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

[andrewpc]

2011 Fourrier Petit Vouguet. This was one of my best Burgundy experiences, certainly of this year and perhaps of the last couple of years. I made myself keep the rich taste in my mouth far longer than usual because of its enticing profile. Depth of exquisite fruit with perfect acid balance makes this an amazing wine.

indeed, and if you purchased it from RD when imported, it was cheaper than many high-end Aussie pinots, and in fact, half the price of the Bass Phillip Premium. Not all Burgundy is a rip-off, there are new Fourriers popping up everywhere, with incredibly competitive pricing.

Would you be able to provide some recommendations? I'm thinking the cellar might need some new burgundy additions and I'm a bit clueless as to who some of these newer more reasonable makers are?

Thanks

[Hacker]

Robert Chevillon would be a fair choice. Retail offerings are a bit pricey but auction bidding generally a better deal.

[andrewpc]

Thanks Hacker, will take a look. Hopefully felixp21 has a few suggestions too?

[mychurch]

CEB41F36-8152-4084-B47D-563E47E299AF.jpeg

Online tasting with Jelle in Amsterdam.

A while back I ordered the 06 Rarity and Jelle picked it up for me and bought some of the Grand Cuvee at the same time. Both wines are lying in his cellar, but he did send a bottle of each to Auz for us to tast online.

These are extreme wines, with massive layers of unctuous, concentrated fruit. The Grand Cuvee is from 2013 and has 14.5% alcohol, which shows in the palate. It’s a rich dry wine in the style of an old Ygrec. The wood shows a bit in the nose and the mouth, and it’s not a wine I could finish in 1 sitting. I think it will be better in a few days time.

The 06 is similar and spent 10 years on lees in old barrels. It’s 1% less in alcohol and that, together with the extra age, makes it a rounder and more complete wine. It’s still massive and unctuous, but it has a bit more focus. Wish I had been able to buy the 91 - it had been ages on lees in tank for 25 years - but this is no slouch. Again it’s not a wine I could drink in 1 session, but it’s an expression of Pinot Blanc that takes the grape to another level. Yum.

[Mike Hawkins]

1995 Heidsieck Blanc de Millenaires... pretty much every bottle has been excellent and better and this was no different. Still relatively youthful colour and bready nose. On the palate lots of lemon. Saved a glass for day 2 and it came across as more toasty with lime notes. Well cellared bottles will get even better IMO. Fantastic wine

1986 Wynn’s John Riddoch... let me start off by saying I detest olives, and the nose on this wine was olive dominant. Putting that aside, the mouthfeel and flavours of this Cabernet were superb.. close to the best Riddoch I’ve had. Another wine that came across as youthful.. blind I would have guessed 1998. No rush to drink up good bottles.

1991 Penfolds St Henri... pretty wine. Pretty to taste, but pretty simple. Both the 91 and 96 St Henri’s are straightforward wines without much complexity or wow factor. There’s nothing wrong with them, just simple.

1998 Taittinger Comtes... a good Comtes, but not a great one. For my tastes, this is now entering its peak drinking window. Some nice honey on the nose and palate, good cleansing acidity with decent length.

[Con J]

1991 Penfolds St Henri... pretty wine. Pretty to taste, but pretty simple. Both the 91 and 96 St Henri’s are straightforward wines without much complexity or wow factor. There’s nothing wrong with them, just simple.

I think most Shiraz in general lack complexity but I still enjoy drinking them.

Cheers Con.

[felixp21]

2011 Fourrier Petit Vouguet. This was one of my best Burgundy experiences, certainly of this year and perhaps of the last couple of years. I made myself keep the rich taste in my mouth far longer than usual because of its enticing profile. Depth of exquisite fruit with perfect acid balance makes this an amazing wine.

indeed, and if you purchased it from RD when imported, it was cheaper than many high-end Aussie pinots, and in fact, half the price of the Bass Phillip Premium. Not all Burgundy is a rip-off, there are new Fourriers popping up everywhere, with incredibly competitive pricing.

Would you be able to provide some recommendations? I'm thinking the cellar might need some new burgundy additions and I'm a bit clueless as to who some of these newer more reasonable makers are?

Thanks

try Hudelot-Baillet or Jean Pierre Maldant. Both making superb wines, both available in Australia, and both exceptional value.

[JamieBahrain]

1991 Penfolds St Henri... pretty wine. Pretty to taste, but pretty simple. Both the 91 and 96 St Henri’s are straightforward wines without much complexity or wow factor. There’s nothing wrong with them, just simple.

