The Auswine Forum

Maybe I should have gone straight to Sept…

2 * 08 Granite Hills Riesling
1 * 16 Petite-Blanc, Cheval-Blanc

Always loved top white Bdx. Everyone seems to be getting in on the act now due to Climate Change and Branding - why white Cos, Palmer or Cheval-Blanc should cost so much with no track record is a mystery. Anyway, the Cheval was on offer at the latest MW and I decided to give it a go.

I’m at Gatwick for 6 weeks. Have 3 blokes giving me their DF allowance on return so a case of wine available. Really struggling to find much value in the UK. Pity you can’t pick up IB buys at airport.

If you get some time off, consider a trip down to Fareham wine cellar. Whilst I've had a few bargains in the past (notably Bests Cabernet Franc at a giveaway bin-end price), the recommendation is more for it being a really interesting selection and a good shop to ferret around in

Similarly Butlers cellar in Brighton, though I always found their pricing rather too high, but no doubting the range being interesting.

Sadly near(ish) Hailsham wine cellars / Wine Direct went through some very iffy shenanigans, as they used to be a really good value, yet interesting shop and online store. They're back in business again, but I've not bought anything since before the issues.

I personally like the selection at Uncorked in the arcade adjoining Liverpool St Station. Fair prices for London / the location, plus stuff on tasting on Friday afternoons (and possibly other days).

Yes the old days of the BBR duty free shop were that rare beast of duty-free genuinely meaning a good deal for customers. Long gone now.

Thanks Ian I’m in Brighton this weekend. Will check out Butlers and also Brunswick.

Hope you enjoy Brighton Jamie.

I'd definitely recommend the North Laines for its quirky shops, and I used to enjoy a wander home from the centre of town (as it was back then) through the North Laines, taking in 2nd hand record & CD shops, alongside other stuff, ending up at the (long gone) Oddbins where I discovered Penfolds Grange... which I thought scarily decent value at £25 a bottle

The pier can be a bit grim in summer, due to the volume of people, but I used to love it in winter. The promenade better if you don't like noise / crowds and it was good to see them put some petanque/boules courts in there.

Apart from that there is always new / interesting stuff in Brighton, and I think it's still a strong influence for new music trends. It's such a vibrant place, albeit with that comes a little roughness around the edges, litter etc.(and in the end that roughness around the edges made me happy to leave)

A very unusual food recco, and that's assuming they're as good (and as big & messy) as they used to be... Grubbs burgers on Western Road (the main shopping street connect Brighton and Hove). They were an institution back in the late 1980s, so it's good to see one of the shops still going. Some used to argue the equally oddly named Wonky Donkey was better, but that appears to have gone. It's UK, so the meat will be much worse than Australia, but the messy toppings were where the fun was with them anyway - and the meat was better than normal for the UK.

Taking that to the other extreme, there's always been good veggie restaurants, and at a slight tangent, they were also at the leading edge in the UK when natural wine movement started to gain interest, so you'll probably see a wine bar or two specialising in natural wines.

A few to start the month off:

2 x 2001 Katnook Odyessy Cabernet
2 x 1996 WDC Reserve Cabernet
2 x 2011 Voyager Cabernet Merlot
3 x 2016 Ettore Germano Barolo Prapó
3 x 2021 Pooley Pinot
6 x 2019 Penfolds St Henri (good price )

6 Adelina 2021 Riesling
6 Rockford 2018 Rifle Range
Cheers Craig

12 x 2016 Zema Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
picked up for ~$18/b, good value

After missing out on the last 2 allocations due to being a newbie......

1 x 2011 Birks Wendouree Cabernet Malbec

Didn't realise the winery was doing back vintage offers
Cheers Craig

phillisc wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:24 pm Didn't realise the winery was doing back vintage offers
Cheers Craig

ha ha yes that would be nice....

Got the "Dear Sir" letter from my Burg supplier in Europe. I knew allocations were getting tighter and prices higher, but I put an order in anyway. They apologised and said they could no longer guarantee supplying clients who have bought in the previous years. They finished the letter by saying " all we can offer is "

1 * 2020 Rousseau Clos de Beze
1 * 2020 Clos St Jacques

Thats a nice way to be dumped

deleted

mychurch wrote: ↑Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:07 pm Got the "Dear Sir" letter from my Burg supplier in Europe. I knew allocations were getting tighter and prices higher, but I put an order in anyway. They apologised and said they could no longer guarantee supplying clients who have bought in the previous years. They finished the letter by saying " all we can offer is "

1 * 2020 Rousseau Clos de Beze
1 * 2020 Clos St Jacques

Thats a nice way to be dumped

Yep was often dumped as they found more profitable or persuasive customers.

