It's Sunday, where's Ric? Post your weeks worth here....

[Red Bigot]

Another biggish week for me...

Monday tasting group 1991 Cab and Cab blends all from my cellar:
Yalumba Signature Cab/Shiraz (a knockout red, very mouthfilling, long finish, very satisfying)
Oakridge Yarra Reserve cabernet (group liked this less, I thought it opened up nicely with nice dusty/leafy cabernet character)
Leeuwin Estate MR Cabernet (fairly classic oz cabernet profile, just not quite the fruit and complexity of the oakridge, still quite tannic)
Johns Blend LC Cabernet (big oak on the nose, but enough sweet berry fruit to carry it)
Penfolds Bin 389 Cab/Shiraz (easily picked on the nose, group liked this one more than me, ranking it #2)
Yeringberg Cab Blend (surprise disappointment, hope just an off bottle, I have a few left yet)

Tuesday: AFD

Wednesday - monthly tasting group:

2001 Chardonnays (less said the better, the organiser is a masochist)
Vasse felix
Incognito Adelaide Hills
Lark Hill
Petaluma (thin and disappointing)

2001 Shiraz
Plantagenet (standout for complexity and balance, easy group top, will cellar)
Balnaves (fine spicy shiraz, group didn't like it though, group last)
Seppelts Victorian Premium (bargain for the price, very good fruit and structure for short/mid-term cellaring or drink now)
Brinadabella Hills - slightly oxidised and not in good form

2002 Warrabilla reds
Parolas Durif 17.5% (impenetrable mauve/purple, intense and distinctive durif nose and palate without being too aggressive although acid is reasonably high to give a clean finish)
Reserve Durif 17% (similar, but slighty less in every facet)
Parolas Shiraz 16.5% (pretty impressive, but just overshadowed by the intensity of the durifs)
Reserve Shiraz 16%

Andrew Sutherland-Smith has found the knack of making rich, ripe high-alcohol reds that are not hot or jammy, amazingly approachable as big rich young reds, will wait and see how they cellar.

Warrabilla Reserve Muscat 18.5% - youngish, but bright, fresh and luscious, Seppelt was dull in comparison.
Seppelt DP63 Grand Muscat (only 17%!, less than the unfortified Parolas Durif)

Thursday Venison/Cabernet dinner at Sage.

One of the party had shot the deer, the restaurant prepared a degustation menu from it.

Seppelt Dorrien 91 - mellow berries and a hint of milk chocolate, seamless, delicious now, will hold for quite a few years yet if you want to.
Thomas Hardy 91 - richer fruit, youthful, more traditional cabernet character, will improve for several years yet.
Oakridge reserve 91 - took a while to open up, but showed it's true varietal aromas and flavours, good structure, could almost pass for a Coonawarra.
Mount Mary 90 - took a while for the bottle stink to blow off, but seemed a bit subdued, I preferred the Dorrien and TH.
Leeuwin Estate Art series 98 - young and aggresssive after the older cabs, took a while to open up too, needs a fair bit of time.
Orlando St Hugo 96 - nice rich fruit, well-handled oak, doesn't have much of the leafy character, less complex than the TH, but still a very good rich red from a warmish vintage.
Orlando St Hugo 92 - fading and tired already, pity.
Peter Lehmann Mentor 96 - big, oaky, chunky, way too young to drink yet, but showed it's promise after a fair amount of breathing as the good fruit eerged from the oak.
Wendouree Cabernet 97 - trademark mint, spice and firm tannins, way too young to drink.
Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou 93 - earthy complex nose, merlot musk underneath the berrys, reasonably complex and the length supported by the fine tannin structures that elude most Oz cabernets. Didn't get enough to do a proper assessment.
Chateau Bichol Cassignols (Graves) 95 - a Lester Jesberg (Winewise) import, not one of his better ones, hard, bitter and lacking fruit.
Nugan Coonawarra 2000 - overripe character, not attractive.

Friday: AFD

Saturday - Mezzalira

Leasingham CC Sparkling Shiraz 92 - lovely, just starting to show signs of maturity, my last one.
Dalwhinnie Shiraz 91 - disappointing, colour is still very good red, but the primary fruit is fading and the oak has turned varnishy, tart finish, secondary flavours not developed yet, not sure if it is dying or just waiting to become a mellow oldie.

