Brisbane Wine Club -(#4) Brents
.Friday Night – Brents Restaurant
From the moment we were met by the maitre d / owner at the door we were made to feel welcome. Bottles were decanted promptly; four sets of glasses were taken out one set at a time. Very friendly staff. Great food. Highly recommended.
Only five of us but a fantastic night.
2000 Blue Pyrenees Vintage Brut
Quite acceptable starter – crystal clear without the colour that would normally be associated with a 6 year old wine. Good acid. It just did nothing to stand out.
1989 D’Arenberg Ironstone Pressings
Wine on it’s very last legs. Very little fruit left on the palate, soft tannins and a leathery smell. Sounds worse than it was because it was quite drinkable.
1992 Lawsons Shiraz
Incredible off sweet nose of mint and vanilla. Primary fruit still there but secondary characters starting to show through. Very good.
1995 Leasingham Sparkling Shiraz
Spectacular wine. Incredible fruit sweetness with fine resolved tannins and a long finish. Loved it.
2002 Mountadam the Patriach Shiraz
Spectacular colour – the wine was kept in a fridge for three weeks and it seems tartrate had come out of solution leaving a glitter effect. It really was spectacular to look at and I am sure would sell more wines if it could be done regularly.
The wine itself was great with dark berry fruit sweetness, fine tannins and a long almost chocolately finish. Very good.
2004 Serafino Cab Sav
Opened as a last resort – we had finished all our other wines. Great nose, good fruit but showed to sweet after the other wines. Good wine out of place on the night.
Hollick the Nectar Botritys Riesling
Lots of acid but without the sweetness. May have been because the desserts were to sweet for it. OK.
Sunday Night
1998 D’Arenberg Ironstone Pressings
Taking off the foil revealed a leaking cork that had let wine out from at least three places. Did not look good as I know for at least one year it’s storage had been bad.
Thankfully the wine was superb. Leathery on the nose but crystal clear with no sign of bricking, this wine was a revelation. Great fruit, resolved tannins and a very long finish added up to a wonderful wine.
From the moment we were met by the maitre d / owner at the door we were made to feel welcome. Bottles were decanted promptly; four sets of glasses were taken out one set at a time. Very friendly staff. Great food. Highly recommended.
Only five of us but a fantastic night.
2000 Blue Pyrenees Vintage Brut
Quite acceptable starter – crystal clear without the colour that would normally be associated with a 6 year old wine. Good acid. It just did nothing to stand out.
1989 D’Arenberg Ironstone Pressings
Wine on it’s very last legs. Very little fruit left on the palate, soft tannins and a leathery smell. Sounds worse than it was because it was quite drinkable.
1992 Lawsons Shiraz
Incredible off sweet nose of mint and vanilla. Primary fruit still there but secondary characters starting to show through. Very good.
1995 Leasingham Sparkling Shiraz
Spectacular wine. Incredible fruit sweetness with fine resolved tannins and a long finish. Loved it.
2002 Mountadam the Patriach Shiraz
Spectacular colour – the wine was kept in a fridge for three weeks and it seems tartrate had come out of solution leaving a glitter effect. It really was spectacular to look at and I am sure would sell more wines if it could be done regularly.
The wine itself was great with dark berry fruit sweetness, fine tannins and a long almost chocolately finish. Very good.
2004 Serafino Cab Sav
Opened as a last resort – we had finished all our other wines. Great nose, good fruit but showed to sweet after the other wines. Good wine out of place on the night.
Hollick the Nectar Botritys Riesling
Lots of acid but without the sweetness. May have been because the desserts were to sweet for it. OK.
Sunday Night
1998 D’Arenberg Ironstone Pressings
Taking off the foil revealed a leaking cork that had let wine out from at least three places. Did not look good as I know for at least one year it’s storage had been bad.
Thankfully the wine was superb. Leathery on the nose but crystal clear with no sign of bricking, this wine was a revelation. Great fruit, resolved tannins and a very long finish added up to a wonderful wine.
