The Auswine Forum

Well started the purchase thread this month so might as well start the weekly drink thread too

Nice long family lunch
Mumm NV a lovely drink for the price, 2 bottles not quite enough
2012 Paulettes Riesling lovely slately character with fruit pushing through, more so that many of the 2012s that i have tried very pleasant
2012 Kilakanoon Morts Block Riesling, quite a green appearance in colour, not the normal watey white, zingy yesty with real fruit salad and fabulous acid, just gets the nod over the Paulettes
2010 Chain of ponds Adelaide Hills Cab shiraz a pleasant wine but dominated by hot alcoholic characters and tannins a bit out of wack....time will probably do it some favours
1994 Woostock Stocks shiraz...this was a lovely wine just browning at the edges lovely plums earthy savoury rich and then the McLaren vale choclate and sweetness comes through, well rounded and gentle lingering tannins...was very impressed by this and with the half doz of so left, will look at one each year.
1991 Rockford BP 14% Perfect cork and a high neck level after 22 years. Tiny level of browning, but still a dark purple. A 1 hour decant, probably needed a fraction more. Nose of berry, mixed spice no evidence of oak at all, on the palate a really lovely soft but rich with most of the primary fruit still there and then gentle mouth coating tannins...good 60 seconds after taste. Based on this bottle I think I will do one a year for 5 years. really good.
A few muscats from Morris and a couple of 12 Y O Glenmorranges (sic) did not really need the whiskys but rounded out a lovely lunch

Cheers
Craig.

Nice Craig....also had a family lunch/dinner focussed weekend. The standouts:

01 Freycinet Radenti & Perrier Jouet NV
05 Kilkanoon M Reserve Shiraz (McLaren Vale)
05 Charles Melton Voices of Angels Shiraz (Barossa)
04 Peter Lehman Stonewell Shiraz (Barossa)

Corks all perfect. Stonewell is drinking wonderfully. Decanted for an hour. Will probably do another 5 years for my tastes, but i like a 60/40 split of primary V secondary character.
Radenti also showed very well. Had a few of these in the last 10 months and it gets better each time.
Also had an 07 Dalwhinnie Monnambel Shiraz, which was ok, but certainly not a strong showing for this label that i admire.

1988 Cullen - Amazing drinkable, beautifully smooth and aged.
2010 Mount Mary Chardonnay - solid good, very nice and tight Chardy
2011 Wantrina Estate Chardonnay - good, more bodied Chardy
2012 Shaw M3 Chardonnay - Great clean and crisp Chardy
2006 Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillion - Very solid good
2012 Wilson Vineyard Riesling - one of my fave Rieslings.
1996 Hardy's EIleen Hardy Shiraz - Beautiful!!!!

Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay 2012: Soft and cuddly mouth-feel, minimal oak, peach, butterscotch, musk. Pyramid Valley meets Chablis for me- Outstanding leave for another year.
Gaelic Cemetary Riesling 2012 - Minerals, Green paw paw, charred campfire potato skin, green apple skins, slight Germanic character?- Outstanding wine,complex, love it.
Villa Tinto Cab Semillon 2008: My go to cheap wine lately. Rich, complex and nicely acidic - really nice always surprises.

Two real standouts this week - both from the same stable. The 2010 Brown Hill Estate Fimiston Reserve Shiraz and the 2009 Brown Hill Estate Bill Bailey Cabernet Shiraz 2009. Great balance and flavours, chocolate, berry with the latter being more complex with more layers and depth of flavour. Had one of Australia's best Mexican chefs stay with us for 4 days and now have quite an appreciation for food I once thought uninteresting.

Stonehaven Stepping Stone Cab Sauv 2004 (Padthaway)
Screwcap. This was drinking well, albeit a relatively simple wine. The tannins almost indiscernable on opening, but emerged (though faint) after a couple of hours in the decanter. No need to hold any longer. Fine and tasty medium bodied wine and suited the Sunday roast really well !

2010 Wantirna Lily Pinot Noir- Did not get the bitter back palate that you did michel, and I enjoyed the brambliness and dusty notes it had. I did think it was a little hot on the finish though. Solid Good.
2004 Kooyong Haven Pinot Noir- Good Good.
2010 Best's Cabernet Sauvignon- Just Good.

I do sell his wines here in Japan but I'll offer my opinion anyway. I've been trying out Tscharke's 2011 single vineyard wines this week. I've had the Stonewell Cab Sav and the Gnadenfrei Shiraz... last week was the Gnadenfrei Grenache... these wines are enjoyable now and show a lot of promise for the future. It seems like Damien made the right decisions in his vineyards during the difficult 2011 vintage and managed to put out some balanced, fresh, elegant and food friendly wines. So clean.. already showing some complexity.. these will be great with some time in a cellar methinks.

