The Auswine Forum

so I am no longer waking up at 4 am. Its that time of the week good peoples, time for your weekly drinking reports and there is no excuse for not reporting in, you have an extra hour of sunshine now.

I have had a couple of interesting new release this week.

Thorn Clarke 2003 Shotfire Ridge Shiraz Oct 04

Ripe fruit driven rum and raisin, there is a light cinnamon spice intertwined with sandalwood and caramel with milk chocolate. A delightful, silky mouth feel is seductive and awakens the senses but its smart winemaking as the tannins are there to support the solid structure. Muscular-weight, the fruit clean and fills the mouth completely finishing with respectable persistence. It is drinking easily now but should hold for many years. The blackberry and chocolate are anything but sweet and when you add the fresh acid into the equation it is very savoury but there is a contrasting sweet layer supporting these flavours which adds good complexity and interest. Rated as [Recommended with **** for value, this wine will be another big hit in the US (and Oz) as it is right up there and very consistent with the 2002.

Kilikanoon 2002 Blocks Road Cabernet Sauvignon Oct 04

Almost impenetrable dark purple, the bouquet is consistent with such an opaque drop and shows chary oak, blackberry, chocolate, menthol and mint. An extremely well balanced and constructed wine where the individual components already show harmony which is unusual in a Cabernet Sauvignon of this type and whilst it will drink well young, it will improve with time in the bottle. Even more pleasing from my perspective is the fruit has soaked up most of the chary oak and there a tolerable amount of it on the palate. Ample-weight the wine flavours are all black with mulberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, char, aniseed and mint. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, this is one Kilikanoon wine that should not be overlooked.

TN's impressions or just vibes welcome.

Three quite okay bottles but nothing stunning.

2004 CAPE MENTELLE Sauvignon Semillon

Amazingly clear colour. Grassy asparagus nose. A fresh oyster wine with a short finish. Not to be cellared, drink now. Way overpriced at AU $25.

1999 CHANDON Brut Rosé

See, the thing is that I adored this wine on release. Onionskin colour with bronze hues. Peristent creamy bubbles. Quite flavourful with decent lenght but for some reason, not as exciting as I found it back on release. Cost AU $29 which I guess is fair.

2002 CAPE MENTELLE 'Trinders' Cabernet Merlot

Colour dark cherry red. Amazing Pauillac like nose with smoked bacon, capsicum and undergrowth. Very european style with barnyard characters. Smooth and juicy fruit flavours that doesn't quite live up to expectation. A medium bodied pretty wine with a savoury finish. Lovely French oak, fine tannins and good balance but not serious enough. It could have been a great wine with more body, concentration and length. Sells for AU $30 but $20 would be a more realistic price to pay.

Cheers,
Attila

Yawn, 9 o'clock already...

The monthly tasting I attend (as opposed to the weekly and fortnightly) is traditionally the new Wendouree reds in October. ACT missed out on the Cabernet this year, so only the Cab-malbec in the Cabernet bracket. I was delegated to take some notes for this bracket as Jack had managed to get a couple of pre-release bottles of the Leasingham 2002 Cab-Malbec and promised the winery he would send notes.

2002 Cabernet / Cabernet Blends

Wine 5: Revealed as Wendouree Cabernet-Malbec

Colour: Deep Crimson/mauve, dense
Nose: Restrained berry fruit, menthol/mint overtones but not excessive, distinctive.
Palate: Bright berry fruit, menthol, lots of firm fine tannins, clean acid finish, powerful.

Wine 6: Revealed to be Kilikanoon Blocks Road Cabernet

Colour: Medium-deep (in comparison to 5) red black.
Nose: Youthful, fragrant, spicy, ripe dark berries, cedary oak on breathing.
Palate: Soft fleshy spiced blackberry fruit, a little oak-dominated at present, fine tannin backbone, finishes slightly bitter. Needs time to develop a little complexity.

