Last Sunday of January

[I Love Shiraz]

You all know the drill. What have you been drinking over the past week?

For mine, it has been a bit warm in Melbourne over the past week, so beer has been the order of the day.

[monghead]

A couple so far this weekend.

2008 Mitchell Riesling- Deliciously moorish and light. Fresh lemon acidity, hints of frangipanis, and wet slate minerality. Very Good.
2008 Felton Road Pinot Noir- Seductive, dark, spicy, yet elegant. Very Very Good.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[via collins]

on the very edge of Febfast, should i, shouldn't i.....

Meanwhile:

2006 Pittnauer Blaufrankisch - heavy dark berry and leather nose, full range of dark berries and forest floor on the palate. What a great mid-winter tipple - wish it wasn't 37 degrees outside, but we can serve up smallgoods and cheeses, and pretend it wasn't!

2008 Hoddles Creek pinot noir - I bought a bunch and put them away for a while before jumping in - well worth the wait. The nose has so much going on, it beats my descriptors for dead. complex and delightful. It looks thin and wan in the glass, but backs up with raspberry and bubble gum on the palate, and a magnificent mouthfeel and body that belies what i see in the glass. Fulfils all the hopes I had, and then gives lots more.

2006 The Story shiraz - needed a decant. Strong blackcurrant and cherry fruit, a broad palate with a clean, organic feeling finish. Not entirely to my taste, but all others at dinner loved it - many years to go is my guess.

see you in March I guess. Gulp.....

[dkw]

...you just can't go past those cool changes in Melbourne - 35 deg at 4.30pm, 20 deg at 6.00pm. Awesome!

Tonight we had

2008 Spring Vale Freycinet Pinot Gris - soft, smooth, good by itself and with soft cheeses.
2004 Yarra Valley Coombe Farm (owned by Dame Nellie Melba's family) Chardonnay - butter and toast, good, but maybe not lasting mch longer
2002 Tyrrell's Stevens Vineyard Semillon - lovely honey note, smooth and tasty.

Cheers, Dave.

[Jay60A]

All tight and locked up, I splash decanted this into a jug for a couple of hours ... interesting as this is a traditional (read less oak, less extracted) Cote Rotie style. Just picked up a case of these babies and want some more Northern Rhone 2005 (when the price is reasonable!).

Domaine Clusel-Roch Cote Rotie 2005 375ml cork
Deep purple-red. Expressive nose of violets with a touch of white pepper. A nicely fruited, elegant syrah which marries juicy blackberries and raspberries with a great structure. No evidence of oak, tremendous purity and self-assurance - it is long, balanced and savoury with a perfect finish that hints at a peacock's tail. It seems to have bags of upside. Quietly beautiful and understated, in every sense it's a fine wine and still a baby. Perhaps the antithesis of most Australian shiraz ...

[Wayno]

NZ all round

Escarpment Chardonnay 2007 - very good wine, quite big in style but not heavy... peach, nuts, some citric backbone. Class.

Quartz Reef Pinot Gris 2006 - heavier than the Escarpment - quite rich and Euro in style however a touch out of whack with alcoholic heat and not terribly long finish. Improved with time.

[Craig(NZ)]

08 Te Mata Cape Crest Sauvignon Blanc. My SBOTY last year. Still all class, not quite the immense wow factor it had on release, but that is SB for you.

08 Fromm Spatlese. Bought Caros out on Saturday and put in an order for another case. This is genius. At least as good as the 07, perhaps even better. Fantastic mineral/ talcy layering among trademark green apples and sherbet.

06 Church Rd Tom Chardonnay. NZ's Yattarna? Big company prestige chardonnay. All the bells and whistles here. Highly complex and rich wine still displaying poise and elegance. Outstanding but question if id choose it again over a Neudorf especially to cellar as it just seems so ready now. One of my friends described it as the best chardonnay she has ever drunk...and she has tried basically all the NZ + Aussie big guns, so high praise

04 Penfolds Bin 128. Not too bad, some nice flavours but so far off the quality of the 96 389 we had last week!

[Michael McNally]

on the very edge of Febfast, should i, shouldn't i.....

see you in March I guess. Gulp.....

Good luck with it. I took a dry month last year and for some reason picked March - 31 days! Poor choice.

Feels good after you've done it though.

