The Auswine Forum

It was clear from the off that last months get together was a step to far. This time we met in Richmonds great Pacific Seahouse that offers tasty Chinese food with free corkage. The Whitebait and the Peking Duck are particularly recommended.

As we were in public we were limited in what we could drink, but we still managed to breach our 1 bottle pp limit (there were 7 of us)

2014 Off Dry Riesling, Eva Lorch, Germany
First wine and immediately the rules are broken - this is a magnum. Lovely. It only has 11.5% and the sweetness is hardly noticeable - fruity is a better descriptor. There were fireworks to come, but his drank well all day and with all the dishes. The one you want to have on your table at Xmas. 3*

2016 Provignage, Cour-Cheverny, France
Henry Marionnet is the custodian of the oldest vines in France - planted between 1820 and 1850 - which are older than then ancestor vines in the Barossa. Romorantin is the grape. It used to be the main white grape in Burgundy, but nowadays it’s limited to a small region in the Loire. Very different texture and feel to the other wines. Acidity is there, but once open its full of quince and has an oily texture (typical in old vines). Good with the food, this probably needs a few years. 3.5*

2011 Heytesbury Chardonnay, Vasse Felix
One of my favourite Chardonnays, that i always order a glass of whe it’s available at wine bars and restaurants. Old fashioned really, with larger than life fruit and body. Lots of cashew and smoked pineapple. Great, but it’s a wine that needs to be shared as I don’t really need a 2nd. Expensive for the current vintage and a wine that is easy to admire, but not one I want to own. 3.5*

Onto the reds

1974 Moss Wood Cabernet
Via Con I have managed to drink a few older bottles of Moss Wood, including a fantastic 1980 and an almost as good 86. Sat though we had what must be one of the rarest – the 1974. It comes in a Burg shaped bottle, fill was around the min 4 cm mark and W.D and S.P. Pannel were the proprietors on the label.

Initially I though it was a fake – never had a Cab that was so like an old Tawny – but with an hour or so it changed and it ended up like a few older Aus reds I have had from the 60’ and 70’s. There was milk chocolate, a touch of vanilla liqueur and some bramble jam. Definitely have had better older wines, and this has nothing in common with the sublime 1980, but it was lovely to taste such a rare wine – volume would have been in the 250-500 case mark. 3.5* as a wine, but a 5* experience.

2013 Naoussa, Argatia, Greece
Poor Micheal. For some reason I kept calling him Jan in the car and as he is a fighting fit lad, he can’t swallow today as he is running a half marathon the next morning. This was his wine and it’s great to see a mature Greek wine in this tasting. I thought it had the best nose of the day, with almost strawberry fruit and a bit of Stoney minerality. Fully mature this is round and plump. Style is light, and the acidity is there to go with the food. The red you actually want at your table for Xmas. Nice. 3*

2004 Sori San Lorenzo, Gaja
Just a gorgeous wine. There were a lot of good wines today, but this stood out for its poise and balance. Lovely red fruit and I thought the oak was perfectly integrated. Only downside was that lack of absence of terroir, but sometimes you just want to appreciate a thing of beauty. 4+*

2006 Priorat, Val Llach, Spain
Wow. Nose is full of acetone and dried fruit. Smells like it’s going to be an alcoholic monster. And it is, sort of. It’s 15.5%, but while the fruit is big, it’s also balanced and this is more like a giant, suit clad King Kong, than a screaming Godzilla. We are in the dark spectrum for fruit and to be honest it’s not my style any more, but it’s a very good wine if you like them big. 3*

Of course there were extras and backups and had we been in someone’s home we would have drunk them all. As it was we left the 91 St Henri and the 96 Pichon Lalande and had the following

1990 Winkeler Hasensprung Spatlese, Prinz van Hessen
Desert was ice cream with either fried Bananna or Red Bean Paste. We didn’t have a sweet wine, so I opened up this backup - one of the wines I was going to bring here last April. I have said before that German Riesling is my favourite, with Spatlesse being my style of choice, and this shows why. It still has lots of sweetish fruit, a touch of petrol and botrytis. Its full of life and vigour, even at 34 years old, and will drink well for a few decades yet. Just Glorious. My favourite of the day. 4*

1944 Para Port
My first ever Para - something about the bottle shape kept me away. My mistake as this is actually the wine of the day. You can see why we thought that the Moss Wood was a bit porty, but once you have the real thing, the differences are clear. Con had double decanted this the night before and that meant it was open and ready for business. So silky and smooth, with nuts and flavours of xmas. Very long finish. 1944 base and sold around 72/73. 5*

And that was it. We started at 1 and had to be out by 4:30. We will try this format again, as 10 bottles between 7 was still enough to make me fall asleep on the way home, but not enough to have an effect the next day.