Wine 7: Revealed to be the 2002 Leasingham Bin 56 Cab-Malbec Pre-release sample, due out next year sometime, probably late in the year, only 2% Malbec instead of the normal 10%.

Colour: Deep red-black
Nose: Intially restrained, showing only a few berry notes and some violets, spicy/cedary oak, slightly earthy in a nice way.
Palate: Fresh earth, restrained but powerful dark berry fruit, firm tannin backbone, oak in balance, with some complexity already.

Wine 8: Revealed to be the Grosset gaia Cab/Cab Franc/merlot

Colour: medium-deep crimson/purple.
Nose: Some ferment/lactic character, mostly blew of after a while, dark cherry, hints of oak, slight mintiness.
Palate: Some nice bright fruit, a little simple, less body than the others in the bracket, clean drying tannins and a nicely lingering finish, but slightly sour.

My preference: 5, 7, 6, 8 (Bin 56 the best in years, Gaia was disappointing on the night)
Group preference: 7, 5, 6, 8

The last bracket was 2002 Shiraz: Wendouree and Kilikanoon, compare and contrast.

It was simple to pick the 2 pairs apart, the Wendourees all reserved and broodingly powerful, the Kilikanoons in your face with abundant fruit and oak. In my order of preference:

Kilikanoon Covenant Shiraz. This was my favourite (and the group's too) but I picked it as the Oracle, a big no-nonsense style with lots of fruit, oak, tannin but not overdone in any way and quite a complex palate.

Wendouree Shiraz. Easy to pick if you have any experience with Wendouree reds, distinctive, less menthol/mint than some years, it will be a good one. (Group rank 3, they were seduced by the Kilikanoons)

Kilikanoon Oracle Shiraz. More over-the-top style than the Covenant, showing too much oak at present and more of everything that seems to hit the RPjr buttons. Disn't seem to have the good balance and structure of the Covenant.

Wendouree Shiraz-mataro. A nice enough wine, but least-best in this company, again easy to pick with the meaty/earthy dimension of the mataro.

I'm pretty happy to have a 6-pack of each of them in my cellar.

Also during the week, a freebie ($25) Red Nectar Barossa Shiraz 2003, made by Troy Kalleske from grapes grown by his cousin, vines date from 1997 I think, so relatively young. The best feature of the wine is the beautifully fragrant nose, bursting with clean bright berry fruit and hints of good oak in the background. The palate follows through to some extent, but lacks the body and silky mouthfeel of the best Barossa shiraz. Tannins are there but need time to soften and integrate. Clean finish, but only moderate length. The remainder the next night had filled out a little, but all-in-all it didn't grab me enough to stretch the already bulging credit card limit.

A good weekend for wine:

'01 Warrenmang Grand Pyrenees.

From memory, a Cab/Malbec/Shiraz blend. At 14% alc, reflecting that with power on the nose and palate, but not too hot on the finish. A good big wine that was interesting and complex, but I wouldn't want more than a glass of it.

'00 Grosset Watervale Riesling.

Absoloutely singing!

Beautiful wine with intense lime and talcom powder on the nose, the lime again on the palate with other citrus flavours, latent power, good acidity and great length of palate coupled with a rich mouthfeel. This wine was sealed in stelvin and showed a little kero on the nose.

'96 Hollick Cab/Merlot.

Took some time for the nose to open up into classic Coonawarra mint with rich fruit and chocolate. The same flavours on the palate, quite dense and rich, a well structured wine that was lovely and is still perhaps 2 -4 years off it's best. Excellent.

'97 Seppelt Great Western Shiraz.

The last of the old labels. A bit of Brett in the form of bacon fat on the nose, but not enough to be distracting, but to add complexity. full rich nose that followed through to the palate of a very typical Great Western. Lot's of flavours and great length too.
So much better than the '96, yet although very good, different in flavours to the '98 and subsequent vintages.

'97 Pizzini Nebbiolo.

