Schoolday Drinks- Mar 8th to 12th

[monghead]

Wow, looks like Ian has been busy... (mate, that PN tasting..... )

What are others up to?

Cheers,

Monghead.

[monghead]

2004 Woodlands Margaret Cabernet Merlot- Mouth-filling blackberries, violets, cedar oak, with hints of tobacco, and forest floor. Tremendous length, elegantly poised with succulent tannins. Very Very Good.

With their mid-range cabernet merlot performing so well, I wonder what their flagship cabernet from 2004 is like?

Cheers,

Monghead.

[monghead]

Finished off the rest of the 2004 Woodlands Margaret. Wow, it was better tonight. This is seriously good wine! Now Extremely Good.

[griff]

2004 Pipers Brook Tamar
Inky purple colour. Blackcurrant (?DMS) and raspberries. A somewhat sour palate which has fruit emerging with time. Three hours later; meat, tobacco and redcurrants are the go. Finishing with just moderate tannin for a bordeaux blend. Very Good wine but an outstanding match for a Cambray sheeps milk brie. I love how wine and food can be synergistic.

cheers

Carl

[Julio G]

2004 Woodlands Margaret Cabernet Merlot- Mouth-filling blackberries, violets, cedar oak, with hints of tobacco, and forest floor. Tremendous length, elegantly poised with succulent tannins. Very Very Good.

With their mid-range cabernet merlot performing so well, I wonder what their flagship cabernet from 2004 is like?

Cheers,

Monghead.

I saved a bottle of the standard Cab Merlot from 2004 because I thought it was one out of the box (particularly for $19). It is earmarked for consumption later in the year. I have a handful of the 2004 flagship but they won't be touched for a good few years yet.

[milky]

Enjoyed a bottle of Spinifex Papillon 2008 with some friend. A blend of grenache, cinsault, mataro & shiraz. A med-bodied wine, red fruits, very delicious. Went very well with our dinner of Chinese "steam-boat" dinner... must be due to the dominance of grenache fruit in this wine.

I'll get more of that to enjoy!

[Partagas]

2004 Woodlands Margaret Cabernet Merlot- Mouth-filling blackberries, violets, cedar oak, with hints of tobacco, and forest floor. Tremendous length, elegantly poised with succulent tannins. Very Very Good.

With their mid-range cabernet merlot performing so well, I wonder what their flagship cabernet from 2004 is like?

Cheers,

Monghead.

All my attempts at this have been flat and lifeless for some strange reason (even with a three hour + decant). I refuse to open any more for the fear of wasting more of them. I think I’ve drunk about 4 or 5 bottles and maybe just seeing some light of fruit towards the end of the second day and virtually no length at all. So I guess I thought this might be a sleeping sole that needs way more time but keep hearing rave revues in the mean time. Here’s still hoping they will emerge like yours then.

Sam

[monghead]

2006 Dalwhinnie Moonambel Shiraz- Still very youthful. Reasonably complex berries, vanilla oak, and peppery spices with cloves. Meaty, medium bodied, with reasonable length, fine tannins, and tight acidity. Very Good.

[Luke W]

2001 Antiquarian McLaren Vale Shiraz - decanted about an hour before started drinking and opened up about an hour after that with a nose of black cherrys, olives and spice. The palate softened and the flavours of black fruits and prunes rolled around in harmony with the cigar box tannins. I just can't seem to get enough of good McLaren Vale shiraz. The 3rd best shiraz I ever drunk was a 1998 Brewery Hill shiraz made from these very vines (bought from butterfly.com for about $12 a bottle a while ago).

[Chad]

Last night I had the pleasure of drinking a 2009 Boireann Merlot Petit Verdot. Very nice and complex. Decanted for 2 hrs before drinking. Solid structure and plenty of fruit. Typical of what I have come to expect from Boireann wines. Some people may instantly think that Granite Belt wines are thin, watery & lifeless. I challenge those same people to drink a Boireann shirz viognier or a mourvedre blend first before making such judgements. I truly find their wines to be engaging & always enjoyable.

Chad

[monghead]

2007 Hoddles Creek Pinot Noir- Ripe winter berries, with musky, earthy undertones. Distinct shitakee mushrooms. A subtle sappiness/stalkiness, but worked well with the vibrancy of the fruit. Very Good.

How do these guys do it for under $20? Bravo...

[DaveB]

A couple this week:

Jean Foillard Morgon Cote de Py 2007 - the house wine...love this stuff
Raveneau Montee de Tonnarre Chablis 1999 - lovely wine
Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynaud 2000 - looking very good, quite forward, meaty, savoury black fruits tinged with herbs
Rockford Basket Press 2007 - needs a bit of time I reckon...seemed a bit hard but should come around.
Maxime Magnon Rozeta 2007 - slightly bucolic but pure natural wine from Corbieres...lovely gear
Voyager Estate Shiraz 2006?? - liked this....good drinking
And a bunch of other stuff at a lamb on a spit fest on Tuesday night that I didn't really pay attention too

[pstarr]

2007 Hoddles Creek Pinot Noir- Ripe winter berries, with musky, earthy undertones. Distinct shitakee mushrooms. A subtle sappiness/stalkiness, but worked well with the vibrancy of the fruit. Very Good.

How do these guys do it for under $20? Bravo...

