[quote="jeremy"][quote="daz"]First Chapel Hill wine I've tried, I believe. [b][b]Chapel Hill Shiraz 2006[/b][/b] Archetypical McLaren Vale shiraz fruit in this one, true to the back label, "blueberry, licorice and dark chocolate". It also has some mixed spice with ripe blood plum, well-integrated oak, fine chewy tannins, dark cherry/berry acid on a good length, lightly peppery finish. It's a very nice (not noice, noicey noice dickhead speak) Vale shiraz, more medium than full=bodied. Not a long term cellaring proposition but should see 7-8 years. I'm happy enough with the $16 + $1 freight cost, reckon Halliday's 91pts is close enough.
Cheers
daz[/quote]
2005 and 2007 are much better Chapel Hill Cab Savs. I won't say they are "Noice"
But they are very good!
[b]2005 Battle of Bosworth Cabernet Sauvignon[/b]- starting to get a feel for these Bosworth reds. Really nice, helped me deal with my footy team loosing. Red fruits, violets, vanilla, spice and some coffee. Some of the blend was Amarone and that worked well, mix of new and old French and American oak fine by me to. Linear wines. Would like to be able to get some more of this, doubt I can.
[b]2008 De Bortoli Gulf Station Pinot Noir[/b]- Cherries, Strawberries, undergrowth, spice, sap, rhubarb and beetroot wrapping up a long finish. Excellent Pinot and a snip at the price. Silky.
[b]2008 Knappstein Cabernet Sauvignon[/b]- much less than good. Too sweet and clumsy.[/quote]
The Chapel Hill 06 was what was offered, so got a couple of bottles to try as I thought the price was pretty good and I'd never tried any wines from Chapel Hill. Halliday rated the 05 94pts but he gave the 07 91pts, same as the 06 but I'm happy accept your opinion that the 07 is better, get a bottle to try if I can find it around the same price.
I too tried a bottle of the Knappstein cab 08 - it's discounted to $9.99/sgl btl at the barn - and didn't like it much at all either. As mentioned elsewhere here, I found it sweet too, perhaps there's some "dead" fruit in it regardless of the claim to the contrary on the back label that the fruit was picked before the heatwave. It lacked balance for me, giving the impression that too much acid was added in an attempt to balance the sweetness,instread throwing it totally out of whack. The barn manager was at pains to point out that the rrp was $24.
I'm presently sipping a glass of wine from another $9.99 bottle of Pennys Hill Red Dot shiraz 08, much more enjoyable than the Knappstein cab IMO.
Cheers
daz