The Auswine Forum

A dinner to celebrate Mark’s 30th birthday (and Hawk’s 40th) at La Goulue in Crows Nest, Sydney. I was impressed with the food (my entrée of lightly seared scallops with ginger and greens; main of medium rare kangaroo fillets with muscadet grapes,; and dessert of passionfruit soufflé were all excellent and well priced). Great night…thanks again to Mark (and wife Ingrid) for hosting, bringing the 1977 reds in honour of his otherwise woeful birthyear!

1995 Krug Vintage Champagne
Light straw. Incredibly fine mousse and super micro bubbles. Fine nose that is focussed with quince, pear, dried beeswax, lovely subtle sweetness and lemon rind.. Palate has fabulous length and structure. Acidity is clean and fine, but much more searing than last bottle had a few months back. In fact, this particular bottle’s acidity teetered on unbalanced given the very prominent acidity! As I’ve said before, to my palate, a medium term Krug that may at its best post 10 years rather than a long termer. Closest perhaps to the 89, perhaps even superior, but not in the class of the 1988 or 1990. Has elements of all 3 previous vintages though: acid structure of 88 (but not as intense), the forwardness of the 89 and the ripeness of fruit of the 90. Classy wine. Will get better.
93/100

1980 Moet et Chandon Cuvee Dom Perignon Champagne
Wafts of intense caramel, crème brulee, and other very oxidative characters. On downward slope but still eminently drinkable. Fruit falls short with rivers of acid overtaking the length. Fell apart in 15 minutes like most Hollywood movies. I’ve drunk a lot of 80 Dom over past few years and the wine should not be kept any further.
88/100

2002 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet
Touch of sulphur (others found it quite prominent), pristine melon-like fruits underlying the near excellent architecture of the wine. Palate also has nice length and minerality with judicious balance. Still tight and in need of 5 years. Very good wine.
89/100

1977 Mount Mary Vineyard Yarra Valley Pinot Noir
After baiting Mark on how undrinkable we all expected this to be, well, were we in for a surprise! Amazing colour with only slight bricking. Nice nose – slightly one-dimensional but ample evidence of primary red berries, feral forest undergrowth. Palate is, like the Nine Inch Nails, on a downward spiral but still very much in a drinking window with good balance and admirable length. Touch of AV and varnish on finish obfuscates the wine’s trajectory but for a 30-year-old Aussie pinot this was one of the surprises of the last few years!
87/100

1977 Chateau Latour
Good colour. Pretty label (but of course!). Touch of capsicum and green characters. Dry and savoury. Yet has that Bordeaux typicity – cassis, cedar, leaf, blackberries. Not very evolved. Good length. Not bad considering the year and went much better with food as this is more savoury than fruity. Finishes with plentiful tannin. Again, a wine that is better than expected. I quite liked it!
86/100

1977 Henschke Hill Of Grace Shiraz (Magnum)
Very, very close to OTH and dead. Pity. Quite perceptibly yeasty with baked molasses characters. Nose is redolent of bloody meats and the palate thick and unctuous, finishing with malt whisky spikiness. Also very short. An interesting wine but really, let’s be honest, showing little signs of life. Others liked it a lot more. For necrophiliacs only. For me, undrinkable.
NR

1997 Poderi Aldo Conterno Colonnello Barolo
Hints of spicy plums. Dry and fruit shy with good, fine tannins. Still very youthful but drinkable now. Slightly volatile nose. A food wine. Touch of sourness on finish I find with Italian Barolo’s. Not really my style (too dry) but I can appreciate it.
87/100

1977 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon
Deep blackberries and dark chocolate. Palate is drying out and savoury, with little oak evident (unlike today’s 707’s). Finishes with good tannins. In good nick but past its peak now.
87/100

1977 Penfolds Grange
Richer and deeper and more youthful than the 707. Sweet vanilla oak augments the black fruits. Very tannic on palate but fine. Excellent length. Touch of acetone on finish and menthol on palate. Very good wine that got better and better the more in sat in the decanter. No signs of falling over quite yet. Top wine.
89/100