Good typicity for an Oz Nebiolo, rose & tar on the nose, sweet fruit with robust flavours, the typical strong tannins subdued by the food being eaten. Enjoyable, good food wine.

'00 Mount Langi Noble Riesling.

Good elegant botrytis wine that is not cloying, far easier to drink that so many of the overdone dessert wines around.

'00 Brokenwood Semillon.

Drinking very well, this was a suprise in it's elegance, flavours and structure. It is drinking beautifully now and will age well. Class act.

Rory

Not much of note. Haselgrove H series 2000 Cabernet (cleanskin). 60% fruit from Wrattonbully, 40% McLaren Vale. An interesting combination of fruit - cool and warm areas however the result is good apart from new US oak that tends to dominate. Perhaps 2nd use French would have been better to allow the fruit to shine. Cleanskin as a result of Haselgrove's demise, another victim of the crumch of oversupply and Cabernet out of fashion.

Chuck

Chuck wrote:...a result of Haselgrove's demise

What??!! When did this happen? Please tell us it ain't true?

1996 Penfolds Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon: Medium to heavy crusting, so decanting is recommended. Deep, inky, glass-hugging red colour. A complex nose of cassis, iodine and a touch of blood/ammonia and smoky oak on pouring, with a hint of barnyard way off in the background. The palate of the 1996 has always featured remarkably sweet fruit and oak, and this bottle is no exception; blackcurrants/dark cherries, chocolate, tobacco and at one time some bubblegum, finishing long with red berries and minty fruit (not alcohol). Not appearing as fresh or big as a year ago, but it’s developing quite nicely in contrast to the 1998.

2002 Gemtree Bloodstone McLaren Vale Tempranillo (screwcap): Dark, almost inky crimson. The nose is very sweet and savoury with a mix of dark cherries, liniment/menthol, dark spices and hints of sweat and greens. The mid-weight palate is similarly ripe and spicy with bitter cherries and savoury/peppery green flavours, finishing with fine tannins and spices and hints of raisins and liniment with breathing. This somehow seemed to have a lot more in common with the Sticks and Stones than I expected it to.

1999 Rosemount Orange Vineyard Shiraz: Light to medium crusting, but decanting is essential. Glass-hugging, inky crimson with a bare hint of purple somewhere on the rim. In past tastings this wine has always needed a fair lush of air to coax its best, but this bottle had a complex, layered nose straight from pouring. As usual milled white pepper dominates the wine, this time with hints of floral violets, mushroom, sweet cherry far in the background, tobacco and some coffee with breathing. As expected the mid-weight palate is spicy and peppery (but not hot), with blackberry/cherry fruit flavours sewn with masses of white pepper; maybe a little simple at first compared to the nose, but with air it starts to gain some complexity with tobacco and some leather too. Great wine.

Kilikanoon 2002 Blocks Road Cabernet Sauvignon Oct 04

Almost impenetrable dark purple, the bouquet is consistent with such an opaque drop and shows chary oak, blackberry, chocolate, menthol and mint. An extremely well balanced and constructed wine where the individual components already show harmony which is unusual in a Cabernet Sauvignon of this type and whilst it will drink well young, it will improve with time in the bottle. Even more pleasing from my perspective is the fruit has soaked up most of the chary oak and there a tolerable amount of it on the palate. Ample-weight the wine flavours are all black with mulberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, char, aniseed and mint. Rated as Highly Recommended with **** for value, this is one Kilikanoon wine that should not be overlooked.

I totally agree with you on this one Ric - it was the only wine in the 2002 Kilikanoon range that really excited me. It's a great wine at a good price.

