Plonk Oz may be but it's still Sunday...

[TORB]

so your weekly drinking reports are due..... You know the drill.

[Ian S]

so your weekly drinking reports are due..... You know the drill.

Quite a few recently
Tonight Craiglee Shiraz 1998 We eventually got it delivered about 5 weeks after the auction and of the original 12 bottles, two had been smashed by Parcelforce. All the levels looked ok, but I was certainly concerned about possible heat damage (we're experiencing something called summer, yet it's strangely warm and dry very unusual ).

On opening there was a fairly strange, almost (maybe more dry than wet?) cardboardy smell from the cork. The wine however was fine and whilst not shouting out it's claims, was drinking beautifully. If I had to criticise, it would be there's a slight sweet-fruitedness to it that fractionally stuck out. Apart from that it was subtle, balanced and too easy to drink. Taking into account the breakages, the per bottle price rose from about £4 to almost £5

Previously
2002 Pieropan Soave Calvarino
Single vineyard wine and I understand given a little jiggery-pokery in the winery. Certainly complex, however it had a slightly oily texture (in the same way as Gewurz can) and it didn't feel like a real silk purse...

2003 Montes Cabernet Sauvignon Alpha (Chile)
Rich fruit and some structure. Perhaps a little clumsy, but at the price (c. £5) it was a big bargain and would buy again if <£8

1999 Tower Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Another auction purchase from the same auction house (£35 for six bottles of this and five of the 2000 Hunter Shiraz - plus 10% buyers prem + £5 delivery, makes for around £4 a bottle )

Colour-wise this is still relatively immature, though there are some good secondary aromas developing. In terms of flavour profile, fairly classical Coonawarra, with a pleasant mintiness apparent along with tobacco. Tannins still present, but quite fine and acidity was just the right side of prominent. What really struck us though, was how well textured/structured this wine was and it really showed great class.

Just coming into drinking window, but expect 3-4 years improvement with potential to last quite a bit beyond that.

One from previous week, which I don't think I posted:
1995 Paolo Conterno Barolo Bussia Munie
It's probably still improving with the ruby colour showing typical orange at the edges. Tannins noticeable, but fairly soft and acidity only fractionally sticking out, certainly not a problem though. With air the wine builds more character and certainly has that subtle balsamic flavour that can become "ethereal" in good Barolo's. Still a degree of grip in the finish, which is relatively light but persistant.

Bought from a smallish wine shop in La Spezia in the middle of a very pleasant "Passagiata" last year. The wine gives great pleasure (although not value - this is Barolo after all). This is also a wine you could drink slowly over an evening and not want for anything else.

It's good to have the opportunity to actually drink the wines we've been cellaring!

regards

Ian

[Maximus]

2003 Montes Cabernet Sauvignon Alpha (Chile)
Rich fruit and some structure. Perhaps a little clumsy, but at the price (c. £5) it was a big bargain and would buy again if <£8

Ian, that's one helluva bargain! Have you tried the Alpha syrah?

[Chuck]

Hi all,

Balnaves 2000 Coonawarra Cabernet. Drank very well after an hour breathing. Just goes to show 2000 was a good year in Coonawarra unlike the rest of SA. 2000 Murdock Coonawarra Cabernet also good. Houghton's 2001 MRCabernet up there with the best. All will continue to improve over next 3-10 years. I'm finding this grape to be more interesting and complex than the sweet Shiraz's.

Seppelts 2002 Victorian Reserve Shiraz has matured into a quality wine. Drink up.

Chuck

[roughred]

A couple of cheapies this week...

First up an 04 Innocent Bystander Shiraz Viognier. Showed some restraint on the nose, with savoury briary shiraz fruit countered by some apricot kernel and sweetcorn from the viognier. Quite rhone-ish in the mouth, with ripe, but savoury fruit, some cocoa/bitter chocolate and long fine tannins. Great value at $18.

Out of interest last night opened an 04 Torbreck Woodcutters Shiraz under cork, and under screwcap. Both were sound, but the cork won by a clear half head. Good depth of blackfruits, with some perfumed florals (no doubt a lick of Viognier in there somewhere). Under stelvin there was a touch of oniony H2S, and a slight mercaptan character on the finish. Again good value at $15-$16


LL

[bigkid]

All,

Managed to get our annual truffle supply in on Friday so arranged for some friends to come over and enjoy them with some eggs and pasta, and a few aged reds. Started with: a 1992 Cape Mentelle Cab Sav - smokey, with mushies, dark fruit and elegant structure; a 1997 Henschke Abbots Prayer - mulberries, earthy characteristics and smooth, silky mouthfeel; a 1992 HOG - an elegant shiraz with dark plummy fruit, chocolate and some spice, again some earthiness, but this could have been the truffles as by this time the magnificent odour permeated the whole house; 1996 Henschke Mt Edelstone - dark plums and spice. We finished with a lovely d'Arenberg 2000 Vintage Fortified Shiraz (really enjoying this grape variety, it's a good all-rounder at the end of the meal, goes well with cheese, fruit deserts etc), and a Campbells Muscat.

