The Auswine Forum

Hi Good Peoples,

It's that time of the week; TN's vibes or impressions welcome. Come one come all.

Tin Shed Shiraz 04 picked up cheaply. Some bottle variation perhaps but a very nice quaff. Sweet plummy fruit, licorice and chocolate, background oak, chewy tannins and good length on the finish.

Cheers

daz

Wisdom tooth infection hampered my tasting this week,

Shingleback McLaren Vale Cabernet 2004

Ripe berry fruit dominated on the nose and initial palate, not balanced by much oak and tannin. Day 2 was better with chocolate and midweight tannins balancing the fading fruit. Good length

Heartland Cabernet 2005

Interesting comparison to the shingleback. Also had ripe fruit up front but a much better shape on the palate/mouthfeel with chocolate, licorice and fine tannin rounding it out well. Could have quaffed it all night (if I wasn't on antibiotics)

I'll be buying six of these (Perhaps my first purchase from Gavin, as I haven't seen it under $20 in Perth)

Craig

2007 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling - Wow! Picked a bottle of this up after seeing a good review on Winorama. Shows the floral and fragrant tendencies of Watervale. Lacking a firm acid structure but somehow manages to avoid any flabbiness whatsoever. Amazingly structured, beautiful wine. Highly recommended.

2005 Balnaves Sparkling Cabernet - Drier than I expected (which is a plus), this is a nice wine but I'm not sure cabernet has the mid palate weight to make a good sparkling red. Good for novelty, but I might stick to sparkling shiraz in the future.

2004 Woodstock "The Stocks" Shiraz - Excellent wine, as expected from this vintage. Very smooth, sweet on the finish - in fact, I suspect a little viognier might have been added.

2005 Tuck's Ridge Hurley Vineyard Pinot Noir - Bought this after seeing a 97 from Halliday, a reviewer I tend to agree with a lot. A tight, acidic pinot with good length and structure, but 97? A bit vanilla for me, but perhaps it will show its colours in 5 years or so.

1995 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz - A friend picked this up for $25. Still surprisingly weighty given the vintage. Nice example of aged shiraz.

ChrisV wrote:2007 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling - Wow! Picked a bottle of this up after seeing a good review on Winorama. Shows the floral and fragrant tendencies of Watervale. Lacking a firm acid structure but somehow manages to avoid any flabbiness whatsoever. Amazingly structured, beautiful wine. Highly recommended.

The Petaluma Hanlin Hill Vineyard is nowhere near Watervale, it is actually east of the township of Clare near what was Brian Barry's famed Jud's Hill Vineyard

Glad you liked the wine, I must pick some up when I see it

Couple of brief impressions trying out some new Riedel glasses (before they are locked in the cabinet and NOONE can touch them)

William Fevre Petit Chablis 2005:
Good vintage. Palest straw colour. Nice elegant nose but a little reticent (sould fill out with time). Weighty palate reminding me of a worked chardonnay but added minerals but overall quite salty. Nice but needs food. Good to Very good.

Ulithorne Frux Frugis Shiraz 2004:
Dark glass stainer this one. Perhaps a little too much of everything here. Malty nose and soupy palate with acid. I'm leaving this one for a day or two to see if it will blossom. OK but Possibly good.

Marques de Velilla Tinto Joven 2004:
Now this was a nice quaffer. Medium red with anise and beetroot on the the nose as well as a savoury wood like cinnamon spice. Lovely fruity palate with chocolate and a medium finish that can go on its own but is enhanced by food. Gosh this would have been cheap in Europe. Hard for Australia to compete! Good to Very good.

Shadowfax 'K road' red blend 2002
This tastes like tomato juice! Pass.

Lustau Almacenista Fino del Puerto (Obregon solera 1/143)
Golden yellow. Almonds and flor on the nose (some 'dog's breath' as well which for us suggests this bottle is a little old/oxidised). A zingy almond palate but a longer than usual finish for fino. Almost a cross between a fino and an amontillado. Nice and if this was a fresh sample could even be excellent.
EDIT: as it warms some honey notes emerge and becomes more salty. OK, its tapas tonight for dinner!

Some impressions from the Petaluma launch. The 2007 Riesling was a mix of the 06 and 05 with some lime minerality but also that slightly broader alsatian spice of the 06. Great to drink and if for the cellar, only for medium term. The 2006 Viognier was a cooler climate style with aromatics and flowery with minimal apricot. The 2005 shiraz had bottle variation. One was a good cool climate shiraz and the second smelled and to a lesser extent tasted of apricot. The difference was marked! The 2004 Coonawarra was a big fleshy mouthful of flavour and had a long finish. The merlot is almost dominant despite the 35% in the wine. While grippy I suspect a toning back of tannin in this vintage. Should still be a stayer in the cellar but this one seems keen on coming out and having a bat from the first ball. Classy.
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Seppelt St Peters 2004 Shiraz - quite light to start with (even half hour later in decanter) but by the last two glasses it started to open up to a complex, deeply rich, liquorice spice Shiraz which I enjoyed a lot. Will not try the other 5 I have for a long time. Needs it.

