The Auswine Forum

Thanks for the notes (I gave up writing after wine number 5). My take on a few things.

I found the Dead Arm quite closed in comparison to when I last tasted it (about 1 year ago), but I sort of expected this; I would not touch this again for at least another 5 years.

I definitely see where you are coming from with pegging the Domaine A as a pinot; I got a really violetty character from it, along with a lot of blackcurrant pastilles.

This was my first experience of a Basket Press with any age, and it was not what I expected (not actually sure what I expected!). I found it a bit tarry with some griottine cherry and shoe polish notes. I also found it a little hot and volatile. I really want to taste this again at my leisure to try to understand it.

The CDP was lovely with its flavours of Ying Chow Aniseed Tea Duck, chocolate dipped raspberries and those fine emery like tannins.

I found the Hamilton more an interesting curio than enjoyable. A little bit too much mouse slathered in tomato sauce for my liking.

The '82 Potensac looked pleasant, though was not as good as the bottle I took to the Cos offline earlier this year (just found another bottle of this in my cellar ).

Come to the conclusion that Irvine wines just do not float my boat. Oh well, more for the rest of you.

All in all a fun night and very educational for someone like me, who has a very Old World palate.

By the way I definitely do not agree that it would have been good to hold back on the second Egly and opened the Red Sparkler instead... we should have opened the red as well!

Very nice to meet you all and enjoy some top wines.

I really enjoyed the Ice Wine and the Grand Merlot.

Too bad the Meschach was corked. That would have been a excellent vintage.

The 97 Basket Press was good , but I have enjoyed the 91 & 94 recently.

And one of my top wines ever would be the 84 Rockford Dry Red Pressings.

And of course the 01 Dead Arm yum.

Cheers Martin

Ah Martin, nice to see you posting again after a two year stint at lurking!

1-45am, bet you had a bottle of something open at that time of the morning, might have been the reason for the post.

I had a great night at the offline, excellent range of wines, good to meet several new forumites and put faces to names.

Rudy was very kind and left behind a 2003 Rockford Sparkling Black Shiraz for us to have later! It's residing comfortably in my cellar with the Kaesler Old Vine that Wizz left me! Gotta love those Queenslanders.

707 wrote:Rudy was very kind and left behind a 2003 Rockford Sparkling Black Shiraz for us to have later! It's residing comfortably in my cellar with the Kaesler Old Vine that Wizz left me! Gotta love those Queenslanders.

Rudy wrote:

707 wrote:Rudy was very kind and left behind a 2003 Rockford Sparkling Black Shiraz for us to have later! It's residing comfortably in my cellar with the Kaesler Old Vine that Wizz left me! Gotta love those Queenslanders.

Any hope I had of getting back to Adelaide is shot to hell. We sold or gas business, and the two windfarms are, well, interesting things to own, at best!

If I was smart I'd have asked Rudy to bring the Kaesler back. If I was smart, that is...

Wizz/Rory, when you next buy from Gavin, I could always leave the bottle with him to go in your case of 11.

Gavin, sorry about losing you the potential sale of a bottle

Sorry about the extended delay, but finally some more tasting notes has trickled out from my backlog.

Elgy-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru Champagne NV: Bright straw colour with a steady, fine bead. A fresh and complex nose, with toasty/ bread biscuit notes and a hint of candied orange. I found the palate in comparison a tad dry without the creaminess I would have expected, with high-acid stonefruit to the fore and a hint of butter far off in the distance, finishing dry with a hint of sweet candy.

1982 Chateau Potensac Medoc Cru Bourgeois: Very dark red/brick colour. Wonderful developed characters of grilled nuts/bread dough, pepper and spices at first on the nose, matched by reserved earthy/spicy raspberry fruit on the beautiful silky palate. This was far more developed than Nayan’s last bottle at the Cos offline earlier this year, immediately hitting stride on opening but falling apart with terrible brett characters at the very end of the night. Something comes to mind here about great bottles … and timing.

1983 Chateau Potensac Medoc Cru Bourgeois: Dark red/brick colour. Opening with green/damp earth this was suspect from the start, but amazingly still managed to throw some shoe polish/varnish, grilled nut and banana characters with a lot of coaxing. The palate unfortunately confirmed our first suspicions, with a sharp/green entry, shallow fruit and a musty finish. The 1983 vintage has a poor reputation compared with the 1982, and yet I got the feeling this could have been something if it wasn’t for that damn cork.

1997 Rockford Basket Press Barossa Shiraz: Dark blood red colour. An amazingly ripe nose in this group of wines with maraschino cherries and boot polish, followed by some VA/crushed ants with breathing. The mid-weight palate again seems to be too ripe and sickly sweet for a BP (well, compared to that 1991 magnum we had at Cos) finishing short and slightly hot. I was looking at a 1997 magnum at auction, but on this form I’ll pass.

2000 Domaine Ponteficial Rhone Valley Chateauneuf de Pape: Dark red colour. Another radical change in style here, opening with powerful aromas of beef stock cubes that dictated the nose, slowly evolving to reveal subtle hints of star anise, violets, fennel, fried herbs and then mineral characters. The palate’s just as stocky/savoury/grungy, with a soft mouthfilling structure and tannins that became more powdery with breathing. I really liked this – one of my favourites.

