The Auswine Forum

Have been to a couple of dinners with work colleagues to celebrate my retirement yesterday and had some quite nice wines:

Rockford 2011 BP. Nice but needs a long time in the cellar.
Penfolds 2007 St Henri. Ditto above
Vasse Felix 2005 Margaret River Heytsbury. Very nice and could do with more slumber time
Cullens 2010 Margaret River Dianne Madelaine. OK but did not live up to expectations.
Grant Burge 2010 Filsell Barossa Shiraz. Always boxes above its weight.
Shaw and Smith 2013 M3 Chardonnay. Yummy.
Some french bubble. Nice but a bit of a waste on me.
A wildcard entrant. A 32 YO sticky (no label) that I think was more of a fortified. Quite nice.
A few VSOP Cognacs - too late in the night to remember the name. Mother's milk
A few single malt whiskeys. Ditto above
A beer or 3.

And tonight the family is continuing the celebration at Classico Chianti, an Adelaide institution, that allows BYO. Down to the cellar now to choose the wines.

Update 2/8/15

Wines taken to Classico Chianti were:

Petaluma 1999 Coonawarra. Opened at home a few hours earlier it looked in good shape but at the restaurant it showed mild cork taint. However I can cope with very low level taint if the fruit is still good which it was but after about 2/3 bottle the cork taint had risen. Damn those cork gods as this one was the last in the cellar.

Peter Lehmann 2007 Blackwell Shiraz. Very nice classic Barossa shiraz.

With entres we enjoyed the wines matched with the food and mine was a Landaire 2013 Chardonnay. From an unlikely source in Padthaway this was a revelation. A thoroughly modern version of OZ chardonnay using Burgundy clones (as written on back label). If this is the future I'm with it all the way.
Come Monday the liver will have a well earned rest.

Carl

2012 Foillard Morgon, Cote du Py, Beaujolais

2009 The Colonial Estate Emigre. GSM. Barossa Valley. My pick of all the TCE wines is the Emigre. 3 hour decant. Lovely dark fruit, chocolate and a touch of spice on the nose. Fruit and oak seem in great balance. Silken tannins. Very nice wine. Great value for the purchase price. 4/5

2009 Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz. This was decanted for an hour and could have done with more. The nose is quite funky. Barnyard and spice and almost off putting. But the palate is great. So smooth and the texture is wonderful. More spice, red and black fruit and leaves you wanting more. I just struggled to get past the nose. Another bargain for $25. 3.5/5

Cheers
Ian

Tooheys Old why not in this torrid SA weather

Sami Odi Little Wine 4 Fraser is a dead set legend and his wine is equal, the nose gets me every time, such pleasant dense fruit to go with the noisettes tonight

Muscat Of Alexandria 2010 Need to celebrate the arrival of the wendouree mailer, but will tuck into this instead

I love travelling - particularly in Asia but the wine selections in Indonesia are very limited and usually disappointing. So I'm having my 20th Bintang in the last 5 days and missing my wine enormously. The good news is that in a couple of weeks when I get back I'll be driving my new wine cellar cold room back to Yeppoon. It won't take me long to catch up......

Murdock Merlot 2005
14.5% alc and under screwcap. Still showing plenty of richness, but fairly simple.

1994 Petaluma Merlot
this is holding up remarkably well, and remains my best Australian experience with the variety. Even survived a pretty torrid trip from my Melbourne cellar to China in the height of Summer last year. Wonderful, still has time on its side. 96pts

1994 Troplong Mondot
those annoying harsh tannins typical of this vintage have more or less resolved, rendering this a pleasant bottle, but not really more than that. Outclassed by the Petaluma. 89pts.

Put in the decanter for 2 hours. Enjoyed it over two nights.

Really liked this. Very approachable, blackberry, redcurrant, black pepper, it had a really nice tannin structure which was like velvet, yet slightly grippy, really nice mouthfeel. Wished I grabbed more of it.

