The Auswine Forum

For our sins, a politician was elected as PM last night; he is the 26th to do so.

No doubt there was lots of good wine as well as hemlock consumed last night, so what have you guys been drinking?

I opened an Orlando 1994 Lawson on Friday and thought it was damn good and holding up very well. I didn't finish it so threw the last third in the fridge and pulled it out last night. Bloody hell! It was magnificent!! Makes me think its got a good 10 years left in it.

Now what have you been consuming?

Hi all,

Quiet week,

2000 Bowen Estate Shiraz- Drinking beautifully at present. Spicy and savoury, rich meaty fruit, hints of cedar and olives. Enjoyed it immensely.

2002 Fox Creek JSM- Perfumed nose with violets? Not very complex on the palate, simple generous sweet fruit, drops off quite quickly. Easy drinking, not exciting.

Cheers,

Monghead

Hi all.

Wife's been away all week while the laundry and loo were being renovated. Made a bit of a glutton of myself on the very nice Kays Amery 2005 Cabernet - plenty of chocolate, spice and black fruit. Sought forgiveness (for not sharing) by taking her out to dinner on Friday to Thai Nesia in Darlinghurst with a bottle of Mr Noons very nice 2004 Eclipse. Enjoyed a bottle of Mills Reef Elspeth 2005 Merlot last night after finding a 2002 Matariki Quintology Cabernet, Malbec et al blend sour and ungenerous.

Regards,

Allan

2005 Penny's Hill McLaren Shiraz
Big bruiser with clear McLaren character. Chocolate milk as well and perhaps a touch warm on the finish. Delicious.

2005 Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz
Way too young with a purple mousse. Slightly sweet at the moment but should settle down in a year or two to be a good'un.

2005 W. Fevre Petit Chablis
Quite a salty one as opposed to mineral. Quite nice with food but value is debatable.

cheers

Carl

Hi all,

Some good quaffers during the week and brought ou a 1998 Lindemans Limestone Ridge last night with crumbed cutlets, garlic mash and roasted asparagus,tomatoes and olives. Nice enough but was below expectation. Bad bottle? No identifiable faults just a little thin and light on oak. The '98 Pyrus is a much better wine.

Chuck

Last night with friends and 900gm rib eyes.

Pierro chardonnay 2001 - Very rich complex peachy melon flavours with very buttery finish. I think it could do with a little more time (year or two) to fully balance. Outstanding

St Henri 1998 - wow. Big, bold and a magnificent start (decanted for an hour) but was just starting to show its true form by the last glass. This will be an absolute cracker in 4 to 5 years (maybe on par with 96).

Plantagent cab sav 2001 - another wow. Again great start but was getting better with every sip and every glass as it opened up further. Quite full bodied very yummy varietal cab sav. Will still live a lot longer.

Maurice O'shea shiraz 2000 - Have had many bottles in the past but this was the first for a while. Still quite full complex hunter style shiraz. Might be worth a forum topic. We were drinking this outside and the weather became colder and quite humid. The decanter and glasses were getting condensation beads. Now the wine stayed a bit muddled and complex (never really opened up at all) and wasn’t what I remember it be with very balanced savoury liquorice flavours. Reckon it was the humidity IMO.

fivewells wrote:Ric, pity about the Orlando

Well, for me, on business in UK, so was sitting in Cambridge, all wired up, listened and watched the Election night via the ABC from 7.00am !!!!! Saturday morning

However, then went out and found a great 'wine merchant' Noel Youngs Wines - Cambridge, who has a treasure trove of interesting bottles - see http://www.nywines.co.uk/

Ended up with: 1996 Wynns John Ridoch Cab Sav.…... with some French & English cheeses, added fresh French breads - fantastic

Regards Geoff - from Sydney

How long are you in Cambridge for? I live there are the moment. Could have arrange foreign Auswine Offline.

And it's Noel Young Wines, by the way.

