The Auswine Forum

Yes, there was some terrific wine, and the little upstairs room we were in at Atelier was a lovely space to eat and drink in.

HEre are the bulk of the wines in order;

Pol Roger 1976 - nose and palate showing age, but held well, and kept its bead. Hint of vegemite on the nose, mid-palate grapefruit and lemon peel, good acidity giving a tight, crisp finish.

Krug 1988 - massively structured wine. Quite acidic and tart, granny smith on the mid-palate, and very long finish. Would benefit from more time.

Loe Buring Show Reserve riesling 1979 - typical aged riesling nose. Palate now very austere, lean, again a hint of green apple, but bitter apple, finish acidic, tight, and very persistent. Kerosene mid-palate also, which I find quite attractive, but does not appeal to all.

Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay 1995 - nose of aniseed and grapefrut, and a touch of pear, similar on the mid-palate, but finishes short, with a hint of cloves on the finish.

Colin Preece Burgundy 1958 - as stuffed as Colin himself, unfortunately, and smelling similar.

Wynns John Riddoch 1982 - slightly sweaty, vanilla and mint nose. Mid-palate slightly stalky and distinctly minty, fruit very much secondary and hard to describe, lovely fine, particulate tannins. A powerful and elegant wine, very well-structured and very firm in the mouth.

Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 1983 - nose of vanilla and probably boysenberry, again, palate hard to describe, but a softer wine than the Wynns, and not as good.

Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 - a lot more to grab hold of here. Aniseed, fennel and vanilla on the nose, mint, dark, dark blackcurrant on the mid-palate and lovely, generous, globular tannic finish of chocolate, blackcurrant and prune.

Penfolds Grange 1966 - this was, for me, the wine of the night, and one of the great wines that I have drunk, notwithstanding that it was, I would say, 5 years past its absolute peak.

Lovely nose of peppermint, which followed through in the mouth, with licquorice and mint, and then followed through to the finish which was very, very long.

It is a wine that is beyond describing. There is a perfection about it.

Grange 1976 - mint, aniseed, coffee on the nose, with a palate of coffee, spice, mint, and chocolate. A generous and playful wine, with many more things than I have described, but one after the other, like a passing parade, glimpsed from afar.

Hill of Grace 1994 - a very well made, powerful wine, which hits you like a wave from start to finish. Dense and full in the mouth, but rather closed at this stage, and needs more time.

There were some very fine dessert wines, and a very fine Seppelts 1939 port, but others would better describe these wines than I.

It was certainly a wine education, and a most enjoyable evening. For those whose comments as the evening wore on hinted at quite disturbing fetishes, don't worry, your secrets are safe with me.

orpheus wrote: For those whose comments as the evening wore on hinted at quite disturbing fetishes, don't worry, your secrets are safe with me.

in vino veritas...

Sounds like it was a fantastic evening. Very jealous

Wow Wow Wow!!!!!!!

Last night the Wine gods shined down upon us with great old bottle after great old bottle. A fantastic evening with Amazing wines, incredible food and great company.

Firstly a big thank you to everyone one that came last night and participated in this amazing line up of wines. You company was very much enjoyed on such a memorable evening of wine tasting. A special thank you to Dave vino for bringing a 94 HOG and 39 Seppelt Para port to share with everyone. A very big thank you to Gavin (non forum member) for opening his cellar and providing a number of the bottles to make up this awesome line up.

Secondly a massive thank you to Atelier Restaurant for some wonderful food and great service. Darren is certainly a very talented and capable chef and thank you again to Bernadette and our waiter Julian for your friendly and efficient service.

Now onto the wine...

Only 1 wine out of the complete line up was past it and had certainly seen better days. I did not take notes on the night as i left my pen and paper at home and i was also rather busy preparing the wines but i will give my impressions on each wine from memory and in order.

1976 Pol Roger - Deep golden almost amber in colour, fine bead with a toffee, biscuit, yeasty toasty nose. The palate showed butter scotch, nougatine, citrus, lemon and grape fruit peel and was very enjoyable. We were off to a great start.

1988 Krug - Unlike the bottle opened 12 months ago which was extremely fruity and complex this wine showed a nose of green apples, mineral and even some apple pie sweetness. The same followed on the palate, complex, tight and massive this was still only a baby and hard to believe it was 21yrs old. Incredible acid and that granny smith apple presence. Still many years ahead of it. A Super wine.

