The Auswine Forum

Hi Good Peoples,

Time for your weekly drinking reports.

Schubert Estate 2004 Goose-yard Block Shiraz.

The wine was decantered to two hours prior to assessment and consumed over the next four, so I got a good look at it. A very youthful bouquet showing excellent complexity; whilst its primarily off-sweet in nature, there is a secondary layer of sweet aromas running below with scents of blackberry, cedar liquorice, vanilla, with a hint of mint/ menthol and a reasonable amount of chocolate. The youthful acid, deeply-seated killer fruit and dusty tannins are impeccably-balanced; sheer perfection. Palate flavours are primarily off-sweet with plum type taste, abundant violets, chocolate, coffee and a touch of pepper; as the wine opened further the pepper gave way to loads of graphite, liquorice spicy oak and nutmeg; the complexity is fantastic. A full-bodied wine with excellent power and persistent but it still retains a modicum of elegance and certainly has some loads of class. Rated as Excellent with *** for value, the rating should improve the wine matures. An absolutely glorious wine and the worst possible case of vininfanticide, but it's already showing signs of harmony: by I don't mean that it's necessarily easy to drink, but just everything is in perfect proportion, and although approachable now, it will definitely improve with another few years in the bottle.

Now what have you guys been drinking?

Had 2 bottles of the Leasingham 1998 Bin 61 this week, the second because I was concerned about the way the 1st was developing. Unfortunately the 2nd bottle was the same, heading over the brow of the hill.

Drink em now if you have them cause if yours are like mine they are on the way down and out.

Kilikanoon 2003 Blocks Road Cabernet, huge fruit and while drinking very easily right now will benefit from a few years rest.

Kilikanoon Medley 2003 GSM (previously known as Siblings), a sensational version of this blend, masses of sweet black fruit with lovely ginger spiciness from the mataro. Right up there with the Heinrich and Moppa Springs for mine.

Rosa Brook Shiraz 1998, just OK, if you've got any drink up now.

Peter Lehman Barossa Shiraz 1998, I wish I had bought more of these, this wine is singing right now and has come together beautifully. Probably will go for a few more years but why wait, drink now while they are red hot.

I knocked off a 02 Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cab last night and was pleasantly surprised, quite refined for a $12 red - it has definately improved over the last year - made stag party, poker and kfc much more sophisticated!!

no sign of the usual cheap and cheerful crappy syrupy charry oak that so many cheap aussie reds are inflicted with

well done penfolds

Craig(NZ) wrote:well done penfolds

Just recovering from a mild heart attack. I never, ever, thought I'd see this posted by you Craig, at least without a level of sarcasm that is.

This weekend:

2002 Eileen Hardy Chardonnay - very Aussie chard. Stonefruit and butterscotch. My first from the label. Could need some more time.
2001 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling - another virgin label experience for me. Slight whiff of kero on the nose, along with talc and lime zest. Drinking very well.
1999 Ingolby Shiraz - agreeable crowd pleaser that was the pick of half a dozen quaffing reds at a party.
2000 Winstead Pinot Noir - Tassie pinot made in miniscule quantities. Great nose of briary forest aromas and liqueur cherry. Wonderful texture; not thick and velvety, but delicate and elegant. In balance and peaking right now with 18-24 months up its sleeve.
2005 Felton Road Riesling - lots of acid, lots of sugar, lots of fruit. Big Otago riesling that will benefit from five years in the cellar.
2001 Chateau Guiraud Sauternes (to come..)

Cheers,

Davo wrote:Peter Lehman Barossa Shiraz 1998, I wish I had bought more of these, this wine is singing right now and has come together beautifully. Probably will go for a few more years but why wait, drink now while they are red hot.

Davo,

Thanks for the note. Have a few of these left in the cellar so might crack one very soon.

A fine week of drinking for us this week:

2002 Kilikanoon Cabernet Sauvignon Block's Road
Deep red in colour, didn't have a chance to decant this wine, but it did manage to get some air-time sitting in the glass over dinner. However, it did get better as the night progressed so definitely decant this wine if you have a chance. Beautiful aromas of blackberry rose from the glass. The palate was distinctively Clare cabernet, elegant blackcurrant fruit with some earthy undertones thrown in for good measure, well supported with good oak use. Finished with mouth-coating, flavoursome finely grained tannins. A very nice long finish with plenty of depth and texture. Overall a very balanced wine that will get better and gain complexity with some bottle age. Drink over the next 6 years with confidence.

