Right, what are we/you drinking now .. tonight

[maybs]

2009 Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay tonight. A bit closed for the first half an hour but has opened up and delivered the length I was hoping for. Very nice.

[catchnrelease]

2014 Grosset Springvale Riesling - Just got the 2014 line up in the shop and gave this one a crack. Very good colour and a great nose. Citrussy, chalky and very long on the palate. Balance is pretty much spot on. Not as acidic as I anticipated being so young, but still enough there to give a nice dry finish. Should cellar the better part of a decade. Went well with sushi. No complaints!

[Hacker]

Voyager 2001 Cab Merlot Delish. Tobacco leaf, medium bodied, smooth, but has plenty of fruit structure to see it thru for at least another 5+ years

[Bytown Rick]

2001 Voyager Cabernet-Merlot and 2001 Voyager Shiraz. We went back and forth between the two. Based on reputation (and previous tastings), the Cab-Merlot should easily have been the better of the two. Both wines were in fine form, but on this day a slight edge to the Shiraz. We'll try the pairing again in a few years.

Rick

[The fish]

After having to cancel a game of golf on a lovely Sunday due to an emergency call from work, 2013 Ravensworth Nebbiolo. Love the nose and the fine tannins. So happy I have another 5 of this. And then some Clonakilla Muscat

Hey Paul!

That Ravensworth Nebb is delicious. Fantastic tannins - almost like corduroy and good hilltops fruit. Almost brought a bottle to our last offline but figured that with it being a local most of the attendess would have already grabbed/tried some.

Cheers
Matt

[Redwine&Rum]

Think I drank a bottle of 2006 Wynns Black Label Cabernet. Beautiful drinking wine. Went down a treat with the Aged T-Bone steak I had.

[Duncan Disorderly]

After having to cancel a game of golf on a lovely Sunday due to an emergency call from work, 2013 Ravensworth Nebbiolo. Love the nose and the fine tannins. So happy I have another 5 of this. And then some Clonakilla Muscat

Good to hear that some enjoyment was had on Sunday, although the way I played I may have been better off working in the garden. Good to hear about the wine too as I picked up a couple on Friday afternoon.

[dave vino]

Might win most obscure wine tasting notes award for the night

In China for work, so I thought I’d give a few of the local wines a fair go and do some quick reviews on them. The glass I am using is from the store I got the wine from washed out with bottled water, best I could find in the circumstances.



Changyu Dry Red Wine
The Changyu winery is around 120years old. (I kid you not) and the wine is the Changyu Dry Red Wine which is a blend of Cabernet and Gernischt there doesn’t seem to be a vintage on the bottle that I can see. This is under cork, which seemed to be in good condition.

Nice clear garnet colour and blackberry and dark fruits immediately coming out on pouring, upon nosing the glass there is a real white pepper coming off the wine that tingles the nose a bit. I’m really trying to avoid cliched Chinese descriptors here, so I’m not going to say there is a hint of soy and Chinese Five Spice . On the palate it is quite sour and acidic yet soft in the mouth on entry, the tannins are quite abrasive at first softening on the back palate to a nice fuzziness. It sort of kind of puts me in the mind of a young Rioja Alta with the lightness and spiciness with nice dark cherry coming through. The depth of fruit is a bit lacking, as it tends to fall off fairly quickly and reveals a bit of heat and not much else on the back palate. At 12% alc it would make a good casual mid-week pizza night wine as it has the acid and structure to cut through all the heaviness of a pan size pizza without the headache in the morning, ultimately I don’t think they are trying to make a wine that should be taken too seriously and at 86RMB on special or around $13AUD they are not priced to be either. I am finding as it sits the glass a bit longer the wine is opening up a bit more. I’ll let this sit and Audouze for a bit.



1994 Dynasty Dry Red Wine CabSav
Second bottle on the Renaissance Hotel Suzhou Tasting Desk is the 1994 Dynasty Dry Red Wine, Cabernet Sauvignon. The cork is reminiscent of a diam so I’m not sure how they have made it with only 5mm of seepage up the cork. The container had rust around the lid, so I dare say it’s been sitting in the shop for a while (a large supermarket (Rainbow) so I’m hoping it’s not fake as a result). There is that white pepper aroma again although it seems a bit dustier now (it is not the glass as I have rinsed it again and smelt prior). The colour is quite good so am starting to wonder if 1994 is the vintage or relating to something else. The nose has leather characteristics under the pepper so maybe some hope yet with some blackcurrant fighting its way through and it actually has some good depth to it. On the palate I can get older characteristics with a really strange structure and almost powdery graininess, similar to when you get to the bottom of an unfiltered wine and the sediment becomes more prevalent. There is almost, and this may sound weird, an element of popped popcorn about it (that smell you get just after you pop them). The length and structure is actually not too bad, it leaves a nice aftertaste of raspberry and redcurrant. Definitely getting more secondary characteristics coming through with a bit of air, it’s putting me in the mind of an aged Aussie Shiraz. Get rid of the white pepper on the nose and it’s actually very drinkable, the tannins are starting to provide a nice bit of chewiness to the finish. I paid 148RMB for this which is about $25AUD it is 13% alc and 100% Cab Sav.