[David Bryant]

Geez Brian, you sure do get around!

Let's see:

1993 Wynns Coonawarra Cab - Was looking forward to this and although impeccably structured finished short and was a bit thin. very well made though and nicely balanced, but wont get any better from here.Drink now. Ok/Good-ish

2003 Grosset Polish Hill - Excellent all the way through. Well balanced, very long and intense, minerally/medicinal tones (but very pleasant). Excellent 2006-2015+

Wolf Blass 2001 Gold Label Riesling - I can't recall too muc but it was pleasant enough without being inspiring.

1998 Seppelt Drumborg Shiraz - outshone the Annie's Lane which is one of my favourites. Great length, rich, fruity wine, balanced. Excellent+. 2005-2015.

1998 Annie's Lane Coppertrail Shiraz - Chocolate, plum, and raspberry. Good length and acid, although showed a touch short on this occasion. 2005-2010.

2000 Wolf Blass Platinum Adelaide Hills Shiraz - Disappointed again (although WB himself was at the table so I wasn't too vocal on this at the time). A good wine no doubt but just seemed a touch thin and short. Impeccably made but lacking something the very best wines should have. Very good. Drink soon (now that suggestion will draw some flack).

1999 Wolf Blass Black Label Blend-a-thon - Beautiful, rich, fruity, long. A notch above the 2000 Platinum. Outstanding and 2008-2015+ to drink. WOTD (these last few were from a lunch after all).

Plus plenty of wines from friends and own wines so no posts on those.

Need a few AFD's!

Cheers, David

[MartinC]

Thursday - attended a Veritas Winemaker's dinner hosted by RBinder.

Christa Rolf Semillion 2002 - Good acidic structure, prefered more viscosity fr a Barossa Semillion.
Christa Rolf Shz/Grn 2002 - More elegant than the 2001. Dosent procesed the big juicy frame, tannin n structure of it's earlier vintage. (the 2001 gave me the best bang for <$20 wine last yr)
Magpie Schnel 2002 - Simple, quaffable BBQ wine.
Christa Rolf Cab/Shiraz 2002 - Average.
JJ Hahn 1924 2001 - A more elegant and restraint Shiraz as compared to the 1999 vintage. Lacking in depth.
Veritas Heysen 2001 - this is many steps better than all the earlier wines. Good weight n well balanced.
Veritas 10yrs Tawny Port - Bricking, see thru. Lite and overwhemled by spirits. Never been a fan of Tawny or any OZ Port. Yet to find one which I like(which include the Penfold's 40yrs O Grandfather)

I've noticed in this line-up Veritas has downperformed the vintage. More restraint without the power, concentration & intensity which I've expected.
The best wine I had fr Binder this yr is the Magpie Election 2001, a very serious wine indeed.

--------------------

After dinner we opened a O'Bastard 2001 in a Karoke joint but surrounded by a bevy of beauties(mecenaries), my mind wasnt focus.

--------------------------------

Yesterday my frd opened another 2 btl of O'Bastard 2001 to be retasted. Definately a WoW factor wine. Terrific, creammy with layers of ripe fruits which unfolds in ur palate. Intense and finish long.
The O Bastard completely overshadowed the Leashinham CC Shiraz 96 which I brought making it charry, minty and slightly austere. A big mistake to drink it next to a monster. On it's own this wine has seen better days.
Miranda Botrytis 2000 - too sweet and cloying. Lacking in acidic backbone/structure.


Cheers,

[TORB]

*%^*#@$ Work is the curse of the *#@%^* drinking class!

Between staff having babies and resigning I am up to my elbows in it and to make matters more difficult there is renovations going on in the shop too!

In fact I have now had to cancell my October trip to Victoria as I now have to spend that week redesigning the shop layout and making major decisions on shop refit. BUGGER!!

What have I been drinking, been to busy to notice - but the standout was a 96 Kays Block 6 last night and a 94 Black Pepper bubbles earlier in the week.

I even had to work till 3 on Sunday!

