The Auswine Forum

reports which are now due.

Hi Good Peoples,

With all the public holidays, hopefully you will all have been celebrating in style and drinking some great wines. It was a quiet week for me, the best of the bunch was a 93 St Henri which is not only holding up, but I was surprised to find it is still improving, much to my delight - and then disgust as I realised I only have one from the dozen left.

Last night I had a 1998 Majella FRS which is in its drinking window and a very nice wine. Good complexity and it glides down dangerously quickly. Great qpr at less than $30!

Now what have you been drinking?

I started the weekend on thursday night with a favourite of mine:
PETER RUMBALL Coonawarra Sparkling Shiraz SB 16- I wrote about this earlier so let's just say, I've enjoyed it once again, ice cold, delicious and frothy, I served it this time in my most suited Louis Roederer Champagne glass. (Those are the tulip bowl fat ones)
Second up was the 1997 MOUNT PLEASANT Elizabeth, I post about it later as I've enjoyed it a lot.
Keeping with the Hunter theme, I opened the 1998 BELGENNY Hunter Valley Shiraz, soft and full, nicely scented and fully mature with low alcohol of 12.6% vol. Pretty good but not outstanding.
I finished up with a 738 ml bottling of YALUMBA Galway Pipe port, bottled in the early seventies? This is the one in the sherry bottle with the yellow label. I bought it because the level was great and I wanted to see what happened to this tawny over the many years. It needed 2 days to breath and then the trademark coffee cream aromas surfaced. It started to dry out as a port but still good although the brandy spirit is a little hot and makes the palate a little coarse. Still, lovely sweetness and nice roasted coffee aromas in the middle palate.
It was a pretty good start for me for the holidays but it ain't over yet.
Cheers,
Attila

Here are the highlights:

Monday tasting group, 2002 Reds again , my preference order.

Massena 11th Hour Barossa Shiraz $33 14.5% The nose typifys modern Barossa Shiraz and the rich, warm, silky palate delivers on the promise with sweet (but not cloying) dark plums and berries with overtones of liquorice and mocha, beautiful seamless structure, long lingering finish, yum! (Group rank 2)
Shaw & Smith Adelaide Hills Shiraz %35 14.5% Lifted spicy nose typical of good AH shiraz, mid-weight, nice ripe fruit, spicy, peppery even, soft fine tannins, much more subtle than the Massena but every bit as good. (Group rank 4)
Heartland Director's Cut Limestone Coast Shiraz $25 14.5% A trifle earthy on first opening, breathed up quickly to show a spicy/cedary nose and nice mid-weight berry fruit and spice on the palate, overlaid by the slightly cedary oak, got better in the glass, but not up to the first two for my taste. (Group rank 1)
Wirra Wirra Church Block Cab/Shiraz/Merlot $16 14.5% Nice fragrant fruit on the nose, sweet berry fruit palate over moderate fine tannins, just a little too sweet and slightly confected for me. (Group rank 3)
St Hallett GST - Grenache/Shiraz/Touriga $16 14.5% Can't remember how much Touriga, but you know immediately on sniffing there is something a little different about this wine. The grenache does not completely dominate and avoids the sweet raspberry confected style of some cheaper Barossa blends, there is some firmish backbone and a dry clean finish. An interesting wine and reasonable value. (Group rank 5 also)
Bidgeebong Wagga Wagga Cabernet $? 13.1% Don't know the price, it was a bonus from Gavin with a recent order. I've tried a few of the Bidgeebong reds now and they certainly have a consistent style of lifted bright fruit, almost estery to start. From other reviews many people seem to like the style, I and my Monday group don't seem to be amongst them, this wine was outclassed in this company and not just by the expensive reds.

Last night at Courgette again with our White-drinking (and sparkling red) friends. They had a 2000 Petaluma Chardonnay as well, I didn't try it.
Leasingham CC Sp Shiraz 94 Nothing much to say that hasn't been said before, this was a good bottle, oak seems to be integrating nicely now.
Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz 2002 $14 14.5% A good new vintage of this line, rich and quite sweet with distinctive toffee overtones, perhaps a touch sweeter and less earthy than some past releases, good mouthfeel and satisfying finish. Mostly Barossa and Clare fruit.
Henschke Mt Edelstone Shiraz 1991 From the days when this wine was $19.95. My second last bottle and only 3 Henschke reds left in the cellar now. Nicely into it's drinking window, but with many years ahead of it yet, integrated dark cherry/berry spectrum fruit with a touch of leather and hints of spice, tannins and background oak nicely integrated into a seamless package. Great wine, pity it's now 3 times the price of this vintage.

was feeling like some bubbles so I opened my last bottle of Pommery Brut Millesime 1992

Pommery is my favourite house so my TN won't exactly be objective...

oh what the hell...

