Sunday again.....

[TORB]

Hi Good Peoples,

Last night I opened a Lindemans 1998 Pyrus. I must admit I was not wrapped in the wine. To my way of thinking, it was an Oz wine pretending to look like a Bordeaux. At 9 years of age, the fruit is not as bright as it would have been as a baby, the tannins are resolving nicely, but the acid is still as fresh as the day it was bottled. When the acid combines with the "green characters" (tobacco and mint) the result comes across as an acidic green wine.

I wondered why the hell I bought it, as I knew I had tried it years ago. My original tasting note shows it was rated as Recommended with ** for value. It seems that Brian found some for $29 a bottle, and that's why I bought it.

I then checked Oliver and JO's TN's......
JH Medium to full red-purple; luscious, deep, dark berry/blackcurrant aromas flow into a blackcurrant and cassis-flavoured palate. The wine has good structure thanks to clearly defined but ripe tannins, and will (by the standards of Pyrus) be long lived. 94 points drink 03-13

JO Very stylish and elegant; at last a Pyrus you can take seriously. From its perfume of wild violets, sweet red cherries and raspberries to its bright, shapely and crystal-clear palate of pure red and black fruits, spicy fine-grained oak and light tobaccoey merlot influences, it's an accomplished, finely crafted and willowy wine. (18.8, Drink 2006-2010+, $53 retail approx.)

Oliver nailed with "willowly" but my origional Recommended wiould still the today's rating. I woinder how the other two would rate it now?

If 13% alcohol means wines like this, I am glad they are generally higher.

Now what have you guys been drinkin? Lists, vibes or TN's welcome.

[Craig(NZ)]

Tried again the new Kumeu River chardonnays at the winery yesterday. They are simply sensational and id have to rate them as the best ever set of releases from them. I cant see how anyone with even a passing interest in fine chardonnay could have this on the top of the buy list.

Also the new 2007 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, which as usual at this time of year was underwelming. You really have to wait till Xmas or later for this wine to start to wake up. At the moment my Sunday lunchtime Sauvignon of choice would have to be the $16 2007 Sugar Loaf.

Also the new 2006 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir which was outstanding

[Wayno]

Our three-monthly blind tasting dinner, this time Multi-regional VS single appellation Shiraz. Whilst the theme didn't particularly stick it out, there were, as always, some fascinating finds and myth busting.

Primo Estate Angels Gully Shiraz 2001
Whilst this was near close (or was I think) to Wine of the Weekend a couple of weekends ago, it sat more modestly in the pack this night. Spice, cloves (lamb korma was one not entirely outrageous suggestion), cardamom with nuances of meat stock and a whiff of oak that became more apparent over time. Jammy, and with nice enough length but a last minute snare of alcohol.

Hahndorf Hill Shiraz 2002
Dusty, vinegary and tasted 'industrial/commercial'. Some fruit that was nice enough but this felt a bit lost. Improved after a while once opened but far from a stand-out.

Jacobs Creek Centenary Hill Shiraz 2003
DIstinctive nose of ladies handbag - faint memory's whisper of old perfume, leather and coin tarnished silk. Some medicinal / bretty qualities perhaps. Quite jammy with a vanillan oak character and I picked this as a Barossa wine. After a while the nose began exhibiting whisky, caramel aromas. Overall a little unbalanced and not particularly elegant but rather pleasant and characterful although many disliked this from the offset and continued to.

Domaine De La Grange Des Peres 2006
An innovative vin de pays wine, moulded in the new-World sensibility, garnishing fruit from all over the place and constructing a terrific, fresh, complex wine. This was seen as the overall WOTN by most - medium bodied, amass with fruit, quite clean and long.

La Pinede Cotes Du Rhone 2001
Notes start to go a bit hazy from here. Quite an odd but pleasant nose of honey, quite nice, reasonable finish.

Penfolds Grange 1995
Australian from the first whiff, loaded with liquorice, spice, pepper and tons of chocolate and robust tannins. I picked this as a Barossa wine, quite possibly a flagship of some sort. In remarkable shape and much younger in spirit than many of the others. Probably my WOTN.

Jacobs Creek Reserve Shiraz 2002
Balanced however a touch cloying sweet on the palate. More than held its own amongst some hefty guns. Good wine.

Seppelt St Peters Shiraz 2004
A bit disappointing although it seemed to improve after some time. Thin, ending flat and a bit lifeless. Certainly dwarfed by some of the others. Whilst this garnered some support, not on my list of highlights.

Chateau Fonsalette Syrah 1995
A wildcard plugged onto the end, this felt a bit swamped by some of the bold fruited wonders. Overly herbaceous nose and a bit thin on the finish but with some grippy tannins still. Didn't delve too much further but I'd say manageable and possible even enjoyable with food.

