The Auswine Forum

Hi Good Peoples,

Its Sunday so it's time for your weekly drinking reports. Tasting notes, vibes, impressions, lists or anything else in relation to your wine consumption are welcome.

Have been working my way through a bit of 2002 Wynns cab/shiraz/merlot (red stripe), with work being an operative word. I really like the mint-meets-blackcurrant cabernet notes but it's quite a hard, sinewy wine with pronounced acids, even at five years of age. Then again, at about NZ$11 a bottle it's probably good value in terms of complexity. Perhaps it's in the fabled "cabernet hole" and will soften out in time.

I also unscrewed the cap off a Tollana Bin TR16 Shiraz during the half time break in the rugby and found it to be a fairly classy drop for NZ$17 a bottle. Pronounced cracked pepper and very good balance. Not exciting, but solid (rather like the AB's in the final 25 minutes). This will be good drinking over the next decade.

A real mixed bunch, here.

Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir 2005
Not difficult at all, rather delicious in the NZ way although notes of nail polish overrun some of the luscious pinot character. All in all, with a bit of time to blow off, this settled into a nice even wine.

Bouchard Pere et Fils Grand Cru Corton 1996 I think
Very savoury burgundy that needed time in the glass and decanter to unfold. Meaty, a bit angular and missing some of it's mid-end palate, this was quite reasonable but not amazing.

Geoff Weaver Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir 2003
Rather green and edgy and lacking generosity of fruit, I still liked this for its overall balance and decent length although the bottle remained unfinished.

Setanta Adelaide Hills Cuchalain Shiraz 2004
Very nice wine, with a dash of tell tale viognier, spicy perfumed nose and a vigorous, finessed oaky palate and nice length although bordered on a touch rustic and meaty. Quality structure and will develop further over a few more years. Excellent, lifted expressive shiraz.

Peter Lehmann Mentor 2001
Telltale Barossa wine, predominantly cabernet (wit 16% shiraz) but shouting shiraz for me. Cigarry, vanilla oak and sweet fruit still bunched into the glass. A touch hot and roasted but in a pleasant way, still with good overall balance. I am really developing a love for this sort of stuff (spare me). Drink over the next couple for best effect I suspect.

Orlando Russet Ridge 2002
Greenish, capsicummy notes and pretty muted, dull profile (by second day) but pretty reasonable box ticker on the first night with pretty good structure and balance and some stylish and refined fruit character. Won't improve much but is a fair wine all things considered.

Majella The Musician 2005
Good but not as memorable as the 04 for me. Good eucalypt and berry nose and palate and nice length but lacking some interest and overall, a touch dull.

Just one to impress over the last week.

Petersons 2001 Old Block Shiraz - Mudgee Region - Cork

Opened with a little of the mudgee smell which left fairly quickly. Great balance with the sweetest of shiraz fruit. One of those wines you want a magnum of when you swallow the last drop. Rated very good.

Graham

Just returned from a week on Fraser Island drinking, eating, fishing and drinking. What a tough week it was!.

2005 Longhop Old Vine Reserve - Another great wine from the Longhop family. Deep crimson colour. The palate delivers flavours of plum, liquorice with a very smooth aftertaste of liquorice, spice and ripe fruit. Another great wine for the price.

2005 Glaetzer Bishop Shiraz, Barossa Valley - One of my favourites. Great buying for $30. The palate displays voluptuous flavours of rich juicy fruits, black pepper, vanilla, and spice.

2002 Kies Family Klauber Block Shiraz - Another great Barossa shiraz. Never tasted this wine before however I was very impressed. It is a very easy drinking wine. The palate is flavoursome with plum, spice, liquorice and confectionary flavours dominant (cherry ripe).

Kilikanoon Prodigal Grenache 2000
Right in the drinking window. Medium slightly transparent red with no bricking. Savoury Rasberry nose with some spice and secondary character. Rasberry and kirsch on the palate with a lengthy finish (not hot for all the alcohol worriers) and fine, fine tannin. Very good!

d'Arry's Original 1996 [b] (cellar release)
More shiraz dominant than the last bottle. Slighty stern and unforgiving with some leather and acidity. Good but not very good.