Cheers
Ian

Chestnut Hill Liberty Chardonnay 2001: Honey, citrus, glycerin, aldehyde and a marked volaility. Advanced. Palate is sweet and mealy, yet refined. Complex. Stylish. Spicy/leesy finish, though of no great length. Abobe-average complexity, but an attempt to make a silk purse out of a ... whatever the saying is. Fruit doesn't seem to have been up to the job. c+

Giaconda chardonnay 2002: Slightly corked, but great power. Struggled through a glass of it because it is a great wine, but then the corkiness became too aggressive. cannot rate.

Raveneau Montee de Tonnerre chablis 1999: excessively lactic, but still quite beautiful. Marvellous length. Love it. A

Bannockurn chardonnay 1996: Oxidised. Flat. All wood, no fruit. E.

Brokenwood ILR semillon 2000: Excellent. Got better with every sip. B+

Jol.

Reading all this stuff about Douglas Neal and then seeing a tasting note for the Chestnut Hill Liberty chardonnay that he made - well, it made me want to open a bottle of it. So I did so. I have it here before me. I'm not tasting it blind, and I'm not in a good mood about Doug right now, but putting that aside and concentrating simply on what's in the glass, I have to say that I like the wine; in fact I like it a lot. It's the sort of wine that creeps up on you. At first I thought too that it lacked a bit of fruit but every time I smell it I see something different, and that fruit weight issue is fast improving. It's a beautifully complex, elegant wine - and the bottle of I have has quite a persistent finish on it. I'd rate it a high 92, and wouldn't be surprised if it improved over the next 12 months. At $27.50 cellar door, it is very good buying.

Campbell.

Campbell wrote:Reading all this stuff about Douglas Neal and then seeing a tasting note for the Chestnut Hill Liberty chardonnay that he made - well, it made me want to open a bottle of it. So I did so. I have it here before me. I'm not tasting it blind, and I'm not in a good mood about Doug right now, but putting that aside and concentrating simply on what's in the glass, I have to say that I like the wine; in fact I like it a lot. It's the sort of wine that creeps up on you. At first I thought too that it lacked a bit of fruit but every time I smell it I see something different, and that fruit weight issue is fast improving. It's a beautifully complex, elegant wine - and the bottle of I have has quite a persistent finish on it. I'd rate it a high 92, and wouldn't be surprised if it improved over the next 12 months. At $27.50 cellar door, it is very good buying.

Campbell.

Revived from http://www.auswine.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2030

Cellar Rat wrote:

Campbell wrote:Anth - that 1998 Giaconda ain't a bad effort from Myrtleford fruit, eh? I had one a couple of weeks ago and was impressed. Am trying to track down a bottle of the castagna syrah from 1998 as a comparison - because they're both off the same vineyard (planted along the Buffalo River I believe, just west of Myrtleford). It's an interesting little curio: two wines from the same vineyard, made by two winemakers in small batches. How much is terroir, and how much is the winemaker's hand?

The thing that surprises me is that no one has jumped in and bought the fruit from that same vineyard (it's sold, but to low end labels), in an attempt at the top end. I mean, it's a marketers dream: the vineyard that produced the Giaconda and Castagna 98 shiraz! Yeah?

Campbell.

Geez CM,

Get real ! Trainer wheels stuff ! I bought the former and sold it off just as quickly. Rate what's in the bottle and not the label.

Anthony wrote:Hi Campbell,
would be an interesting comparison. Didn't know good old' Myrt could produce such good wine!! Also shows you what a gun winemakers like Rick are capable of.
Why don't we go up there, buy the fruit and label the wine Castelgiaconda?

I'd love to know the history of that vineyard and why Rick chose it to produce a Shiraz.

cheers
anth

"... Also tasted the 2001 Chestnut Hill Chardonnay made by Doug Neal from a small Pakenham vineyard. It was a revelation. Beautifully made. Lean long, linear and intense. All in balance. Out of the Rick school." Neville K

This spat with CR and Giaconda has deep rooted antipathy. But let it be said that the wines speak for themselves: they may well be Australia's finest. If you were confined to one winery for all your wine needs (leaving aside Southcorp) Giaconda, Mt Mary, Cullen and Grosset, Petaluma and Moss Wood would be my nominees and Giaconda would be the winner.

