So what did you drink on New Year's Eve?

[David Lole]

Happy New Year to you all.

Our night went something like this -

A couple of Beck's Pilsener - top beer
1998 clos clare Riesling - needs to be drunk soon - quite developed - agreeable
1998 Penfold's Aged Release Clare Riesling - Highly Recommended, good fruit, a little toasty bottle development, tight, crisp and long. Still available for around $15-16 (I was told)
1998 Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling - very good, as usual with plenty of time to go
1998 Orlando St. Hugo - coming along nicely but no hurry to drink - Excellent
1990 Seppelt Dorrien - what can I say - Outstanding and at the peak of its' powers
And for the midnight champers we cracked a '96 Pol - Outstanding - complex bready, biscuity, cracked wheat nose with fresh, crisp citrus fruit; layer upon layer of flavour - sensational explosive mousse and terrific length.

So what did you get your teeth into last night?

[Rory]

In short:

'96 Pol Roger, I think may have been just slightly corked as there was something wrong with the middle palate. Great fresh apple and citrus front palate, good mousse, but a savoury , meaty middle, not what I was expecting. Will; try it again next year!
'96 NIne Popes. Drinking superbly.
'96 Mithcelton Print Series Shiraz. Great nose, good fruit, but still very strong drying tannins. Wonder when this wine will ever soften up.
'87 Lindemans Bin ?? Hunter River Burgundy.
Whoa! Classic aged Hunter Shiraz, Absurd quality for the price. Great wine.
'01 Plantaganet Mt Barker Cab/Sauv.
Very good, excellent cellaring potential, will be a ripper in 5 years plus time.
Rory

[Wizz]

Thought I would be on beer for NYE, but managed to do a little better than that:

01 Rosemount Giants Creek Chardonnay: rounded, melony, and excellent bang for your buck at $15 and less. When i first stuck my nose in this I got a really spirity brandy like smell. Wierd, but didnt intrude on the wine in the end.
95 McWilliams Lovedale Semillon: Quite a wet cork in this bottle, and the wine is fairly golden, so I had my doubts. A bit reductive at first but this blew off, but nonetheless the nose was quite subdued. This has a lot of time left, its showing lanolin, some lemon, the earliest hints of honey. Good length, clean acid starting to integrate. Some spritz in the glass too. heaps of time left, excellent wine.
93 Peter Lehmann Stonewell: Browning a little. Took ages to open up, and then showed some dark chocolate, cedar, plums. Quite tannic. Drink soon.
96 Penfolds Bin 389: Still very dark. Travelling very well with a long future in front of it. Dense liquered blueberries in a vanilla and choc shell, strong tannin bakcbone to carry this for ages. Very good indeed.

No bubbles

cheers

Andrew

[SueNZ]

Hi David,
Seven of us got together for a 'slow food' evening, continous eating for 5 hours with food matched to wines. Here's what was opened ....

Quartz Reef Chauvet NV - a Marlborough/Central Otago blend, one of the early methode's from Rudi Bauer and Clothilde Chauvet, terrific fizz, nicely developed.
Coopers Creek Marlbourough Sauvignon Blanc 2003 (screwcap) - fresh, zingy, as expected.
Neudorf Moutere Riesling 2001 - a sweeter style, exquisite wine - perhaps the wine of the night. Yes, definitely! Sealed with a screwcap too.
Deinhard Bernkastler Graben Riesling Auslese 1983 (AP 157628100684) - cork disappeared into the bottle when we tried to open it and was a bit worried it was going to be off but simply a lovely mellow wine, everyone loved it. 8% alc.
Pegasus Bay Chardonnay 1999 - a big rich oaky number
Churton Marlborough Pinot Noir 1999 - opened a couple of nights before, developing nicely but with a spicy, peppery overtone.
Terra Vin Pinot Noir 2002 - youthful Marlborough pinot
Voss Martinborough Pinot Noir 1993 - very pale, very light in colour but terrific on palate, lovely development, still holding.
Borthwick Sangiovese 2001 - I liked this a lot. Quite rhone-like in a way with its perppery nose and spicy backbone. not a blockbuster, good food wine.
Stonyridge Larose Waiheke Island 1997 (Cab Sauv, Cab Fr, Merlot etc.) - quite developed and a little lean, I thought. Others said they liked it though and the bottle was quickly polished off.

Actually the only bottles to get finished were the bubbles, the Neudorf Riesling and the Stonyridge. We didn't open a sweet wine.