Thanks to everyone for all the wine and conversation over the last year. We have had some profound wines and it’s been a real education. Todays mix of styles and ages really went well as it matched the food.

Next event will be hosted by Andrew towards the end of Jan/Start of Feb, when we drink some champagne

thanks for the notes Mychurch ... looks like a fun gathering!

I’ve got a week in Germany with work and my mission to check out the price on Gaja SSL. There’s a lot of it about and it must be one of the most hoarded and un-drunk wines in the industry. Wouldn’t mind a few magnums in the cellar.

My notes (late as usual!):

Eva Fricke Lorch (off dry) Riesling 2014 - Magnum
11.5% alcohol off-dry style.
A lovely wine, with faint floral aromas over wild-apple. On the palate there's a wonderful underripe green grape vibrancy; juicy with a pithy texture on the finish. So beautifully flavoured and juicy. Magnum was the perfect size, as we were able to revisit this wine again and again throughout the (Chinese) lunch, and it was a great match to the fried whitebait, among others.

Henry et Jean-Sebastien Marionnet "Provignage" 2016
14% alcohol. The grape here is "Romorantin", which I'd never heard of. Lifted aromatic notes of bruised apple, stainless-steel, cold apple-sauce, cold tea, and an interesting frozen bait/seafood note. There's a touch of glycerol feel on the palate, leading to a quite assertive mouthfeel with powerful fine acidity and alcohol working in tandem to give a degree of warmth/spice.

Vase Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay 2011
13% alcohol. Peachy and mealy aromas. Med-full palate weight. Loads of flavour with striking acidity and excellent palate length. Cashew notes.

Argotia Xinoimavro Naoussa 2013
Leafy at first, with cherry type fruit. Looks very youthful. Powerful and dry with very assertive tannins. Fatty meat to accompany almost an essential to counter those tannins. I think another 10 years would be an interesting exercise.

Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon 1974
No stated alcohol. This is probably the wine that we had the most expectations for, perhaps unsurprisingly. Sweet, porty notes abound: mocha, walnut, caramel biscuit, gravox, and a nice degree of earthiness. There are sweet aromas here that I find difficult to pinpoint. Definitely oxidised to a degree, but holding up. The palate, and in particular the tannins add real interest, here. It's an absolutely sublimely textured wine in the mouth.

Gaja Sori San Lorenzo 2004
14% alcohol. Pepper and leafiness, subtle wood-spice, leather, dry cedar, and sweet, dry earth, with beautiful savoury spice. Gentle red fruit flavours. I reckon the fruit ripeness here is spot on. Very nice wine.

Vall Llach Porrera 2006
15.5% alcohol. This was great with the Chinese roasted pork. Lifted alcohol, and permanent marker aromas. A warm palate. A huge wine. Liquorice tannins.

Prinz Von Hessen Moritz Winkeler Hasensprung Spatlese 1990
10.5% alcohol. Barley sugar, lemon custard, marmalade and caramelised citrus aromas. Light-bodied palate entry with gentle acidity and high drinkability. Lemony with good length. Perhaps lacking a shade of acidity, but this was a great wine.

B.Seppelt & Sons Para Liqueur Port 1944
No stated alcohol. Nose of rancio and walnuts, toffee, fig, and some bitter chinotto notes. The alcohol and acidity are marvelously in tandem, here. The alcohol edges ahead, held back by the sweet dried fruit flavours. A great finish to a big lunch.

Great session, everyone! Thanks to all for their generosity, and great banter, as always!

Well done chaps, Pacific Seafood BBQ House was always a favourite of mine. Mind you, the quality of booze normally present there is nothing like what you guys presented