Hardy's Reserve Bin M127 Vintage Port 1951

It was a gift, it was screwcapped bottle, a family friend cleaned out a relative's house, it wasn't full, just up the shoulder. Little damage to the cap, maybe leaked a bit over the years due improper storage, but didn't stop me having a taste. The smell was so rich, strong, sweet, almost like brandy infused Xmas Pudding/Cake notes. Not good at explaining notes. Sorry.

It was cloudy, the fruit was lost...the aromas was yet amazing, I was more happy sniffing the aromas than drinking the port. Meh.

Still went well with some strong Blue Cheese.

2001 Noon Reserve Shiraz - Very Impressive, very good, really enjoyed this with Roast Lamb. Used fine seieve drainer, and towards end of the bottle, fine tannins/crusts still got thru the fine seieve drainer, and got into glasses, still didn't bother us, it was a pretty good red.



2009 Frenchman's Cap Chardonnay - Tasmania - Good crisp, easy drinking cool climate Tassie Chardonnay. Maybe bit overpriced, as most Tassie wines are.

2012 head red. very easy to drink, took my first mouth full straight out from the bottle, doesn't taste like a young wine at all but the finish is a bit short. for $20 this is good value.

Ddavew wrote:2012 head red. very easy to drink, took my first mouth full straight out from the bottle, doesn't taste like a young wine at all but the finish is a bit short. for $20 this is good value.

Well it is Friday night!

damonpeyo wrote:1988 Cullen - Amazing drinkable, beautifully smooth and aged.
2010 Mount Mary Chardonnay - solid good, very nice and tight Chardy
2011 Wantrina Estate Chardonnay - good, more bodied Chardy
2012 Shaw M3 Chardonnay - Great clean and crisp Chardy
2006 Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillion - Very solid good
2012 Wilson Vineyard Riesling - one of my fave Rieslings.
1996 Hardy's EIleen Hardy Shiraz - Beautiful!!!!

Hi Damon

You have certainly been drinking some pretty handy stuff of late.
Are you able to tell me more about the '96 Eileen?
Have always wanted to try this wine but have never got around to purchasing.
Also do you think the 01Noon Reserve was worth the money.
Had a reserve a couple of months back and it really was just too porty. I cannot remember the vintage.

Thanks

ross

Petaluma Coonawarra 1994 from a double magnum. Dark garnet colour, cigar box and cedar on the nose. Palate was medium to full bodied, still some dark juicy fruits lingering, tannins were smooth and a nice long finish - this was well balanced and really drinking well. The bottle was open 4-5 hours and was still going strong at the end.

Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 2007 - dark opaque, purple edge. Deep intense, herbal nose. Full bodied and plenty of depth of flavour, initially hard work to drink as it seemed so heavy and chewy. Started to lighten up over a few hours with brighter fruit flavours coming through, still a bit of a beast and would leave a few years before trying again.

Mount Pleasant Rosehill Shiraz 2007 - not what I was expecting, medium bodied with dark ripe fruit, a touch sweet, almost vanilla like. OK but a bit boring after the first few sips.

Hay Shed Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 - quite a light style, medium bodied, eucalypt, dark fruit, maybe a little too acidic at first. Grippy tannins and a medium finish - built up with a bit of air and the last glass was the best. Would try again.

phillisc wrote:1991 Rockford BP . Based on this bottle I think I will do one a year for 5 years. really good.

I was thinking the same for both the 90 and 91. Thanks for the notes Craig

ross67 wrote:Hi Damon

You have certainly been drinking some pretty handy stuff of late.
Are you able to tell me more about the '96 Eileen?
Have always wanted to try this wine but have never got around to purchasing.
Also do you think the 01Noon Reserve was worth the money.
Had a reserve a couple of months back and it really was just too porty. I cannot remember the vintage.

Thanks

ross

G'day Ross,

Yeah I surely have been drinking decent drops lately, I am on 3 weeks holidays, time to enjoy wines from mine and friend's cellars, don't usually go overboard with those type of wines in a week or so!

I actually prefered '96 Eileen to '01 Noon Reserve Shiraz and '88 Cullen Cab/Merlot if that helps explaining?

Eileen is a good honest full bodied shiraz, heady and approachable fruit-driven wine, while it's not too jammy or such...if that makes sense? Could easily go further in cellar, but I liked it so much just right now, just right for my palate at the time. Beautiful drop. I would buy few more if I could from respected wine merchants.