Seppelts St. Peters Shiraz 2002: A wine that lived up to its reputation. Great balance, mouthfeel and length are what make this wine so good. A long linear structure around a core of fine tannins is filled out with black fruits, earth, spice and pepper. There is cedary oak in the background which is unobtrusive allowing the great depth and purity of fruit to show. Great wine.

Chateau de Malle Sauternes 2001: a good Sauternes but nothing to go mad over. A little broad but nice flavours of marmalade, dried apricots and some candied pineapple. Good with a citrus tart.

Chateau de Segries Cotes-du-Rhone 2004: Super value at $20. Exactly what you want from a Cotes-du-Rhone – raspberry, cranberry red cherry, leather with a savoury, drying finish. Went well with a steak over dinner and held up over the night with cheeses. Very good value in its style.

Turkey Flat Mouvedre 2005: Attractive nose of jube like blackcurrant, malty vanilla and spice with notes of wet leaves and earth. The palate is medium to full bodied and shows a great balance of sweet fruit and earthy, spice flavours. There is plenty of sweet dark fruited flavour with lots of spice, leather and earth adding to the chocolaty finish. A web of firm tannins draws through the wine. I am going to put some I the cellar to see what they are like in 5-7 years time.

You gotta love Adelaide : after 28 days AFD went to the Mercury Cinema to see a 1970's debauched Russ Meyer film and broke the drought with a Haselgrove McLaren Vale Shiraz for all of $4 ! You can even bring your glass of wine into the cinema. Post film had a Wilson 2006 DJW Riesling , an 06 Ashton Hills Piccadilly Pinot and a 1972 Delord Armagnac at the Apothecary wine bar.

1997 Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz : the 1997 Dry White is one of the best whites I've had. The few YY reds I've tried have always taken me aback by how rich they seem. They certainly have a presence to them but I always expect more elegance than what I've experienced. Even though this was just 12% alcohol it seemed very " ripe " - still an interesting drink.

1995 Hardy's Tintara was not bad. Berries and chocolate. Nice but not very exciting. I do think 1995 was under-rated by many in McLaren.

Favourite wine was 2006 Hillcrest Merlot. I love it. Only $20 and one of the best Australian merlots I have had. 92 points but maybe being a miser. I'll open another bottle soon just to check....

GW

Just spent some time writing detailed noted before I timed out so will have to be more scant this time around. Lesson learnt, from now on write in word, cut and paste.

2003 St Hallett Old Block Shiraz
Meaty, bacon like notes sits above smoky plum and raspberry fruit. Well weighted, silky mouthfeel with musk like sweetness. Just above medium bodied. A little undefined, but impressive nevertheless.

2003 St Henri
Understated, leafy plum and raspberry, mint, soy and carob. Oak far more prominent in the mouth, dark fruits, a little stewed. Not bad but lacks persistence.

2003 Saltram No 1
Complex oak notes, graphite and dark soy, with intense plum fruit. Rich, well weighted palate, intense plum, with some earthiness through the mid palate. Fine chalky tannins, almost elegant structure. Impressive.

2003 E&E Black Pepper
Resinous oak, and dark fruits on the nose. Stewed, soupy palate. Soaked up a lot of oak, and not really the fruit weight to carry it. Pass.

2003 Jones LJ Shiraz
Intense cherry syrup on the nose, almost medicinal. Seamless, viscous mouthfeel. Minimal oak influence, fine tannins, but fell away sharply. Poor on this showing, but suspect TCA at play.

2005 Gibson OVC Eden Valley Shiraz
A hugely impressive wine. Blueberry, sweet rosemary, ground nutmeg, crushed rock and more on the nose. Layers of fruit flavour, with a hefty dose of cedary, nutty oak. Chewy, meaty tannins, became a bit stewed with time in decanter, but suggest it needs another 10-12 years to hit its straps.

2003 Cullen Mangan
Complex stuff, cherry and green gauge plum, just the right side of ripe, at times herbal but never green. Graphite oak, ground spice, soy and carob. A bit bony when young, but just starting to come together.

2003 Siefried Estate Shiraz
Loved it. White pepper, savoury cherry fruit. Fine and elegant. Ripe tannin structure, beautifully balanced.