[Waiters Friend]

Frog Choir Cab Shiraz (Margaret River) 2007. This has been open a couple of days, and has a good balance of fruit, tannins / oak and density. Pretty good for just over $20.

Old Kent River Chardonnay 2010. My favourite quirky old fashioned winery in Denmark (grapes grown in Rocky Gully) and one of my favourite vintages. White peach, lemon, nectarine, a hint of cashew (not overly oaked) and well balanced. Good acid and length as well. Yum!

[PDG]

After having to cancel a game of golf on a lovely Sunday due to an emergency call from work, 2013 Ravensworth Nebbiolo. Love the nose and the fine tannins. So happy I have another 5 of this. And then some Clonakilla Muscat

Hey Paul!

That Ravensworth Nebb is delicious. Fantastic tannins - almost like corduroy and good hilltops fruit. Almost brought a bottle to our last offline but figured that with it being a local most of the attendess would have already grabbed/tried some.

Cheers
Matt

Hey Matt,

It certainly is isn't it?! I think from reading above, it seems like Julian has a few too. I'm looking forward to seeing what this is like in a few years time!

Cheers
Paul

[PDG]

After having to cancel a game of golf on a lovely Sunday due to an emergency call from work, 2013 Ravensworth Nebbiolo. Love the nose and the fine tannins. So happy I have another 5 of this. And then some Clonakilla Muscat

Good to hear that some enjoyment was had on Sunday, although the way I played I may have been better off working in the garden. Good to hear about the wine too as I picked up a couple on Friday afternoon.

We've all been there Julian. That's why we love the game isn't it??

Off topic I know but if you're playing this weekend then I'm keen...I'm turning my phone off haha

[PDG]

2012 Coates The Syrah

Not a bad drop for $20 I reckon. Hint of chocolate and some earthiness on the nose, pretty smooth with dark fruits and soft tannins. Picked up a few more bottles, a good mid week wine I think.

[precariousb]

We have an orange wine from Alicante to try tonight (read; shortly, as we're off today ). The name escapes me, but I'll try and post a picture later.

Not a style of wine, or region, we're hugely familiar with despite my father living there (he's more a San Miguel fan, you see), but had a glass of it, or something similar, in Ester restaurant a few weeks ago and thought we'd give it more of a taste test. The one in Ester reminded us of a dry sherry.

[daz]

Angove Long Row Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, an agreeable cheapie for =/<$8.00.

[Mahmoud Ali]

We broached a couple of bottles with roast chicken, potaoes, and some vegetables:

2006 Chateau Haut Mayne, Graves, (Bordeaux), 12.5%, and
2010 Amayna Sauvignon Blanc, Chile, 14.5%

The white Bordeaux was 77% Semillon and 19% Sauvignon, with 4% Muscadelle - it seemed a bit tired but it may have been in the trasition between youth and maturity. The Chilean was typically sauvignon on the nose but with touch of honeyed tropical fruit, it was in a rounded richer style and quite tasty.

Cheers.....................Mahmoud.

[Sean]

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[Redback]

The Misses realised that it has been 11 years to the day that we moved to our home, so decided to open a 2003 Lakes Folly Cabernets to have with a Roast Lamb for dinner. Cigar box on the nose but the fruit still pronounced on the palate. Still amazes me that a wine like this can come from the Hunter.

[Hacker]

Mrs Hacker is away so opened a cheeky half bottle of 1988 Mongeard-Mungneret Clos de Vougeot that I wasn't expecting much from, but in a sous bois, old tertiary broad delicious way it is delivering in spades!

Hope that makes sense!

[maybs]

Mrs Hacker is away so opened a cheeky half bottle of 1988 Mongeard-Mungneret Clos de Vougeot that I wasn't expecting much from, but in a sous bois, old tertiary broad delicious way it is delivering in spades!