I think most Shiraz in general lack complexity but I still enjoy drinking them.

Cheers Con.

I think this is why my first experiences with Hermitage decades ago stopped me in my tracks. Lots of different things happening you wouldn't see in Aussies.

I have had a few good 96 St Henri's and then reading Mike's comments a number of years back was cursed with many simple experiences. I still have a six pack of 96 St Henri and 96 Grange- must try side by side soon.

[asajoseph]

Had a couple of Pinots last night:

1. Ross Hill Pinnacle Series 2016, from Orange. Really light, aromatic & delicate in style, red fruited & youthful.
2. Greywacke 2014, Marlborough NZ. First of 3 bottles I've opened, but won't be hesitating to on the other two, as for me this was right in the sweet spot. Definitely darker fruit here, not to mention deeper purple colour, and a really noticeable cedar wood note .

[Rossco]

2018 Mount Pleasant 'Rosehill' Shiraz

I have not had a Hunter Shiraz in a very long time. As mentioned on other posts, im off shiraz, however
this may rekindle my interest.

I really liked this, its not the big, bloated, over ripe blockbuster shiraz that some people are still pumping out.
This has a refined and subtle edge to it. Love the tannin structure.... fine and dusty.
Fruit is perfectly judged, red fruits strawberry, red cherry and perhaps a bit of pomegranate, with blueberry as well. But then is this
pure line of graphite/charcoal type minerals racing through the back that really made it interesting.

Length is outstanding, medium-plus body and mouthfeel from the oak is great, and its not over oaked.... could almost
be 100% older oak, not sure.

Eminently drinkable right now, although I do question how long it will continue to improve as it drinks so well. Perhaps
will develop a bit more complexity with age. I have no experience with hunter shiraz so im totally in the dark here.

I can only hope the more expensive Mount Pleasants justify their price, as for $40 the QPR is off the chart

[mychurch]

BEE0675D-85E6-4EF8-8FBE-8FF53E8A64F0.jpeg

Saw this at an auction recently. It’s a wine I remember buying at the start of my wine journey. Not sure if I drank this actual bottle way back then, but it was a regular for a while - cheaper than 707 and Pyrus, but not that far behind in quality.

It took a few hours to unfurl, but it showed well. Plenty of age in the colour, and it started off a bit austere with some forest floor but in these situations it pays to follow the suggestions of Mr Audouze. There was plenty of ceder and cinnamon on the nose, some black tea, red fruits, good acidity and, eventually, a lovely texture. Finish was concentrated and long. Lovely old wine that is probably at the end of its drinking window for many, but I love the complexity of these older wines and would happily buy again if the fill was base of neck or higher.


Update: just checked the bottle and the alcohol was only 11% - explains why I liked it and why I managed to finish the bottle.

[Ian S]

11% good god!

FWIW I am someone who loves older wines and typically prefers lower alc% wines, though I can think of *very* few dry reds I've drunk that would come in at a mere 11% alc

[phillisc]

Great old wines these. One of my first big purchases was 2 dozen of the '88 Jamieson's Run (JWT winner) at Baily and Baily on Portrush Rd for $5:99 a bottle. Yes Pyrus, Alexander's and co were more expensive but in the 80s probably three times the quality. Really enjoying the current 90s Coonawarra's that I am working through. Yes sad that wines like this aren't made anymore.
Cheers Craig

[mychurch]

BC769265-FAB1-49F5-A0F6-8454C288CBC6.jpeg

School nights approaching, so one final ‘special’ wine befor the drinking goes back to more modest levels.

I think this is probably the most complex wine I have drunk. 1969 Vintage, high acidity, some silky tangerine fruit, saline notes, ranchio and so much more. Its a mix of all the worlds weird and wonderful wines; Vouvray meets Tokaji, meets Murfatlar, meets Jura meets Rutherglen. It’s not fun - there is a real bitterness on the finish - but I will be sipping this happily for the next few days.

[Ian S]

I love TNs like this mychurch

[Mike Hawkins]

Great old wines these. One of my first big purchases was 2 dozen of the '88 Jamieson's Run (JWT winner) at Baily and Baily on Portrush Rd for $5:99 a bottle. Yes Pyrus, Alexander's and co were more expensive but in the 80s probably three times the quality. Really enjoying the current 90s Coonawarra's that I am working through. Yes sad that wines like this aren't made anymore.
Cheers Craig

That JWT winner was one of my first full case (dozen) purchases. Nice wine from memory. Used to lover Alexanders and Pyrus too, then they both lost their way

[kenzo]

Mychurch - I too saw that vintage at auction over a couple months and had resolved to buy it given the price and vintage, but due to a work emergency didn't get to bid on the closing night. Glad it went to a good home, and glad it provided some joy!

