The Auswine Forum

Getting stuck into a 2010 Rockbare Barossa Babe Shiraz. I was feeling a bit frisky and the girl on the bottle was begging me.

had my first glass of a 2009 Faiveley Clos des Cortons, a wine I picked up by the case a couple of years ago in HK for about $110/bottle.
truly an amazing wine, it is almost like they took six bottles of Corton and boiled them down into a solitary bottle. Easily the biggest Burg I have ever seen, possibly the biggest wine I have ever seen. This will be a legendary wine in 20-25 years, but I am certain my remaining 15 or so bottles will not last that long.
It will be a treat with the Dong Bei Rou Bing I am about to devour

De Chanceny Cremant de Loire Brut 2011.

Last night I shared a bottle of the 2005 Domaine Gallety La Syrare d'Alain Gallety (pictured) which was drinking superbly. The wine is a shiraz grenache blend (possibly with some mourvedre) which hails from the Côtes de Vivarais which is on the northern edge of the southern Rhone. It was medium bodied but had a lovely floral nose and a cornucopia of flavours from mulberry and red cherry, to a touch of tobacco, violets, garrigue and hints of licorice and blueberry pie.

I don't know why NZ & Australia do so poorly with Sav Blanc becuase this little beauty from Amarone/Soave country smashes them all! Except, I must say, Domaine A has knocked off plenty of top shelf international SB's in tastings over the years.

Giacosa's Valmaggiore isn't as beefed up as say Sandrone's- it is a Burgundy drinker's nebbiolo. Wonderful purity with delicate varietal notes of tar, roses and strawberry-minerals. 92pts but not a keeper for this baby Barolo. If visiting Piedmont do venture up this way in the Roero hills where there are emerging treasures.

07 Francois Bertheau Chambolle Musigny, prem Cru
Quick taste...looks good.

Looong week, wouldn't shock me if something else gets opened later.

Bought a Chevillon 1993 Vaucrains at auction a couple of months ago, crap cork and was dubious of the contents. First few mouthfuls were ok, but it is falling apart fast

After being at the Souths grand final lunch with great company, great stories and atrocious booze I am just drinking a Wynn's 2012 Coonawarra Shiraz

Trying my first ever Henschke - 2012 Henschke Euphonium Keyneton Estate - drinking it young just for fun. Got to be getting more of this.

Tyrrells Vat 9 2002. My last bottle. Odd medicinal nose but the more I taste it the more I really like it.

An 05 Hanging Rock Cambrian Rise Shiraz. It's a solid wine although not quite as good as the 04

San Felice Campogiovanni Brunello di Montalcino 2006. Pretty damn good. I'm an Italian wine fan.

Krug Grande Cuvee. Just working my way through the lounge wine line up.

toofastdriving wrote:Trying my first ever Henschke - 2012 Henschke Euphonium Keyneton Estate - drinking it young just for fun. Got to be getting more of this.

And how was it? I didn't realise that it was available. I grabbed an '11 when I saw it as a tester (thinking that was the current vintage) as we really like this wine but have only had '07 (half bottle), '08 (our favourite and the first one we had), '09 and '10. For me this was the first wine that convinced that you can really get what you pay for.

Redav wrote:And how was it? I didn't realise that it was available. I grabbed an '11 when I saw it as a tester (thinking that was the current vintage) as we really like this wine but have only had '07 (half bottle), '08 (our favourite and the first one we had), '09 and '10. For me this was the first wine that convinced that you can really get what you pay for.

There are half bottles out there now. Not sure how it works with the halves and full bottles, full bottles just aren't available yet - maybe they hold these back?

It was a great wine actually. Poured straight into a decanter, was probably best after an hour or so - after a few hours it wasn't as amazing, but I do have a cold so couldn't taste anything by that stage.

Will be buying more once full bottles are available.

Steingarten 2001. Just like that song from "Fame", it's gonna live forever... almost. Thrilling acid, just starting to develop colour but the fruit needs this glass to warm up a touch. Reminds me if the beach. This bottle might need a 1/2 hour in a decanter!