1998 Richard Hamilton Marion Vineyard Grenache Shiraz: Medium red/brick colour, markedly lighter than the CDP. Disturbing initial whiffs of dry leather/varnish characters – at first I thought it may have been oxidized, but it did quickly settle down to produce equally disturbing metallic/dead mouse characters. The palate opened a little better with savoury/smoked deli meats and some bacon characters, but again those terrible rodent characters weren’t far away. Mike thought this was typical of the label and yet it’s nothing like my previous bottles of the 1998 and 1997, which were superb – this was pure uncensored Brett in a bottle.

2001 d’Arenberg Dead Arm McLaren Vale Shiraz: Inky crimson colour. Quite closed at first, gradually revealing some coffee, mint, toasted nuts and some liniment characters. The palate was a big step up on the preceding wines, featuring very ripe raspberry fruit meshed to a big tannin structure; this was primary and elemental, and needed the extra breathing time the initial (corked) bottle received to really start strutting.

2000 Domaine A Coal River Tasmania Cabernet Sauvignon: I had given this a double decant through a breatheasy and an hour in a Zerrutti turn decanter prior to leaving for the dinner. Very inky red/purple colour with a glowing purple hue. This was wonderfully open from the first pour thanks to the decant, an exotic perfumed mix of florals, cassis, cinnamon, cloves and even a hint of some freshly picked parsley. In contrast the fruit on the palate was well and truly buried under the huge, brawny and chalky structure. While I found this was a big step up in power and extract to the Stoney Ridge, I found it less integrated and enjoyable; maybe it’s over-oaked, maybe it needs a lot more time, or maybe as Steve suggested I’m just being too damn fussy.

1991 Grant Burge Meshach Barossa Shiraz: Corked.

1999 Irvine Eden Valley Grand Merlot: Not much has changed in the space of the two plus years since this re-defined what I come to expect from an Australian Merlot. Inky red/purple colour. The bouquet is very slight, reserved and yet complex with those subtle nutty aromas matched to clean red berry fruit really drawing my full attention. After a subtle entry the palate slowly built a massive concentration of ripe cherry/plum fruit equally matched to brawny/chewy tannins, finishing stunningly long. My WOTN and it’s still my benchmark for Australian Merlot.

Irvine The Baroness: Very inky red/purple colour. In contrast to the Grand Merlot I found the nose on this quite forward, spirity and oaky, with char/dark toast, coffee and vanilla. I found the palate very unusual as it was almost split into three distinct phases: the creamy vanilla oak was very obvious on the entry, followed by ripe/chewy plum/cherry fruit on the mid-palate, and finishing long with dry/smoky tannins. Trying it simultaneously with the Grand Merlot really highlighted the similarities and differences of the siblings, but it probably didn’t do the wine any real favours either.

1998 Murdock Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon: This was closed tight at first, slowly releasing hints of greens, capsicum and some asparagus, gradually becoming very complex with grilled nuts, dried herbs, and finally some cloves and cinnamon. The palate combines a great balance of dark/chewy blackcurrant fruit and a hint of mint, and yet was dwarfed by the size and power of the Domaine A; this was a lot more impressive out of it’s sizable shadow.

Inniskillin Niagara Canada Vidal Gold Reserve Ice Wine: Glowing golden colour. Gorgeous, fresh, young sticky characters of apricots and lemon/citrus; the rich mango palate was thick with a perfect balance of sweetness, acidity and viscosity.

1999 The Wilson Vineyard Leucothea Clare Valley Fortified Gewurztraminer: Dark yellow/straw colour. This was a radical departure from the surrounding dessert wines, with spiced white grapes and spirit on the nose, and rich nutty rancio/butterscotch lingering on the palate. While I found Wilson’s Fortified Zinfandel too freaky for my liking this one seemed to hit the spot, although it’s not for the faint hearted!

2002 Mount Horricks Cordon Cut Clare Valley Late-Harvest Riesling: Bright orange/yellow colour. Bright waxy citrus/marmalade characters on the nose, and relatively simple sweet apricot nectar on the palate, lacking the lush class of the Inniskillin and the oomph of the Wilson.

Thanks to everyone making this a great night and supplying a rather diverse range of quality wines, and of course Malcolm & Co. at Casa Mia for the fantastic food, service and glasses (that I neglected to ask everyone to bring with any decent notice). I’m glad everyone enjoyed this as much as I did, and I look forward to catching up with you guys for the next one soon.

Cheers
Ian

I think that the 97 Rockford is not representative of the standard of most basket Presses. The other poor wine is 95. But the good years make up for the poor years.
Bruce

Brucer wrote:I think that the 97 Rockford is not representative of the standard of most basket Presses. The other poor wine is 95. But the good years make up for the poor years.
Bruce

Hi Bruce

Whilst the 95 and 97 BPs aren't up to the same standard as 96, 98 & 99 - I wouldn't say they were poor wines. The bottle that night was a relative dud - relative to other 97 BPs I've tried and the other wines that night. I've had some lovely 97s and 95s.

Cheers Mark

Rudy wrote:

Brucer wrote:I think that the 97 Rockford is not representative of the standard of most basket Presses. The other poor wine is 95. But the good years make up for the poor years.
Bruce

Hi Bruce

Whilst the 95 and 97 BPs aren't up to the same standard as 96, 98 & 99 - I wouldn't say they were poor wines. The bottle that night was a relative dud - relative to other 97 BPs I've tried and the other wines that night. I've had some lovely 97s and 95s.

Cheers Mark

I would say the '95 and '97s are different to the other mentioned above, not necessarily inferior. It depends what you look for in a Barossa Shiraz...