[Chuck]

Tuesday - Yalumba '96 Mawson Cabernet - execellent when it finally opened up after 3 hours

Wednesday - Penley '01 Phoenix Coonawarra. Well made wine but needs time. If not I can't see what the raves were all about.

Thussday - Charles Stuart University '01 Cabernet in Wagga (when in Rome) - Good honest well made wine. A real surprise being the cheapest red in the restaurant. A bit of new oak and it would be a winner but the price would be higher.

Friday - 175ml bottle of Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz on plane - Pleasantly surprised at winemaking skills. Not too bad but will not age.

Saturday - '96 Penfolds Bin 389. Very nice but confirms my decision to offload in favour of '98 model which is a stunner. Also Linderman's '02 Bin 65 Chards. Despite it's price I would put this up against any <$15 wines.

Last Saturday - '96 Penfolds Bin 28 - Nice but a bit onw dimensional. '94 Orlando Lawson - Sweet fruit and well developed oak. Will not get any better.
Chuck

[Pelican]

"La Goya" Manzanilla : commendation for being screw capped and a bottling date of 1.8.03. Lovely dry sherry from Spain. Drank with lovely South Australian Olives.

1998 Rockford Vine Vales Riesling : just had 1 of these in the cellar so had a look at the 1999 Rockford Rag which said give this 4 to 5 years. So now was the time to drink. Lovely light Gold colour. Honey toasty nose with excellent Racy palate. Went well with my first home made Terrine. Would easily last 5 more years but peaking now as suggested.

[Anthony]

Had my first Sunday off from work for quite a while so decided to head to T'Gallant for a lazy Sunday lunch.

Started with the T'Gallant 2002 Pinot Grigio which they described on the menu as the best in Oz. Where have they been hiding? No faults but very bland and quite boring. Had many a Pinot Grigio from areas like the King Valley (Chrismont for example) that I think would eat this wine.

Then moved onto the 2002 T'Gallant Pinot Noir which was pretty much the same. Had $20 a bottle it wasn't a bad wine but I would ruch out and buy more.

Earlier in the week:
Dinner at Il Bacaro enjoyed another bottle of the Katnook Cab 2000 which is a very very good wine. To me it is so regional (with plenty of cassis and Coonawarra mintyness and heaps of sweet fruit). a GREAT wine that I can't wait to see with another 10 years bottle age.

Finished off dinner with a glass of La Spinetta Moscato d'Asti which had the perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. Not cloying like many of our desert wines and quite refreshing.

Dinner at Chois in brunswick st:
Between 12 pieces of peking duck between the two of us (another forumite Mathew Wilson) we drank some very good and interesting booze.

Domaine de l'Arlot Nuits St Georges Clos des Forets St Georges 1997: which to me still needed another 5-6 years to come round. Quite a big Pinot, but still quite seductive and elegant.

96 Rioja (the producer?) a very good wine. Quite chunky with heaps of fruit and tannin and also had the legs to go another 10 years.

cheers
anthony

[Guest]

2001 Dan Murphys Cleanskin McLaren Vale Merlot Good fruit and body for the $7 per bottle price. More indicative of region than grape variety, but good value nonetheless.

2001 De Radcliffe "ice wine" Marlborough region riesling desert wine - boring and simple - reminiscent of sweet tart apple juice - poor value at $13 for 375 ml

1999 Tahbilk Marsanne mid yellow - developing honeysckle palate and bouquet - good acid backbonev suggests room for further development - good value for $8 per bottle paid

2001 Orlando St Hilary Chard Good structure around stone fruit palate - very restrained use of oak - very good value at $13 per bottle paid

MatthewW

[Mike Hawkins]

1999 Orlando Jacobs Ltd Release Shiraz Cab - beautifully perfumed nose, smelled like a Mint Slice. Little short on the palate.

1987 Wynns John Riddoch - nearing the end of its life. A good wine for a vintage I didn't rate too highly.

1994 Penfolds Bin 707 - took a look at this one given recent comments in the forum. Huge wine with 10+ years in front of it. Just a touch too oaky for my taste.

1991 McWilliams Elizabeth - to think I only paid $7 for this ! Beautiful honey and toast aromas, lovely balance and length on the palate.

