Its time for your weekly drunk-ing reports.
Notes, vibes, or impressions welcome, and you don't even have to use points.
So please let us know what you have been drunk-ing over the last 604,800 seconds.Sunday has snuck up on us again....
Sunday has snuck up on us again....
Hi Good Peoples,
Its time for your weekly drunk-ing reports.
Notes, vibes, or impressions welcome, and you don't even have to use points. So please let us know what you have been drunk-ing over the last 604,800 seconds.
Its time for your weekly drunk-ing reports.
Notes, vibes, or impressions welcome, and you don't even have to use points.
So please let us know what you have been drunk-ing over the last 604,800 seconds.2005 Moss Wood Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon : just a taste at a store - good length and not OTT so bought a bottle for the cellar. Would like more but alas at $100..... Seemed well balanced so the 14% alc. did not deter me. Stelvin too. To be added to the collection of single bottles.
1999 Olivers Taranga McLaren Vale Shiraz : Substantial chocolatey McLaren Vale Shiraz. Only detraction for me was a bit of a liquery aspect that some might love but I don't. Good wine though overall. 14% alc. too.
2004 Cuilleron Syrah Vin de Pays Des Collines Rhodaniennes : In a line up against the above 2 wines I'm sure this would be judged harshly by some. However in fact , for me , this wine had a lovely weight to it , viz. 12.5 % alc. Bacon fat on the nose and a lovely subdued sweet fruitiness on the palate. A wine that "underdelivered" in a good way ! Last glass as good as the first. Delicious.
1999 Olivers Taranga McLaren Vale Shiraz : Substantial chocolatey McLaren Vale Shiraz. Only detraction for me was a bit of a liquery aspect that some might love but I don't. Good wine though overall. 14% alc. too.
2004 Cuilleron Syrah Vin de Pays Des Collines Rhodaniennes : In a line up against the above 2 wines I'm sure this would be judged harshly by some. However in fact , for me , this wine had a lovely weight to it , viz. 12.5 % alc. Bacon fat on the nose and a lovely subdued sweet fruitiness on the palate. A wine that "underdelivered" in a good way ! Last glass as good as the first. Delicious.
Petaluma Shiraz 2002
Robust, sturdy and with a meaty overtone, this presented quite well. Nicely bodied and dimensional cool climate shiraz, lovely length, some good fruit character although stylishly subdued in that regard.
Kalleske Pirathon Shiraz 2005
In comparison, less complex but still very effective. Upfront Barossa style with oak lining although this came across as slightly cloying, in a pleasingly jammy way.
Golding Pinot Noir 2004
Wouldn't call this particularly varietal but enjoyable nonetheless, oak expressive and somewhat more like a cool climate shiraz. Good medium bodied approach. Nice flavours, length.
Cape Mentelle SSB 2007
Cut grass, herbs, some stonefruit underlying. A very presentable, balanced wine that survived three days and still was drinking well.
Robust, sturdy and with a meaty overtone, this presented quite well. Nicely bodied and dimensional cool climate shiraz, lovely length, some good fruit character although stylishly subdued in that regard.
Kalleske Pirathon Shiraz 2005
In comparison, less complex but still very effective. Upfront Barossa style with oak lining although this came across as slightly cloying, in a pleasingly jammy way.
Golding Pinot Noir 2004
Wouldn't call this particularly varietal but enjoyable nonetheless, oak expressive and somewhat more like a cool climate shiraz. Good medium bodied approach. Nice flavours, length.
Cape Mentelle SSB 2007
Cut grass, herbs, some stonefruit underlying. A very presentable, balanced wine that survived three days and still was drinking well.
Cheers
Wayno
Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities.
Wayno
Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities.
Miceli Pinot Grigio 2006 - pearskin, lanolin, citrus fruits....very nice little quaffer
Artardi Vinas de Gain 2004 - lovely glossy tempranillo from Rioja
Hatton Estate Syrah 2004 - not bad...oak seemed a little green and a touch of acid pinch on the finish.
Domaine la Barroche Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve 2005 - excellent stuff...just recently imported into Oz...must pick up some of this.