[mychurch]

Mychurch - I too saw that vintage at auction over a couple months and had resolved to buy it given the price and vintage, but due to a work emergency didn't get to bid on the closing night. Glad it went to a good home, and glad it provided some joy!

Kenzo

This came from my friend in Amsterdam. He has drunk 13 bottles of this age and style over the last year and I’m not sure where the source came from - pretty sure it was auction, but could have been Belgium, Germany or even France.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Nice to see this label Mychurch, and the note on the wine. Glad it turned out well. Here in Canada I came across Jamieson's Run much later and only have a couple of bottles of the 1991 and 1992 vintage left in the cellar. A bottle of one of them several years ago was still stubbornly dark and intense. The next time I open a bottle I will follow your example and use the Audouze method.

Mahmoud.

[phillisc]

2002 Pewsey Vale Riesling. 2021 will be the year I start knocking off Rieslings from this vintage 600 bottles and counting
Anyway golden yellow and the cork stained to a couple of mm. The irony being Yalumba did screwcap trials and two, probably the only Rizza from this vintage that I have that's under cork.
Really soft apple on the nose otherwise really restrained. Palate still has noticeable acid and carries through well with the faintest hint of kero balanced with residual sweetness. Soft and delicate, will get into a few more of these, but approaching 20 years in very good shape.
Cheers Craig

[Hacker]

Friends came over the other night and one of them brought over a 1996 Tyrrells Vat 9. Fill was exceptional, a cm into the neck, and the cork came out easily with ahe Ah-So (what a great instrument). It was decanted for 10m but I don't believe it was needed, except for the agressive sediment. Colour wise the Vat 9 looked like an aged pinot and the nose gave away old leather and a peacocks tail of interest. Fruit wasn't really evident but was not needed, such was the variety of the tertiary Hunter earthy and leather flavour profile. Brett wasn't prominant at all. The other thing that surprised me was this bottle was kept in a Sydney cupboard for it's entire life, extremely passive.

[kenzo]

Trying to extract Aussie corks from 90s wine and earlier always brings a sense of trepidation - and that's even before the risk of TCA!

[felixp21]

had a look at six 2015 Burgs on the weekend.
a lot of keyboard warriors panned Meadows for his nomination of 2015 as GOAT, but it is now very clear this is an absolutely fantastic vintage. Some of the wines are shutting down, but the quality of fruit, tannin management, and purity of the wines is almost beyond peer. I would rank 2010 as pretty much it's equal, and these two years are miles above anything churned out in the past 30 years IMO.
it's my guess that the markedly increased technical expertise of the vignerons (the new generation are no longer farmers, they are dedicated winemakers qualified from the great schools of Montpellier, Bordeaux etc.) and the experiences gained by dealing with recent other solar vintages such as 2003, 2005 and 2009 allowed these Burgundians to finally nail a hot year. (and, IMO, they repeated that effort in 2018, which will also be hailed as another stellar year given another 10 years in bottle)

what did occur to us was, unfortunately, how often the "critics" get a vintage wrong with tastings in barrel. These days, I think you would be better off in Burgundy, if you are buying at release, to simply purchase by producer, and not vintage.

[JamieBahrain]

Traditional Rioja is the most consistent old wine experience in my opinion ( whether you like the style or not ). I've had Tondonia near 100 years old and plenty of great bottles amongst them.

Had a bunch of old 70's Puligny's from a Burgundy negotiant ( Belgium based ) but can't' recall. Excellent!

2010 Sass was bit young. Pleasant Sunday.


[url=https://postimg.cc/Rqyh2YxB][img]https://i.postimg.cc/X775BM2p/6967-F0-D0-BA9 ... 919-BF.jpg[/img][/url]

[Ozzie W]

had a look at six 2015 Burgs on the weekend.
a lot of keyboard warriors panned Meadows for his nomination of 2015 as GOAT, but it is now very clear this is an absolutely fantastic vintage. Some of the wines are shutting down, but the quality of fruit, tannin management, and purity of the wines is almost beyond peer. I would rank 2010 as pretty much it's equal, and these two years are miles above anything churned out in the past 30 years IMO.
it's my guess that the markedly increased technical expertise of the vignerons (the new generation are no longer farmers, they are dedicated winemakers qualified from the great schools of Montpellier, Bordeaux etc.) and the experiences gained by dealing with recent other solar vintages such as 2003, 2005 and 2009 allowed these Burgundians to finally nail a hot year. (and, IMO, they repeated that effort in 2018, which will also be hailed as another stellar year given another 10 years in bottle)

what did occur to us was, unfortunately, how often the "critics" get a vintage wrong with tastings in barrel. These days, I think you would be better off in Burgundy, if you are buying at release, to simply purchase by producer, and not vintage.