Various bits & pieces:

2009 Dopff au Moulin Riesling Schoenenbourg - France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru AOC (6/21/2013)
{screwcap, 13.5%, A$29} Mid yellow. Somewhat aging nose; dense smoky & earthy aromas rich with yellowing fruits morph into a fairly dense, medium-full bodied palate, close to dry for my taste (despite the mid-range marking on the back-label scale), and with a medium length finish. Reasonable level of acidity; it's very drinkable even if it does fall short of enthralling, but for the price its OK, and provides a flavour that's nigh on impossible to find in local examples of riesling. Suspect this will be best in the shorter (5-ish year) term, especially given it's four years old already.

2012 Grosset Riesling Springvale Watervale - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Watervale (6/21/2013)
{screwcap, 12.5%, A$35} To my surprise, I find I tasted this 6 months ago. Similar note now; this is pure and almost watery in a limpid Clare sort of way. Limes and grass, some acid prickle but it's in no way hard, or in fact even that persistent; for all the refreshing quality that this wine possesses in spades, the finish is quite short. That might be due to the subtlety of the flavours; the finish is more of an impression that a taste. Maybe it'll age gloriously, but I'm still a bit doubtful, somehow.

2007 Tyrrell's Chardonnay Vat 47 - Australia, New South Wales, Hunter Valley (6/18/2013)
{screwcap, 14%} Mid yellow/straw. Developing nose of nuts and grapefruit. Just a lick of cedary oak. Palate is juicy with stone fruits, rich cream and butter, yet not gloopy; there's a real acid spine. Saw barey six months in oak, acording to the label. Medium-full weight, just a little warm on the finish. Classy warm-climate chard. Good for another five years at least.

2004 Rockford Rod & Spur - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (6/17/2013)
{cork, 14.5%} Decanted & drunk immediately. Looks dark garnet. Smells enticingly of black fruits and fruit-cake. Palate is a different matter; it's suddenly hollow and metallic, with a thin sort of astringency and no generosity on the finish, which is shallow and hollow. The whole thing has a slightly baked quality to it; I'd suspect heat damage in storage (provenance was unknown) except for the fact that the nose was quite expressive. No obvious cork-related problem. Just not up to scratch, somehow. A disappointing showing from a quite well-regarded vintage.

2012 Lindemans Early Harvest - Australia, South Australia (6/17/2013)
{screwcap, 8.5%} If you could somehow liquify carbon monoxide and serve it at 12C, it would resemble this. Odourless, colourless, tasteless. Well, that's not entirely fair; this does have a little pale straw colour. And, of course it won't kill you, unlike CO, although there's a very good chance you could be bored to death. The palate, such as it is, is enlived with just a dash of sugar, so it's not quite off dry. Naturally there's no acid or alcohol to offer any balance. There's a very faint touch of greasy green (bean? asparagus?) flavour; but you needn't worry if it's not to your taste, just wait a second or so and the flavour is gone. I don't know why anyone would drink this as opposed to pure cold water; all this does is remind you of all the things it doesn't have. Water has a noble purity to it, at least.

2005 Warrabilla Shiraz Reserve - Australia, Victoria, North East, Rutherglen (6/16/2013)
{diam, 16%} Perfectly consistent with May's bottle. Decanted first, drunk over about 2 hours; this did seem to give an extra sweetness to the fruit towards the end. As before, however, a better wine than pre-concieved notions would allow.

2007 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Sémillon - Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina (6/16/2013)
{375ml, screwcap, 10%} Dark yellow with orange flashes. Very developed nose; caramel, apricot. Palate has a distinct burnt caramel touch to it, almost oxidised in style; marzipan and molasses. For all the medium-full bodied richness, there's something of premature age about this; the finish is just too simple and abrupt, and there's a staleness somehow that just detracts from the overall epxerience. From half bottles, a drink-now proposition for sure.

2010 Craigow Riesling - Australia, Tasmania, Coal River (6/16/2013)
{screwcap, 11.5%} Light straw. Still youthful nose of lime and green apples. Palate swings between a dry Kabinett style and the more traditional mainland Oz style; a mix of appley fruits, a touch of chalk, some pronounced but rather loose acid; in all immensely drinkable, light-bodied, and probably terrific drinking for another 3-5 years.

2003 Tahbilk Shiraz Eric Stevens Purbrick - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes (6/14/2013)
{cork, 13%} There's certainly a nod to the typical Tahbilk liqueured plum and strawberry sweetness on the nose of this developing wine. It's all fruit, with little oak. But there's just a little too much drying astringency about this to have much confidence in its future (which may explain why Tahbilk is flogging it off in their wine club shiraz dozens just now at an average of half the usual $50 asking price). The palate isn't without redeeming features; it's nicely balanced, with medium-bodied weight, and a medium-length finish; it has a polished texture which hints at richness but just fails to hit the mark somehow. Tastes - flavourwise - in line with the aromas, although at lower intensity; it's always a let-down when the palate can't quite match the nose. Perhaps a victim of a hot, drying vintage as much as anything; this should be drunk fairly soon.

