A few E & E's

[Luke W]

Had a friend's belated 60th where he brought out 4 bottles of old Barossa Valley Estate E & E Black Pepper Shiraz. His cellaring conditions aren't great (although not too bad but certainly not temperature controlled and some of these wines have spent some time in Central Q'ld and may have aged a little prematurely).

The 95 was the first opened and it ponged to start but within the hour had become quite a classy seductress. The pong was replaced by some spicy star anise and strawberries. The palate was initially short, sharp and sweet leaving a sweet and sour sensationat the middle of the tongue and a dry tannin coat at the front. As the wine developed it became longer and more integrated and the clarity of red and black fruit exposed itself.

The 92 was next and was hyper brett to start with but this blew off after about 10 - 15 minutes. This had lost most of its primary fruit and although remained balanced, became uninteresting pretty quickly. Was put aside for a couple of hours and then re-tasted - quite a different wine with considable elegance and loveliness.

The 94 on the other hand was great to start with but faded pretty quickly and was boring after about 40 minutes.

The 96 was a credit to its vintage. A much tighter, more lucious, cleaner wine with lots of primary fruit (mostly red currant and stewed plums). A faultless, elegant wine with a glorious palate, no hint of intrusion from the tannins - just a hint of dryness. Just got better and better and then evaporated....

[underwraps50]

Luke, I'm guessing your avatar depicts the Byzantine towers of the Strand Hotel at sunset.
Sounds like a great 6oth.
Probably a good move to trot those out as it is shaping up as a long hot CQ summer.
Cheers,
H.

[Luke W]

Dear H

Hi to another CQ'er. The towers are Ankor Wat at dawn or dusk (I've forgotten which - I think dawn), although dwarved by the beauty of the Yeppoon Strand. The E&E's went to Brissie about 10 years ago with the birthday boy. I hope for your sake u have temp controls in Rocky cause I think ur prob right.
What does the H stand for?

cheers

Luke

[underwraps50]

Hal here, Luke.
I manage surprisingly well with a little 'cellar' in the enclosed space under the internal stairs. I would not have lost more than half a dozen bottles in 30 years. It's all about conservative estimates of when a wine will be ready to drink. I don't do whites however (except in the fridge).
You're right about the Strand Hotel, hard to beat.
Cheers.

[rens]

I can see a Yeppoon Tasting group forming here...

[Luke W]

Now wouldn't that be something!

[underwraps50]

Luke, you are probably aware that there is quite a vibrant little 'enthusiast' thing going on through the efforts of a couple of knowledgeable and passionate wine staff at the Rocky Dan Murphys. I haven't attended any of the wine dinners or educational evenings yet (doesn't suit me just at the moment) but they seem to be going very well and are quite popular. The staff members are terrific people and a real pleasure to chat with at the Saturday afternoon informal tastings. It's refreshing to have somewhere to chat with staff who know their stuff.

[Luke W]

Hi Hal
@
This is the third time I've tried to respond to your blog as I lie in Rockhampton Hospital sans appendix. I regularly talk to Chris at DMC and would love to go to some of the tastings but the good ones seem to be full before they're advertised maybe I'll. Catch up with u at one of them.

[ticklenow1]

Luke,

Get better soon. I had the same thing last September. Not a lot of fun. Hope yours didn't burst like mine did. You'll have to recuperate with some nice wines.

Ian

[rens]

Sorry to hear you've not been well Luke. Kellee and I send our best wishes and hope you're up and about quickly.

[Luke W]

Thanks guys

Just got home and still sick as a dog (but would rather be sick at home). As I haven't had a drop for a week (tonite) I'm going to start my Octsober early and finish in 3 weeks. Must admit I don't even feel like food or wine (must be sick). Appendix necrotic - a bit touch and go for a while - 4 new scars (one about 7" long!).... will keep enjoying wine vicariously for a few weeks reading your blogs.

Cheers

Luke

[Michael McNally]

Holy fucking shit! Necrotic is not a pretty word.

Get well soon Luke, and see you down here later in the year for the end of year shindig?

Take care

Michael

[JF]

Holy fucking shit! Necrotic is not a pretty word.

Get well soon Luke, and see you down here later in the year for the end of year shindig?

Take care

Michael

From the man who is offended but the term 'Wifey'

[underwraps50]

Hi Luke, sorry to hear about the medical issue. No surgery is insignificant. Hope you make a speedy recovery. Do you get the DM electronic newsletters? They always mention any upcoming clinics/tastings etc. I'm sure Chris would try to solve that problem for you. I'm about 12 months out from retirement and life is just too hectic at the moment to be bothered with the tastings & dinners, but after mid next year I am thinking I will be in a better state of mind to enjoy such events. I will look forward to meeting you at one of them if you are still enjoying the lifestyle in CQ.

[Luke W]

Thanks Hal

I get the emails from DMC but are they the same as the electronic newsletter?
My biggest problem in Rocky tastings is getting home - it would be good if u could buy a non drinking ticket for the driver!
I'm retiring in 3 years if my body lasts that long......

I love Yeppoon and Emu Park - been here for 20 years and not aiming to go back to Brissie.

See you around

Luke

[underwraps50]

That's a good question about the emails Vs Newsletters. I confess to not taking too much notice of either as I know I will be in the store on Saturday anyhow and don't intend going to the evening mid-week tastings/clinics. You are right about the problem of how you would get home - even if you stayed in Rocky overnight there's still work the next day. The mid-week timeslot is the big issue for me as I am not really interested in a big night during the working week. I have suggested to them that Friday or Saturday would suit better for the wine dinners as I could attend with friends and my non-drinking spouse could drive us all home. Nevermind, at least we now have a bit of variety (and competition) available in CQ. The Cap Coast is only going to get bigger so the prospects are good for better services there in the future. Cheers, Hal.