Sunday weekly drinking reports due

[TORB]

Hi Good Peoples,

It's that time fo the week again; time to tell us what you have been enjoying or net enjoing as the case may be. In my case I have been suffering from a stuffed up nose and a bit of a virus, so it was mostly ordinary wine this week with no attention to detail.

What have you been drinking?

[Attila]

Two good wines I tried this weekend:

2004 TAHBILK Marsanne

Very fresh, modern dry white under screwcap. Beautiful fruit sweetness and extract. This is the most impressive Marsanne IÂ’ve drunk from Tahbilk in recent memory. Completely unwooded and fragrant with beautiful flavours, this wine is delightful drinking already at AU $15. Like previous good examples in the past, it will last a decade for sure.

2003 HENSCHKE HenryÂ’s Seven

A blend of 67% Shiraz, 28% Grenache and 5% Viognier from the Barossa. A superb bistro wine, tasting fresh and vibrant under screwcap. Interestingly this wine has 15% vol. alcohol, not that IÂ’ve noticed while tasting. Beautiful silky fruit on the palate and lovely, vanilla oak. A drink now style, well balanced and tasty. Cost AU $30 that is a little steep but it is a nice drinking experience. I certainly have enjoyed it, a wine full of life.

Cheers,
Attila

[Wizz]

So far:

Firday night dinner at the Sultans Kitchen, just across the road from Suncorp Stadium (no notes taken):
03 John Duval Plexus: I've seen this bagged elsewhere but for the life of me I cant see why, this is tip top. nicely balanced, with a touch of caramelly oak thrown in the mix.
01 Charles Melton Nine Popes: Came cross as overtly alcoholic after the plexus. Well liked around the table though.
03 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz: Should have been opened first. Closed and tight after the GSM's. Mentholly blackcurrant, and a lovely nest of tannins. Needs time to breathe.
96 Morris Durif: I don't drink much durif, but after this I might. First swig when the bottle was opened I though this might have been corked it was locked up and showed nothing, but after about 90 minutes this really started to show its stuff. Black. Tarry and savoury. I dont know what other descriptors work. only 13.5% alcohol. Lovely.
00 DeBortoli Yarra Valley Cabernet: Again, shouldnt have een pened last. Classic Cabernet, mint cassis blackcurrant. good length. I cans see why some people like this wine so much.

WOTN for me was the Durif.

Saturday morning instore:
03 Epis Chardonnay: Tight, restrained, lovely peachy melony fruit, minerally, acidic. Great stuff.
01 Epis Chardonnay: more creamy and rounded than the 03
03 Epis Pinot Noir: Noice. Sour Cherry fruit, some stalk. Lovely silky texture, and full on the mid and back palate. Nice drink indeed.
00 Epis & Williams Cabernet: nice, lovely structure, lightly minty, cassis fruit
01 Epis & Williams Cabernet: More rounded relecting a warmer year. Fruit profile includes plum and blackberry. this was a little disjoint to me.
03 Epis & Williams Cabernet Merlot: Hard to read being so young. Also a lttle riper than the 00, and heaps of tannin there.

I would buy the 03 Chard, 03 Pinot and 00 Cabernet.

Note all the Cabernets were between 12.5 and 13.0%. A nice change.

Cheers

Andrew

[Ratcatcher.]

Mitchelton Blackwood Park Riesling 2001. - nothing to write home about.

Long Flat BV Shiraz 2002 - an excellent quaffer when discounted to $10 - $11. Nice and smooth, good fruit, no rough edges. I'd put this in my best 5 under $12 reds. 5/5 for QPR.

[michel]

03 John Duval Plexus: I've seen this bagged elsewhere but for the life of me I cant see why, this is tip top. nicely balanced, with a touch of caramelly oak thrown in the mix.

I havent bagged it but merely reckon the oak murders gorgeous fruit and it will only get worse- Why would the winemaker do this

[Gianna..]

A few nice ones this week

2001 Clonikilla Shiraz Viogner
A great nose of berries and jam.
Decanted for only 1/2 hr and was drinking very well.
Palate was sweet fruit and a silky tight finish that coated the tongue.
Definitely buy this again and understand the rave reviews now.

