It's the first Sunday of the New Year.....

[TORB]

so it time for your weekly drinking reports. What have you guys been guzzling?

Last night I opened a bottle of Seppelt 2002 Original FRS and it was just not right; I suspected low level TCA but was not 100% sure; but I was sure it was not as good as the previous bottles. (After sitting in the glass for awhile, the TCA in the became more obvious.) Opened another and it was even worse, dead set TCA. The 2001 Elderton Shiraz was OK, but much better after it had been opened for 3 hours. Smooth, chocolate and lots of blackberry but not overripe; off-sweet and delicious.

[Attila]

2001 Sally's Hill Cabernet Sauvignon by Redbank

Second label to Sally's Paddock. Superb on release, now toned down a little, fruity, delicious McLaren Vale like red from the Pyrenees, Victoria. Enjoyed it with pasta. Very good Cabernet definition with juicy black cherry flavours but not enough complexity and not powerful enough tannin and acid structure to carry the wine much further. Still, very tasty. $26

Cheers,
Attila

[Ian S]

TORB
Thanks for the notes - I'd been worrying you'd gone teetotal on us based on the weekly reports

Tonight
1988 Château de Fieuzal - France, Bordeaux, Graves, Pessac-Léognan (1/6/2007)
Still very tannic and whilst the (quite pure) fruit is still strong, I'm not sure there's long term balance. Basically I think it will dry out.
Having said that it still gives good pleasure and with hearty food to offset against the tannins it will work very well. Very heavy on the tobacco/smoky notes and acidity well-judged.

Previously
Ridge Geyserville Zin/Carignan/Pet.Sirah 2001
Very impressive with good fruit complexity and at 14% admirable (and appreciated) constraint. At £12 for a half bottle, not cheap, but on this showing decent enough value to buy again.

Tower Estate Hunter Shiraz 2000
A very nice wine, coming along fine. I could get to enjoy Hunter Shiraz on this showing, which offers a good point of difference to S. Australian Shiraz.

regards

Ian

[Wayno]

Grant Burge Holy Trinity GSM 2002
A lovely nose with savoury and perfumed elements intertwined. Meaty, substantial palate but nicely weighted and very juicy, mouthwatering. Lovely.

Tim Adams The Fergus Grenache 2005
Quite good, balanced, fresh but not as 'refreshing' as the HT.

Geoff Weaver Sauvignon Blanc 2005
Very nice wine, clearly defined SB characters, slightly floral, grassy and lemon squeeze.

[rorie]

1996 St Hugo
Amazing structure. Fruit, acid, tannins all harmonious. Cigar box on the nose and very good length. Beyond expectations. Rating: A

1996 Chapel Hill Shraz
Poor length, little fruit, acid poking through-not very pleasant. Mild taint???

1996 Penfolds 407
Disappointing, didn't have the fruit to pull it thorough.

So how to solve the problem of 2 wines that are so-so, mix them up and come up with a Cab-Shiraz blend. Better than the two wines by themselves and just drinkable.

1996 Lindemans Limestone Ridge
Where's the fruit gone? Tasted like the Chapel Hill/407 blend.

Hope you all are having better luck..

[TORB]

1996 Chapel Hill Shraz
Poor length, little fruit, acid poking through-not very pleasant. Mild taint???

Between the Shiraz and the Cabernet, I bought 3 cases of the 96 (mostly Cab) and the cork failure rate was horrific. About 30%!

The Limestone sounds like it was corked, mine all had lots of fruit and I drank one not all that long ago.

Ian,

I have actually had to work so much recently that I have had little time or inclination to drink or think about wine; and that's not fun! By the end of January, hopefully things will be back to normal.

[Ian S]

Ian,

I have actually had to work so much recently that I have had little time or inclination to drink or think about wine

TORB
That's a bit like Casanova saying he hasn't had time or inclination to indulge in seduction! Hope it settles down.
regards
Ian

[JamieBahrain]

1996 Chapel Hill Shraz
Poor length, little fruit, acid poking through-not very pleasant. Mild taint???

Pretty consistant note with the experiences I have had with this vintage- an absolute shocker!!!!!!

98 & 02 much better.

