The Auswine Forum

JamieBahrain wrote:Perfect Barolo : 1939 Cappellano Barolo capturing the vine and the land with the pathos of the vintage.

Had it twice this year. Amazing! Should not be so good. I was heavily scolded for posting the notes on beserkers as old Cappellanos disappeared from the market or became ridiculously priced.

Even photos of the bottles there gets the heart racing.

2015 Trinity Hill Homage Syrah

Perhaps the best kiwi Syrah ever? So fragrant, so sophisticated, with just the right amount of body. Super pure and fresh balanced with just enough plushness. Really a masterclass in balance

Easy one for me... 1959 Henriot Enchanteleurs from magnum at the Maison. Would easily be a top 10 in my life. Lots of fizz still and smelled different every time I went back to it. Finish was immense.

I have had some very nice table wines this year but nothing that really stopped me in my tracks so I have to look to the fortified wines.
I opened a 1977 Smith Woodhouse port for a friend's 40th which was lovely and as much about the occasion as the wine, but taking away the occasion and looking purely at the wine I'd have to give it to a bottle of 1992 Stanton & Killeen Vintage fortified. It's the best I have had from them and also the best Australian vintage port style wine that I have had.

paulf wrote:I have had some very nice table wines this year but nothing that really stopped me in my tracks so I have to look to the fortified wines.
I opened a 1977 Smith Woodhouse port for a friend's 40th which was lovely and as much about the occasion as the wine, but taking away the occasion and looking purely at the wine I'd have to give it to a bottle of 1992 Stanton & Killeen Vintage fortified. It's the best I have had from them and also the best Australian vintage port style wine that I have had.

Noice

2010 Standish Andelmonde shiraz. Gorgeous tannin and quality of fruit.

I've had so many memorable wines this year, it's been hard to pick just one. Been mulling over it for the past week.

2001 Jacques-Frederic Mugnier Musigny Grand Cru

Ozzie W wrote:I've had so many memorable wines this year, it's been hard to pick just one. Been mulling over it for the past week.

2001 Jacques-Frederic Mugnier Musigny Grand Cru

Ooh I recall that one
Mine are all gone
Alas!

For me it was accidentally opening a 2011 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz. I meant to pick out a Rifle Range (I had been wanting to keep the '11 until '21) and wasn't paying enough attention. The 2011 vintage from down there might cop some bad press in general but this wine was a delight and made for a delicious mistake.

1996 Grange - amazing wine and worth the $$$ - daylight to 2nd place. Nine hours of slow sipping and eye rolling. More nuance than an afternoon shared with a prostitute and an archbishop.

Redav wrote:For me it was accidentally opening a 2011 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz. I meant to pick out a Rifle Range (I had been wanting to keep the '11 until '21) and wasn't paying enough attention. The 2011 vintage from down there might cop some bad press in general but this wine was a delight and made for a delicious mistake.

I think they did a good job in the vintage ... probably not the worst vintage to have opened early though!

BHCC1 wrote:1966 Latour - cellared for the past 40 years and opened to celebrate a special anniversary. A vibrant and beautifully structured 50 year old with some years ahead of it.

That’s cool, self cellared for 40 years!

Yes. Bought by my wife as a present. Acquired from Crittendens in Melbourne at, from memory, somewhere around $35 i.e. in the days when first growths were considered expensive but accessible. Carried with us through five houses, with cellaring conditions sometimes less than optimal. Such a joy when the wine presented so well and one can only wonder what life perfectly stored examples may have ahead of them.

Cool story. Can sense the emotion that wine would have brought.

I would have to say that a bottle of Frescobaldi's 1962 Castello di Nipozzano Chianti Riserva is my most memorable wine in 2017. It was opened early this year for a mate of mine who shares a birthday only a week away from mine. I always look for an older wine from the cellar that I think might be ready. Being 54 years old I seriously considered breaking tradition by not serving it blind. In the end I decided to warn them that it was on the older side and that we would need to hasten the guessing. The three at the table all guessed old world, two thought Tuscan and the other Rioja. When guessing the age the oldest guess was 1982.

