The Auswine Forum

Hi Good Peoples,

Its that time of the week again; my pick of the week was an inexpensive surprise.

Sevenhill 1994 Shiraz

Why did I sacrifice all these so early? At 11 years of age, this wine that cost all of $16 (not even discounted) is drinking superbly. It is treading that fine line between having youthful fruit characters and the complexity that can only come with substantial bottle age. Powdery tannins are still abundant but are smooth as expected; the fruit still shows wonderful purity with fresh dark chocolate, aged black fruit characters and well balanced acid that provides a gentle refreshing lift. Rated as Highly Recommended, I could kick myself for not keeping a few more of these as it will continue to improve for another 5 years.

Now what have you guys and girls been drinking?

Hello all,

This week was low in quantity but high in quality (several AFD's). A 1992 Tyrrell's Vat 1 Semillon just acquired from auction, showed remarkable youthfulness although the colour was a little deeper than the diminishing stocks held in my cellar since release. Very little toastiness but with plenty of honeyed citrus, cut straw and vibrant acidity doing the trick. Still has plenty of petrol in the tank.

The Mount Mary 1986 Cabernets rates among the top handful of Aussie Cabernets I've ever tried! Served blind, I would pick it as a top-end '82 or '85 Bordeaux. Packed with a bevy of nuance, this sensational wine smells and drinks with such aplomb, words can hardly do it justice. And, on the form it showed on Thursday night, it will live for another decade!

Tyrrell's 1998 Vat 47 Chardonnay completed the trifecta, offering impressive toasted meal, grilled cashew, honey-dew melon and white peach fruit bound to superbly-judged oak and refreshing acidty. Seamless, long and most satisfying, this has to be one the best bottles of this particular vintage, I've tried.

Big night last night...

Jansz 2001 Vintage Sparkler

Big, rich, creamy soft and crowd pleasing. Relatively simple and very satisfying.

Delatite 2000 Sparkling "Demelza"

Showed a bit more funk than the Jansz. A little tighter and finer on the palate with extended time on lees contributing a mushroomy/mulchy character on the nose. A pleasant surprise.

NV Taittinger

My favourite NV French. Restrained nose. Tight and fine with tingling lemony acid. Some nutty almond characters in the mouth, and great length. Delicate.

2003 Suckfizzle SSB

WOW. Stunning. A complex nose. A hint of lemon, some hay, some sweet green capsicum, and some very classy french oak lurking in the background. More of the same on the palate. Great acid structure, softened I suspect by some malo, very deft use of oak and great length.

2002 Stefano Lubiana Pinot Noir

Some nice intensity on the nose. All cherries, with some darker blood plum characters, quite rich and inviting. Well made wine, but a little one dimensional. All up front primary fruits, and not a lot of complexity. Too clean, I prefer Pinots with a bit more funk.

1998 Seppelt St Peters Shiraz

Enough has been written about this wine. Impressive stuff. Black pepper, rasberries and smoky oak. Still tightly bound up, and tannin dominant on the palate. Was decanted at the table but more likely needed to be decanted a few hours beforehand. Classy wine, but needs a few more years yet.

1996 Wild Duck Creek "Alan's" Cabernet

The only disappointment of the night. Rhubarb and currant on the nose, and IMO a bit bretty. Earthy palate with sappy sour edged fruit. Disjointed, unbalanced, and short.

Sorry forgot to log in

And to finish the night a Lauriston Show Port. Lots of rancio, obvious age, and a medium dry palate. A touch stale, which could have been the age of the bottle, rather than the blend. Went welll with a very fine Cuban..........his name was Miguel.

Hi all,

Not much of note but the Auswine Cleanskin Reserve Shiraz 2003 was very interesting and just plain YUM. Needs about 3+ hours breathing to allow the fruit to emerge and tannins to settle. A monster relegated to the cellar for a few years. Good pick Gavin.

Leasingham Bastion 2002 Clare Shiraz/Cabernet during the week was a real surprise with wonderful fruit allowing it to box well above its wieght.

Penfolds 2001 Bin 28 Never bought any of this as there is not much value compared to others. Not bad but a bit dull.

Gramps 2002 Barossa Shiraz. Awesome wine that needs breathing to drink now and a few years in the cellar. A real old fashion knife and fork job it remains my best value pick of the last few years. I believe Gavin may still have some.

Brands of Coonawarra 2002 Cabernet. A true reflection of this great vintage albeit a little cooler than normal. A lovely elegant wine.

Chuck

A very, very quiet week for me. In the middle of exams so I've switched red wine for coffee on all those late nights. Food has also been very scarce besides the leftover fruit in the fridge - very much a detox week.

