The Auswine Forum

time for your weekly drinking reports please good peoples. Tasting notes, vibes or impressions welcome.

2002 Te Kairanga Syrah
Fruit sourced from Craggy in Hawke's Bay. Tasted blind, it was unmistakably Hawke's Bay Syrah. Rich fruit, long finish. Class.

2004 Land of Fire Malbec
From Argentina. At $13 a bottle, an absolute steal. Started with bubblegum on the nose but that quickly blew off to earth, florals, chocolate and black berry fruit that coursed across the palate with particular deliverance on the finish. This was long too.

2002 Pikes Cab Sauv
Sensational wine. A veritable mint slice biscuit on the nose, with some cocunut and cherry/berry going on. Very silky and elegant for a young cabernet. Thumbs up.

2004 Cullen Sauv/Sem
I found this a little strange. There was mineral and other things I missed on the nose, with surefire intensity there and on the palate. Long, but I didn't rate it. Maybe it's my sauv curse.

2004 Te Mania Reserve Chard
These guys have great value wines. From Nelson, this reserve chard had the butterscotch going on with peachy aromatics and toffee palate flavours. Yes lots of oak, yes lots of malo, but as elegant a wine as can be made in that style.

2004 Irvine Springhill Merlot
I prefer this to the Grand Merlot. Great quaff drinking, with mulberry and chocolate infused fruit.

2004 Unison Marie's Vineyard Merlot
Refer to above. Very similar, except this had more merlot character.

2002 Pirramimma Shiraz
A bit of a brute. Needs time.

NV Chambers Muscadelle
Very good, but I prefer the raisin/toffee of the muscat as opposed to the marmalade kind of style of this tokay.

2003 d'Arenberg Lucky Lizard Chard
Strong toasty oak with guava, banana and orange blossom. Some green melon on the palate. Warm on the palate. Too warm. Supple, withi a long finish, but faulted by poor palate fruit and alcohol.

2004 Limestone Creek Chard
Small winery from Waipara. Nose of EA and sulphur. Orange, lanolin and citric rind on the nose. Quite fat on the palate, with good texture and less acid than you expect after the nose. Delicate finish, the length is barely perceptible. Pass.

2000 Bilancia Chard
Complex nose of talc, wet stones, grapefruit and orange blossom. A little hydrogen sulphide initially that blew off. There is still acid on the palate, though thankfully not obtrusive given the primary fruit has faded. Sweet oak with tangy citrus. No big buttery character; a good thing. Finishes a little austere but long. Top chard of the week.

2004 Craggy Range Les Beaux Cailloux
Nose started out very chalky with pine needles. After ten minutes in glass, it morphed with more fruit coming out and less of those initial characters. Tight. Screams Craggy Range in the mouth, with their customary oak/fruit/acid marriage. Unfortunately I ran out of wine as this was still changing, so not rated. Disappointing on this showing, based purely on the nose.

Cheers,

From a new to me winery 2003 Wakefield Valley Shiraz Voigner. Lovely delicate wine with class and style. Fruit driven. Clare Valley area. Excellent QPR at $14.

Chuck

Maurice Ecard Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru “Les Narbantons” 1996

July 09th, 2006

An excellent pinot noir from this impressive producer expressing the terroir and vintage with aplomb. Healthy medium ruby with only minimal lightening in the edges followed by a sexy bouquet harbouring spicy, sappy notes of cherries, plums and a nice touch of savoury oak. Of medium body, the sleek palate provides ample flavours mimicking the nose to a tee, crisp acidity, the finest of fluffy tannins and a superbly delineated, mouthfilling departure. Although ready to drink this wine displays sufficient freshness and vitality to reward another 5-8 years superior drinking. 91 points.


