The Auswine Forum

..... I still hate *%&@ corks.

Three bottles ruined by tree bark plugs in three nights! The first, on Thursday night, a Hardys 1995 Eileen Shiraz had a little bit of a bottle stink upon opening, but I was fairly sure that underneath that smell there was also some cork taint. Half an hour in a decanter and it was obvious, the fruit had been stripped a little and the balance of the wine was all wrong. Three out of the nine bottles of 1995 Eileen is that I have opened have been corked!

The second pi$$ed me off even more. When I visited Buller's at the end of last year, Andrew was kind enough to give me two bottles of Sparkling Shiraz to review side-by-side. The first bottle was their last release, and the second bottle was a new curve that was just being released. I open the all the wine and it was fine, but the new release was absolutely rank with taint, so whilst I could enjoy drinking the all the bottle, I couldn't do the comparison.

The third dud bottle was opened last night. It was a bottle of Roger's Marius 2000 Shiraz and as soon as the cork came out of the bottle I suspected problems. The cork could not sprung back properly and had leaked three quarters of the way up. One sip revealed the wine was fairly badly oxidised!

The wine I did enjoy last night was a Burge Family 2001 Drycott Shiraz.. This wine is right in its peak drinking window and most enjoyable. Tannins have resolved well and the fruit is doing all the talking. Plums, spice, pepper and blackberry, flavours are what to expect in this sort of wine, and I was surprised to find a lot of leathery, animal hide type characters as well. As this was a particularly hot vintage, I don't think this wine will last more than another few years has the fruit is just starting to show signs of drying out. Rated as Highly Recommended, it was beautiful with my rare roast rack-off lamb that had been baked in a chutney sauce.

Now what have you guys been drinking?

1976 Michael Schäfer Burg-Layer Johannisberg Scheurebe

The (long) cork on this had a fair amount of mould on the top, but it came out in one and though obviously soaked right through and a rich caramel colour, the initial nose of the wine suggested it was still in fine shape.

The wine is a bright amber colour, clear, but with some crystallisation in the bottle and on the bottom of the cork.

The nose is rich with dominant syrupy apricot. I think there's a very subtle savoury note, but it's very fleeting and I can't place it. The same apricot taste comes through strongly on the palate together with a touch of Mandarin, lemon, pineapple and a hint of orange zest. These subtle variations kept the interest right to the last (I find some dessert wines can feel a bit samey towards the end of the first glass). The acidity and sweetness are both prominent, but beautifully balanced with the richness of the fruit. The finish is long and it's here that the acidity feels just right and gives it a wonderful freshness.

I've never had this grape (Scheurebe) before, but I'd read that it can age well. On this evidence I'd agree (though I'm sure the vintage - 1976, helped significantly). I couldn't see it getting any better, but then any more would be greedy!

A great wine (for not very much money!) and even went very well with *Morrocan spiced Haddock and Mashed squash with NZ pepper rub.

Ian

* Even one of my more ambitious meals came out really well tonight - maybe I should buy a lottery ticket

TORB wrote:..... I still hate *%&@ corks.

The third dud bottle was opened last night. It was a bottle of Roger's Marius 2000 Shiraz and as soon as the cork came out of the bottle I suspected problems. The cork could not sprung back properly and had leaked three quarters of the way up. One sip revealed the wine was fairly badly oxidised!

Sorry about that, Ric, I owe you one.

Although we didn't have many problems with our corks I feel much more comfortable since we moved to screwcaps.

Cheers,
Roger

Only one for the week. The Rockford's 99 disgorgement Black Shiraz. Though better than the last, with more fruit in evidence, it's still an average disgorgement IMHO. Professionally cellared but still a leaker.

3 days of 40 degrees plus in Adelaide and doing a bit of cycling this week following the Jacobs Creek Tour Down Under has meant a quiet wine week. However did enjoy the wines below last night. I dislike air conditioning so avoided dry reds as I'm yet to turn the Fujitsu on despite the heat !

2004 Petaluma Viognier Adelaide Hills ( $35 ) : nice calm expression of Viognier. Good match with Chinese white cooked chicken from the Cooks Companion ( pp 213 1st edition ). This had an amazingly long cork as well.

2004 Chivite Gran Fuedo Rosado Navarra Spain ( $11 ) : nice dry food friendly rose from Spain. Good value. Nice with feta and watermelon on a hot night.

2002 Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz ( $15 ) : this is how you can get your red wine on a hot day. Chilled nicely and even put the Reidel sparkling glasses in the freezer ! This was sealed with a crown seal. Pleasant good value and reckon might get a case for the cellar.

One of our local non-grocers has some Mamre Brook C/S available for $20.

We bought some 02 and a bottle of the 01 to check out.

The 01 is drinking very well at the moment so if you have some socked away, try a bottle. Veerrryyy nice.

Graham

GrahamB wrote:One of our local non-grocers has some Mamre Brook C/S available for $20.