They sure did know how to make fine wines back in the day, and like that 1966 Latour from Bordeaux, they knew how to make them before Robert Parker came along.

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

Hi Mahmoud
A 1968 Monsanto Riserva (but not the Il Poggio) could easily have been the star of last year for us. Stunning and no real signs of creaking. Somehow Chianti gets forgotten about when everyone clamours for older Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello, etc.
Regards
Ian

Luke W wrote:1996 Grange - amazing wine and worth the $$$ - daylight to 2nd place. Nine hours of slow sipping and eye rolling. More nuance than an afternoon shared with a prostitute and an archbishop.

Not sure about the second one, but no doubt many of the first have shared in a bottle post activities

Cheers
Craig

phillisc wrote:

Luke W wrote:1996 Grange - amazing wine and worth the $$$ - daylight to 2nd place. Nine hours of slow sipping and eye rolling. More nuance than an afternoon shared with a prostitute and an archbishop.

Not sure about the second one, but no doubt many of the first have shared in a bottle post activities

Cheers
Craig

Ozzie W wrote:I've had so many memorable wines this year, it's been hard to pick just one. Been mulling over it for the past week.

2001 Jacques-Frederic Mugnier Musigny Grand Cru

Yes it was rather good wasn't it!

Brodie

via collins wrote:Except last Monday on Roger Pike's back deck topped that experience - first, tasting the 2016 Symposium and Symphony which were opened for the first time since bottling. But then, as it was a while until the cricket was due to restart, and we'd commence early, Roger decided to open his first ever wine. And then things got very religious indeed. Madre dio! The range of the 2002 Marius is extraordinary.

I still have one 2002 left. It wasn't the first Marius wine ever though IIRC. When I first started buying wines from Roger he at one point sold off the last of his 2000 vintage. They had pretty ordinary corks but the good ones (most of them fortunately) were excellent. World's ugliest labels ever I seem to remember. I went to CT to see if I could find a label image and found this instead. My tasting note:

"14/11/2008 The first ever vintage from this label and my first experience of this wine. A while back Roger Pike offered his mailing list some access to back vintages and I decided “to take a punt” on a couple of 2000s. They are sealed under cork, and Marius moved to cork and screwcap in 2002 (I believe there was no 2001 vintage) and then to screwcap only in 2003.

On extraction the cork is stained almost to the very top (in places less than 1mm). Looking at the cork I thought my punt had failed, but once I started pouring the wine into the decanter I knew I had a good wine on my hands. The colour is deep dark red and pretty clear. After about 40 minutes in the decanter I pour a glass. I wasn't going to take notes as I had guests, but jotted down a few things.

Nose of rich black cherry compote with dark chocolate. Not as spicy on the nose perhaps as more recent vintages. Very easy to sniff and sniff an sniff.

The palate is full of rich dark, dark fruit (cherries and plums with a bit of brambly blackberry too). My written note has “deep, sweet fruit” on the margin underlined. Lovely deep palate, the flavour flows very smoothly from start to finish. Powerful. Still has strong primary fruit flavours, with some great complexity. Long smooth tannins and a finish to match. Fantastic stuff.

This was one of the nicest drops I have had in the past 12 months. If the cork wasn't so stained I would give it another 5 years at a canter. It totally outshone the very good ’98 Langhi Shiraz it was drunk next to and compared favourably with the outstanding ’73 Orlando Vintage Port that came afterwards. My dinner guests were most impressed!"

Apologies for the thread drift.

Cheers

Michael

Not a thread drift at all Michael. A memorable wine, a storyline, and the wine in a dinner context. Full marks from me.

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

Ditto what Mahmoud said Michael - that's the opposite of thread drift! Great tale adding a layer to another.

Really appreciated. I certainly may have erred on "the first", it was a reasonably liquid Monday morning session - who knows, Roger might look in at some point and set me straight. Great to read your notes - agree with them all, with the addition of some spice hints as well - don't ask me what! But they just added to the picture beautifully. I have drunk a lot of Marius from 06 forwards, this was such a treat - like meeting a Marius with the all the qualities you love - and a wee bit more.