2003 Torzi Matthews Shiraz Frost Dodger
Screwcap. Deep purple in colour this wine exhibted strong aromas of sweet dark fruit straight out of the bottle. The palate continued with the sweet fruit theme, blackberry, plums, with hints of spice in the background. Very elegant and definitely cannot be compared to a super-charged Barossa shiraz. Very balanced and a nice wine but to my tastes seems a bit boring. A wine that gets you ready for the knock-out punch with its alluring nose and initial mouth feel, but after that it seems to flounder. Maybe I need to give it some more time in the bottle to gain a bit more weigth and complexity? For the price, I feel there is better value out there.

1998 Peter Lehmann Cabernet Sauvignon The Barossa
Drinking well but this wine has definitely peaked and compared to the last bottle we had, the fruit is unfortunately fading in this wine. If you have some, definitely try a bottle soon!

1998 Yalumba Sparkling Shiraz D Black
Showing some age on the palate but still very enjoyable. Good bead and wonderful flavour and length. Not as sweet as some sparkling shiraz on the market, in fact more upfront savoury flavours with some fruit coming through in the background. Definitely has peaked but has a few more years in it I feel. Very good.

2003 Woodlands Cabernet-Merlot Margaret Reserve
Decanted for 2 hours prior to consumption and boy did it need it. This wine was still opening up in the glass when first poured and the nose was nearly non-existent. But after a while in the glass the wine began to open up with dusty, earthy aromas followed by fruit aromas of black currant and berries. A very rich but tight wine with elegant flavours of spice, berry and black fruit intermingled with good oak use. The finish is long and complex with firm, ripe tannins concluding an altogether wonderful experience. A bit tight at the moment, this wine will only improve with some time in the cellar. This wine, along with the 'Kevin' and their entry level Cabernet Merlot, is a fine 3-pronged red attack for this winery and all three wines are definitely worth some room in your cellar if you are a lover of WA cabernet. Another winner from Woodlands.

Wow, purple man! Lurve the purple, although maybe could be a bit deeper, like the Roman toga kind of thing. Anyway, enough dribbling, onto the vino:

Chateau Citran, 1989, Cru Bourgeois, Haut-Medoc, France.

Decanted gently. Initial nose of leather, sweaty leather and smoke and not much sign of fruit. Left for a while to aerate. A half hour later, deep black fruit (blackcurrant) and smoked bacon on the nose. The palate has a little blackcurrant with some mint and tannins are fully resolved. After a couple of hours some licorice, red fruit and a hint of tar start to appear on the palate. Perhaps a bit past it but worth a punt out of curiosity.

Talajancich Graciano, 2004, Swan Valley, Western Australia.

Just the second vintage these guys have produced of this grape (they do tempranillo also, which is currently first vintage). Ruby red centre to pale red rim. Chocolate, tar, herbs and red cherry dominate the nose. In the mouth, tannins are soft and fruit is dark and black, fruit is definitely warm climate although not too overt and with some savouriness. Good firm tannins, lots of mintiness and redcurrant/cranberry flavours with a touch of dark chocolate. Not bad for an early effort, although the vines are apparently quite old (I think I was told 25 years plus at the winery – somewhat vague recollection though!).

Briarose Estate Cabernet Merlot, 2001, Margaret River, Western Australia

Not decanted. Deep red centre to pale red rim although without signs of aging. On the nose, very earthy, along with more classic cedarwood plus some spice and cassis. In the mouth, good savoury blackcurrant fruit (although still New World in style, fruit is not sweet) with soft tannins still present and quite a minty aftertaste. Drinking very nicely now with perhaps a year or two ahead of it.

Sandstone Cabernet Merlot, 2002, Margaret River, Western Australia

Not decanted initially. Dark red centre with slight hints of browning to the rim. Strong tarry nose with moderate aromas of red and blackcurrant fruits. Typical blackcurrant and mint on the palate, along with some white pepper. Tannins seem a little chunky to start with and there is a slightly green, metallic finish to this on the back palate. The acidity seems to stick out a bit at the end too. Decanted at this point and drunk over a few hours. About a half hour after decanting, sweeter blackberry fruits have begun to come up but the acidity still sticks out. Went out for a bit of indoor cricket. On return, mint and brambles on the nose and still blackberry fruit on the palate with maybe a hint of dark chocolate. Doesn’t seem to have evolved much although perhaps the tannins are a little softer. Acidity still way up there though. Still no change the next day either. This is a slightly disappointing bottle as others I have had from the same case have been much more balanced than this.