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Michael McNally
- Posts: 2086
- Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2005 3:06 pm
- Location: Brisbane
Great notes, thanks Craig. My thoughts were as follows:
2000 Blue Pyrenees Vintage Brut - Nice start, clean bubbles.
1995 Leasingham Sparkling Shiraz- I was concerned by a bit of stink on the first sniff, but thoroughly enjoyed ever drop of this. Blackberry then black cherry fruit. Nice tannin support across the palate. Long finish. (I am heavily biased towards sparkling reds though
).
1989 D’Arenberg Ironstone Pressings - Past it. Nose of stewed plums. Little fruit on the palate. Not unpleasant and nothing faulty spotted by any of the attendees (including me) - but no real fruit left.
1992 Lawsons Shiraz - Nose of spearmint (mint cream bickie). Lacking fruit. Structure dominates with the finish a little green/stalky. Again nothing wrong per se but perhaps past the drinking window.
2002 Mountadam the Patriach Shiraz - Nose of muted macerated cherry. Here structure dominates the fruit with smoky bacon / meaty flavours. Perhaps needs a few more years for the tannins to fade into the background a bit more.
2004 Serafino Cab Sav - Nice nose. Craig is right that it seemed sweet after the other wines. Nice drop probably on its own.
Hollick the Nectar Botritys Riesling - Agree that this wine needed more initial sweetness to compete with the desserts.
2000 Blue Pyrenees Vintage Brut - Nice start, clean bubbles.
1995 Leasingham Sparkling Shiraz- I was concerned by a bit of stink on the first sniff, but thoroughly enjoyed ever drop of this. Blackberry then black cherry fruit. Nice tannin support across the palate. Long finish. (I am heavily biased towards sparkling reds though
).
1989 D’Arenberg Ironstone Pressings - Past it. Nose of stewed plums. Little fruit on the palate. Not unpleasant and nothing faulty spotted by any of the attendees (including me) - but no real fruit left.
1992 Lawsons Shiraz - Nose of spearmint (mint cream bickie). Lacking fruit. Structure dominates with the finish a little green/stalky. Again nothing wrong per se but perhaps past the drinking window.
2002 Mountadam the Patriach Shiraz - Nose of muted macerated cherry. Here structure dominates the fruit with smoky bacon / meaty flavours. Perhaps needs a few more years for the tannins to fade into the background a bit more.
2004 Serafino Cab Sav - Nice nose. Craig is right that it seemed sweet after the other wines. Nice drop probably on its own.
Hollick the Nectar Botritys Riesling - Agree that this wine needed more initial sweetness to compete with the desserts.
Bonum Vinum Laetificat Cor Hominis
Yes was a great night.
Leasingham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz 1995
Pure cassis! Well balanced with awesome length
Ironstone Pressings GSM 1989
Extinguished campfire smell. Lost its magic, very thin but still ok.More of a curiosity (Past)
Mountadam Patriach Shiraz 2002
OMG! fine crytals (potassium bitartrate?) that were evenly dispersed through the wine, sparkled in the glass like diamonds! A slight hint of DMS or other alkyl sulfide that blew of instantly. Very young primary fruit and loads of it.
Orlando Lawson's Shiraz 1992
Absolute mint! very dominant infact. Better with food was more balanced. Starting to tire.
Leasingham Classic Clare Sparkling Shiraz 1995
Pure cassis! Well balanced with awesome length
Ironstone Pressings GSM 1989
Extinguished campfire smell. Lost its magic, very thin but still ok.More of a curiosity (Past)
Mountadam Patriach Shiraz 2002
OMG! fine crytals (potassium bitartrate?) that were evenly dispersed through the wine, sparkled in the glass like diamonds! A slight hint of DMS or other alkyl sulfide that blew of instantly. Very young primary fruit and loads of it.
Orlando Lawson's Shiraz 1992
Absolute mint! very dominant infact. Better with food was more balanced. Starting to tire.