I was invited to a dinner/tasting for the Italian winery Carpineto this week. Sangiovese has never been a variety to impress me in the past. Maybe too many of the wicker wrapped bottles we put candles in after.

My first serious study of Italian wines and hopefully not my last.


We started off with a couple of entry level wines:

Orvieto d.o.c. 55% Trebiano, 25% Verdelho, 20% Grechetto
Slightly sweet white

Rosato Toscano I.G.T.
A Sangiovese Rose

Dogajolo I.G.T. Toscano
An 80% Sangiovese 20% Cabernet

Chianti Classico d.o.c.g. Riserva
100% Sangiovese 2004, 1997, 1995, 1990 (all had 12 months in oak)
All vintages had great colour with the grippiness of the tanin receding as the got older. Very nice wine.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano d.o.c.g. Riserva
90% Prugnolo Gentile Clone (Sangio) 2001, 1995, 1993, 1988. All had 2 years in oak. Excellent wine on all vintages. The 88 had great colour and clarity right to the edge. Very good.

Farnito Cabernet Sauvignon I.G.T. Toscano
100% cabernet "Supertuscans" 2001, 1997, 1995 Small oak barrels for a year. Smelt like a Cabernet and tasted like one but without the fruit of a Coonawarra. A nice change and matched the beef well.

Foggio Sant Enrico
100% Sangiovese 2000. This was my wine of the night. Wonderful balance of fruit and oak and great length on the palate.

Vin Santo del Chianti 1986
A desert wine made from 60% Trebbiano 40% Malvasia. Nice but I think the aussie dessert wines are better and not a style I would chase.

All in all a great night with the food provided by Grappinos in Paddington, Brisbane.

cheers
Graham

Fairly quiet week-warm weather dictates lots of Pale Ale while watching cricket, but vinous indulgences included an informal tasting, aka 'The Underdale Shiraz Challenge' organised by a good friend. All wines decanted and tasted blind.
1 2001 Tatachilla Foundation-Slurpy McLaren Vale mid palate, touch firm to close.
2 2002 Orlando Centenary Hill-Great. Lush, dense mid palate, talc like tannins and classy oak. Probably almost peaking in terms of ageing, but would love to see this in a few time out of curiosity.
3 1996 St Hallett Old Block-corked (and I donated it!!)
4 2002 Bent Creek "The Nude".Medium bodied, some licorice.
5 2002 K1-white pepper, cedar oak lift. Looked like Eden Valley at first.Touch short.
6 2002 Cape Jaffa Siberia.Chunky. Medium bodied, touch herbaceous, but a pleasant drink.
7 2002 Mt Langi Cliff Edge. Eucalypt, mint and white pepper. Nice rounded tannins, and background oak. Well made.
8 2002 Marius-Forward juby fruit, some zesty extract tannin and good clean finish.
9 2001 Fonthill Silk (McLaren Vale).More slurpy forward/mid palate fruit. Grippy, almost extractive tannins, but, again, well made and would have at least 5 years ahead of it.
10 2002 Sladem Section 3146.Well made, but lacked focus in the mid palate. Bottled under cork, and I reckon I picked a bt of tca,but a definite hint of cardboard at least.
11 2001 Callipari-Light bodied, developed, and just past it's peak.
12 2001 Peter Lehmann Eden Valley.White pepper/Flytox (in a positive way!)and simply seamless throughout the palate. Great defining finish tannins to close, the only thing missing was a rack of lamb.
13 1998 Jim Barry McRae Wood-developed and tired. Ouch, I still have a case of this as well..
14 2002 Mitchelton Print-Wine of the day for me. All the great things about Victorian Shiraz. White Pepper, Eucalypt, and rich mouth feel. Oak done very sex-ily (if thats a word)
15 2000 Paul Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage. Firm, forward Shiraz. tannins slightly out of wack, but (and here comes the cliche) it needs food.
16 2002 Dunborough Hills.Some herbal notes, but medium bodied and pleasant.Touch oaky but thats being critical.
17 1998 Seppelt St.Peters.Hooley dooley!!Victorias day indeed!!2nd best wine of the day for me. Deceptivley medium bodied, this still has a good 5 years ahead of it..
18 2004 Mount Pleasant Philip-tired, leathery Hunter Shiraz. You love it or hate it...
19 2004 Linda Domas Egidio-Some flesh, but a little short.

