It's Sunday morning and I am back from SA....

[TORB]

so its time for your weekly drinking reports.

I need an alcoholic free week but can't start yet as Marion is here.

Last night I opened a Veritas 1999 Hanisch. If you want to know what all the fuss is about, this vintage will explain it. Although it was decanted for a short while, it continued to open and improve for hours. Initially the bouquet was most unusual; wet red clay with blackberry but as it opened up, that dissipated to leave a palate that was dominated by rich, dark chocolate and blackberry. Tannins are integrating well but the wine still has years left and will continue to improve. Finishes long. Rated as Excellent.

Now what have you guys and girls been drinking? TN's lists or vibes welcome.

[Matthew Moate]

I've had a few bottles of the 2004 Barwick Estate "the Collectables" Cab Sauv recently.The first bottle I had wasn't all that enjoyable but I think it was more the food pairing of lemon hot pot chicken. The second bottle the next night with lamb was superb. Some nice chocolate, red and dark berries with soft tannins I enjoyed this wine. The wine could go another 5 years. But is drinking fine now aswell.

[Gary W]

I've had a few bottles of the 2004 Barwick Estate "the Collectables" Cab Sauv recently.The first bottle I had wasn't all that enjoyable but I think it was more the food pairing of lemon hot pot chicken. The second bottle the next night with lamb was superb. Some nice chocolate, red and dark berries with soft tannins I enjoyed this wine. The wine could go another 5 years. But is drinking fine now aswell.

You have to enjoy your oak a lot with this one..I'd not keep it more than a few years because of the oak to fruit ratio.

GW

[Santa]

Thursday night Glenn (forum member) and Mel brought around a bottle of Montgomery Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 (a blend of 85% Cabernet, 11% Malbec and 4% Petit Verdot), 14.3% alc., to drink with Spaghetti Bolognaise. A superb cabernet from the Margaret River. Decanted for about 40 minutes, there were aromas of red currant, tobacco leaf and spice. Lovely structure with very good length. Would like to try this again in a couple of years.

Valdamor Albarino from Rias Baixas 2006. 12% alc. Opened on Friday afternoon. Not much to say, light on the nose, and certainly nothing exciting on the palate. However, I saved some and tried again 24 hours later. Wow, it blossomed over night! Straw yellow in colour. Fruity aromas of peach and just a hint of pineapple...not too overpowering. Medium on the palate with a little creaminess. Good weight and length. Ready to drink right now.

Maria

[Wayno]

First weekend back in Adelaide after four weeks abroad. And despite an intermittent and flaring head cold, the following passed my lips, in varying quantities:

Ingoldby Shiraz 2003
My first Aussie wine upon return. Really surprising as the previous one of this tasted confected and one dimensional. After a slew of foreign botteilles, this delivered the goods - slightly leathery, loads of rounded fruit character, good savoury notes and decent length. Commendable and unless my palate is deceiving me, quite good value.

Petaluma Shiraz 2003
Odd. Nice wine, loads of fruit but quite reminiscent of a Grenache ! (Think it might have been some tell-tale viognier character sweetening it up). If there's no viognier in this wine then I'm not sure what it was. Fairly medium bodied and good textural mouthfeel although slightly short finish. Out of curiosity I checked up on Halliday's note for this wine and it's completely different to my appraisal (which shouldn't be a surprise I suppose). Decent nonetheless.

BVE Ebenezer Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
Nice, quite rich but less classic cabernet, more Barossa identity. Tons of ripe fruit, some vanilla oak and consistent, persistent length.

Teusner Riebke Shiraz 2005
Good, full to medium bodied, linear, poised wine with some obvious regional characteristics, once again, the vanilla oak, some underlying tobacco-ey nuances and berries. Good, solid performer and will uncoil somewhat over time.

Jeaneret Grenache Shiraz 2005
A touch confected, very easy drinking, pleasant wine with minimal structure to get in the way. Nice enough.

