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

[mychurch]

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So last night 8 of us had a late dinner at the 1* Peat Inn in Fife. The special occasion was the fact that I had managed to escape Melbourne after 4 years and it really was nice to have a night out in Scotland with some good company.

Unlike my tasting dinners in Australia and the Netherlands, here we focused on the food and the company, with the wine just a nice backdrop. No notes were taken during the dinner and as we finished 10 bottles between 7 ( with 1 driver) these notes maybe slightly effected by the alcohol.

Overall I thought all the wines were good and more or less of a similar standard. For my palate some needed more time, but with the food all had there good points

We started with a Magnum of 2012 Marc Hebrat Special Club and it was great. As befitted the evening it was relaxed and at ease with itself. There were bread and brioche notes and the bead was fine, but the main thing was that it was just drinking very well. It will maybe develop more complexity with age, but I would be tempted to drink it up now.

The same applies to the 2015 Chateau de Puliny Montrachet Saint-Aubin 1er Cru en Remily which came next and again in Magnum format. This was modern, lush white Burdundy, with layers of butter and creamy fruit. The nose was great, but again it was the fact that it was ready to go and food friendly that stood out. Yum. Magnums will keep, but this would make a great Xmas Dinner wine.

I brought the 2017 Cuvee Leandre, Domaine Vignes du Maynes, which is a natural wine that sits in barrel for 43 months on its lees. My mistake here was not decanting and making sure it was served a bit warmer. It had the muscadet look and feel, but with a lot of air much more complexity came though, with a nice saline streak and a hint of Sherry. This this will be brilliant with some roast chicken with cream and mushrooms. Going to put the remaining bottles aside for a while.

The 2 Pinots appeared side by side. A 2003 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux, Comte Armand and the Felton Rd Calvert Vineyard Pinot Noir 2009. The nose on the Pommard was the best of the whole night. Super complex and with cherry, cranberry and minerality. As befits it’s reputation though I found it still hard and tight and needing more time to soften. The Felton was muted in comparison, with a typical new world cherry nose. In the mouth though it was the more harmonious wine. Great pairing, although both wines overpowered the Sole.

2 expression of Syrah were served with the main and the only common trait I picked up was that they both needed a lot more time in the cellar. The 13 Wendouree Shiraz was surprisingly accessible and supple with liquorice and red fruit. It’s a top year for this house, but as Auz tasters keep pointing out, the fireworks only come with age. Having drunk a few bottles of old Rostang La Landonne in the past, this 06 still has a long way to go. Always a treat to try these top French versions, it missed the complexity in the nose that comes with age. It was crunchier in the mouth than the Auz version, and stood up to the food well. Great to compare and contrast, but they really are completely different animals.

01 is of course a great Sauterne vintage and the Ch Lafaurie Peyraguey was delightful and probably the wine of the night. It’s thrown off it’s puppy fat and is into it’s drinking window. This was full of orange marmalade and botrytis. Fun and at this stage the sugar burst is always a hit, but I imagine I would have written a similar review for any top Sauterne at this point.

Great night and it was pleasure to meet everyone.

[VinoEd]

Picked up some of this recently quite cheaply, and I enjoyed it. Needs plenty of time, it’s packing some power, lots of dark berries, coca, well balanced. One to revisit in another 10 years.

[Mike Hawkins]

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So last night 8 of us had a late dinner at the 1* Peat Inn in Fife. The special occasion was the fact that I had managed to escape Melbourne after 4 years and it really was nice to have a night out in Scotland with some good company.

Unlike my tasting dinners in Australia and the Netherlands, here we focused on the food and the company, with the wine just a nice backdrop. No notes were taken during the dinner and as we finished 10 bottles between 7 ( with 1 driver) these notes maybe slightly effected by the alcohol.

Overall I thought all the wines were good and more or less of a similar standard. For my palate some needed more time, but with the food all had there good points

We started with a Magnum of 2012 Marc Hebrat Special Club and it was great. As befitted the evening it was relaxed and at ease with itself. There were bread and brioche notes and the bead was fine, but the main thing was that it was just drinking very well. It will maybe develop more complexity with age, but I would be tempted to drink it up now.