Cheers

Michael

[Craig(NZ)]

Good luck with it. I took a dry month last year and for some reason picked March - 31 days! Poor choice.

Feels good after you've done it though.

Cheers

Michael

Im on the once a week only regime. Dunno if I have quite managed it yet, but I have definitely cut back. quality not quantity!~

[Bick]

Villa Maria Taylor's Pass Vineyard Chardonnay 2005 - Very enjoyable. Lots of structure and backbone, just how I like my chardonnays. Oaky and slightly creamy, but with plenty of fresh zingy citrous to compliment. One of the most enjoyable chards I've had in a quite a while. Taylor's Pass is a single vineyard from the Awatere Valley in Marlborough; its not so lauded as some Villa single vineyards (such as Keltern), but this bottle was just lovely.

[dazza1968]

02 st henri
02 dead arm
05 hann willhemus

all good
regards dazza

[Tom A]

Last week or so,

Forest Hill 2007 Block Riesling; Good, better on the second night, plenty of acid, stayer.
Mesh 2002 Riesling: Very good, still lively, shaded by the...
Grosset 2001 Polish Hill Riesling: Classic Clare, more toastiness than the Mesh, hitting its straps.
Grosset 2009 Watervale: Very good. Light on its feet and cleasing. Good to drink.
Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg 2007 Riesling Spatlese: Fantastic, drink it all night.
Kumeu River 2006 Mates Chardonnay: Having trouble working out NZ chard, they just don't seem to sing to me, this one however was very very good.
Coldstream Hills 2000 Reserve Cab Sav: Has always seemed to have such soft gentle tannins, hanging in nicely.
Seppelt 1997 Great Western Reserve Shiraz: Laying on the leather, good drink. Was in Geraldton and didn't finish the bottle so gave the last glass to truckie/bikie/local type, he couldn't believe his luck, poured it straight into his water glass before they could even get him a wine glass.
Maglieri 2004 Shiraz: Not that good, preferred the 03, warm, soft, lacking direction.
Hay Shed Hill Block 2 Cab: Enjoyed quite a few of these, loosing its grip a bit, but will certainly look at their current vintage.
Penfolds 1998 Bin 389: Yeah good
Carruades de Lafite 1997: A mate brought it out at the right time, drank superbly.

Hopefully get stuck into one or two this weekend as well.........

Cheers
TA

[Bick]

Kumeu River 2006 Mates Chardonnay: Having trouble working out NZ chard, they just don't seem to sing to me, this one however was very very good.

Yes, perhaps because there's some really good stuff, and then there's an awful lot of ordinary. This Mate's was very good I think, I have a few bottles hidden away.

[griff]

Hopefully get stuck into one or two this weekend as well.........

Cheers
TA

You bet

cheers

Carl

[orpheus]

Some wines which I brought back from NZ.

Pegasus Bay semillon sauvignon blanc 2008 - this was a superb wine, fragrant, complex and pure, with a beautiful acidic backbone.
Craggy Range "le sol" 2007 (I think - the current release) - was expecting great things from this wine, having tasted the 02 and 05 when in NZ (which were very, very fine wines indeed), but at this stage it is very tight and closed in comparison to those vintages, giving little on the nose or the palate. I had the feeling it was too soon to really appreciate it.

ANd various Australia shirazes for which I need to recalibrate my palate.

[griff]

Just a few recently.

2005 Chateau Reynella Shiraz (cleanskin)
Wasn't too impressed when it first arrived but this bottle was starting to show its virtues. Intense purple colour. Berries and milk chocolate on the nose with some oak spice. Carries onto the palate. Palate starting to integrate but still somewhat elemental. I think everything is in balance for a long life however. Rippling tannins on the medium long finish. Good with a lot of potential.

2008 Freycinet Louis Chardonnnay
Yellow gold colour. Passionfruit nose with some creamy lees character. Broad palate of tropical fruit that fills the mouth. Short finish. Agreeable but the better half liked it more.

2008 Bellarmine Riesling Auslese
Lifted nose of lime. Powerful yet balanced with sugar, acid and lime all in balance. Not complex like a german but the balance is there. Good wine and great value. Better than most moscatos for me.

cheers

Carl

[orpheus]

Just a few recently.