This is the smoke-effected Hoddles PN. I still bought a case (have had 6) and like the wine, but I'd be drinking the rest of them by the end of the year. Earlier words from Franco were it's best drinking was between 6-8 months of age, then up to three years. There is smoke there if you go looking for it, but if you don't go hunting it's a decent drink. To my taste, it's the least impressive of their pinots in the run from 2004-2009, but not something I feel bad about buying (they also only made a very small volume of this).

I really admire their pricing philosophy of having two cracking-quality, stunning-value focal wines (the pinot and the chardonnay) that over-deliver every year. Cluey people who keep costs down in smart ways to build and maintain a client base that makes case or more a year repeat purchases. Works with me - I've bought multiple cases of the PN and chard every year since the 2004 vintages.

[Franco]

Hi Guys, the 07 Pinot Noir was a combination of frosted fruit and a small parcel of smoke affected fruit (15%). I had to put that small parcel in to give it some richness that the frosted fruit didn't have.

We have continually shown this wine at wine dinners, and looks very good. It has such a low level of smoke taint that I'm really not concerned. This wine has really needed a couple of years in the bottle to fill out and develop. On release it was a little thin, and suffered from bottle shock for 12 months due to the fragility of the wine.

The 08 Hoddles Creek Pinot Noir is sold out now unforunately and there is no 09 Hoddles as the level of smoke taint was unacceptable and really wasn't hoddles in style due to the heat. Its more like Central Otago with bacon.

Saying that the 2010 looks awesome, finished ferment, in tank macerating for a couple of weeks.

Really happy with how 2010 has shaped up.

Cheers
Franco

[Rawshack]

Last night I made a simple pasta dish with tuna, anchovies olive oil and lemon, with a little chilli and garlic thrown in for good measure

The Tahbilk Marsanne 08 was superb with it; the high natural acidity was a nice foil to the oil and the honeysuckle worked well against the slight heat from the chilli. Delicious, simple stuff all around

[tim1210]

G'day Franco.

I was just wondering if you could tell me a bit about bottle shock... I'm not really sure what it is and how it manifests...

Thanks!

Tim

[via collins]

Shobbrook shiraz 2008? Not sure of the year, shared a couple of bottles with friends and far more chatter than wine poncing, so no notes - it's Barossa, it's possibly organic, it's a helluva tasty mouthful. I'm gonna go find some in a shop and relish in peace this weekend.

[Franco]

G'day Franco.

I was just wondering if you could tell me a bit about bottle shock... I'm not really sure what it is and how it manifests...

Thanks!

Tim

Hi Tim, I find it quite hard to explain it. Some years the Chardonnay will go thru bottle shock, whilst the Pinot Noir won't, whilst others are visa vera. I know what the wines are like prior to bottling, and I try them appox. two weeks after to see how they go. Normally, it's about 3-4 months in the bottle to even out. I really don't know what causes it as its so random.

Sometimes after bottling (HCE Pinot Noir 05, Wickhams Road Pinot Noir 08, Hoddles Chardonnay 04+ 08) look very strange after bottling. With time they all come around. Hopefully, not as long as the 07 started to. The 07 only started drinking well last year, eighteen months after bottling.

After bottling, I send them off to the lab to get double checked, and I never have had a problem with DO, drops in Sulphur or VA. We have our own bottling line, so I make sure everything is spot on before we bottle and after.

[monghead]

2007 Hoddles Creek Pinot Noir- Ripe winter berries, with musky, earthy undertones. Distinct shitakee mushrooms. A subtle sappiness/stalkiness, but worked well with the vibrancy of the fruit. Very Good.

How do these guys do it for under $20? Bravo...

This is the smoke-effected Hoddles PN. I still bought a case (have had 6) and like the wine, but I'd be drinking the rest of them by the end of the year. Earlier words from Franco were it's best drinking was between 6-8 months of age, then up to three years. There is smoke there if you go looking for it, but if you don't go hunting it's a decent drink. To my taste, it's the least impressive of their pinots in the run from 2004-2009, but not something I feel bad about buying (they also only made a very small volume of this).

I really admire their pricing philosophy of having two cracking-quality, stunning-value focal wines (the pinot and the chardonnay) that over-deliver every year. Cluey people who keep costs down in smart ways to build and maintain a client base that makes case or more a year repeat purchases. Works with me - I've bought multiple cases of the PN and chard every year since the 2004 vintages.

Yes, I did prefer the '08 more, however, still a great pinot for less than $20.

[tim1210]

Thanks Franco. How bizarre! Are there any scientific explanations thrown around to explain it?

[Michael McNally]

Trying the 2008 Hoddles Creek Yarra Valley Pinot Noir tonight. Very good. Though very cloudy? What is this about? Taste is great in case you are wondering. Lovely nose, good fruit and tannin. Enough dark stuff (mushroom, earth, truffle) on the palate to hold my attention quite firmly. Never more than medium-bodied, but lovely vibrant acid and a lengthy, almost expansive finish. Top gear. Very, Very Good to Excellent (if taking QPR into account).

Franco, or others, can you comment on the cloudiness?

Cheers

Michael

[Franco]

Hi Michael, glad you liked the pinot noir.

I chose not to filter it after I filtered a trial batch and it stripped it completley. With 08 being such a light delicate year, it was worth not filtering it. I really wanted to present the wine in a state where it would look its best (not looks though!), and that was not filtering it. Some years I filter, other not. Some people have had issues with it, others have loved it.

Sometimes I think we strip wines either thru fining or filtering to make them look more appealing. I am always in the other camp. The 1er Chardonnay wasn't filtered, fined, cold stabilised or had bentonite as it looks great.

Cheers
Franco