The Lindemans was described on the label as Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon; that may have been the case - it certainly wasn't evident from the taste...
cheers,
Graeme

richie32 wrote:

Ddavew wrote:2012 head red. very easy to drink, took my first mouth full straight out from the bottle, doesn't taste like a young wine at all but the finish is a bit short. for $20 this is good value.

Well it is Friday night!

oh, i see what you mean, forgot to mention my glass.

Millbrook Shiraz (Viognier) 2002
Nice soft clean cork. 14% alc from memory. This was in reasonable nick. Liquorice and dry earthy nose and still some tannins to speak of. Those tannins could outlast the fruit here in a few years. Good drinking now, though.

2009 Xanadu cabernet sauvignon - after reading the latest Gourmet Traveller Wine guide I thought I'd see what all thr hype was about. 3 days later I'm just starting to see its potential. Massive black current tarry anise loaded wine with drying tannins - its all over the place and I'm not sure if it will settle the way the 97 points should describe. It may have been perfect at 2am this morning and I missed it but I'll try it again in 5 years and hope it becomes more elegant.

2001 Morris Durif What more could you wan't on a cold wet Saturday evening at home watching Masterchef with packet Lamb Shanks. Big bold dark red, dusty tannins, long finish. It won't win any medals, but great value, developing as the bottle is slowly evaporating. Still a baby, years left to develop. Must restock the cellar, add a few more bottles of Durif to lurk in the shadows for nights such as tonight.

Mivvy, have been looking at one of these double magnums for a while now.
Have seen 1994 Petaluma for $295.Thinking about the lads 21st or a gift from me for him to drink with me at some stage
In your opinion another 3 years easy?

Cheers Craig.

Craig, based on this bottle I would say no problems, it certainly wasn't looking like it was on the way down. In fact it had hardly budged after being open 4-5 hours. This was for my Dad's 70th and really exceeded expectations. If you get a bottle like this one I don't think you'd be disappointed.

Just a few now that I am back in Sydney

2007 Seppelt original sparkling Shiraz
Earthy splurgundy. Good.

2001 CMC La Testa Shiraz
Coming on nicely. I think I prefer this to the 2002. Full of blackberries with a lick of vanilla. Very Good.

P.S. Marion Tawny
Delicious. Slight rancio. Walnut baklava. Excellent.

Seppelt para tawny
Has the sherry top notes typical of the style. Tastes younger for me than the numbered Para's of old. Very Good.

2004 Bollinger Rose Grand Annee
Strawberries and cream. Superfine bead and creamy mouthfeel adding to the impression. Long finish. Really quite special. Outstanding.

2006 voyager semillon/Sauvignon blanc
Toasty yet still mineral with gooseberries all quite integrated. Wasn't meant to be aged according to the label but time has been very kind indeed. Perhaps the cool year assisted in this case? Very Good.

Cheers

Carl

A couple from a very wet weekend here in Sydney...

Eden Road (Canberra region) Riesling 2010... Nice wine, a mix of lime juice/cordial, slightly sweetly fruited lime though I doubt much if any residual sugar, nice core of acidity and a crisp apple character which was appealing. Well made and enjoyable, good with seafood.

Reschke Vitulus Cabernet 2001... Cork. From my own cellar since Xmas 2004. Mid-red. Showing a bit of age on the nose at first, but blows off to display a classic claret bouqet of cedar wood, tobacco, just a hint of herbal/green character, and some nice blackcurrant fruit on the palate. To me palate quite resolved, unlikely to fall over but drinking well right now.

Kilikanoon "Prophecy" Shiraz 2002... Barossa. Cork. From my own cellar since release. I have enjoyed every bottle of this wine (I think I am 8 or 9 through the case). Still deep red, classic Barossa nose of ripe fruit, a bit of chocolate, lots of plums, perhaps just slightly liquer plums, and a long, delicious finish. Really just yum. Perhaps not one for Adair, but I like it!

Tower Estate Semillon 2002... Cork. Cellar door clearance bought last year. Still quite youthful, turning towards yellow/green. The nose is quite vibrant with crisp citrus, but there is a hint of oiliness appearing. There is just a touch of lanolin on the palate which slightly detracts from what is otherwise a long, crisp palate finish.