2007 Mount Riley SB-lifted grassy notes, alcohol labelled as 13%, but looked to be more in the green bean flavour spectrumas opposed to the 'tropical' end.Best redeeming feature was the low RS, which made it easy to get through the best part of a bottle with deep fried squid.

I had a great dinner at Auge on Saturday night and consumed some excellent wines with the superb food.

Rockford Black Shiraz (2006 disg): I think that Black Shiraz needs a year to settle and be ready for drinking and this bottle was no exception. Lovely fresh fruit, chocolate and nuances of wet earth and leather. Nice length and savoury finish.

2005 Savaterre Chardonnay: Length and a measure of taut acid define this wine. Grapefruit like fruit with touches of almonds, nectarines and minerals. There is a fair bit of spicy oak but it appears to be in balance with the fruit. Excellent wine which shows lots of power but balance too.

2004 Primo Estate Joseph ‘Moda’ Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot: Really well structured wine with firm tannins and excellent freshness given by a nice touch of acid. Great depth of fruit with the amarone element giving the wine character but not being overwhelming. Very enjoyable wine.

2006 Mt Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling: luscious wine with lots of sweetness. Enjoyable but maybe a little simple.

Kolbenhof Grappa Gewurztraminer: provided a fine finish to an excellent meal.

TORB wrote:I opened an Orlando 1994 Lawson on Friday and thought it was damn good and holding up very well. I didn't finish it so threw the last third in the fridge and pulled it out last night. Bloody hell! It was magnificent!! Makes me think its got a good 10 years left in it.

Had a botlle of this about 6 months ago and thought it was outstanding.

2006 Kumeu River Village Chardonnay

Not a bad quaffer although by the end of the bottle I was well over it.

1990 Wynns Cabernet

Everything a good Coonawarra cab should be, excellent.

fivewells wrote:Ric, pity about the Orlando

Well, for me, on business in UK, so was sitting in Cambridge, all wired up, listened and watched the Election night via the ABC from 7.00am !!!!! Saturday morning

However, then went out and found a great 'wine merchant' Noel Youngs Wines - Cambridge, who has a treasure trove of interesting bottles - see http://www.nywines.co.uk/

Ended up with: 1996 Wynns John Ridoch Cab Sav.…... with some French & English cheeses, added fresh French breads - fantastic

Regards Geoff - from Sydney

Geoff
The man himself posts here occasionally, so your comments may give him a smile.

If you're thinking of heading over there, it's worth phoning or emailing a list through, as not all bottles are kept in the shop itself.

[EDIT - Just realised you've already been there ]

regards

Ian

TAYLORS Eighty Acres - Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2005

Who would have thought?
Five stars in Winestate, trophy and gold in London, gold medal in Melbourne…and all for $12.95?

Colour black with purple on the rim. The Cabernet mentioned first on the label but interestingly, it’s the Shiraz that dominates the nose.
Very fragrant wine with blackberries, blueberries and licorice, upon swirling the rising alcohol is noticeable.
The palate is absolutely superb, very fruity and seductively rich that is silky smooth. Wow!
Perfect balance and very delicious complex flavours.
Lovely drinking for sure, went well with my pizza ordered from Sydney’s best, Crust on Clovelly road.
I can see how this wine influenced the wine judges worldwide, there are no green characters and the ripeness is just tasty.