1993 De Bortoli Noble One - almost brown, right at the end of its days. Overshone by the Miranda.

2000 Miranda Golden Botrytis - quite balanced. I didn't find it cloying at all.

[corcoran]

2000 Lake Breeze Cabernet I've always enjoyed this cab, and this vintage is not exception despite the poor reputation. Nice cassis, mint, blackberry and wood in a medium bodied wine with an excellent finish. Very good value. Rated as Recommended+, this is a standard in my house.

1996 Orlando Lawson's Shiraz Opened for my Dad's birthday, this was very good but not as good as one opened 6 months ago. Dense plums, vanilla, blackberries and a hint of mint and dark chocolate. Prior bottle was at least Excellent, this one is Highly Recommended.

1998 Bleasdale Reserve ShirazSecond, and last, of my bottles. Nice dark dense purple color. Over three days, this opened up to reveal dark chocolate, plum, spearmint and earthy flavors and a good length, 30 second finish. Rated as Highly Recommended, this was much better than the first bottle.

Have a good week,

Brian

[DJ]

1999 Orlando Jacobs Ltd Release Shiraz Cab - beautifully perfumed nose, smelled like a Mint Slice. Little short on the palate.

Interesting to seem mint in someone else's notes. I tend to associate the mint slice character with Clare but massives of it when I openned a 93 E&E. While this is drinking very nicely, the fruit and structure seemed to be fading - if it's to go the 15 to 20 years the back label suggests i hope it's just going through a quiet patch.

01 Ingoldby Shiraz during the week - great value - much fuller and richer on second night suggest needs some time

01 Tatachilla Keystone - another good value drop

Went out to Clonakilla on Saturday, all there wines are definitely recommended, worst part is the Shiraz Viogner is pretty well out of my price bracket now

[Popov]

Hi All,

I managed to get through a few this week while on holiday.
Whites
Oakridge Sauvignon Blanc 2003 Had a bottle with some fresh whiting & chips. Very nice indeed.
Hoddles Creek Sauvignon Blanc 2003 Very enjoyable. A label worth keeping an eye on.
Pikes Chardonnay 2001 Was recommended this one and it certainly did not let me down. Very nice wine @ $25 mark.
Kilikanoon Morts Block Watervale Riesling 2003 Best of the bunch. Will be looking to get some more of this!

Reds
Saltram Mamre Brook 1996 A good wine - at its peak!
Veritas Christa Rolf Shiraz/Grenache 2000 While not the best vintage this is a great drink for the price. Will be interested to see how the 2002 compares.
Voyager Estate Shiraz 2001 What a great drop - unfortunately I only got a couple of bottles. Extremely good value @$20.

Beers
Little Creatures Pale Ale Very good indeed
Mountain Goat Hightail Ale Again another very nice beer.

Cheese
Jindi Double Brie Great with either a beer or a nice red.

Cheers
Popov

[Gavin Trott]

Hi All,

I managed to get through a few this week while on holiday.

Kilikanoon Morts Block Watervale Riesling 2003 Best of the bunch. Will be looking to get some more of this!


Cheers
Popov

Hi

Its good isn't it, the Reserve is better (and worth the extra $) and the Blackets (Eden Valley) is worth a try if you like them steely and minerally.

[Phil Shorten]

Wednesday night - California wine tasting

Stand outs were:

1996 Easton Terre Rouge Grand Annee - a Rhonesque GSM blend drinking at its peak

1998 Ravenswood Amador County Zinfandel - only a cheapie but bats well above its price level

1998 Pump Jack Cabernet Sauvignon - hints of Bin 707 here - heavily extracted and quite a lot of oak - not subtle, but decent nonetheless.

Others consumed include:

2002 Yalumba Y Series Viognier - my fave partner for Asian cuisine, this time it was Pakistani.

2002 Tim Adams Riesling - the best TA Riesling I've ever had, will cellar well.

Champagne Raymond Boulard Vintage 1998 - oh so young, oh so classy, needs to be put down for a good long time.

2000 Szepsy Tokaji Cuvee - not as complex as a Tokaji Aszu, but very good sweet wine nonetheless - rich, but with fresh peaches, apricots and vanilla as opposed to the dried fruits one finds in an Aszu wine - underpinned by fine acidity.

