Sunday again.... drinking reports

[TORB]

are now due good peoples. Time to let us know what you have been drinking. TN's, vibes, lists or impressions all welcome.

[Ian S]

2004 Paul Blanck Riesling Rosenbourg - France, Alsace, Wettolsheim, Alsace AOC (5/26/2007)
Bright straw coloured, with a rich citrus fruited nose from pears through to apricots.
Good complexity with lovely fresh lime sherbet acidity balanced against good depth of fruit. Not bone dry, though would probably call it dry rather than off-dry. Would stand up well against their Schlossberg wine and very much enjoyed it.

[Wizz]

Very little this week -

04 Zind Humbrecht Gewurtraminer Wintzenheim: Cellar database shows I paid $40 for this - seems very cheap for a ZH. But anyhoo - needed something to go with a split tandoori chicken, this worked a treat. Light colour, but nose and palate are exotic and rich, lychee and rosepetal, lusciously textured, with a slightly bitter orange pith finish. 14.5% Alcohol.

00 O'Reillys Generations Shiraz: Not just a Queensland wine, but one with some age on it. As it turns out, just a little too much age. This would have been a good wine in about 2004, and probably warranted the bronze medal it got. Lovely savoury plummy fruit and leather, but a little vinegry now.

And a wine whose identity I will not reveal. It was $8.99, 2005 vintage, slightly commercial drink now style, but we enjoyed it drank the whole bottle. I score it 82 points. so 7/8.99 gives it a mightly 0.77 on the QPR scale. So I'll wait for the barrage of PM's asking for the identity so we can all sell our cellars and stock up.

cheers

Andrew

[qwertt]

Marius Simpatico Shiraz 2004

Bought a mixed case from Marius on the recommendation of various forum comments. Justifies my lurking here so often. A delicious wine, creamy (is that an acceptable descriptor?) tannins, great fruit, could have kept drinking it all night (but didn't - so I'll see how the rest of the bottle is tonight).

[Muscat Mike]

After reading all the hype regarding '02 Balmoral I thought I would check on my '98s. I have to report it is singing. Dark and brooding with everything you could want in abundance.
I can not recommend this highly enough to drink now and it will still be great in a few years.
Mike.

[Adair]

On Sundays like today, when I am at home looking after the kids (in this case just one), I usually have something good if not great open. Unfortunately I was gullible enough to buy a bottle of the 2005 Deen De Bortoli Vat 8 Shiraz during the week for less than $10 and the 2005 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz for $17. I opened both last night but waited until this morning to post anything.

The 2005 Deen De Bortoli Vat 8 Shiraz is upsetting considering the two medals on its label: Gold Medal and Best Red Wine Under $20 in Sydney 2007. At $4.99 a bottle I could understand the quality in the bottle, yet still would not consider buying it knowing the quality. Simple berries with pleasant meaty complexity, aging in old vats always pleases me, it has contrived and commercial sweetness. I don’t know if it is residual sugar or the product of technology, but it is off-putting. Light, medium body of that sweetness, the wine does finish with quality, fine tannic structure. 80/100 (14.5/20), there is no way my palate would give this any medal whether I knew the wine, whether the wine was served blind, or whether I was blind. Maybe samples bottled before the medals are better!!!

The 2005 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz was not as bad as the Deen De Bortoli last night but not that good either. This morning it is a better wine, luckily. I was really going to give this wine a serve at $17. Still, probably not good enough to recommend for the cellar, although I would not be disappointed if I had bottles in there… unlike the 2004! The 2005 Chalambar has dark cherry and blackberry flavours with dark earth and gentle savoury and spice complexity of good concentration. Quite harmonious after being opened for 14 hours. Silky but defined front palate. Excellent vanilla oak handling that only makes any presence on the finish. Fine, slightly gritty, tannins carry the flavour elegantly. 89/100 (16.7/20).