Had great lunch and finished a record 8 hours after we started. Whew!

Regards,

Allan

[n4sir]

I tried a selection of De Bortoli at an instore last Thursday. It's probably worth mentioning that in the not-so-distant past I always looked down on their stuff as "cheap/bulk Riverland plonk", probably because of what I got through the Cellarmasters wine clubs back in the bad old days when I was first getting into wine.

That changed a bit when I started getting intrested in Botrytis wines last year, culminating in a (superb) ten vintage vertical of Noble One, yet my attitude to there reds was still rather jaded - until now. Yes it's still cheap plonk, but it's actually very good cheap plonk, which among all the cleanskins and discounted industrial swill hitting the market now (with more to come) counts for something.

2005 De Bortoli Windy Peak Pinot Grigio: Sweet, white peaches on the nose, dry, clean (slightly toasty) palate. I like Joe Grilli's better, but for the $12 price on the day this is hard to beat.

2004 De Bortoli Windy Peak Sangiovese: Same price, but this was even better - earthy, cherry fruit, fantastic structure and length, and far better than some asking well over twice the cash. Great with food, even without.

2004 De Bortoli Deen Vat 8 Shiraz: Pure, unpretentious blackberry/blueberry fruit, good weight and length for drinking now - would suit most cafe food & pastas. Put the 2004 Elderton Friends Shiraz also on the tasting bench to shame.

2004 De Bortoli Gulf Station Pinot Noir: Under twenty bucks on the day, and another winner - perfect, ripe/earthy mid-weight cherry fruit, great mouthfeel and persistence. My kind of Pinot.

2003 De Bortoli Yarra Valley Pinot Noir: I loved the nose of this even more than the Gulf Station, but the palate was a fraction hot/over-extracted from the difficult year. Note to self - buy the Gulf Station and wait for the 2004 Yarra Valley to come out (very soon) - that one should be stunning.

2003 De Bortoli Yarra Valley Shiraz Viognier: I'm not a fan of most SV blends and this falls right into this category, albeit one of the better ones of this particular style. Apricot on the nose, sweet blackberry/black cherry fruit on the palate, fine/dry Viognier tannin on the finish.

2004 De Bortoli Deen Vat 5 Botrytis Semillon (375ml): Little brother to the Noble One at a tiny price (less than a tenner on the day). Quince/citrus marmalade fruit with good sweetness without being cloying, good level of botrytis and finish. A perfect, cheap intoduction to the sticky world for newbies.

2003 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon (750ml): A year after the ten vintage vertical the colour seems a fraction deeper, and indeed it’s the same hue as the 2002 now rather than being a touch brighter. Otherwise it’s pretty much intact, sugared lemons and quince on entry, orange marmalade/dried apricots mid-palate, and that racy acidity on the very long finish. While the length is excellent I still got the impression this lacks a little weight compared to the very top vintages.

Cheers,
Ian

[Maximus]

Out of interest last night opened an 04 Torbreck Woodcutters Shiraz under cork, and under screwcap. Both were sound, but the cork won by a clear half head. Good depth of blackfruits, with some perfumed florals (no doubt a lick of Viognier in there somewhere). Under stelvin there was a touch of oniony H2S, and a slight mercaptan character on the finish. Again good value at $15-$16

Roughred,

Were these tasted blind? I'm an advocate of cork, but I wonder whether there was a psychological bias if they weren't served blind.

Cheers,

[roughred]

Were these tasted blind?

No we were still pretty sober at this stage

No they weren't blind, but I am pretty comfortable with being able to call them as I see them...Have been doing a lot of cork v screwcap trials of late and the only conslusion I have arrived at is there is no one closure for all wines, and a hell of a lot of other just as important influencing factors.

Cheers,

LL

[Roscoe]

Were these tasted blind?

No we were still pretty sober at this stage

No they weren't blind, but I am pretty comfortable with being able to call them as I see them...Have been doing a lot of cork v screwcap trials of late and the only conslusion I have arrived at is there is no one closure for all wines, and a hell of a lot of other just as important influencing factors.