We bought some 02 and a bottle of the 01 to check out.

The 01 is drinking very well at the moment so if you have some socked away, try a bottle. Veerrryyy nice.

Graham

Agree Graham. I had an 01 a couple of months back and was quite suprised. Very good for the price.

Kaesler WOMS 2002.
Fantastic wine ... Wow factor in spades ... mouth filling tannins are alost fizzing in the mouth, but they are ripe and delicious. Layer on layer of fruit. Great length. In ten years this will still be a baby.

For me, what I dream of in a Shiraz/Cab (or vice versa). Love the complexity it offers over and above Shiraz: few straight Cabs push my buttons these days. -- Jay

Cape Mentelle Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2005 - absolute pearler - packed with intensity, complexity and with palate weight befitting a wine many times the price (around $20)

Mitolo Jester Sangiovese Rose - takes a lot for me to order a rose! 40 degrees plus did it. Darker and with more substance than any rose I can remember, plenty of savoury spicy fruit, excellent with spaghettini.

Andrew Harris The Vision Shiraz Cabernet 2003 - allegedly the flagship red from this producer - disappointing, lacking backbone and interest. Seemed like a toy wine.

Zema Family Selection Cabernet 1993 - from ideal cellaring conditions - showing little in the way of secondary development - a "serious" cab, leafy, herbaceous and austere; hoped it would mellow out by next day, but no - hint of bitterness on the rear palate.

Chateau Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes 1997 - unctuous, sweet, some botrytis evident, but somehow lacking that indefinable French sauternes magic that I seek; on par with almost any Oz dessert wine, maybe better/more complex in a decade's time

Jay,

I agree - its one of the best young Aussie wines I've had in the past few years, and I know AJ concurs. I regret not having bought more.

Mike

Mark S wrote:Zema Family Selection Cabernet 1993 - from ideal cellaring conditions - showing little in the way of secondary development - a "serious" cab, leafy, herbaceous and austere; hoped it would mellow out by next day, but no - hint of bitterness on the rear palate.

The ways the Zemas develop - or more accurately just plateau and hold is amazing; and 93 was a crappy vintage too.

Jay60A wrote:Kaesler WOMS 2002.
Fantastic wine ... Wow factor in spades ... mouth filling tannins are alost fizzing in the mouth, but they are ripe and delicious. Layer on layer of fruit. Great length. In ten years this will still be a baby.

Jay,

Definitely agree with you on this wine. Wonderful stuff and appropriately named! Looking forward to the 2004 and 2005 releases of this wine.

1999 Turkey Flat Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine opened with a very funky nose. Some crusting of sediment on the neck of the bottle was evident in the bottle. Left for 30 minutes and the funkiness had dissipated somewhat, but was still there in the background, and had been replaced with mint and weak berry aromas. The palate was a bit all over the place too. Not much of a finish and it appeared very unbalanced. Very disappointing overall as I had a bottle of this back in March '05 which was thoroughly enjoyable. Maybe a bad bottle? Hopefully so. I have one more left which I will try in the next 6 months.

2001 Pertaringa Shiraz Over the Top
Medium to dark colour. Dark fruit on the nose paired with some toasty oak as well. Palate continues with the dark fruit theme, plums and blackcurrant. Good use of oak, not overly done. Finish is medium length. A well balanced wine with smooth, silk tannins. Probably has peaked but has a few more years in it yet. A nice wine, but nothing earth shattering here. For the price can definitely find better bargains out there. Not quite sure why I purchased this?

2004 Woodlands Cabernet-Merlot
As reported before, great MR cabernet blend at a fantastic price. Still going strong. Drunk over 2 nights and the 2nd night it had definitely softened. Drink over the next 5 years.

2002 Kilikanoon Grenache Prodigal
Had this over dinner with friends. Not decantered. Deep purple in colour. Nose and palate consisted of rich berry fruit, chocolate and spice. Very smooth, soft wine with silky tannins and a medium to long finish, and with 15% alcohol no heat detected. Not overly complex but for the price you cannot complain. Probably will not improve but has a few more years of life in it before it starts to decline. Very good.

Is the 04 WOMS due for release this year or next?

platinum wrote:Is the 04 WOMS due for release this year or next?

This year, date unknown as yet. (At least by me)

Managed to get through a few this week due to lots of going out.

00 Wild Duck Creek Alan's Cabernet Some mould on the cork which prompted me to chose it, just in case. On opening there was some leakage through the cork and it came out easily. This was slighltly oxidised but there was definitely plenty of good fruit underneath. It was drinkable, so we drank it but it was just a bit muted and musty but we could tell what we were missing out on. Some nice blackcurrent, rich fruit there.

04 (maybe 03) Sandleford Cab Merlot Emminently quaffable but nothing really special going on here. Some mild tannins but I found it a little straighforward.

Laurent Perrier NV Champagne Very pleasantly surprised by this one. Not a brand I usually buy but it had everything you could want in a champagne. Nice fine bead, pale colour, lovely yeasty taste with gorgeous honey nuances throughout. Good stuff.

