sour cherries and light gamey notes, yet quite clean - no earth here. Palate follows, quite light and chewy, some fine tannins. Nicely balanced - there are no gaping holes anywhere. Finish is a bit short, and the wine lacks excitement, but as a reasonable quality pinot ($35 at CD a year ago) there's not too much cause for complaint.
cheers,
Graeme
2001 Stefano Lubiana Pinot Noir (Derwent Valley)
Mid red, with a slight opaqueness about it. A varietally correct nose, all sour cherries and light gamey notes, yet quite clean - no earth here. Palate follows, quite light and chewy, some fine tannins. Nicely balanced - there are no gaping holes anywhere. Finish is a bit short, and the wine lacks excitement, but as a reasonable quality pinot ($35 at CD a year ago) there's not too much cause for complaint.
cheers,
Graeme