Leo Buring Special Release Eden Valley Riesling 1998

July 07th, 2006

Glowing yellow gold. Enticing bouquet of citrus, toast, ripe pineapple, peach, green apples and passionfruit with a distinct suggestion of minerals. Similarly fruited on the palate, not classical by any stretch of the imagination, nonetheless, nicely poised and quite polished. Of medium-weight, beautifully etched and integrated acid regime with plenty of that same ripe fruit running throughout a lengthy sweet’n’sour finish. Excellent, albeit slightly atypical for this label (in this case, a declassified Leonay), maker and many bottles of same opened over the the last several years. 90 points. Drink now-2010.

Seppelt Dorrien Cabernet Sauvignon 1999

July 05th, 2006

The 1999 Dorrien displays a vibrant deep ruby/purple with a polished hue, a bouquet featuring a gorgeous array of chocolate-coated black plums and currants, Provencale herbs, a little cedary/sandalwood character with a fair dollop of beautifully-judged toasty malty/savoury/vanillin oak providing weight and backbone. The palate has finally dropped some of its earlier oaky rawness, exhibiting a wealth of chocolatey black fruits, smooth texture, relatively understated acidity and some top-class fine-grained tannin on a protracted and most satisfying finish. A lovely wine and a fitting tribute to almost three decades of great wine folklore. 92 points. Drink now-2014.

Pre-dinner drinks with DanC at Tony Wynd's place on Wednesday evening, up from Melbourne to judge at the Winewise Small Vignerons Wine Show :-

Tim Adams Clare Valley Riesling 1998 - Bright lightly burnished gold - toast, lime and pineapple nose, lacking amplitude - mouthsmaking acidity on a much fresher/better palate with grapefruit, pith and lemony fruit - split personality - didn't like the nose that much, excellent palate - very good - 85 points 12% A/V

Sylvain Cathiard Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er cru "les Murgers" 1995 - Deep colour still hold some ruby in the core - feral, funky nose holding some unpleasant horsey/baind-aid brett over truffles, a little black fruit and some minerality - Juicy plummy/cherry/sappy palate with good acidity, some decent firm tannins and a touch of metallic on a long finish. Went back to this later and the brettiness had virtually gone on both the nose and palate. Very good at best. 87 points (at the end, much lower earlier) 13.5 % A/V

Paringa Estate 2004 "Estate" Pinot Noir - 85 points. Massive 14.9 % A/V but in the short time I looked at this, you wouldn't have picked it blind. Bright, even medium-ruby colour. Apart from a slighted confected character on the nose at first, I found this wine to my liking but no better than very good (85 points). Musk, beetroot, Satsuma plums, Bing cherry, nutmeg savoury oak - plenty going on but seemed to lack a little backbone. The palate houses plenty of big, ripe juicy plum/cherry fruit, more like a medium-bodied Shiraz than a Pinot Noir. Low acid, and "blocky" tannins that built up quickly as the wine saw more air. Good finish but just a little empty IMHO. Dan said this wasn't as good as last bottle (around 90 points).

Monday night I had a few friends down from Sydney for dinner at my place - terrific night with a very high standard of wine from start to finish - scores were the range from around the table -

Grosset Watervale Riesling 1996 - more developed than/not as good as the last bottle opened a few months back - looked the goods early (complex toast, honey, lime and honeysuckle) but lost some of the “plot” later with a little distracting phenolic/underripe pineapple character. Drink up. 89-90

Comte Georges de Vogue Chambolle-Musigny 1983 - very mature hue - opened very stinky (cabbagey/gym shoe) - but, eh, what a transformation with a bit of time in the decanter - completely cleaned up its act - incredibly complex tertiary characters on the nose and palate with a super red fruit sweetness on the palate. Terrific structure. Brilliant for a village wine from a difficult vintage (rot). 92-93 Drink up

Hudelot-Noellat Vosne-Romanee Romanee-St.-Vivant 1992 - gorgeous solid cherry red colour - for another supposed “ordinary” vintage this fantastic pinot’s still fresh with typical V-R elegance, purity and rivetting pinosity from go to woe. Beautifully honed in all departments - most notably “breed” - with plenty of potential for further improvement - ranks as the best ‘92 Red Burg I’ve tried. 93-94 Drink now-2016 My WOTN