Domaine Francois Lamarche Echezeaux 1994 - not bad...a bit on the lean side
Chateau Montrose 1964 - excellent....
Artardi Vinas de Gain 2004 - lovely glossy tempranillo from Rioja
Hatton Estate Syrah 2004 - not bad...oak seemed a little green and a touch of acid pinch on the finish.
Domaine la Barroche Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve 2005 - excellent stuff...just recently imported into Oz...must pick up some of this.
Domaine Francois Lamarche Echezeaux 1994 - not bad...a bit on the lean side
Chateau Montrose 1964 - excellent....
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Mike Hawkins
- Posts: 2753
- Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2003 9:39 am
1996 Hollicks Ravenwood - this use to be considered among the upper echelon of Aussie cabs. Sadly its no longer at those lofty levels. Nevertheless, a decednt wine. Seemed a tad thin on its own, but with with fillet mignon it was really good. A touch of cigar box and cassis, with decent length. Still years left.
1996 Peter Lehmann Stonewell - served slightly cold served to supress what is a typically oaky nose. Not the most complex wine, but lovely rich (though not sweet) Barossan shiraz fruit.
1996 Peter Lehmann Stonewell - served slightly cold served to supress what is a typically oaky nose. Not the most complex wine, but lovely rich (though not sweet) Barossan shiraz fruit.
1990 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1
Deep redish purple, no bricking, on decanting the wine filled the room with wonderful dark fragrant fruits and violets that promised more than i think the palate delivered. Never the less smooth and silky, medium bodied, pure cherry, raspberry and cassis fruit, elegant and very well balanced. I couldn't put the glass down. Many years still left in this incredible wine. In a word SUPERB!
Deep redish purple, no bricking, on decanting the wine filled the room with wonderful dark fragrant fruits and violets that promised more than i think the palate delivered. Never the less smooth and silky, medium bodied, pure cherry, raspberry and cassis fruit, elegant and very well balanced. I couldn't put the glass down. Many years still left in this incredible wine. In a word SUPERB!
I have had to cut down and be more reasonable in what I drink, so not many interesting things have been opened recently but in the course of the last three weeks we had two in particular which were an interesting contrast.
1997 Seppelt Great Western Shiraz
Ottoman in Canberra has this on their wine list at a bargain price. Opened perhaps a little volatile but that quickly cleared. Great length rich berry fruit with some leathery overtones yummo. Has plently of time ahead of it, I just wish I had more St Peter's in the cellar. This wine has a big crust, should be stood up a day or two ahead and decanted carefully. Unfortunately didn't get perfect handling in the restaurant but shone through.
1997 Dalwhinnie Shiraz
The problem with red wine in the cooler months in Canberra is getting them warm enough. Great nose on open rich earthy hint of fruit. Tannin overwhelming initially but that was partly temperature. Long full rich flavour.
In short I preferred the Seppelt, my last bottle of the Dalwhinne, so fairly academic but interesting for thinking about future buying.
1997 Seppelt Great Western Shiraz
Ottoman in Canberra has this on their wine list at a bargain price. Opened perhaps a little volatile but that quickly cleared. Great length rich berry fruit with some leathery overtones yummo. Has plently of time ahead of it, I just wish I had more St Peter's in the cellar. This wine has a big crust, should be stood up a day or two ahead and decanted carefully. Unfortunately didn't get perfect handling in the restaurant but shone through.
1997 Dalwhinnie Shiraz
The problem with red wine in the cooler months in Canberra is getting them warm enough. Great nose on open rich earthy hint of fruit. Tannin overwhelming initially but that was partly temperature. Long full rich flavour.
In short I preferred the Seppelt, my last bottle of the Dalwhinne, so fairly academic but interesting for thinking about future buying.
David J
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake 1Ti 5:23
Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake 1Ti 5:23
Quite a lot of wines opened by/with friends/family last week but as I can't drink much these days I only got to try a smidge of each, resulting in very vibish comments below as a result.