All in all, a great night and my head still hurts.

Duck, capsicum and zucchini crepes hit an early high note, followed by boeuf bourginon (re-constructed with shiraz of course), rich chocolate cake (completed with the always good Majella Sparkling Shiraz and then a wonderful cheese platter paired with a Knappstein Fortified Shiraz which I recall enjoying but by that stage, everything was starting to get blurry.

[Attila]

ORLANDO Trilogy Rosé NV

Came across this as an unexpected surprise at Mum’s birthday party. I love rose Champagne but can’t stand sugary strawberry coctails of sparkling wines parading as rosé, this however is different. It’s almost completely dry too. Bottle fermented blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.

Salmon pink. Vigorous pinhead bubbles. Clean almost neutral nose of cranberries and slight strawberry. Medium bodied, almost completely dry focussed palate with the hint of red fruits. Elegant lovely dry palate with the Pinot shining through. Savoury finish with excellent acid structure. Aperitif style that would go well with seafood. Obvious inspiration drawn from Bollinger Rosé. Excellent Aussie version for $13.
90 points.

Cheers,
Attila

[Attila]

Tried again the new Kumeu River chardonnays at the winery yesterday. They are simply sensational and id have to rate them as the best ever set of releases from them.

Ok, Craig. Just quickly please, your order of preference and prices.
I am always interested in great Chardonnay....

[Joe Cz]

Opened the Mills Reef 1998 Elsepth Cab-Merlot from Hawkes Bay to see how it was doing after a 1999 Prima Donna Pinot Noir from Pegasus Bay seemed rather advanced (but still tasty) earlier this week. This wine 's tannins were resolved, but the color was still youthful and the acids crisp. Vanilla and black currant flavors, some tobacco notes. Very good, not sure if it will improve further--it may just depend on how much aged character you enjoy in your wines.

At a Craggy Range lunch earlier this week, the 2005 Le Sol was a standout, wonderfully perfumed and complex and much less "Australian" in style than earlier vintages.

Earlier this week, I also got to try a Penfolds 1980 Bin 707 at the NY recorking clinic. Peter Gago and Steve Leinert (winemakers) gave it the seal of approval and topped it up with 2004 Bin 707, but I think if I was holding this wine I would opt for drinking it up over the near term.

[Pelican]

1992 Howard Park Riesling Great Southern: fantastic aged limey intense Riesling. I reckon John Wade made fantastic wines whilst at HP. I'm not a fan of the post Wade HP's - for me if the HP label has a nice old painting of a tree on it it'll be a great drinkable complex wine. I find the post Wade HP's generally hard and ungiving like the new labels on the bottles. The 92 HP Cabernet is one of the best Australian Cabernet' I've had too.

2005 John Duval Entity Barossa Shiraz : very easy to like this plush Barossan. Kind of like Lehmanns 8 Songs but better. Curiously I wonder if this is best now even though Duval used to make Grange ! Almost too nice ! I'd like more noticeable tannins I guess but perhaps the tannins are just really fine.

Off to decant a magnum for tonight and fill in the annual Rockford order form.....

[Chuck]

I then checked Oliver and JO's TN's......
JH Medium to full red-purple; luscious, deep, dark berry/blackcurrant aromas flow into a blackcurrant and cassis-flavoured palate. The wine has good structure thanks to clearly defined but ripe tannins, and will (by the standards of Pyrus) be long lived. 94 points drink 03-13

JO Very stylish and elegant; at last a Pyrus you can take seriously. From its perfume of wild violets, sweet red cherries and raspberries to its bright, shapely and crystal-clear palate of pure red and black fruits, spicy fine-grained oak and light tobaccoey merlot influences, it's an accomplished, finely crafted and willowy wine. (18.8, Drink 2006-2010+, $53 retail approx.)

Oliver nailed with "willowly" but my origional Recommended wiould still the today's rating. I woinder how the other two would rate it now?

If 13% alcohol means wines like this, I am glad they are generally higher.

I'm with JH and JO on this. All my bottles have been great. 3 still to go. I guess it's horses for courses. Could it be 2 bad bottles?

La Testa 2001 Merlot. It's hard to find a good aussie merlot but this is a pleasant surprise. From a defunct winery (Classic McLaren) comes this gem. A little sweet but everything else is just yummy. Had with crumbed cutlets, garlic mash and oven baked asparagus in olive oil and garlic. Perrrrrfect


Chuck

[Chuck]

Jacobs Creek Reserve Shiraz 2002
Balanced however a touch cloying sweet on the palate. More than held its own amongst some hefty guns. Good wine.

