The Auswine Forum

Well the forum has gone preternaturally quiet as everyone has clearly gone off to their Easter break! Happy Easter everyone.

Meanwhile in France it is just a normal Friday (we only get the Monday public holiday, despite France being a very Catholic country) but last night I started with a Remelluri Rioja Reserva 2010.

This is apparently a blend of the reds Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano and the whites Viura and Malvasía Riojana, fermented with indigenous yeasts in a combination of stainless steel and oak vats then matured in French oak for 17 months. It did pretty well on the circuit- 93pts WA, 17.5 JR, 95pts Suckling. On opening my first thought was "barnyard" ... it wasn't mentioned in the pro reviews but to me there is definitely some brett going on here or something. Underneath is the makings of a classic, mid-bodied Rioja but the rustic overlay is a tad much. The last cellar tracker review echoed this but said it was much better on night 2 so lets see.

What has everyone else been getting stuck into?

N/V Nicolas Maillart brut platine 1er cru great starter to kick off proceedings

Then 2014 dogpoint section 94 was really good

Sepplet original sparkling shiraz just superb...what great vfm

Then cracked a 2017 Mayer 'Granite' Pinot. Wow now that was a great wine. Whole bunch but not overdone. Strawberry and red cherry.

Next up is the 2016 Mayer cabernet (never ended up opening that one)

Now 2017 Soumah Equilibrio Chardonnay what a beautiful wine this is. Lovely mealy oak, stone fruit spectrum with wonderful grapefruit type acidity. Great balance and length. Lacks the power to be truly spectacular, but this is a superb.

Stopped in at Curly Flat's cellar door today. As expected, very quiet, but this allowed me to taste at my leisure. As usual, great personal service.

I didn't take any notes, but my recollection of the wines is as follows:
Curly Flat William's Crossing Chardonnay 2016 - White peach and outmeal on the nose with a palate of white peach a touch of citrus. Nice acidity.
Curly Flat Estate Chardonnay 2016 - More floral on the nose than the William's Crossing. The palate is a clear step up from the is junior sibling with lemon pith, grapefruit, cashews, and citrus. Very impressive length.
Curly Flat William's Crossing Pinot Noir 2017- This is a pretty wine. Elegance is the name of the game here. Strawberry and wild fruits in abundance here.
Curly Flat Estate Pinot Noir 2015 - Violets and some undergrowth on the nose. The palate is awash with forest floor characters, gamey flavours, black cherry and spice. Brilliant wine.
Curly Flat Estate Pinot Noir 2016 - This is a bit more elegant than it's 2015 sibling. The nose has red fruits and cinnamon notes. The palate has cherries, and plums, and some charcuterie. Nice tannins. Preferred the 2015 to this, although this is a very smart wine.

Sadly I am out of action... The newborn is not allowing me to sleep regularly and the addition of wine would only exacerbate the issue so I haven't had anything in a few weeks. Odd that my purchases have actually stepped up, however....

So far....... 2017 Powell & Sons Riesling, an impressive effort Single site Flaxman's Valley, High Eden. I can't recommend this enough.
1998 Roberto Voerzio Langhe Neb'..... remarkable, I thought it would have fallen over but no, proof that storage is everything. Then 2016 Spinifex Indigene Shiraz.... milk chocolate in a glass.

2010 Peter Lehmann Shiraz Black Queen
[url=https://postimg.cc/hzDdzMfk][img]https://i.postimg.cc/hzDdzMfk/MVIMG-20190420-153443.jpg[/img][/url]
14% ABV

It's been over 3 years since I last tried this wine and it's developed even further.

A complex and balanced body, but not heavy or intense as many Aussie sparkling shiraz tend to be. Dark chocolate sauce, red fruits, florals, liquorice, baked figs, leather, orange peel, earth. A restrained sweetness, just the way I like it. It's still got just enough of a powdery tannic bite to it and a persistent fine bead. Somewhere between an off-dry and dry finish. Good with or without food. The structure here suggests this will age well and develop further for at least another 5+ years, cork permitting.

Rossco wrote:Sepplet original sparkling shiraz just superb...what great vfm

One of the older "vintage" bottles or the recent "non-vintage" ones?

Ozzie W wrote:

Rossco wrote:Sepplet original sparkling shiraz just superb...what great vfm

One of the older "vintage" bottles or the recent "non-vintage" ones?

Good question and I honestly don't know. Wasn't my bottle, but knowing the person that bought it, I would say whatever was on the shelf at the store.... So probably the NV

Rossco wrote:

Ozzie W wrote:

Rossco wrote:Sepplet original sparkling shiraz just superb...what great vfm

One of the older "vintage" bottles or the recent "non-vintage" ones?

Good question and I honestly don't know. Wasn't my bottle, but knowing the person that bought it, I would say whatever was on the shelf at the store.... So probably the NV

I gave up on Seppelt Original Sparkling once they went NV in 2016. Tried it a couple of times and it was a clear step down in quality. Perhaps they've lifted their game based on your recent experience.

Ozzie wrote: I gave up on Seppelt Original Sparkling once they went NV in 2016. Tried it a couple of times and it was a clear step down in quality. Perhaps they've lifted their game based on your recent experience.

I doubt they have lifted their game, but it had cool climate western vic type blue fruits , nice acidity, silky mousse. Definitely not a wine moment, just a solid wine for the money. I'm not rushing out to buy a dozen, but wouldn't refuse a glass if it was offered.