It was screwcap too, of that I am sure.

Cheers, and buon natale!

Mahmoud Ali wrote:Not a thread drift at all Michael. A memorable wine, a storyline, and the wine in a dinner context. Full marks from me.

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

Agreed
No thread drift here
Move along...

I really enjoy the story & the wine
Not just a list of Annual Prowess

I wasn't going to add to this thread but my single wine moment happened on new years day 2017.

My wife and I were touring the Granite Belt in Queensland. We didn't expect much to be open New Years Day, but we cruised around. Eventually we stopped to visit Adrian Tobin. Retired, eccentric, perfectionist. As soon as we started on his range of wines we just looked at each other. This is out of the box good. And then he let us try his reserve Tempranillo. Its $100 and sells out instantly.

A Granite Belt Tempranillo.

We were shocked that this quality could come from somewhere so unheralded. World class wine.

My favourite wine moment was a different occasion which actually included a whole lot of disappointing wines - but that would be genuine thread drift.

Ripper tale Wizz.

This thread is turning out to be a real Christmas cracker.

(course, now I'm fanging to a taste of that temp )

via collins wrote:Ripper tale Wizz.

This thread is turning out to be a real Christmas cracker.

(course, now I'm fanging to a taste of that temp )

I'm on the mailing list and I cant get it! New vintage coming soon apparently, 2014.

Wizz wrote:

via collins wrote:Ripper tale Wizz.

This thread is turning out to be a real Christmas cracker.

(course, now I'm fanging to a taste of that temp )

I'm on the mailing list and I cant get it! New vintage coming soon apparently, 2014.

I honestly refuse to believe you would buy a stanthorpe tempranillo for 100 dollars
let me know when you buy it
so i can stir you

michel wrote:

Wizz wrote:

via collins wrote:Ripper tale Wizz.

This thread is turning out to be a real Christmas cracker.

(course, now I'm fanging to a taste of that temp )

I'm on the mailing list and I cant get it! New vintage coming soon apparently, 2014.

I honestly refuse to believe you would buy a stanthorpe tempranillo for 100 dollars
let me know when you buy it
so i can stir you

I have a case of his regular stuff and will buy more. Where quality is the same - buy local, support the little guy. Every time.

(His Merlot and Rose are, however, everything you would expect from Merlot and Rose... )

Regarding the 2000 Marius:

Michael McNally wrote: ... This was one of the nicest drops I have had in the past 12 months. If the cork wasn't so stained I would give it another 5 years at a canter. It totally outshone the very good ’98 Langhi Shiraz it was drunk next to and compared favourably with the outstanding ’73 Orlando Vintage Port that came afterwards. My dinner guests were most impressed!

I don't own any Marius wines (not available in Canada) but you might be interested to know that I happen to have a bottle of '98 Langhi 'Joanna' Cabernet and '75 Orlando Vintage Port. The Joanna was a young but very good wine when tasted at cellar door in early 2001, and so I was very pleased to find a bottle when I got home. I expect the '98 Joanna to fare better than the '98 Shiraz and hope the Orlando is as good as your '73 was.

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

Wizz wrote:I wasn't going to add to this thread but my single wine moment happened on new years day 2017.

My wife and I were touring the Granite Belt in Queensland. We didn't expect much to be open New Years Day, but we cruised around. Eventually we stopped to visit Adrian Tobin. Retired, eccentric, perfectionist. As soon as we started on his range of wines we just looked at each other. This is out of the box good. And then he let us try his reserve Tempranillo. Its $100 and sells out instantly.

A Granite Belt Tempranillo.

We were shocked that this quality could come from somewhere so unheralded. World class wine.

My favourite wine moment was a different occasion which actually included a whole lot of disappointing wines - but that would be genuine thread drift.

I concur. About 18 months ago I toured the Granite Belt and tried some of Tobin's wines. The one that most impressed me was the 2014 Joshua Tempranillo ($45 a bottle). I bought 3. I think from that moment my belief in the capacity of the area to make superb wine changed dramatically.