Yves Gangloff Cote-Rotie “La Barbradine” 1999 - my first experience with this maker - apart from a most terrible label, this perfumed, decadently rich, robust wine, from the one of the very best vintages of Cote-Rotie of all time, looked very classy with plenty of ripe black-fruited extract, good carry and a rosy mid-term drinking/cellaring window ahead. Sorry for a lack of descriptors - too busy cooking at the time this was served. 91-92

Ch. Clerc-Milon (Pauillac) 1995 - Incredibly deep colour and inky, oaky nose packed with masses of black fruit and a distinctive tarry edge (like a McLaren Vale Shiraz) - very new worldish/extractive - followed by a similarly etched palate of high quality. After making a complete ass of myself in the COTB/options, this wine dropped some of the rawness to display more typical left bank qualities. A most successful result for this fifth-growth Chateau with at least 10-15 years of development to savour. 89-90

Zind-Humbrecht (Alsace) Pinot Gris “Clos Windsbul” Selection de Grains Nobles 2001 - 9% A/V! Quite probably 250g of residual sugar - a more developed colour than the exceptional bottle served by “the hawk” at Tetsuya’s. Full of honey, apricots, exotic fruit - rampant viscosity on the palate - adequate but excellent balancing acidity - immaculate finish, terrific length. 92-94 Drink over the next 4-5 years, but I’d drink it now.

Some quick impressions:

Tahbilk Shiraz, 2003: massive and clunky at this stage. Big blackberry fruit, pepper, lots of oak, powerful tannins with a hot alcohol finish sticking out at the end. Interesting wine though in the context of where it is going when compared to:

Tahbilk Shiraz, 1990: very smoky wine, dominated by pepper, spices and some plummy fruit on the mid-palate. Finishes with juicy light red fruit, redcurrant maybe, and still some moderately firm tannins. I imagine that this would be a bit of an acquired taste, but I did acquire it quite quickly.

Thanks to Red Bigot (I think) for pointing the way to these Tahbilks in a previous post!

Taylors Shiraz, 2004: definite crowd pleaser, full-on blackberry fruit attack, a little oak hanging around and nice mouthfeel. By day 2, tannins much softer and dustier with some hints of milk chocolate rising.

Sandstone Cabernet Merlot, 2002: Considerably more stuffing to this than some MR wines I have had from this vintage. Sweet blackcurrant fruit, soft tannins, integrated oak and lovely mouthfeel. A bargain bought on closeout from the winery in January at $150 a case!

Cheers

Dave

Bannockburn Pinot Noir 1999 - My last bottle and it must be getting near it's best. Strawberries & cream, a swirl in the glass bring on it's developed notes of truffle & earth. Very complex on the palate, lots of piquant acidity that builds a very long finish with stalky flavour persistance.

I am not a fan of Oz pinot, however, Bannockburn has delivered for me consistantly over the years.

Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz 2000- These would have to be the most outstanding quaffing wines this country has to offer. This vintage was a giveaway. Bold, full bodied Victorian shiraz. Muscley blackfruits, with licorice and sweet spice complexity, the oak is evident and the wine finishes with sound length and a layer of flavour persistance.

2005 Leo Buring Clare Valley Riesling ($13) - Lovely!

2004 Metala Shiraz Cab ($13) - Decent savoury quaffer.

2003 Cleanskin (Torbreck) GSM ($11) - Aha! Sweet fruity bugger with a gladly received little hint of French-style funk. More Rhoney than expected, me likey (particularly the price).

Day 1 at the Royal Queensland Wine Show today.

Classes were mainly whites that I did but the one standout of the day was the quality of the 05 cabernets. There is so much to to look forward to in cabernet and much of the good stuff from Coonawarra. Whatever they are doing in vineyard management is surely working.

