The Auswine Forum

I have not seen halliday's latest installment but am looking forward to picking it up as i do each year as i value his judgement and impartiality. a mate gave me the heads up about its release and asked me whether i knew a journey's end vineyard. I don't, so can anyone help me out? apparently they have a shiraz called the beginning shiraz that received 96 points from halliday. Any help is appreciated. ie where can i get it etc...

cheers,
Bart

Bart, on the assumption this is a genuine enquiry, you will find the wine you mention exclusively on the site of a well known Melbourne retailer/e-tailer whose name starts with "N" and ends with "icks". This retailer seems to have an inside run on a lot of the smaller Heathcote wineries and there is a pretty wide range on offer. The "Beginnings" Shiraz 2002 is $19.99.

Red Bigot wrote:Bart, on the assumption this is a genuine enquiry, you will find the wine you mention exclusively on the site of a well known Melbourne retailer/e-tailer whose name starts with "N" and ends with "icks". This retailer seems to have an inside run on a lot of the smaller Heathcote wineries and there is a pretty wide range on offer. The "Beginnings" Shiraz 2002 is $19.99.

Brian, your commitment to red bigotry is astounding Seriously. Is there anyone else out there who could provide such a complete reply to Bart's query so quickly. Where is that applause Smiley?

Cheers

daz

Jesus Christ (and I donÂ’t mean to take the lord's name in vein), red bigot, what kind of frustrations do you have with my question - re: "genuine inquiry"? (I wanted to use more direct language but thought it better to not!)

As Daz so aptly said, "Is there anyone else out there who could provide such a complete reply to Bart's query so quickly".- Sensitive, too say the least, you seem to be so, so quick to judge without merit, that it might appear as if you have something to gain (or loose from my question!).

What incentive is there for new forumites to contribute if they are confronted so, when they first post! However, I must say, that the information you offered has been most helpful!

A final note, JH has definitely more merit in his comment than you, and you should bare that in mind! (Probably an unnecessary comment but I thought that it matched well the theme of your reply!)

Bart.

btw: $19.99 seems bloody good considering JH suggested it was $25

Bart wrote:Jesus Christ (and I donÂ’t mean to take the lord's name in vein), red bigot, what kind of frustrations do you have with my question - re: "genuine inquiry"? (I wanted to use more direct language but thought it better to not!)

As Daz so aptly said, "Is there anyone else out there who could provide such a complete reply to Bart's query so quickly".- Sensitive, too say the least, you seem to be so, so quick to judge without merit, that it might appear as if you have something to gain (or loose from my question!).

What incentive is there for new forumites to contribute if they are confronted so, when they first post! However, I must say, that the information you offered has been most helpful!

A final note, JH has definitely more merit in his comment than you, and you should bare that in mind! (Probably an unnecessary comment but I thought that it matched well the theme of your reply!)

Bart.

Bart
Why not join up? The crowd here are a friendly bunch & over time you get to know the characters of the people on the board. There's reason behind the suggestion:

In my view Brian assumed you're post was genuine, even though (and this was his caveat that offended you) he's aware, like we all are, that some unscrupulous companies have used guest postings to promote their products.

I disagree with your comments about Brian's intentions & hope in the light of this background you'll realise there wasn't a need to fire back at him.

It costs nothing to join up & takes any thoughts of spam out of our minds. As I said, they're a friendly & helpful crowd.

regards

Ian

Ian S wrote:

Bart wrote:Jesus Christ (and I don’t mean to take the lord's name in vein), red bigot, what kind of frustrations do you have with my question - re: "genuine inquiry"? (I wanted to use more direct language but thought it better to not!)

As Daz so aptly said, "Is there anyone else out there who could provide such a complete reply to Bart's query so quickly".- Sensitive, too say the least, you seem to be so, so quick to judge without merit, that it might appear as if you have something to gain (or loose from my question!).

What incentive is there for new forumites to contribute if they are confronted so, when they first post! However, I must say, that the information you offered has been most helpful!

A final note, JH has definitely more merit in his comment than you, and you should bare that in mind! (Probably an unnecessary comment but I thought that it matched well the theme of your reply!)

Bart.

Bart
Why not join up? The crowd here are a friendly bunch & over time you get to know the characters of the people on the board. There's reason behind the suggestion:

In my view Brian assumed you're post was genuine, even though (and this was his caveat that offended you) he's aware, like we all are, that some unscrupulous companies have used guest postings to promote their products.

I disagree with your comments about Brian's intentions & hope in the light of this background you'll realise there wasn't a need to fire back at him.