However, I did have one bottle that, to be honest, blew my socks off:

2002 Seppelt Premium Reserve Shiraz

The colour is pretty average, no real purple or opaque density and more of a dark crimson red with a lighter crimson edge. The nose has a lot there. Chocolate, violets, liquorice, spice and very complimentary oak. IÂ’m sure thereÂ’s more there that IÂ’m not picking up as well. The mouthfeel isnÂ’t viscous but fulfilling, the chocolate continuing on the palate with plum and spice. Aftertaste is long, very satisfying and tannins, although integrated, will help push the wine for another 3-4 year drinking window where it will only improve. My comments on the night were - "I am 'expletive' rapt in this wine". A very pleasant surprise for me and the wine represents awesomely good QPR. The best sub $15 wine I've had. With the '02 now sold out, I hope the '03 is even half as good.

Glaetzer Wallace 2003 Shiraz Grenache
Deep blood red. Rich and ripe fruit with white pepper, anise and chocolate. Slight forest floor aroma. Cherry/dark berry and spicy french oak with whisps of vanilla from the US oak. Beautiful balance here. Lovely integration between fruits and charry oak. Lovely rounded tannins that really give the wine inpressive structure for its price ($19). Finishes slightly short, but I suspect due the wine being a little closed at this stage. Love to give this a go in another couple of years.

Masi "Bonacosta" 2002 Valpolicella
Ripe blackberry, raspberry, and spicy oak aromas. Subdued unripe cherry and raspberry on palate. Falls away pretty quickly to leave gritty tannins and high acidity, and, no flavour. Leaves mouth dry and without aftertaste.

Taylors 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Rich maroon red. Blackberry and blackcurrant, chocolate and a touch of mint. Moderate oak on nose. Quite heavy initial mouthfeel with rich berry fruit. Acidity a little strong. Mint more noticeable on aftertaste. Tannic, needs time. Changed completely over the period of about 1/2 hour - seemed less 'fruit-bomb', and the oak became more apparent.

J. Vidal Fleury 2000 Cotes-du-Rhone
Brick red. Dark cherry with compost/manure aromas. Balanced acidity and lovely grippy tannins that really complement the fruit - spot on. Unobtrusive peppery oak. The cherry again follows through with earthy compost and beef-stew aromas. The manure blew off with time. Given more exposure to air, some light sweet raspberry and strawberry flavours start to emerge. A nice change from the oaked fruit bombs that I am used to. Surprisingly good value for money.


mphatic

2003 Massena Moonlight Run Barossa Grenache Shiraz Mataro Cinsaut: Inky red/purple with a glowing purple rim. A ripe, perfumed nose of blackberry, pepper, earth, dark chocolate and blueberry, with touches of apricot firmly in the background. The palate has a juicy entry of confectionery/sweet blackberries, then raspberries and licorice, all driven by smoky/powdery tannins supplemented by well handled spicy/peppery French oak. This hides its 15% alcohol exceptionally well, and like the Torbreck Woodcutter’s Shiraz is dangerously easy to drink!

2001 Neagles Rock Clare Valley Semillon: Golden yellow colour. The nose opened with youthful perfumed/floral scents of green apples, nutmeg, and lemon blossom, before suddenly displaying aged characters of dried nuts, herbs and kerosene. The slender palate was equally a strange mix of youthful and aged characters; spiced apples with developed grilled-nut and mineral nuances, finishing fairly long with grilled-nuts, dried herbs and kerosene on the finish. I wasn’t sure what quite to make of this – probably a transition phase.

Taylors 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Rich maroon red. Blackberry and blackcurrant, chocolate and a touch of mint. Moderate oak on nose. Quite heavy initial mouthfeel with rich berry fruit. Acidity a little strong. Mint more noticeable on aftertaste. Tannic, needs time. Changed completely over the period of about 1/2 hour - seemed less 'fruit-bomb', and the oak became more apparent.

The acidty/mint you're referring to is probably the alcohol - I had an interesting discussion with Winemaker Adam Eggins about this, as it's been steadily increasing 0.5% the last three vintages. The 2002 had a terrible amount of mouthwash characters on the palate - frankly the 14.5% is way too much in this case.

Hi Good Peoples,

Its that time of the week again; my pick of the week was an inexpensive surprise.

Sevenhill 1994 Shiraz

Why did I sacrifice all these so early?

If you tried the 1994 Lengs & Cooter Clare Shiraz you'd know why. It's not quite dead yet, but well into it's final spiral down the crevasse to oblivion. Sometimes these can be a bit of a craps-shoot: good to see you got a winner on this one!

Cheers
Ian

Still working too many nights and can't line my nights off up against my tasting comrades. These are brief thoughts only. Anyway, notes have already been done on some.