Luckily I did have a number of interesting wines during the last week or two, including:

2004 Woodlands “Margaret” Reserve Cabernet Merlot – 14.2%: Concentrated and powerful. Ripe dark fruits with Cabernet herb complexity. Very, very, very tight! Needs a decade. 93/100 (18/20)

2004 Sacred Hill “Deer Stalkers” Syrah – Hawkes Bay, NZ – 14%: Long and smooth red and dark fruits with sweet and floral spices. Like a cross between the 2003 Chalambar and Torbreck, yet not the depth. 90/100 (17/20), but not good value at $40+

Bress Brut Cider – Harcourt Valley, Vic – 10%: The bottle disappeared elegantly and quickly enough last Friday night to consider buying more, even at the price, especially when I am around beer drinkers... beer is a beverage I don't enjoy. I don't think I would try the sweeter version as this was fruit sweet enough. 89/100... hahaha! Apparently it is made like a Champagne, just with apple juice.

1999 Coldstream Hills Sparkling White (PN/CH) - 12.5%: Despite the label, do not be tempted to buy at $20 from Dan's. The fruit has faded so despite the quality it is not a quality wine anymore, although the quality of the winemaking was still perceptible. 85/100 (15.5/20)

2002 Glenguin Estate "Stonybroke" Shiraz (and a splash of Tannat) - Concentration, smooth and so spicy and so Hunter. Bought on stupid special at Rhys and Garth's place, and it will get better with age. 90/100 (17.3/20)

2003 Tyrrell’s "Brokenback" Shiraz - Hunter with good concentration again with acid driven finish. Lacking a little harmony but will age and get better. 89/100 (16.7/20)

2006 Ferngrove "Cossack" Riesling – Frankland River, WA – 12%: Thank you Jules for this recommendation. Stock up from Jules at North Sydney Cellars at $17.99... I checked that Gavin does not stock it. I hope to do a full tasting note later but it will include the words lime, florals, heaps of minerals, power, long. Dry Australian yet sumptuous and screaming Germanic winemaking, although I have no clue about this wine's winemaker. 95/100 (18.7/20)

1998 Doonkuna Riesling- Bought at last week's UWC White Burgundy tasting last week (no this is not White Burgundy ) for $12, and I was very happy. Developed fruits with more than a hint of petroleum products, but quaffed enjoyably over two nights. 87/100 (16/20).

Kind regards,
Adair

[Adair]

Marius Simpatico Shiraz 2004

Bought a mixed case from Marius on the recommendation of various forum comments. Justifies my lurking here so often. A delicious wine, creamy (is that an acceptable descriptor?) tannins, great fruit, could have kept drinking it all night (but didn't - so I'll see how the rest of the bottle is tonight).

"Creamy" is a great descriptor, especially for structure and mouthfeel. It signifies smoothness, maybe a little glycerol, as well as much depth and also ripe, cushion-like tannins to me. Not bad for one word!

Adair

[Wayno]

Coriole Redstone 2003
A bit rough and angular, rustic, pleasant enough but no great shakes.

Orlando Lawsons 2000 Shiraz
Very fine wine, beautiful texture, glossy sheen and refined oak, nice length. Touches of mint, elegant cedar and a whiff of eucalypt. Terrific until the last.

Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz 2004
Quite average at first, a bit flabby and needless but after an hour, morphed into a quite nice, sweet fruited, medium bodied, slightly herbal and compactly oaked package with a nice atmosphere about it. Hardly a 97/100 wine though and nowhere as good as some of the other 04s I've had.

Penfolds Cellar Reserve 2002 Pinot Noir
Still as massive as the last time, a shiraz drinker's Pinot (most definitely in the Penfolds style) but really quite nice, if a touch jammy. Very dark, rigid and with cherries and plums still lingering about, heavy handed structure although the tannins have melted a touch and elements of mushroom and earth are starting to creep in. Very impressive in it's own big noting way.

By Farr Sangreal 2003
Lighter then the Pennies, quite sweet still and not at all like the funky, bretty wine I remembered from last year. Quite good, textural but light-on pinot with a lot of good sweet fruit character. Only tried a glass and will finish off tonight with some interest.

