Weekly reports due

[TORB]

Hi Good Peoples,

Now that I have drunk 10 gallons of water, taken a box of Panadol and had a few hours estra sleep, I am starting to feel human again but I think I need an alcohol free week

Which bastard poured the fortifieds last night, they were the wines that did the damage.

Now what have you been drinking, don't ask me, I don't want to even think about wine at the moment.

[Adair]

Which bastard poured the fortifieds last night, they were the wines that did the damage.

Hahaha. Good to see that you are alive.

BTW, thanks for those for the above mentioned fortifieds. I am finishing them off now.

Adair

[Mark]

St. Hallet Blackwell Shiraz 2001

Bursting with flavour! A heavy weighted wine and good buy at $20, so I went back and bought a few more. Deep dark in colour with nice flavours of plums and spice, and with a nice long finish, "yummo". Second day revealed more complex flavours that I just could put a finger on, coffee-like but not quite. Good to drink now or over the next few years.

Lindermans St. George Cabernet Sauvignon 1991

This was from the museum release from Lindermans. Good balance. A bit of a step back from the bursting flavours of the Blackwell, however more refined, with a very subtle cedar-like and blackberry and probably at its peak so it's a good time to drink. Highly recomended however too expensive if your not a Cab drinker and prefer a good busty shiraz from the Barossa.

Admittedy should have drank the Lindermans earlier in the evening than the St. Hallet, and I didn't have a decanter at the time.

Lillypilly Noble Riesling 1999

Went down a treat with some Lychees and ice cream! Lots of apricots flavours and well balance acid to give a long finish. I liked it better than the 2000 De Bortoli Noble one, but it could be just me.

[Anonymous]

<b>1999 Stringybrae Shiraz</b>: Starting to show signs of aging, if not prematurely. When I first tasted the wine I had to double check it wasn't corked (handed to my wife). I have about 6 left from a case that has been pretty mixed. I have enjoyed this wine until now. I hope this is a bad one in a generally good bunch.

<b>1999 Maxwell Limestone Cave Cabernet</b>: I love this wine. Big fruit and grippy tannins. I am enjoying the last glass from the bottle now, which has been siting around for 3 days now. It is still as good now as the day I opened it.

<b>2002 Mount View Estate Reserve Semillion</b>: I am only a member of two wine estates and this is one of them (for value for money). This is a very young wine that will need time to develop those honey characters famous in aged hunter valley semillion. At this stage the minerally lemon/lime flavours come through like a good fresh thai stir-fry. This would be a great drink in 5-8 years.

[Pelican]

2000 Chandon ZD ($33) : Full marks for the Crown seal instead of cork..from now on when one of my mates offers me a " Crownie " I'll expect a decent bubbly - which this was. On opening I was a bit scared of being injured but it just " pfffed " like a bottle of beer does so no worries there. I suppose Chandon is trying to make a point with not just cheap bubbles being crown sealed but I reckon this is a bit overpriced. The ZD by the way stands for zero dosage....

2002 Torbreck The Struie ($49) : Too tarry and creosote like for mine. They say that Tollana TR16 has been stopped but here it is at 3 times the price !!

2002 T'Gallant Tribute Pinot Gris ($27) : Nice medium bodied white wine with some real character....very good I thought.

1998 Greenock Creek Cornerstone Grenache ( cellar ) : I was rather seedy from the night before so my Mrs drank most of this and she loved it. I had one glass and it was a nice full bodied rasperry like red and it was 16.1 % alcohol and sort of got away with it !

Rockford Black Shiraz ( Aug 03 disgorg' ) : absolutely drinkable stuff. This was why I was seedy ( see wine above ) as I had already had my standard amount on this particlular night but could not resist this as well...this just damn well disappeared without me knowing it !!!

1990 Chateau Duhart-Milon Rothschild (cellar) : 14 years young...still has good blackcurrant fruit but also has excellent secondary characters ....these classed growth " clarets " have just got to be the " blue chip " cellaring wines I reckon.