01 is of course a great Sauterne vintage and the Ch Lafaurie Peyraguey was delightful and probably the wine of the night. It’s thrown off it’s puppy fat and is into it’s drinking window. This was full of orange marmalade and botrytis. Fun and at this stage the sugar burst is always a hit, but I imagine I would have written a similar review for any top Sauterne at this point.

Great night and it was pleasure to meet everyone.

Nice line up! I’m a fan of the Hebrart SC but probably prefer them older than you. I know his wife Isabelle of Diebolt Vallois is critical insofaras the time Hebrart keeps his wines on lees. This no doubt limits some complexity.

And thanks for the notes on the LP. I’d forgotten I had some of this wine. Might be time to have a look !

[Mike Hawkins]

2013 Pikes The Merle… consumed earlier than I normally would. Struck me as more like an Eden Than Clare Valley in that it was really slatey with more mineralogy than I’m used to from this house. A good, but not great Merle.

2002 Dom Perignon. The best one yet. Lots of strawberries and cream underpinned by lemons. A finish that keeps going. This is at the start of its very very long drinking window.

[Matt@5453]

A few rough notes / impressions from the last couple of weeks:

A few V22 Rieslings sampled

2022 Kirrihill Regional Series Riesling, Clare Valley – bang for buck this is right up there, great fruit flavours with a good acidic kick, finish falls a tad short.

2022 Taylors Estate Riesling, Clare Valley – one of the better vintages of this wine. Generous nicely pressed fruit here, doesn’t feel as over extracted as per past vintages.

2022 Pikes Traditionale Riesling, Clare Valley – this is one of my favourites this year, the fruit speaks here, fruit feels a bit sweeter, has a softer acid profile that gives it a bit of a ‘spritz’ feeling about it. Absolutely delicious

2021 Pikes 'Luccio' Sangiovese – medium bodied, fruit forward, with nicely balanced oak. A really good wine,

2019 Zontes Footsteps Chocolate Factory Shiraz, McLaren Vale. This is super smooth, think milk chocolate, with fine tannins, great length - this is a ripper of wine.

2020 Gemtree Cinnabar GSM – dark and earthy, nice spice notes. Felt a little bit hot and a bit out of balance. Good, but won’t seek it out again.

A contrast of same varieties, with two different maturation styles:

2021 Gemtree Small Batch Grenache SBO (Oak)
2021 Gemtree Small Batch Grenache SBE (Ceramic Egg)

I tasted these side by side with some colleagues that have very well trained palates – it was quite polarizing which we all preferred. In both wines, the purity of fruit was excellent, but there was clear differentiation between the oak and egg maturation. To me, the Egg felt a bit more acidic, fruit slightly ‘cleaner’ and fell a bit short on the palate. Whereas the Oak felt more complete, nicer and richer mouthfeel and finish, and was my preference. Others preferred the Ceramic egg due to the fruit purity. Was a very good session to try side by side.

Pizza was on the menu at a family members house, so I look a 2017 Wendouree Malbec along. They had never tried or heard of Wendouree before, so that was interesting to start with.

I decanted for an hour prior to serving. On first taste they loved it. Then I explained Wendouree can be quite polarizing being some love it, some hate it. With this wine, they seemed to love it, evidence was the bottle did not last long. Brief impressions:

Medium bodied, beautiful fruit, earthiness, touch of gum leaf, cassis like with well balanced oak giving a slight cedar note. Structurally, a bit of acid going on, with drying tannins on a long finish, but nothing 'searing'. It feels lighter on the palate in a good ways. Quite drinkable and approachable now in its youth but come back in 5-10 years. It is lovely stuff.

[phillisc]

Matt, can your confirm if your tasting mates are Clare locals and have never heard of Wendouree
Between you and the Hawk, its going to be very hard not to buy any '22 Rieslings.
Have just made some inquiries about Naked Run. The First

Cheers Craig

[phillisc]

Picked up some of this recently quite cheaply, and I enjoyed it. Needs plenty of time, it’s packing some power, lots of dark berries, coca, well balanced. One to revisit in another 10 years.