Marc Bredif Vouvray 1985 - standard offering - amazingly fresh, full of crisp waxy apples, acacia and honey, some sulphur that blew off, fantastically intact with just wonderful acid cut and great length. Will live for many years. 92
Leo Buring Special Release Eden Valley Riesling 1998 - at the peak of its powers, glorious bouquet and palate but needs to drunk over the next year. Lots of toast and honey over a core of developed limey fruit 90
Domaine Germain Beaune 1er cru "Les Cras" 1996 - opened with beautiful bright sweet cherry fruit, clean as a whistle, svelte and soft but a little simple. Transformed with some air into a sappy, slightly green, fruitless wine with lots of structure and not a lot of charm. 85
Chateau Cantemerle 1966 - mid-high shoulder but very well cellared. Cork split into several pieces on extraction but did not disintergrate. Solid colour, still quite deep with some dark red remaining in the core. Horrible pongy/barnyardy nose that only relented with a good airing, improving dramatically and revealing lovely earthy/cedar/plum/herby characters. Palate full of red plum and leathery fruit, smooth as, melted tannins, seamless, long. Terrific enjoyment had by all six people drinking this over dinner. A real treat! 92
Chateau Climens 1979 - not a great year for Sauternes but this wonderful Barsac looked absolutely spot on, served immediately after the '66 Cantemerle. The others enjoyed this with their desserts. The Climens was my dessert! Very much alive but mature and great to smell and drink. The colour was superb - light bright gold! The wine still tight but elegant and beautifully poised. Great line, length and balance. Wonderful fruit/oak/acid balance. No hurry to drink. 93
Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling 1997 - great level, infantile colour but opened very weird indeed! Pine needles and strange herby/lavendar characters. Could not work out what was going on here - PITM the palate was spiky, acid rich and quite tart, devoid of the unctious fruit I remember in the last bottle I opened. 78 points Couldn't ditch this, so into the fridge and next day this bottle does the big 180 and looks tight but with crisp minerally/lean citruss fruit/nice balance, good length .... but not better than very good to excellent - 89
Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet 1991 - In my book, probably one of the best ever Limestone's. Looks horribly good, nearing maturity but still fresh and virile. Bucketloads of plummy/curranty fruit that handles the cedary/vanillin/dill-infused American oak with aplomb. Lovely smooth palate - vibrant but wonderfully meshed with a refreshing acidty and very fine-grained meshed tannins. Excellent length. Drink over the next five years. Top Aussie red. 92
Marc Bredif Vouvray 1985 - standard offering - amazingly fresh, full of crisp waxy apples, acacia and honey, some sulphur that blew off, fantastically intact with just wonderful acid cut and great length. Will live for many years. 92
Leo Buring Special Release Eden Valley Riesling 1998 - at the peak of its powers, glorious bouquet and palate but needs to drunk over the next year. Lots of toast and honey over a core of developed limey fruit 90
Domaine Germain Beaune 1er cru "Les Cras" 1996 - opened with beautiful bright sweet cherry fruit, clean as a whistle, svelte and soft but a little simple. Transformed with some air into a sappy, slightly green, fruitless wine with lots of structure and not a lot of charm. 85
Chateau Cantemerle 1966 - mid-high shoulder but very well cellared. Cork split into several pieces on extraction but did not disintergrate. Solid colour, still quite deep with some dark red remaining in the core. Horrible pongy/barnyardy nose that only relented with a good airing, improving dramatically and revealing lovely earthy/cedar/plum/herby characters. Palate full of red plum and leathery fruit, smooth as, melted tannins, seamless, long. Terrific enjoyment had by all six people drinking this over dinner. A real treat! 92
Chateau Climens 1979 - not a great year for Sauternes but this wonderful Barsac looked absolutely spot on, served immediately after the '66 Cantemerle. The others enjoyed this with their desserts. The Climens was my dessert! Very much alive but mature and great to smell and drink. The colour was superb - light bright gold! The wine still tight but elegant and beautifully poised. Great line, length and balance. Wonderful fruit/oak/acid balance. No hurry to drink. 93
Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile Riesling 1997 - great level, infantile colour but opened very weird indeed! Pine needles and strange herby/lavendar characters. Could not work out what was going on here - PITM the palate was spiky, acid rich and quite tart, devoid of the unctious fruit I remember in the last bottle I opened. 78 points Couldn't ditch this, so into the fridge and next day this bottle does the big 180 and looks tight but with crisp minerally/lean citruss fruit/nice balance, good length .... but not better than very good to excellent - 89
Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz Cabernet 1991 - In my book, probably one of the best ever Limestone's. Looks horribly good, nearing maturity but still fresh and virile. Bucketloads of plummy/curranty fruit that handles the cedary/vanillin/dill-infused American oak with aplomb. Lovely smooth palate - vibrant but wonderfully meshed with a refreshing acidty and very fine-grained meshed tannins. Excellent length. Drink over the next five years. Top Aussie red. 92
Cheers,
David
David
Craig(NZ) wrote:2005 Carrick Pinot Noir. Finally a Central Otago Pinot worth talking about.