I had to look up what 'GOAT' and a 'solar vintage' means as I'm not familiar with these terms.
GOAT = greatest of all time
Solar vintage = a vintage with lots of sunlight which results in ripe fruit.

I agree with you regarding buying producer and not vintage. For me, the same applies for Barolo.

[felixp21]

yes, I have heard Barolo is similar.
"solar" vintage has really been expanded to mean a hot year with lots of sunlight, often leaving the growers in a quandary as to when to pick.

in retrospect, the Burgundians would have been wise to grab a couple of Aussie winemakers to help out with the "frankenstein" 2003 vintage, that year produced a lot of swill, some decent wines and a couple of legendary bottles. Very few producers knew what to do.
in 2005, some experience of these somewhat unfamiliar conditions led to much better management both in the vineyard and in the cellar, but far too many green and stern wines with course tannins were produced to pronounce this vintage as "great" IMO. Again, many excellent wines and a few great bottles (Rousseau CdBeze is amongst the greatest wines produced this century)
further improvement in 2009, with far fewer green wines (although still a problem)
then in 2015, yet another solar vintage, the vast majority of Domaines nailed it, and as a result there are a myriad of great Burgundies to be had. A lot of people poo poo this vintage as "non-classic" but in another 10-15 years, my money is on all-round raves from the lucky drinkers.

[mychurch]

$20 buys a full bottle of Chambers 2004 Vintage Port, and if I were an alcoholic I think it would be on my ‘must buy’ list - as it was I picked up 10 bottles Cellar door. It’s not really Summer Drinking, but then again it’s not been a warm summer so far. The spirit is very well integrated into the sweetish fruit. It’s very different to the Portuguese versions I drank in Europe, but it’s full of raspberry fruit and although a bit 1 dimensional, it’s round, smooth and very hard to put down. Opened on Friday, it’s going fine in the decanter. I prefer the Tawny and the other fortified wines from Chambers, but this is great QPR and a good for a late midweek supper with some cheese.

[Ozzie W]

$20 buys a full bottle of Chambers 2004 Vintage Port, and if I were an alcoholic I think it would be on my ‘must buy’ list - as it was I picked up 10 bottles Cellar door. It’s not really Summer Drinking, but then again it’s not been a warm summer so far. The spirit is very well integrated into the sweetish fruit. It’s very different to the Portuguese versions I drank in Europe, but it’s full of raspberry fruit and although a bit 1 dimensional, it’s round, smooth and very hard to put down. Opened on Friday, it’s going fine in the decanter. I prefer the Tawny and the other fortified wines from Chambers, but this is great QPR and a good for a late midweek supper with some cheese.

Aussie fortifieds -- many, many bargains to be had, both retail and auction. Underappreciated and underpriced IMHO.

[David Pope]

Greetings from Pom-land. Tonight I opened a Hunter Valley semillon: McWilliam's Mount Pleasant Elizabeth 2005. Bottled under screw-cap. I decided to try an experiment and I drank this from three glasses: a Schott Zwiesel white wine glass, a Riedel vinum Bordeaux glass and a Riedel Vinum Pinot Noir glass.

The wine was quite effervescent, with plenty of acidity and lovely lemon and lime fruit. Good length and a surprising 12% alcohol. Of the three glasses, the Schott seemed to offer most in terms of lemon fruit and fresh acidity. The Pinot Noir sample seemed slightly drier but offered a little more complexity. The Bordeaux sample was between the two! The differences were marginal of course. I loved this bottle. I've always been a fan of Hunter Valley semillons and I wish we could get more in the UK.

[Rory]

2007 Tahbilk 1927 Vines Marsanne

Pretty amazing considering its age, Lots of lemon rind, depth and acid, But so much acid, I wonder if the "added acid" was pretty hefty, and hasn't resolved.
The flavours. complexity and length are seem to be overshadowed by the acid,

Either that or it needs another 14 years!