Happy New Year,
Cheers,
Sue

[Popov]

Had various Sparklings for starters including: Deutz & Taltarni

The reds were:
2002 d'Arenberg The Laughing Magpie - great qpr, I am going to buy another case of this!
2001 d'Arenberg The Galvo Garage - another winner
2001 Wynns Coonawarra Cab - would like to see this again in 5 yrs
2002 Pepperjack - easily outclassed by the others but not too bad.

The whites were:
2002 Hoodles Creek Chardonnay - very nice drop
various others but can't quite remember now

Cheers & Happy New Year all

Popov

[Gavin Trott]

Hello All

Happy New Year.

Delicious Japanese food with some friends.

Wine

Small Champagne House, can't remember the name, the wine was also fairly forgettable I thought, quite refreshing but no complexity and fairly ordinary.

Ordinary the next wine was not, a Joseph Sparking Shiraz NV probably 10 years old, marvellous wine. Earthy, savoury, long, intense, complex low fizz, just got better throughout the night, stunning.

1996 Rioja - very different but highly enjoyable, earthy, savoury, long black tea tannins, hints of orange, very good indeed.

2000 Turley Old Vines Zinfandel - great disappointment. Ultimately a very simple wine with almost totally no structure, high alcohol and a fruit character I found hard to pin down, like raisined/over ripe blue berries. Glen Green thought chocolate blueberries, but I got no chocolate. High alcohol gave a sweet impression and a smooth mouthfeel, but not an ejoyable wine at all.

Finished up watching the fireworks, then lovely walk around town, gelati etc good evening.

Back up wine (in case of corked wine) enjoyed the next night with a barbeque, 1999 Henrys Drive Shiraz. This label I find very hit and miss, but this was a hit, again, not much structure, but lovely fruit, some complexity, a very enjoyable mouthful of wine.

[Anthony]

Got a very big appetite for Champagne at the moment and spent most of New Years Eve drinking Devaux Vintage 95, Henriot Blanc de Blanc and plenty of St hallett eden valley riesing 03.

did have some good wines on the table with the highlghts being:
90 Craiglee Shiraz: perfect condition and in the prime of its life with great light cherries and plum flavours.

90 Irvine Grand Merlot: very good, however don't think it is worth the money.

Only dissapointment was that thieves broke into my store at 12 midnight on the dot. Fortunately with all the security they walked away empty handed.

cheers
anthony

[Popov]

Got did have some good wines on the table with the highlghts being:
90 Craiglee Shiraz: perfect condition and in the prime of its life with great light cherries and plum flavours.

Only dissapointment was that thieves broke into my store at 12 midnight on the dot. Fortunately with all the security they walked away empty handed.

cheers
anthony

Anthony,

Good to hear the Craiglee is still going strong as I still have 1 left. Will probably open soon though.

As for the thieves, good to hear they walked away empty handed and not with any of the wines I have ordered .

Cheers
Popov

[Anthony]

I agree
They were only inches away from Krug and Dom, but they only had cig's on their mind.

Have you drunk the DOM yet?

[peterk]

A fairly quiet xmas,a 1980 Grange,med red/purple beautifull nose,masses of chocolate and red fruits into the cherry spectrum,long length and plenty of oak tannins a good wine but with plenty of years to go.
We had this beside a 92 Hill of Grace which at first was much more approchable,and seemed a better wine but over the course of the night the penfolds opened up to become full and rich making the hog seem diluted in comparison.

1980 707
full red/purple in colour no signs of bricking a leafy type nose some chocolate,plums,slight earth. the wine was a bit tired and at its peak if not declining drying tannins and long in length. a good but not great wine.

1985 707
Again full red/purple in colour with no bricking.plum,cigar box mint and hints of chocolate on the nose following onto the palate,with some dark fruits.The wine was well intergrated long on the finish but again on the way down.

New year was a dozen family.(all drinkers) mudcrab and Krug,only one thinking it was worth the money.) a mini vertical of Dalfarras 92 93 95 the 92 showing suberbly. A well made wine and good drinking.

1986 Grange.
Very slow to open up. (2 hrs in the decanter)
a lovely deep nose quite perfumed,no particular nunance leading. Cherry,dark plum,and chocolate on the nose and palate,a excellent wine abet too young.

A whole range of Tahbilk whites,the 2001 riesling being the star.

I hope all hade a safe and happy one
cheers
Peterk

[David Lole]

Good to hear from you Peter,

Still gettin' thru those pennies, I see

Have a good one, mate!