Lanson NV Rose Champagne A bit more savoury than the LP. Definitely pinker! Still has a subtle sweet flavour and nice yeasty, toasty characterisics. Lovely champagne too.

00 Torbreck The Steading This is the Grenache, mataro, shiraz blend (from memory, which admittedly is very dodgy). Still a deep red but felt a it feral and mousey after the clean lines of the champagne. Earthy, mushroom undertones and while I usually enjoy this, it really wasn't doing it for me tonight for some reason. Maybe it was slightly corked as I don't remember it as being so earthy although it wasn't earthy in a corked way.

96 E & E Back Pepper Shiraz I've been sitting on a small pile of these for some time and have been waiting for the opporunity to start drinking them. Well, it's drinking time now. This was stunning. WOTN and week and year, so far. Still a very dark colour. Actual colour a bit hard to tell due to the dark restaurant but there wasn't any seeing through it that's for sure, not even on the rim. Glorious nose of plums and black fruits. On the palate, it's like some rich soup with stunning delth and masses of flavours. Chocolate, vanilla, plums, blackberries, licorice but no black pepper. On the sweet side if anything but like essence of wine. Absolutely mouthfilling and round, with a wonderful finish. Tannins fully integrated and many gasps and sighs were heard around the table. A complete wine. Right at the peak of it's drinking but no worries about lasting another three to five years. Seriously fine stuff.

96 Penfolds Bin 389 Shiraz Cabernet I was expecting this to be the wine of the night but it was completely overshadowed by the Black Pepper unfortunately. Felt a little dull, flat and under developed alongside the Black Pepper. While technically all there and all good, it just didn't jump out of the glass like the Black Pepper. Was good with cheese and would also stand up well against a good steak, I might leave it another year before I try my next one. Or maybe I should try it by itself one night or something. I have cases of this and know its a great wine.

02 De Bortoli Noble One (from 750 ml bottle) Every faithful noble One. This bottle actually disappeared quicker than the Black Pepper. Still a bright golden colour with apricots and honey on the nose. Nice rich texture and not cloying at all. More honey, apricots, toffee ending with a long finish. Ever popular and for very good reason.

At the Symphony in the domain on Saturday my usual summer quaffers:

05 Cloudy Bay Savignon Blanc Half a bottle left over from earlier in the week. Maybe a little oxidised but still sprightly, zippy and with passionfruit zing.

05 Rockford Alicante Bouchet First bottle of the 05 and very similar to the 04. Summer in a bottle. Fresh, zingy, apricots, flowers, quite sweet but in a fresh way. Great summer quaffer as always.

Tummy bug this week so not much drinking

2001 Bleasdale Mulberry Tree Cab Sav
Menthol and some leafy characters on the nose, palate was a bit disjointed. Not a bad quaffer but shows the signs of a tought vintage.

2003 Thorn Clarke Sandpiper
Didn't get to try much of this as I was felling pretty crook. The bottle was long gone before I recovered the next day. From the small taste I had not a bad quaffer.

1 Dud cork in a Lehmans clare shiraz

Glen

Voyager Estate Shiraz 2004
Nice crimson colour with aromas of dark fruit & berries on the nose. Quite soft on the palate with the tannins finishing long & fine. Tasted a little sweeter/riper ? than the 03 from memory. Paid about $22 for it and at that price a pretty nice wine that should drink well over the next few years

Turkey Flat Shiraz 1998
Was given this as a gift by a friend at Christmas and while i was planning to hold on to it for a while i couldn't resist Strange kinda funky smell on opening but after about an hour this blew off and started to show deep rich plummy fruit & a hint of oak. Plenty of fruit on the palate and just starting to develop some secondary characteristics finishing nice & long. Drinking very nicely now for my taste although i'd like to come back to a bottle in a couple more years.. Langtons here i come !

bacchaebabe wrote:96 E & E Back Pepper Shiraz I've been sitting on a small pile of these for some time and have been waiting for the opporunity to start drinking them. Well, it's drinking time now. This was stunning. WOTN and week and year, so far. Still a very dark colour. Actual colour a bit hard to tell due to the dark restaurant but there wasn't any seeing through it that's for sure, not even on the rim. Glorious nose of plums and black fruits. On the palate, it's like some rich soup with stunning delth and masses of flavours. Chocolate, vanilla, plums, blackberries, licorice but no black pepper. On the sweet side if anything but like essence of wine. Absolutely mouthfilling and round, with a wonderful finish. Tannins fully integrated and many gasps and sighs were heard around the table. A complete wine. Right at the peak of it's drinking but no worries about lasting another three to five years. Seriously fine stuff.

Agreed. This is a fantastic wine, every person I have opened a bottle of this for has been floored and absolutely loved it. I have just grabbed another 6 pack for myself, perhaps I should have made it a dozen... hmmm