Doug's Chestnut Hill shows some pretty smart wine-making and punches well above its weight. By comparison it would leave the 2000 Tarrawarra Chardonnay consumed last night for dust. It was a generic, oily, clumsy wine with little finesse. It has been spared no expense yet Chestnut Hill is a garagiste at 2/3 the price. Weight for age, it makes Chestnut Hill a pretty savvy wine.

Provenance is everything with wine and Rick K and Doug Neal both bring spades. Arguments ad hominen don't enlighten discussion. Why is there such a tall poppy syndrome against the pursuit of excellence?

Guest,

Yes I heard thru the grapevine (sorry for the pun) Haselgrove went to the great vinyard in the sky sometime early this year. This weekend all left overs were being sold as cleanskins at rediculous prices - up to 80% off.

While in McLaren Vale to pick up the loot there were many "Cleanskin" signs up. A sign of an industry in distress. Great for the consumer but I feel for the small producers who are being belted by the big firms where discounting and economies of scale will affect only shareholders not people with a passion.

Chuck

Chuck, that was my post earlier in the thread. I'm guessing everything is already sold then? Damn, either way. I have tasted some very fine wine from Haselgrove, mostly the 'H' Reserve and Futures Shiraz...and tasted some very fine moments accompanied by same. Oh well, thanks for the memories Haselgrove, will miss you

1983 Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon - A remarkable old wine. A TN posted under Danny's thread. 11.5% and still so varietal after 20 years. 91pts critically; but would exceed that with sentiment and the surprise vintage wine can often present.

1999 Penfold's St Henri Shiraz- Purple-black at the core, ruby red at the hue. Not so great damp earth and VA aromas intially. A couple of hours in the decanter transformed the wine: Bramble & blackberry; thick aromas, obviously fruit driven but without any rawness, underlying, defined earthy notes. Full bodied shiraz, layers of dark fruits ripple in the mouth forcibly. Balanced, fine tannins with a long and impressive finish. Good St Henri! 93 pts and a solid addition to the cellar.

Quaffers included a few bottles of Seppelt's Sparkling Shiraz 02- good stuff, a mid 90's Chalambar with bubbles!

Penfold's Reserve Bin 2000 Semillon from the Adelaide Hills- displayed all that you would want in a semillon and with a pleasant delicacy you wouldn't see from a Barossan expression.

Margaret River Night

1996 Moss Wood Cabernet Sauvignon Amazing wine! Decanted for 1 hour. Seemed quite young, however, had amazing balance. One of the best Cabernets I've tried.

1994 Cullen Cabernet Merlot A little disappointing after the Moss Wood. Wasn't in the decanter for long and the fruit seemed a little dull. Could this be past it's prime? I certainly thought it should go 10-15 years.

NZ Rack O Lamb Night

1997 Penfolds Grange Drunk with NZ Rack of Lamb. Decented for 1 hour. Seemed a little closed but a great wine especially with the Lamb. Wished we had more than a 750ml that night.

1996 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon A solid wine with a big mouth feel. Seems like this is still developing. Can't wait to try the 1998.

TORB wrote:Thorn Clarke 2003 Shotfire Ridge Shiraz Oct 04

Ripe fruit driven rum and raisin, there is a light cinnamon spice intertwined with sandalwood and caramel with milk chocolate. A delightful, silky mouth feel is seductive and awakens the senses but its smart winemaking as the tannins are there to support the solid structure. Muscular-weight, the fruit clean and fills the mouth completely finishing with respectable persistence. It is drinking easily now but should hold for many years. The blackberry and chocolate are anything but sweet and when you add the fresh acid into the equation it is very savoury but there is a contrasting sweet layer supporting these flavours which adds good complexity and interest. Rated as [Recommended with **** for value, this wine will be another big hit in the US (and Oz) as it is right up there and very consistent with the 2002.