We like it so much that we then had the
2002 Clonikilla Shiraz Viogner
Not as good as the 2001. Seemed quite savoury compared to the sweet, silky structure of the 2001. It took a while to open up. Everyone agreed it was too young to drink now.

being on a shiraz viogner binge, we tried the
1999 Castagna Shiraz Viogner
A nice wine, but lacked the finesse of the Clonakilla.
The nose was a little dull and uninspiring and the fruit seemed to be fading.
I think this vintage was not estate grown grapes ?? but not sure.

2002 Torbreck Jeuveniles
For a cheapie, this is a good wine.
Earthy, jammy and spicy.
Easy drinking that was had with charcoal grilled goat's meat. YUM.

2002 Dead Arm
Found a case at $50p/b, which going by reports is a pretty good price.
Let it breath in the bottle for 6 hrs then decanted for 1hr prior to drinking.
1 hr later, it really showed it's stuff.
Lots written about this wine.
Initially, I found it "hot" and unbalanced, overly oaked and too charry, but as it breathed it changed dramatically.
The tannins were smooth and silky, the primary fruit was pure.
There were strawberries, red currants, spice, creamy oak and it was a pleasure to drink. 3-5 yrs will see this wine live up to all the hype.

1996 Howard Park Cab Merlot
I have always been a fan of HP and this wine did not let me down.
Still not near its peak, I think it will improve for at least another 5 years.
An elegant, earthy and brooding style of cabernet that is lifted into the berry flavours by the touch of merlot. A great blend of blackcurrant and creamy oak and cedar.

Question for the forumites. Did I commit a wine sin ?

I opened 2 1996 HP's. - Tested both in seperate glasses, let them sit for 30 minutes whilst going back to the glasses to test quite often. Both seemed fine.
I dencated both bottles into the same decanter.

Should one do this? Does it make any difference?

In a very slight way, I thought one of the bottles was a touch better, and after I started pouring the second bottle into the decanter...........I thought, I shouldn't be doing this.

Any thoughts?..

[JamieBahrain]

Both the Craiglee 97 shiraz & cabernet sauvignon. Exemplary cool climate wine in a warmer vintage. When I finally get around to an Adelaide offline be happy to present these and other classic Victorians.

Had the 97 Melton's 9 Popes versus the 97 Melton shiraz last night. Ripe & rounded the shiraz, a touch cooked and at it's peak. 9Popes gobbles up it's shiraz sibling with classic soft Barossan shiraz fruit and gritty earth wine components- coupled with a nice, preserving stucture of balanced tannins, alchohol & acids. Will go a while yet.

Gianna... agree with your sentiments regarding the Clonakilla. I think you would really enjoy warmer vintages of Craiglee too ( if you haven't tried already ).

[n4sir]

2002 Kirihill Companions Clare/McLaren Vale Shiraz (magnum): This was the first vintage of this regional blend, and Kirihill released it at the bargain price of $12/bottle and $20/magnum, so I bought a couple of magnums. I couldn’t resist opening one of them when I was looking for a cheap, solid red from the cellar to drink over a few days - this blew out to over a week. Dark to inky red/purple. The nose is a blast of pure, sweet blackberry, olive and mint with supporting vanilla oak far off in the background. The palate features a spicy entry of sweet blackberry, mint and cherry on the mid-palate with a touch of VA and the 14.5% alcohol, and finishing very long and seamless with fine, powdery, almost creamy tannins, and some vanilla on the aftertaste. The magnum showed absolutely no sign of decay over the week, and should cellar safely. The flagship Clare Shiraz for $18-$23 is an absolute steal too!

Cheers
Ian

[Wizz]

03 John Duval Plexus: I've seen this bagged elsewhere but for the life of me I cant see why, this is tip top. nicely balanced, with a touch of caramelly oak thrown in the mix.

I havent bagged it but merely reckon the oak murders gorgeous fruit and it will only get worse- Why would the winemaker do this

n4sir's assessment in the blacktongues tasting is more aligned with yours than mine with regard to the oak, and mentions a whole bunch of other things I didnt see. Now I'm wondering whats wrong with me!

I have another bottle. I'll try it again.

AB

[n4sir]

03 John Duval Plexus: I've seen this bagged elsewhere but for the life of me I cant see why, this is tip top. nicely balanced, with a touch of caramelly oak thrown in the mix.

I havent bagged it but merely reckon the oak murders gorgeous fruit and it will only get worse- Why would the winemaker do this

n4sir's assessment in the blacktongues tasting is more aligned with yours than mine with regard to the oak, and mentions a whole bunch of other things I didnt see. Now I'm wondering whats wrong with me!

I have another bottle. I'll try it again.

