The Auswine Forum

Duck and Pinot,........and lots of each for the 5 of us.

No specific notes on the ducks consumed, though my personal favourite of the night was the minced duck with bamboo shoot and lettuce leaf. Mmmm.

Wine notes in order of serving:

Barossa Valley Estate E&E sparkling shiraz 1994 - well liked (except by Mark!). Is holding up well with age. Good fruit and savoury characters on both palate and nose. Obvious aged colour. Very good if you like the ripe style of shiraz and vanilla. I liked the mouthfeel. MINE.

Vosne Romanee Malconsorts 1994 - Domaine Thomas-Moillard - Premier Cru (Burgundy Pinot Noir) - Has done 10 years easily, and should go another 5. Nice persistency to the tannins. Excellent balance. Well liked all around (This is the first aged Burgundy I have tried for almost 10 years and I'm impressed). $60 on release. 2nd best WOTN by consensus. MARK'S.

Corton 1994 Les Bressandes - Domain de Brialles - Grand Cru (Burgundy Pinot Noir) - Significant step up over the previous wine. This was probably equal to, or even, the best Burgundy 4 out of the 5 attendees had ever tasted. Wines dont come much better than this. A great wine that will outlive the previous wine and may not peak for another 5 years. Browning evident, but holding the fruit well. Spicy midpalate and exceptional length. $75 on release. (I dont think I could afford Burgundy better than this). WOTN by a country mile. MARK'S.

Mount Pleasant OP & OH shiraz 1998 - Lots of fruit, yet soft tannins. Good wine if you like to A.Oak style. Should cellar for a few years. (I bought this along knowing there was going to be a lot of Pinots). MINE.

Batista Pinot Noir 1999 Warren Valley (Pemberton). Young, but low yielding vines, planted in 1993. Best of the Australasian Pinots. Much more fruit driven than the French Burgundy's. Nice mouthfeel with moderate tannins and good intensity. Split camp on its ageing potential. Very varietal. Great value at $20 from auction. DAVO'S'.

Villa Maria 2002 Pinot Noir NZ - Cinamon and spice on the palate. Fruit quite upfront with good intensity. Lacked a bit on the back palate but otherwise a good wine. PAUL'S.

Mercury 1999 La Frambiosiere - Faivley (Burgundy) - oxidised. To be returned to shop. PAUL'S

Harewood Pinot Noir 2002 (Denmark) - Another fruit driven Australian Pinot (so different to the French). Good wine, and different to the Batista and the Villa Maria. Enjoyable, yet inferior to the French wines in company. MARK'S.

Savigny - Les - Beaune 1993 Aux Guettes - Jean-Marc-Pavelot - Premier Cru (Burgundy Pinot Noir) - Excellent savoury wine with lots of secondary characters and structure. 3rd best WOTN by consensus and style. That's 3 in a row MARK. A wine Hat-trick.

Hardy's Show Port Reserve Bin Vintage 1951 Tawny Port Bin # M127. Shiraz grapes from McLaren Vale. Released at at 20-22 years of age. Very enjoyable and unique, though I doubt it has improved since its release 30 years ago. Thanks DAVO.

And a big THANKYOU to Mark for his 3 Burgundy contributions tonight. We are all honoured that you bought them and enlightened us to 3 excellent French wines. You ended up bringing the best 3 wines of the night. We would all like to know how many $ the current releases sell for??? (As of this night, I am a Burgundy convert, though my limited budget might have a big calming influence on any future purchases).

Sorry Attila, no photo. Out here beyond the Nullabor's black stump, we dont have cameras yet.

Nice notes, I reckon Adelaide needs to have a French night (get your mind out of the gutter Steve !), I was drooling with your Burgunday descriptions.

Pity about the lack of photo, I suppose you guys out West are still on the pinhole in a shoebox method ?

Burgundy Burgundy Burgundy not Burgunday!

Anonymous wrote:Burgundy Burgundy Burgundy not Burgunday!

Justin

Thanks for completing the notes, my recollection became very hazy post the Villa Maria - let alone the beer at the brass monkey at 1am.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the burgudies, and to have them turn up in quite good condition was a surprise as in the past it has been a lucky dip. I hope your conversion to Burgundy won't lead to a life of crime

Cheers

Mark G

Nice notes Justin, pity I missed the evening but by the time I read the post it was all over... I musn't let the curse of the drinking class get the better of me in the future.

On the Batista Pinot, I was very impressed with ??? vintage on release, but the wine faded after a few months in the celler and by 18 months of age was dead. Defenatly a Pinot to keep an eye on for future vintages.

Peter H

Thanks for the notes Justin.

Some great wines went down thanks mainly to Mark. The spurgle was bloody good. And how about those great wine glasses?

I was a bit tired the next day. I am unsure whether to blame Paul and the last beer he made me drink or the total lack of public transport in Perth after midnight midweek. Probably Paul.

Peter H we missed you. Brad, we didn't miss you because we know you would have scoffed the lot, greedy devil.

Davo, Davo, Davo,

The wine glasses were abyssmal ... ended up snorting half a glass once I got a bit pie-eyed and made me realise I must never leave home without my Speiglau 4pack.

Still can't believe you turned down a lift home at 12.30am from your patient wife, an expectation that public transport will save you when you've drunk that much and at that hour on a Weds night is "hopeful" at best!! Not having brad there could have been an error, his imbibing may have saved me from the woeful state I turned up at work in the following morning.

Not too many patients to attend to at 7am? Good to meet you and your impeccable palate (even if you do enjoy that fizzy cr@p ... apologies to Justin).

Cheers

Mark G

Davo wrote:Brad, we didn't miss you because we know you would have scoffed the lot, greedy devil.

True, although I would have compensated by bringing a number of delicious sav blancs along - I know how fond you are of them.

Justin,
Good to see a convert to the greatest wines on the planet. I'm guessing you are mid-30's/late-30's, as that's when most become converted.
The typical life cycle for a male wine lover is:
Beer-early teens
Spirits/cocktails, occasional chardy- late teens
Beer, occasional red cleanskin -early twenties
Young SA shiraz, Rutherglen reds and fortifieds -mid twenties
Older SA shiraz, Vic shiraz, Hunter reds - late twenties
Aussie cabernets, become aware riesling is a joke -early thirties
Exotica-mid thirties. Intro into Italy, Bordeaux, Burgundy
Champagne -late thirties, under pressure from wife
Bordeaux and Burgundy indents -early forties, cashflow just allows it.
Premier Cru Burgundy, classified growth Bordeaux -mid forties, bugger the cash flow!!
Grand Cru Burgundy- late forties, only rich may apply
DRC- relatives of Kerry Packer in their fifties
Aussie and German rieslings -very old: senility has set in!!
Young SA shiraz -late 70's, all sense of taste has disappeared.

..the full circle in our wine lives.

[quote="Aussie Johns"]Justin,
Older SA shiraz, Vic shiraz, Hunter reds - late twenties
Aussie cabernets, become aware riesling is a joke -early thirties

Glad to hear that TORB, RB and myself, and maybe some others, are sooooooooooooo young.
MM.

Your depth of insight in scary Aussie John.

WOW!!!!!!!

That list fits me perfectly!!!

Pretty good AJ, got one for females?????

Baby Chickpea wrote:Pretty good AJ, got one for females?????

actually.........no.
Does anyone waste good wine on females??