...fine bubbles dance across one's palate and I'm astounded that this wine appears so fresh yet is almost 12 years old. The finish is looooong and I'm taking another sip before my brain can even decifer what it is I'm tasting!

Had easter dinner with the family and had some good wines, mostly imported.

97 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino: very good wine that is still probabl just outside it's drinking window. Will be actively watching the progress of this wine over the next few years. I think it will blossom into something stunning.

01 Isole Olena Chianti: For the price, a marvelous wine. A big step up on the 2000 and should go well in the cellar for at least the next decade.

89 Raimat Reserve Cab/Sauv: Brought out by my brother-in-law who bought this a couple of years ago for $15 a bottle. Not bad but starting to fade and look a bit tired.

02 Carrick Central Otago Pinot Noir: beautiful wine. Luscious fruit, good acidity and plenty of structure. An absolute delight to drink. Picked up 3 trophies at Cool Climate Wine Show and I can see how.

Cheers and happy easter (Bona Pasqua)

anthony

Jasper Hill G.P.2001 - Crammed with core black fruits, sour plums and peppery. Great balance. A big wine but "elegant" for Georgia's standard. Very similar to their 2000

97 Tattachilla Foundation.
Not as good as the 96 currently, but still a typical good big McLaren Vale Shiraz. Will go another 4 years in a good cellar.

94 Plantagenet Shiraz.
My last bottle. Previous bottle opened about 3 years ago, when I thought the wine had "fallen over". So kept a bottle foron, and this was it, and it was spectacular. Great fruit, and about at its peak.

02 Cape Barren Old Vine reserve Shiraz.
This was one of 4 wines that won a gold in the last McLaren Vale Wine show. Class 12, Shiraz over $25. Other gold winners were 02 Fox Creek Short Row, 02 Shirvington Shiraz, 02 Mitolo GAM.
Great wine, rich layered typical McLaren fruit and good oak in balance with the fruit. This wine needs about 6 years, then drink for another 6.

96 Orlando Reserve Cab/Shiraz.
This wine sold when released for around $50, and won multiple trophies at the Sydney RAS Wine show a few years ago.
It is aging nicely, and while oak is still there, it is in balance with the rich Barossa fruit. Got a few years to go.

96 Peter Lehmann Black Queen Sparkling Shiraz.
I love SS, and when this was opened on Easter Friday, I simply could not put the glass down. This is SS at its best, without having to fork out tooo much money, ie $35 at cellar door, which is still a lot, but worth it.

96 McWilliams Elizabeth Semillon
This has recently been re released, but this bottle is from my cellar, and probably cost around $10. It is ageing well, and still has more life left in it. One of the better Elizabeths.

96 McWilliams Lovedale Semillon.
I opened one, and it was so good, opened another! I simply cant go past Lovedale, and the 96 is a wonderful wine.

02 Ingoldby Shiraz.
This is a simple straightforward wine, which will improve a bit in the short term, its a good BBQ wine. I was going to buy some, but kept this bottle opened for 3 days, and after the second day, it seemed to get sweeter. On the last day, it became a cooking wine.

02 Hardys Oomoo Shiraz.
This was opened with the Ongoldby and the Cape Barron.
It didnt last past the first tasting. Really rough finish, and while its still good value at $10 at Dan Murphys, I could not drink it.

97 Haselgrove H Shiraz.
From McLaren Vale. These wine use good oak, and the fruit is there to match. Its from an average year, but its opened really well, and still has some life left.

95 Rosemount Balmoral.
From an average year, but obviously got the best fruit from that year and it showes. Rich fruit, and its drinking beautifully, actually much better than the 96 currently.