Alkoomi Frankland River Riesling, 2005, Frankland, Western Australia

Pale yellow with a touch of green in the glass, with a slight spritz when first poured. The nose is quite tight and restrained, although hints of lemon are noticeable and maybe even a touch of orange and honey. After a while, it kinda seems to smell of wet, flinty stones too. The wine is quite mouthfilling, with a citrus-dominated lemony flavour, although combined with a touch of grapefruit and a slight dash of mango almost. The finish is very dry and long, with good acidity and just a hint of roundness coming from the hint of mango on the finish. A lovely riesling and another example of the potential of this grape in the Great Southern region.

Cheers

Dave

Lake's Folly Cabernets 1996

What a surprise!

Great Hunter Cabernet..... Myth...... Not So!

This wine had fantastic structure, oodles of primary fruit and enough complexing factors to make it really interesting.

This is a wine that had avoided me for a while but I was pleasantly surprised.


Howard Park Riesling 2001

Disappointing!

HP Riesling is one of my favourite things in this world. I had a 99 recently that was irresistable.

Enought zesty fruit and biting acid but had quite a harsh phenolic character. Just way too grippy to be as good as I've had from HP.

I hope it improves with age as I have cases of this stuff.

Henschke Mt Edelstone Shiraz 1996- Wow! All class here. Balance & persistance the standout attributes. 93 pts

Rockford Vine Vale Riesling 1999- Drink up. Nice florals, old fashioned and broad. Sweet - lavendar & geranium on strong acids with hints of menthol. Romantic notion is Vine Vale. I am liking it less & less. 86pts.

Rockford Moppa Springs 1998- Rustic and very Barossa. Probably achieved what they had set out to express. Very good and a style that I believe needs more time than most allocate it. 88pts

Rockford Basket Press 1997- First was mildly tainted but the second on song. Ho-hum vintage but this wine was still worth every cent. Sublime, soft Barossa shiraz flavours, reinforces what you have come to love about Rockfords. 90pts.

TORB wrote:Hi Good Peoples,

Time for your weekly drinking reports.

Schubert Estate 2004 Goose-yard Block Shiraz.

The wine was decantered to two hours prior to assessment and consumed over the next four, so I got a good look at it. A very youthful bouquet showing excellent complexity; whilst its primarily off-sweet in nature, there is a secondary layer of sweet aromas running below with scents of blackberry, cedar liquorice, vanilla, with a hint of mint/ menthol and a reasonable amount of chocolate. The youthful acid, deeply-seated killer fruit and dusty tannins are impeccably-balanced; sheer perfection. Palate flavours are primarily off-sweet with plum type taste, abundant violets, chocolate, coffee and a touch of pepper; as the wine opened further the pepper gave way to loads of graphite, liquorice spicy oak and nutmeg; the complexity is fantastic. A full-bodied wine with excellent power and persistent but it still retains a modicum of elegance and certainly has some loads of class. Rated as Excellent with *** for value, the rating should improve the wine matures. An absolutely glorious wine and the worst possible case of vininfanticide, but it's already showing signs of harmony: by I don't mean that it's necessarily easy to drink, but just everything is in perfect proportion, and although approachable now, it will definitely improve with another few years in the bottle.

Now what have you guys been drinking?

Damn fine, ain't it!

Jamiesons Run Reserve Blend 1999 This one was a bonus bottle thrown in with a case buy a while back. Some nice fruit and spices on the nose but the palate had a odd short salty finish. Improved a little the second not but still had a very salty finish.

Leconfield Cab Sav 2000 Bottle given to my wife for her birthday a couple of years ago. Opened for her b'day this week. Very green and leafy mixed with a fair wack a capsicum. Tough vintage but still a pretty poor showing. Improved a little on the second night with some fruit emerging from the salad but still not really to my taste, or Yvette's. Still owe here a b'day dinner so I will dig out something much nicer for that.

Glen

Peter Lehmann 2003 Shiraz
Can't believe only paid $12 for this at my local bottle shop.Thought oak was a bit over the top when first opened and a bit young still.Fruit started to show through with second glass and tannnins softened somewhat so would probably benefit from decanting first.Drinking beautifully now,but has the fruit and backbone to age for a few years.Excellent value for money even when not discounted.

Weekend in Sydney
Dinner at Omega. Good wine list but brought up a Melbourne survival pack which at $10 a bottle BYO was more than fair given Riedel glasses in the Verner Panton white chairs and 2001 Space Odyssey vibe. Very competent service and food and pleasantly without 'tude. Rich food errs on generosity.

Mt Mary Chardonnay 1996
Stunning. Minerals, tightness, quartz. Barely developed colour. long lean and tight. A cracker.
Mt Mary Pinot Noir 1994
Despite a beautiful colour and condition, this was fairly non descript. Declining and lacking opulence and plushness. A mean wine, pejoratively, unfortunately.

