Weekend Drinking Reports- 13th and 14th Feb

[monghead]

Happy Chinese New Year (or Valentine's Day) all.

What's been on the table this weekend?

Monghead.

[Chuck]

Desperate for a good steak and fuller bodied red the a/c went on last night to simulate winter. You can only due so much Pinot, Rose and see thrus. Outstanding aged steak was washed down with a Jamiesons Run 2001 Alexander Block Cabernet. Both were uber good and satisfying the addiction. Wine needs another 3-5 years though. Roll on autumn and serious heavy duty reds.

Chuck

[griff]

1996 Petaluma Coonawarra
It lives in the shadow of the 1998 but gosh it is starting to look fine now. Smooth, long and with that Coonawarra capsicum and dirt. Excellent wine!

cheers

Carl

[Matt]

Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay 2008
Toasted marshmallo on the nose.
Honeydew and french toast on the palette. Minerally, beautifully balanced acidity and oak.

Ringbolt Cab Sav - 2007
Dusty dark chocolate with a blackcurrent punch.
Very good. Needs a good 3-4hr decant prior to serving.
Should be great in 2013/2014.

[monghead]

Have had a couple...

2009 O'leary Walker Watervale Riesling- Juicy lemons and cumquats. Good Good.
2009 Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc- Tropically floral, light and cheerful. Good.
2009 Leeuwin Estate Siblings Semillon Sauvignon Blanc- Generous and fruity, with a distinct herbaceousness and grassiness that some didn't enjoy. I quite liked it though. Good.
2001 Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz- Spicy plums, clay-like earthiness, reasonable depth and weight. Good.
2003 Granite Hills Cabernet Sauvignon- Sour dried out raspberries, one dimensional, hollow and thin. Not Good.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[Nayan]

Big Musarfest in England this weekend


We were all quite surprised at how convergent the wines became after about 20 years

This


Didn't taste remarkably different from

[orpheus]

And what did you think of them?

[Nayan]

And what did you think of them?

Still typing up the notes, though the differences between them were incredibly subtle making it a really tough job.

Essentially my favourite was the 80, followed by the 87; the 87 being seemingly drier with a lovely bitter dark chocolate finish to a fresh raspberry attack. The 94 was my least favourite; seemed forced and artificial with not a little RS. The 99 was wonderful, but in a way atypically Musar in that the fruit was so pure without any of the VA and Brett associated with this wine. The 02 (the current release), is a real bruiser but a stunning wine that is drinkable after a long decant. This to me is very much in the mould of a classic Musar; but with the volume turned up. This was the second bottle I've had in the past few months and was consistent. There is a noticeable amount of stables here, but it works well with the fruit. This wine is going to make great old bones if stored correctly.

I still don't "get" the whites...

[pc79]

Long time lurker and occasional poster - First tasting notes, so please bear with me. Still with a fairly novice palate it is tugh for me to differentiate flavours

2004 Henschke Kyneton Estate Euphonium - Some bitter dark chocolate, ripe red berries and some nice dark berry (cassis i believe) flavours and aromas - quite a nice well balanced wine 91

2006 Devil's Lair Chardonnay - delicious!! toasted almonds/almond meal, nectarine/peach, creamy wish the bottle didn't finish 95

2001 Katnook Estate Cabernet - whipped this straight out of the bottle. Probably would have appreciated a decant before drinking, but still quite nice and fresh. Tannins are still quite grippy and evident, blackcurrant/red berries, menthol typical coonawarra cabernet. 91

[monghead]

Great looking Musar line up Nayan.

Did you happen to try the 2000? The only one I have in the cellar (i think)

Cheers,

Monghead.

[Nayan]

Didn't have the 00 this time, but wasn't particularly impressed with it on past showing (can't remember why now). Though I don't think there is such a thing as a bad Musar; if you like this style of wine.