93 Seppelt Dorrien.
I dont know what the think of this wine. Maybe I simply have not left them long enough, I have heard rave reviews about the 90 Dorrien, and I hated it. 91 is better. The 93 still needs a good bit of time, I think I wont go there for 2 years, but I dont know if it will improve in that time. Dorrien has always been a strange wine for me, does not matter what year.

96 St Hugo Cabernet.
I find that Orlando make bloody good wines. A bit like Penfolds, but without all the media. This is another well made good Coonawarra Cabernet. Drinking lovely at the moment, but will hold for a few more years.

88 hill of grace
excellent wine. Great fruit, great use of oak, great palate. everything about this wine is just so great. A wonderful experience.

99 Seppelt original sparkling shiraz
a great wine. good mouth feel, red berry on the palate. A nice easy drinking wine that has been mentioned many many time, no need for me to say anymore. You know how it is

Anthony wrote:Had easter dinner with the family and had some good wines, mostly imported.

97 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino: very good wine that is still probabl just outside it's drinking window. Will be actively watching the progress of this wine over the next few years. I think it will blossom into something stunning.

anthony,
beware the argiano!

Have had the 1990 and 1990 reserva in the last month, they just lost their fruit, becoming lean, hard and angular. These wines were stunning in the their youth.
I'd be cautious about holding too long, if you like it now...

cheers
M

Michael wrote:

Anthony wrote:Had easter dinner with the family and had some good wines, mostly imported.

97 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino: very good wine that is still probabl just outside it's drinking window. Will be actively watching the progress of this wine over the next few years. I think it will blossom into something stunning.

anthony,
beware the argiano!

Have had the 1990 and 1990 reserva in the last month, they just lost their fruit, becoming lean, hard and angular. These wines were stunning in the their youth.
I'd be cautious about holding too long, if you like it now...

cheers
M

Ownership and style change in 92(?) might introduce longer lasting wines although these are not heavyweight wines at best and are generally under ten year prospects. The '93 still looks fresh from memory of a year ago. But yes, enjoy 97 now if you like it.

Michael wrote:

Anthony wrote:Had easter dinner with the family and had some good wines, mostly imported.

97 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino: very good wine that is still probabl just outside it's drinking window. Will be actively watching the progress of this wine over the next few years. I think it will blossom into something stunning.

anthony,
beware the argiano!

Have had the 1990 and 1990 reserva in the last month, they just lost their fruit, becoming lean, hard and angular. These wines were stunning in the their youth.
I'd be cautious about holding too long, if you like it now...

cheers
M

Thanks,
I would be suprised if this wine went down hill in the next 5 years. I plan to leave it alone for a couple of years then watch it's progress.

cheers
anthony

Drank my last 1991 Mildara Coonawarra Cabernet. Think I left it too long as the fruit was starting to wane and the oak was dominating. This was going to be a long lived great wine like the Peppermint Patty (or that's what I thought when I bought it all those years ago ). So much for my predictive powers - all genii make mistakes occasionally .


regards
Chris

Katnook Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2000- Second bottle in as many weeks. A good effort and without the muscle of the 99.

Seppelt Chalambar 99-Needs air and as a consequence builds good weight along with trademark Chalambar licorice/pepper palate flavours. needs a few years for best drinking.

Geoff Hardy K1 Shiraz 2001-Subtle and you initially go searching for understated South Australian shiraz characteristics. Blue & Blackberry nose, some oak and a smooth layer of palate dark fruit flavours. Some cool climate pepper adds a touch of complexity. Medium to full, with a fine tannin structure-acid a little dominant at present.

Guigal St Joseph 2000- Not as impressive as the 01 Guigal St Joseph. An honest wine. Feral but smokey blackberry at the fore, medium bodied and pleasant mouthfeel. Soft flavours linger with slight grip and peat\earth backpalate persistance. Prefer the idiosyncracies of other growers within the appelation. But as always, Guigal an honest wine.

Some from the weekend

Stephen John Winery Blanc de Blanc (NV) - a ripper at $14 a bottle. Highly underated Clare Valley sparkling white.

2000 Leeuwin Estate Prelude - OK, suspect it was mildly corked, dominant woody taste. Subdued fruit.

2002 Elsewhere Riesling - good, will last a lot longer. Well structured and good acid balance. Perect with chicken fajitas.