Not much art happening in Sydney this moment. Missed the architecture conference and form and function by a week.
Danks Street lunch was fun. Galleries are overrated. Sick of Sav Blanc

deleted

Held a Australia wines dinner in Hong Kong on last week.

Yarrabank Cuvee 1999, 95 pts from Jeremy Oliver, however, really disappointed. If a 95pts Australia sparkling is like that, I think I shouldn't touch any Australia sparkling anymore.


Yalumba The Virgilius Viognier 2002, the first one from the dozen I got couple years ago. Full of papaya on both nose and taste, very creamy and oily, not my style at all. What should I do with those left.....

Petaluma Chardonnay 1990, Didn't expect too much in the begining since Jeremy Oliver said the drinking window past few years ago. However, it is excellent. Very good complexity and a lot of mineral .

Coldstream Hill Reserve Pinot Noir 1998, good to drink but nothing really special, may get better few years later

Parker Coonawarra Estate Merlot 1998, It is excellent and the best Australia merlot I had so far. Good to drink now and will hold for few more years. A bit too sweet in the begining but an hour later, it is very balance. Luckily I still have a dozen in my cellar.

MossWood Cabernet Sauvignon 1988, WOTN, a Bordeaux style wine, excellent but need to drink up in couple years.

Heschke Hill of Grace 1986, not up to our expectation. may be we expected too much. However, it is still a very good wine and very enjoyable to drink now. It should hold for at least another five years.

05 Colstream Hills Pinot Noir - The cherry red of this is not exactly bright but not dull either (it did get a shake on the way home). The nose is not too far from that of the 04 but with a more shear profile of initial rose bush, cherry, and a lovely dustiness balanced with the fruit. On the palate it sums up its cherry plum and rhubarb pie with something that I can only liken to a subtle baked garlic, and a chives bitterness hiding in the background of a good sustain. Hard to define but very interesting. Even if there is something wrong here it is strangely attractive. Should get a 6 pack for variation purposes. 89/100

02 Millbrook Shiraz - Made from Jarrahdale fruit in the hills of Perth this wine has a lovely glow about it, and the pungent aroma... extraordinary! There are bright and playful boysenberries, some more serious black(under)currants and a whisper of muskiness. Very pretty (at first a tad hot but then settling) fruit-sweet wine with the vaguest hint of vanilla/cedar oak over floral plums, dark confected cherry, a ribbon of liquorice, a smidge of spice and someone dropped a redskin in their for a couple of seconds. There would have to about 3% Viognier in this, has to be (bad guesstimate, turns out there is 5%). I've never like Viognier infected wines but this was a very joyful wine, and at a bin end $27 or so, I could do with more. 92/100

On Monday got to finally try this - simply huge and the wine shat all over the lamb pasta I whipped up for dinner. Looking forward to revisiting the wine tonight and seeing how it develops. I'll post subsequent notes as well...

nicked off my poker-and-vino-indulgence www.acehighwine.com

Cape Mentelle Zinfandel 2004 ($51)
More than $30 • Red • Australian • Full-bodied • Screwcap
Max Veenhuyzen at 12:08 am on Tuesday, April 4, 2006

The plan was to crack this open with my Kiwi friends in Fiji but after witnessing them struggle with a relatively middle-weight five-year old cab sav from the Barossa, I decided that this wine would be a little too much for them. In hindsight, I must say I’m pretty happy with my decision and dread to think what would have happened had a splash of this red monster landed on their fush-and-chups seasoned palates. Approaching a young Cape Mentelle Zindandel is a daunting prospect and apart from blue-to-rare steak, I can’t think of too many foods with the mettle and flavour to stand up to arguably Australia’s most famous Zin – perhaps if I was dining with T Rexes they could suggest something? But simply put, this wine is an exercise in power and concentration; its pedigree is unmistakable from the very start: elements of charcoal, spice and pepper wrapping themselves around intense pillars of dark fruit flavour – think blackberries, blueberries and the juiciest, ripe-to-the-point-of-self-caramelising plums, just waiting to explode all over your tongue. This wine’s aroma is at once both seductive and aggressive. In the mouth, hints of the red’s whopping 16 per cent alcohol start to unravel, though not at once – the heat sneaks up on you like the hot weather at the end of spring. This is a huge, uber-concentrated right cross to the jaw, driven by the force of blackberries, tar, spices and traces of those delicious salted plums you find at Asian stores. At two years of age, the tannins are on the slightly brittle side but expect those to dissolve into the rest of the wine with time. With airing, some intriguing savoury edges started to form on the wine’s nose and palate, but the intensity didn’t waver an iota. An intriguing, delicious yet intense wine – though not the easiest of drops to match with food – this red is like the most needy of high maintenance women: it demands the undivided attention of all your sense while you’re in its presence. www.capementelle.com.au

GRB wrote:Leconfield Cab Sav 2000 Bottle given to my wife for her birthday a couple of years ago. Opened for her b'day this week. Very green and leafy mixed with a fair wack a capsicum. Tough vintage but still a pretty poor showing. Improved a little on the second night with some fruit emerging from the salad but still not really to my taste, or Yvette's. Still owe here a b'day dinner so I will dig out something much nicer for that.