[Red Bigot]

After reading all the hype regarding '02 Balmoral I thought I would check on my '98s. I have to report it is singing. Dark and brooding with everything you could want in abundance.
I can not recommend this highly enough to drink now and it will still be great in a few years.
Mike.

Yep, the last good one they made as far as I can see, I still have 5 left and haven't bought any since that vintage.

[Red Bigot]

Marius Simpatico Shiraz 2004

Bought a mixed case from Marius on the recommendation of various forum comments. Justifies my lurking here so often. A delicious wine, creamy (is that an acceptable descriptor?) tannins, great fruit, could have kept drinking it all night (but didn't - so I'll see how the rest of the bottle is tonight).

Both the 2004 Marius Shiraz have this creamy texture, silky mouthfeel, it will be interesting to see if the 2005's have similar texture, they are due out June/July, the 2005 Shiraz-Mourvedre has touch of this character, but it's a bit more meaty/savoury with fine but firm tannin structure.

[Lincoln]

And a wine whose identity I will not reveal. It was $8.99, 2005 vintage, slightly commercial drink now style, but we enjoyed it drank the whole bottle. I score it 82 points. so 7/8.99 gives it a mightly 0.77 on the QPR scale. So I'll wait for the barrage of PM's asking for the identity so we can all sell our cellars and stock up.

I drank a nice Spanish wine on the weekend.
Alvaro Palacios Finca Tofi 2004, came in at 0.121

[Wizz]

And a wine whose identity I will not reveal. It was $8.99, 2005 vintage, slightly commercial drink now style, but we enjoyed it drank the whole bottle. I score it 82 points. so 7/8.99 gives it a mightly 0.77 on the QPR scale. So I'll wait for the barrage of PM's asking for the identity so we can all sell our cellars and stock up.

I drank a nice Spanish wine on the weekend.
Alvaro Palacios Finca Tofi 2004, came in at 0.121

Bummer dude. The 01 Finca Dofi came in at 0.142.

I need to find more $25 100 point wines.

[Red Bigot]

Good to see the QPR formula catching on.

[DarkAndInky]

Tonight I opened up a bottle of 2005 Kangarilla Road Shiraz Viognier.

This stuff was surprisingly drinkable right from the get go. I was impressed. It went really well with the seasoned and herb crusted pork tenderloin that I cooked up.

[Lincoln]

I drank a nice Spanish wine on the weekend.
Alvaro Palacios Finca Tofi 2004, came in at 0.121

Bummer dude. The 01 Finca Dofi came in at 0.142.

Yep, the exchange rate was more favourable back then. I blame Costello.

[DJ]

Two and a bit weeks with a cold / sinusitus so wine consisted of a glass to keep the better half company - don't remember if anything was of interest - but finally the head cleared and back to a decent glass or two.

2002 Saltram Mamre Brook Shiraz
The C/S brother of this vinatge has heaps written about it - this is no slouch either. Smooth, great length, very tasty Shiraz. A great under $20

2000 Rockford C/S
the 95 was meant to be a weak vinatge but came up trumps - no such luck with this. Something was a bit out of joint fruit not as pure and tanins a little harsh. Mind you can't of been too bad as the 2 of us polished off the bottle pretty quicky.

Went out to Clonakilla yesterday morning to purchase a birth year magnum of Shiraz Viogner for the small girl. Tried the new releases but it was too cold to get a full impression.
06 Viogner - Mrs DJ liked it - I didn't ge much from it
05 Balinderry (Cabinet Merlot) - Looking fairly good - need to try it warmer
06 Hilltops Shiraz - if tanins resolve should be pretty good, again warmth may be enough for it to work.

1994 Hugh Hamilton Shiraz
I wasn't sure whether this was going to be past it - the last bottle. Initially looking a little old but opened in the glass to have a rich fruit core with well balanced secondary characters - a pleasure to drink.