2008 Adelina Shiraz. Still tightly wound. Nice cooler climate style shiraz with plenty of fruit and some secondary flavours. Nice wine.

2011 Passopisciaro. I can see the resemblance to pinot, but with a definite Italian spine. Cherries and a fair whack of acid. A good food wine.

Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 1995. Crap me! Started off all VA and rubbish, but after 1/2 in the glass it is magnificent. Stunning, rustic, tannins all resolved and integrated, a palate of ridiculous length. Believe the hype... if you like dirty, old skool wines.

2012 Angove Long Row Cabernet Sauvignon - I'm just drinking one of the mini bottles but seeing how you can get full bottles for $8 this is probably one of the best value drops for <$10 in the country. Great colour, nice tannin structure and better than decent length with a great amount of fruit. Could probably cellar it for a few years as well. Needed about 15-20 minutes in the glass for some acid and alcohol heat to back off but after that it's a great drink! If you're after a mid week drinking wine with mates then buy buy buy.

Leroy Bourgogne 2009
for $35 you just cannot do any better, it is the domaine wine, not the maison, despite the white label. Not super complex, but just so enjoyable. 90pts.

2011 Adelsheim Ribbon Springs Pinot Noir
2011 Domaine Arlaud Morey-St-Denis 1er Cru Les Ruchots
2011 Ziereisen Jaspis Pinot Noir
2012 Burn Cottage Pinot Noir

A mini world tour of Pinot, all the wines had approx 10 hours of airtime before by good fortune I happened upon them. Interesting, distinct and different...Burn Cottage the most enticing on the nose and fresh and full on the palate, a polished wine with more to reveal...Adelsheim showing very generous depth of fruit, almost a summer pudding of berry fruit richness, complexity within the primary fruit spectrum and would be interesting to see the complementary secondary characters emerge with time...Zieresen some juicy fruit with a savoury white pepper and mineral note, lively and enjoyable...Arlaud seemed older on the nose but the palate was fresh, good ripeness, tannic grip, savoury, underlying power

Anciano Gran Reserva, Valdepenas 2004, aged 10 years
Smoked bacon, leather, black cherry and a touch of green capsicum. Creamy oak.

Anciano Gran Reserva, Valdepenas 2006, aged 7 years
Tannins bolder than the 04. Oak less restrained but enjoyable - lots of that smooth cream and vanilla with pencil shavings all wrapped up in cedar and cherries.

Had a Yering Station Reserve Shiraz Viognier 2002 last night. Happy to report this wine is in a good place right now. Lovely balance.

2006 Possums Willunga Shiraz - very good drinking, wish I had more. Slightest whiff of vanilla but with flavour of black cherry, mulberry, and black berry. I think is still improving.

Saltram No1 Shiraz 1994.

Started off a bit thin and boring, but after an hour it's hitting it's integrated meaty straps. Lovely and delicate.

Cheers, Travis.

2013 Some Young Punks Double Love Trouble Nebbiolo Cabernet - Opened this out of curiosity. Colour was good with a powerful and tannic nose straight out of the bottle. Plenty of fruit, tastes Nebbiolo-ish with a bit of Cabernet cassis in the background. Dusty, a bit stalky and a tiny bit green. Acidity, tannins and fruit a bit out of place, with the mid-back palate a bit lacking, although the length and aftertaste was decent. Maybe this needs some bottle age to settle, as right now it's not as good as I was expecting.

EDIT: Next day the remaining half bottle had over oxidised and fallen apart. Down the sink. Disappointed it couldn't hold together for over a day.

After spending a few hours at a Barossa and Eden Valley tasting this afternoon I had some red wine palate fatigue and was wondering how a Chardy would go with the BBQ pork ribs, but I've got a second wind and enjoying a 2010 Limestone Ridge Trio Cab Shiraz. Enjoyable, though maybe glad I didn't pay full retail for it.

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2013 Lay of the Land Ben Morven Farm Pinot Noir.
I don't normally drink the PN, but this is making me think the knee jerk ignoring post Sideways was a silly thing to do. It strikes me as quite young at the moment, but is filled with juicy berry flavours and a wonderful drying finish that goes on for a lot longer than expected.