Cheers,

LL

Not saying your conclusions aren't valid, but biases are insidious. IMO, blind is the best way to assess these things.

[roughred]

Thankyou for not saying my conclusions aren't valid...how positively magnanimous.

As stated earlier, I am comfortable that my findings weren't influenced by any bias, and the experiement was as controlled as pizza and the Swans v Eagles warranted.

LL

[Ian S]

2003 Montes Cabernet Sauvignon Alpha (Chile)
Rich fruit and some structure. Perhaps a little clumsy, but at the price (c. £5) it was a big bargain and would buy again if <£8

Ian, that's one helluva bargain! Have you tried the Alpha syrah?

Max
I think I tried the Syrah about 4 years ago, but no great recollection of it being good or bad. The Chardonnay however was overblown and overworked.
Montes are one of those companies that are caught up in the heavy discounting in UK - we stumbled across this in a crappy supermarket (Morrisons) who generally have a handful of well priced decent wines. Worth an occasional visit, but no more.
regards
Ian

[Ian S]

Thankyou for not saying my conclusions aren't valid...how positively magnanimous.

LL

Whilst blind may be ideal, I think it's wrong to assume bias one way, but not the other. Would anything have been said if the screwcapped wine would have been described as fresher?
Indeed I'd call H2S as possibly the easiest aroma to detect as it is pretty repulsive and left a deep impression on me from the chemistry lab. Can't see this being called wrong too often.

True it's not scientific, but it's still a valid observation amongst 000's of others we need to see (alongside larger more rigorous studies).

I will say one thing though about reductive characters - my understanding is that the sulphur doseage is adjustable in the winery and now there is an understanding that reductive aromas can be more noticeable under screwcap, then the winemakers are adjusted their sulphur regime (calling Mr Pike!). If this is so, we also need to be wary of judging screwcap too soon on this issue (maybe we should give them as long as we've given the cork producers in eliminating cork taint ).

Regards

Ian

[Rob]

Moet and Chandon Rose dark pink, refresh and fine


Dry River 2005 floral, vibrant acidity, good balance

Hill of Grace 1998 No sign of brett, cigar box, cedar, complex and drinking well now, but will hold for many many years.

John Riddoch 1996 Much darker and firmer than HOG, still tannic, but softening, should wait for another 5 years.

[Sean]

deleted

[Sean]

deleted

[lantana]

While I was stuck in Melbourne on a Wine Australia weekend (in Sydney)...

Yesterday, Wendy and I did a trip out to Yarra Valley to check out a few cellar doors. We had a good run through the eastern suburbs and the weather wasn't cold, and while the day stayed grey and heavy with fog it wasn't wet.

The first winery we dropped into was Balgownie, which has a fine cellar door in Yarra Valley now though all the wines are still made at Bendigo. The tasting area is set up in the restaurant (which I don't like), but luckily we were there before the lunchtime crowd.

All the wines we tried were well-made and showed a zeal for quality. The grapes for their Yarra Valley wines come from the Combes vineyard (near St Huberts). The 2004 chardy had citrus, stonefruit, some creamy barrel characters; the 2004 pinot is a light style with cherry, plums, spice (oak).

The 2004 Sangiovese is the pick of the Gold Labels (Bendigo fruit, but young vines) and it seems varietal and shows some tannic structure; and it really needs a bit of air time to show its best. The other Gold Labels (a shiraz-viognier and a cabernet merlot) are easy to drink, bistro wines.

The 2003 White Label (Bendigo) shiraz (dark fruit and tannic) and cab sav (a mix of green and dark fruit) need lots of time really. The shiraz in particular is quite deep-fruited and structured, but not licoricey hot like say a big SA shiraz. I was told the 2004s are coming out in a month and I am keen to try these wines.

The wines at the other wineries were crap. Wendy tended to give up after just one or two wines, but because I am a truly committed wine taster I valiantly tried a few more. And whether it was the wines or how they were presented at the cellar door is a moot point.

The wines at Sticks (the old Yarra Ridge) were undrinkable. I was keen to try the wines now that Rob Dolan has taken over the winery. Wendy tried two wines and then wandered off somewhere. I stuck it out and tried a couple more. One of the girls behind the tasting bench announced she had opened their second last bottle of 2001 pinot. But by that stage I had a terrible taste in my mouth from the wines and just wanted to leave.