AB

Hi Andrew,

We had an interesting converstaion at The Sauce Thursday night about ratings/scores and the Blacktongues.

While I post my tasting notes and rankings in Blacktongues events, I'm unwilling to publicly post a score for a number of reasons, two which could be relevant in this case.

The first is purely bottle variation, which could be due to enclosure, weather/room or cellaring conditions, production batches, etc.

The second is the blind tasting environment, where impressions of the wines can be heavily skewed by the surrounding ones, even if the order is mixed up.

In these situations I can try two bottles that aren't faulty and come up with two completely different results. While I use a score system to determine my rankings and for my own records, I don't think it's appropriate to post it - that's just my opinion anyway.

It's the first time I've tried the wine, and I wouldn't worry too much if your opinions are different - I was the clear dissenter in the Blacktongues panel, so you would have at least 4 other people who agree with you.

Cheers
Ian

[bigkid]

Hi all,

You may guess that I got my Warrabilla Club Red 6 pack this week from the following. You'd be right.

Vasse Felix 2002 Shiraz: Ordered by the glass from the piano bar in Swiss’otel. Not sure how long the bottle had been opened but the wine was very ordinary. No fruit, nothing much else – ‘bland city’.

Spy Valley 2004 Gerwurztraminer: Too fruity/sweet for my tastes – too intense for my palate to detect any nuances. Matched reasonably well with the Indian curries we were eating, but couldn’t really tolerate it under other circumstances.

Cullen 2004 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc: Typical of the breed, melon and citrus dominate – goes down very easily – and probably too damn quickly – it was a slightly wobbly walk home after dinner at Zafraan at Darling Harbour.

Warrabilla 2004 Reserve Cabernet: Liquorice nose, sweet cherries – contrary to the notes with the bottle I found the tannins far from ‘grippy’. Nice touch of oak. Good sweet, oaky red, finish is long and sweet – apricots perhaps??. My wife loved it. Me, I’m looking forward to the Parola’s which came in the same pack.

Warrabilla 2004 Parola’s Cabernet: Mmmm…luverly. Rich dark purple colour, although not as deep as the Shiraz which follows. Leafy and a little charcoal on the nose (although I had to loo hard for it), very light acidity and soft tannins, black berries and currants on the palate – fruit very strong. Initially difficult to detect more subtle nuances. An hour later some very subtle oak and chocolate. Lovely, velvet textured wine. (Pls save me a case Andrew. I’ll put an order through next week after I’ve tried the Parola’s Shiraz tonight and the Durif tomorrow.)

Warrabilla 2004 Reserve Shiraz: Lovely dark ruby colour, pancetta, leek, fennel, garlic ……. no, just joshing, that was the risotto I was putting together (I couldn’t taste a thing at this stage, as we had just finished the Cabernet and I was cooking) – Ann says that it was full of light red bursting cherries, cinnamon and vanilla oak, soft tannin, no acid. After an hour or so vanilla bean and cinnamon dominate. Nice drop, great value at $20. Looking forward to the Parola's.

Warrabilla 2004 ParolaÂ’s Shiraz: Very dark, rich black-purple. Vanilla nose with intense blackberries which carries through to the palate. Lighter textured than the ParolaÂ’s Cabernet, sweet and fruity, again soft on the tannin and acidity. There seems an almost citrus flavour and pepper on the finish followed by a lush sweetness. Liked the Shiraz but preferred Cabernet with bolder fruit.

Will be trying the Durif tomorrow night. Love a long weekend.

Regards,

Allan

[Guest]

Gianna,

the 1999 Castagna genesis was the first castagna genesis to be made from estate fruit. Problem was, the vines then were less than two years old, and could only support one (grape) bunch per vine. There is no doubt that the 2001 and 2002 genesis syrahs are the best wines that Castgana has made, though with such a young vineyard surely the best is still ahead of it. I have heard that the 2004 genesis, to be released next year, is as good as the superb 2002. 2004 is a great year in the beechworth area.

Jeff2.

[Maximus]

Spy Valley 2004 Gerwurztraminer: Too fruity/sweet for my tastes – too intense for my palate to detect any nuances. Matched reasonably well with the Indian curries we were eating, but couldn’t really tolerate it under other circumstances.