The 06 is drinking well too. I have a bunch of 05 and 06 Carricks in the cellar - my favourite CO pinot I think.
For me over the last week:
Coopers Creek Reserve Merlot/Cab Franc 1998
This was pretty good. Dense garnet; gamey, earthy nose; still plenty of fruit; soft and oaky. Not quite as rich as hoped though - perhaps showing its age a bit. Quite classy stuff nonetheless.
Saltram Mamre Brook Shiraz 2004 & 2005
Btl of each vintage one after the other. Nice wine. The 04 was smooth, oaky and moreish - but the 05 was perhaps a touch superior with the fruit coming through a little better.
Quartz Reef Methode Traditionelle NV
I always enjoy this. Nice pre-dinner bubble.
Kawarau Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2005
Good nose (quite varietal) refined, balanced palate in a black fruit style, not overdone in way. While not the finest pinot I've had lately, it was very enjoyable and went well with my rabbit tortellini.
Peregrine Rastaburn Riesling 2005
Nice, slightly off-dry style. I keep meaning to try the Charcoal Creek, but this was in the celler already. Good QPR. Very limey, but the bit of RS makes it pretty quaffable.
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Daniel Jess
- Posts: 214
- Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2007 2:45 pm
- Location: Brisbane, Qld, Australia
- Contact:
2003 Saddler's Creek Cabernet Sauvignon - Pokolbin/Langhorne Creek
App: A dark plum skin hue, solid to the rim and quite clear and still radiant. No significant residue drop to show yet.
Nose: Immediately distinct from its younger, greener counterparts it opened with an abrupt alcoholic earthiness which quickly subsided and allowed the berry characters out. Gentle plum, chocolate, cinnamon, nice toasty oak, dark red rose and slight mushroominess. Well integrated and subtle opening, clarified characters over the space of an hour after decanting for an hour previous.
Taste: Gentle entry into the mouth, reasonably intense acid and alcohol, mouth warming and spicy it hints at the langhorne region immediately with its warmer winter spices coming through. A slight residual sugar I suspect as it enters the front palate at first sip, strong alcoholic backbone balances the oaked berries leaving a fantastic long finish of oak, browned toast and bitter chocolate at the back. Well ripened tanins that will settle a bit better yet with careful cellaring. Some mentha but not a heck of a lot. Very long finish with a sustained spice throughout all three registers.
At 14.5% A/V this wine has matured very well in the bottle and will mature even more nicely until 2015. Can't wait to see my other bottles around then! It went very nicely with my duck lasagne (hehe)
App: A dark plum skin hue, solid to the rim and quite clear and still radiant. No significant residue drop to show yet.
Nose: Immediately distinct from its younger, greener counterparts it opened with an abrupt alcoholic earthiness which quickly subsided and allowed the berry characters out. Gentle plum, chocolate, cinnamon, nice toasty oak, dark red rose and slight mushroominess. Well integrated and subtle opening, clarified characters over the space of an hour after decanting for an hour previous.
Taste: Gentle entry into the mouth, reasonably intense acid and alcohol, mouth warming and spicy it hints at the langhorne region immediately with its warmer winter spices coming through. A slight residual sugar I suspect as it enters the front palate at first sip, strong alcoholic backbone balances the oaked berries leaving a fantastic long finish of oak, browned toast and bitter chocolate at the back. Well ripened tanins that will settle a bit better yet with careful cellaring. Some mentha but not a heck of a lot. Very long finish with a sustained spice throughout all three registers.