Hardy's Oomoo Shiraz 04
Fair, honest wine - not sure it excited me in quite the same way as the 03 but excellent QPR.

Now time to take a break and let my head drain....[/b]

[Craig(NZ)]

still in recovery mode. Thursday night was a big night out with work. Before the whiskies started flowing we tucked into 2006 Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir. This is really good stuff with soft creamy tannins, black cherry and spice. Every time I try this wine it seamingly gets better. I prefer it over the 2006 Perigrene. Also had a glass of 2005 Villa Maria Reserve Hawkes Bay Chardonnay. This is an obscene wine flooded with oak and I cant see how anyone could seriously enjoy this wine.

Finishing at 430am, we all had to be back in the city at 9am for a bungy jump off the harbour bridge. The adrenalin come down coupled with hangovers from the previous night took a good day to recover from.

Last night a quiet 2006 Montana South Island Riesling This wine is just an average $10 quaff but was surprisingly attractive after a while as the touch of harshness seemed to blow off. Dont know if there was any waipara fruit in it but it certainly seemed that way with a sweeter soft white peach halo surrounding a more traditional 'marlborough' core. Not a bad drop

[Matthew Moate]

Gary, the oak is certainly present and I just read your review of this wine on Winorama. I did think it could have been a bit better for a wine at this price point and at the premium end for this producer. In any case I'm going to drink a few more now and put 6 away for a few years and see if we get any improvement.

[JDSJDS]

Wow, Craig, a 9:00 am bungee jump after an all nighter - now THAT's quite a way to wake up!!!

[tpang]

I was at the Artisans of the Barossa tastings yesterday, and I haven't had time to write up my notes after comsuming amount 50 wines yesterday. Yes, I made the headsplitting mistake of not spitting.

So just some quick notes. The Radford Shiraz is fantastic value for the quality that you'll be paying $33-35 for. the Hobbs dessert wines were lovely. For some reason, I wasn't enjoying my Kalleske 05 Old Vine Grenache and the Johann Georg all that much. The most beautiful wine of the event was the Standish Relic. Dan's got a seamless beauty of a wine going in that bottling.

Visited Greenock Creek, picked up my 4 bottles of RRs, but tasting through the Cab Sauv, Alice's, Apricot Block and 7 Acres.. OMG.. all the heat burnt my throat all the way down. Won't be buying these this year.. I shudder to imagine that the 3 bottles of grenache I got (didn't taste) will turn out to be like.

Finally, visited Tscharke to finish off a tedious day, and his Tscharke labels are drinking very very nicely, the Alberino especially. The tempranillo is no longer a straight, but a blend with another grape which I can't remember right now. Great loads of flavours in all his drinks, firm structure, nothing flat or flabby.. and all finishing off nicely too.

[rednut]

2003 Fergusson Yarra Valley " Jeremy Shiraz"

Bought this last year whilst in Vic and after trying it Friday night am glad I still have 2 more bottles.
Lovely smooth, plum and liquorice with well balanced oak.
At 15% a very smooth faultless drop.

[Pelican]

Had the below wines that would probably get 90 odd points by the wine press but are really just nice current drinking pleasant enough ephemeral drinks.....can't complain really

2004 Chandon Blanc de Blancs ( $30 ) : nice and creamy - why they don't crown seal these is beyond me.

2006 Kalleske Clarry's Red Barossa Grenache Shiraz : good depth and QPR as some change out of $20. At peak now I'd say.

2004 Nepenthe Adelaide Hills Zinfandel ( $ 26.60 ) : nicely presented in a handsome stelvin capped bottle. This wine used to cost $45 and was hard to find but now found for less in big corporate wine shop. But what is it like ? It is like Zin'. Certainly the most interesting Nepenthe wine IMHO. Grapes were picked in May 2004 states the back label.

[Ian S]

2002 Smithbrook Merlot, which seems better tonight than last night, where it was a bit hot and lacking poise. Bought cheaply but for me it's neither an easy quaffer, nor a complex wine to dwell over. I'm sure it would work better for others.