Glad to see you drinking out of proper glasses Ed
Cheers Craig

[VinoEd]

Picked up some of this recently quite cheaply, and I enjoyed it. Needs plenty of time, it’s packing some power, lots of dark berries, coca, well balanced. One to revisit in another 10 years.

Glad to see you drinking out of proper glasses Ed
Cheers Craig

A recent upgrade in glassware! Have purchased a few different varieties now. I do still like a stemless for a mid week wine…

Cheers Ed

[sjw_11]

A recent upgrade in glassware! Have purchased a few different varieties now. I do still like a stemless for a mid week wine…

Cheers Ed

I habitually use the riedel stemless "O" glasses for normal wines... in a small flat (without a proper dining table) they represent much lower risk of getting knocked over and I think they do the job pretty well.

[Scotty vino]

2022 Ministry Of Clouds McLaren Vale Picpoul.
Great zingy zesty wine. riesling-esque you'd have to say but the acid profile seemed slightly different.
Citrus notes lime/lemon some apple/pear/floral characters.
love this.

paired with natural oysters and lemon.

as for stemless. pretty much my go to glass style most of the time.

[Sean]

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[Sean]

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[VinoEd]

Trying one of the 2021 Adelina Estate Shiraz tonight. Ruby red, purple hue. Lots of fruit - I’m getting red fruit here, grass clippings, great balance, tannin, long finish. 5 more celllared away… will be great to revisit in the future.

Cheers Ed

[phillisc]

2019 Majella Cabernet.
Very fine nose, opening up with a whiff of cigar box, blue fruits, dusky tones.
Palate is oh so fine, lovely integrated fruit and oak, fine tannins, medium weight.
Will look at another in a decade. Very good barometer for the vintage.

Cheers Craig

[Ian S]

• 2018 Ktima Ligas Xinomavro Xi-Ro - Greece, Macedonia, Pella (03/11/2022)
  Not especially dense Claret core, with clear bricking already, in a manner you might see with nebbiolo. I didn't stand it up for long, and that's resulted in a little cloudiness from the very fine sediment.
  
  Quite a punchy tar/creosote nose, but with some sweet and bright red fruits in good support.
  
  Quite light bodied, but there's good depth of flavour and complexity, with the red fruits leaning towards raspberry, with some subtle leather/barnyard joining in and with (pleasingly) slightly sour/tangy acidity. Fine and quite subtle tannins on the finish.
  
  I've not tasted the Roditis grape before, but have tasted a couple of Xinomavro wines. Oddly this is the wine that reminds me most of nebbiolo (odd as it's Xinomavro on its own that seems to draw that comparison). I reckon if this were in a lineup of Ghemme wines, it might just fool me as a ringer.
  
  Not a replacement for nebbiolo, and I'd not be confident of cellaring potential, yet for those that like that grape, I could see this appealing greatly, as it did for me.
  [img]https://cdn.ct-static.com/labels/78f9ee53-d4 ... 903c30.jpg[/img]

[Rossco]

Hi all,
Apologies for the lack of notes, just been very busy, however back by (no so) popular request (you know who you are) here are my notes for an event held in September.

Theme was 'Open' - So bring anything from anywhere.

As always - all wines served blind

Wine # 1 (Extra) - NV Champagne Diebolt-Vallois Brut Rosé
Rose colour but on the peach / strawberry spectrum, with a tinge of copper perhaps. Lovely nose of strawberries and cream, strawberry florals and some more red fruits.
Chalky minerals on the back palate, some nougat sweetness. Mousse is soft and fine, this is a very well-made drink, but finishes short/clipped. I wanted a touch more complexity and minerality/chalk. From the Cramant commune.