State of Origin WIne drink was:

02 O'Leary/Walker Clare McLaren Vale Shiraz.
I just love this wine and want to get some more. I am down to my last one now.

1995 Conterno (It says Giacomo, but I think it's Paolo's vineyard) Bussia Munie Barolo.
From a fair vintage, this is starting to shed the tannins, though it still improved significantly in the glass after a 30min decant. As it opened it showed greater balance, though I suspect it will always be a little lean (in line with the general vintage trend). If anything a great reminder not to rush decent Barolo and the 96's will rest for a good few years, though I might crack a 97 to see how a warm vintage is at c. 10 years

2002 Tahbilk Marsanne
Drank first half of this bottle on opening and it was really quite austere (I felt undeveloped, rather than anything else, but this could have suggested a french wine if tasted blind).
The 2nd half went in the fridge for 2 days, recorked in a half bottle. After a brief period out of the fridge to lose the chill, this was right in the aged Tahbilk Marsanne slot, with subtle honey and slight hints of various tropical fruits, beautifully held together. A great reminder what a great cellaring bargain this is. Suggest drinking 2008-2010, but I'm sure a couple of years either side will also give pleasure.

2004 Georges Dubeouf Julienas Beaujolais
Incidentally, one of the wines that saw him in court over (illegally) blending across appellations. FWIW, this was one of the better bojo's I've tried (very limited experience) and did exactly what it should do, being relatively easy drinking, but with some complexity thrown in to avoid boredom. There was the usual vanilla, with cherry, but relatively easy on the raspberry. Acidity was nicely pitched and it all hung together as a cheap summer quaffer with some interest.

regards

Ian

2004 Bilancia La Collina Syrah

This is actually the first time I have tried this wine. Hailed as one of the absolute front rank NZ Syrah's in a category of wine that is just breaking through as the next best thing. The wine is dark with plenty of blackberry, black pepper and charry raspberry notes which im not sure if I really liked. The class of this wine is evident. Nice depth and not over extracted, precise and boxing within itself. I did however really struggle to justify the $75 price tag. It had plenty of random notes you could call x factor, but it just didnt come across that way to me. I couldnt help but think that this wine failed miserably in the value for money stakes however as a benchmark Hawkes Bay Syrah it could definately put its hand up. As for me though id rather grab 2 bottles of the 04 Craggy Range Block 14 Syrah at $35 a pop. 100 points, maybe more.

Frankland Esate Cooladerra Vineyard Riesling 2005 - not impressed, seemingly dilute & a touch broad - some would call this 'elegant & restrained' Tried the 2001 from this vineyard recently, wasn't overly impressed by that either.

Petaluma Riesling 2005 - loved this, fresh & lively, already with a wide range of typical riesling characters, definitely approachable now, hard to say whether it'll be a long-lifer.

Rosemount Estate Roxburgh Chardonnay 2001 - may have suffered from dodgy cellaring - very good cork though, golden colour, subtle bouquet, not all that generous at first, but opened up an hour or so on; like most premium whites, better close to room temp than cold - no longer the over the top oaky buttery style of yore. Half next day, didn't hold up too well.

Bests Pinot Meunier 1997 - rare to see this as a straight varietal - tried the 1993 a while back, was magnificent like good Burgundy - this one a good quaffer, bit simple, surprisingly youthful, and fruity; next day, improvement, stronger tannins, touch of funk, good with food.

Irvine Merlot Brut NV - a sparkling merlot - not a sweet style, lots of bubbles, good mid palate, decent if not memorable drinking.

Killawarra Cabernet 1991 - bought at auction for next to nothing - what a surprise! - very unusual cork, glossy, with delicate flower designs on it, quite elastic; the wine seemed austere & dried out at first, but with time, grew into a long, classy, nuanced old cabernet with notes reminiscent of good Bordeaux; held up beautifully next day.