1993 Isole e Olena Cepparello
The Cepparello was impressive, but without straying from regional or it's grape roots. Not tricked or bulked up IMO.

There are some lovely sweet aged notes breaking through on the nose, but there's still plenty of cherry fruit dominant, alongside some lovely subtle fennel and on swirling, almond. Nice bright ruby-claret, showing some, but not excessive age at the rim.

The palate is a little astringent (I've heard this was a somewhat tough wine in it's youth), but the fruit is still holding it's own with ease. Acidity is nicely refreshing. Quite subtle, but probably just a touch out of balance with the astringency if I were being picky.

regards

Ian

[cuttlefish]

First up beers.

Bay of Fires Sparkling 2001
Really nice glasses

Seppelt Chalambar 1999
Good. Grainy because we didn't decant. Got finished.

Ravenshead Shiraz 2005
Dissappeared.

Couple of beers.

Up early.

[Raymond W]

Errazuriz Estate Merlot 2005 (14%, cork) Curico Valley, Chile 1,350yen

Ruby. A fruity nose of dark cherries, cassis, and plums. A fruit-driven wine on the palate, too. Some sweet cassis then sour plums then the sweet cassis again before drying out a little on the finish. Not a lot in the way of tannins and medium acid levels but just enough of both to keep this wine from being jammy for me, but it maybe too fruity for others. This is a simple and fruity wine good for mid-week drinking.

September 2007


I had the Errazuriz on Friday and took a TN. Did not take a TN for the Howard Park Riesling 2003 because I was drinking it while watching the ABs and then the Wallabies game on Saturday but remember this as having some tropical fruits / lemon aromas and being quite crispy. A lovely drink.

And a couple of Kirin Grand Ale last night while watching the Fuji vs Canada match.

[bacchaebabe]

Friday dinner at a local restaurant with some friends on Friday saw

05 Hoddles Creek Chardonnay Solid pleasant drop. Nice chardy flavours without being too buttery and warm.

04 Saltram Mamre Brook Cab Sav Dear this good. Lovely weight and all round and cuddly plum and berry flavours with nice dusty tannins. Worth every cent and then some.

Saturday dinner for a surprise 60th for my uncle at Forty One - more drinking than tasting but...

01 (I think) Yarrabank Sparkling Nice solid aussie sparkler. Good yeast and small bubbles. Quite tasty and went down easily

06 Horrocks Watervale Riesling A tang of sherbty lemon but not overt. Well balanced wine that went nicely with the salmon I had.

03 Torbreck The Steading Good red purple colour. Some spice and pepper on the finish. Quite nice drinking and went very well with a sublime boneless rack of lamb.

04 Katnook Cabernet Savignon Very nice indeed and I finished up with a glass of this, thinking I should have probably chosen it as the wine to accompany my main. Very fine dusty tannins. Lovely mouthfeel and good body. Some plums and cassis.

And we finished with the wine I had a hell of a time tracking down and getting delivered. Eventually got a well filled bottle a from Stirlings (thanks Chris) and paying $75 to get it freighted overnight from Perth. Ouch. All worth it in the end though.

1947 Seppelt Para Port Orangey tan colour maybe a little cloudy which is no doubt attributable to its flight over from Perth the previous day. Quite a spirity nose. Not super viscous, like the 100year old. Nice rancio raisin flavours with a bit of burnt toffee. Lovely wine and drinking absolutely perfectly. Nowhere near the end of its life either so might search out a few more bottles after this year and the quest for 60 year old wines is over. Almost everyone came up and thanked me bringing this and said how much they enjoyed it so it was very nice to be able to share a special treat with my uncle and all his friends. Have to say a special thanks to the folks at 41 who managed to share a single bottle out between 29 people!