Wine # 2 2008 Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling (Alsace)
Bright yellow / gold in colour, this looks like it could have some age on it. Nose of mandarin rind, barley sugar and some lychee. Very complex and intriguing nose. Touch of kero starting to creep in.
Palate is a bit of a letdown. Doesn’t seem to have the fruit depth or power the nose promises. Not new world as the ripeness isn’t there, but it is beautifully dry and minerally. Its thinner that I want it to be, almost water like viscosity, its missing an X factor and some fruit. Slatey rocks mixed in with lemon pith, low acidity. Maybe that’s what its missing? – Only ok – 13% as well


Wine # 3 - 2011 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Trocken
Colour is a darker yellow in the glass than the previous wine. Nose is slightly muted, but that is only due to how cold it has been served. This looks like it has some age on it.
Taking my first sip and my tastebuds explode. That fruit is very prominent. So much more fruit than # 2, its night and day difference. There is a line of beautiful lime type acidity that runs all the way through from front to back. Some wild honey with more mandarin fruits. Has some oily / briny viscosity, but it just adds to the enjoyment and complexity. Powerful fruit, lots of energy in this wine,
Love the wet stone minerality. Very, very good stuff !


Wine # 4 - 1972 Xavier Vignon Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Dark Cherry in the glass, but still has a lightness about it. No blurring or brick edges, but there is a huge funk on the nose. Green stalks, whole bunchy and perhaps a bit horsey. I think the winemaker is trying to add complexity here. Very iron like minerals, but can’t get over the wet sock nose.
Feels very old though – Im thinking 1980’s. Earthy wine, lots of brown and red earth, sous bois, touch of mushroom and forest floor. Fruit & acid is very soft and rounded. Length is ok.
A recent release, apparently the winery ‘found’ the juice stored in a concrete tank that had been sitting there for the past 40 years and forgotten about. Tried it, bottled it and released as a 1972 vintage. Great story.


Wine # 5 – 2000 Chateau Rayas Reserve Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Nose is pure burgundy here; you can smell this all day. Lovely red colour, some brown edges starting to come through indicating age. Wine feels older in the mouth too; Has a grandiose/royal presence about it, I coined the term ‘Meaningful’. It’s a meaningful wine, knows what it is, forces you to think, explore and analyse. Pine needles, sea/salty minerals, lovely tart fruit, cranberry, new season strawberries, soft cherry. Lovely gravelly tannin, wood ear mushrooms, rainforest notes.
Contender for wine of the night already - sensational length, silky texture – has a purity of fruit here that is joyous. Top wine – shocked its CdP and not Burg. Floored and bewildered as I would have sworn it’s a burg. Just goes to show I know nothing about wine, cant even get the grape variety right!



Wine # 6 - 2012 Bodegas Lanzaga (Telmo Rodriguez) Rioja Las Beatas
Striking Bright red in the glass. Lots of black and purple fruit on the nose, blackberries & plums especially. Pencil Shavings from the oak, black cracked pepper with a lovely acid spine flowing all the way through the wine. Bone dry and dusty tannin structure, really a highlight of the wine, but this feels young. Not quite ready or hitting its peak yet. Fruit is powerful and rich – same blackberries and plums as the nose, long length. Good wine will be great with age. Visit again in 8-10 years



Wine # 7 – 2009 Chateau Beychevelle (St Julian)
Dark Purple almost black in colour, impenetrable colour, but still bright – Looks like a modern/new world wine or its very young. Nose is very fruity, dark berries, blueberries and chocolate and lots of cedary oak. Tastes new world with that rich/ripe juicy fruit BUT then the structure kicks in. In a cruel twist for those trying to guess what this wine is, its all old world structure. Wonderful prominent & gravelly tannin, commanding acid that holds it own, both fighting that rich fruit for attention. Again, feels young and needs a lot more time, but its good now. Long length, texture nice and round palate,
I liked this wine a lot. Drinks like its 3 years old, not 13. Astonishing condition


Wine # 8 - 2007 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Château d'Ampuis
Another wine that has a very dark purple colour. Classic Bordeaux nose of blackberries and cedar. Pencil shavings, but its medium body. This body of the wine is sensational, looks like its going to be a big full bodied type offering, but its only a medium, claret like wine - and a very pleasant surprise
Plummy fruit, again nice and round. Leather and earth with some ground coffee. More blackberries on the palate confuses me as to variety & region.
Iron like tannin but with a minerally twist.