[platinum]

Majella Cab 2004...ScrewCap...Lovely Cabernet, Classic Coonawarra. I had to try this as I opened an 04 on release and it was all tannins. As with all Majellas; I once again found that 12 months after release is when these really show signs of a great future and a lovely wine. This is why I always buy Majella.

Shaw and Smith Shiraz 2005...Cork...Rumoured to have a touch of voigner which is so well hidden I couldn't find it. As you would expect from most decent 2005 Shiraz's, its simply too early to be drinking now. Another 18 months or so and this will be a lovely Shiraz.

Lake Breeze Winemakers Selection Shiraz 1998...Cork...Have had better bottles than this before. It was very powerfull for a 10 year old wine, had nice fruit but the oak stood out too much unlike previous bottles. The more air I gave it the more the oak stood out as the fruit went away.

Coldstream Hills Cabernet 2005, ScrewCap.... Lighter to medium bodied Cabernet from Yarra Valley. You can see its from a good vintage and should last well for a wine of its price ($18-$21). Might be a claret style Cabernet in a few years when the tannins start to soften a bit and I cant wait to try it in 12 months to see how its progressing. Good oak use for a wine of this price.

Deen De Bortoli Boyris Semmilion 2005...ScrewCap...Lighter bodied & a bit more hollow than the Noble One but more than a glympse of the classy Boytris fruit. A steal at $10...

Wolf Blass Eaglehawk Merlot 2004..Cork..Was given to me as a present by a person at work for Chris Kringall I hardly know and who didn't know I love wine.. I ended up tipping it straight down the sink as I thought I might. It actually drank suprisingly well but I have never smelt a wine like that before. Was like a bottled dirty river water smell. Is that Brett? I have only ever encourted Brett once in a Clonakilla Hilltops 2004 Shiraz but even that wasn't half as bad as this.

[Adair]

Opened a Lanson NV for dinner. I feel better now. At $45, laughs at Australian sparkling. 93/100.

Adair

[GraemeG]

Opened a Lanson NV for dinner. I feel better now. At $45, laughs at Australian sparkling. 93/100.

This is our 'house' champers - not that we drink French bubbly all that often. Offers great value for the price. I often wonder whether other marques benefit financially from the extra $20 they charge for the 'nv' compared to the volumes the Lansan agent (Fosters?, or someone else) must shift due to that $20-odd price difference. It souldn't surprise me if it makes a mess of the sales figures of the lesser Champers' either - things like Pol Guessner, for instance, which don't strike me as being anywhere near the same league, but are only $5-10 cheaper.
cheers,
Graeme

[Jordan]

My blind tasting group met for the usual shenanigans and consumed some interesting wines.

Orlando Centenary Hill Shiraz 1994: Besides its age of 13 years this wine still looked on the primary side of its development. The nose exhibited strong vanilla, licorice and stewed plums. The palate exhibited a great depth of fruit melding in with the vanilla, mocha oak. Lots of Barossa plum, milk chocolate, coffee, vanilla and blackberry with fine, interwoven tannins. As this got more air it became longer and more interesting. A good wine with time on its side.

By Farr Pinot Noir 2005: A nose of sweet cherry and some caramel, cedar oak. The palate was initially quite reticent showing red cherries, bitter-sweet rhubarb with some spice and mulchy, undergrowth characters. After a few hours with air the palate had developed some more weight and showed a greater depth of fruit and more complex spice and stalkiness. Good length.

Hardy’s Eileen Hardy Shiraz 1997: This wine was very surprising in both its age and vintage when revealed. The bouquet exhibited some fly spray and boot polish characters as well as jammy plum and raspberry. The palate was full of raspberry licorice, pepper, earth and some spice. The wine finished with sweet plum and raspberry with a little tar which balanced the sweetness. There was little warmth through the finish but not in a distracting manner

Craiglee Shiraz 1999: The nose showed obvious cool climate shiraz characters of pepper, spice and some eucalypt undergrowth. Medium bodied with a great balance between pepper, spice and dried herb characters with sweet cherry, raspberry and dark berries. Fine tannins draw the wine through a spicy finish. A fine cool climate shiraz.

