The Auswine Forum

Mount Pleasant OP&OH Shiraz 2003 - Top shelf hunter shiraz, restrained dark fruits, impeccable balance and length, very approachable now (decant 2 hours), happy to have several in the cellar.

Chateau Francois Shiraz 1999 - I cannot believe you can buy this for only $14 a bottle at the cellar door, its classic hunter shiraz fully aged and ready to drink. Don Francois is eccentric, his wines are rustic and full of character. Be warned: more sediment here than the mouth of the amazon.

Houghton 'Wisdom' Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 - I haven't tasted the much lauded 2004 vintage, however the 2005 appears to be a solid wine with very fine tannins and decent persistence. For what its worth, my drinking companions all enjoyed this wine more than I did... buy the Sandalford reserve from the same vintage instead.

Tamburlaine Shiraz 2003 - Two words: liquid bacon. (Sadly not in a good way).

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Mike Hawkins wrote:Drunken - keen to hear how the 05 LLC is tracking.

My notes for the 05 LLC were; Quite a closed nose with warm oaky undertones, very hesitant fruit. Palette was thin, short and charry with a lot of cherry fruit and a reasonable tannin structure. Hot finish, almost searing the back of throat.
However it did open up a bit after an hour or so in the glass. Personally it was not a highlight for me. The Gruard-larose was a more approachable and nicer wine, and the Mouton better still.
I believe it was a case of infantcide for all of the Bordeaux present, except for a couple of Cru Bourgeois which looked average, exhibiting some basic winemaking faults and the common bordeaux ailment of bret.
As this tasting was a comparison of 05 Coonawarra and Bordeaux, it was obvious that the Coonawarra Cab's were a lot more approachable at present, and proved to be more generous with fruit and restrained oak influence. Personally my highlight was Yalumba's "the Menzies" for drinking now to ten years closely followed by the Mouton, which would need ten years at least. Both were closely followed by Parker Estates 1st growth, which is a great wine and will continue to develop well.
But if you had to lay down your cash, Yalumba (for Aust) and the Gruard (for le français) represent the best value from the small offering I tasted.

Sean wrote:With the Tahbilk Marsanne, I have found in some of these hot drought vintages it has not had the typical lemony character and acidity of the best ones and more of a tropical fruit and drink now appeal instead. I thought this with the 2005 and 2007. Both very nice wines while they are young and fresh, but I am not sure how well they will age based on my own experience with these wines.

Sean,

Once again your and my palates are shown to enjoy the same wines. Due to our discussions, I "had" to acquire a bottle of the 2007 Tahbilk Marsanne and am enjoying it right now.

As many "older" forumites would know, I have been a bit of a Tahbilk Marsanne lover for many years. However, I have never paid much attention to general vintage conditions against Marsanne agibility... particularly as I am not a Victorian. (I can discuss Hunter Semillon vintages much better!)

That said, I agree with you that the 2007 does not have as much lemon character, particularly compared to the 2004 that is imprinted on my mind, however I feel it is more "dried flowers" than "tropical" compared to normal... although dried flowers, lemon, peach, tropical fruits and honey would be my first 5 flavour descriptors. More importantly I suspect, the structure on this 2007 is finer than normal, but to its great credit it is also more intricate and longer than normal. There is also a bit of Rhone texture fat encapsulating this spine. It is an absolute sensational wine in general and in terms of Tahbilk Marsanne.

Based on its sensational balance, I can't imagine this 2007 not aging superbly.

Either way, the fact that you and I are spending the time to seriously consider this $10 wine makes me once again wonder why this is not a regulation case but for the majority of non red bigots. This is a 93 point wine with a history of agibility at around $10... to Halliday and me!

I'll lay out the $120 to bet that it ages well! (FWIW, not a big gamble as I have tried all Tahbilk Marssane from the 1990s with 7+ years age and the worst are still pretty good)

Kind regards,
Adair

P.S. How do you spell "agibility"?

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The Tahbilk Marsanne has to get a lot of votes for best QPR wine in the world. How I wish I could get that 6 pack vertical! But at least they do sell the marsanne here in BC ($18). The 2005 is the current offering; FWIW, I've tried a couple of bottles, and it seems to be much more approachable and rich (relatively speaking) than any other one I've tried. But I bought a couple to age as well.

