The Auswine Forum

2008 Brokenwood Semillon- Refreshingly zippy. Love this at the moment. Unlike the Clonakilla Nouveau Viognier, this has remained pure, delightful, and refreshing (instead of morphing into a clunky banana/bubblegum monster). Good Good.

2004 Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon - (A lesson for myself in serving temperature for Semillons. Upon initial opening this was far too cold (probably about 6 degrees), astringently acidic with considerable spritzer and an unfriendly amount of burnt toast lurching out.) After warming to about 14-15 degrees it flourished into a classic Elizabeth, very nicely balanced, still a fair bit of lemon but faintly developing toast and a whiff of waxiness. Developing a bit of colour too. Nice mouthfeel and acidity. Solid Good.

'09 Tahbilk Classic Dry White Cleanskin I think it's a Semillon SB Chard blend from the taste, but it is the standard weekday goto, and for $45 a case, pretty good QPR.
'07 Darry Footbolt Shiraz ...to wash the taste of acetone out of my mouth and restore my understanding of what rough and ready MV Shiraz tastes like. Earth and blackberries with pepper and a good whack of tannins on the end.
'03 DeBortoli Windy Peak Shiraz Viognier Still hanging in there, but I have no intention of seeing what it is like after another 7 years. Juicy blueberries and pepper with restrained tannins and a nice acidity.
'05 Cleanskin Chateau Reynella Chardonnay Rock melon on the nose and white peaches on the tongue with some creamy nuttiness mixed in there. Not overly complicated, but pretty tasty in a 90s style (i guess? the 90s were long time ago and I was young ) chardy sort of way.
'04 Tahbilk Reisling delicate floral/talc (baby powder?) nose with gentle limey palate. Acidity is quite soft in this one and the whole thing is quite understated and balanced.

A few impressions from yesterday.

2004 Duval Entity Shiraz
Deep red that isn't very glossy. Starts off smelling of bay and camphor. A savoury wild cherry emerges (not the cough syrup; the real deal) on aeration. Barossa palate with just a kick of alcohol on the finish. Long and balanced yet still a baby. I suspect alcohol in this bottle is lack of integration and should improve in time. Can I be provocative and say this reminds me a little of the 2004 Grange Excellent wine and should improve.

2004 Seppelt Moyston Cabernet Merlot
This was open a few days before I got to try it. Intense limpid dark red colour. A strongly varietal nose of black fruit and plums. That was the best of it as it was a little oxidised on the palate. It was still firmly tannic and my bottles will wait a few years yet. Not rated.

2007 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf du Pape
From a half bottle. Medium intense red. Somewhat lighter in hue to the Duval. Opens with a very unusual nose of lemon myrtle. Honest! Underneath there is raspberries and blackberries. The palate is middle weight and length and finishes smokey with a note like a nice anejo tequila. With time this changed and it started to taste like a fig and raspberry caramel tart with roasted chestnuts. Strong provencal herbs. I feel that this wine isn't worth cellaring if it gets above 20 degrees or you may have something bloom. Hard to pin this one down with its constantly evolving state. Excellent wine indeed.

2007 Felton Rd Chardonnay
A lovely nose of oats and hay with a fruity top note. I have smelled that fruit before but I just can't pick it. Its tropical with a citrusy bent. Medium weight and clean as a whistle. Mineral and perhaps a little flinty even. Lingers on the finish. Lovely. Tight and balanced. Excellent wine and should have a decent few years yet.

I've been a lucky boy this week.

cheers

Carl

via collins wrote:Clos Marguerite sauvignon blanc, 2009 - asked a friend to select an SB that was out of the ordinary, and this was, well, bloody choice. Forgot where it's from, but lovely creamy stonefruits, balanced body, lovely finish. Good.

Unusually, from Marlborough. Very intense style, fairly low yields. Also make a pinot in the Vosne pretty-sappy style, and I'll import them both soon.

Currently drinking a glass of Church Road Reserve Cab Merlot 2007 - what a ripper - Hawkes Bay is the new Bordeaux...

yip a bottle of this added to the groceries every week it is on special until its gone is my basic strategy!

