Weeknight wines 19 to 23 Apr

[Sean O'Sullivan]

deleted

[TiggerK]

Yeah it's been a bit quiet on the tasting notes around here recently, perhaps we're either too busy, too busy enjoying or could it be we're not drinking as much??

Jacobs Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2004 - Interesting to compare a cheap wine (9.95 price sticker) from a good year carefully cellared since 2005. Lovely blackcurrant from the Cab and body from the Shiraz all with soft tannins. Tastes like a $30 easily. Solid Good.

Devils Lair Chardonnay 2008 - Second bottle over 3 nights, good winemaking, although a bit awkward on the finish. Bit pricey in retrospect, but very drinkable and good with food. Good.

Cheers
TiggerK

[griff]

2008 RK Shiraz
Spritzy with some brett. Should have remembered I don't like Giaconda under stelvin and that may have solved half the problem. What a shame as there was a classy wine underneath. Maybe it will improve tomorrow. For now its classed as Next wine please.

2006 Massena The Moonlight Run GSM (and Cinsault)
New stye Barossa with chocolate and a bright fresh cherry flavour. A little acidic at present but the flavour is right. Good.

cheers

Carl

[Waiters Friend]

Tonight, Josef Chromy Pepik Chardonnay

I try to get a case of this each year, with the current 2009 resting peacefully in the cellar (when I'm not snaffling one, it's fine now).

Tonight is the second-last bottle of the 2005 which got me started on this stuff. Still OK, but I've let it go a fraction over. The last one is coming out of the cellar and into the fridge tonight. I don't have 2006, but 2007 and 2008 were all pretty good, too.

[Bick]

Last night, Passage Rock Reserve Merlot 2006. I couldn't find many reviews for this, though Michael Cooper was unimpressed when he tasted it (giving it just three stars). But what does he know, because I liked it very much. Heaps of leather, tar and floral notes on the nose, with a plummy rich palate and fresh finish. Really rather good. Cooper called it rustic, which may be his way of saying there's some brettanomyces in it, but I'm not sure about that. Recommended.

[via collins]

Il Poggio Monsanto chianti classico riserva 2004

Dark fruit salad, balanced and complex, medium bodied, almost refreshing. Crackerjack wine.

Le Volte Tenuta dell'ornellia 2007

cab/merlot/petit verdot blend from coast of Tuscany. rich colour, peppery and herb nose, rich dark blackberry/plum on palate, slightly acidic and medium bodied. Darned good quaffing material.

[Sean O'Sullivan]

deleted

[griff]

2008 RK Shiraz
Spritzy with some brett. Should have remembered I don't like Giaconda under stelvin and that may have solved half the problem. What a shame as there was a classy wine underneath. Maybe it will improve tomorrow. For now its classed as Next wine please.

2006 Massena The Moonlight Run GSM (and Cinsault)
New stye Barossa with chocolate and a bright fresh cherry flavour. A little acidic at present but the flavour is right. Good.

cheers

Carl

Tonight the RK has lost the spritz and the nose is all about olives and caramel. The palate is leather and cherries. Fine tannin starts to build on the cheeks after the second glass. OK wine.

cheers

Carl

[via collins]

Thanks for backing up with second report on the RK Griff.

I bought a few of these last year, cracked one which was pretty overwhelming in fruit intensity, so I laid the others down. I'm sad to read your thoughts, but just cross my fingers that mine head another direction while they're resting!

[griff]

Thanks for backing up with second report on the RK Griff.

I bought a few of these last year, cracked one which was pretty overwhelming in fruit intensity, so I laid the others down. I'm sad to read your thoughts, but just cross my fingers that mine head another direction while they're resting!

I was disapointed too as I had tried before I bought and it was very primary. Stored in a wine fridge so I don't think it was a storage issue. I also hope that it is in an adolescent phase or simply an 'off' bottle and it regains form in time.

cheers

Carl

[Sean O'Sullivan]

deleted

[dkw]

Spring Vale 09 Gewurtztraminer. Good, I think. Haven't had many to compare it with but I could smell lychees and it had a little sweetness at the end. It went nicely with the chicken and eggplant green curry I made.