[n4sir]

2003 Primo Estate La Biodina Colombard This is the first time I have tried this wine that sounds like it has almost a cult status. Pale yellow/green colour. Passionfruit with a touch of pungency and grassiness on the nose when opened, touches of licorice with breathing. The palate again has that powerful passionfruit character, with equally forward pineapple making a tropical mix, and some apple with breathing. It is very slender, crisp and dry, with spicy tannins providing structure. On the minus side, the palate is ever so slightly bitter, and lacks the depth of a good Sauvignon Blanc like the Browns of Padthaway or Paracombe versions. Its $16-$17 price range lands it in some serious Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling (and red) competition, and it falls a little short.

1998 Tollana TR16 Eden Valley Adelaide Hills Shiraz Deep, inky crimson. There’s blackcurrant, with hints of coal and peat on the nose at first. It then constantly changes between black cherry, cocoa, cedar and tomato, with flashes of vanilla and formic acid too. There’s that regional greenness lurking in there, with a dusty perfumed scent throughout. The palate is soft and spicy, slender and lingering, with blueberry, chocolate, pepper and mocha. One reason to miss Tollana.

Cheers,
Ian

[Guest]

2003 Primo Estate La Biodina Colombard This is the first time I have tried this wine that sounds like it has almost a cult status. Pale yellow/green colour. Passionfruit with a touch of pungency and grassiness on the nose when opened, touches of licorice with breathing. The palate again has that powerful passionfruit character, with equally forward pineapple making a tropical mix, and some apple with breathing. It is very slender, crisp and dry, with spicy tannins providing structure. On the minus side, the palate is ever so slightly bitter, and lacks the depth of a good Sauvignon Blanc like the Browns of Padthaway or Paracombe versions. Its $16-$17 price range lands it in some serious Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling (and red) competition, and it falls a little short.

1998 Tollana TR16 Eden Valley Adelaide Hills Shiraz Deep, inky crimson. ThereÂ’s blackcurrant, with hints of coal and peat on the nose at first. It then constantly changes between black cherry, cocoa, cedar and tomato, with flashes of vanilla and formic acid too. ThereÂ’s that regional greenness lurking in there, with a dusty perfumed scent throughout. The palate is soft and spicy, slender and lingering, with blueberry, chocolate, pepper and mocha. One reason to miss Tollana.

Cheers,
Ian

You are a very good taster Ian but you have to leave South Australian wine for a while and spread your wings.
Frank

[JamieBahrain]

Greetings all.

Nepenthe The Fugue 00 - Tough year in the Hills? 2nd bottle of this wine and same conclusion; should have put into their Rogue. New oak the only excitement as the fruit seems lean.

Wolf Blass Grey Label 00 - plenty of eucalypt, leaf, dark fruit and new wood on the nose. The eucalypt quite dominant on the palate-dark fruit is there-finishing with grainy tannins.

Te Mata Awatea Cabernet Merlot 00 - My prefered NZ estate. Needed air time to integrate the berry, plum & oak. Smooth, seamless medium bodied red. Good layer of dark fruits on the palate, broad backpalate persistance and tannin. Not mindblowing, but when gone you realise a good effort.

La Strada Fromm Merlot Malbec 99 - Two Kiwi wines in successive nights! I am at peace with my maker!

More malbec than merlot? Gamey, licorice and spice nose, underlying creamy oak. Packs some palate punch-plenty of malbec spice and herb, weighted licorice fruit aswell. Drying tannin with some unexpected length. Good stuff!

Petaluma Riesling 01 - Good varietal nose, rounded wine with lime dominated flavours. Good, drink sooner than later riesling?

Charles Melton Nine Popes 99 - Great wine, gobbles up the 00. Cooked meat nose with ripe plum and spice undertones. The ripe dark plum fruit forms a smooth palate, mouthfilling with good flavour persistance, which is Rhone like and spicey. The wine is medium bodied and balancing tannins enhance the favourable impressions.

Voyager Estate Cabernet Merlot 99 - The nose a giveaway. WA cabernet merlot. The latter dominates initially. In time the wine integrates with rich blackberries and chocolate fruit flavour, cedar in the background. The finish is a powerful tannin and acid combination. Final impreesions were the wine lacked palate intensity to match.

Darrenberg Laughing Magpie 02 - Wine served too warm? Viognier dominated and accentuated a hot finish. Anyone know the percentage of viognier? I thought too much. May be just the warm conditions.

