The Auswine Forum

Hello Sean
Having had the Barossan is the Bond a big step up and worth trying a bottle?
Cheers
Pete

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Oh okay thanks for that Sean.

83 Elizabeth Semillon
66 Black Label
84 Mount Mary Cabernets (corked)
82 John Riddoch
85 Moss Wood
A very old Muscat

2nd get together with Tom Cannavan and it was a fantastic night. 66 was the star - it improved all night - and this was the best bottle of JR I have had . Cudos to Con.

Read Tom's write up on winepages. Looked like a fantastic evening. Bravo.

mychurch wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2024 12:41 am 83 Elizabeth Semillon
66 Black Label
84 Mount Mary Cabernets (corked)
82 John Riddoch
85 Moss Wood
A very old Muscat

2nd get together with Tom Cannavan and it was a fantastic night. 66 was the star - it improved all night - and this was the best bottle of JR I have had . Cudos to Con.

Thanks for the notes MC, think there is a lone 66 lurking somewhere and down to my last 6-8 82 JRs.

Cheers Craig

Hosted a very successful Grange event for my tasting group in Hong Kong. Theme was the 71 Grange. Thankfully the 71 was outstanding and the 75 great too. Ullage on a 76 showed how resilient Grange is as the wine showed OK. 1990 still a ways to go and the 96 from a magnum excellent. Three bottles of St Henri reflected the style in bright fashion and I thought were pretty good. 1990 Bin 920 excellent over three bottles. A magnum of Yattarna 2006 excellent nose and refined medium structure but was palate-boring. Half a dozen other Granges from younger vintages good. We did 03 decanted and not decanted - decanted hands down victor.

Australia Day Aussie Fest next day saw a 1990 St Henri and 1990 Bin 90A an outstanding pairing. No woke BS in HK which was refreshing.

Had these last weekend. The Drumborg very good, saw it had disappeared from where I’d purchased. Hope it comes back again.

The Lindemans was incredible. Tobacco, old library vibes. Once it got some air in the glass it showed great length and depth.
Cheers, Ed

JamieAdelaide wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2024 10:44 pm Hosted a very successful Grange event for my tasting group in Hong Kong. Theme was the 71 Grange. Thankfully the 71 was outstanding and the 75 great too. Ullage on a 76 showed how resilient Grange is as the wine showed OK. 1990 still a ways to go and the 96 from a magnum excellent. Three bottles of St Henri reflected the style in bright fashion and I thought were pretty good. 1990 Bin 920 excellent over three bottles. A magnum of Yattarna 2006 excellent nose and refined medium structure but was palate-boring. Half a dozen other Granges from younger vintages good. We did 03 decanted and not decanted - decanted hands down victor.

Australia Day Aussie Fest next day saw a 1990 St Henri and 1990 Bin 90A an outstanding pairing. No woke BS in HK which was refreshing.

Nice indeed! Which was better… 90a or 920? And any thoughts on longevity?

I thought the 920 was in an easy and accessible place. More expressive thought happy to leave it 10 years. 90A still needs time or significant aeration- time I feel would be best versus gambling in a decanter. Classic wines.

Cheers Jamie

2015 Tolpuddle Chardonnay
gee, Aussie chardonnay is getting really really good. Amazing strides over the past two decades. This is a Puligny doppelganger, in every way. Gorgeous green/gold, river pebbles, orchard fruits, amazing complexity and very good length. A premier cru Puligny for 1/3 the price. Bravo!!
drink: Now - 2040, 94 points.

2023 Leonay, this is a sensational Riesling. PH at its best, fine, lemony and a lick of acid. Beautiful.
Cheers Craig

felixp21 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 7:38 am 2015 Tolpuddle Chardonnay
gee, Aussie chardonnay is getting really really good. Amazing strides over the past two decades. This is a Puligny doppelganger, in every way. Gorgeous green/gold, river pebbles, orchard fruits, amazing complexity and very good length. A premier cru Puligny for 1/3 the price. Bravo!!
drink: Now - 2040, 94 points.