The wines we tried at St Huberts are nothing like what they were say five years ago. Even a couple of years ago you could still find one to like. Usually it was the pinot. They have eased up on the oak in the chardy in recent times and either way it was OK. They haven't made a really good cabernet for years though. But this time I couldn't find anything that I would even dream of buying. We left feeling pretty morose about this one-time favoured winery.

At Yering Station you can only try the Mr Frog and standard label wines and Wendy summed them up quite well when she mumbled something like, "Watery, tasteless, a waste of time." She did get some nice tomato and red capsicum relish at the Farmers Market at Yering Station though. The Yarra Edge, Laura Barnes and Reserve wines aren't on tasting. And five feet from where all their wines were being stored was an air-con blowing hot air.

Oakridge is another winery where you taste the wines in the restaurant area. You pay $2 to try the standard label wines which are rubbish and you have to pay $10 to try the reserves (which we didn't). The chardy was the last dregs of the bottle and had obviously been sitting on the tasting bench all day. It was warm and grapey. I was told I could pay $3 just to try the reserve chardy and she added, "It's really worth it." I didn't and even after trying the reds I couldn't find anything I liked.

It had been two years since we'd been to Yarra Valley and even in that short time there are even more new cellar doors. I find this alarming given the small number of people we saw buying any wine and the standard of the wines at some of these cellar doors.

What was the problem with the Sticks wines, I've usually found the chard and pinot noir to be good value quaffers, were you in bad moods or something, Wendy sounds like she was looking for a fight. I thought the Mr Frog wines were pretty useful quaffers too, but I sure can understand you being p...d off with being charged for a tasting, jeez these people should be thanking you for showing interest in what they're doing.

lantana

[RogerPike]

will say one thing though about reductive characters - my understanding is that the sulphur doseage is adjustable in the winery and now there is an understanding that reductive aromas can be more noticeable under screwcap, then the winemakers are adjusted their sulphur regime (calling Mr Pike!). If this is so, we also need to be wary of judging screwcap too soon on this issue (maybe we should give them as long as we've given the cork producers in eliminating cork taint ).

Ian,

The sulphur regime is certainly adjustable in terms of both quantity and timing but there is a minimum of 'free' sulphur which is considered prudent at bottling time.

Screwcaps do not cause reduction any more than cork causes reduction. It is possible that there is a slightly higher occurrence of slight reductive aromas under screwcap. It is also possible that you find what you are looking for! Certainly the worst examples of reductive wines that I have seen over the last couple of years have been under cork. I would suggest that there is little difference between a 'good' cork and a screwcap.

[Sean]

deleted

[winetastic]

Meerea Park 'The Aunts' Shiraz 2004

A fairly light ruby red in colour, inviting aromas of cherry, chocolate, dried herbs and a hint of leather are present, the latter fading over a couple of hours. Complex palate with sour cherry and cranberry fruit sitting above some mushroom and earthy characters. Full flavoured but medium bodied Shiraz with a solid structure defined by a fair amount of fine, drying tannin and balancing acidity.

Score: 8/10
Price: $26
Closure: Screwcap
Alcohol: 13.5%
Would I buy this wine again?
Yes, ill be putting some away to rest in the cellar.

Full Review

[Michael McNally]

2002 Heartland Shiraz. Limestone Coast. 14.5%. Screwcap.
Decanted - 1 hour. Charry coconut oak sticks out on the nose, with jammy fruit notes. "Somehat acidic" is my first note. Later dark cherry fruit. Tannins support. Oak appears again on the finish. Lacking a little length and complexity. Very Good. QPR: Medium.

Transcribing this note 2 hours later and the wine has opened up completely. Nice dark fruit with a hint of chocolate, oak flowing the length of the wine now. Longer. Rate now as Very, Very Good. Recommend a couple more years or a long decant.

[pstarr]

Whites

Seppelt Fino DP117, Barossa Valley, 15.5%
- Decent fino sherry, reasonable drinking with a good clean fino whiff. My stock fino in the fridge.

Kamberra Meeting Place 2005 Viognier, Canberra district, 13.5%
- Gives off candied peel and a bit of apricot, but not sickly on the nose. Creamy characters on the palate, with good weight, but a slightly dull finish. I preferred the 2004, but this is reasonable quaffing viognier at $13.95 a bottle.

Mount Pleasant Elizabeth 2001 Semillon, Hunter Valley, 11%
- Corked. Ruined.