Hope that makes sense!

Sure you hasn't already had a magnum before you opened the half bottle and wrote that?

[maybs]

2008 Kumeu River Mate's Vineyard Chardonnay. Beautifully balanced fruit (grapefruit, melon), oak and acid. Mouth filling and long. Really nice.

[Phil H]

2005 Brini Sebastion Shiraz Good, not great. An honest Mclaren Vale Shiraz, however not showing a great deal of complexity, enjoyable with a few years left in it.

[conformistpete]

Innocent Bystander sangiovese 2012 with spag bog. Cherry acid and grippy tannins. Worked well.

[Michael R]

Mrs Hacker is away so opened a cheeky half bottle of 1988 Mongeard-Mungneret Clos de Vougeot that I wasn't expecting much from, but in a sous bois, old tertiary broad delicious way it is delivering in spades!

Hope that makes sense!

Happy it performed mate, but not sure why u doubted...88 offered some cracking reds, add in a quality producer and GC grapes ..I suppose the 375ml factor might lower expectations.

I keep promising to buy more halfies, but never seem to.

Tonight, finished off the 2011 Heemskerk Chardy I opened last night. Didn't do it for me unfortunately.
Just opened a 2009 Bremerton Reserve Chardy, decent, slightly sweet which doesn't detract. Half the price of the Heemskerk and would buy again.

[Ozzie W]

Cracked a bottle of 2013 Coriole Sangiovise.

Not a grape variety I've had much of. Almost sweet red cherry fruit. Some clove spice but mostly just juicy fruit. About half way between Pinot Noir and Shiraz in intensity. Super smooth and very easy to drink, either on its own or with food. I reckon if you bring this to a BBQ everyone will be impressed.

[Bytown Rick]

1998 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon. A half bottle.

It's been a while since I had one, and I was a bit worried about the dark colour. But what a nice wine. Honey, caramel and some stone fruit. Long, long finish. Will be interesting to see how it continues to evolve.

Rick

[Chuck]

Last night actually. A friend's 50th birthday bash last night not far from Gavin's place. Recently divorced she managed to get to the cellar first to rescue some truly great wines. However without a cellar in the new home she liberated about 50 bottles for the bash. There were Wendourees from 1992 to 1999, Rocford Basket Press from the same decade and many many more great wines. One of the most interesting wine was a cleanskin that was apparently made by James Haselgrove. It had an unusual unflattering name but was a hell of a good wine. The massive sediment suggested it was very old but it went a treat with those yummy party pies only permitted at these special times.

Carl

[Phil H]

2009 Highland Heritage Merlot Wow.. From the Orange Region which I am biased towards. Despite 5 years of age, still a baby, more like a Right Bank Bordeaux. Serious Grippy tannins like old school Coonawarra being most prominent, not like what most people would expect from an Aussie Merlot (sweet jammy fruit), - quiet the opposite. As stated maybe I am a bit biased,and not a wine for everyone.. but certainly an interesting wine, and put in a blind tasting would challenge the most experienced. For under $20 - I will be buying more.

[maybs]

In Orange for work. Made the mistake of thinking i would hit the Dan Murphy on the way back from dinner at the pub, for something to drink tonight and tomorrow. Of course, it shut whilst I was eating dinner.

Now confronted with a wine in my otherwise lovely accommodation which JH rates as 89, 2012 Ross Hill Benny and Taylor Shiraz. I was thinking I would just have a beer but decided to risk it. It's actually not horrible. Savory, peppery, some dark fruit though needs more. I would have preferred to pick up something more interesting to make up for being alone in Orange, but it is a pleasant enough quaffer.

A bit disappointing given the quality of the accommodation and what the region has to offer though.

[Phil H]

Hi Maybs, Ross Hill wines produce some great wines (Pinnacle Pinot noir), and I was fortunate to meeting all the grandchildren who his second tier wines are named after. However recently opened some of these wines and something was not quiet right.
In general I have found Orange makes good Pinot, Cab Sav & Merlot. Shiraz is not the strongest, however there are always exceptions.
If you have time maybe pop out to Philip Shaw Wines. Orange wines are certainly different, and can grow on you. They may not win as many medals, but still intrigue me. Hopefully the weather is kind to you - I have known it to snow on Christmas Day - good place to visit, not so good to live in.

[Phil H]

2010 Centennial Vineyards Pinot Noir Slightly green underripe fruit, very light bodied, however everything else you would expect from a Pinot. Enjoyable, good but not great.