Been buying a bit of Aussie Chardonnay. Worthy of a separate thread and would love your thoughts mate! Got some of the Tolpuddle. Stopped bidding at $240 for sone recent Giaconda. Was going to host a dinner in HKG featuring museum stock and with some Grand Cru ring ins. Had a 2010 Giaconda versus LEAS 2002( under cork ) and boy did the Giaconda need a cork jammed up it! Still loaded with gun flint and appearing developmentally stationary. LEAS gunned it on the night.

Clever marketing up at Beechworth. We have an annual LEAS v Giaconda tasting after Christmas each year, same vintages side-by-side, and LEAS wins about 75% of the time. After the recent event, we have now compared every vintage that was made from 1994 onwards. . Both fabulous wines, but LEAS is consistently better, and therefore a far better value.
If reductive style like Giaconda is your go, I think you would prefer Tolpuddle, quite similar to Giaconda but half the price!! However, it needs more than six years in bottle to start really strutting its stuff. Actually, I showed a bottle to an American winemaker out here at the moment on Sunday, and he was stunned!!
There are some fabulous chardonnays coming out of the Adelaide Hills too!!

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felixp21 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 4:31 pm Clever marketing up at Beechworth. We have an annual LEAS v Giaconda tasting after Christmas each year, same vintages side-by-side, and LEAS wins about 75% of the time. After the recent event, we have now compared every vintage that was made from 1994 onwards. . Both fabulous wines, but LEAS is consistently better, and therefore a far better value.
If reductive style like Giaconda is your go, I think you would prefer Tolpuddle, quite similar to Giaconda but half the price!! However, it needs more than six years in bottle to start really strutting its stuff. Actually, I showed a bottle to an American winemaker out here at the moment on Sunday, and he was stunned!!
There are some fabulous chardonnays coming out of the Adelaide Hills too!!

Can you explain "Clever marketing up at Beechworth".

felixp21 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2024 4:31 pm
If reductive style like Giaconda is your go

I had the 2010 Giaconda Chardonnay with Cantonese food in HKG last month. Appreciated the structural tension not common in Aussie Chardonnay. The room did smell like musketry! The gun flint pronounced.

Went to a Montrose tasting with Cuttlefish tonight, which was fun. 19, 12, 11, 94 and 95 of the Grand wine, 19 and 14 of Le Dame and the 19 white and red Tronquay.

I went along just to see how young Bdx looks nowadays, and the answer is ‘very well’. The 2 Tronquay wines were very open, modern and accessible, with no harsh edges. Was it Bdx ? Probably, but these and the 2 Dame wines had an accessibility that the wines I remember from 20+ years ago didn’t have.

The absolute star of the tasting was the 19, that had balance, complexity and beautiful fruit. Superb wine, but it comes with a price tag above all but a handful Auz Cabs ($560). The 95 was in its drinking window, but was not quite at the level of the 2000 or 1989 Con provided last year.

I enjoyed the event, but prices of almost $400 for the 04 (which must have been about €50 on release) show that it’s not a wine for the average drinker and you can get much more here in Auz for your money.

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2004 Wendouree Shiraz
Perfect cork, stained 0.5mm, lovely fine wine which refused to give up all of its secrets, still dark purple in the glass, savoury notes with classic Clare Shiraz on the palate. Medium weight with lingering drying tannins. Nothing over done, a really nice drink. About halfway there me thinks
Cheers Craig

Can’t believe how good this Durif is - the glass on the right is the Vin Jaune that Dan sells.

No idea what the alcohol is, but it’s a wine still full of life. Lots of silky, creamy chocolate and plenty of bush and bacon fat. When I lived I Europe I bought a case of the 98, and while I enjoyed it, that had a herby Italian feel. This is so Australian with gods of fruit. Up there with Cons 66 Black Label as wine of the year so far.