Santiago Ruiz Albarino 2004, Rias Baixas, 12.5%
- Outstanding, minimally-worked albarino. Light straw in colour, carrying a long lemony finish past citrus and blossom on the nose. Riesling meets semillon/sav blanc, with a lean viognier mouthfeel - just what I like in albarino.

Alvear 1927 solera Pedro Ximenez, Montilla-Moriles, 16%
- Among my favourite Spanish fortifieds at the moment. Lovely mid brown colour, gorgeous sweetness with enough nut and grapey acid to balance it out.

Reds

d'Arenberg Sticks and Stones tempranillo/grenache/souzao 2003, McLaren Vale, 14.5%
- This doesn't show the alcohol at all, perhaps because of the floral porty nose provided by the souzao. It's not at all overripe, just tasty tempranillo (45%) and grenache (43%), with 12% of the Portuguese port grape souzao. Good, savoury drinking, and will only get better with more time in bottle.

Coldstream Hills pinot noir 2005, Yarra Valley, 13.5%
- This and Hoddles Creek make up my quaffing pinots and I'm rationing both out. Good, bright, varietal pinot fruit characters, with enough sappy-sour to go with the cherry and berry flavours to make it interesting. The oak is there, but not in the way.

Centennial Vineyards single vineyard Woodside tempranillo 2004, Southern Highlands, 12.8%
- I like tempranillo from cool climate sites, but this just isn't quite there yet. Light in colour, there is a sense of thin and sharp fruit on the palate. It may improve with more time in bottle, but I suspect the fruit needed a bit more time ripening, or this is just a young-vines thing.

Telmo Rodriguez Al Muvedre joven monastrell/mouvedre/mataro, 2004, Alicante, 14.5%
- This is excellent spicy drinking at $19.99 a bottle. There aren't that many straight mataro's around, and this old-vines, straight-ahead unoaked Spaniard is a good advert for what the grape can do.

Conde de Valdemar crianza tempranillo, 2002, Rioja, 13%
- Excellent value tempranillo at about $23 a bottle. Light on the sarsparilla/cola end of tempranillo flavours, but good with some cherry and dark berries. The tanins stretch it out and there's enough acid to both handle food well and make for a quick drink.

De Bortoli Sero merlot sangiovese, 2005, King Valley, 14.5%
- Another of Steve Webber's Sero series experiments with partial grape drying and an interesting wine. Some of the merlot copped drying, and this helps achieve a reasonable balance between plum fruits and sour cherries. I think the syrah tempranillo in the Sero series is a significantly better wine.

[Rob]

Mount Pleasant Elizabeth 2001 Semillon, Hunter Valley, 11%
- Corked. Ruined.

On the weekend I had a bottle of 1996 Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon corked as well.

[Jay60A]

Haven't posted in a while but a few caught my attention this week.

Yalumba Menzies 2000. Bought a six back a while back very cheap and have been treating them as nice quaffers. Wrong, it slipped under the radar - this is very nice quality Coonawarra Cab Sav that is going to last with an excellent tannin and acid structure. Alas only two left. My closest reference: Reminded me of the Wynns Black Label 1996, enjoyed more than my last taste of Majella Cab-Sab 2003. Leave another 5 years.

Glaetzer Barossa Shiraz 2004 . Bought to get something else I think but couldn't resist temptation to open one. Amazing fruit purity and almost elegance for the Barossa. Not short but not long also. A lovely drop but drink sooner than later. Very very enjoyable and fresh. My closest reference: not suprisingly, a mini-Godolphin 2004.

Mitolo GAM 2004. Don't understand the Parker rating (97?). Lovely fruit but finishing hot with the alchohol. Day 1: Blackberry syrup port. Day 2: Gorgeous blackberry liqueur with muted but still strong alchohol. Help - what am I missing here? Maybe the fact it could be glorious in a certain way in 10 years if the alcohol fades - but I have no experience with 15% (+1%, I suspect) wines. My closest reference: none really ...

Evening all.

[Ian S]

Roger
Thanks for coming back on this.

It is also possible that you find what you are looking for!

Would you say the same could occur wrt "freshness" in screwcapped wines (or indeed taint/oxidation under cork)? As I said, IMO we need to be wary of assuming bias or the power of suggestion in one direction and not the other.

I'm not a cork fan, but I don't want the argument to be fought from a biased perspective (on either side).

regards

Ian

[platinum]

Haven't posted in a while but a few caught my attention this week.