1999 Cornerstone GSM - good stuff, drinking at its peak for my palate.

Cheers
Phil[/b]

[David Lole]

[quote="David Bryant"]

1998 Seppelt Drumborg Shiraz - outshone the Annie's Lane which is one of my favourites. Great length, rich, fruity wine, balanced. Excellent+. 2005-2015.[qoute="David Bryant"]

Drumborg Shiraz? You've gotta be kiddin' me! David, are sure about the vineyard source? Have Seppelt gone bananas and grafted the Pinot, Riesling and Cabernet over to the (workhorse) Shiraz? Apologies if I've missed somethig here.

[Guest]

1997 Penfolds RWT A lovely wine indeed. Normally I don't like penfolds with the exception of Bin 407 and st henri in good years., but the RWT is just lovely. Abundance of fruit with dark red/puple in colour. Berry aroma with a hint of spice. excellent structure with a good balance between, oak and fruit. Tannin is chewy which is to be expected with the age of this wine. The finish is longish.

1996 Penfolds YattarnaMedium tstraw to light honey in colour. The texture is round with citrus and stone fruit prodominate peach. Upon taste, the wine displayed a reach stone fruit character with a nice balance of oak. It is a lovely wine, but I don't think it commands the price tag of $120 each. I will only buy this one when on special, if ever. A $60 to $80 dollars wine IMHO.

1988 Lindamen Limestone Riddge Very soft tannin almost gone. Tired and lack of fruit. Pass it best for at least 2 years. This wine was not stored properly(not my own wine), so heat damage could be the result. Tried this wine back in 2001, it was beautiful back then straight out of temp controlled cellar.

[Rob]

heh forgot to login. the last post was mine

[PaulV]

No great highlights - drinking a lot of quaffers for a friend who needs a couple of basic red and whites for a 21st.

2003 Evans and Tate MR Classic white - no varieties specified either on label or even on website broad but obvious sauvignon blanc ish nose with a flat, thin weak palate - must be off well watered v. young vines. Poor

Orlando Poets Corner 2001 Semillon/Sauvignon blanc/chardonnay. Bland nose and even blander palate. Poor

Peter Lehman 2003 Barossa Riesling excellent commercial wine - stelvin sealed, fresh fruity lemony nose, good riesling depth onpalate and nice acid _ I see you can get it for $8 - very good buying - wouldn't be surprised if it had some eden valley in it. Buy

Capel Vale 2001 Cabernet Shiraz Merlot Volatile, dirty, bretty. Ick. Poor

Hardy 2001 Oomoolo? Shiraz good earthy spicy nose which gets richer with airtime. Nice midweight wine with honest earthy, spicy shiraz fruit with just a kiss of oak - not sweet or syrupy . good buy. Nice wine

Seppelts 2001 Reserve Victorian Shiraz Dark red fruit nose - good medium to solid weight palate - again lots of black fruits some complexity but more oak than the Oomooloo. drink the Hardy now and the Seppelts in a couple of years - excellent value\

Orlando Poets Corner 2001 merlot Thin watery dross. Don't put in mouth.

Thankfully next Sunday night back to great aussie and italian wines.

Cheers

Paul

[bacchaebabe]

Slightly decandent week due to birthday celebrations

Saturday night had quite a bit of NV veuve cliquot both from Methuselah and normal bottles. I'd had the methuselah a while and it had aged and was much more complex and toasty than the fresh single bottles. Interesting indeed and even the wine illiterate at the party were commenting on it. Other than that there was quite a few daiquiris and beers.

Tuesday night saw us start with a 92 Dom Perignon. Lovely wine and I've had a few of these but seemed much fresher than the big format veuve from saturday night. Was surprised.

Followed by a 03 Grosset Watervale riesling. Only just released and still very tight. I went for this over the Polish Hill as I thought it would drink better now. Quite austere but was drinking quite well all the same. Not particularly fruity like many young rieslings.

Main course brought out the 83 Grange. I realised while drinking this that I can now identify Grange and it has a very Grange-like flavour. Drinking very well and entering its peak phase. This was beautifully integrated and the finish went on and on. Will last for some time. I have hear Don Ditter say this was his best vintage and I wouldn't argue with that.