1977 Wendouree Clare Valley Shiraz
Bit vegetabley and sour on finish with tart acid and furry tannins. Bouquet is better than palate despite a touch of nail polish remover. With blue cheese, the wine improved markedly, enhanced by softening the tannins enormously and meliorating the “hotness” on the finish. Difficult to drink on its own such is the tannin ferocity.
86/100

1977 Mount Mary Vineyard Yarra Valley Cabernet
On form, one of Australia’ greatest ever wines. But not tonight unfortunately (or previous bottle had). Like the equally great 86 Mount Mary Quintets, bottle variation is rife. This bottle was rank, sweaty, dank and literally undrinkable. OTH, cooked, no fruit, all tannin, perhaps even TCA. The whole gamut of what you don’t want in wine!
NR

2001 JL Wolf Forster Jesuitengarten Riesling Spatlese (Pfalz)
Touch of honey almonds on nose but palate was mouth puckeringly unripe and sour like fresh lemon juice. Totally unbalanced acids. An acid bomb that gave me an instant headache. Woke up in morning with teeth enamel stripped.
67/100

1977 Moulin Touchais
Overt poached pears and slightly eggy. Also crème brulee. Good balance. Highly acidic finish. Went much better with dessert dishes and got better with airtime. Needed decanting for at least 2 hours.
88/100

NV R J Buller Calliope Rare Rutherglen Muscat
Clover. Chives. Caramelised raisins. Cinnamon donuts. Spice. Palate a touch volatile wit AV heat. Exceptional length though. Lovely glycerin warmth. Very rich. Well balanced. Not as good as previous bottles.
91/100

1998 Moet et Chandon Cuvee Dom Perignon Champagne
Lime and lemon rind galore. Minerally and oyster shells. Bit disappointed by this as it had no “wow” like my last two bottles tasted that were thoroughly enjoyable with upfront fruit yet with telltale Dom characteristics. Not sure what was wrong with this bottle (lacked stuffing and soul and was all shell)…but it looked flabby, broad and out of sorts.
86/100

Oh to be 30 again....
Thanks for the notes...

ouch looked a struggle. a pile of wines kept way too long?? i suspect so.

rooview wrote:I wasn't so keen on 95 Krug based on a quick taste a few months back and JRs notes - but after this I might have to give it another go.

No such thing as a poor vintage Krug!

rooview wrote:

Lincoln wrote:Oh to be 30 again....
Thanks for the notes...

How many times have you been 30 now Lincoln?

I'm in double figures...

Great notes on a nice line-up of unusual wines. Regarding the Hill of Grace 1977, would you say:

a) Poor vintage so no surprise
b) poor bottle, should do better
c) did not expect such an old HoG to be interesting anyway

I have no clue as to the quality of 1977 in Australia (though you seem to have liked some other wines from that vintage), but if it was good, or at least decent, isn't it worrying that such a major wine as HoG has little to offer at 30 years of age? After all, the wine still costs about AUS$ 400!

Olivier, poor bottle I think, or more precisly, poor provenance/stprage - this wine came from auction. Others have said the wine can be excellent.

I have heard that the pre-1978 Henschke wines were made under the direction of Stephen Henschke's father and that the wines were not as full bodied as they are today. Whether that is true or not I cannot say.

Cheers.................Mahmoud.

1995 Krug Vintage Champagne
A nose of vanilla, floral notes, lime, honey, green apples and lemon rind. Lovely intensity of flavour on the palate. The acid on the palate is prominent, but the richness of the fruit just keeps this in check. It was too early to have drunk this, but it was good to have tried it. It has a lot of potential for improvement over the next 10 years.
94/100

1980 Moet et Chandon Cuvee Dom Perignon Champagne
Very slow bead. The nose is great - ginger snaps, caramel, crème brulee, toffee and coconut. Palate is nicely resolved and but it does finish a little bit short and acidic. I thought the best sip was the first one, indicating that this bottle really needed to be drunk now. Was lifted when paired with the seared scallop dish.
89/100