[b]Dutschke Muscat
Lovely balanced muscat. Sweet and rich but also with grapey freshness and acidity to balance. Very Good. Slightly more lively than the Seppelt Grand.

Orlando Lawson's Padthaway Shiraz 2002
Had this at an instore. Not sure how long this was hope but a couple of days at the most. Lovely french oak on the nose leading to a medium weight palate with more french oak on the finish. Good and I would drink this but wouldn't buy it.

cheers

Carl

We found a bottle of Jenke 2001 Cab Sav hiding in the back of the pantry (oops! Thats not where it was supposed to stored!)
Absolutely sublime - went down a treat with a nice red steak
Perfect for hubbie's birthday

Busy day yesterday... In the morning I tried a range of Majella wines at an instore:

2004 Majella Riesling: Developing very nicely, slightly steely but still has crisp/limey fruit.

2007 Majella Melody Rose (tank sample): 100% Shiraz. Sweet perfumed nose with a little leather, the palate has a dry and slightly hot finish. Interesting, but it doesn't really float my boat.

2006 Majella The Musician Cabernet Shiraz: Prof wondered why this took out top red at the international wine challenge: it's because it's bloody good! Saturated cassis/plum fruit supported by clean, biscuity oak I reckon this is even better than 04 & 05.

2004 Majella Shiraz: Looking really good now, the extra year adding some excellent length and elegance.

2005 Majella Shiraz: Looked a bit ripe & simple compared to the 04, but it's young and will develop just as well.

2005 Majella Merlot: I like this a lot better than the 04, a little less funky with perfumed, tart/plummy fruit and great elegance and length.

2005 Majella Cabernet Sauvignon: Prof reckons it's better than 04, and it's certainly very different and will no doubt spark similar arguments to 90v91 and 98v99. It's a lot more elegant and a bit simpler/lighter weight at this stage, with a lot less noticeable oak and green/capsicum characters than the 04, but still has superb length.

2004 Majella Malleea Cabernet Shiraz: Gorgeous wine, velvety, long and complex with sweet fruit and excellent oak balance.

2005 Majella Sparkling Shiraz: I like the 04 better; this seemed a little simple in comparison, but maybe following the Malleea didn't help.

Afterwards went to the straight to the footy and then to a dinner with many wines, the standout being a 1996 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz - on release I remember it being criticized for its heavy oak (chips) use, yet it was completely devoid of it, with perfectly ripe/mid-weight plum/raspberry fruit with some pepper and liquorice.

Cheers,
Ian

A devil of a time with 2 wines....

2004 Devil's Lair Chardonnay
Lovely nose - yeasty, buttery, nutty, pear, lemon rind, and creamy oak.
The palate mirrors the nose. Crisp acidity, lemon, lime, cashew, pear, melon and curd. Delicate, elegant, powerful, and delicious. 94/100

2006 Devil's Corner Pinot
This is a fun Pinot, goes down very easy. You can drink it with or without decanting, but we prefer decanting, it really blossoms in front of us, and develops lovely a lasting spicey sappy finish. It has a lovely smokey nose.

mmm odds and ends last week a
98 Penfolds 128 Shiraz was excellent. Youthful, spicy with sweet berry fruit.
00 Coldstream Reserve Cabernet - Sweet fruit, cedar and truffle. Soft palate with lots of blackcurranty/blackberry truffley fruit. Nice wine.
99 Green Valley Cabernet - A bit horsey and gravelly but an excellent cabernet in no hurry to drink.
GW

1988 St Hallett Old Block - Astonishingly vibrant bouquet and lots of development for the palate. Perfect wine for a special birthday dinner at The Sauce in Adelaide. $15 corkage got us some really nice glassware and the wine was perfectly decanted and presented. Set off the meal perfectly, but it was a bit sad to see my last bottle from the 80s disappear. 97

2003 Winter Creek Shiraz - Not as big as most Barossa shiraz and all the better for it in my opinion. More length and elegance than many. Good result for the vintage. Looking forward to opening some of the 2004 soon. 93

2002 Sandow's End Pinot Noir - I've been through lots of bottles of this and it still does not disappoint. Lovely silky texture, savoury notes, enough acid to hold it together. Perhaps a tad heavy, but seems to blossom in the glass. 93

2002 Brown Brothers Patricia Shiraz - Was very impressed when it first came out. It now seems less subtle than I recalled. Nevertheless, it represents an interesting take on shiraz from Victoria. Trying a bit too hard to compete with the Barossa perhaps. 91.