Langi Cliff Edge Shiraz 02 - Youthful cherry nose with earth and oak. The wine builds, in time, around it's medium bodied frame-cherry, plum and Langi black pepper palate with a grenache like finish. Plenty of vibrant acid but thin on tannin. Go the real thing-a few more bucks and stash Langi Shiraz in the cellar.

[David]

Jamie,

I believe between 5-10% of viognier are added for the Laughing Magpie.
I posted a tasting note on 2000 Laughing Magpie and wasn't that impressed.

Happy Drinking
David

[Guest]

Unfortunately this was drunk in far from ideal conditions as it would appear that I was in the initial stages of coming down with a lurgy of some sort... so only very brief notes ...

Campbells The Barkly Durif 1992
Well balanced, but slightly muted with a long but delicate finish featuring dark berries, and ending with a long 'good dark chocolate feel'

[Brucer]

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Three in a row??? Am I going mad? Had to get a friend around to try them, and he agreed. One bottle less corked than the other 2. The winery will happily replace them. I am scared to open any more bottles of the dozen.

Majella 97 Mallea
I thought Id better open another Majella after that. This was all fruit. fruit and more fruit, with oak in the background. Probably not as rich as I would like, but better on the second day. Will keep for a good while.

Seppelt Great Western 97 Reserve Shiraz
Great wine. Aged a bit more than I thought, but will hold a few more years.

Plantagenet 97 Shiraz.
Olives and pepper and all things nice.

Brian Light 94 Reserve Shiraz.
Corked. I drank most of it anyway, as it was only slightly corked, and this wine is the best wine in my cellar. Fantastic stuff.

Woodstock 98 Shiraz.
Opened my second carton of this, and bugger me, there was only 11 bottles in the box. Second time this has ever happened (first was Rockford Cabernet). Woodstock happily replaced the bottle.
Great wine, usual funky, barnyardy , earthy, typical Woodtock Shiraz.

Seppelt 02 Sparkling Shiraz.
I am a fan of this wine, still got some 93 in the cellar. This has got great fruit, typically 02, rich and fruit driven, and not too sweet. I dont think it will last as long as the 98 and 96.

Elderton 98 Cabernet.
This opened up well, with good rich fruit, but not terribly varietal.
The second day it was even better. This is a most enjoyable wine.

Richmond Grove 98 Coonawarra Cabernet.
This wine was not very nice. It was varietal, but seemed to have a lot of oak, and tannins which flooded the fruit.

Glaetzer 98 Bishop Shiraz.
This wine was fantastic. A real pleasure to drink. Great fruit and richness, and not over oaked. It has reached its drinking window, and will hold for 5 years I think. Great stuff.

Kaesler 98 Stonehorse Shiraz.
The fruit has finally soaked up the old oak used, and its looking pretty damn good. Rich fruit, and a typical good Barossa shiraz.

Rosemount 98 Show Reserve Shiraz
Not as good as the 96, but still OK. Drink in the next 3 years.

[Sean]

deleted

[Aussie Johns]

Wedding on Friday night

1995 Pepper Tree Reserve HR Semillon

Not a fan of HR semillon, but this was an excellent wine. Lemon, cut grass, with beautiful length, and a taut steely backbone. Will hold for many years.
Drink: now-2015......................91pts

1996 Giaconda Chardonnay

Typical of this vineyard, very Burgundian in complexity, mouthfeel and length. A wonderful effort, IMO, the best chard he has released. Preferred the semillon, however.
Drink: now-2008+.....................90pts

1990 Penfold's Bin 389 Cab Shiraz

Again, never been a favourite of mine, but I have been served this wine umpteen times!! Over-oaked, and still woody after 14 years, this still needs time to sort itself out. Cab-shiraz blends usually leave me cold, and this is no exception.
Drink: 2010-2020+....................85pts

1996 Barwang Cabernet

Wow!! This came as a suprise!! I was expecting nothing from this wine, and came away very impressed. Oak beautifully integrated, seamless and long wine with anise, mint and cigar-box complexity. Great stuff, and probably better in a few years.
Drink: 2006-2010+.....................91pts

Sepplet's Salinger NV

Gee, another impressive suprise. Toasty, yeast flavours with a trace of honeysuckle and lemon. Excellent.
Drink: now...............................89pts


And at dinner on Saturday:

1997 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling

Hasn't come together yet, and seemed very clumsy. Two bottles opened, consistent notes. I think 1997 rieslings may be horrendously over-rated.
Not rated.

