chez fred: 1983HRB, 90MtE, 91 Dorrien, 95 CM CS, 93StH+white

[fred]

Lanson n/v champagne - not to all tastes with a little more yeast and weight than some like; perhaps not the best as an aperitif champagne compared with a lighter Taittinger or Pol n/v but very pleasant

Petaluma riesling 1997 - poor but my last bottle and opened significantly worse than previous bottles (even last month), less kero but just disappointing

Mitchell riesling 1998 - corked! (Pity because previous bottle opened superbly as mature riesling fruit without any hint of kero/petrol)

Delatite gewurtztraminer 2000 : very good Oz gewurtz but has not developed as well as some others eg 1995 but an excellent change

Lindemans HR shiraz bin 6600 shiraz 1983: magical bottle - I have gone through about 2 dozen in 6-9 months and this was one of the best: savoury length with a hint of fruit and leather and pong nose rather than palate; not a hint of drying out on the palate and this particular bottle could have gone much longer

Henschke Mt Edelstone 1990: folowing HR this was relatively vibrant fruit and Eden valley vibrancy - drinking perfectly if you like some primary fruit in the wine (as oipposed to all secondary flavours) and a truly brilliant MtE in the mould of 1986

Seppelts Dorrien CS 1991: wonderful bargain and will go for another 5+ years but one of the few really good expressions of Barossa CS because it is not lush and overblown (a shiraz waiting to escape) but rather tighter and an expression of the structured noble grape (and I am not one who regards shiraz as "that weed")

Cape Mentelle CS 1995 : hint of capsicum giving away MR origin, this wine is structured with plenty of fruit present and is a lovely counterpoint to Dorrien, Still has a few more years in it - albeit will never hit the heights of the 1991, it remains a superb CS from MR (but shy of MW or Cullen quality)

Penfolds St Henri shiraz 1993: definitely a poor vintage but the wine is drinking as well as it ever will be and has plateaued. It lacks the cleansest expression of fruit and vibrancy of the best vintages but is balanced and well made. Drink now - and although mature colour (hint of brickking) no real danger of it falling over either.

Pedro Ximinez Morla solera sherry : lovely accompaniment to dessert and all too moreish ....

[GraemeG]

fred,
My last 2 Petaluma 97 rieslings I shlepped off to auction - it's a dud wine if ever there was one.

Glad to hear about 90 Edelstone - I'm planning to open one in the near future.

If the Bin 6600 was as good as the one we had at the offline 15 months ago it must have been fine indeed. I've always thought Dorrien was an under-rated wine - I see the 99 is now available around the traps for a very cheap price - have you tasted it by any chance? (Never tasted the 91, but the 90 was a lovely, if slightly oaky - albeit high quality - wine.

cheers,
Graeme

[707]

Good notes considering the Blacktongues have got a 90/91 Cabernet tasting this week that features a couple of these.

Tried and bought the 99 Dorrien, very good wine. I understand that the label will be revived in the 2005 vintage after a five year absence thanks to f@#$%^ing Rosemount dickheads. Thank God they've all gone now!!

[JamieBahrain]

fred

Thanks for sharing that impressive line up.

707

Tell us what you really think!

I did buy a bit of SA cabernet on a recent whirlwind visit- on your recommendation I must add. I still didn't get it at CD tastings.