Sean,
* Your local knowledge is convincing, but so is that acid on the back . I looked on the Tahbilk website to find some acid and ph information but could not find any. FWIW, re: 2002 on the vintage chart, it is 5-6.
* I am happy you said that there was no smoke taint... as I did not find any either
* Popped into a Dan's today. The shelves full of the 2007 despite the posters about the 2008's Top 100 review
* Regarding the 2003 Elizabeth is still under cork so I have passed on this vintage... didn't buy any Vat 1 either. Even if the 2004 Elizabeth is under cork, I will still buy it given the vintage though. Should be great.

JDSJDS,
* I have read about your archaic wine laws!

Adair

Yes, we have a monopoly here, and the prices are quite high due to high taxes. But we do have a great selection of wines available from across the world. That's something I miss when I spend time in Oz and NZ. Your prices on 'foreign' wines make our prices look cheap! But you have a WAY better domestic wine industry than we do.

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better late than never:

2007 Burge Family Winemakers 'G3'

Superbly structured wine; medium bodied; dark berries, great complexity, the nose was intoxicating with hints of milk chocloate, touch of cinnamon, dried herbs and delegate french oak. Mouthfeel was unreal; smooth tannins, perfectly judged oak and long satisfying finish. Beautiful wine.. Best decanted, as lots of sediment.

2004 Petaluma Riesling

Drinking nicely; fresh limes, minerally and 'puckering' acidity; aging nicely and should see many more years yet.

Tahbilk Marsanne 2000 is probably the best I've tried as a young wine, should be really hitting it's straps now.

[quote="Adair"]FWIW, this is from Halliday:

2006 Tahbilk Marsanne: Aromas of cake, honey, melon and spice, then a long, harmonious palate, with a gold-plated guarantee to develop honeysuckle and gentle toast as it ages over the next 10+ years. Screwcap. 13.5º alc. Rating 93 Drink 2016 Date Tasted Sep 06

2007 Tahbilk Marsanne: Clean and fragrant; more varietal fruit and flavour than most young marsannes from France or Australia; mineral, spice and honeysuckle cohabit on a long, crisp finish. A classic in the making. Screwcap. 12.5º alc. Rating 93 Drink 2017 $14.90 Date Tasted Sep 07

I posted elsewhere on the forum that the Tahbilk is my favorite white wine from anywhere. Having said that, I find that when I get a case of a current vintage I do tend to let it sit for a month and then try a bottle. I always take into consideration with that first bottle the idea that fresh young marsanne only gives hints of what it will become. So, I drink one, then wait about 4 years for the next. It is my opinion that the Tahbilk only begins to hit it's stride at 5 years and is beginning to sing at 10 years. The 2007 has not yet reached the shores here in the USA, but I just took delivery of my 2nd case of the 2006 which I think will be going strong in 2015. I think I still have 6 bottles of the 1995 left and will only drink one per year until gone.

Bob H. wrote:I posted elsewhere on the forum that the Tahbilk is my favorite white wine from anywhere.

Bob,
You are indeed a man of class and distinction.
Adair

* Regarding the 2003 Elizabeth is still under cork so I have passed on this vintage... didn't buy any Vat 1 either. Even if the 2004 Elizabeth is under cork, I will still buy it given the vintage though. Should be great.

Adair[/quote]

Adair, FYI, 2003 Elizabeth screwcap is available from the winery. There's a case in my cellar now.

Cheers

Allan

All this talk of Tahbilk Marsanne is making me sick. As mentioned in another post we haven't had any Tahbilk wines in Alberta for quite some time. To make matters worse, according to JDSJDS the Tahbilk Marsanne is available in British Columbia, the next-door province. Arghh!

I have only one lonely bottle of the Tahbilk Marsanne, the 1992, and that makes it very difficult to open. It probably represents the only chance I will have of tasting a very old bottle. I had been thinking about opening it this year but with the luck I had with a ’90 Balgownie Chardonnay recently I’m starting to think again.

Sean, Adair, Daryl, and Bob H, do have an opinion on wether i should open the 1992 or wait a little longer?

Mahmoud.

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Mahmoud Ali wrote:Sean, Adair, Daryl, and Bob H, do have an opinion on wether i should open the 1992 or wait a little longer?
Mahmoud.

Now. It is not going to get any better.
Adair

Adair wrote:

Mahmoud Ali wrote:Sean, Adair, Daryl, and Bob H, do have an opinion on wether i should open the 1992 or wait a little longer?
Mahmoud.

Now. It is not going to get any better.
Adair

Mahmoud

If you do open it be sure to post a report. I have a magnum of '92 that I should think about drinking sometime.