The Auswine Forum

Hi all, kicking off the week, in the sweltering Sydney arvo' heat,

2009 Wirra Mrs Wigley's Moscato- Refreshing, sweet and crisp. Good.

Cheers,

Monghead.

Jacobs Creek Steingarten Riesling 2007 Lime and minerals, flinty, driven/focussed, mouth watering acidity. Keep buying to age it, keep drinking it. What seafood is designed to be drunk with. My favourite Steiny over even the 02 and 05 ... has more edge.

Muga Rioja Reserva 2005 - enjoyed this. More old world than the Callejo Ribera del Duero I had at the weekend. This is 70% tempranillo, 20% garnacha and 10% obscure spanish make-weights.

KT and the Falcon Watervale Riesling "Peglidis" 2008 Smooth, talcy lime, immensely clean line, and a hint of spritz about. Very good indeed.

Vina Esmerelda 2008 - 85% Moscadel de Alejandria/15% gewurz - passionfruit/musky tones. Mucho refreshing with szechuan food.

Te Mata gamay noir 2008 - sea spray/peaty taste at front of palate followed by rich red berry gamay delights, earthy notes. Light and charming, not really my thing in the end. Some at table loved it.

2008 Collector Marked Tree Red Shiraz
Firstly many thanks to ‘qwertt’ whose feedback previously led me to buy the Collector wines.
This was light & quite sweet. Nose had some varnish and French oak. Taste of dark fruits, blackberry & plums, which curiously seemed to get redder on the spicy finish. Plush soft tannins. 13.5%. Enjoyed it, maybe a fraction sweet for me at the moment, however keen to see the rest age a little…

2009 Felton Road “Block 1’ Riesling
Apples, apricots, honey, heaps of res sugar, very enjoyable on a hot day but couldn’t polish off more than a couple of glasses by myself.
Reading Vias description of the KT Watervale makes me long for a taut, clean, minerally Watervale. Particularly like the talcy lime descriptor!

Cheers

Craneford John Zilm 2004 Barossa Shiraz (14%). First of a few bought a few years ago and first ever of this wine. This is what shiraz should be like and used to be like. More pepper and spice than fruit bomb and well balance and should get better with another 5 years in the cellar. Reminded me of what a Bin 28 used to be like.

Friends over for dinner this Saturday and will be opening a double magnum of Haselgroves 1996 H Reserve Shiraz. Can't wait!

Chuck

Jim Barry Watervale Riesling 2009

Very nice mid-week riesling. Lots of lemon and lime as expected and extremely slurpable - a bargain.

Yalumba 'Running with Bulls' Barossa Tempranillo 2008

Just below full-bodied, chewy, spicy fruit, so drinkable. Great midweeker.

Higher Plane 2008 Chard: Bit of fun, bit of funk, enjoyable drink

Hoddles Creek 1er 2008 Pinot Noir: I have thoroughly enjoyed the standard and this is a clear step up. Everyone at the table enjoyed it. Good drink.

Samuels Gorge 2003 Shiraz: Big rich style, bit of heat on the finish but it was a warm night last night. It is what it is, and pretty good at it.

Dalwhinnie 2007 Shiraz: Yeah very good drink. Tight yet expressive, very controlled and fantastic length.

Cheers
TA

Friends over for dinner this Saturday and will be opening a double magnum of Haselgroves 1996 H Reserve Shiraz. Can't wait!

Chuck[/quote]

I opened one of these 3 years ago for my 50th. It was brilliant. I still have one 750mL bottle left, and it needs drinking me thinks

We hosted a big party last night, so some memories are blur...

Cloudy Bay Pelorus Sparkling NV - lovely bubbly apparently, greatly enjoyed by guests, but forgot to try it myself!
Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2007 - Enjoyable savoury NZ PInot, cherries, nice oak and a brambly note, finishing nicely with the tannins in solid support. Very Good.
Saltram Mamre Brook Cab Sav 2004 - decanted for a couple of hours, but still not showing much. Started to open a little with some more time, but still lacking and the tannins are a bit rough. I'll try again in 5 years. Just Good.
Pio Cesare Il Nebbio 2008 - enjoying this wine ATM, different and interesting flavours and a good solid drink. Good Good.

Teusner Astral Series 'FG' Shiraz 2006 - pulled this out to please some wine loving guests (and me) after the closed Mamre experience. Superheavy bottle is impressive enough, then the wine... Deep Violet, wasn't decanted (and should have been), so a touch closed to start with, but already bursting with great fruit and oak. I'm just now finishing the last glass, the decanter was left on the bench all night with the last bit in it, so I was worried it has had too much air, but no, it's delicious... chewy, lush, brooding, chocolatey and very ripe, but not porty. Out Of Control Good.

De Bortoli Noble One 2007 - good sweetness and taste, but not enough acidity to really balance the pavlova I felt. Preferred the 2006 (and the wonderful 2002). Just Good.

And lots of beer.... Little Creatures PA, Weihestephaner, Pilsner Urquell etc...
A good night was had by many.

Cheers
TiggerK

Through a series of mishaps, Wednesday turned into a long lunch and dinner with different friends at the same venue in East Sydney, Verde. If I had known how the day would have panned out, I might have avoided just having shiraz. Sadly I wasn't taking notes so the comments below are from a rather dim memory at the end of the day

First up was the best wine of the day by a country mile. 1999 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée wonderful fragrant aroma on the nose I was happy just taking in the bouquet long before I ever felt the need to have my first sip. Wonderfully balanced wine with an excellent depth of flavours. Savoury earthy plum stone fruit. Utterly drinkable. I have one bottle left. i might wait a few more years and see what happens.

1998 Tatachilla Shiraz Foundation A softer more elegant style of shiraz than some that would come later in the day. Perhaps it was due to the extra couple of years, who knows. Less overwhelmingly South Australian fruit driven and more enjoyable savoury earthiness gong on. Good length and depth of flavour that made drinking the wine a pleasure. Probably my favourite Aussie shiraz for the day.

First wine of the evening 2002 Charles Melton Shiraz. Sadly I started out with 6 of these wines a couple of years ago. Each time I have tried one they have been as boring as the previous occasion. For a producer that makes such a good wine in the Nine Popes, it is amasing nothing has ever happened over the years with this wine. It remains as one dimensional as the first time I tried it. Big plum fruit. Dark opaque deep purple colour. A degree of savouriness to the structure but really no depth or complexity. Time to move the last few bottles to Langtons and buy more Cote Rotie.

1999 Knappstein Shiraz Enterprise Drunk from a magnum. This was probably the wine of the evening. Dark purple colour with very little bricking evident. Though still quite robust, it is nevertheless an enjoyable wine that opened up as the bottle was consumed and revealed dark cherries with almost unexpected layering and depth.

2001 Penfolds Shiraz Magill Estate Given the price of this wine, I found it rather boring. Basically more big dark plum jammy shiraz with very little else going for it. I do wonder if I opened this way too young. Perhaps in another 5-6 years something might happen, and then again perhaps it won't.