Offer it to your declassified (eg. non wine connoisseur) friends and they’ll probably get impressed too.
For what it is, it’s very good indeed, 93 points for drinkability but the fact is, there is noticeable heat from the 14.5 % alcohol and the wine has no staying power, cellar it for 3 years max (despite the back label indicating eight), it will never get better than now.

It’s a one night stand sort of a wine and it’s ***** at that!

Cheers,
Attila

Very mixed bag through the week.

Mother out law is staying and she brought a bottle of something her and her husband have been enjoying immensely of late. They bought 3 cases, getting one free when they bought two. The alarm bells were already ringing. Described as 06 Victorian Soft Merlot - a cleanskin from somewhere. OMG, OMG, OMG. Hot alcohol at 14%. Very, very sweet cola characteristics. Muted soft fruit. Apparently all their friends love this. We could barely drink it and most people know I'll drink almost anything. Very sweet and simple - not advisable although obviously there's a lot of people out there that like this sort of thing.

Much, much better was a NV Stephen John Sparkling pinot noir. I'm pretty certain it was pinot anyway. Absolutely delicious. Robust red fruits, fine bead and completely glubbable.

Following up the celebrating on Saturday night, Lanson NV Champagne. Very lemony, sherbet with slightly bitter finish. Not as friendly as the last few bottles I've had. Almost tart with the lemon really. Might start drinking my remaining bottles as this is probably at its best fresh and doesn't look like its improving.

05 Bridgewater Mill Chardonnay This was one of my November purchases that I couldn't remember exactly what it was. In the old packaging and as I only paid $10 a bottle, obviously clearing out old stock. This was tasting a bit faded and I could see why it was so cheap. I won't be buying any more. Tasted like an old chardy just out of its drinking window. The red I bought in the same deal was the 01 Cab blend. Might be merlot and mouvadre or something. Hoping it's a little better but might check it tonight.

04 Seppelts Original Sparkling Shiraz Looking like the prime summer quaffer at the moment. Drinking very well indeed. Enough complexity and has now lost its initial sweetness. Very good.

A planned AFD yeserday turned wrong, below are brief impressions:

2005 O’Leary Walker Shiraz

Superb value for sub-$16!! Concentrated fruit, excellent balance, nice finish, not much else you can ask for really. Has all the hall marks to age well over the next 5 years. Excellent.

2004 Stovehaven Hidden Sea Cabernet Sauvignon

Surprise packet, bought this on a merchant’s recommendation. Very good varietal characteristics, concentrated fruit, lovely flavours and finish, bargain at $15.

2007 The Hedonist Chardonnay Viognier

The label looked cool so I grabbed it. Pretty good wine, lime, peach, tropical fruit, the finish was a little bit short. Overall different but enjoyable.

2007 Bremerton Verdehlo

I really liked this wine, upfront fruit flavours and nice acidity. Very good.

2007 Fox Creek Sauvignon Blanc

Not overly varietal, but it was cold and alcoholic and glugable. Would not buy again though.

2007 Woodstock Semillon Sauvignon Blanc
Very limely, good mouthfeel and acidity. Rather enjoyable, would like to look at this in another 12 months time.

Hi guys first go at tasting notes so please bear with me.

Had a few enjoyable wines over the week.

2003 Kalleske Greenock Basket Pressed Shiraz - Drank this over 3 days. Upon opening was blown away by the nose(no pun intended). Magnificent bouquet. Lots of great fruit on the palate - sweetness. Smooth, silky velvety mouth feel. Fantastic wine. Very happy to have opened one to see it's progress. Will leave the remainder to sleep for a few years yet. For an average vintage this is a fantastic result. Can only imagine how the 04, 05 and 06 will shape up. Glad I have these in the cellar.

2002 Kilikanoon Parable Shiraz - I remember this being quite a big wine. Well balanced, good fruit. Nice wine that's drinking well now. Maybe a little simple for me. I'd say my preference lie with their Clare wines.