We finished on a 63 Sandeman Vintage Port. Even my mum who is a white drinker and has very few clues when it comes to wine was raving about this one. Absolutely fantastic and worth having to wait 40 years to drink it. Decanted at 8am on Celia's advice. Changed colour and flavour during the process. Initally a pale rose colour and coming up much darker at the end. Very alcoholic on opening but sweet, unctous and almost muscat like with virtually no tannis evident by the time we drank it. Everyone should drink a 63 port once in their lives. Great stuff.

Last night had a Yalumba Shiraz with a small percentage of Viognier. I think it wa a 2001 but I've no idea of price point or anything as a friend brought it. Really approachable and quite complex for its age. Lovely well made wine that went down a treat.

[TORB]

Last night had a Yalumba Shiraz with a small percentage of Viognier. I think it wa a 2001 but I've no idea of price point or anything as a friend brought it. Really approachable and quite complex for its age. Lovely well made wine that went down a treat.

Hi Kris,

if it was the barossa Shiraz it was probally the 99 and its a good wine IMO because the Voignier is more subtle than many others. Sounds like you had a great birthday.

Cheers
Ric

[Anthony]

Ric,
the new 2001 Yalumba Barossa Shiraz that retails at $15-16 has 5% Viognier in it so might have also been this wine.

cheers
anthony

[bacchaebabe]

It was a barossa shira but I'm still not sure of the year although I would think it would be the current release as a rep gave it to the people that brought it.

If it retails around $15 its pretty good value.

Yup the birthday celebrations were very noice!

[DaveB]

Just a quick question....

Is Noice spelt......Noice or Norse

Dave

[TORB]

Ric,
the new 2001 Yalumba Barossa Shiraz that retails at $15-16 has 5% Viognier in it so might have also been this wine.

cheers
anthony

Anyhony,

So what gives The 99 Barossa Shiraz Viognier was $25 a bottle and was in a big heavy bottle and it was released in July 2002. So how come its dropped in price so much and skipped a vintage????? Is it the same wine?

[Anthony]

Not the same wine Ric. The 01 Barossa Shiraz is labelled under their 'regional range' and it is a white label.

Follow the link
http://www.yalumba.com/vintage.asp?p=15 ... l=43&v=458

cheers
anthony

[TORB]

Hi Anthony,

Thanks for that, its now as clear as mud!

We have a 2001 "Barossa Shiraz" with 5% Viognier in it and a "Barossa Shiraz Vioginer." The latter, BSV although it comes from the Barossa is not listed under the Barossa section on the revelant Yaluma web page but is listed on the "Hand Picked" web page and its also a 2001. So Yalumba have released 3 vintages of this wine in just over a year.

Yep, its now clear!

[Campbell]

Ric,

these two Yalumba shiraz wines are unmistakable from an appearance-of-bottle point of view. There's the big, etched, impressive looking bottle with Shiraz + Viognier loudly proclaimed, and then there's the <$15 cheap-but-good bottle that is simply labelled Barossa shiraz, with the "viognier" word only mentioned in the tasting note on the back of the bottle (Yalumba have openly said that they don't want to scare 10 buck wine drinkers with a word that they've likely never heard of). It's also worth noting that since this cheap Barossan Shiraz had viognier added to it, its sales have skyrocketed ... pre the 2000 vintage it was just a straight shiraz. The success of this cheap wine with the viognier added has probably influenced the wine *making* market and its attitude towards this blend more than any other wine (i.e. stylistically, it's a super sales winner).

CM.

[Brett S]

Hi all My first post
Last night
95 Vintage Sir James Sparkling, Enjoyable without showing much in the way of aged characters and reasonably basic wine.

2002 Rockford Alicante Bouchet, The last two years i have really digressed into rose styles, and this is a favourite, a rose with no skin contact reasonably price $16-$20 (when you can get it)

2001 Evans and Tate cleanskin Zinfandel, $10.00 a bottle by the case and enjoyable i think cellar door only. uncomplicated quaffer red wine. (and a screwtop )

1999 Matilda's Meadow Caberenet blend, Pemberton. unsure of price as friends brought it. (does anyone know?) excellent good strong cherry fruit characters, probably good for another 3 or 4 years but drinking well now.

Brett