Reynell Basket Pressed Cabernet 1994 - questionable provenance, but that didn't affect it at all - powerful, extracted, oaky, heaps of stuffing, mint, blackcurrant & berries, almost chewy, will last for years.

Warrabilla Reserve Durif 2005 - only recently arrived from Smithy - wonderful things happening on the first gulp - surprisingly not an unapproachable tannic monster at all, lots of dark fruits, plenty of changes over 3 days of drinking. May tighten up later and go into a hole for a few years, but well worth trying now.

Chuck wrote:From a new to me winery 2003 Wakefield Valley Shiraz Voigner. Lovely delicate wine with class and style. Fruit driven. Clare Valley area. Excellent QPR at $14.

Chuck

I understand that Taylors is packaged overseas as Wakefield, to avoid confusion with the Port house. Could it be one of theirs?

Kieran

Kieran wrote:

Chuck wrote:From a new to me winery 2003 Wakefield Valley Shiraz Voigner. Lovely delicate wine with class and style. Fruit driven. Clare Valley area. Excellent QPR at $14.

Chuck

I understand that Taylors is packaged overseas as Wakefield, to avoid confusion with the Port house. Could it be one of theirs?

Kieran

Indeed, but I'm pretty sure it's Wakefield, rather than Wakefield Valley they're sold as over here
The plot thickens (and so does the soup)
regards
Ian

Called in to the local bottle shop on the way home Friday to find a new addition to the museum section, two bottles of 1986 Wynns John Riddoch selling for $55.00 each.
At that price had to give it try.
Opened Saturday, the cork disintegrated but a lovely old wine.
Dark brick red , developed bouquet with sweet tannins and great length.
This bottle just passed its best, very much enjoyed.

Regards,
Ron.

NV Morris Sparkling Durif

This was given to me years ago as a part of a mixed case and I never thought anything of it except it was time to make space on the rack. This was a really nice sparkling red. The bottle is quite old – I’d say about 6-7 years, so the wine itself was showing some nice restrained aged characters, it did not have excessive fizz and had a smooth well structured palate. Really enjoyable as a pre dinner warm up.

2002 Ballast Stone Cabernet Sauvignon

Nice blackberry nose and palate, however a hint of stalkiness was apparent. The oak was pretty well integrated. The tannins were a bit rough and the wine finished somewhat short on the palate. It was okay, I bought it to try one of their reds, I had a 2005 Sauvignon Blanc back in May and that was quite good.

2001 Barletto Shiraz (Limestone Coast) (stelvin)

This wine has upfront fruit, rather large bold wine. Lots of pepper and spice going on. The wine has either seen a lot of new oak or been on oak for a long time (I did not read the label), but dominated the palate. A fair amount of hotness from the alcohol too. Brought by a friend, a reasonable wine for the price, but I would not buy it after tasting it.

2003 Bremerton Selkirk Shiraz

No real notes on this one, was ticking over very well at this stage. Not a bad wine this one, far better oak integration that the above wine. Felt that the wine was a bit tired and did not burst out to me. A little run of the mill.

Penfolds Bluestone 10 year old Tawny Port

I hardly drink port at home and when I do its this. Non-port drinkers last night loved this too. It has a Marzipan, nutty flavour, fantastic weight and nice oak characteristics. The only other port I have had recently was a Grant Burge Tawny and this was far better than that.

Called in to the local bottle shop on the way home Friday to find a new addition to the museum section, two bottles of 1986 Wynns John Riddoch selling for $55.00 each.
At that price had to give it try.
Opened Saturday, the cork disintegrated but a lovely old wine.
Dark brick red , developed bouquet with sweet tannins and great length.
This bottle just passed its best, very much enjoyed.

Regards,
Ron.

Ron,
The same thing happened with the cork when I opened my last bottle, but the wine was wonderful. In fact, it was my WOTY so far. An absolutely outstanding cabernet that had many years left at its peak. At $55, go back and buy the other one as well. Decant for at least 2 hours.