Yalumba Menzies 2000. Bought a six back a while back very cheap and have been treating them as nice quaffers. Wrong, it slipped under the radar - this is very nice quality Coonawarra Cab Sav that is going to last with an excellent tannin and acid structure. Alas only two left. My closest reference: Reminded me of the Wynns Black Label 1996, enjoyed more than my last taste of Majella Cab-Sab 2003. Leave another 5 years.

Glaetzer Barossa Shiraz 2004 . Bought to get something else I think but couldn't resist temptation to open one. Amazing fruit purity and almost elegance for the Barossa. Not short but not long also. A lovely drop but drink sooner than later. Very very enjoyable and fresh. My closest reference: not suprisingly, a mini-Godolphin 2004.

Mitolo GAM 2004. Don't understand the Parker rating (97?). Lovely fruit but finishing hot with the alchohol. Day 1: Blackberry syrup port. Day 2: Gorgeous blackberry liqueur with muted but still strong alchohol. Help - what am I missing here? Maybe the fact it could be glorious in a certain way in 10 years if the alcohol fades - but I have no experience with 15% (+1%, I suspect) wines. My closest reference: none really ...

Evening all.

Jay..Love the closest reference idea. Great help in explaining the style.

Rob

[GRB]

Magleri Shiraz 2002
I had been very dissapointed in the last couple of these I had but this one showed very well. Lovely depth of fruit and reasonable complexity. This one was under cork but I have a few more that are screw cap.

Chapel Hill The Vicar 2001
Brought over by some friends, nice wine but not up to the price for my liking, lacked any real character if it was $20 it would be good value but at the rrp there is better around.

Zema Estate Shiraz 2001
Nice wine from one of my favourite Coonawarra producers. Travelling well at this stage but I think there is still room for improvement in the next couple of years.

Glen

[Roscoe]

Thankyou for not saying my conclusions aren't valid...how positively magnanimous.

As stated earlier, I am comfortable that my findings weren't influenced by any bias, and the experiement was as controlled as pizza and the Swans v Eagles warranted.

LL

I stand by my original general point and the qualification.
That is the thing about bias. You often don't know when you are being biased.
Looks like I should avoid trying to be polite in future.

[Roscoe]

Thankyou for not saying my conclusions aren't valid...how positively magnanimous.

LL

Whilst blind may be ideal, I think it's wrong to assume bias one way, but not the other. Would anything have been said if the screwcapped wine would have been described as fresher?
Indeed I'd call H2S as possibly the easiest aroma to detect as it is pretty repulsive and left a deep impression on me from the chemistry lab. Can't see this being called wrong too often.

True it's not scientific, but it's still a valid observation amongst 000's of others we need to see (alongside larger more rigorous studies).

I will say one thing though about reductive characters - my understanding is that the sulphur doseage is adjustable in the winery and now there is an understanding that reductive aromas can be more noticeable under screwcap, then the winemakers are adjusted their sulphur regime (calling Mr Pike!). If this is so, we also need to be wary of judging screwcap too soon on this issue (maybe we should give them as long as we've given the cork producers in eliminating cork taint ).

Regards

Ian

Ian
I don't think my response shows any assumptions or bias. Maybe you are not referring to my response.
That is the great thing about blind tasting- no preconceived ideas one way or the other..

[Roscoe]

Just a final clarifying point.
I am not trying to make the point that rough red is biased (as I tried to say, his conclusions may be totally correct against a gold standard), what I am saying is that biases are inherent to every human with a decent working brain and a reasonable number of experiences. Hence the desirability of using blind tasting to try and remove or minimise some of these biases.
I think Ian is making this point also.
Nobody has to agree with me of course. People who think bias does not exist won't. People who think everyone else but themselves have biases won't agree that this applies to them. And people who think that they know all their own biases and can compensate for them won't agree that it applies to them. People who think that everyone has biases (both known and unknown) and that it is not possible to compensate for all of them will probably agree.
I thought this was a good example of where a blinded comparison would have been useful. I only blame rough red because his excuse was an AFL game. Now if it was a rugby test I would understand
As to the issue of reductive characters under screwcap v cork, I think I have an open mind on this. I have read a lot of stuff saying they are more common under screwcap and a lot of stuff saying there is no difference. My personal experience is not sufficient for me to have a personal opinion. The wines I have had recently with the most reductive characters have all been under cork - but I think this is a far from conclusive finding. I think overall the jury is still out.
Rough red's observations are interesting and useful, along with all the other personal opinions on this forum (I hope I do not sound patronising).
We cannot however draw any real conclusions from them regarding the overall issue, because the sample size is too small and it was unblinded.
I've probably said something similar to what Ian said but in a more long-winded way.