TN:Sunday Lunch with Con

[mychurch]

The Melbourne tasting group have not managed to taste much recently, due to COVID/Colds, and so Con and I decided a Sunday lunch together would be a good idea. Cuttlefish and a friend of Cons made up the group and we had a lovely meal at restaurant Romanee in Yarraville. No theme, other than Con telling us not to bring a bottle along.

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The 98 Chapoutier Le Meal was the starter and it’s in its window. Lots of minerality and some complexity, this was lovely with our Lamb shoulder due to the acid. It will gain complexity with age, but I really enjoyed this today 4*

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Gruad Larose 1982 seems to have a lot of bottle variation and this was a good, but not great bottle. Lots of Brett and plenty of complexity, this needs the food to show its best. I liked the leanness of the wine, but on the day it was overshadowed by most of the other wines. 3.5*

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In Europe I never had access to old Auz wines, a style Con loves, and which I have become a fan of. This 67 Black Label had a fill into the neck and was quite young tasting. The cork and the bricking indicated age, but the wine was quite jammy, fruity and primal. It missed the Terra Rossa signature and tasted a bit like some 70’s. reds I have tried. I did get some complexity on the finish after an hour. Loved by the table, but a bit simple for me - amazing though the amount of fruit though that wine of this age can still have. 3*

Moss Wood make the best Cabernet wine in Auz for me. This 86 was another brilliant example. It had more fruit, more complexity and a better ‘drink me’ factor than any of the other wines. At its peak, it’s shows just how well Auz wines age. I’d recommended this house for anyone who is into cellaring wine.4.5*

We still had some meat left at this point, so Con opened a 96 Leoville Barton. Fantastic wine. Obviously it was young and had more fruit and structure, but there was a lot of leafy complexity and black Cabernet fruit. Really yummy and very good to drink now. Yum. 4+*

I saw the 62 Porphyry for sale at auction last year and luckily Con bought it and it was very interesting to try. Only 11%, this had a lot of vanilla oak in the background, with orange cake and mandarins in the foreground. Colour was orange, but it’s quite light bodied and more in the late harvest style than actual Sauternes. Great to try and made me think of good aged rum. 4*

I of course brought a couple of wines to try. We all enjoyed the NV Between 5 Bells Yellow. One of the top Auz in Jaune wines, this was great with creamy cheese. Yum. 3.5*

Wine of the day was my last 100ml bottle of 93 Pajzos Aszu Essencia. These came out 10 or so years ago shortly after RP give the wine 100pts. It’s actually a great format as there was enough for 6 people to get a taste and in this format it’s reached it’s drinking window. Dark as motor oil, this is creamy, silky and full of dried fruit and vanilla. Endless finish, 4.5% alcohol. 5*

I have a case full bottles in storage my guess is that they will be going string in 2199

Thanks to Con for some great wine and everyone else for the company. We shared a lamb neck, which fell off the bone, chips ans 2 salads and it was great food that went well with the wine.

[mychurch]

Having trouble agian gettting all the pictures to load, so here are the rest.

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[mychurch]

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[Ian S]

ah! the Cordier stink. I do enjoy 'farmyard stink' aromas in wine, but they'd send the brett police into a tailspin!

[mychurch]

A like a bit of Brett as well Ian. I think if Con and I had drunk the 1 bottle between the 2 of us over lunch, then it would have scored higher, but it was overshadowed by the rest and - most telling of all - it was one of the last to be drunk up (along with the Chapoutier). First red finished on the day was the Wynns - very easy drinking - although I think we got through the Porphyry even quicker - lovely, lovely wine.

[I Love Shiraz]

I am glad you guys had fun tasting these beauties gents. I settled for a week of tasting in McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, and the Barossa Valley.