Agree totally. Boxes well above its weight. Had one recently and am happy to leave the rest to drink over the next 5 years. Hides its 15% alcohol well.

Chuck

[Wayno]

Jacobs Creek Reserve Shiraz 2002
Balanced however a touch cloying sweet on the palate. More than held its own amongst some hefty guns. Good wine.

Agree totally. Boxes well above its weight. Had one recently and am happy to leave the rest to drink over the next 5 years. Hides its 15% alcohol well.

Chuck

Considering we were drinking this blind against 95 Grange (admittedly not a stellar Grange year but Grange nonetheless), the humble JC Reserve presented surprisingly comparatively. Now I don't expect for a minute that the JC will go the distance the Grange will (that was approaching what I would suggest was a prime drinking window but will live for a fair time) but for drinking right here, right now, it's pretty hard to argue the case for a wine that's essentially 30 times the price. But then that's a whole other discussion, one that's been had many times before.

[Craig(NZ)]

Ok, Craig. Just quickly please, your order of preference and prices.
I am always interested in great Chardonnay....

Attila

The 2006 Mates ($48) is my favourite this year, just so much refinement just a tad more mid palate richness than the others but stylistically all 5 chardonnays they have produced this year are similar in the scheme of things. You could well struggle a bit to pick these apart blind. The Mates is an aristocratic wine for lovers of white burgundy. It could well be the best wine they have ever produced.

The 2006 Coddington ($43) impressed me yesterday and seems to be one that could blossom further in the cellar - slightly more chalky texture than the others, slightly firmer in grip. Although I originally on release rated the Coddington behind the Hunting Hill propbably because of its slightly chunkier structure, yesterday I prefered it for its potential. It seemed quite taut and an attractive longer term proposition

The 2006 Hunting Hill ($43) is drinking well now, slightly softer and richer - seems the most approachable of the 4 biggies.

The 2006 Estate edition ($35) is slightly elemental at this stage, needs some time to come together. The 2005 version though is drinking extemely well and is rated by myself and anyone I question as better than the 2005 Mates

The entry level 'village' edition ($18) impressed me more yesterday than it did on release, shows so much refinement for a sub $20 chardy.

My original notes http://www.kiwiwinefanclub.co.nz/content/view/258/42/

[Maximus]

I agree with Craig.

[rednut]

1998 Penfolds Bin 389

Bold, fruity with hints of spice and well balanced oak. Not too bad at all....

[Brucer]

05 Massena 11th Hour Shiraz
Nice velvety fruit, made in the Rhone style. Good

04 Kilikanoon Covenant Shiraz
Fruit has integrated with the oak well. Nice drinking. Clare

04 Kilikanoon M Reserve Shiraz
This is their top McLaren vale offering. Initially the dusty oak was a bit much, but on the second day, it had integrated well. The same oak style used as the Clare and Barossa wines, but I think it suits the McLaren Vale wines less. Still a very good wine.

02 Kaesler Old Vine Shiraz
I have gone off this a bit. Its a bit too savoury, and the American oak is a bit over the top. A keeper, but not sure if it will be worth it

05 Kaesler Old Vine Shiraz
A younger version of the 02. Not my style.

96 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz
Really nice wine.

99 Greenock Creek 7 Acre Shiraz
I am looking hard at the Greenocks, as I have so many. I really had trouble drinking on the first night. Varnish, oak, tar. The second night it was a bit better, but I would rather drink something else.

05 Hewitson Private cellar Shiraz Mouvedra
Fantastic wine. Lifted floral notes, and suburb fruit, balanced, and oak behind. Worth the price and the 97 points Halliday gave it.

04 Kilikanoon Oracle Shiraz
Clare fruit. All class. The oak is dusty, and needs time to gobble up the fruit which it will. Terrific fruit. Great wine.

05 Poonawatta Cuttings Shiraz
Eden Valley fruit, made by Reid Boswald. Very nice wine, not in your face, shows restraint. Great fruit, oak behind. Very nice wine

99 Fox Creek reserve Shiraz
Not a bad wine. Drinking well, fairly balanced, and still going well on the second night.

04 Hobbs Gregor Shiraz
This wine when opened was unbelievable. Really ripe fruit, due to the Amarone drying method, lushous, velopuous, amazing. Over the next 4 hours, all the good stuff seemed to disappear, and the shell was left, which I didnt like. I thought maybe not enough acid. Close to one of the best wines I have had in a long time, in the first hour. Strange.

[TORB]

Bruce,

The Gregor sounds like low level TCA.