Hi Dave, was it comparable to any of the Wendourees we had at the recent offline? Structurally better/different/softer?

2009 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec -red fruits, plums,"minty, coffee oak, tobacco, gathers weight in the glass, caramel, slight tinned pineapple in the last mouthful that was in the glass for 2hrs. Excellent. 93+
2010 innocent Bystander Mia Culpa - more earth than the wendouree, some pepper, leather, bramble dark plums, charcoal, mint and spice. good, but not in the same class as the above. Will get better 91
2013 Gundog Estate Gundaroo Shiraz - bright crimson fruits in comparison to the others. Cherry five spice, aniseed, sweet raspberry, lavender , sweet and spicy. Very good. 91

Cullen Cabernet Merlot 1999

Strong hint of Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Raspberry, Violet on the nose, along with Cedar, Tobacco and Mocha. Dark plum, sour cherry and dark chocolate on the palate with a hint of astringency, long lasting finish with close knitted tannin and blackcurrant aftertaste. Great wine, this is a savoury style WA Cab (which I prefer) compared to the Houghton Jack Mann 1999 (which I also enjoyed).

2010 Domaine Louis Jadot Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru "Clos Croix Pierre"- I buy a case every year and its a great quaffer. Drink 6 now keep 6 to stock the wine fridge with a 1er Cru Burgundy at under $30- ish that punches above its weight.


Florally sweet-red fruits on a airy blackberry like base which follows through on the palate in a comfortable mouthfeel, a touch of austerity prior to a sappy finish. Should hang on to a few for the medium haul.

90pts+

JamieBahrain wrote:2010 Domaine Louis Jadot Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru "Clos Croix Pierre"- I buy a case every year and its a great quaffer. Drink 6 now keep 6 to stock the wine fridge with a 1er Cru Burgundy at under $30- ish that punches above its weight.


Florally sweet-red fruits on a airy blackberry like base which follows through on the palate in a comfortable mouthfeel, a touch of austerity prior to a sappy finish. Should hang on to a few for the medium haul.

90pts+

Hi Jamie,

How would you rate the Louis Jadot reds compared to the whites? I quite like their whites (I only had the Pouilly-Fuisse and Meursault from 2005, they were wonderful with light to medium Chinese cuisine - had them to wash the steamed fish, steamed prawns and soy sauce chicken. I could hardly contemplate the fact that the Meursault was almost twice the price of Pouilly-Fuisse, that home dinner at my friend's place set me back at around HKD $780 for that 2 bottles, circa 2009)

Jeeez, 1er Cru Burgunday @ under $30.... if only...

Anyway, had a bottle of NV Taittinger which was not as good as my previous bottles. Generally i'd rate it as a pretty good NV champagen, but this one felt much shorter than usual... Usual citrus, acidity and bit of yeasty breadiness, but the finish was very short. Hopefully the rest of my stash are better!!

Minor reprieve of last year's celebrations on Sat night with a few friends

98 Wynns Black label
98 Penfolds Bin 389
96 Wynns Michael (magnum)
96 Wynns Black Label (magnum)
96 Wynns JR
96 Bowen Estate Shiraz
94 Penfolds 389
91 Petaluma Cooonawarra
89 Redman Cabernet (magnum)
87 Wynns JR

Was very pleasantly surprised there wasn't a dud bottle among them, even including the Redman. All were very enjoyable, the 96 Michael was a standout for me, JRs and 389s also v good as were BLs.

mse

I have always enjoyed Jadot but I'm not a very hyped up Burg drinker. What I like is their consistency whilst capturing a particular terroir. I also like the fact they replace corked bottles.

mjs wrote:Minor reprieve of last year's celebrations on Sat night with a few friends

98 Wynns Black label
98 Penfolds Bin 389
96 Wynns Michael (magnum)
96 Wynns Black Label (magnum)
96 Wynns JR
96 Bowen Estate Shiraz
94 Penfolds 389
91 Petaluma Cooonawarra
89 Redman Cabernet (magnum)
87 Wynns JR

Was very pleasantly surprised there wasn't a dud bottle among them, even including the Redman. All were very enjoyable, the 96 Michael was a standout for me, JRs and 389s also v good as were BLs.

arnt the 98 389's great .. the 10's and 12's are going to be exceptional at 15 - 20 years of age

Hacker wrote:Hi Dave, was it comparable to any of the Wendourees we had at the recent offline? Structurally better/different/softer?

