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Will be going on to Melboune one on Thursday and just wondering if anybody from Brisbane or Sydney have been and whether there were any highlights/lowlights or any wines that must be tasted.

Is this going through the weekend?
I arrive in Melb friday for a bit and would like a look.

I was at the Sydney event tonight. Was a good shoing from all the producers but the standout for me was the 1998 Balnaves Tally. Just beautiful. Still very fresh after 11 years.

Enjoy!

Rob

xsorxpire wrote:Is this going through the weekend?
I arrive in Melb friday for a bit and would like a look.

Melbourne is Thursday night (they are one night things). Brisbane was Monday, Sydney today, canberra wednesday, adelaide next monday, perth next wednesday.

rmack wrote:I was at the Sydney event tonight. Was a good shoing from all the producers but the standout for me was the 1998 Balnaves Tally. Just beautiful. Still very fresh after 11 years.

Enjoy!

Rob

Thanks Rob. The 1998 Balnaves Tally was the kind of insight I was looking for - was it hard to get a taste of this (eg. did you need to be there at the start of the night)? Also were there any other interesting back vintages? All premiums on tastings? Sorry for all the questions just looking for insights.

G'day mf

I went.

Tough ask after Thursday night's Tasmania Unbottled . I was on my own but decided not to take any notes - had a long day at work and simply couldn't be arsed.

Small, quite cramped venue, but the wines were very good. Still a fair few 06s around though the majority of the standard level reds were 07s.

I went looking for a chardonnay to start with and didn't find much to get excited about. The Bowen Estate was pretty good. Most were too "worked" for my tastes.

The labels that stand out for me from memory were
Bowen Estate
A small range of very good wines reasonably priced. The only mailing list I joined up for.
Majella
Impeccable wines across the spectrum and got to try the 07 without opening one of my paltry allocation - will leave for 4-5 years before trying again.
Redman
Three good 06s. I liked the Cab-Shiraz
Yalumba
Three good wines.
Zema
Good wines though I think the Family Selection are a touch overpriced.

Worth tasting were:
Balnaves (no '98 Tally in Brisbane - bastards)
Brands Laira – Stentiford and Eric’s Blend worthwhile wines
Katnook – too broad a range, though I think the founder’s blocks are solid QPR
Leconfield - liked the Merlot for some reason
Parker Coonawarra Estate
Petaluma
Wynns - I got to try the '07 black label which will be a six-pack buy - though nothing special and the "Alex 88" block (?) not really worth the money

I felt I wasted my time at:
Di Giorgio – guy wasn’t interested in his wines so why should I be?
Hollick – nothing of note
Koonara – they weren’t really interested or interesting
Lindemans - not sure why they show these wines as they are raw at this stage (06s all)
Penley – the wines weren’t bad, but there were too many of them.
Rymill – don’t think I truly liked one of their wines – no individuality to them
S. Kidman – don’t remember the wines so……

Probably more than you were asking for but once I got started....

Have fun and post your thoughts, please.

Michael

Michael McNally wrote:
Probably more than you were asking for but once I got started....

Have fun and post your thoughts, please.

Michael

I was asking for anything I could get - so appreciate your detail. Hope that 98 Tally was not just a Sydney specialty then (hopefully they consider Melbournians more worthy than Brisbanites/Brisbanians/Brisbane people ). Have actually been to cellar doors of all the wineries you recommended in recent time apart from Bowen, Redman and Brand's Laira so will particularly make sure to get to them.

i was on a bit of a premium hunt due to limited time that i had available on the evening. I spent some time at the Wynns table and after trying the range of Cabernets (black label and Alex (i actually found the Alex very promising))) and was rewarded with a tatse of the 06 Riddoch that was pulled out from under the table.

Some info about the Tally tasting: The event started at 5.30. From the time the show opened the 2006 Tally was on tasting. When i tasted that Kirsty mentioned she would be pulling the '98 Tally out at 6.30. So perhaps in Brisbane it was just a case of bad timing for you Michael.

No Ravenswood on tasting unfortunately (well not for me - maybe my sweet-talking wasnt on song that evening).

A few older Cabs on tasting from various producers, most seemed to be from the 2002 vintage. some holding up very well. some not so

Also make sure you try some of the Barrel Series 12 Wine Auction samples. All 08 vintage so all very young and raw but it's interesting tasting quality Cabernet at that stage of it's life.

