It's a wet sunday

[seddo]

Hi All
Hope I'm not stealing anyones thunder but it's that time of the week

St Hallets Blackwell Shiraz 04 - smells and tastes initially like menthol (Alpine anybody) and takes about 3 hrs for the fruit to shine thru - black fruit - not bad but wont be touching another for a while.

Turner's Crossing Shiraz Viogner 05 - consumed this over 3 nights as it was very closed on nights 1 and 2 not a bad wine but have tasted better.

Bremerton Selkirks Shiraz 05 - beautiful big wine - slippery on the tongue with masses of fruit flavour which dissapated on night 2 - so for me - it is a early drinker

cheers Seddo

[Wayno]

Bethany Cab Merlot 2005
By the numbers. Rich, slightly varietal, fair quaffer. Can't be enthused much more than that.

[TORB]

Hi All
Hope I'm not stealing anyones thunder but it's that time of the week

Nope; anyone can start the thread.

[monghead]

2004 Ridge California Santa Cruz Mountains

Quite liked this wine. Continually improving as we consumed it. Started with very dark, sweet berries, but through the night, savoury characters like olives and roasted peppers emerged. Medium bodied, it did finish with a fair whack of tannnins though. Would love to see this in 5 years, when hopefully the tannins have had a chance to settle down.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[dlo]

Very little drinking once again due to illness, but managed a glass or two of the Excellent/Outstanding 1988 John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon - typically a little green, cedary and weedy upon opening but with air came back into equilibrium with loads of curranty fruit providing the necessary counterbalance and although "mature" will not fall over in a hurry. Terrific example of a multi-faceted, well-structured Coonawarra Cabernet.

And a glass of Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling 1998 from a cork-sealed bottle and not displaying the overt reductive problems of the screwcap versions. This bottle was in superb condition - still fresh to nose with vibrant lime, honey, toast and lightly dusted with dried herbs; gorgeously textured palate with superb fruit definition, perfectly honed, integrated but prominent acidity and a truly wonderful departure of considerable duration - Outstanding for me. If all cork-sealed versions were as good as this (which, I promise you, they are certainly NOT) this wine would have another exciting five to ten years evolution in front of it.

[rednut]

Ross Estate
2002 Estate Shiraz Magnum

Typical of a Barossa red (my favourite), big on flavour, deep in colour and absolutely lovely. Enjoyed by all who tried it.

[GraemeG]

A 2004 d'Arenberg d'Arry's Original Shraz Grenache (McLaren Vale) {screwcap, 14.5%} still retains plenty of characteristic McLaren Vale ripe fruit, but the grenache gives a faintly exotic note, combined with the dustiness of the shiraz which makes this a very attractive quaffer, despite nearly being too warm on the palate. Some development which makes this interesting, a hint of leathery dustiness; a bit more savoury than the typical D'Arenberg red - way better than a Laughing Magpie, for instance - this ought to age beautifully for another 10 years or so. Nicely in proportion - tannins and acids combine unobtrusively to make a whole greater than the sum of the parts. May sound strange, but this is probably my favourite offering from this winery.

2000 Tyrrells Stevens Reserve Semillon (Hunter) {cork, 11.0%}
Slightly corked. I had a glorious bottle of this two months ago, otherwise I wouldn't be so certain. Drinkable if you're desperate, but why the hell should you? Life's too short to drink corked wine.

2005 Tahbilk Marsanne (Nagambie) {screwcap, 13.5%}[/i] Plenty of marzipan and nougat here, but always dry. Thick, full texture. Hard to imagine a more solid wine without the assistance of oak. At least medium-bodied, although despite the powerful flavours the finish doesn't exactly linger forever. A hot droughty vintage I'm guessing? Interesting and enjoyable, but I don't think it'll make old bones. Give it 5 years max.

cheers,
Graeme

[Craig(NZ)]

6 hours tasting at winenz today. many familiar names producing some good stuff and a few new finds as well including my new riesling of the year....

notes will be up later this week you know where

[Bick]

Chateau Cambon La Pelouse 04 - enjoyed this very much - lovely oak-fruit balance, heaps of character and mouth-filling but fine tannins. Too young of course, but this cru superieur from Haut-Medoc is a steal (NZ$44) considering the quality and typical bordeaux characters.

I've also been enjoying a few usual suspects, including Ata Rangi Celebre 05, Felton Rd Riesling 07, Villa Maria CS Chard 06, Longhop shiraz 06. Also a Johanneshof Gewurztraminer 07 - its clearly a well made wine, but I think I'm going off gewurz.