[Martin Phillipson]

Happy New Year to all Forumites

NYE:

Veuve Clicquot Vintage Reserve 1996: Stunning Vintage champers. Tasted like a really good riesling with bubbles, absolutely outstanding nose and a lovely limey flavour with a beautiful bead. Very long aftertaste. Bottle was demolished v quickly.

Henri Bourgeois Pouilly-Fume 2001. Another winner. Textbook Loire valley Sauvignon Blanc but a few months on it's lees gives it a rounder mouthfeel, again didn't last very long.

Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon (Black Label) 1994: Again, another winner. Thought I better open one of these given recent forum postings. Beautiful nose of blackcurrant and perhaps black olives. In the mouth lots of earth, smoke and some eucalypt and still plenty of fruit. Long long aftertaste. As it opened up got some more peppery aspects to it. A delicious Coonawarra Cab that I got for $14.95 (those were the days). No hint of browning either so going to leave at least some of the others a while longer. Still, lovely to drink now.

Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz/Cab 1998. The last decent KH? Lovely wine drinking beautifully nowwith some delicious meaty flavours.

Ruffino Lodola Nuovo Vino Nobile De Montepulciano 1999 Starting to buy some more Italian stuff and this was delicious, classic Sangiovese nose and palate but some fruit there so it wasn't too drying. Went really well with some good Parmigiano Reggiano. Could probably go a few years more in the cellar.


Also, Gavin I concur on that Turley Zin. I opened a 1998 Old Vines Turley Zin (which cost a packet) and found it very ordinary indeed. It was 15%+ alcohol but I found it v insipid and totally over-hyped. I know 1998 wasn't a good year for Calif Zins but I expected way more than this.

Best to all for 2004

MP

[TORB]

Would you believe a heap of c-though? .... No I didn't think so?

How about far to much.

Started off with a swim at a mate of Brian's and a bottle of Yalumba 1998 Black D Sparkling bubbles. Bloody good value at $22 (and still available at that price) and one of the few good ones under $30. Very much in the blackberry and chocolate spectrum. Highly Recommended.

From there it was up hill all the way. Next was a bottle of 1995 E & E Sparkling Shiraz. Just Excellent and a good way to continue the festivities. There may have been another SS in between but I don't remember.

With dinner the first wine was a Penfolds 1986 Bin 707 which was just glorious. Smooth, together, fruit was holding up well, the wine was seamless and all the oak had integrated perfectly. For those that criticise this wine with its vast amounts of American Oak, try one like this and tell me you don't like it! Outstanding! (And Brian did well on the options too. I need to try harder. )

Brian's masked bottle made me look like a rank amateur in the options game. At least I could tell it was a Shiraz. It was together as a wine can get, great construction and balance, terrific savoury taste. Rated as Excellent (almost Outstanding) it was a freak of a wine form the 1992 vintage, the Dalwhinnie Shiraz.

Then for good measure Brian asked if we want another bottle - as he didn't get an answer to this rather rhetorical (and stupid) question he opened his back up wine and we played more options - and I still wound up looking silly.

The standout features of this wine were two fold. Firstly it had a great mouth feel, silky smooth and creamy. The second feature was the beautiful pure intense fruit. It was the Charles Cimicky 1996 Signature Shiraz and was rated as Excellent. If you have any, drink up, it won't get any better (but should hold for a few years.)

We finished off (and it finished me off) with a bottle of Campbells Gold Top Tokay, also Excellent.

The next day Brian invited a few friends over for a "cellar reduction afternoon" but the bastard only made 2121 bottles available to try, and I couldn't get through them all although some of us tried fairly hard.

Top wine for me was the 1994 Jaspers Hill, the biggest disappointment was the 1994 Rockford Basket Press. I will leave it to Brian to fill in the details of that event.

[David Lole]

Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon (Black Label) 1994: Again, another winner. Thought I better open one of these given recent forum postings. Beautiful nose of blackcurrant and perhaps black olives. In the mouth lots of earth, smoke and some eucalypt and still plenty of fruit. Long long aftertaste. As it opened up got some more peppery aspects to it. A delicious Coonawarra Cab that I got for $14.95 (those were the days). No hint of browning either so going to leave at least some of the others a while longer. Still, lovely to drink now.

MP

Hey Martin! HNY!

Re the above. I'm one of the detractors on this wine, but only because of an abhorrent batch of the stuff, by the sound of things. Every bottle I tried was identical. No problems with colour. A slightly muted nose with some attractive berry fruit and a little weediness. The palate is the killer - lean and green, incredibly short with a pencil shavings aftertaste.

Your note suggests almost the opposite.

FWIW, a significant collector of fine wine has made noises recently about batch variation in the '98 Wynn's BL.