Ian S wrote:

Kieran wrote:

Chuck wrote:From a new to me winery 2003 Wakefield Valley Shiraz Voigner. Lovely delicate wine with class and style. Fruit driven. Clare Valley area. Excellent QPR at $14.

Chuck

I understand that Taylors is packaged overseas as Wakefield, to avoid confusion with the Port house. Could it be one of theirs?

Kieran

Indeed, but I'm pretty sure it's Wakefield, rather than Wakefield Valley they're sold as over here
The plot thickens (and so does the soup)
regards
Ian

Here you go guys...
http://www.wakefieldvalley.com.au/default.htm

Jamiesons Run Odeas Block Cab Sav 2002 - A big surprise when I started this wine was noticing the very dense, rich, crimson red colour. Fortunately this continued with the nose then palette that had a generous (definitely not too much though) amount of vanillin oak coupled perfectly with dark chocolate and sweet blackberry fruit that continued very long with a silky finish. I was expecting greenness (2002 Coonawarra) but found none. Just a great full body Cabernet that has a great future (am now chasing some but finding it hard to get).

Brookland Valley Verse Cab/Merot 2002 – Very well balanced but was a bit disappointed at first with the lack of fruit. Later on as it aired in the glass (and second glass) seemed to open up and allow the fruit to come forward and ended up a very good wine.

deleted

Stumbled across this post - haven't kept notes, but will recall as best I can briefly.

02 Setanta Cabernet - cool climate notes, with pure fruit and good length. Earthy, leafy aromas accompanied by black fruits - very enjoyable. (Adelaide Hills).

02 Killibinbin Shiraz - Vanilla Oak on the nose, sweet plums and berries - oak again on the palate but most enjoyable.

04 Hewistson Miss Harry - pure grape juice, beautiful fresh blend with soft tannins, good length and faint/back ground oak - lovely wine.

02 Gommersal GSM - big bold fruit and strong oak but with balance - memory fading, but I enjoyed it.

02 Barrat Reserve Pinot - I am not a huge Pinot fan, but I really enjoyed this wine, spicy and more powerful than many Pinot's I have tasted, cherries and five spice - mixed fruit.

98 old Block and No 1. - both ageing gracefully - Old Block a little bigger and oakier at this tasting but very enjoyable.

02 Wirra Wirra Chook Block - Outstanding (tasted with Indian....food), again, memory is fading but I know we all loved this wine, restrained power, wonderful fruit purity - no sign, to me, of porty or fortified aspects - although I must taste without the influence of Indian cuisine - blockbuster with finesse.

98 Irvine Grand Merlot - coming to the end of its life. Porty notes, drying tannins with subdued fruit aromas. Palate more attractive and the wine seemed to improve a little over time (or was that me). Wouldn't leave them much longer.

Adam.

Mark S wrote:

Reynell Basket Pressed Cabernet 1994 - questionable provenance, but that didn't affect it at all - powerful, extracted, oaky, heaps of stuffing, mint, blackcurrant & berries, almost chewy, will last for years.

Agreed Mark. The Reynell Basket press wines from 1994 are superb. There is a bp merlot from 1994 that you can pick up from auction (not mine at the moment) for approx mid $20, that is fantastic. Halliday rated it very highly and is was WOTN at a blind tasting at Gavins one year, up against the 2002 Kalleske Shiraz.

Mark,

I still have one left, I think. Now where did I put that sock?

Roger

RogerPike wrote:Mark,

I still have one left, I think. Now where did I put that sock?

Roger

Still cannot tell if the nose was influenced by the sock or not Roger !