Ric, I had this wine over the last week (one of very few with too much work) and agree that it will be another big hit. This one is a little leaner (the 02 was perhaps more to Parkers style) and after several hours became a very elegant shiraz. I loved it.

Incidently - hats off to Thorn Clarke for replacing a corked 02 Shotfire Shiraz with an 03.

Graham

1988 Chateau Cantemerle (Haut-Medoc)

From a vintage that may have been more popular were it not surrounded by the output of 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, this lovely garnet red / copper-tinged wine was decanted a half-hour prior to service. The aromas are all secondary - leather polish, graphite, cedar. The palate is beginning to show of some acidity, heightened by the very soft tannins, which arrive very late in the finish as a gentle furriness. I recall previous bottles of this wine as somewhat lean and green, but this one displays no such aromas or tastes. Old style claret, the weight is only medium at best, yet the finish is quite persistent. Attractive wine, probably towards the end of it's drinking plateau - I can see this wine heading on the downward slope by the time it's 20. Meanwhile, drink up.

cheers,
Graeme

Well the AIDS Trust Sydney Food and Wine Fair officially marks the opening of the Picnic season on my social calendar so appropriate picnic wines were dragged out for the occasion.

Started with a 2002 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc. I missed my order last year so I'd been hanging on to this last bottle for two years, obviously. A friend who is a particular fan of this wine is over from London at the moment so I wanted to share with her. Obviously lacking the usual clean vibrancy a fresh bottle of this is usually full of but still some very nice passionfruit and goosberry flavours.

Had just picked up my Rockfords, Noons and Grosset orders which had been sitting at Millers waiting for me and couldn't wait to try the 2004 Rockford Alicant Bouchet. Now, THAT'S what I'm talking about. I love this wine. It embodies summer in the same way a current vintage Cloudy Bay SB does. Quite a dark pink red colour for a rose style but very clean fresh strawberry, raspberry and maybe even blood orange flavours. No bitter finish which can ruin many a rose styled wine and not overly sweet. All in harmony and my case will get a very good going over through this summer.

The Noons Rose also arrived and I didn't get to try this but what a sexy bottle. Very tall, slim, with broad shoulders and the silver foil looks fantastic.

Finally finished off with a 2002 Henschke Tilly's Vineyard. Last time I had this I wasn't so impressed but this bottle was better or maybe I was drunker and just needed to maintain the momentum and was happy with anything. The semillon was very evident and had a stronger flavour profile than the chardonnay or SB. I just checked the website and it's 65%, 28%, 7% so that kind of explains it. More lanolin than lemon but pleasant enough when you want another quaffer on a sunny afternoon on a picnic rug in Sydney.

Went to The Grange Restaurant in the Adelaide Hilton with high expectations based on my previous roughly annual visits since 1998. Had the 8 course degustation with matching wines. I was frankly quite disappointed whereas previously I had always loved my dinner and wines. My main gripe is the stingy small serves of the matching wines - Pelicanette and I spent half the evening without any Wine to drink in between courses. We did point this out to no avail. Also I reckon the Food was not up to it's normal standards - for eg. a Tofu dish ( I like Tofu ) was so salty it was a shocker and the fresh onion on it stuffed my palate. Also some dishes , although OK , seem designed to shock or be a talking point rather than having being created for their inherent qualities eg. the Possum Curry. Also over recent years the price of going to The Grange has ballooned whilst the genorosity and quality has declined - maybe that is why it was half empty on Saturday night. Anyway I wrote them a feedback letter today.

1996 Pol Roger Extra Cuvee de Reserve Brut ($70) : Good rich & creamy but not very yeasty Champagne - not bad at all.

1996 Petaluma Tiers Chardonnay , Picadilly Valley : Subtle , Subdued but not truly Sublime. Low QPR for the $125 I paid in 1998. Good but tainted by the rip off asking price.