It costs nothing to join up & takes any thoughts of spam out of our minds. As I said, they're a friendly & helpful crowd.

regards

Ian

Well said Ian, and Bart, chill out. As you said, Brian's info was helpful which was all he intended and I'm still astounded by his awareness of where to buy good reds at a good price. Suggest you read more posts from regulars on the forum before lambasting a valuable contibutor.

Be nice

daz

Yeah, what Ian and daz said, thanks guys.

Bart, I don't owe you an explanation, but I will anyway.

This site is run by a wine merchant.
The wine you were enquiring after is exclusive to a competitor, ie Nicks.
There is a history of "comment" here re Nicks ratings/scores.
There is a long history of attempts at minor spam framed as seemingly innocuous requests such as yours.
If I thought it was spam I would not have given you the answer.

Who is the "sensitive" one here?

Here we go, more Nicks bashing.

Has Nicks ever offended anyone on this board or the last to warrant such ongoing criticism?

Give the guys a break, if you are not happy with their pricing, range or ratings, shop elsewhere - simple!

Not everyone would go to the lengths of Brian to save 2c and then expect the best service as well.

NNN wrote:1. Here we go, more Nicks bashing.

2. Not everyone would go to the lengths of Brian to save 2c and then expect the best service as well.

Never let the facts get in the way of the truth!

This site is run by a wine merchant. Is this Nicks bashing? No!

The wine you were enquiring after is exclusive to a competitor, ie Nicks. Is this Nicks bashing? No just a fact.

There is a history of "comment" here re Nicks ratings/scores. Is this Nicks bashing? No just a fact, there has been past comments just like Brian said.

There is a long history of attempts at minor spam framed as seemingly innocuous requests such as yours. Is this Nicks bashing? No.

So where is the Nicks bashing Mr Guest?

Not everyone would go to the lengths of Brian to save 2c and then expect the best service as well. Firstly, this gets into the personal attack category. Secondly, its not 2 cents that Brian is saving. If you took the time to have a look at his site, its between 10-20% of his total wine bill, and thats a substantial amount of money. But don't let the facts get in the way of having a personal attack at someone.

TORB wrote: If you took the time to have a look at his site, its between 10-20% of his total wine bill, and thats a substantial amount of money. But don't let the facts get in the way of having a personal attack at someone.

[i]minor spam framed as seemingly innocuous requests such as yours

um...hello????????

[quote="NNN"minor spam framed as seemingly innocuous requests such as yours

um...hello????????[/quote]

What a load of horse manure. Once again, you do not let the facts get in the way of the complete rubbish you post.

1. Brian's site is free and doesn't sell anything.
2. There was no link to it.
3. I get nothing from his site.
4. I referenced it to prove the points raised in your post were false.

How about posting something positive instead of having cheap shots at people that have zero validity.

NNN, stands for, I can only imagine - Nil Nil Nil. The number of grey cells in his tiny reptilian brain. Not worth the effort.
MM.

Back to the original request, I purchased Halliday's 2005 Wine Companion last Friday and am disappointed with a few changes.
The book is the same size as last years edition but there are approximately 100+ Vineyards added which has resulted in the number of words used in the tasting notes being reduced by around about 75%.
Best vintages for each wine gone, drinking windows now only one year listed.




Regards,
Ron.

I have no problem with the changes. A lot of the old tasting notes were a bit verbose anyway. The best vintages seemed inconsistent at times - some wines with a 96 rating didn't get listed. And the food suggestions weren't all that helpful - like jugged hare.

There's a lot more than 100 new winery entries - a sticker on the front cover tells me there are 377 newbies.

It now lists everything from a vineyard that he tasted. In old editions, we were left wondering if a wine wasn't listed because he didn't taste it or because it was crap. Now, he rates them right down to Sacred Hill Semillon Chardonnay. Tasting notes are skipped for most of the lower end wines, but the rating serves as a warning against the truly vile cheapies.

Kieran

deleted

I'm a fan of his Ten Wineries to watch section. Last year it included Hares Chase, and so I bought a case of the shiraz and was suitably impressed. Having already procured, and enjoyed Kalleske and Schubert, I was pleased to see their inclusion this year.

Mike Hawkins wrote:I'm a fan of his Ten Wineries to watch section. Last year it included Hares Chase, and so I bought a case of the shiraz and was suitably impressed. Having already procured, and enjoyed Kalleske and Schubert, I was pleased to see their inclusion this year.

You might be pleased - you've already got yours. Those of us who are still having trouble procuring the stuff will find it harder still.

Kieran