[bacchaebabe]

1996 Petaluma Coonawarra
It lives in the shadow of the 1998 but gosh it is starting to look fine now. Smooth, long and with that Coonawarra capsicum and dirt. Excellent wine!

cheers

Carl

Hey Carl,

I've probably got half a dozen of these still. Do you have an opinion on the drinking window? I think from memory, JO puts it right out there. I hadn't planned on opening one for a while yet but your note sounds a little tempting to at least have a look at one. Maybe over winter this year.

[Partagas]

1996 Petaluma Coonawarra
It lives in the shadow of the 1998 but gosh it is starting to look fine now. Smooth, long and with that Coonawarra capsicum and dirt. Excellent wine!

cheers

Carl

Hey Carl,

I've probably got half a dozen of these still. Do you have an opinion on the drinking window? I think from memory, JO puts it right out there. I hadn't planned on opening one for a while yet but your note sounds a little tempting to at least have a look at one. Maybe over winter this year.

I’ve had a heap of these in the past 4 or 5 years and from my experience it is definitely worth having a look now if you have a few. Not heading south but really hitting straps with secondary flavours and development and very good drinking (after a decant). I was stoked to find a lost bottle stowed away in my wine fridge that I had forgotten about the other day, I did its first ever stock take (I also shed tears finding out how much it has deteriorated in number since I had my little pride and joy and a single income a few years back ).

Sam

[griff]

1996 Petaluma Coonawarra
It lives in the shadow of the 1998 but gosh it is starting to look fine now. Smooth, long and with that Coonawarra capsicum and dirt. Excellent wine!

cheers

Carl

Hey Carl,

I've probably got half a dozen of these still. Do you have an opinion on the drinking window? I think from memory, JO puts it right out there. I hadn't planned on opening one for a while yet but your note sounds a little tempting to at least have a look at one. Maybe over winter this year.

Hi Kris,

Well if you have half a dozen then I would certainly take a look at one in the coming winter. I had four. Two years ago it was a little hard/tannic still but last winter I tried it and it was starting to smooth out and lengthen. This one was the best yet. So I don't regret opening this one as I think that it has started its drinking window, however it may still have upside.

The caveat is that I like wines with a combination of developed, tertiary flavours but still some primary-type flavours there. Some prefer wine completely developed (or not developed at all for that matter).

cheers

Carl

[fatdoi]

been to short Barossa trip:
Torbreck
07 Descendant shiraz - 3 words, sweet jelly bomb... completely different to 06, it's like been thrown loads of lollies into your face.... enjoyable but not much complexity
09 Roussanne Marsanne Viognier - very nice blends i had on this one, previous vintages never gave me any impression but this one has the balance & body.... recommended
09 Viognier - less floral on the nose than 08, fuller body + higher acid on mid palette.... prefer last year one but others may say this year....
09 Cuvee Juveniles GSM - pick of the range, has the body & finish of a fully oaked GSM but without the oak... the added bonus of the juicy fresh fruits/berries on the nose & palette, highly recommended

Hentley Farm
07 The Creation - multi layered shiraz with different characteristics the longer it stayed in the mouth.... finish isn't as long as i wanted but for the price, it out ranks 06 torbreck's the factor & under run rig.... well done.
07 The Beauty shiraz - bright fruits on the nose, eucalyptus, minty... quite explosive on the palette, slightly tannic but finishes well with no heat shown
07 The Beast shiraz - dark fruits, very earthy like with quite long finish, quite big contrast to the beauty
08 Zinfandel - pick of the range bar Creation... combination of bright fruits with smoke meat..... nice finish, must say all of their wines have very nice finishes...
09 Viognier - more french like characteristic with lighter body, very fragrant nose of peach, different sorts of flora... very much the opposite to torbreck's
07 The Stray Mongrel - only remembered it's a big boy for GSZ, needs time to tame it down

Two Hands
NV Two Worlds Shiraz/Cab sav - wet grass, asparagus on nose, bright barossa fruits on mid palette then nappa cab took over the finish.... quite solid but won't pay that much for it
07 Ares shiraz - nearly forgot how it tastes but it's a good one but not that good from previous vintages

Rockford - missed the black shiraz by 1 week & 3 weeks short of basket press release & the rest.... pass

[Chuck]

Ringbolt Cab Sav - 2007
Dusty dark chocolate with a blackcurrent punch.
Very good. Needs a good 3-4hr decant prior to serving.
Should be great in 2013/2014.