2005 Chateau Reynella Shiraz (cleanskin)
Wasn't too impressed when it first arrived but this bottle was starting to show its virtues. Intense purple colour. Berries and milk chocolate on the nose with some oak spice. Carries onto the palate. Palate starting to integrate but still somewhat elemental. I think everything is in balance for a long life however. Rippling tannins on the medium long finish. Good with a lot of potential.

2008 Freycinet Louis Chardonnnay it
Yellow gold colour. Passionfruit nose with some creamy lees character. Broad palate of tropical fruit that fills the mouth. Short finish. Agreeable but the better half liked it more.

2008 Bellarmine Riesling Auslese
Lifted nose of lime. Powerful yet balanced with sugar, acid and lime all in balance. Not complex like a german but the balance is there. Good wine and great value. Better than most moscatos for me.

cheers

Carl

I really like the 2005 CR BP cleanskin. I agree that everything is in balance, and agree with your description, except that the bottles I have had, at least, have not been elemental, which is description I would reserve for the 2006 CR BP cleanskin.

[griff]

I really like the 2005 CR BP cleanskin. I agree that everything is in balance, and agree with your description, except that the bottles I have had, at least, have not been elemental, which is description I would reserve for the 2006 CR BP cleanskin.

'Somewhat' elemental While it has improved markedly from a few months ago, it still hasn't completely integrated yet in my opinion. That may be bottle variation speaking of course and the next may be as you have found them. Having said that I think I am going to put the rest of the case in storage for a few years as this wine has further improvement ahead.

cheers

Carl

[gpk]

Enjoyed a couple over the weekend.

Sat Night:
Mount Marry Quintet 2000: first time we tried this 6 months ago we hit a dud, faulty and undrinkable. The bottle was kindly replaced with an 04 by David Middleton. This bottle was in a different league, very Bordeaux and I understand why it is often described as such. Still very young and fresh.

Penfolds Bin 389: Having often read how much people have enjoyed this wine lately, we opened our first bottle to try. Wow what a fantastic Bin 389, just a superb and beautifully balanced wine, great drinking now and years ahead. For me it was the best of the two.

Sun Night:
Rockford 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon: enjoyable Rockford cabernet and drinking very well, if not slightly past it.

Greenock Creek Block 1999: The last time we tried this wine was 3 years ago. It opened with a lot of bottle stink and needed a lot of time in the decanter. There was no evident of bottle stink with this one and it seemed to have come together nicely and is drinking well.

Cheers

Gerry

[Partagas]

02 st henri
02 dead arm
05 hann willhemus

all good
regards dazza

Hey Daz, what was the 02 St Henri like? I had a try of my many stored away to see how it was traveling but besides being still relatively closed, what I did get was plum and a more of an almost sweeter spectrum I am not use to with St Henri. It didn’t have the typical characteristics at all (although I do realize that it is very multi region these days). Anyway I am interested to hear your own thoughts cause it is obviously supposed to be a great vintage and is always well spoken about.

Cheers Sam

[Michael McNally]

Penfolds Bin 389: Having often read how much people have enjoyed this wine lately, we opened our first bottle to try. Wow what a fantastic Bin 389, just a superb and beautifully balanced wine, great drinking now and years ahead. For me it was the best of the two.

Cheers

Gerry

G'day Gerry

Some nice wines there. I assume you mean the 1996 Bin 389? I have been thinking about getting a couple to try given all the comments here (nothing like a little peer pressure ), but the auction prices are pretty steep and it's a lottery. Perhaps I should just get some.....

Cheers

Michael

[gpk]

Penfolds Bin 389: Having often read how much people have enjoyed this wine lately, we opened our first bottle to try. Wow what a fantastic Bin 389, just a superb and beautifully balanced wine, great drinking now and years ahead. For me it was the best of the two.

Cheers

Gerry

G'day Gerry

Some nice wines there. I assume you mean the 1996 Bin 389? I have been thinking about getting a couple to try given all the comments here (nothing like a little peer pressure ), but the auction prices are pretty steep and it's a lottery. Perhaps I should just get some.....

Cheers

Michael

Michael,

It was the 1996 and definitely worth getting your hands on some if you can. If I am bidding for a six pack or more on auction I have sometimes called to check if they have any info on storage. I have always found Langtons very helpful.

cheers