Allan,

I had much the same impression of the '04 Spy Valley Gewurz. The wine is overtly sweet and to my mind, manipulated in the winery to produce a wine more aligned with the market preference - sweet whites. The success of the Pegasus Bay Rielsing is testament to this. Like you, far too sweet for me and a simplistic wine as well. Next time you grab some Thai, grab a Johanneshof Gewurz (if you can find it) or the Villa Maria Reserve Gewurz. Both are around $22-$25 over here and they're still good value at $30 - so far the best I've tried (yet to lay my hands on any Alsacians).

Cheers,

[Guest]

Spy Valley 2004 Gerwurztraminer: Too fruity/sweet for my tastes – too intense for my palate to detect any nuances. Matched reasonably well with the Indian curries we were eating, but couldn’t really tolerate it under other circumstances.

Allan,

I had much the same impression of the '04 Spy Valley Gewurz. The wine is overtly sweet and to my mind, manipulated in the winery to produce a wine more aligned with the market preference - sweet whites. The success of the Pegasus Bay Rielsing is testament to this. Like you, far too sweet for me and a simplistic wine as well. Next time you grab some Thai, grab a Johanneshof Gewurz (if you can find it) or the Villa Maria Reserve Gewurz. Both are around $22-$25 over here and they're still good value at $30 - so far the best I've tried (yet to lay my hands on any Alsacians).

Cheers,

Had this wine over the weekend too. Did you guys pick up any alcohol heat on the finish? Was very off-putting for me.

Cheers,
AK

[Serge Birbrair]

Calon Segur, 1996 was a winner of the week.

[Ian S]

Question for the forumites. Did I commit a wine sin ?

I opened 2 1996 HP's. - Tested both in seperate glasses, let them sit for 30 minutes whilst going back to the glasses to test quite often. Both seemed fine.
I dencated both bottles into the same decanter.

Should one do this? Does it make any difference?

In a very slight way, I thought one of the bottles was a touch better, and after I started pouring the second bottle into the decanter...........I thought, I shouldn't be doing this.

Any thoughts?..

Gianna
I don't see a problem - yes if one was faulty, then it would have been a bad move, but it sounds like slight bottle variation, so no big issue.

For me,
Ch. Caminade Cahors 1999 12.5%
Not the "black wine of Cahors" but more a medium bodied red - must be the "new style". Interesting wine, not as rustic as I'd expected, although the tannins were still a little strong. Will try the 2nd bottle in a year or three.

Graf Hardegg Riesling 2002 Austria
Whereas in the Cahors cork, the wine had hardly penetrated the cork, this cork had effectively failed & was soaked right through. The wine wasn't oxidised, but probably would have been inside a year. Slightly spritzy & just off-dry. Pleasant but not really in the mood for this & didn't pay it too much attention.

Ian

[bigkid]

I had much the same impression of the '04 Spy Valley Gewurz. The wine is overtly sweet and to my mind, manipulated in the winery to produce a wine more aligned with the market preference - sweet whites. The success of the Pegasus Bay Rielsing is testament to this. Like you, far too sweet for me and a simplistic wine as well. Next time you grab some Thai, grab a Johanneshof Gewurz (if you can find it) or the Villa Maria Reserve Gewurz. Both are around $22-$25 over here and they're still good value at $30 - so far the best I've tried (yet to lay my hands on any Alsacians).

Cheers,

Hi Maximus - Thanks for the recommendations. I will add them to my ever lengthening list. Almost picked up a Alsacian Gewurz to take to dinner at Tetsuyas in a few weeks time for Ann's birthday (can't recall the name ???? 'Meyer' something .. possibly) - I know that they will probably be chalk and cheese but but after the disapointment with the grape variety I didn't want to take the chance on such a big night. Went with a recommendation from Martin, a 1993 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris, a grape I am very familiar with.... plus a bottle of Pol Roger.

Regards,

Allan

[bigkid]

Had this wine over the weekend too. Did you guys pick up any alcohol heat on the finish? Was very off-putting for me.

Cheers,
AK

AK, no I didn't detect any heat at all, just an all pervasive fruity sweetness. A bit of heat might have provided a little interest. Not a big fan of Spy Valley, however they do make a 'reasonable' Pinot Gris, which is probably worth a try if you can find it under $20 - my preference though would be another NZ Pinot Gris - from Grove Mill.

Regards,

Allan K

[bacchaebabe]

04 Wirra Wirra Riesling Nice solid riesling. Not overtly limey but fresh and clean and disappeared before I could get a second glass.