Wine # 9 - 2016 Sami-Odi ‘Hoffmann Dallwitz’ Syrah
Not the vintage I wanted to bring (2010), but the only one I could find in the cellar. The others are way up the back and will need some serious re-organising and time to access them in the future. Im very short on time at the moment (clearly posting tasting notes nearly 2 months late)
Like the others, this is a dark purple offering in the glass, but not black. It shines and smiles, like its happy to see you. Very different nose to the others. Modern and new world colour, but kind of half way between old world and new world nose. Wild forest Blackberries, mint and some flinty notes in there. Lots of spice, cinnamon, nutmeg star anise and a bit of 5 spice. Some lovely purple florals of violets and lavender with a hint of black pitted olives. Perfect acid, oak takes a supporting role, really the fruit is the star here. Wonderful dry and dusty tannin, but the length just doesn’t stop. Great wine, keep for another 10+ easily.


Wine # 10 – 2006 Castello dei Rampolla d'Alceo
Young wine again, tarry black fruit, feels new world with that fruit. Singular wine, simple and missing the complexity of the other wines. Rich fruit, probably more oak than it needs, new barrique?
Some cabernet characters, aniseed and mint, purple florals, violets, but short length.
Another bloody Super Tuscan…. Pass.




Wine # 11 – 1964 Stonyfell Vintage Port
Old tawny olive colour. Sump oil green and viscous. Looks like a tawny with some khaki notes.
Some nice sweet fruits in there, but its past it unfortunately. Its thin and possibly a touch of bretty or horse hair. Shame as you can see when it was in its prime it would have been cracking.

[JamieAdelaide]

Thanks Rossco. Think I used to average a few bottles of Rayas a year. Enough to know I never really got the wine. Always found it bizarre folks raved about it. I have a miserly palate I think.

[Rossco]

Thanks Rossco. Think I used to average a few bottles of Rayas a year. Enough to know I never really got the wine. Always found it bizarre folks raved about it. I have a miserly palate I think.

Lol @ miserly palate. Mate, I can't even get the grape variety right!

[michel]

Rayas is a freak ethereal wine
I Universally double blind guess it as Burgundy
Terribly expensive now

[WineRick]

N V Vilmart Champagne, disgorged 2020. Delicious - purchased at auction, a great grower Champagne along with another, Pierre Peters - my two favourite non-mainstream fizzes.

[ticklenow1]

Rossco,
I had a bottle of the 1972 Xavier earlier this year (birth year wine). Took a bit of air, but just loved it after an hour or two in the glass. You're right, it's a great story about how the wine was bottled. Wish I had a few as I think it should hold for a bit.
The Sami-Odi's really are a great wine. Never had a bad one yet and such a leap in the right direction for Barossa Shiraz. Fraser is an absolute champion as well. Between Fraser and Dan Standish, they are showing that Barossa Shiraz is not a one trick pony....
Cheers
Ian

[phillisc]

2002 Pewsey Vale Riesling, perfect cork Ironically the only 02 I have under cork, when Pewsey started screw cap trial's 25 years earlier.
What a surprise, delicious light refreshing, so much going on. No evidence of kero, beautiful finish.
Think there's another 6 or so left.
2021 Bondar Violet Hour MV Shiraz, couple of hours in the decanter, lovely nose of bright fruits which flows through to a luscious palate and long finish. Absolute cracker.
Cheers Craig

[Con J]

2019 Majella Cabernet.
Very fine nose, opening up with a whiff of cigar box, blue fruits, dusky tones.
Palate is oh so fine, lovely integrated fruit and oak, fine tannins, medium weight.
Will look at another in a decade. Very good barometer for the vintage.

Cheers Craig

Had the 2018 Friday night, lovely young wine not far from your description. I thought it was cool climate Cabernet.

Also had a 1998 Penfolds Bin 389, nice wine but I think this is getting a bit tired. Slightly oxidised, a bit of VA and lots of very ripe fruit. I’ll be drinking the last couple I have left very soon.