1991 St Hallet's Old Block Shiraz
Beautifully mature Barossa shiraz- all licquorice, tar, chocolate and earth.
Very long. Superb.
Drink: now-2010+......................94pts

[MartinC]

NOON ECLIPSE 2001
(bought fr Wickman Auction)

Color - Black
Nose - Perfume
Palate - big and gutsy, gobs of sweet ripe fruits, grippy tannins.
Lenght - long and lingering.

The best straight Grenache I ever had. A very serious "vin de garde" Miles ahead of their lighter 2000.

[Gavin Trott]

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Three in a row??? Am I going mad? Had to get a friend around to try them, and he agreed. One bottle less corked than the other 2. The winery will happily replace them. I am scared to open any more bottles of the dozen.

At Mark and Simmone Wickmans on Saturday night (great steaks Mark), the 2000 Majella Malleea ... corked!

Not a big weekend for Majella Wines and tree bark!

Frustrated, me, noooo ... I only had three of them.

[Jakob]

...I have drunk 10 gallons of water, taken a box of Panadol and had a few hours estra sleep, I am starting to feel human again but I think I need an alcohol free week

TORB, from everything I've read and experienced, you'll do better with Aspirin than Paracetamol if your pains are hangover related, especially if they're red wine related. Interjections are sure to abound, but try it next time and see, it's worth a shot anyhow

To the 'notes'!

It was a quiet week, and really pretty varied quality-wise

1986 Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz - $? - This has certainly confirmed itself as a great vintage of Bin 28. Two bottles on the one night, both showed identically. Starting to give in to red brown at the edge, but surprisingly deep and very pure colour. In the bottle, quite an astringent nose, green and woody with fruit very much at the back. Once decanted, initial notes slowly disappear to reveal more lively fruit aromas and cigar box (yep!). On the palate, a treat of plum, fig (yes indeed!), week-old candied cherries left over with a little Black Forest cake still hanging on, bitter sweet chocolate in a good way, and small red berries. Medium+ length with a great mouthfeel. This must be at its peak, though certainly not on the way out. Will it get better? Probably not, but I'd say it has a good five years left before curtains. Consider it softly murmured with some hesitation, but I think the 1999, of all subsequent vintages, will end up with a similar profile, albeit a little sooner - at least the wine makers and vintage analysts seem overly sure of this last point (I'm not entirely convinced!).

1997 (Wolf) Blass Adelaide Hills Basket Press(ed, phew!) Cabernet Merlot - $14 - I think this is an export-only label, and some would argue that's okay for us. A lot of acid, quite tannic, medium bodied, redeemed by confectionery cherry notes on the relatively short, somewhat stout, tannic palate. The palate says it's there to stay, the colour says three years and no more, and I'll duck for cover with the sweeper that this just might end up somewhere close to a bad imitation of mediocre Baralo. An okay wine with corner store takeout pizza, pies or fish'n'chips

2002 Taylors Shiraz - $14 - Great, great value if this is your style. Very deep crimson purple, moderate glass cling. What a sniff, especially at this price point! Plum, cherry, sweet black pepper, Clare liquor ice (sic!) minty eucalypt chocolate and a little vanillin oak in the background. The palate reflects the bouquet cleanly with very good length and intensity. This showed much better than the 2001 Mitchell Peppertree and, duely, the 2002 Mountadam, both consumed the same evening. No notes for them, as they may just have been in unfair company. Oh my, I can't wait to see the big sluggers from 2002 in the Clare - the mere thought of what the Aberfeldy might bring makes me giddy

1996 Haselgrove Reserve Shiraz 'H' - $24 - Yes, another one, just as good (and just the same) as the last. I still don't understand why this has such a lack of followers. Oh well, I'll happily go along with that and keep it for my(our)self(selves)...