2016 Bellwether Cabernet. a step up from the Zema. Lovely dark core, balck blue fruits, good weight on the palate, just entering the window...great wine for $28!!
Cheers Craig

Started reading The Australian Ark - up to 1860s today so matched my bookworming with this piece of Australian wine history

2017 Best's Great Western Bin 0 Shiraz - from the Concongella vineyard from 1866 - really liked the medium bodiness of this - along with some aniseed hints.

Last night was reading the 1850's chapter so matched that with the 2017 Cirillo 1850 Barossa Grenache - a lovely perfumed Grenache

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2019 Balnaves The Blend
A mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Franc and Petit Verdo. Really lovely mouth feel, soft, delicate and very balanced. Very very good. Great VFM and roll on 2019.
Cheers Craig

Pelican wrote: ↑Sun Mar 03, 2024 8:34 pm Started reading The Australian Ark - up to 1860s today so matched my bookworming with this piece of Australian wine history

2017 Best's Great Western Bin 0 Shiraz - from the Concongella vineyard from 1866 - really liked the medium bodiness of this - along with some aniseed hints.

Last night was reading the 1850's chapter so matched that with the 2017 Cirillo 1850 Barossa Grenache - a lovely perfumed Grenache

I used to enjoy reading the Valmai Hankel wine history column in Winestate, which along with the wine science column, was always a good read and informative (I never much cared for the rest of the mag, being rather points focused, or edging towards puff pieces). I've also got John Beeston's book somewhere.

As for Best's, yes they're right in my style slot, and not just the Shiraz, as I really like their Cabernet Sauvignon (but rarely see it), and recall a super Cab Franc (IIRC limited release). The Riesling good, though there's lots of super rieslings around elsewhere.

Slowly catching up on my notes. This one was for a Christmas Special event (yes im that far behind)

Unfortunately this current 2024 year will see a lot less wine events which hurts.

My notes for this 2023 Xmas Special. As always all wines served blind

Wine # 1 - Faulty –2013 Vincent Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru La Forest
Muted nose, musty and cardboard. Touch of sweetness there, deep gold. Cork failure.
Not sure if TCA or the dreaded Premox. Tipped out, White Burgundy curses me. Of course it was mine


Wine # 2 – 2012 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut Rose'
Pale copper with a burst of peach in colour. Sherbet tangerine nose, strawberry notes and just that
nose leads me to a rose with a large pinot contingent. Those tiny bubbles, reaching for the sky from
the bottom of the glass, classy mousse, pop and fill the senses with chalk and talc minerals and some
lemon citrus.
The length and intensity of this wine puts it at the top echelon of champagne, its explosive; texture is
grippy and tannic all at the same time, those phenolics are outrageous.
Very dry, and that lemon acid runs right the way through the wine. High dosage but it doesn’t show
it with that acid and chalk. Sweet rounded red fruits, strawberry and cream, maybe a touch of glace`
cherry and then that lemon taps you on the shoulder and says – ‘hey don’t forget me’. Oh I wont be
forgetting this wine. Its a complete wine that just has everything.


Wine # 3 - 2013 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc
Yellow gold in colour, very deep colour – intense colour. Not bright or shiny, but something that has
aged nicely. Nose has some white florals, and yellow peaches, interesting wine and I can smell a hint
of olive oil / grassiness. A nice line of low acid, not intrusive or dominant, just keeping things in
order. Again this is a dry wine, lots of glycerol characters & more phenolic’s. Probably lacking the
fruit intensity I want; this is all about the texture. Salty, brine and more of that olive oil silkiness, nice
length, but I want more fruit. Broad and rounded wine.


