The Auswine Forum

Hi Rens,

Yes, still a starter. I'll bring the Vat 1 and the Wendouree.

Will

Hacker wrote:

rens wrote:Will - 2005 Penfolds Bin 389 or 1990 Wendouree Cabernet Malbec or 1999 Tyrells Vat 1 Sem

Hi guys, hope the night goes well! I had a Wendouree 1990 Cab Malbec the other night, and for what it is worth, it was quite shut despite a three hour decant. I reckon it needs a minimum five hour decant to drag some life out of it, and there is life somewhere there! Great potential.

Thanks Hacker, appreciate the info. Always good to get a guide on these sorts of things, especially as I haven't opened a Wendouree of this age before.

Will plan to open it up sufficiently early, maybe a sneaky lunchtime taster.... Fingers crossed it's a good one.

Will

Willard wrote:Hi Rens,

Yes, still a starter. I'll bring the Vat 1 and the Wendouree.

Will

Great. Just waiting on Michael's back to get the numbers finalised.

gpk wrote:Hi Ren's,

Since the numbers are closer to 8 or 10, I will stay with my original plan of 1991 Wynns John Riddoch, 1996 Mount Elizabeth Lovedale Semilon, "Frog Bubbles".

Do we have a time or have I missed it somewhere in the post?

Michael, good luck with the Oseteopath, hope it works out. Or you could go with some good medication plus wine and not remember much

cheers

Gerry

7pm Gerry.

rens wrote:Great. Just waiting on Michael's back to get the numbers finalised.

Sorry, folks. I was hoping for a miracle recovery overnight, but I am not going to make it.

I rang the restaurant yesterday to say it was 8-10 so I don't think you need worry, Rens.

I hope the night goes well, and someone organises another one soon.

Cheers

Michael

Thanks Michael. Shame you could not attend, but totally understand.
I'm sure we'll have a terrible time

Hope everyone has an awesome night. Would have loved to attend especially when I saw Rednick is bringing the rare end play but alas life conspired against me. Hopefully next time.
Have fun
Clive

What a great evening. The venue was casual enough that you relaxed- the glass ware could have been better, but the wines still showed very well. The food was also very nice. The steak was just perfect.
I didn't take any notes, Ian was promoted to that role since Michael was a late scratching. The froggy bubbles that Luke brought was just beautiful, it was tightly wound at first, but over an hour it just got better and better. It was a great start. The WOTN for me was the end play-simply delicious followed by the La Testa and the JR tied with the Rioja (Biased I know) for third.
A top class line up. Thanks to everyone for sharing and welcome Will and Perry, hope to see you at the next one.

It was great to catch up with everyone after having missed the last couple of off-lines. As Ren’s said the venue was great as well as the food, but I would be a bit more critical and say the glassware was a real disappointment. Definitely a bring your own glassware joint if we were to return. We had a great line up of wines which deserved better than chunky café glassware.

WOTN for me was a tie between the JR and Wendouree Cab Malbec. Both completely different wines, but very unique to their regions. I thought Lukes description of the Wendouree as a “Great Aussie Bush Wine” was very fitting both for the way the wine presented and the tradition that goes along with Wendouree wines. Very close 2nd was the end play which lived up to its reputation.

Thanks for a great night and nice to meet Will and Perry.

Cheers Gerry

Great night as always, a wonderful privilege to try some top quality aged wines with not a dud all night despite all bar one being cork sealed. It was a tie between the champagne and the John Riddoch for me, really must try and avoid getting a taste for expensive bubbles and then an honourable mention to the End Play which still has many years ahead of it (and yes I promise to bring my last bottle to a 2025 wine night!) Welcome to Will and Perry, always good to have new blood and of course always fun to meet the gang.

Till the next one - cheers, Nick

Thanks all for the fun evening and the warm welcome.

Thanks everyone for your generosity in bringing some great wines. It was a terrific lineup with amazingly no failures. Few notes done from memory today - I haven’t written many notes before, so bear with me as I practise. Separated in rough flights below.

2004 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne – so young and tightly coiled. Palate was almost purely lemon, length was tremendous. Bead maybe not as fine as I was expecting, but the mouthfeel was beautiful. Jealous of those who sat on their glasses for longer because it came alive over the course of the evening. Will be long lived. Give it time. Thanks Luke, not often I get to try top shelf Champagne.

1999 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon – This was a great, youthful bottle, and the comparison with the Lovedale showed how primary it still was. Terrific drive. Good bottles have years ahead of them, but luck of the draw I guess.