[orpheus]

One good one and two disappointing ones;

Petaluma Riesling 2003 (cork) - drinking beautifully, lovely, focused, caramelised grapefruit/lemon palate, nice acidity, all in balance. Very good.

Vidal Reserve Syrah 2006 - has had good reviews. Why don't I learn my lesson, I've not yet had a Vidal syrah that I've liked, and I've tried several. The problem here is under-ripe fruit, which many NZ wines continue to get away with in NZ, because NZ critics seem to be insensitive to it. Totally unnecessary with Hawkes Bay Syrah, from the best I have tasted. Green, astringent, unenjoyable wine. Mediocre and over-priced (about $50 NZ).

Four Winds Alinga Syrah 2004 - if the Vidal was disappointing, this was a terrible wine. Not sure who gave it to me, and not sure whether it was just this bottle, but this had a truly disgusting mid-palate and finish, seemed to be full of dead fruit, as though the grapes had shrivelled on the vine before ripening. Tasted like prunes crossed with liquorice. Bad and over-priced (at $18 a bottle retail; I looked it up).

When I looked on the web-site, I saw that Halliday had given the 2005 93 points. The 2004 was sufficiently bad that I doubted the 2005 could possibly be that good, and I am starting to wonder whether Halliday is the reliable guide I once thought he was (there have been a few examples lately where I think he has been well wide of the mark).

However, different vintage, different bottle = different wine, I suppose.

[monghead]

2009 Mitchell Watervale Riesling- Very Good
1999 Maison Leroy Bourgogne- Good Good
2008 Pepper Tree Merlot- Not Good

[TiggerK]

Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2008 - Needs all the time you can give in the decanter, and then develops and drinks quite well. But it's just going to be so much better in 3-5+ years, it's crying out to be left in the cellar (along with the other Clonakilla 2008 reds). Solid Good.

Thalgara Estate Show Reserve Shiraz 1998 - A far better bottle than the last one (which was a bit bretty). This is rather nice. Lovely aged leathery Hunter nose albeit with a touch of alcohol, on the palate sweet ripe fruit, liquorice and hints of anise and clove. Not a lot of structure for the future, and fruit fading a touch, but a tasty drop now. Got one left, might not last long. Good Good.

Cheers
TiggerK

[daz]

Yeah it's been a bit quiet on the tasting notes around here recently, perhaps we're either too busy, too busy enjoying or could it be we're not drinking as much??

Jacobs Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2004 - Interesting to compare a cheap wine (9.95 price sticker) from a good year carefully cellared since 2005. Lovely blackcurrant from the Cab and body from the Shiraz all with soft tannins. Tastes like a $30 easily. Solid Good.

Devils Lair Chardonnay 2008 - Second bottle over 3 nights, good winemaking, although a bit awkward on the finish. Bit pricey in retrospect, but very drinkable and good with food. Good.

Cheers
TiggerK

If you can still find it, the JC shiraz cab 06 is bloody good for the price too. I probably drank 3 or four cases of it, if not more, at about $6-$8/btl. Halliday flagged it, his 90pts only slightly generous, perhaps by a point or two at most. I really don't understand why JH is disparaged as being overly generous with his ratings. The Wine Front ratings are sometimes higher than his, by a significant margin occasionally but just as often a point or two lower, For example both of the Tahbilk cab and shiraz 06 were rated 93pts by Campbell with very positive TNs. At the Tahbilk 150th anniversary vertical tasting, Halliday rated the shiraz 06 93pts too, the cab 06 95+ which is somewhat higher than Campbell's but based on cellaring potential I could agree with 95pts. It's quite a smart cab, nice cedary oak yet to integrate with the fruit, similar to the shiraz in that regard but the latter shows a bit more integration than the cab.

Yep, babbling on about Tahbilk wines again. The 87 cab may be very interesting when I get around to extracting the cork. It's way past the winery's 10-15 yr window but rated as ready. I suspect the 81 and 86 had no chance of making it into the three decades of of cab 6pk I bought regardless of the advertised "random" selection of wines from that decade, they being perhaps the best two vintages of the 80s at Tahbilk, if not Australia in general. The two bottles of the 81 I had a couple of years ago were very nice indeed. 94pts from Halliday at the aforementioned tasting with a drink now/soon indicator.

Cheers

daz