1979 Leo Buring Show Reserve Riesling - Lovely nose showing typical aged riesling characteristics with a little citrus and some Hay. Unfortunately for me the palate just didnt live upto the wonderful nose on this wine never the less an enjoyable experience with some bitter apple, mild citrus and Kero on a lean and short palate. Im guessing we were perhaps 5 years plus too late for this one.

1995 LEAS Chardonnay - Wonderful chardonnay with peach, honey dew melon and sweet glace pineapple the same followed on the palate with some nice buttery well integrated oak. Although this bottle was a touch short on the finish compared to bottles opened recently it was a another great wine and enjoyed by all. The last of the whites and so far we were all very happy with the wine gods offerings.

1958 Seppelt Bin CH16 Colin Preece wine - Firstly an amazing colour for a wine that is 50 years old unfortunately the same couldnt be said for the nose and palate which while the fruit and structure was still some what evident this bottle was clearly long gone and probably a victim of improper cellaring at some stage of its life.

1982 Wynns John Riddoch - interesting sweaty nose with asparagus and some mintiness, the palate certainly had structure, fruit (although secondary) fine tannins, spearmint, capsicum and leather. A very enjoyable experience and this bottle i feel stilll had many years ahead of it.

to be continued[/b]

not so good to hear about the Seppelt. i have one in the cellar that has been there for many years.
If somebody wanted to organise a similar event in Adelaide i can supply the Seppelt, Leo Buring, Wynns (both riddoch and black) and the 707's.

crusty2 wrote:not so good to hear about the Seppelt. i have one in the cellar that has been there for many years.
If somebody wanted to organise a similar event in Adelaide i can supply the Seppelt, Leo Buring, Wynns (both riddoch and black) and the 707's.

Crusty2 i would still be inclined to open the Seppelt at some stage and try it. the colour of our wine indicated to me that if there was some other bottles out there some where that they may still be ok if not something very special.

Part 2

1983 Penfolds 707 - Lovely redish purple in colour, beautiful nose of red fruits, cassis, boysenberry with a dash of vanilla. the palate was soft and supple with gentle cassis, leather, soft tannins but a little thin on the back palate and more middle weight. As someone else at the table put it "a lovely wine to sit and drink with a good book on sunday afternoon" Drink up!

1990 Penfolds 707 - Deep purple, lovely nose of Cassis, vanilla, coffee, Anise. Big, bold and brooding this was a superb wine. The palate showed pure blackcurrant, mocha, vanilla good tannin structure and is still yet to reach its peak in my opinion. Fantastic wine.

1966 Penfolds Grange - Quite remarkable! This was something very special indeed. Well integrated, lovely soft reddish purple colour, on the nose very complex, smoke, leather, dark fruits, chocolate, liquorice and coffee which all flowed onto a glorious palate so well integrated, complex and powerful. This was quite simply a glorious old Grange that was an incredible experience to taste and probably one of the best wines i have ever drank. Thank you wine gods!

1976 Penfolds Grange - Wow! Deep purple, lovely nose of blackberry, chocolate, mint, liquorice and tar. On the palate blackberry liqueur, chocolate, coffee, tar, smoke, liquorice and a melange of other flavours in a very powerful and full package that still has so many years ahead of it. For me this wine punched above the 66 with its sheer power and was my WOTN however at the same time the 66 was also in a league of its own making WOTN a very very hard choice.

1994 Henschke Hill of Grace - dark purple in colour, lovely nose of blackberry, tar and anise. The palate showed this wine is still only a pup, powerful, muscular, tight and still quite closed the palate showed some dark berry fruits with a solid tannin structure that is still softening out. A wonderful wine that would have benefited from more time in a decanter than it was given to open and show even better. Still a great wine and a fitting end to the red wines for the evening.

1977 Pieroth Beeranauslese - Golden amber in colour, honey, citrus, apricot and toffee followed onto the palate with a dash of golden syrup richness without being cloying. This is certainly at its peak and for me almost like drinking liquid dried apricots coated in honey and golden syrup with a touch of candied citrus peel. Just Magic!

All Saints Grand Tokay - Toffee, tea, raisin, treacle, mouth coating goodness with amazing depth! I think many of you know the deal here.

1939 Seppelt Para Port - Superb Para Port in pristine condition! (thank you Dave)

Overall an incredible line up of wines with a menu to die for! A wonderful experience with some great new friends! What more could you ask for.

Very happy the night went off with aplomb. Glad to hear the Grange's were in top form (especially for their age). Thanks for the tasting notes. Any chance of some feedback on the wonderful food?