Definitely softer and more rounded. Lots of fruit on the nose. Quite Moorish.

Sorry if this sounds daft, but I keep seeing this 'moorish' and I can't work out the meaning. The Moors were the Muslims in Spain. Moors are also bleak English countryside made famous by the Bronte sisters. Neither makes sense in this context. I can only guess that you mean moreish, as in something you want more of. Is that correct?

2008 padthaway henry's drive
Wasnt expecting this at all..
Sweet but suttle rasberrys. Some minerality, frow in a bouquet garni and bay leaf. Long enjoyable finish. Very impressed. A great gift

swirler wrote:Sorry if this sounds daft, but I keep seeing this 'moorish' and I can't work out the meaning. The Moors were the Muslims in Spain. Moors are also bleak English countryside made famous by the Bronte sisters. Neither makes sense in this context. I can only guess that you mean moreish, as in something you want more of. Is that correct?

Yes, I think there is a spelling issue ...

moreish
ˈmɔːrɪʃ/
adjectiveBRITISHinformal
so pleasant to eat that one wants more.
"a moreish aubergine dip"

Nothing to do with the Moors (muslims or English countryside)

mjs wrote:Minor reprieve of last year's celebrations on Sat night with a few friends

98 Wynns Black label
98 Penfolds Bin 389
96 Wynns Michael (magnum)
96 Wynns Black Label (magnum)
96 Wynns JR
96 Bowen Estate Shiraz
94 Penfolds 389
91 Petaluma Cooonawarra
89 Redman Cabernet (magnum)
87 Wynns JR

Was very pleasantly surprised there wasn't a dud bottle among them, even including the Redman. All were very enjoyable, the 96 Michael was a standout for me, JRs and 389s also v good as were BLs.

Hope your coming back to Sydney soon!
What was the petaluma? Cab merlot?

Ta

Henshke Mount edelstone 1996
Had a good mate over who I went to school with, he had a liver transplant last year and still going hard, I always go out of my way for him


All round a great wine, still lots of life. Complex , layered
More than hofg

aren't the Moors in Scotland?

Hunter wrote:Henshke Mount edelstone 1996
Had a good mate over who I went to school with, he had a liver transplant last year and still going hard, I always go out of my way for him

Hi Hunter,

That's very touching demonstration of friendship. Best wishes to your buddy. Fortunately all my high school friends are physically fit and healthier than me due to regular exercise and strict diet (not much wine consumption).

yet another 1989 Chateau Canon just brilliant. 96pts, no hurry to drink.
At $100 for a wine perfectly cellared for 25years, this was an absolute steal.

2011 Mike Press Cabernet- Probably at it's best. High acidity that demands food. Eucalyptus raspberry and not much tannin to speak of. Not bad for $12.

1995 guigal cote rotie brune et blonde
Still very alive. Not much on the nose, a little funk.
Faded rasberrys and mineral. Silky smooth.
A great food wine. "Glad iv'e stocked up on the 10's ..

2009 Shelter Pinot Noir 777
this might be the most God-awful pinot noir I have ever had the mis-fortune to taste. Tastes like raspberry lemonade that has been left in a bush-fire for a month. From Baden-Baden, Germany. Putrid, but certainly no evidence of TCA. Drink: only if you have a gun pointed at your head. 50pts (my lowest score possible, and one of only about three 50pt wines scored by me in 35 years of drinking wine)