[oakboy]

Bremerton Old Adam 2003
Pepper/aniseed, great colour, depth only needs a few more years to be in the window, a good start to the new year

Tyrrell's Vat 9 Shiraz 2005
Had this as i seem to have stocked up on 05 hunter and have seen some mix reveiws on the V9...
Still very young, but all the componets seem to be in place for this to be classic hunter, nice earthy/blueberry, little acid but this will easily intergrate in a few years.. noice wine (not as good as the 05 vat8 though)
But 24hrs later this wine rocks, opened up supremely tanins softened, great hunter from what will be a great vintage....

cheers Simmo

(edited for the next day on the vat9)

[Mike Hawkins]

1993 Dom Perignon- perfumed nose of coconut, bread and lemon. Palate lacked the panache of a great DP. Finished a touch bitter.

1999 Moet et Chandon - had about 8 bottles of this over the past few months and while a reasonable champagne, nothing to get too excited about.

1998 Peter Lehmann Black Queen Sparkling shiraz - this wine seemed so much older than the 94 and 96 vintages I've had recently. Lots of earthy, mushroom notes on nose and palate. I hope I jut had a slightly dud bottle, as I've got many more bottles of this left !

2004 (?) Eberle Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon - a decent Cali-cab. Very primary and very tannic.

1989 Jaboulet La Chapelle - the real deal and the best bottle I've had from this vintage. Earthy, truffly, chocolatey notes. Great mouthfeel, immense length. This was almost as good as the last bottle of the 1990.

[GrahamB]

Last week with some very good MSA rib fillet

Taylors St Andrews Cabernet 1998
Rated A

Grant Burge Holy Trinity 2002
Rated A-

Rosemount Mountain Blue Shiraz Cabernet 1997
Rated A

O’Leary Walker Clare/McLaren Vale Shiraz 2004
Rated B+

[roughred]

Still in a new year haze...but from memory the last week has included -

2000 Te Mata Elston
Looked a little murky on pouring and one whiff confirmed it...mucho oxidised. Shame, it is otherwise an exceptional wine.

1999 Xanadu Cabernet Sauvignon (Magnum)
Perhaps a slightly dud bottle, but far more developed than one would have expected. Earthy red berry fruits, grainy tannins, and generally pretty rustic in style. Well below expectations.

2002 Gralyn SBR Shiraz Cab
Only had a handful of Gralyn wines, but never disappointed. This opened with powerful red berry fruits, with a leafy rhubarb lift. Hard tannins are beginning to open up, giving a meatiness to the mid palate. Slightly green, bitter oak on the finish. Seems to be coming together, but not sure if it has enough fruit to make it to the finish line.

2004 Gapsted Shiraz Viognier
Sweet American Oak on the nose which led onto a rich oaky mid palate, surrounded by nutty oak tannins. Finished with some none too subtle American Oak...

2004 Hollick The Nectar
Corked. Wanted this to serve with some poached peaches but was not to be. Ended up chilling down a young Tokay which worked very well.

In hindsight an unfortunate week on the sauce.

Cheers,

LL

[Mike_A]

we tried the following blind

2002 Claire from O'Leary Walker. Chocolate and sweet fruit, very much in the McLaren Vale mould. Had a green stalky finish, not sure I'd be in a hurry to buy a heap at that price. (17.5)

2004 Paringa Estate Shiraz. Very Peppery on the nose and the palate. Actually too peppery. (15.5)

This wine was a real disappointment. I've had 98 Reynella and now this wine that are supposedly fan bloody fastic (was rated by those that are supposed to know and ....)

regards

mike

[Red Bigot]

we tried the following blind

2002 Claire from O'Leary Walker. Chocolate and sweet fruit, very much in the McLaren Vale mould. Had a green stalky finish, not sure I'd be in a hurry to buy a heap at that price. (17.5)

That's a bit sad, this was one of the best wines I tried in 2005 and I've tried it twice last year, never got any green stalky character at all. BTW it's all Clare fruit, not McLaren Vale.

[cuttlefish]

Last night I opened a bottle of Seppelt 2002 Original FRS and it was just not right; I suspected low level TCA but was not 100% sure; but I was sure it was not as good as the previous bottles. Opened another and it was even worse, dead set TCA. .