[John #11]

1999 Yalumba The Signatures Cabernet-Shiraz
Beautiful colour, opened nicely after a short decant, typical coonawarra fruit, and nice peppery shiraz notes, but then faded very quickly, and became undrinkable within the hour. A lovely long, immaculate cork too, but probably TCA affected.

[Gustav]

And a glass of Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling 1998 from a cork-sealed bottle and not displaying the overt reductive problems of the screwcap versions. This bottle was in superb condition - still fresh to nose with vibrant lime, honey, toast and lightly dusted with dried herbs; gorgeously textured palate with superb fruit definition, perfectly honed, integrated but prominent acidity and a truly wonderful departure of considerable duration - Outstanding for me. If all cork-sealed versions were as good as this (which, I promise you, they are certainly NOT) this wine would have another exciting five to ten years evolution in front of it.

David,
I tasted the screw cap version of this at an in-store tasting and did not fid it reductive at all, rather deliciously limey with hints of toast. Would you say it's a batch problem?

cheers,

[bacchaebabe]

And a glass of Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling 1998 from a cork-sealed bottle and not displaying the overt reductive problems of the screwcap versions. This bottle was in superb condition - still fresh to nose with vibrant lime, honey, toast and lightly dusted with dried herbs; gorgeously textured palate with superb fruit definition, perfectly honed, integrated but prominent acidity and a truly wonderful departure of considerable duration - Outstanding for me. If all cork-sealed versions were as good as this (which, I promise you, they are certainly NOT) this wine would have another exciting five to ten years evolution in front of it.

David,
I tasted the screw cap version of this at an in-store tasting and did not fid it reductive at all, rather deliciously limey with hints of toast. Would you say it's a batch problem?

cheers,

Interesting. I had the screwcap of this wine on Saturday night. Not sure that I found it reductive. Not sure I know exactly what you mean by that but it certainly wasn't lime honey and toast. A bit of honey and some kero but no toast, and definitely no lime. I enjoyed it all the same but it wasn't outstanding by any means unfortunately. Maybe I should have the 98 next to the 97 which I have under cork to compare.

We also had a bottle of Brown Brothers Zibibio I'm loving this style. Although it's quite sweet, it's just so easy drinking and food friendly. I can see us getting through quite a bit of this and other moscato styles over summer.

Last night, a 98 BVE Ebenezer Cabernet Savignon Merlot. Lovely blackfruits through this. Maybe a little jammy but then I buy quite nice jams. Good length and no tannins to speak of. Very enjoyable indeed but at its peak now and unlikely to improve further.

[GRB]

1999 Peter Lehmann Eight Songs Shiraz
Awesome wine just starting to enter its drinking window. Rich chocolaty and long, flavours just kept evolving in the mouth.

2001 Adams Bros shiraz Barrosa/Clare
Made at Tim Adams nice gear but had this after the Lehmann and it was overwhelmed on the night.

2002 Bullers Calliope Shiraz
Thought I would crack one of these to see how it is traveling. Rich and savory needs a couple more years to really show its best. But I think it will be pretty special in time.

Glen

[Deano]

2001 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz: very enjoyable on nose and palate. Enjoyed by others who agreed.
1998 Wendouree Shiraz/Malbec: a bit more earthy with the malbec providing a smooth finish.
BP was the highlight, but both were impressive.

[Sean]

deleted

[bacchaebabe]

Had a couple more last night at the outlaws so easiest to add them in here.

Lindemans Bin 65 Assume this was the current release as I didn't really look at the bottle. Pleasantly surprised actually. Tasted nothing like a chardonnay. In fact I assumed it was a Pinot Gris until I saw the label from a distance. Very overt crispy fresh pear nose and flavours. Quite a clean wine and quite delicious. No typical chardy characteristics at all but a very refreshing drink. A good cheapie for summer quaffing.

91 Richmond Grove Special Release shiraz A funny story bhind this one. We bought a bottle of this in 95 on our first trip to the SA wine regions. Didn't get around to drinking it until 96 some time and loved it to pieces. I rang the winery to see if they had any more and they said they thought they had sold out long ago however they were cleaning up the winery and had found a stack of cases they had forgotten about (as you do). So I was able to order a case at that time. This was the last bottle and the last time I had a bottle of this was probably about four years ago. Not sure why it took so long to finish this one off but it was worth the wait.

Still a rich purple colour but thinning a little. Initially a little musty and wine up one side of the cork gave me some cause for concern. This blew off quickly though to reveal lovely rich black fruits. Fantastic body and length on this despite its age. On the palate mostly blackcurrent and blackberry with a deep anise finish wafting on the back palate. A really lovely wine holding exceptionally well. If you too have any hiding away, now's the time to drink it. I'd say it's right at the end of its peak and will soon be in graceful decline.