Last week I had a 1991 Wynns Centenary.
Don’t know what to say about this wine just that it doesn’t fail to deliver. Absolutely amazing, balance, complex, fruit, flavour, on and on. I still have 5 left but that’s not enough I think. This wine will be a legend one day.

Cheers Con.

[JDSJDS]

• 2012 Turkey Flat Shiraz - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (2022-11-08)
  Still fairly dark in colour. The nose leans on the savory side, a good sign to me. There are redfruits (cherry, plum) but also earthy notes and olives. Similar flavours and impression on the medium bodied palate. Not a fruit bomb at all, no heat, nicely balanced, good savory notes, rather elegant for a Barossa shiraz. Impressive bottle drinking well now but there is no rush. (A-)
• 2008 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (2022-11-04)
  Similar to the last bottle tried: still fairly dark in colour, with lots of blackfruits, mint and a herbal note on the nose. Very similar on the medium bodied palate, with still quite significant tannins. Perhaps the fruit is losing the battle with the tannins now. I would drink up fairly soon. Best with food - a nice steak - I think. (B+)
• 1997 Tyrrell's Sémillon Vat 1 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley (2022-09-18)
  Hazy notes from a couple days ago. Light gold/yellow in colour. The nose and palate was a little one note, but what a note it was! The palate was medium bodied but incredibly intense lemon preserve, the deepest I've ever tasted in a wine. Quite dry, but there is a slightly creamy texture due to the depth of the lemon fruit; there is a nice length of finish too. Very unique and impressive. (A-)

[phillisc]

Things are pretty grim here, thunderstorms in Adelaide but nothing like the east coast folk... haven't been able to get to the cellar, so a rescue pack from TWE (have paid for them 100 times over). Scraping the bottom of the barrel like the convicts before me, 2021 19 Crimes south eastern Australia Shiraz, a confected plum/raspberry fruit bomb.... apparently enjoyed by the likes of 50¢ and other gangster rappers.
Nearly in as much trouble as the early settlers, but I'll take it
Ironically having a lovely waygu roast. It will be G&Ts next!!
Cheers Craig

[JDSJDS]

• 1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (2022-11-12)
  I was expecting to see signs of age in the colour, nose and palate: no to all three. Still dark in colour with little bricking, with blackfruits and hints of tar, caramel and mint on the nose. Medium to full bodied on the palate, with earthy blackfruits, chocolate, graphite, a tiny bit of tomato leaf and good tannins. Nice fruit/acid/tannin balance here. Maybe some secondary notes are coming into play, but it's still quite youthful. Very nice now but will last another 10 years at least I imagine. Not too complex, but quite tasty. (A-)

[I Love Shiraz]

• 1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (2022-11-12)
  I was expecting to see signs of age in the colour, nose and palate: no to all three. Still dark in colour with little bricking, with blackfruits and hints of tar, caramel and mint on the nose. Medium to full bodied on the palate, with earthy blackfruits, chocolate, graphite, a tiny bit of tomato leaf and good tannins. Nice fruit/acid/tannin balance here. Maybe some secondary notes are coming into play, but it's still quite youthful. Very nice now but will last another 10 years at least I imagine. Not too complex, but quite tasty. (A-)

I had a dozen of these, but have none left. I think I drank them a bit too early.

[phillisc]

Thanks for the excellent note...think there's 8-10 in the cellar. Must look at one soon, where does the time go!
Cheers Craig

[JDSJDS]

I was surprised by how youthful this was, but it's definitely worth trying one now if you have more bottles. This was my last one unfortunately...

[VinoEd]

All of this Wynns talk had me go back into the cellar for something purchased at auction. Very high fill, cork great condition, albeit crumbled a little on the way out. A bit of funk on the nose that blew off, this was absolutely singing. Tannins, fruit peeping through, spice, tar… yes. A very nice wine with amazing cellaring potential.

Who can tell me what these sold for on release? Was guessing <$10?

Cheers Ed