2005 Siefried Reserve Gewurztraminer
Hugely intense, Turkish delight, rosewater, rosepetal and all other things aromatic. Slippery mouthfeel, with a hint of phenolic texture. Great length, great wine.

Also had a look at a range of young Australian Tempranillo which was one of the most arduous tastings I have had to endure…we have a long way to go with this variety.

Cheers,

LL

chuckles wrote:

ChrisV wrote:2007 Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling - Wow! Picked a bottle of this up after seeing a good review on Winorama. Shows the floral and fragrant tendencies of Watervale. Lacking a firm acid structure but somehow manages to avoid any flabbiness whatsoever. Amazingly structured, beautiful wine. Highly recommended.

The Petaluma Hanlin Hill Vineyard is nowhere near Watervale, it is actually east of the township of Clare near what was Brian Barry's famed Jud's Hill Vineyard

Glad you liked the wine, I must pick some up when I see it

Yep, I realise that. I should have said "Shows Watervale-like floral and fragrant tendencies".

Re: "Turkey Flat Mouvedre 2005: Attractive nose of jube like blackcurrant, malty vanilla and spice with notes of wet leaves and earth".

I tried this one too, but had to really work the glass to get any kind of nose out of it!

seanwines wrote:Re: "Turkey Flat Mouvedre 2005: Attractive nose of jube like blackcurrant, malty vanilla and spice with notes of wet leaves and earth".

I tried this one too, but had to really work the glass to get any kind of nose out of it!

I had in the decanter and drank it over a few hours, so the note on the nose is probably after sitting in the decanter for 4 hours and a good swirl in the glass.

Last night:

1995 Krug - young
Rockford Black ('06 degorg) bubblegum, then liqueur - noice
2002 Bilancia La Collina - very very noice
2002 Kabminye HWG - loooong finish and uber juicy - yumbo
Kabminye Au Frontignac - steroids
2000 Virtu Noble Semillon - surprise package - balanced and delish
Morris and All Saints Muscats - late evening plonk...

Days before:

2001-2004 Dry River GeVertical - '01/'02 sweeter, luscious styles (and friggin' awesome) - '03/'04 drier and warmer
2001 Peg Bay Prima Donna (corked)
2003 Peg Bay Prima Donna - exceptional
2004 Savaterre Pinot Noir - nice funk
2006 Kabminye Zinfandel - sweet'n'savoury
1995 Richmond Grove Riesling - noice
1994 Henschke Mt Edelstone (corked)
2000 Rockford SVS Hoffman - young
2004 Langmeil The Freedom - oak
1998 St Hallett Blackwell (magnum) - very noice

and lots of other goodies. Bad run of corked wines, and our poor run with '94 Henschkes continues. Good times, nonetheless.

Cheers,

max

had a 94 edelstone on saturday night. was very good and well received next to some other good wines. seems to have a bit of time in it yet. bottle from a 12oC cellar.

will get notes done soon along with another 250-300 wines tasted in the weekend at winenz

Some more grog on my travels in Europe:

Chateau Leoville Poyferre 2001, decanted, from a 375 ml. Good nose of deep, sweet blackcurrant fruit and a touch of graphite. Initially, soft tannins and redcurrant fruit with just a hint of blackcurrant overtones, but this really ramps up when paired with a gloriously bloody rack of lamb. Plump, sweet blackcurrant fruits swell and fill the mouth and tannins soften even further to become a lovely long integrated whole.

Chateau Calon Segur, 1999, by the glass from a 750 ml, opened that evening apparently. Much much tighter than the Poyferre, nose of mint, palate with redcurrant struggling against mint and tight tannins. Noticeable acidity sticking out on the finish. Not quite together seemingly at the moment.

Chateau Fourcas-Hosten, 2003, in airport lounge. I remember having 95’s and 96’s of this in the early naughties and it was tight as a gnat’s chuff, solid wall of tannins and very minty and herby. This was nothing like that. Couldn’t get much nose but approachable rounded blackcurramt fruit, perhaps slightly porty or stewed maybe. Nowt much in the way of tannin or acidity. OK as an easy drinker but only just!

Cheers

Dave

2006 d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie 'SV'
This wine is a ripper. It's blend rate is 90/10 which astonished me because it tasted and smelt more like 5%. It's well balanced and full flavoured. This wine is the perfect all round dinner wine to please all guests. It has the power and spice of shiraz with the floral and apricot aromas of viognier. It will no doubt please everyone at the table. The red wine lovers and the white. Great color, aroma, depth and flavour.
I loved it. I'm no ratings expert but surely it's worthy of at least a 94.

Dr - 307.