1996 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz - $22 - Showed itself even better this time. Add marcipan and confectionery to the palate list. This bottle seemed to hint that there might, just possibly, be some improvement on the way - if not, there must be 3-5 years left in it. Great! ...that's the way it goes down

Jakob

[Anthony]

Spent the weekend down the beach eating and drinking well.

2002 Olsens Central Otago Pinot Noir: not bad, but didn't have the length or complexity to get me excited.

2002 Kingston Merlot (brought along by S-I-L) : Now I know why I haven't drunk this label for years. Definitely a 'red with no rules' sort of wine.

cheers
anthony

[Rory]

Didn't drink much, but the ones I did were..

D'Arenberg Money Spider Rousanne '02.
Not a as good on the nose a s I would have like, a bit muted, but a straightforward Rousanne palate. Nothing offensive or out of place, well made, good mouthfeel, a wine the girls would love.

D'Arenberg Custodian Grenache '01.
Also typical of the marque, well made ripe round nose and palate, handling the 14.5% Alc well. An O.K wine

Mick Morris Rutherglen Durif '87.
I'm not that educated in Durif, but at this age, and from such a well known maker, you would expect to taste a classic. And it seemed to be. Handled the 16.5% with ease, round, smooth, still youngish and very, very big. You just wouldn't want more than two glasses!


Rory

[BA]

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Three in a row??? Am I going mad? Had to get a friend around to try them, and he agreed. One bottle less corked than the other 2. The winery will happily replace them. I am scared to open any more bottles of the dozen.

Majella 97 Mallea
I thought Id better open another Majella after that. This was all fruit. fruit and more fruit, with oak in the background. Probably not as rich as I would like, but better on the second day. Will keep for a good while.

Aaargh !!!

Sad to see this as this is a beautiful wine. I've tried one and it is a great fruity lovely example of a Coonawarra Cabernet. I hope you keep the faith with this as it is too good not to enjoy. I've got 5 left, and I hope I've missed the corked ones (touch wood). The 1999 + 2000's are also very good if you get a chance at them. The 98 still has a lot of time left - will be good for another 5 at least.

The Mallea will keep a long time. I hope it will evolve into something really special.

BA

[Ed W]

hello jamie, big watsons fan huh? we gotta have to try to deviate our drinking pattern from its monthly specials or we will be posting notes on the same stuff everyweek btw how did you fit in all that drinking between flying

on to the drinks:

Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2002
clearing out the old stock at home. its last vintage bottled under cork which was in very good condition. strawy colour. has definitely developed some extra complexity (for a SB anyway) compared to a year ago. cut grass and gooseberry on the nose. creamy weighty palate, butterscotch, vanilla plus the usual tropical fruits abundance.

Te Mata Woodthorpe Sauvignon Blanc 2002
a lighter style compared to the wither hills. more herbaceous, capsicumy. still a relatively simple drink but nonetheless an enjoyable one.

Palliser Pinot Noir 2002
prompted by the recent comments of other forumites I opened my first palliser from 2002 vintage. a good drink. well structured but perhaps leaner in terms of body/palate weigh compared to the 00 and 01.

Isabel Pinot Noir 2002
it veers towards the "bigger the better" style of NZ PN without overdoing it. rich cherry nose. silky texture with sweet fruit dominating finishing with a hint of cinnamon and spice.

cheers
eddie

ps martin, isnt the eclipse a 2:1 grenache shiraz blend?

[GraemeG]

Over the weekendÂ…

2000 Blue Pyrenees Estate Reserve Red (Pyrenees)
Deep Red. Lots of menthol & spearmint on the nose of this one. Cool climate aromas, but not unripe. A bit monolithic and four-square on the palate – fine tannins & full body, but overall quite restrained. It’s 14.5% which is pushing it a bit I think, for this style.

1993 Drouhin Clos de Mouche (Beaune)
Pale brick red. A lovely light spicy faintly earthy Burgundian nose. Despite an hour or so in the glass, it failed to blossom into that sweet bouquet I often find with even modest Volnays, for example. Nice and even across the palate – the structural components have settled down into a smooth integrated wine. Very good without being profound, and with nowhere to go, I think.

2001 McWilliams Limited Release Botrytis Semillon (Griffith)
Deep yellow / gold. Explosive botrytis nose – marmalade, apricot, fermented fruits. Some acid, could easily use more. For all its richness, its going to be a short-term wine, I think. Still, even with all that sweetness the purity of the wine carries it through, at least for the time being.