McWilliam’s Mt Pleasant Rosehill Shiraz 1999: A deceptive wine early showing deep cassis, licorice, menthol and a little earth and leather. Six hours later and the wine had done an about-face showing an earthier, Hunter like Shiraz. There now was a layer of sweet raspberry and cherry overlying the cassis flavour with more coal, earth and leather showing. Unmistakably Hunter by this stage. Drinking well now.

Capel Vale ‘Howecroft’ Cab Sav Merlot 1995: This wine came in the heaviest bottle known to the Australian wine industry – we guessed it added about $5 to the price. Anyway, the contents of the bottle proved to be wort the heavy lifting exercise preceding the drinking. A nose of earthy dried herbs and mulch with blackberry and mint. The palate was deeply flavoured with blackcurrant, plum, some cedar and vanilla and touches of gravely earth and black olive. A long finish with fine tannins structuring this full-bodied wine. Still has some development ahead.

Taylor’s ‘St Andrews’ Cab Sav 1998: this was a big fruited wine with oak to match but I wasn’t sure whether each element was quite balancing each other out. Stewy plum and blackberry jam and lots of, charred cedar oak. Many liked it on the day but I thought it was passable but not great. It was better than previous bottles.

Kalleske Old Vine Basket Pressed Grenache 2004: the nose showed some lifted furniture polish, confected raspberry and with air some earthy herbs and licorice too. The palate reflected the nose with an explosion of sweet raspberry and some dark cherry fruit too. As the wine breathed it exhibited some bitter dark chocolate and a more savoury, meaty spectrum of Grenache flavours. Very youthful with plenty of fine tannin which should see this wine develop well and gain more complexity with time. A divisive style but quite excellent from my perspective.

Jim Barry First XI Cab Sav 2000: green capsicum, dried herb and some sweet blackcurrant made for an intriguing nose. The palate reflected these aromas medium bodied with a good balance between cedar oak and sweet blackcurrant and blackberry, mocha and mint. This seemed quite young for a 2000 and should hold well for a while yet.

[The more the better]

Wow ! What a wine. Had this with a homemade stew in front of the fireplace watching the football. Does it get much better than this ?

This is one classy wine that is silky smooth, great fruit, mocha, great length. Everything is in balance at the moment. Seems to be perfect drinking now. My guess is that it will remain so for a couple of years and the plateau.

I also had the 2003 recently and it was good but not in this league.

[Nayan]

Wow ! What a wine. Had this with a homemade stew in front of the fireplace watching the football. Does it get much better than this ?

This is one classy wine that is silky smooth, great fruit, mocha, great length. Everything is in balance at the moment. Seems to be perfect drinking now. My guess is that it will remain so for a couple of years and the plateau.

I also had the 2003 recently and it was good but not in this league.

Virtual wine options?

My guess is that it is Australian, Barossa, Shiraz, Kalleske and 03

[Pelican]

Was gunna have a Bannockburn Pinot tonight but since Geelong just spanked my football team it can bloody well wait a bit longer - probably would be corked anyway like a significant minority of Bannockburns......

2002 Peter Lehmann Eight Songs Shiraz Barossa Valley ( $ 30 ) : the most oaky wine I've tried recently. Dense in more ways than one.

2002 Tyrells Rufus Stone McLaren Vale Shiraz : kindly given by a friend who had kept it not in a proper cellar. Drinkable but with that nasty " aged " character imparted by that impossibly slow torture doled out to wine by poor cellaring conditions.

I'm off to have an Osbornes Medium sherry in screw cap - it's spent the night out in the cool rain here in Adelaide and should send me to bed nicely !

[Nayan]

Had a lazy Sunday lunch with a few friends. These were the highlights...

1997 Leroy Bourgogne Rouge last of three bottles picked up from auction. Absolutely delightful, easy drinking, beautifully perfumed Burg.

1976 D'arenberg Shiraz Cabernet Proves yet again that 76 was a great year in SA. This was so youthful, so structured and so balanced; and pandered to my European palate.