Rgds,

Rob.

So, more generically, how did everyone find the 06 / 07 vintages against say the 04 / 05 vintages for Coonawarra?

The 98 Tally was of course very nice although a number of others had premiums.

Katnook had their premiums under the counter, the 2005 Odyssey and Prodigy (my favorites and my forum namesake). Skip the founders block and move straight onto the Shiraz and Cab and they should let you move further onto their outstanding premiums if you show enough interest. Have always loved their mid-range Shiraz. Prodigy is already developing nicely and the Odyssey hasn't begun it's development yet at all (although knowing their high standard I'm absolutely certain it will be a cracker as always).

My only issue is that I already have too many of all of the above wines and don't have permission to go out and purchase any more

Patrick T Wines' Home Block 2002 (tasting but not yet released) was very enjoyable and has a lot of potential, 2000 was developing nicely. Winemaker Patrick Tocaciu was more than happy to chat about his wines.

Leconfield's Paul Gordon also present and keeping up to his usual thoroughly enjoyable standard. Besides the Cabernet (of course), the Syn Rouge sparkling was also great as always and the Merlot is immensely smooth.

A good night...

I was at the Sydney tasting and amongst many wonderful wines got to taste a 1999 John Riddoch!

Loved the Parker wines as well, with the First Growth a standout


Andrew

odyssey wrote:trick T Wines' Home Block 2002 (tasting but not yet released) was very enjoyable and has a lot of potential, 2000 was developing nicely. Winemaker Patrick Tocaciu was more than happy to chat about his wines.

Pat was resonsible for the lovely Tollana TR222 Cabernets of the early 80's and his Coonawarra Cabernets are great examples. Not overripe, intense and lovely structure.

Is there a new release Wynns Johnson's Block or was the 2004 a once off?

AndrewCowley wrote:Is there a new release Wynns Johnson's Block or was the 2004 a once off?

There was a 2003 too...

Went to the Melbourne Roadshow and just reporting back.

First general comments:

- Hard work finding white wines, only white wine I would actually want to drink (of 7 white wines tasted) is the Parker Favourite Son Chardonnay 2007 (although did not get to taste Balnaves or Katnook Chardonnay because they never arrived).

- I am a big fan of Coonawarra cab sav (and found a lot of Shiraz I like) but with most wines I tried I had the impression that I would enjoy them even more in 3+ years. Made me think the 2015 Coonawarra Roadshow could display the exact same wines and it would be a very good event (from a wine tasting perspective). More broadly it did make me think it would be very interesting if some exhibitors had past vintages to taste (maybe giving some impression of how their wines may develop).

- Would not say this is my favourite type of event. Enough people there to get drunk that does not make wine tasting that pleasurable and litle opportunity to talk to exhibitors. Also don't like that some patrons treat the exhibitors as their servants for the night rather than people from whom interesting information could be gained.

- Favourite wines of the night:
- White (as mentioned): Parker Favourite Son Chardonnay 2007
- Shiraz: Katnook Prodigy Shiraz 2005
- Cabernet: Brand's Laira Cabernet 2005 (think this was the Patron - or what used to be called the Patron)
- Blend: Petaluma Coonawarra 2007 (48% Cab, 37% Merlot, 12% Shiraz, 3% Malbec)

- Wines that I thought are probably excellent but need 5 years more age (and I need 5 years more wine drinking experience) to really appreciate - Wynns John Riddoch Cab 2006, Balnaves Tally 2007, Lindemans St.George Cab 2006, Brand's Laira Stentiford 2005.

- My teeth: This is a lot of red wine to taste - I received a bit of a fright when I saw them in the mirror. Think it is best after leaving the event to not smile at people in the street.

Impressions of Exhibitors:

Balnaves - no 98 Tally (seems it was a Sydney specialty). Shiraz, Cab Sav and Tally all quality (I remember having the Blend in the past and thinking it was very good value but did not bother trying here.

Banks Thargo - Merlot was interesting (olivy and stemmy - made me think of whole bunch pressing), Cab Sav 04 quite liked (one of older Cabs there - 04 about as old as they got).

Blok Estate - Very nice couple exhibiting their wines and seemed proud of them. Worth visiting for this reason alone and one of view exhibitors you could talk to. Really liked the Shiraz 04.