T. Shandy

1998 Billecart Salmon Nicolas (Champagne) - really yeasty nose, decent length. Leave for a few years.

NV Lanson Champagne - decent quaffer. Too high a dosage for me.

1990 Raymond Lafon (Sauterne) - peach and pineapple nose, tangy but somewhat short finish

1999 Majella Mallea - I really want to like this wine, as I adore cab / shiraz blends. Yet each time I've had it, it has been green and simple.

Cooper Burns 2004 Shiraz, Barossa Valley $25, Matured in French and American oak, the latter characteristics showing very clearly towards the finish. Dark fruit on the nose, medium-bodied wine with flavours of dark red berries. Spicy finish but a little short on the end.

Galli Estate 2005 Heathcote Shiraz est. release price up to $20, big liquorice nose straight after opening the bottle with a lot of primary fruit showing. After awhile, the liquorice has settled down and a sweet, minty blackcurrent nose appears. Good value for money, this one.

I am pretty much purely a red wine drinker, but have a love-hate relationship with the Rhone variety whites.

1994 Tahbilk Marsanne
Vivid golden in colour, with a delicate sweet honeysuckle nose.. hints of almonds and a bit of dried apricots. Nice balanced acidity that supported a long lingering palette that went on and on...

Every time I try to push the envelope on the age of these things I get a pleasant surprise.

Definitely back on the love side of the pendulum.

2003 Mike Press Merlot

I really liked this wine, full bodied, ripe plums/mulberry to the palate. A rich vibrant palate structure, nice tannin/acidity and well judged oak. The wine is drinking really well at the moment. Served with a spicy lamb and lentil soup, this was a very good match.

2000 D’Arenberg Foot Bolt Shiraz

After the above wine, this was thin, medium bodied in direct comparison. Probably not stored in the best conditions, but was showing some nice aged characteristics. The fruit had dropped out a bit; it had an interesting, honeyed, fortified type nose. Overall not bad/interesting, but shows not really worth keeping for 7 or so years.

1998 Mt Edelstone - i don't have a decanter, so i tried this which had an initial stink to it, but on the second day it was just lovely.
2005 Noon VP - absolutley heavenly delicious...i could sip on this nectar everyday of my life.

Bleasdale Frank Potts 2003 - first time I've had this and thought it was pretty good, plenty of blackberries and mulberries coming through in what awas quite a complex wine.

Pikes 2002 Shiraz - Had this at dinner at Bistro Lilly in Sydney. Was decanted and tasted after 30mins or so. Fairly heavy weight wine, rich and definitely fruit driven. However we struggled to get through it.

Pizzini 2005 Sangiovese - Now this I could drink all day, a lovely sour cherry flavour, medium weight, with tannins just in the background. Will definitely be buying some more to drink while young. yum, yum!

Any other Sangiovese's that people would recommend??

Villa Maria Cellar Selection 2006 Sav Blanc - Didn't get to drink this however the two ladies we were with drank it like it was water .. saying it was lovely! Did ask for descriptors and all I got was ... "it's lovely"

mkcoleman wrote:Bleasdale Frank Potts 2003 - first time I've had this and thought it was pretty good, plenty of blackberries and mulberries coming through in what awas quite a complex wine.

I'm quite a fan of the Frank Potts - always complex from the off - one day I'll save one long enough to see how it matures

Ian S wrote:I'm quite a fan of the Frank Potts - always complex from the off - one day I'll save one long enough to see how it matures

Ian

Got a couple of 98s at auction last year and they were fab. Didn't post a note, but they were holding up well and certainly sang!

Michael