Stanton and Killeen, Grand Muscat Sweetness, elegance and poise; and length. By the way, did I mention length? Beautiful wine.

[n4sir]

Shot up to Penfolds Magill Estate today to pick up my 2004 Bin 707s, and tried a couple of other wines while I was there.

The 2005 Cellar Reserve Pinot has actually mellowed quite a bit in the last few months, the alcohol less noticeable and the wine looking more like Pinot and less like Grenache. I think the cooler weather probably helps too.

I've tried the 2004 Bin 407 a couple of times now and it's still on the greenish side on the nose, some peas/leafy characters but with less oak/more blackcurrants; the palate's a little more fleshy and rounded too a few months down the track. It's looking a lot better but I'm still to be convinced this will be a truly great one.

I also was lucky enough to try a a barrel sample of their 2007 Block 20 Cabernet Sauvignon component from Coonawarra, which has just gone into new American oak. The coffee/banana oak's noticeable the first few minutes, then it's pure blackcurrant/blueberries with a hint of dried herbs, exotic spices and snoky mocha. This will ultimately end up in the Bin 707 (if it's made) or Bin 389.

Cheers,
Ian

[mattECN]

2005 Taylors Cabernet Sauvignon - currently on special around the place. A pretty decent wine for $13. A bit more of a restrained style than the 2004, where I thought it was a bit 'in your face' and a bit too much heat in terms of alcohol. The 2005 has some nice fruit; cassis, blackberry and pretty well judged oak influence also, good acidity and drying/dusty tannins on the finish. Should develop well over the next 3-5 years. 2 bottles disappeared very quickly.

2006 Cape Mentelle Georgiana – very nice wine again for the price. Good fruit characteristics leaning toward the ‘tropical’ fruit influence. Overall, good nose and palate, very approachable acid structure and good lingering finish. Could not ask anymore from it really. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[GRB]

Heartland Directors Cut 2005
Seriously good stuff for the price.

John Duval Entity 2005
The fruit in this is singing and what a song it is. Just superb and can only get better.

Glen

[Jordan]

I also need to mention two other wines consumed after our blind tasting (notes above):

1994 Wynns John Riddoch Cab Sav (Magnum): this was a treat once it opened up. Lots of regional dried herb, tomato leaf, capsicum character but not overwhelming the deep cassis, blackberry fruit. Super fine tannins and well judged smoky, tobacco oak framing it all. Fine length and balance. Drinking very well now but will stand more time in the cellar.

2002 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz: this is the first bottle that hasn't seemed disjointed to me. Signs of the jammy, ripe fruit beginning to meld with the tannin, oak and warmth. Starting to look good if your a fan of riper Barossa Shiraz but still a pup and needs a lot longer if it is going to ascend to the greatness of some other BPs.

[Daryl Douglas]

2005 Taylors Cabernet Sauvignon - currently on special around the place. A pretty decent wine for $13. A bit more of a restrained style than the 2004, where I thought it was a bit 'in your face' and a bit too much heat in terms of alcohol. The 2005 has some nice fruit; cassis, blackberry and pretty well judged oak influence also, good acidity and drying/dusty tannins on the finish. Should develop well over the next 3-5 years. 2 bottles disappeared very quickly.

Good TN Matt, it's reflects my impressions of both wines. The 05 cab is still pretty big but is a bit more restrained than the 04.

Perhaps you should try Taylors shiraz 05 which on the other hand has massive fruit - I couldn't handle more than two glasses first up. The fruit was only a little diminished the next day - everthing was still there and it was balanced for it's style, more so than the shiraz 04. I was going to get some more but it went off discount just after I tried it.

[Hacker]

Winter Creek Eden Valley Shiraz 2002: dark inky coloured; plummy and dark chocolate fills the mouth and its finish is long and flavoursome. Still quite primary. A hint of eucalyptus. One of the best Barossa shirazes I have had in a long while.

I will certainly be looking out for some of the 2005 when released. Thankyou David Cross

cheers,

David M.