1999 Tyrrells Vat 18 Belford Semillon (Hunter)
Still green after all these years! AustraliaÂ’s answer to Mosel Riesling, this weighs in at an astonishing 9.8% alcohol. Nose is a bit reticent with a little wet straw. The palate is still of lime and lemon, and although the acid is generally prominent, translucent, spring-water flavours play their part on the lightly-weighted palate. Still not much in the way of secondary development, this wine struggled in the face of light chilli sauce! Really a wine for a very hot day and non-Asian foodsÂ…

At an Anzac day lunch, a couple of not-well-stored, hugely dusty, expected over-the-hill bottles were opened.

1971 Tollana Bin TR222 Shiraz Cabernet (Eden Valley)
Mid high shoulder with a weeping cork, this was onion brown, and very volatile indeed. One sip was enough – the ethyl acetate is really showing through now. Pretty much dead.

1971 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon “Australian Claret” (Coonawarra)
High Shoulder. Cork came out in 3 pieces, despite careful use of the Ah-so. A reddish core, but significant brown/orange around the rim. The nose is leathery and a bit tarry, with some volatility. The palate is mirror smooth, with tannins completely resolved, and even the acidity is almost more present as a flavour rather than a texture. Hard to describe this, other than to say it’s very old wine. I wouldn’t call it Bordeaux-like in any way – perhaps unsympathetic storage over 30-odd years has taken it’s toll on complexity. Still drinkable, and the bottle was emptied. Well stored bottles of this could be quite fun.

2002 Wolf Blass yellow label Cabernet Sauvignon (South Australia)
I only really had one mouthful of this as my glass happened to be empty at the time. Deep red. Sweetish, simple nose of mulched red berries and balanced oak. ItÂ’s not subtle on the palate, but itÂ’s quite OK as a BBQ-type wine. Plenty of ripe fruit flavours, the oakÂ’s not overdone, alcohol at 13.5%. You could do a lot worseÂ…

nv Seppelt DP63 Grand Muscat 375ml (Rutherglen)
The old packaging, with Southcorp UK address labels. A similar colour to the two old reds above, but this has rich caramel/cinnamon aromas. The deliciously warm palate is created entirely by fruit intensity, as the alcohol is 17% only. Wonderfully drinkable, and held up well to a massively thick chocolate cake. Lovely wine. Bottle gone in 10 mins.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Mike Hawkins]

Was in the Barossa Saturday and this whetted my appetite to open a few bottles when I got home. The 02 shiraz's appear to live up to th hype.

1988 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz - developed nose with traces of leather and earth. Palate was sweeter than expected and was just beginning to dry out on the finish. An excellent wine.

2002 Beer Brothers Old Vine Shiraz - berry, caramel and vanilla nose, with bitter chocolate palate. Long finish and is one for the cellar. This is a cracker in the making.

2001 Heritage Rossco's Shiraz - had a touch of bottle stink initially but blew off to reveal plums & chocolate on the nose and palate. Tons of tannins which softened after a few hours air.

2002 Viking Shiraz Cabernet - lots of berry fruit and a whiff of alcohol first up. Medium bodied wine with no obvious oak on the palate. Not a bad wine, but just didn't excite. I'll have another look in a couple of years.

[markg]

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Majella 98 Cabernet
Corked

Three in a row??? Am I going mad? Had to get a friend around to try them, and he agreed. One bottle less corked than the other 2. The winery will happily replace them. I am scared to open any more bottles of the dozen.

At Mark and Simmone Wickmans on Saturday night (great steaks Mark), the 2000 Majella Malleea ... corked!

Not a big weekend for Majella Wines and tree bark!

Frustrated, me, noooo ... I only had three of them.

Glad you liked the steaks mate, but I did notice you left your coffee and glass of Ch Reynella 1975 port on the table - tsk, tsk...

Wines on Saturday night:

Kays Block 6 Shiraz 2001
Quite big and extracted, but very nice.

Majella Mallea 2000
As Gavin said, mildly corked, damn !

Cullen 1995 Cab Sav Merlot
Closed and a bit dissapointing at first but opened up into a very good wine through the evening.

