Aaagghhh!

[Red Bigot]

Was there a full moon last night I think I'll just go away for a while until all this Hunter madness has finished.

[Gary W]

The planets have aligned. This is the dawning of the age of the Hunter. Remember that it's never too late to repent your sins.
GW

[Red Bigot]

Having survived the age of Aquarius I can only hope I'll survive the age of the Hunter.

At my monthly Wednesday tasting group I sat next to one of the few Canberrans who still goes to Tyrrells dinners and buys Tyrrells wines, truly the planets must be in alignment.

I'm sure if I ignore it all it will just go away again or retreat back to being just another Sydney aberration.

[Adair]

Dear Brian,

You don't know how lucky you are. I will be posted a number of Hunter wine tasting notes from this weekend's tasting.

Pop!

There goes the cork on a 2004 Lake's Folly Cabernet (truth be known, the other bottle I bought is going to be returned due to slight leakage. To their credit, they were happy for me to send it back).

Strong blueberry and blackberry fruit rise from the bottle after the pop.

In the glass it is no inky blockbuster, with only a hint of purple and a little translucency on the edge.

Dark earth, dark chocolate, redcurrants, dry spices, blackberry, mint, blueberry, spiced plums and hints of fine grained, sweet cedary oak on the nose. Oh, the dry spices are really blossoming. Brian, you would love this!

No more than medium body, maybe less, on the palate but undoubtedly this will built greatly by the time I serve this to my father-in-law, who amusingly is also named Brian, at around 5pm. The wine is currently long and elegant but needs some stuffing. It also has a prominent sour cherry edge to the wine, which without more depth is detracting... but I have faith!

RB Brian, hopefully you will be able to wait for my next instalment without going crazy.

You should also know that I have bought 2 kilos of prawns for breakfast tomorrow morning to have with Taittinger and Hunter Semillon!

Kind regards,
Adair

[Craig(NZ)]

cant get to the hunter till i push my way through all the more important wine regions

might have a slot in 2055

[Red Bigot]

There goes the cork on a 2004 Lake's Folly Cabernet

Adair, your torture has made me 'fess up, I do have some Lakes Folly Cabernet in my cellar, stopped buying them after the 2000 vintage. I'll also admit to a few bottles of McWilliams Maurice O'Shea and Rosehill and a dozen or so various vintages of Elizabeth semillon (the screwcap VC early release version) that get used when white wine is absolutely required for a recipe or when my white-drinking friend runs out.

That's the sum total of the Hunter wines in my cellar, I did have some others but they went off to auction quite some time ago.

Thanks for the nudge though, a 96 Lakes Folly Cabernet might actually go quite well with the fish and chips tonight (whitebait entree if the shipment arrives this pm otherwise chilli prawns, flathead/whiting with home-made chips cooked in a two-stage fridge-cooled method from the Cook and the Chef).

[Alex F]

mmm lakes folly 96...

mmm yumm.

[GraemeG]

I drank a 2003 Tyrrell's Vat 8 Shiraz Cabernet (Hunter-Medgee) last weekend, and honestly, it was a lovely wine. Meaty but not overpowering, fine tannins, discreet acid, lovely developing brambly earth/fruit flavours, 13.8% or similar, good balance, respectable finish; everything you could want in a wine. Quaint retro label as well. Will last for years, but drinks OK now. Maybe the wines of the 80s were a bit toxic, but Tyrrell's have really got their act together these days. At $26-odd from the mail list upon release they're reasonable value too - at least as interesting as Cape Mentelle Trinders, Wynns Johnson's; similarly-priced commercial wines.

I know it's always fun to trash entire regions, but no-one forces you to buy a 'representative selection' of regional output - you can cherry-pick, you know. I reckon every serious Australian cellar ought to have some Tyrrell's wines in it.

cheers,
Graeme

[Gavin Trott]

Agreed

The best wine I had last year was a Hunter Valley red.

The Hunter makes great wines.

The Hunter makes lousy wines.