1997 Ashton Hills Chardonnay : similar to the Tiers but cost me about $22.

1989 Chateau Coutet Barsac : bloody fantastic Sauternes....tasted like lovely liquid Australian dried apricots with a sublime acid spine. Very moresome - this disappeared quickly. Must get some more good sauternes for the cellar.

Been a pretty big week with the races on saturday and my twin brother winning a couple of trophies at the 04 Vic Wine Show. Some of the highlight have been:

At the races:
2003 seppelt St peters Shiraz: this should be out later next year and boy is it a good wine. Great balance and more savoury than I can remember. should live for years.

2003 Seppelt Bendigo Shiraz: a big big wine. Plenty of rich, ripe fruit that really fills the palate. Didn't check the alcohol but it is certainly for those who love reds in a bigger mould.

94 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz: second bottle this year and boy this packs a punch for the price. Will be one of the great chalambar's and I can't see this declining in the near future.

at home:
03 Skillogalee Riesling: starting to lose some of its freshness but still quite an appealing wine. This has quality stamped all over it. Will drink my stash over the next few years as I can't see the point in holding this long-term.

Clover Hill Vintage 00: very good aussie sparkling. If I couldn't drink french (i hope this never happens!!) I could easily sip on this. bright, biting acidity and quite pure, pristine fruit.

cheers and happy punting,
anthony

Pelican wrote:Went to The Grange Restaurant in the Adelaide Hilton with high expectations based on my previous roughly annual visits since 1998. Had the 8 course degustation with matching wines. I was frankly quite disappointed whereas previously I had always loved my dinner and wines. My main gripe is the stingy small serves of the matching wines - Pelicanette and I spent half the evening without any Wine to drink in between courses. We did point this out to no avail. Also I reckon the Food was not up to it's normal standards - for eg. a Tofu dish ( I like Tofu ) was so salty it was a shocker and the fresh onion on it stuffed my palate. Also some dishes , although OK , seem designed to shock or be a talking point rather than having being created for their inherent qualities eg. the Possum Curry. Also over recent years the price of going to The Grange has ballooned whilst the genorosity and quality has declined - maybe that is why it was half empty on Saturday night. Anyway I wrote them a feedback letter today...

Interesting pelican! I was there in July and found it superb. Couldn't comment on the wines as we brought our own - 82 Trotanoy and 82 Certan-de-May. Gotta tell ya but the food was too much - i was gonna self-implode by nights end. Food was great too (unlike it seems your experience, but I wish staff wouldn't loiter in the middle of the restaurant irrespective of the fact that we were the 1st ones there). No Possum Curry or tofu was on the menu that night either!

Pelican wrote:Went to The Grange Restaurant in the Adelaide Hilton with high expectations based on my previous roughly annual visits since 1998. Had the 8 course degustation with matching wines. I was frankly quite disappointed whereas previously I had always loved my dinner and wines. My main gripe is the stingy small serves of the matching wines - Pelicanette and I spent half the evening without any Wine to drink in between courses. We did point this out to no avail. Also I reckon the Food was not up to it's normal standards - for eg. a Tofu dish ( I like Tofu ) was so salty it was a shocker and the fresh onion on it stuffed my palate. Also some dishes , although OK , seem designed to shock or be a talking point rather than having being created for their inherent qualities eg. the Possum Curry. Also over recent years the price of going to The Grange has ballooned whilst the genorosity and quality has declined - maybe that is why it was half empty on Saturday night. Anyway I wrote them a feedback letter today.

I agree that the Grange has lost its magic somewhat - and the fact that on a Saturday night you have to order the degustation (no a la carte) is a real turn off. IMHO, the best food in SA is at the Bridgewater Mill and I'm quite partial to the Melting Pot. Doing Barr Vinum at the end of the month - can't wait to try Sandor Palmai's food once again - the man is a culinary genius.

-- George Krashos