2002 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet
Small amount of sulfur initially that developed into more gunsmoke styled aromas with time in the glass, as well as light spice and a touch of minerality/slate. A light, delicate mouthfeel with very clean flavour and good balance and length. I would like to take another look in 4-5 years time.
89/100


1977 Mount Mary Vineyard Yarra Valley Pinot Noir
Great colour, you would not pick it for an 30 year old Australian Pinot on sight. Nose shows some boot polish, cassis, violet, cured meats, chocolate and cherry. The palate is elegant, and soft with some touches of savory animal character, and is perhaps just starting to look a little bit tired. A very pleasant surprise never the less, and one of the better 77s on the night.
88/100

1977 Chateau Latour
The nose has plenty of asparagus, capsicum and herb type vegetal character to it, although these faded a little with time to show some gravel and tobacco leaf. The green characters did not seem to carry across to the palate. Medium length and while there was no great depth to it, it was still quite enjoyable.
86/100

1977 Henschke Hill Of Grace Shiraz (Magnum)
Brown coloured around the edges. Had a porty nose with pepper, caramel, toffee and burnt pastry. The palate was a little bit better, but does have some spikes of alcohol and finished very short. This had probably been through some misfortune during its life in bottle.
NR/100

1977 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon
Showed mint, briar, licorice, cloves and a bit of varnish on the nose. Palate shows resolved components and decent length, but the fruit is starting to drop away. Nice enough to drink, but this shouldn't be held any longer if this bottle was representative.
86/100

1977 Penfolds Grange
Much richer fruited nose than the 707 with blackberry, menthol, raspberry and some vanilla oak. The palate shows class and great structure to it, finishing with great length. Excellent stuff. Probably at its peak, but it should hold on for a few more years.
92/100

1977 Wendouree Clare Valley Shiraz
Iodine, menthol, spearmint and VA on the nose. The tannins on the palate cried out for this wine to be had with food, and while the food softened the tannins, there wasn't a whole lot to be excited about underneath and left a slight sourness to the finish.
84/100

1977 Mount Mary Vineyard Yarra Valley Cabernet
One of the few legends from the '77 vintage was sadly singing way off key tonight. The nose had aromas of yeast, peat, potato, sweaty socks and smoke. The palate was worse with no fruit, and acid dominating. This was an off bottle and I hope to encounter a good one sometime in the future.
NR/100

1997 Poderi Aldo Conterno Colonnello Barolo
Loved the nose on this. Full on, intense aromas of coffee, raspberry, violet, orange, dried apricot and blackcurrant. The dry palate has excellent tannin structure and yet is somewhat surprisingly approachable and balanced now when consumed with food. A really expressive and interesting wine.
92/100


2001 JL Wolf Forster Jesuitengarten Riesling Spatlese (Pfalz)
Some honey and butter on the otherwise soft, closed nose. The palate is pretty terrible - sour, watery and with a massive amount of acid. This bottle was close to undrinkable, but I have heard better reports from other bottles.
80/100

1977 Moulin Touchais
A really interesting nose of strawberry, blue cheese, crème brulee and caramel, burnt sugar and really old oak. There is a touch of sourness to the back palate, but otherwise this has a really nice texture and mouth-feel with sweetness that blends in seamlessly. Will improve and live on for many, many years yet!
90/100


NV Buller Calliope Rare Rutherglen Muscat
Cloves, cocoa, orange peel and a touch of alcohol that I have not gotten on any other bottles of this on the nose. Great length with lovely caramel flavours that are disrupted very slightly by some alcoholic heat. Still a lovely wine, but not nearly as good as the 3 or 4 tastes of this that I have had previously.
91/100


1998 Moet et Chandon Cuvee Dom Perignon Champagne
Shows minerals and limestone with lemon, brine and citrus aromas. Very elegant and youthful palate with medium length. Usually this wine is fairly generous and open, but tonight it was restrained and holding something back. Still very good though.
88/100