Has anyone opened their allocation of the Red Nectar Shiraz or Cabernet? I am hoping to line up the troops for Tuesday night to check one out. Any suggestions on which one it should be?


Tintara Cellars Shiraz 1998

Opened up OK and drank well for about an hour and then started to fall away. One of those drinks that you donÂ’t waste a lot of time on. It wonÂ’t get any better.


OÂ’Leary Walker Shiraz 2003

I just love this stuff. For around $17 it is one of the best.


Yalumba Octavius 2001

This was just a small sample of the wine from the distributor. It is very young but over a couple of hours it became a very drinkable wine. Looks like a good one without being the oaktavius of recent vintages.


Bru 4 U (New company name) Striped Pils 4 June 2005

Great after work palate cleanser. Nice mildly hoppy drop.

Graham

MITCHELTON PRINT SHIRAZ 1991 - Lovely deep set berry fruit flavours with a touch of spice and great complexity. Tannins are softened but still let you know they are there. A pleasure to drink and showed much more life than the last bottle I had 2 months ago. Perhaps that one was a slight dud as this one was delicious. Rated as Excellent.

PETER LEHMANN MENTOR 1996 - The Mentor has never dissapointed me in the past and this wine was no exception. Very rich chocolate and blackcurrant flavours and a good wack of oak. Tannins a tad harsh on the finish but think they will soften enough with time as there is reasonable balance there. Not as delicious as the lovely 94 Mentor at the same age but was still a great match with last nights roast leg o lamb and a very enjoyable drop. Rated as Highly Recommened.

94 Chambers tokay

Best wine I've seen this year.
Golden honey in colour with still a touch of green.
Nose of honey toast figs and apricots.
Palate incredibly well balanced with rich luxuriant mouthfeel and the faintest touch of VA which just balances the sugar and dries out the finish.
Opened 14 bottles and nosed them all.

All Fresh and excellent.
Cheers
Smithy

Just savoring one of the last glasses in a bottle of 1998 De Loach Zinfandel Russian River Valley, Barbieri Ranch. Bought for $17.99USD at a Zinfandel tasting and I should probably try to find the original TN because this is quite a nice little wine.

Light cherry red with a distinct orange edge. It has a pronounced developed bouquet of stew quince against a background cola note, opening to fruitcake, licorice and molasses. Full bodied and very well balanced with a good core of tannins and clean acidity. The flavors carry wonderfully onto the palate for a lengthy finish.

Opened on Friday night, the remaining half bottle has been sitting under vacuum until tonight (Sunday). It is still rich and layered in complexity, almost rancio in character. A delight! With cheese it seems softer and suppler than on opening but still with pleasant acidity and a lengthy finish. If Miranda doesnÂ’t get back from her conference real soon I might not be able to save her any of this! 2, 2, 4.4, 10.4 = 18.8, 94/100, 15.5% alcohol. Tasted June 10-12, 2005.

Mike

GrahamB wrote:Still working too many nights and can't line my nights off up against my tasting comrades. These are brief thoughts only. Anyway, notes have already been done on some.

Has anyone opened their allocation of the Red Nectar Shiraz or Cabernet? I am hoping to line up the troops for Tuesday night to check one out. Any suggestions on which one it should be?

Graham

Well, except for Shiraz from the previous vintage, mine are sitting in Dubbo, NSW. So I'd like to hear about both, but my preference would be for the Cab.

Mike

All drunk with meals and company, so not analysed very thoroughly.

2004 Tahbilk Roussanne (Nagambie)(screwcap) $11
From the CD a few months ago, and the second bottle we've tried. Has a broad similarity to the better-known Marsanne, but is more stony, flinty and mineral-like. Moderately fresh acid, bone-dry, and a light yet persistent finish that's just a tiny bit thick (compared to the crystal clear Evans & Tate Clissoc Dry White that preceded it). Interesting, and good value

1999 Panorama Pinot Noir (Cygnet, Sth Tasmania)
Pale red with a distinct hint of onion-skin. No primary fruit left here at all; developed, earthy, verging on a bilgey aromas. The palate is not too thin yet; this is drinkable (better with food) but not showing much interest. The 2003 at CD last Christmas with very good - it's a bit alarming to see what it might become...

Some other modest wines were disappointing - a 2003 Yalumba Shiraz had, despite a promisingly dark colour, a very stewed macerated taste with that mix of over/under-ripe qualities and harsh oak. A 2000 Jamiesons Run Cab/Shiraz Merlot (Coonawarra) was better, the components all melding together in a gentle cool mouthful of smooth, if undemanding, wine.

cheers,
Graeme