Enjoying one right now and agree it needs air time and cellar time. Initially one dimensional but just starting to open up after 1.5 hours. Although wouldn't give it JH's rating... although after that sip I may reconsider. A steal at the grog shop special price. Oak seems a little old.

Chuck

[Michael McNally]

Long time lurker and occasional poster - First tasting notes, so please bear with me. Still with a fairly novice palate it is tugh for me to differentiate flavours

2004 Henschke Kyneton Estate Euphonium - Some bitter dark chocolate, ripe red berries and some nice dark berry (cassis i believe) flavours and aromas - quite a nice well balanced wine 91

2006 Devil's Lair Chardonnay - delicious!! toasted almonds/almond meal, nectarine/peach, creamy wish the bottle didn't finish 95

2001 Katnook Estate Cabernet - whipped this straight out of the bottle. Probably would have appreciated a decant before drinking, but still quite nice and fresh. Tannins are still quite grippy and evident, blackcurrant/red berries, menthol typical coonawarra cabernet. 91

Nice notes PC. I have some 06 of the Henschke, but will wait a few years. The Chardonnay sounds good. Is it in the medium or the fuller bodied style? The flavours sound like they are up my alley, but I prefer medium weight chardy, with less rather than more malo. That "creamy" has me worried. What's the damage on a bottle?

Cheers

Michael

[pc79]

Hi Michael,

I would say that the 2006 Devil's Lair Chardy is somewhere in the medium to full body spectrum. It really was a delicious drop. Creamy would probably better described as soft and luscious mouthfeel. Picked up a few bottles for $30, but noticed that the 2008's are now on the shelves, which I picked up with another chardonnay import for 30 scobes for the both - one of the big bad retailers i must admit. I will definitely be seeking out a few more 06's if I can find them.

[monghead]

To finish off the weekdays,

2005 Tower Estate Yarra Valley Pinot Noir- Sappy, metallic cherries. Not Good.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[TiggerK]

This is getting confusing... Weekend drinking reports... 13/14 feb, and now it's weekdays....??

And anyway, come on monghead, try one of your amazing cellar wines!! You seem to have been drinking mostly Not Good, Sub Goods (or Good at best) recently!! We know you've got the gems tucked away... anything you could bring yourself to try now??

As for me...

Pio Cesare Il Nebbio Lange 2008 - Apparently a style of Nebbiolo where winemaking maceration tricks are used to make it approachable now. It Works. Very nice wine, savoury style, bit like the Joseph 'Moda' wines,(but not quite as good). Very smooth and easy to drink, and quite an interesting flavour spectrum, which my palate isn't yet up to describing accurately. I did get some blueberry and licqorice (tar?) along the way. Very Good.

Gentlemans Agreement Yarra Chardonnay 2008 - touch of alcohol on the nose, but the taste is most enjoyable. Nutty, stonefruits and lemony, with a bit of malo sweetness in balance with the acidity. Well made and excellent QPR. (At last, a chardonnay under $30 my wife actually likes!

Cheers
TiggerK

[monghead]

This is getting confusing... Weekend drinking reports... 13/14 feb, and now it's weekdays....??

And anyway, come on monghead, try one of your amazing cellar wines!! You seem to have been drinking mostly Not Good, Sub Goods (or Good at best) recently!! We know you've got the gems tucked away... anything you could bring yourself to try now??

Yes, I kinda put that in the wrong thread didn't I?

Drinking some more reasonably priced numbers at present, due to budgetary restraints. Don't worry though, I will raid the cellar from time to time...

Cheers,

Monghead.