[mattECN]

2002 Woodstock Shiraz Cabernet

Very good wine for the price, showing some bottle age now. Well integrated and balanced, I like this style. Will drink well for a few more years yet

2005 Schild Estate Shiraz

Second bottle in a week – very good also, held up very well over 2 days

Some brief impressions on some new releases ex Howard Vineyard in the Adelaide Hills:

2007 Howard Vineyard Rose

Very nice Rose indeed , made from Shiraz with about 5% Riesling pressings thrown in. Intense red cherries, strawberries, good lingering finish. Slight residual sugar. Produced as an after thought - limited amount produced. Will sell out.

2007 Howard Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc.

They made 2 this year – one has minimal oak treatment. The oaked version (Tank 25) is subtle and delicate, I like to see more fruit bursting onto the palate. The other sauvignon blanc is very refreshing, nice tropical flavours and acidity, good lingering finish, a good effort. The 2006 is drinking very well also

2007 Howard Vineyard Riesling

Concentrated with lime and minerals , high acidity, I think this will lend itself to some good mid term cellaring.

2006 Howard Vineyard Botrytis Semillon

Delicious wine, lovely, not overly sweet, good underlying acidity.

[Partagas]

Sorry no TN

Houghtons regional range Marg River 2001 Cab Sav - Superb bang for buck, drinking very well.

St Henri 2002 - yes it is the real deal but not worth drinking in the near future.

St Henri 1996 - This is why I can no doubt say don`t touch the 02 for a long time. This is what comes of good St Henri stock. This is easily my favourite Shiraz (my budget range so no Grange). It is my 3rd bottle of 96 and it just keeps getting even better. Drinking this is a joy.

Howard Park 2000 Cab Sav - Not a good vintage.

[n4sir]

I was at the Artisans of the Barossa tastings yesterday, and I haven't had time to write up my notes after comsuming amount 50 wines yesterday. Yes, I made the headsplitting mistake of not spitting.

So just some quick notes. The Radford Shiraz is fantastic value for the quality that you'll be paying $33-35 for. the Hobbs dessert wines were lovely. For some reason, I wasn't enjoying my Kalleske 05 Old Vine Grenache and the Johann Georg all that much. The most beautiful wine of the event was the Standish Relic. Dan's got a seamless beauty of a wine going in that bottling.

I was up at the Artisans tasting too from 12 to closing, and had some similar thoughts:

Dan's 2004 The Relic was a magnificent wine - pity we don't have many more SV blends of that standard. His Standish Shiraz I thought looked amazingly fresh and good for a 2003 - can't wait for the 2004.

The 2005 Kalleske Greenock Shiraz didn't look as good on the day, and Troy openly admitted he wasn't happy with that - I'd guess it's going through a bit of a stinky/sulky phase like the 2004 last year, but it will come around. I thought the 2005 Johann Georg was still firing on all cylinders though, and the 2005 Old Vine Grenache is finally developing some of those familar dark chocolate/eucalypt characters of previous vintages.

Spinifex was my overall favourite producer of the day - all the reds were top quality and well priced, and the 2005 Esprit my favourite GSM blend.

My vote for best buy of the day had to be the 2005 Torzi Matthews Frost Dodger - this was the first red I tried for the day, and the last one to finish with. It's a great wine that's up there with the best of them, and a steal for the price.

After getting home I went to a 60th birthday down the road and had a bottle of 2002 Kabminye Irma Adeline with the BBQ - before midnight I was pretty smashed and staggered home and passed out. What a great day.

Cheers,
Ian

[roughred]

1998 Bin 28
As you'd expect, solid, raspberry fruit with a meaty mid palate, a touch of chocolate and ripe chewy tannins. No alarms and no surprises, and good drinking over the next five.

2002 John's Blend Shiraz
This is on the money. Lush blueberry and blackberry fruit, vanilla and cinammon spice, seamless & beautifully weighted with just enough tannin and cedary oak to hold it all together. Thoroughly enjoyable, I am certain it will hold together for some time, not sure that it will improve markedly.

Cheers,

LL