Wine # 4 (My Backup) – 2011 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune (Alsace)
Another deep yellow gold wine here, showing some nice age, yet this has a slightly increased shine and brightness
that the hermitage lacked. Lifted lime florals fill the room, lime leaf and a touch of lime zest as well.
What an intoxicating wine, one of those rare ones that you could smell all night and not get bored.
In the mouth has some petroleum and a touch of herb…. Maybe some wild fennel or sage… cant put
my finger on the herb. The acid is really tight here, not controlling but just balances the wine
perfectly, feels like there could be some residual sugar in here, but that acid says ‘ no no no, you stay
where you are Mr Sweetness’. Im wondering if this sees some form of very neutral oak? Its not oaky,
but there is texture and mouthfeel that I get when a wine has spent some time in oak. Doesn’t feel
fermented in oak or anything, it’s a textural thing for me. Smashing length, just doesn’t stop –
Fantastic Riesling for the ages.


Wine # 5 – 2013 David Duband Clos de la Roche
Darkish Ruby red, some browning which could mean some age. There is some real spice coming out
of the glass, clove, sage, touch of white pepper, ground ginger and star anise – for some reason it
smells like Vosne spice, yet in the mouth the tannin structure is all Gevrey. It will be so interesting
to see what this wine is. Powerful red/purple fruits on the nose, can only be a Grand Cru, but they just miss
the mark in the mouth.
Ripe dark cherry and a hint of blue plum, Forest floor, mushroom, more white pepper and sage with
just a hint of alpine freshness. Gravelly tannins, great length but feels on the downhill ?
Based on this bottle I would drink now.


Wine # 6 - 2002 Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue Bonnes Mares
Really nothing needs to be said about this wine, other that its perfect. One of the greatest wines I
will ever get the pleasure of trying. Lovely red colour, no bricking or blurring. Clear and no sediment
to see. There is so much sweet red fruit leaping out of the glass, it defies logic. New season
strawberry, red cherry, and redcurrants…. They all overwhelm the senses. It’s a lesson in letting the
fruit do the talking…. Perfect nose.
In the mouth, those red fruits are so concentrated and focused.. laser like precision. The tannis is
mouthwatering. It's sandy, fine and dusty all at the same time. Oak is not noticeable, but it's there in
the background, its all those fruits – like a peacock tail on show for everyone to see.
Powerful wine, can only be grand cru, can only be a handful of makers capable of this style. Proper
wine…. Wine of the year – no doubt about it – maybe wine of the decade. I can still taste it – in the
presence of greatness and its not stopping anytime soon. Chant it with me ‘Vogue, Vogue, Vogue’
(no not Madonna). Hideously expensive, worth every drop


Wine # 7 – 1995 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou (Saint Julien)
Nice colour here again, bit younger and brighter by the looks of it, but we have all been deceived
before. It’s a dark purple, almost black cherry in colour.
On the nose there is the slightest hint of Ox, so im not sure its going to show its best, anyhoo – In the
mouth the tannins are off the chats. Its huge, powerful and very prominent ... .yes bordering on
dominant. Very chewy tannin, lots of black fruits, dense blackberry, black plum, liquorice. Its got some nice
graphite & coal type minerals in there, savoury capsicum. Nice wine, if the cork gods are
on your side, it will live for a lot longer.


Wine # 8 – 2017 Terroir Al Limit Soc. Lda. Priorat Les ManyesBottle
# 3368 of unknown production run. Lighter red in the glass, touch of purple as well. Not super
clear but not blurry, I assume and it looks like there is no fining or filtering. Very bright and shiny out of the glass, looks very
young – like a 2019 or 2020 vintage. The nose is quite different to any of the others we have had,
lighter yet not Pinot. – maybe a grenache? I can smell the acidity in the glass, like the winemaker
added acidity, its quite prominent and overpowering the fruit. Smells of alcohol too, it’s a bit hot on
the nose…. Just the youth of this wine – has to be young.
Lacks complexity for me, there is something I'm not enjoying…then it hits me like a lightning bolt… its
Spanish. For some reason I don’t enjoy table wines from Spain, something rustic about them or
simple. Perhaps I have never had one that suits my taste. Anyhoo, i'm the first in the group to
mention Spain, others disagree but as the questions narrow down, I stick to my guns. Sure enough,its spanish.There is some good chalky minerality here, rocky shale notes, like licking a stone, quite something.
Huge grainy tannin is a highlight but really that’s where it ends. The Fruit is just overpowered by the
structure and acidity at the moment. Needs a long rest in the bottle….. I have no doubt it will be great, just opened way too
young.