Glen,

The Coonawarra vintage in 2000 wasn't actually that bad. In fact, some of the reds have actually been quite impressive; certainly more so than those of '98 and '99 IMO. However, I have heard that despite this, Leconfield didn't kick things into gear until the following year. I actually have one of the '01 Lec Cabs at home - has anyone tried one recently?

Max

I had the 01 a week ago. It wasn't too bad; a euculypt-menthol streak did tend to dominate, muting the fruit somewhat.

1998 Rockfords Cab Sav: well intergrated, very smooth, fruit and oak in harmony, drinking now. Better than the Grant Burge Shadrach of the same vintage

1998 Grant Burge Shadrach Cab Sav: not bad but pretty simple with big oak flavour.

1996 Penfold Bin 128 Shraz: very smooth, fruit still very bright, well balanced with a rounding vanilla oak and fine tannins. Pretty good.

1996 Penfold Bin 407 Cab Sav: a favourite of mine with years left in it. Cassis, mint, earth, eucalypt and powdery tannins make for a fine wine

1998 Penfolds Old Vine GSM: drinking now, quite easy to drink with fruit still bright and forward. Simple but good.

Lanson NV: great QPR, perfect for the weekends celerbrations[code]

Maximus wrote:

GRB wrote:[b]. I actually have one of the '01 Lec Cabs at home - has anyone tried one recently?

I had a Wynns Black Cabernet 2001 and a Leconfield 2001 Cabernet a couple of weeks ago Max. For comparitive porposes the Wynns was pretty awfull and thin(ish) and green and I didnt enjoy it at all. The Leconfield was a bit broader and had a bit more sweetness to cover up the slightest green edge and theres still plenty of kick in the tannins. It was nice with some breathing although nothing worth getting overly excited about. If you can decant it for an hour or two and find the right food to match it will be even nicer I beleive. If you can wait another one or two years, even better again.

Check the grammar in the top post.

Clearly you're new here. Having edited a couple of the wine tours and a few months of his newsletters, I'm allowed to say this but Ric's grammer, spelling, etc is the stuff of legends - although that is the first time I've seen him say decantered. Must be reading too many of AJ's posts!

I am new here and will now consider myself warned about any future grammar cataclysms although I will say that this example is only another in a long line of bastardisations. I should have had breakfast. I might be a little less tetchy.

bacchaebabe wrote:Clearly you're new here. Having edited a couple of the wine tours and a few months of his newsletters, I'm allowed to say this but Ric's grammer, spelling, etc is the stuff of legends - although that is the first time I've seen him say decantered. Must be reading too many of AJ's posts!

It's catching on .... I think we have invented a new word for sole use on this Forum!

Erez wrote:I am new here and will now consider myself warned about any future grammar cataclysms although I will say that this example is only another in a long line of bastardisations. I should have had breakfast. I might be a little less tetchy.

I would think putting a link to your business in competition with the owner of this board would be considered poor form as well.

I couple of weeks of being too busy to post so here's some from memory

[/b]Tollot Beaut Beaune Clos du Roi 1er cru 1998
A fave maker but this one had good fruit that still seems to be warring with the tannins and may never get there.

Hewittson Ned & Henry Shiraz 2003
A good Barossa with savoury meatiness that appeals, drink soon style. All Hewittson's wines hold your interest for the bottle even at this entry level

Clyde Park Clean Skin Pinot 2004[b
This is a lighter style of Geelong pinot but held its end well. Bought at cellar door . the 2004 Shiraz was a cracker when tasted there.

Erez wrote:I will say that this example is only another in a long line of bastardisations.

To suggest that this Forum is frequented by a long line of bastards is not exactly front page news. I myself wrote the book on bastardry........but unfortunately I got Ric to edit it, and as such it never went to print....

Oh yes wine....

Highlights this week were an impressive 03 Three Hills Malbec, tannins so chunky you could carve them!

And cheap 03 Bordeaux has become a mid-week staple of late with a humble Chateau L'Escart (Superieur) redolent of violets, with a hint of dew skinned provincial milk maid.

LL