Brisbane Offline Notes - 12 May 2023

[Michael McNally]

The Brisbane Auswine Forum gang met on Friday 12 May for the first wine dinner of the year at the Golden Pig restaurant in Newstead (thanks for finding the venue and sorting out BYO GPK). Ten happy souls shared some amazing wines and some great times. The degustation menu was excellent from start to finish.

The wines kicked off with Meg’s Billecart Rose Champagne. Excellent entry with immediate lemon fizz on the palate with some light strawberry notes. The bead was super fine, and it had a lovely mouthfeel. The length was also good. A lovely start to proceedings. Excellent.

Ma hor – sticky fried peanuts and coconut with fresh grapefruit

The first white was my 2010 Henscke ‘Julius’ Riesling. Whiffs of lanolin. Citrus blossom. This wine is right in its drinking window - lovely texture with a little minerality. Fruit is lemon/lime hints of pink grapefruit. Lovely line of acid gives it some pretty good length too. Excellent aged Riesling.

We then paired two SBS blends. The first was Rens’ 2017 Sorrenberg Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. At six years of age, it was still fresh and youthful, with a refreshing palate built around apple peel and some mild apricot. Reasonably complex and quite interesting. Ian’s 2011 Cullen Sauvignon Blanc Semillon was very similar, but slightly lighter across the palate, with pear and apple flavours and a lovely texture. Both went extremely well with the seafood dominant first entrees. Both Very Very Good.

Scallops with miso butter & perilla
NZ Ora King Salmon sashimi, ponzu dressing, toasted buckwheat & wasabi oil

Next up was a pair of Chardonnays. Gerry had brought a 1995 Tyrrell’s Vat 47, a wedding year wine. My first note was just “fabulous”. It tastes about 10 years old. Very pure Chardonnay, with stone fruit and citrus and the slightest tinge of green pineapple. The finish went forever. A real eye-opener for me to the longevity of Hunter valley Chardonnay. Brilliant and my WWOTN.

Nick had brought a White Burgundy the 2012 Domaine Jacques Prieur Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes Premier Cru. The nose was immediately striking with honeycomb and butterscotch notes, which belied the palate which had no sweetness whatsoever. The palate was varietal Chardonnay some chalky texture, green melon and guava. Excellent.

Prawn, pork and coriander wontons with sesame sauce & fragrant chilli oil
Fried Sichuan pork pastries, sumac yoghurt & crispy chilli oil

Ian had bought a 2012 Larry Cherubino Laissez-Faire Grenache. This had clearly been a fruit driven wine, but the fruit had faded. The tannin however was lovely, but without the fruit the wine was quite unbalanced. Good.

We then tried a cork v screw cap contest, with two 2005 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz. The cork bottle that Nick had brought could immediately be identified as oxidised and deteriorated quickly to the point where it was undrinkable. Under my screw cap, however, this was an excellent Shiraz. Heaps of black and blue fruits. Full bodied without being over the top. Oak a whisper in the background. A lick of boot polish and leather for complexity, but still very primary. As Ian said an absolute pup. My only quibble was a lack of personality. This may have been due to the wines we were drinking it with. Very Very Good to Excellent.

Sweet and spicy Korean fried chicken with peanuts

Gerry had generously brought another wedding year wine. A Unicorn wine. A 1995 Houghton’s Show Reserve Shiraz. A sublime nose with cigar box, spice, leather, plum and blackberry. Lovely mouthfeel and mouth perfume. A hint of vanilla. The palate was plum and blackberry, shot through with cocoa, coffee and vanilla. Super complexity and super length. A complete aged wine. I could have kept writing down additional descriptors, but chose to simply enjoy this brilliant old wine. Brilliant and my RWOTN and WOTN.

Ian had brought a Sami-Odi Little Wine No. 4. It was an unfair comparison, particularly on opening as the Sami-Odi was far younger and far more fruit driven. However, as the Sami-Odi opened up, the fruit driven nature became less dominant, and it became super complex and really intriguing. In fact, as it opened up it really gave the Houghton’s a run for its money. Excellent.

Tumeric curry of pork belly with coconut, tomato & fresh lime w Jasmine rice
Baked Barramundi with chilli, coriander & lime
Egg noodle salad with cloud ear mushroom, coriander, carrot, fennel & star anise dressing

The last red was a 2004 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904 that Rens had brought. Another possibly unfair comparison with the wines we were drinking around it. The Rioja was more acid driven, leaner and brighter than the Sami-Odi or the Houghton’s. As Nick said it had great persistence and was bright and fresh for a 20 year old wine. I have not drunk enough aged Rioja to know whether this was on an upward trajectory or this was as good as it would get. An Excellent, different red.

Cardamom panna cotta with strawberry & Thai basil granita, black pepper tuile

The night was rounded off with Gerry's Chateau Filhot 2010. The colour is not too developed at this point, but this is an excellent Sauternes. Honeysuckle and apricot pit. A high level of sweetness without any cloying finish. Great texture. An Excellent end to the night.

For the record the White Wine Of The Night was the Vat 47 with half the ten votes. The Red Wine Of The Night was, surprisingly for me, the Little Wine #4, again with half the votes. The Wine Of The Night was thrown into chaos as the Champagne received three votes meaning there was a tie between that and the Vat 47 for Wine Of The Night. Hopefully Ian will post some pictures.

Congratulations to the Golden Pig for a fantastic degustation. The service was excellent, prompt and attentive. Good glassware. I will definitely be visiting this venue again. Their usual nights for BYO are Wednesday and Thursday apparently.

It was fantastic to get the gang together again and the quality of wines and generosity displayed was amazing as always. And, as always, we finished the night vowing to get together again sooner rather than later.

Cheers

Michael

[ticklenow1]

I'll post these photos but I'm computer illiterate so I'll do over a number of posts as I can't work out how to put them all in together.

FWIW, my WWOTN was the Tyrrrell's and RWOTN was the Sami Odi. My WOTN was the Tyrrell's. It is the best wine I've had so far this year. I can't do it justice in words but needless to say, it was difficult to believe that it is approaching 30 years old. The colour, the fruit and the nose were that of a 10-15 year old tops. For me, it was a pleasure to drink. The Sami Odi just grew and grew in the glass. the Houghton Show Reserve was also a special wine. It reminds me of something like the Wynns Centenary in the way it was not a celebrated wine on release and has turned into a wine everybody should get to taste once.

Also a special mention to the Sauternes. Just a wonderful way to end the night.

Every wine bar my Grenache (Cherubino) and the St Henri under cork were fantastic. So many different styles.

Lovely food, great company and thanks to all for sharing these exceptional wines.

Cheers
Ian

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[Michael McNally]

Thanks for the pics Ian!

Cheers

Michael