Thanks for your notes.

[Popov]

Have you drunk the DOM yet?

Yep! Had it the other week when I proposed along with a crayfish medallions on linguini salad! Absolutely stunning drop!

Cheers
Popov

[Red Bigot]

- I had to remind Ric about the Cimicky he enjoyed on NY Eve it wasn't in his original post. Maybe it was all the kitchen hand duties we made him do the next morning before the hordes descended. Despite all the effort put into it, for brevity I won't describe the endless variety of food done in 'grazing' style.

Here is what the people (mostly from various tasting groups) selected from the cellar (seemed to be a bit of a 10 yo theme). We kicked off at about 1 pm.

Leasingham Classic Clare Sp Shiraz 94 Nothing to say that hasn't been said about this wine, this bottle was a good one, as almost all of them have been for me.

Garden Gully Sp Shiraz 98 - a bit leaner and more in the dark cherry spectrum of shiraz flavours, lovely vibrant colour still showing, starting to drink nicely now, will mature a few more years yet.

Hanging Rock Macedon Cuvee VII - for the white drinkers, didn't try it, but it disappeared fairly quickly. I think there may have been a 2000 Croser and a bottle of chardonnay going for the two white drinkers. Quite a few people sampled a lone bottle of Seppelt Eden Valley Riesling 1983 that I scored in a Seppelt Drives Club dozen a while back. A quick sniff and small sip revealed a superb, still-fresh riesling that would probably mature another 10 years yet. Almost enough to make me want a little more.

Rockford Basket Press 94 - as Ric mentioned, somewhat disappointing, nice front-mid-palate fruit, medium-weight, but had a hard/bitter finish that detracted severely, hope the remaining bottles are better than this one.

Jasper Hill Georgia's Paddock Shiraz 94 - a revelation after the disappointing Rockford, soft, savoury, but layer-upon-layer of flavours and complexity, absolutely blossomed in the glass. Superb wine, peak drinking now I think.

Metal Black Label (Original Plantings) Shiraz 94 - this one took a bit longer to open up, but exhibited the trademark Langhorne Ck mintiness without being too overt, lovely warm fleshy wine with ample weight.

Yalumba Octavius 92 - Not as oaky as I was expecting, a lot of people liked this one for it's firm structure and fruit opening up over the oak/tannins in the glass, needs more time yet.

Bests Bin O Shiraz 94 - another slightly disappointing wine, not overtly corked, but subdued and a little disjointed, didn't get any better (or worse) with breathing. One from this batch was prevously replaced due to a cork problem, hope the remaining 4 are better.

Cullen Cab/Merlot 94 - A few years to peaking yet, this bottle showed all the balanced power and complexity typical of good Cullens vintages, beautiful varietally true slightly dusty/leafy cabernet and nuances of violets and musk from the merlot. Kicking myself for not buying more at under $30 at the time.

Leeuwin Estate Art series Cabernet 91 - a contrast to the Cullens, very lean in comparison, typical LE firm fine tannins, with good cabernet fruit really struggling to come through. Will be interesting if the fruit can make it in a few years time as the tannins soften a little. Most preferred the Cullens.

Wendouree Cab-Malbec 90 - another fairly firm lean style, trademark mint/menthol still there, tannins just starting to soften, I thought it was nicely balanced and drinking very well now, but will obviously last for many years yet. Had mixed reactions from those not used to the Wendouree style.

Dalwhinnie Shiraz 94 - they wanted the 92, but as we had one the previous night I suggested the 94 instead. It's a very nice wine, true to the Dalwhinnie style, just lacking a little of the soft complexity of the 92.

There was a bit of left over Campbells Tokay and a bottle of 98 Noble One guzzled by the die-hards, but I settled for a cleansing Cascade Light after the last of the guests left at about 7:30pm.

I think this was a pretty good way to start the year in the manner I intend it to continue.

[MartinC]

<b>Shirvington Shiraz 2002</b>

The reason how I got hold of this bt. was fr a crazy Asian collector who flew all the way here fr AUS to exchange for some AmonRa 2002 with his bunch - Shirvington'02, Ruden Black Guts, Kay Blk 6'01, Noon Solera 2001 etc.

The Shirvington was a very good wine upon opening but after 2hrs+ in a decanter it turned cowardy. IMO Mr.Parker was overly generous in 99pts rating, me thinks should deserved a haircut of 5-6 pts. Great value for its RRP @ $30-$40 but the secondary market prices were absurd!!!

Cheers and Happy New Year to all...