If it's the Original Sparkling Shiraz you're talking about, I have been dissappointed with each of the four bottles I have opened thus far from a case purchased over a year ago. Some funky, some overly bitter. I'm a bit worried about the wine in general now. Wish I'd searched harder and bought it under crown seal. I will definitely go for crown sealed in the future with this wine.

Cuttlefish

[Craig(NZ)]

2000 Te Mata Elston
Looked a little murky on pouring and one whiff confirmed it...mucho oxidised. Shame, it is otherwise an exceptional wine.

Shame. My last 00 was in good nik (drank with Crayfish about a year ago). Elston has a reputation of aging well that has been well founded in my experience. I went 2 or 3 years buying next to no chardonnay which is coming home to roost now. Aged supplies very thin on the ground! Oldest Elston I have is 2001 now after drinking my last 99 with Rossi last week. The 99 was quite an elegant elston, in many ways not typical sweet limes, butterscotch, seamless

[GRB]

Had way to much wine over the last week or so here is the high/low lights

Rockford Black 2003 Disg
Awesome, complex deeply flavoured and improved once it warmed a little, straight from the fridge is just to cold for this stuff.

Seppelts OSS 2004
Not corked and delicious.

Peter Lehmann Mentor 1994
Even better than the last bottle I had a few months back. Right in the drinking window for my money.

Warrabilla Cab Sav 2002
Just starting to gain some complexity nice now but I think I would leave this a couple of more years yet.

Seppelts St Peters 1998
Not quite right, drinkable but nothing remarkable, don't know if it was mildly corked or what but a big disappointment as I had expected a lot.

Warrabilla Clean Skin Durif 2005
Multiple bottles of this, first choice quaffer by a mile at the moment.

Tatachilla Foundation 1996
Ok but not the best bottle I have had of this by a long shot. Other bottles have been excellent this one didn't excite all that much.

Glen

[GRB]

Last night I opened a bottle of Seppelt 2002 Original FRS and it was just not right; I suspected low level TCA but was not 100% sure; but I was sure it was not as good as the previous bottles. Opened another and it was even worse, dead set TCA. .

If it's the Original Sparkling Shiraz you're talking about, I have been dissappointed with each of the four bottles I have opened thus far from a case purchased over a year ago. Some funky, some overly bitter. I'm a bit worried about the wine in general now. Wish I'd searched harder and bought it under crown seal. I will definitely go for crown sealed in the future with this wine.

Cuttlefish

I purchased about 2 1/2 cases of this last xmas all under cork as I missed out on the crown seal. I have had one badly corked and the others have been pretty consistent and good only about 10 left and I will be giving them a couple of years to see how they develop. Will be keeping an eye out for the 04 under crown though as I would prefer this for the long term.

Glen

[beef]

Last night I opened a bottle of Seppelt 2002 Original FRS and it was just not right; I suspected low level TCA but was not 100% sure; but I was sure it was not as good as the previous bottles. Opened another and it was even worse, dead set TCA. .

If it's the Original Sparkling Shiraz you're talking about, I have been dissappointed with each of the four bottles I have opened thus far from a case purchased over a year ago. Some funky, some overly bitter. I'm a bit worried about the wine in general now. Wish I'd searched harder and bought it under crown seal. I will definitely go for crown sealed in the future with this wine.

Cuttlefish

I purchased about 2 1/2 cases of this last xmas all under cork as I missed out on the crown seal. I have had one badly corked and the others have been pretty consistent and good only about 10 left and I will be giving them a couple of years to see how they develop. Will be keeping an eye out for the 04 under crown though as I would prefer this for the long term.

Glen

I have tried the 2004 under cork and crown seal (1 bottle of each). The cork version was overly bitter and very lean. It did have some complexity and an agreeable finish, but was certainly no match for the lovely 2002. The crown seal was another matter entirely. Still more lean than the 2002, it had just the right amount of fruit and a wonderful complexity. No bitterness at all. Note that the complexity was aided by a small amount of Brett. A very small amount that, for my money, only served to enhance the wine. And I'm a Brett Nazi!

It was even better the next day, demonstrating echoes of the stunning 1987
SSRSS.

I know which seal I'll be buying.

Stuart