2003 Willow Creek Tulum Pinot Noir (Stelvin) - Sensational.

1999 Lake's Folly Cabernet - In my opinion one of the best Lake's from the past 5 vinatges. Incredible length.

A fairly dull week.

Chambers Chardonnay 98: Took a little while for the stink to blow off. When it settled down, it had a really nutty taste. Not bad if you like that sort of thing.

T'Gallant Pinot Grigio 02: I thought it tasted OK but unexciting. Most people thought it tasted too sweet.

Rockbare Shiraz 02: Again

A few Cellarmasters wines from our hosts: Abbey something SSB 03, Riddoch (not the Katnook one) Cab Sav 00, Leasingham Riesling 02. None really excited.

Taylors Promised land Cab Merlot 02: Big and imposing. Great value.

Kieran

A (very) quick trip to the Hunter over the weekend :

Brokenwood Graveyard Chardonnay (1999?) - excellent wine. Head and shoulders above the other whites tasted.

Brokenwood Rayner shiraz (McLaren Vale) 2002 - lovely stuff. Pure McLaren Vale shiraz. Big, juicy and warm with excellent structure and length. Superior IMO to the 2001 Graveyard shiraz, but $60 at CD is a bit steep though. At $35 it would be very tempting.

Mount Pleasant Elizabeth 1993 - gold to the eye and on the palate. Outstanding Hunter semillon. Still has plenty of life left in it, but is as good as it is going to get. A perfect wine with seared scallops. Amazing considering it would have been about $10 a throw on orginal release. Can anyone nominate a better QPR wine than this ? Perhaps only RG Watervale riesling can rival it.

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Short list from the weekend and the prior week:

2000 Water Wheel Shiraz: Kicking on nicely, outstanding value for money. Should hold for a few years yet
2001 Irvine Spring Hill Merlot: This bottle was sickly sweet and syrupy. Something not right here, others have been much better.
1995 McWilliams Elizabeth: This bottle a bit oxidised, not so good. others have been a lot better.
2003 Shaw & Smith Sauvignon Blanc: Getting all tropical and bit sweaty armpit. Drink up if you like them young and fresh..
2002 Albert Mann Grand Cru Schlossberg Riesling: Alsace. I'm really warming to this style, slips down easily and good with food. Have the gewurz lined up to try too.
1995 Lindemans Padthaway Botrytis Riesling: At the end of its life. Honyecomb initially, acid is gone, and tasted like plasticene toward the end.

Also quick tastes of:
02 Diamond Valley Blue Label Chardy (good, and top VFM sub $18)
02 Berrys Bridge reds (Cabernet OK but poor VFM, Shiraz Good)
02 Polletters Reds (not so good)
02 Water Wheel Shiraz (Good and VFM killer at $15)
98 Stonewell (Massive, good)
00 Picardy Merlot Cabernet (good without being distinctive)

cheers

Andrew

Had a coule of adventurous diners in the restaurant pull out some goodies, so being the great host I am, I negotiated a waiver of the corkage for a taste of:

'98 Penfolds Bin 389.
This is going to be a cracker in another 3-5 years, cripes, it is already unfolding beautifully. Rich fruit starting to shine through with great mouthfeel and length of palate. Will definately be up there with the great 1990.

'96 Zema Estate Cab/Sauv.
Just the standard label, but often I find myself agog at how good it can be. This is a Coonawarra pearler. Showing just a tad of developed characters with loads of primary fruit showing through. Classic cassis and cedary with that slight minty regionality. Loved it.

'94 Penfolds Magill Shiraz.
Things just kept getting better! From an undershadowed vinatge that produceed some very good wines. I haven't tried too many Magills, but I liked this one and thought it had many years left to develop into something really good (so it should for the price). But a generous nose of rich dark fruits and well handled oak (is this strictly Barossa Shiraz?) that melds well into the palate. Quite rich and full bodied witha generous mouthfeel.

Thought things couldn't get better.... until they wipped out the...

'96 Mount Mary Pinot.
Now my understanding is that '96 was not a great year in the Yarra Valley.
Add to this, that this is the first tasting I can recall I have had of a well aged Mount Mary Pinot.
This was simply outstanding.
Raised the bar for me for Australian Pinots, a sheer joy to smell and drink.
If this was a poor season, the ones in my cellar from better seasons just got re-allocated up the ladder.