Yalumba Octavius 1990
Powerful wine, at its peak, will continue to hold at least 5 more years.

Noon Eclipse 2002
Not really the appropriate wine to open after all the previous wines. This is the first time I have opened this wine and not finished off the bottle that evening.

Ch. Reynella Vintage Port 1975
This had been open a week already but was still holding up and only slightly diminished from the previous week (although a bit much for Gavin I think )

[DJ]

NOON ECLIPSE 2001
(bought fr Wickman Auction)

Color - Black
Nose - Perfume
Palate - big and gutsy, gobs of sweet ripe fruits, grippy tannins.
Lenght - long and lingering.

The best straight Grenache I ever had. A very serious "vin de garde" Miles ahead of their lighter 2000.

I don't have a bottle at work strangely enough but I can pretty confidently say Eclipse is not a straight grenache. Best described as grenache shiraz plus whatever bits are also in the home vineyard (which is predominantly bush vine grenache).

With the olds staying have opened a few reasonables over the last week.

1997 Canobolas Smith Alchemy - should have been decanted but opened nicely in the glass. rich berry fruit in great balance (note to self try and buy more regularly)

1999 Burra Burra Shiraz - a Stephen George wine. Nice wine somewhat overwhelmed by Rama's medium curries

1993 Wynns Shiraz - had a mixed lot from this case, this one one pleasant drinking (some haven't) but nothing spectacular

1992 E&E Black Pepper Shiraz - drinking well but should hold for ages. Oak seems better balanced than the 1991.

Note this week but recently had the 1998 Noon Eclispse - first bottle corked but a second was great. Soft tannin adding mouth feel then heaps of flavours berries, chocolate, etc, etc yum

[Adair]

1999 Burra Burra Shiraz - a Stephen George wine. Nice wine somewhat overwhelmed by Rama's medium curries

Hello DJ,

I have a case of this but have not evened cracked one yet. Can you give me any idea of drinking window? Given the structure of Stephen George's other wines, I had no hesitation in putting this case in the back of my cellar and forgetting about it for a few years without much thought.

Adair

[Andy]

Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2004 2:50 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

St. Hallet Blackwell Shiraz 2001

Bursting with flavour! A heavy weighted wine and good buy at $20, so I went back and bought a few more. Deep dark in colour with nice flavours of plums and spice, and with a nice long finish, "yummo". Second day revealed more complex flavours that I just could put a finger on, coffee-like but not quite. Good to drink now or over the next few years.

Mark

Where did you find this for $20

I have only seen it for $25 and thought it was a good buy at that. Glad you enjoyed it too.

Cheers

Andy

[Mark]

Andy,

There's always good specials on and you just have to seek them out. I bought the St. Hallet at DM. They don't advertise all there specials and I think it's really annoying. I think I was just just lucky to see it for $20. If you went to a DM around Melbourne they probably still on special until the next specials on Wednesday.

Mark

[/quote]

[n4sir]

Wines on Saturday night:

Yalumba Octavius 1990
Powerful wine, at its peak, will continue to hold at least 5 more years.

________________
Cheers
-Mark Wickman

I remember trying the 1990 Octavius about four years ago against the new release 1996. It was magnificent, with regional petroleum characters, rich supple fruit, velvety tannins, and magnificent length. The 1996 was pure-cut Missouri timber in comparison. It's good to see it's still going on strong - pity I don't have any myself!

Cheers,
Ian

[TORB]

It was magnificent, with regional petroleum characters, rich supple fruit, velvety tannins, and magnificent length. Ian

Ian,

Ah ha, regional Barossa high octane juice at its best! The sort of stuff you want to sniff all day

[DJ]

1999 Burra Burra Shiraz - a Stephen George wine. Nice wine somewhat overwhelmed by Rama's medium curries

Hello DJ,

I have a case of this but have not evened cracked one yet. Can you give me any idea of drinking window? Given the structure of Stephen George's other wines, I had no hesitation in putting this case in the back of my cellar and forgetting about it for a few years without much thought.

Adair

Adair
Sorry but the curry really did overwhelm the wine but my impression is that it will drink well over 5 to 10 years from now. Worth trying one in this year though.

David