[Chuck]

Considering we were drinking this blind against 95 Grange (admittedly not a stellar Grange year but Grange nonetheless), the humble JC Reserve presented surprisingly comparatively. Now I don't expect for a minute that the JC will go the distance the Grange will (that was approaching what I would suggest was a prime drinking window but will live for a fair time) but for drinking right here, right now, it's pretty hard to argue the case for a wine that's essentially 30 times the price. But then that's a whole other discussion, one that's been had many times before.

Wayno,

Winestate Magazine gave it 2nd place in the Shiraz section of its Wines of the Year awards a few years back. Not bad for a $15 wine. It was hard to make bad SA shiraz in 2002 with excellent fruit going into wines across all price ranges.

Chuck

[Santa]

Had a great day with Glenn (milky-brown) his partner Mel and other friends. Barefoot bowls at Coorparoo in the early afternoon, followed by home baked cakes and wine, and finally home made pizzas and more wine.

Glenn brought out some lovely reds from the cellar/office/bedroom.

Sandalford Cabernet Sauvignon 2004. 14.5% alc. $28.00
Made from 35 year old vines. Full-bodied, balanced with dark berry flavours. Wonderful length. A lovely Margaret River Cabernet.

Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz 2007. 13.5% alc. $6.00
Rich, balanced with plum and spice flavours. Fantastic value for money.

Mildara Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2005. 14.5% alc. $15.00
Lifted aromas of blackcurrant and blackberries. Balanced and elegant with blackcurrant, dark plum and vanillin flavours. Good length.

Thanks Glenn and Mel.

Till we meet again.......

Maria

[Bick]

Stonecroft Syrah 2005 - Very nice. The nose is rich and peppery with an aroma of cloves according to the bottle, and I can't disagree. Nice plummy fruit. Very good drinking now, but will benefit from a couple of years in the cellar I think. Diam cork, NZ$38.

Blackenbrook Sauvignon Blanc 2007 - this is the trophy winner that Sue and Craig have both given the thumbs up - I was keen to try it and it didn't disappoint. Very fruity! Screwcap, NZ$18

Dog Point Pinot Noir 2005 - I liked this a lot - nice, delicate pinot, with soft tannins. Not as rich as some of the Central Otago pinots I've had lately (this is from Marlborough), but its elegant. Cork, NZ$42

Thorn Clarke Shotfire Shiraz 2005 - quite different from the Stonecroft - this was gutsier and more upfront as you'ld expect - lovely balance though. The Stonecroft had a more obvious peppery character, but this had more rich dark fruit. Super QPR imho. I've since got a few of these for the cellar on the basis of this bottle. Screwcap (hoorah), NZ$22

So, four wines worth mentioning, and I really enjoyed all four. No particular disappointments so its been a good week

[bob parsons]

Bick, did you get enough info on your S Diego visit? Any chance you are going to meet up with anyone from Garrs forum?

Cheers Bob P

[Bick]

Bick, did you get enough info on your S Diego visit? Any chance you are going to meet up with anyone from Garrs forum?

Cheers Bob P

Yes thanks Bob - I've got a good short-list - cheers for the tip.

[Jordan]

Mountadam Eden Valley Riesling 2006 - nice indeed. Florals and underlying acidity.
Rockfords Rifle Range Cab Sav 2003 - good... much better than I expected for the vintage
St Hallets Old Block Shiraz 2001- good but not too exciting.
Grant Burge Shadrach Cab Sav 1998 - looked good, if a little boring.
Penfolds Bin 389 Cab Sav 1996 - excellent. A classic in the making.
Wirra Wirra RSW Shiraz 2002 - excellent, settled down and beggining to strut its stuff.
Barratt The Reserve Pinot Noir 2004 - good but paled in comparison to the William Downie consumed the night before.

[Gary W]

02 Kaesler Old Vine Shiraz
I have gone off this a bit. Its a bit too savoury, and the American oak is a bit over the top. A keeper, but not sure if it will be worth it

French Oak.
GW

[monghead]

2002 St Hallett Blackwell- Decent, but mundane
1998 Orlando Jacaranda Ridge- Excellent fruit and concentration
1998 Rosemount Mountain Blue- Passable, quickly falling over
1998 Penfolds St Henri- Very, very good depth and persistence
2004 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier- Sensational drink, exciting

Cheers,

Monghead

[bacchaebabe]

Just one that I haven't already posted on.

98 Maxwell Lime Cave Cabernet Still a deep purple colour. Spicey nose of capsicum and olives following through to the palate. Nice weight and length. Had a couple of these over the last six months or so and this was the best by far. Seems to be coming together a bit better now.