Tim Adams The Fergus 2003 - Straight Grenache from Clare, nice spicy blackberry flavours on nose and palate a pretty good pairing with some north indian tucker. 90pts
Tim Adams The Fergus 2004 - this vintage is a lot riper with more plummy flavours - still anice drink 88pts
Tim Adams The Aberfeldy 2000 - strong American oak flavours with the fruit being dominated by them, this is probably my least favourite vintage that I have had of this wine. 88pts

Aside from Mudgee wines over the weekend, a couple of extras:

Clonakilla Muscat 2006 bottling (Canberra district), 18%
- Had this over a period of a week and a bit. Good mid-brown colour, develops a sharper, more volatile nose and palate while open, but good drinking the while through. An occasional bottling from Clonakilla.

Nepenthe Tryst cabernet/tempranillo/zinfandel 2004 (Adelaide Hills), 13.5%
- I've had a few bottles of this since they started doing this blend and may have struck a bad one, as the green capscium cabernet (73% of blend) stuck out too much for me. A bit left for two nights shaped up much better as the zinfandel (even at only 10% of the blend) pushed spice through. I don't entirely understand the thinking behind this blend.

Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Villages 2004, 12.5%
- This was the best beaujolais option at a local bottlo to go with a roast chook. Light, bright colour, persistent strawberries rather than raspberry, reasonable acid but short finish. A good foil to the chook, but that's about it.

Deisen Winter Sun Shiraz Mataro 2003/04 (Barossa), 15%
- I'm a bit suspicious of the 15% alcohol on this, reminded of the 1.5% either way allowed. Not a hot finish, but a palate weight that seemed to be about more than really ripe fruit. Given that the 2003 component went through a re-ferment with the 2004, it may be just re-ferment characters that push up the mouthfeel. Bright and dark-purple edged in the glass, it went through several open/shut phases while breathing out, ending up as a very good Barossa red blend, but not a great one. I was a little disappointed.

deleted

markg wrote:

Mark S wrote:

Reynell Basket Pressed Cabernet 1994 - questionable provenance, but that didn't affect it at all - powerful, extracted, oaky, heaps of stuffing, mint, blackcurrant & berries, almost chewy, will last for years.

Agreed Mark. The Reynell Basket press wines from 1994 are superb. There is a bp merlot from 1994 that you can pick up from auction (not mine at the moment) for approx mid $20, that is fantastic. Halliday rated it very highly and is was WOTN at a blind tasting at Gavins one year, up against the 2002 Kalleske Shiraz.

Indeed - have been delighted by a fair few of these '94 BP merlots over the years, have tasting notes from 1998 to 2005, mostly brilliant, however, the last one in 2005 went "seems like the fruit is fading into the background, leaving assertive oak & pronounced tannins, slightly bitter aftertaste"

In my experience, good merlots are good to a certain age/point, then seem to fall apart remarkably quickly.

2001 Geyser Peak Cab Sauv - blah blah. Just an average, overpriced Cali-cab

1996 Penfolds Bin 28 - very youthful. Super wine at the price. I could drink this every day....

1999 Wolf Blass Platinum Shiraz - the real deal. Length, complexity, pristine fruit.

1983 Leoville Barton - the best bottle of the 83 that I have had. Fruit had an element of primary-ness (if such a term exists !) about it, though tannin was negligible. Just lacked the length of a top Bordeaux.

Been up visiting the parents for a week or so, only impressions on the standouts.

Peter Lehmann Mentor 1994
Fantastic stuff that just kept building in the glass very sad to see the bottle empty

Chapel Hill Cab Sav 1996
Better than the last bottle I had but lacked a little in complexity and length still a nice wine though.

Saltram Mamre Brook 2002
Haven't tried this for 6 months or so and it is still a baby, lovely wine with years ahead of it.

Jacobs Creek Shiraz Cab 2000
This was a give away with a half dozen buy of Jacob's Reserve wines. Supposed to be $50 RRP. Fantastic juice particularly for the vintage.

Heartland Limestone Shiraz 2004
This wine just gets better every time I try it. Seems to still be building in complexity. Glad to have a bunch more tucked away. Not sure whether I need to buy more of this or grab the 05 when it hits the shelves.