2007 Carrick Pinot Noir drunk 2km above sea level at Syme Hut on Fanthams Peak, Mt Taranaki. I doubt many wines of this quality have been enjoyed in the sun here!

Just finishing off an 06 Majella Cabernet that we opened last night and thinking of griffs' comments on it. Have to say that I don't have the same problems. It's lovely drinking for a fairly young cabernet (and a Coonawarra at that). Maybe the issue here is bottle variation, which I must confess is something I've never got a handle on, and given that this is closed under screw cap I'd have thought there shouldn't be any to begin with. Hope your bottle was an aberration griff and that the wine gods look after you in the future.

griff wrote:
2007 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf du Pape
From a half bottle. Medium intense red. Somewhat lighter in hue to the Duval. Opens with a very unusual nose of lemon myrtle. Honest! Underneath there is raspberries and blackberries. The palate is middle weight and length and finishes smokey with a note like a nice anejo tequila. With time this changed and it started to taste like a fig and raspberry caramel tart with roasted chestnuts. Strong provencal herbs. I feel that this wine isn't worth cellaring if it gets above 20 degrees or you may have something bloom. Hard to pin this one down with its constantly evolving state. Excellent wine indeed.

Carl

I can't tell if you like this or not. I have put some away so I am trying to work out the "isn't worth cellaringover 20 deg" with an "excellent wine" comment. A little more help please.

Mark

Wither Hills Marlborough Chardonnay 2009 - Good winemaking for the cheap asking price ($15 AU @ DM), needs to be fairly cold to bring out it's best, and then an enjoyable glass with some solid acid in support of the expected (and delivered) stonefruit/oak/malo palate. A bit unbalanced, probably give it another year to get over bottling, but for now ( and for the price).... Good.

Macques de Caceres Riserva Rioja 2004 - After a bit of breathing, opened a little to show some currant, dark cherries and dried herbs. Initial taste was a ton of quality dark oak (riserva after all), ably matched with ripe earthy quality fruit with a bit of dried thyme. In summary, an unusual nose was followed through to a lovely savoury ripe rich fruit and oaky Rioja taste experience. Elegant, complex and delicate it was not. An enjoyable big quality red glass of wine with some robust food? Oh yeah. Good Good.

Cheers
TiggerK

rooman wrote:

griff wrote:
2007 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf du Pape
From a half bottle. Medium intense red. Somewhat lighter in hue to the Duval. Opens with a very unusual nose of lemon myrtle. Honest! Underneath there is raspberries and blackberries. The palate is middle weight and length and finishes smokey with a note like a nice anejo tequila. With time this changed and it started to taste like a fig and raspberry caramel tart with roasted chestnuts. Strong provencal herbs. I feel that this wine isn't worth cellaring if it gets above 20 degrees or you may have something bloom. Hard to pin this one down with its constantly evolving state. Excellent wine indeed.

Carl

I can't tell if you like this or not. I have put some away so I am trying to work out the "isn't worth cellaringover 20 deg" with an "excellent wine" comment. A little more help please.

Mark

I liked it a fair bit so it got an Excellent indeed from me. It is funky in a good way at present. I don't know if that would be brett in future though. So as long as it is cellared under 20 degrees you reduce the likelihood of brett blooming. 13 would be better I suppose

cheers

Carl

Thommo wrote:'09 Tahbilk Classic Dry White Cleanskin I think it's a Semillon SB Chard blend from the taste, but it is the standard weekday goto, and for $45 a case, pretty good QPR.

['04 Tahbilk Reisling delicate floral/talc (baby powder?) nose with gentle limey palate. Acidity is quite soft in this one and the whole thing is quite understated and balanced.

Thommo, the Dry White is from 2008 and there's also verdelho in the blend. I've had several cases of it, a useful white for the price, very quaffable but it does have a touch of bitterness on the finish.

Tahbilk riesling is always friendly with very good varietal characters. You didn't mention any aged notes which may indicate the 2004 has the potential develop over the medium term at least. It's another quiet achiever in the Tahbilk portfolio.

Cheers

daz