At 14.5% A/V this wine has matured very well in the bottle and will mature even more nicely until 2015. Can't wait to see my other bottles around then! It went very nicely with my duck lasagne (hehe)
98 Yalumba Signature
98 Yalumba Signature - a wonderful wine, and quite a bit better than one tried 3 years ago. Dark reddish purple in color, almost black. Wonderful scents of red berries, dark chocolate, licorice and blackberry with a hint of mint. Similar flavors in a very complex, full bodied style. Long, long finish of red berries, mint and licorice. Rated as Excellent+.
Also
06 Torzi Matthews Schist Rock Shiraz - dark purple color. Reminiscent of the regular Heartland Shiraz in style. Floral and dark berry aromas and flavors with good viscosity and richness. Finish is fairly floral, with dark (blackberry/blueberry) flavors and a short aftertaste. Rated as Recommended.
Also
06 Torzi Matthews Schist Rock Shiraz - dark purple color. Reminiscent of the regular Heartland Shiraz in style. Floral and dark berry aromas and flavors with good viscosity and richness. Finish is fairly floral, with dark (blackberry/blueberry) flavors and a short aftertaste. Rated as Recommended.
Brian
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bacchaebabe
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2003 5:04 pm
- Location: Sydney
Had a couple of nice ones last night for a friend's birthday at Barzura in Coogee. Good food except for a very overdone steak.
96 Penfolds Special Bin Semillon I bought a dozen of these on release and thought it was about time I checked another one. The cork was a total and unmitigated disaster. Snapped off by the waitress who probably didn't look at the vintage and then I proceeded to completely destroy it.
Ended up with almost more cork than wine and had to call for the strainer. Doh! Anyway, a golden yellow colour. Quite a honey and floral nose and lanolin and toast on the palate with some honey and flowery nuances. Will check the rest of the bottle tonight as we didn't drink it all. Quite nice but not stunning.
Went on to a 93 Orlando St Hugo Cabernet Savignon to drink with the mains. OMG - bloody delicious. I slightly overpoured the glasses not leaving so much room to swirl so after my girlfriend made the appropriate comments about this I poured her a quarter of a glass. Consequently we both had quite a different experience on the nose. Mine was very blackcurrent and all ribena while hers was very licorice as she was able to swirl hers around a lot more. Very interesting. Anyway, on the palate loads of blackcurrent, which I just love. Some anise and chocolate but primary fllavour was the blackcurrent. Nice body and good length but towards the end of its plateau. If you have any left, I'd look at opening them this year. You won't be disappointed.
96 Penfolds Special Bin Semillon I bought a dozen of these on release and thought it was about time I checked another one. The cork was a total and unmitigated disaster. Snapped off by the waitress who probably didn't look at the vintage and then I proceeded to completely destroy it.
Ended up with almost more cork than wine and had to call for the strainer. Doh! Anyway, a golden yellow colour. Quite a honey and floral nose and lanolin and toast on the palate with some honey and flowery nuances. Will check the rest of the bottle tonight as we didn't drink it all. Quite nice but not stunning.
Went on to a 93 Orlando St Hugo Cabernet Savignon to drink with the mains. OMG - bloody delicious. I slightly overpoured the glasses not leaving so much room to swirl so after my girlfriend made the appropriate comments about this I poured her a quarter of a glass. Consequently we both had quite a different experience on the nose. Mine was very blackcurrent and all ribena while hers was very licorice as she was able to swirl hers around a lot more. Very interesting. Anyway, on the palate loads of blackcurrent, which I just love. Some anise and chocolate but primary fllavour was the blackcurrent. Nice body and good length but towards the end of its plateau. If you have any left, I'd look at opening them this year. You won't be disappointed.
Cheers,
Kris
There's a fine wine between pleasure and pain
(Stolen from the graffiti in the ladies loos at Pegasus Bay winery)
Kris
There's a fine wine between pleasure and pain
(Stolen from the graffiti in the ladies loos at Pegasus Bay winery)