The Barossa makes great wines.

the Barossa makes lousy wines.

etc etc etc

[Red Bigot]

I know it's always fun to trash entire regions, but no-one forces you to buy a 'representative selection' of regional output - you can cherry-pick, you know. I reckon every serious Australian cellar ought to have some Tyrrell's wines in it.

cheers,
Graeme

Yes it is a lot of fun, because it's not meant to be serious at all, I just choose to not buy Hunter reds because fairly lengthy experience has told me I don't like most of them, that's my personal preference. Besides, baiting Hunterists is a legitimate forum sport, isn't it?

Anyone who tells me what I need in my cellar to make it "serious" has got to be the one joking.

I bought Tyrrells reds for a number of years and stopped when I worked out I didn't really like them. Even that famous Rothbury SA-clone Brokenback shiraz 1998 turned into something I didn't like after a while and off it went to auction.

I've tried some of the old Lindemans wines from the 60's and agree they can be fabulous, but I just can't work out which new releases may turn out that way and I don't have the time to wait and see, probably.

[GraemeG]

Anyone who tells me what I need in my cellar to make it "serious" has got to be the one joking.

Gosh, if I took that the wrong way we could really have a stoush!
Perhaps my phrasing wasn't the most elegant. How about "Tyrrell's deserves to be in everyone's cellar." ?

And you're right about the frustration in picking which of the 25 vintages is going to be the one we all wish we bought!

cheers,
Graeme

[Red Bigot]

Anyone who tells me what I need in my cellar to make it "serious" has got to be the one joking.

Gosh, if I took that the wrong way we could really have a stoush!
Perhaps my phrasing wasn't the most elegant. How about "Tyrrell's deserves to be in everyone's cellar." ?

And you're right about the frustration in picking which of the 25 vintages is going to be the one we all wish we bought!

cheers,
Graeme

Yeah, I may have left off an emoticon or two, but I figured you would know what I meant and not take offense.

But I can't agree with your re-phrasing either. A cellar is an expression of personal preference (unless you deliberately buy wines you don't like because you want to cater for friends with particular/peculiar tastes) and every winery/wine has to be measured against that personal preference and perceived value rather than history or iconic status or the opinions of others.

[pookie]

[quote][quote="Gavin Trott"]Agreed

The best wine I had last year was a Hunter Valley red.

The Hunter makes great wines.

The Hunter makes lousy wines.

The Barossa makes great wines.

the Barossa makes lousy wines.

etc etc etc[/quote][/quote]
This is very true. Actually last week when I was in the Hunter I tried a Hunter Valley red and a Barossa Valley red. These two gorgeous fuller bodied styles were from Petersons. I love the regional variation. We shouldnt be scared of new things, especially when they are as wonderful as I experienced!

[ColinB]

Having survived the age of Aquarius I can only hope I'll survive the age of the Hunter.

At my monthly Wednesday tasting group I sat next to one of the few Canberrans who still goes to Tyrrells dinners and buys Tyrrells wines, truly the planets must be in alignment.

I'm sure if I ignore it all it will just go away again or retreat back to being just another Sydney aberration.

Hi there Brian (and everyone!). I hope my Mildara Cabernet is on it's way!

I must admit to having a couple of Hunter reds in my cellar (I have not bought since my eyes opened wide and I saw the attraction of Barossa Shiraz, Coonawarra Cabernets and the touch of well made Margaret River reds).

The Hunter is the testing ground of many Sydney wine drinkers (including me!). It so happened I opened a Hunter red tonight to test. The 2003 Piggs Peake House of Sticks Shiraz is made from a blend of 60% unirrigated 1940 Broke Shiraz, 30% seaside McLaren Vale Shiraz, and 5% each of Orange Shiraz and Merlot.

Popped the cork and been decantered for about 2hrs. The nose is attractive, with a scent reminiscent of rasberries and vanilla. The taste reveals similar with soft tannins. It's no great Shiraz, lacking those full, wonderful dark fruits and drying tannins you expect from a Barossa Shiraz. A more elegant style, it tastes lovely with some Grana Padano split and eaten neat.

I've moved on from Hunter reds (I still have some Meerea Park, old Honeytree and Margan to consume), but this is particular wine strikes a chord. Nice, and ready to drink now.

I have to admit my preference is for the SA or WA reds, but like all of us, this is nothing more than a personal preference.