96 Penfolds Limited Release Semillon One of the ones from the white wine trial and the search for Yattarna. Obviously much darker than the riesling and bordering on yellow but not at all dull. Lovely buttery toasted nose. Plenty of honey, more butter (is it breakfast?) and plenty of complexity and length. Kind of wondering if it will go much longer or not. I felt there is still some development to go but I'm just not sure if it will fall over or not. I still have over half a case of this left so will start monitoring closely. Drinking very well now though. Quite a nice drop.

03 Seppelt Chalambar Dark purple colour. Overtly cherry characteristics on the nose and palate which I'm not really so fond of. A bit confected for my liking initally. Some chocolate too. Went down well enough all the same. The next night the primary fruit and that sweetness had disipated and was a much better drink although there was significant volatile alcohol on the nose. Probably better with food. It did go quite well with Homer Hudson chocolate Ice Cream though. I guess all that sweetness was able to stand up and face the ice cream.

[KMP]

Busy week this last one that I'll try to post on later. Group of 8 Spanish reds (all highly Parkerized), half a dozen Aussie Shiraz under $12USD, and then a mixed bag which included a 2003 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, LKG Auslese, Gessinger (wonderful wine) and a nice pinot that I did post on in a separate thread.

Mike

[Quizmaster]

It's been a while, but hereÂ’s an eclectic mix of a few (mostly) highlights had over the past week or so

2001 Bannockburn Chardonnay
Not having had one previously, I had no expectations of this wine and absolutely loved it. One to savor, not an up front, buttery ‘overblown’ style, more flinty. This is one classy crisp cool climate complex and charismatic chardonnay. Easy to drink now but will cellar - and probably be a better wine for it. 18.5

2001(? – the current release anyway) Cloudy Bay Chardonnay
Another excellent wine, but very different to the Bannockburn. Delightful fragrant nose, soft, smooth palate, a pleasure to drink, donÂ’t bother cellaring, itÂ’s just too good right now. 18.0

96 Grant Burge MSJ2
The first of a six pack opened and what a ripper it is. A blend of Barossa Shiraz and Coonawarra Cabernet, what a perfect combination! Bought some of this after trying it at the Barossa wine show (public day) a few years back. Still but a pup, consumed over 3 days, yup, most on the 1st day. This is a big, thick, rich, powerful, complex wine, almost black, with an aroma that says to the palate ‘bring it on’. It’s a great combination of varieties and regions, chock a block full of flavor, well balanced and is stunning on the palate and finish. 18.5 (will be a 19.0 with time)

98 Browns of Padthaway Shiraz
Both the 96 and this have been stock standard mid week quafers over the years, but I hadnÂ’t had one for well over 12 months and for the price paid at release ($11) offered brilliant value. The wine is good, in fact itÂ’s improved with age, and went down in next to no time. Still quite vibrant with no sign of aging, great balance of wood and fruit, clean, and very smooth now. This is a brand that seems to have gone quite over the past couple of years. CanÂ’t recall seeing it on the shelves recently, anyone have any recent vintage experiences? 17.0

94 Bin 389
This was the disappointment, showing advanced age with a fair degree of browning, it lacked intensity. In fairness to the wine, it was purchased at a restaurant ($100 – shocking value). Compared to one I recently had from my own cellar which was nowhere near as mature as this particular bottle, I suspect it was purchased from auction hence of questionable provenance. Nonetheless, we weren’t in a position to send it back because it was neither corked nor oxidized. It was drinkable, just boring! 15.0

95 Leasingham Show Shiraz
Off the same wine list as above, but given this is a fairly new release (18mths?) the wine was faultless and very impressive (cheaper than the 389 too!). Beautiful wine, near or at its peak. 18.0

2001 Lake Breeze Bernoota - A tale of two bottles (and diners)
Had twice (different nights) at a restaurant in Brisbane with superb steaks. The first time the wine was a treat, glorious, the perfect match for the steak, big, pungent Langhorne Ck wine. Went back a week or so later with expectations of yet another treat without effect. It just didnÂ’t impress. Bottle variation or was I just eager for a red the first time? 17.5 for the first bottle, 16.0 for the second.

88 Morris Durif
Ah, something very different. Bought a case of these on release and without any doubt, this was by far the best bottle yet, fantastic and still have about 6 to go. Others have been somewhat faded and browning, this one was in near perfect condition, still a rich, deep dark red/black with clean smooth ‘earthy’ fruit flavours. Typical NE Vic style. Loved it. 18.0