6 x 2018 Te Mata Cabernet Merlot

Picked up a few things from the Wickman’s auction.

04 Granite Hills Riesling (sorry Jamie)
20 Ebenezer and 21 Flaxman from Agricola. Both bought after drinking the wonderful Little Wine 10 last night.
84 Thabilk Cabernet Shiraz
82 Bailey’s Hermitage

mychurch wrote: ↑Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:01 pm Picked up a few things from the Wickman’s auction.

04 Granite Hills Riesling (sorry Jamie)
20 Ebenezer and 21 Flaxman from Agricola. Both bought after drinking the wonderful Little Wine 10 last night.
84 Thabilk Cabernet Shiraz
82 Bailey’s Hermitage

Yes there were a few nice bits and pieces, forgot to look after getting home, so someone else cleaned up.
Oh well always next month

cheers Craig

mychurch wrote: ↑Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:01 pm Picked up a few things from the Wickman’s auction.

20 Ebenezer and 21 Flaxman from Agricola.

I saw the pricing on these, you can buy direct from the producer much cheaper including freight.

mychurch wrote: ↑Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:01 pm 04 Granite Hills Riesling (sorry Jamie)

All’s fair in love & war. I was actually pipped on a bit of stuff. A restaurant outbid me on the Vouvray so I looked after the vendor and dragged all the prices up to my minimums! I swallowed shit after living in a world of $30-$60 Aussie Barbaresco and took a bottle of Sottimano to add my small collection of their wines. A few other bargains for quaffing mostly.

Matt@5453 wrote: ↑Tue Aug 30, 2022 7:57 pm

mychurch wrote: ↑Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:01 pm Picked up a few things from the Wickman’s auction.

20 Ebenezer and 21 Flaxman from Agricola.

I saw the pricing on these, you can buy direct from the producer much cheaper including freight.

I only meant to bid on the 20 as thats sold out. The 21 cost me $52 direct, but if I want to buy a single bottle in town, its going to be around $80. Probably should have passed on the 21, but the postage is the same regardless if I buy 4 or 5 bottles and I just got annoyed at all those people bidding at the last minute.

JamieAdelaide wrote: ↑Tue Aug 30, 2022 8:29 pm All’s fair in love & war. I was actually pipped on a bit of stuff. A restaurant outbid me on the Vouvray so I looked after the vendor and dragged all the prices up to my minimums! I swallowed shit after living in a world of $30-$60 Aussie Barbaresco and took a bottle of Sottimano to add my small collection of their wines. A few other bargains for quaffing mostly.

I was tempted by those Huet wines as well, at least for the initial bids. They are pretty indestructible wine and probably need another 20 years to show their best.

3 x 2018 Craiglee Shiraz
3 x 2020 Craiglee Chardonnay

2020 is a fabulous vintage in Burgundy.
Now I am back here in Australia, only purchasing from direct importers. The gouging from the big boys is a joke. Leroux's 2020's in Australia are a complete joke, all are around 250% more than in HK. Good to see the ACCC doing their job
I once spoke to Ben Leroux about the absurd prices in Oz, he just shrugged his shoulders.... very short-sighted.

Anyway, lots of fabulous wines at incredible value still to be had from the sensible smaller guys, so far I've hoovered up about 20 cases in total,
plenty from Volnay (probably the best vintage from there in living memory, even besting the incredible 2015's) and the rest of the Beaune, with the Nuits stuff still to be tackled.

Had a 2020 Voillot Volnay vv the other day, stunning Village wine. Then a bottle of Maldant SLB 1er Cru "Aux Fourneaux" which was, simply, ridiculously good. Both sub $100 AUD, both (IMO, of course) light years ahead of anything from OZ or NZ.

Shrugging the shoulders...sounds like Stephen Henschke
Cheers Craig

2005 Rogues Lane Shiraz x 3