Last night with roast lamb we enjoyed a Wolf Blass 2005 Grey Label Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. Generous black fruit flavours reflecting the warmer region with plenty of typical WB US oak although fruit did carry the oak well. Tannins resolved and everything in its place. Some acids left. Lovely wine that's still got 5+years ahead of it.

Carl

Bit of a Katnook theme with grb2001 and other halves yesterday (a quiet lunch ).

'10 Katnook Amara and Caledonian
'09 Katnook Cabernet and Caledonian

All developing nicely, particularly the '10 Amara

Also had a '17 Tolpuddle Pinot, really good

sjw_11 wrote:
Remelluri Rioja Reserva 2010.

The last cellar tracker review echoed this but said it was much better on night 2 so lets see.

This definitely improved on the second night, with more of the fruit coming through cleanly.

Over the weekend I also opened
2016 Oliviere Rivière Vinos Rioja Las Vinas de Eusebio, a considerably more expensive wine which was perfectly nice but far too young and questionable value within the context of Rioja.

2018 Terras Gauda Rías Baixas O Rosal - delicious spring time drinking as always.

Out to dinner, I also had a bottle of Antoine de la Farge L'Enfant Rebelle Loire Valley Sav Blanc, I think the 2017. An interesting number, apparently limited release. Nice spring time drinking, good value.

mjs wrote:Bit of a Katnook theme with grb2001 and other halves yesterday (a quiet lunch ).

'10 Katnook Amara and Caledonian
'09 Katnook Cabernet and Caledonian

All developing nicely, particularly the '10 Amara

I had the 10 Amara in the last 6 months and I thought it still too primary and oaky.

conformistpete wrote:

mjs wrote:Bit of a Katnook theme with grb2001 and other halves yesterday (a quiet lunch ).

'10 Katnook Amara and Caledonian
'09 Katnook Cabernet and Caledonian

All developing nicely, particularly the '10 Amara

I had the 10 Amara in the last 6 months and I thought it still too primary and oaky.

Pete,
Understand how you might say that. For me, it has changed a fair bit from where it was at five years ago, still a long way to go though, in a positive way imo.
cheers, Malcolm

Last Easter weekend has been beer fuelled - three days of running and drinking. Thursday evening in a town an hour and a half drive south of here, Friday night in town with a pub crawl, and Saturday afternoon and evening with kegs of beer and a shrimp feed. Having forgotten some of the events of late Thursday and Saturday evening I decided to make Sunday a dry day in order to recover and give my liver a break.

Monday night was another matter. After an evening of throwing around a rugby ball and a couple of pints at a nearby pub I came home to some roasted chicken thighs and potatoes and a decanted carafe of wine: a 2000 Quinta dos Aciprestos, Douro (14%) made from old vines of Touriga France, Tinta Roriz, and Tinta Barocca.
Bought many years ago, this was a wine we enjoyed as a daily drinker. Thinking it had good fruit and structure I decided to cellar a few bottles to see what might come of it. A couple of earlier bottles seemed rather bland and insipid so I decided to hold off on the remaining bottle. Tonight, when I got home the bottle had been in the carafe for about two hours. The colour was garnet brick, colour to the rim with some watering. The nose was intriguing, dark, black-fruited, hawthorne, mineral edged, and garrigue inflected. The palate was austere, the fruit like dessicated cherry (which I've never had) and bitter, with a dry, savoury, bitter and astringent finish. To use a beer analogy this was like an IPA wine, hoppy and bitter, with all the fragrance. Although this might not sound appealing I really enjoyed this bottle.

Could this wine evolve further, who knows?

Cheers ............ Mahmoud.

Back on the grid after a week away
2009 Wynns Gables Shiraz Cabernet...very good indeed, believe the current make is now a straight Cabernet
2006 Hardy's HRB Adelaide Hills/Clare Shiraz, this was fantastic, full of berry, spice and lovely lingering tannins, medium weight, a real surprise, another 5 years easily
2017 Clos Clare Riesling, a really lovely wine, will need to get some more.
Cheers
Craig

Dragzworthy wrote:Sadly I am out of action... The newborn is not allowing me to sleep regularly and the addition of wine would only exacerbate the issue so I haven't had anything in a few weeks. Odd that my purchases have actually stepped up, however....

Oddly enough we had a first born ('94) who only slept for 30-60 minutes at a time for the first 15 months of his life. Incompetent esophageal sphincter, so when the poor little fella laid flat acid would pass from stomach to mouth, not very pleasant for a baby having constant reflux. The day when we realised that after no sleep for 72 hours and turning into zombies was beyond dangerous, we sought professional help.

Our alcohol consumption was at times off the charts, thankfully things improved all round.

Good luck with it all...it does get better!
Cheers Craig

2012 GC AP block. What a belter. A big wine but great balance and the finish was epic.
After time in the flask those machine shed/asphalt notes were really coming thru. Blackberry, chocolate, vanilla with a very slight liquorice/menthol component poking out. Sediment galore but it remained stuck to the side of the bottle and not much to speak of in the glass. Tannin was about on the money. Just enough grip to tell me there's a bit more of window ahead but I'm going to get into the remaining 4 sooner than later. Cork was in good nick too.

A rhino on ice skates gliding effortlessly around the rink.