Bowen Estate - Reds were solid for me but not excited by them - preferred the Shiraz over the Cab Sav.

Brand's Laira - Very popular exhibitor maybe as they had a number of premium wines visible. Maybe exhibitor of the night for me (based on wines). Thought standard Shiraz and Cab Sav 06 were both great value for the price you can find them for and thought the quality of the Patron 05, Stentiford and Eric's Blend (a 2001 wine - close to oldest there) justified there additional price tag.

Katnook Estate - only tasted estate and "reserve" wines. I feel a bit with Katnook that they are a bit overpriced in these two ranges (seem other exhibitors have similar or better quality wines for slightly cheaper prices). Merlot was maybe best Merlot I tasted (although it was not like I sort them out), I disliked the Shiraz so much that I wondered if there was actually something wrong with it and the Cab Sav was solid (but had better). As mentioned above I liked the Prodigy Shiraz a lot though (although price is significant).

Kidman Wines - nothing really impressed here.

Ladbroke Grove Wines - only tasted Killian Vineyard Cab and Reserve Cab Sav. Much preferred the Killian and thought a pretty good wine - thought their wines are ambitiously priced though.

Leconfield - definitely worth visiting mainly because of the enthusiasm of the exhibitor - really seemed happy to be showing his wines. Thought the 07 Cab Sav could be very good value if you can find it at the right price (which seems like you sometimes can). Also worth tasting the Old Vines Riesling 2008 (could imagine some may like it a lot more than me).

Lindemans - Agree with comment above that it is almost as if they are not worth showing but did actually think the Pyrus 06 was very good and the St.George may be very good but potentially beyond me to really appreciate it.

Majella - Very very big disappointment. Close to my favourite Coonawarra winery - no Cab Sav after an hour, no Malleea and when I think about it I don't think there was any Shiraz. The Musician 2008 is probably a very good quaffer but not exactly what I was excited about.

Parker - One of my favourite exhibitors. Like all of their wines - First Growth 05 was excellent but would probably rather drink the normal Cab Sav right now.

Patrick T Wines - Think they had a dessert wine that I would have liked to try but did not get back to. I noted that I liked the Home Block 02 Cab Sav a lot but questioned whether it was actually a quality wine or just happened to be to my liking - turns out Halliday gave this 96 - also turns out that it is $80 (not sure I liked it quite that much but maybe the price is justified).

Penley Estate - actually hoped for more. The reserve wines were nice but not to the extent of their cost. Still think the Phoenix Cab Sav is the best value wine and not the step below the reserve wines that the price difference would indicate.

Petaluma - 1999, 2003 and 2007 Coonawarra's were on tasting. Was interesting to taste a 1999 (although not sure I was a huge fan) and the 2007 was excellent.

Redman - were solid but not exciting for me. Probably price their wines pretty well though - have seen them pretty cheap in some places at different stages.

Wynns - Alex 88 and John Riddoch were under the table. All the Cab Savs were very good in their various price ranges - I think I need to taste an old John Riddoch though to see what they become though. The 08 Shiraz was the best I have had of these (although other years I have had I thought weren't very good). Also, for information purposes, each year they seem to want to show a different vineyard - Alex 88 is what they are showing for 2006 - it was Messenger for 2005 and Johnson's Block for 2003 and 2004.

Yalumba - I liked the Retreat and the Menzies a lot but the Cigar was not to my liking (although think that is a style thing).

Zema - Personally I find quite a gap in there Reserve and Estate wines. That being said if you can find both at a good price they probably both end up being good value (say $20 for the estate and $40 for the Reserve).

Wineries I won't comment on as I either did not get to them or only tasted one wine - DiGiorgio, Flint's of Coonawarra, Highbank, Hollick, Koonara, Raidis and Rymill.

Wineries I couldn't find but are included in book - Jim Barry, Murdock and Punter's Corner and The Poplars.

Thanks for your notes mf. Interesting impressions.

I agree entirely with your comments about the drinking element. Nothing really can be done about that. I have been known to suggest to my fellow patrons that they might like to be little more polite. Surprising how many people apologise or rephrase their demand (I'm quite a large bloke). Some just look at me like I am from another planet (which secretly I am).

Really, some of the exhibitors have the patience of a saint.

Cheers

Michael