1996 Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon – A more yellow gold than the Vat 1. Into the secondary spectrum: honeyed lemon, toasty, lanolin. Someone said it had a soapy texture which was spot on. I really enjoyed this. Drink now.
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2004 La Rioja Alta “Vina Ardanza” Reserva Especial – seemed to me like a traditionally styled Rioja in the oaky oxidised style (though I don’t have much experience with these wines so I may be way off). I think Rens said it was something like 80% Tempranillo/20% Grenache. Satiny mouthfeel. Mainly dark fruit, enmeshed with coffeed, chocolately oak. The Grenache made itself felt with a bit of juicy raspberry. Maybe a bit volatile? This changed each time I came back to it, I found it intriguing. Would be interesting to see it in 5/10 years. I’ve no idea how long these might live for but seems to me to have a long life ahead.

2008 Marius End Play – Plummy fruit meshed with minerally, earthy Marius goodness. Great balance of acid and tannin, ripeness just spot on. Anytime you get to taste a Marius wine, your day is just made that much better. Drink anytime you feel like, with smug satisfaction, if you are lucky enough to have any.
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1991 Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon – Decanted at the restaurant (I think), was still pretty wound up. Youthful, great colour. Choc-mint nose, fruit across the black and red currant spectrum, medium-full bodied, pencilly, drawn finish. I feel like it needs a bit more time, but you could have drunk this anytime over the next 10 years I reckon. This was my WOTN.

1990 Wendouree Cabernet Malbec – Decanted about 3-4 hours before drinking. Still very youthful also. Eucalypt blasts you on the nose. The palate was surprisingly medium bodied with a lovely texture, dark red fruits, and a web of fine tannin dragging through the long finish. Tastes like a Clare red of the highest quality, but I couldn’t get past the eucalyptus. Might be I’m a bit less tolerant of this than others. The wine could live just about forever.
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2002 Classic McLaren La Testa Shiraz – A bold, rich McLaren Vale Shiraz with everything that you’d expect – black fruit and liquorice, but with savoury complexity and a good tannin backbone to (just) keep it from being too overblown. Pushing the ripeness for my palate, but I really enjoyed trying it and even got a small second glass.

2004 Kalleske Greenock Shiraz – A little porty and stewed, wasn’t real keen on this one.

2002 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz – Took some time to open up, structure was impressive, seemed quite cabernet dominant to me, blackcurrant and nice positive oak. Just needs more time, I’m sure it will be fantastic in 5 or more years.
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1994 De Bortoli Noble One – Great treat with the Tiramisu. There was a bit of talk about the colour being too dark, which may be the case, but the wine was drinking beautifully. Not sure if many of the recent Noble Ones will live for 20 years and be drinking as well as this.

Will

Great nite team - Mick we missed u but to be fair it gave us a lot more to drink! So disappointed u didn't get to drink the BDB which I'm sure u would have loved not to mention the Marius which is just a freak of a wine. I wish Mike Hawkins had informed us how to drink the Taittinger as it tasted pretty average on opening and then slowly morphed into this incredible wine. I found the bubbles disappeared too quickly tho'. However it was wonderful as a white wine.
I couldn't pick a wine of the nite as each wine showed differently as the evening progressed. The 99 Tyrrells Vat 1 is an incredible wine and a treat to try. It lasted most of the nite and just had so much fruit and beautiful balance. The 91 Wynns JR was stunning and gave the End Play a run for red WOTN. The La Testa needed more time in the decanter to settle and blow off some of the licorice - when it did it was a study in how to make McLaren Vale Shiraz. The Rioja that Rens brought was just stunning.
So disappointing to have had an opportunity to try an old Gossett PR and a vintage Bollinger and just not have the room. Thanks guys for your generosity and comraderie. 8 is a great number for this type of event.

gpk wrote: I would be a bit more critical and say the glassware was a real disappointment. Definitely a bring your own glassware joint if we were to return. We had a great line up of wines which deserved better than chunky café glassware.

Cheers Gerry

Sorry, my fault. When they heard I wasn't coming they put away the good glassware.

Pleased you all had a great night, and that the food (while served in a suburb) was okay. I am incredibly disappointed I couldn't make it. Shame I only have four of those End Play left.....

I had a 1999 Hamilton's Ewell Railway Vineyard Shiraz to compensate (and it was pretty good after a very stinky opening).

Can't wait for someone to organise the next one.

Cheers

Michael