Wine # 9 – 2000 Chateau Palmer (Margaux)
Dark / Black cherry colour, still a youthful colour too but not a new vintage if that makes sense. Has
age, but retains its youthfulness. Intense colour.... impenetrable
Lots of pencil shavings on the nose, homemade blackberry jam too – black & blue fruits leap out of
the glass together with the woody/oak notes.
Soft fruits on the palate, lots of savory plums, blueberries and blackberries, weirdly not sweet fruits,
perfectly ripe, just ultra high quality, powerful and tart/savoury. Lovely mouthfeel too, silky but then the
tannin comes rushing in… and they are huge. Mouthcoating tannin, dense and grainy. Quite
something and really needed to keep the power of those fruits in check. Great balance, stunning
length, and those fruits. Still just a pup, oak is a touch raw still and needs some more time to
integrate; could be one of those wines that outlive me (cork permitting). This has everything and my
first Palmer … stunning, what a wine moment.


Wine # 10 - 2011 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia (Super Tuscan)
Deep, dark and black. Smells young, kind of like the last one, but more raw oak, more new wood
shavings. Just going by the nose alone, this won't be to my liking. Not getting much fruit on the nose either
which is a shame.
In the mouth it doesn’t get much better. All oak, oak tannin and wood. Huge tannins, but out of
balance. Perhaps too young? Not sure feels very unbalanced at this stage.
The oak masks all the fruit and is unfortunately not to my tastes. I know im old but im a big believer in Italian
varieties to be grown in Italy and this is a perfect example of why. It’s a no from me.


Wine # 11 - 2010 Lorenzo Accomasso Barolo Per Elena (La Morra)
Nice darker ruby colour, starting to slightly brown but only just.
Nose is all red fruits, red florals and liquorice. Some spice on the nose, regional herbs…. Here we go.
Such an elegant wine, very low oak and so fruit driven…. NOW we are talking. New seasons
strawberry, cranberry acid, redcurrants and some aniseed. Nice tarry notes as well, pure nebbiolo fruits,actually feels like it gives some mouthfeel and density/weight to the wine….. Reminds me of a Mascarello in terms of fruit, styleand quality. Wow, never heard of this producer and will have to find out more about them. Right up my alley. More please, Drink now and within 5 years, big yes.


Wine # 12 - 1963 Warre’s Vintage Port (Portugal)
Clear, almost Rose` like in colour, stunning colour – not sure we are in Kansas anymore toto.
Super clear with only the slightest of browning hinting at the age. I thought early 80's…. but I was 20 years off.Lovely purity of fruit on the nose. Red fruits, marzipan and almond spice. Spirit it a bit hot, but the
wine is in a great place. Spirit isn’t overpowering or distracting its exactly where it should be.
Cranberry fruit, touch of strawberry and lots of nutty spice. Lots of minerals too, not quite chalk, but
a lighter shale type. Super length, just keeps going and going, cannot believe the age, this is why we
love wine. What a moment – memorable & what a way to finish the year...

Accomasso was a bit of a secret and I started sourcing them secretly before COVID ruined everything. I’ve had a mixed run with variation and glad you’ve a great bottle.

Your Chave Blanc is too young now! Needs a decade IMO to bring out the weight and tertiary nuance. Best drunk young if wanting primary fruit. That’s my experience.

Nice line up. Whilst I don’t agree that the Italians shouldn’t be making these international styles with international grapes, I do think their top tier overrated.

'Found' a sixer of 2004 Chalambar. Absolutely lovely... bright purple earthy, plummy with a bit of char, great palate weight with drying tannins. Not sure if this has peaked... will enjoy drinking the other 5. At $10 a bottle on release from VCs...a delight.
Cheers Craig