[Wayno]

Likewise, a little pearler that slipped in after the Shiraz-athon of Saturday night

Maglieri Shiraz 2003
Not sure what the current status of this label is, but this was pretty handy, loaded with varietal, savoury characters but still loads of plummy, jammy loveliness. Would have sat favourably with a number of more exxy wines and was the perfect finish to a completely boozy weekend. Time for some much needed AFDs.

[DJ]

Far too long between "weekly" tasting notes.

Baby brother's 21st so some 86's came out on Friday night
1986 Rothbury Semillion (a beige label, not the black one)
Nice aged Hunter Sem on the nose, toast, vanilla, honey, just a bit tired on the palate.

1986 Yarra Yerring No 1 Dry Red (Magnum)
Technically probably a bit dirty (this may been a waiter/decanting problem) but great flavour length, juicy fruit, nice earthiness. Probably will hold for years - last bit stuffed when 389 was added to the glass

1986 Bin 389 (in a clean glass )
Beginning to dry out. Typical 389 briary character but some more fruit would have been better

1986 Baileys of Glenrowan Vintage Port
Took a while to open up, initially a bit spirity but alcohol settled and some nice fruit came through. Not terribly complex but a good way to end the dinner.

Had a good day in the Hunter with Mrs DJ, having left the kids with my parents. Woodfired pizza at Firesticks Cafe (at Pooles Rock) for lunch was very tasty although the coffee was a bit weak.
Visited Boutique Wine Centre - bought about a mixed case to top up the automatic mail outs and 2 magnums of birth year (05) Chateau Pato .
Tulloch was out of Private Bin which I wanted to try and didn't have vintages any where which was incredibly annoying: Verdelho sweeter than it used to be but the Shiraz was quite good.
Scarborough - nice to meet Jezza - doing some interesting things, especially with the White Label Chardonnay, Rose and late picked Semillon.
Tamberlaine - we hadn't been here for more than a decade and we had some fond memories - poorly cleaned sherry glasses for tasting bad start, wines over sweet, service not interested - we won't be back.
David Hook wines - some interesting things being done. I hope the Pothana Shiraz was suffering bottle shock as the acid seemed out of balance. Bought Gorge Shiraz and Gorge Mosto.
Lake's Folly was OPEN! They had 2004 and 1999 red available. In retrospect the 04 was probably slightly corked but the 99 was drinking very nicely.

[Peter NZ]

Dry River Gewurtz 2004 - viscuous, varietal but not over the top, borderline between an aperitif and a dessert wine, but certainly good as the former ... in fact very good.

Marc Bredif Vouvray 2004 - medium styled, worked a lot better as an aperitif than the Mesh Riesling 2006 (too dry to drink without food) which was however very good with a smoked salmon on walnut bread entree.

Matariki Reserve Syrah 2000 - corked, but have enjoyed a few of these recently -- wouldn't keep much longer but drinking nicely.

Villa Maria Reserve Merlot 2000 - very good match with lamb rack; again drinking very well now.

Stonecroft Ruhanui 1995 - during the week rather than the weekend, but worth a mention - $60 on the O'Connell Street Bistro winelist, which looked like a steal to me. Holding up very well, still with plenty of primary fruit.

And a few brief impressions from a tasting of Escarpment with Larry McKenna at Regional in Wgtn ... for a non-Pinot Gris drinker, the '06 Escarpment PG was excellent -- oak aged & a good food wine, & also enjoyed the '07 Riesling ... just on the boundary for me between a drier have-to-drink-with-food riesling and a medium bodied aperitif style. I'd be happy to do either. As well as the 2006 Kupe, there're 2 or 3 (forget which) single vineyard Pinots in the same price range to come in the new year. Larry rates the '06 Martinborough vintage as a 9/10 for Pinot.

[Partagas]

[quote="Wayno"]
Seppelt St Peters Shiraz 2004
A bit disappointing although it seemed to improve after some time. Thin, ending flat and a bit lifeless. Certainly dwarfed by some of the others. Whilst this garnered some support, not on my list of highlights.

That was also my impression. It just lacked a heap of depth for a wine of this reputation. Thought there was something missing. After saying that, the very last glass in the decanter started to show a bit more character. Won’t touch the rest of mine for quite a while to see how it develops.

[seanwines]

Wirra Wirra RSW 1997
Excellent wine - good quality cork, had this wine at a BBQ - I want more now.

[DavidL]

1996 Wirra Wirra The Angelus Needed 24 hours to open up. A very enjoyable drink the following day 18/20

2000 E & E. Great drinking beautifully now, lots of fruit and a long finish 18.5/20

1994 La Chapelte Hermitage - Corked. Very dissapointing