That was enough for one week.


Rory

1993 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Dark, inky garnet-red. The nose is very amorous, with cool-climate mint and menthol fruit, and obvious but not unpleasant coffee oak in the foreground. The palate is soft and rich; there are some aged leather characters there, with rich raspberry, blackcurrant, lingering licorice fruit, and again classy oak. Not as initially rich as the 1996 last week, but it doesn’t fall away either; maybe the 1996 is in a bit of a flat spot at the moment? A real pleasant surprise considering recent comments that the Coonawarra 1993s aren’t travelling too well lately.

2001 Brian Barry Jud’s Hill Riesling (Stelvin) Straw-yellow. The wine has lost its floral freshness it had on release, now with waxy lemons and hessian and a tight mineral structure on opening, rather like an intense Eden Valley job. With breathing it develops some rather unpleasant fishy/mousy characters on the nose – I’m really not sure where this is going at the moment. The palate has very intense lemon and mineral characters, but that nose really is off-putting right now.

2002 Wolf Blass Red Label Cabernet Merlot Dark, clear red. Spicy coffee oak and chocolate on the nose, with minty, leafy tea scents. The slender palate is spicy, and actually quite hot and almost jammy for a 13.5% wine; there is some licorice in the aftertaste. A cheap quaffer to have with spicy food.

Cheers,
Ian

Rory wrote:
'94 Penfolds Magill Shiraz.
Things just kept getting better! From an undershadowed vinatge that produceed some very good wines.....

I agree with you on the 1994 vintage in general, I have had some crackers of other wines from that vintage lately and they just seem to get better and better !

FWIW, Jeremy Oliver rated the 1994 Grange 19.4! This is higher than the 1990 and 1991 and from memory, some other Grange vintage equalled it but nothing greater.

Adair

I know JO retastes and updates as often as he can, I can only refer to the 2004 AWA where he scores the wine 19.0, I guess he must have been able to revisit the wine...lucky bastard!

JO did rate a Grange higher than the 94...he gave the 1953 Grange 19.6.

A couple of other wines got higher than 19.4 - Petaluma Coonawarra 98 springs to mind.

Kieran

Mind you, while 1996 may not generally be considered a great Yarra Valley vintage, Middleton also rates the MM 1996 quintet as one of his best ever, and no other than Len Evans had this to say of the 1996 Coldstream Hills Reserve Pinot Noir: "Who cares if it develops; it is the most terrific wine now, immensely impressive, chock full of flavour yet stylish, fine, with great structure and length." Evans went on to say that in a blind line-up with a set of top-line Burgundies, the 96 Coldstream Hills reserve neared the top of the class.

So in some respects, perhaps a 1996 MM pinot was close to as good as the line gets - personally, I don't know enough of MM to know.

Kieran wrote:JO did rate a Grange higher than the 94...he gave the 1953 Grange 19.6.

A couple of other wines got higher than 19.4 - Petaluma Coonawarra 98 springs to mind.

Kieran

Yes - I remember the 19.5 for the 1998 Petaluma but I didn't think that was relevant as it was a different vintage, and I am sure the 1994 was much less.

My latest surprise was the 19.3 for the 2001 Clonakilla SV.

Now I think I do recall the 1953 getting a higer rating - hindsight... haha

Thanks,
Adair

Sorry, I didn't take any real notes but I can remember the impressions

St. Hugo 2000 one of those drink one put 5 away. Double decanted and breathing for an hour before trying. Looked like it was going to be a bit on the lightweight side at first and then exploded after a half hour in the glass without being over the top. A jubish flavour grew into very rich and complex layers with clean tannins and just the right acid balance. Long, long palate. Before I thought I'd finished one glass, the bottle was empty (keep an eyey on your friends). 94/100 just got better and better.

E&C Cab 99 Corked (very sad about this one as it was one of my favourite cheapie sluggers and the friend who brought it over was really looking forward to looking back as well.) Bought another bottle of this and tried it a couple of days later and found it to be a very dense wine that really needs a bit more time just to soften off a little. Won't make any difference to complexity though 98/100 for old time sake.

Seppelts Victorian 2001. You know about this one.

Have a better one,