The Auswine Forum

Hi all

Anyone tried this vintage of the shiraz/viognier? Great year, good maker - should be excellent - noticed its available.

Cheers

Paul

Hi Paul,

This one is a definite buy for me. In fact its been one of the few my better half has said "go buy some more of that".
Its full of flavour and smells wonderful.
If you like the style I am sure you will enjoy it. If you have not had the style before, this may convert you.
Cheers
Popov

This Darrenberg Laughing Magpie 2002 has gone fr strenght to strenght since their 1st 2000 vintage. Enticing, the floral perfume reminded me of springtime is just a moment away. Plenty of weight/ concentration for a 20ishAU$ btl. Lovely texture, plush with dark plums, kirsh, morrello cherries laced with melted chocolate. The flavours is extremely persistent which came in layers and left me with a long lingering aftertaste.
This is a true blue Ozzie which doesnt try hard to be a Cote-Rotie.
Money aside, this wine gave me more pleasure than the much lauded RunRig.

This Magpie doesnt laugh, it sings...

I'm not a professional Wine Taster by any degree, although I have tried a fair few of the better known or recommended wines.


As an amateur, my honest reaction to the L.M. 2002 was that the Viognier was too overwhelmingly sweet to the degree it was like drinking syrup instead of a Shiraz based red. There certainly was a great finish length but on the nose it wasn't that attractive except for the smell of rotten apricot (alcoholic), that was incoherence between the Viognier and Shiraz blend.

It felt like the white grape won in the end.


May be I'm not a big fan of this type of blend, but having tried Henske's Henry Seven recently I would say the Laughing Magpie opened up a bit more over 2 nights or so.

You have to like the style. It is lush and has a good mouth feel, many will find it is supremely satisfying and enjoyable because of its lush fruit and texture. But is it a great wine, not by a long shot.

TORB wrote:You have to like the style. It is lush and has a good mouth feel, many will find it is supremely satisfying and enjoyable because of its lush fruit and texture. But is it a great wine, not by a long shot.

Ditto from me, I enjoyed the bottle I bought to try, but not enough to buy more. BTW I bought a 6-pack of the 2000 and tried one recently with some trepidation, but found it to be nicely integrated and the better for not being as lush as the 2002 (at least for my taste). I don't think it will get any better from here and I'll be drinking the remainder over the next year or so.

Paul

Its been around for quite a while now, so buy one and see what you think, given the variety of views.

I'm in the "like it" camp, but then I did not pick the Viognier as a major influence, so I am thinking there is some variation round as well.

I saw it as a well made, complex wine that would cellar well for a few years.


regards
chris

Chris,

I'm in agreeance with you. On the occasions I've tried it, I didn't find overt apricot characters. Its a good wine that provides a lot of enjoyment at most levels,and at a respectable price for this currently trendy blend.

Cheers

I found it too sweet & perfumey (?). It may be the style. I'm waiting for Clonakillas release in September to compare.

$28 for the d'Burg, $70+ for the Clonakilla.......

No question the Clonakilla is the better wine,but you have to taste it against its price point too. The Yering Station Reserve is also a better wine,but $55. The d'Burg represents great VFM and enjoyable drinking for those that like the fragant,full fruited style.


Cheers

I found, and bought, a magnum of the 02 LM - anyone care to hazard a guess re how long it will cellar?

-- George Krashos

George

In a magnum, maybe 5+ years ? It is a $20-25 wine George and not made for long cellaring (may well keep for longer than 5 but will it improve - possibly not)

Why did you buy a magnum as a matter of interest ?

regards
Chris

Because I love large formats - and have semi-regular get togethers with a group of friends where a single bottle just doesn't get that far.

-- George Krashos

Good enough reason George.

regards
Chris

I had this a few times just less than a year ago, from memory, that was when it was on all the shelves. It's an example of the strange phenomenon where white wine added to good red wine actually adds to rather than takes away from the experience. Who'd have thought? Anyway, the nose is luvverley and very fragrant, the wine is full-bodied, though I found it to finish a little bit short of what I'd hoped. To use a term which is already applied way too much at the moment, I'd almost say this could be called a metrosexual red wine?