2002 Wise Pemberton Shiraz - Have a couple of these left for quaffing. Interesting to discover what a couple of years in a bottle can do for a wine. Nice floral nose on opening. A lighter style shiraz without being watery. Will make for a good bbq wine this summer when I feel like a red, but it's just too hot to have anything too big.
When I started getting into this wine malarkey a few years back, Margaret River was was the first region I visited. We were staying at Bunker Bay and Wise was next door. I remember having lunch there and just loving the place. The two wines that I remember having that left lasting impressions were the 2001 Lot 80 Cabernet Sauvigion and the 2001 Bramley Reserve C.S. It only became apparent to myself sometime later as to how great a vintage 2001 was in M.R. I had some great reds on that trip. I have both the Lot 80 and Bramley in the collection(along with a few other 01's from various MR producers). Might have to pull one or both of these out shortly; all for educational purposes mind you So I guess with Wise it's the romanticised notion of this winery that still lingers.

1996 Goundrey Reserve Cabernet Sauvigion - Lovely nose. Blackcurrents! Good mouth feel. Sweet fruit. Smokey. Lovely structure, elegant rather than big. Starting to pick up a faint fortified, port like quality on the finish. I don't remember this being present in previous bottles that I've had in the last couple of years. Will finish the remainder tonight.


cheers

Ant

Hi Ant,

Good efort for a first lot of notes. Keep it up, the more you write the easier it becomes.

2006 Yalumba Y Shiraz Viogner
Heck for under $10 outstanding - smooth rich, fair bit of apricot. Bought one on Campbell's review Have bought a case will make good school night / BBQ wine for a while.

1999 Chateau Pato
Interesting to look at this after the 2005 a couple of weeks ago. I remember when I bought it it wasn't a patch on the 98 so I only bought 2 - this is the first to open. Huge dark colour, somewhat dirty on nose, certainly not a currently fasionable wine but good stuff - I'd leave the other for quite a while. Certainly enjoyable.

NV Doff au Moulin Cremant de Alasce
Love their still whites so why not try this. Needed to warm up out of the fridge - give the sub $20 a good run.

Wynns BL Cabernet 2001
Not overly great - a bit gravelly and rough, although could have been the context I was drinking it under. Still a fair bit of life, a bit of menthol, good fruit.

Two Hands Deer in Headlights Shiraz 2002
Fruit bomb, intense pruney cigarry characters but SO much sweet fruit. Not to my liking but after a few days open went down very well with others on Election night.

Pirathon Shiraz 2005
Totally delicious, rounded, smooth, effective Barossa shiraz. All flavour, and with room to move. A bargain at a snip under 20.

Wolf Blass Gold Label Chardonnay 2005
Very full flavoured, zingy and a touch blowsy in style, OK.

Seppelt Drumborg Cabernet 1994
Horrid, all daggy capsicums and blackcurrent just, stuffed cork, savoury, astringent, a bad expeience all round.

TORB wrote:Hi Ant,

Good efort for a first lot of notes. Keep it up, the more you write the easier it becomes.

Hi Torb,

Thanks. When you have the depth of experience and knowledge that this community has on all things wine it was a little daunting writing up my first lot of notes. Some of you guys have been drinking wine longer than I've been drinking(any liquid for that matter); and I mean that with the utmost respect

I've learnt a hell of a lot in the last year or so. So thanks to everyone that contributes and the knowledge that you guys share. The education is appreciated.

cheers

Ant

2005 Ngeringa J.E. Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir (screwcap): Rather murky, medium red. Gorgeous nose of fresh cherries/strawberry, pepper and lemon sherbet, and just a little funk for interest. Good fruit depth on the palate but the length isn’t overly long - after all the rave reviews I thought it was a very good Pinot but nothing spectacular, although it’s still young and better with food.

2004 Grant Burge Cameron Vale Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon: Rather toasty/stinky nose at first with very ripe fruit, but this blows off to become rather minty; full throttle Barossa palate with ripe, earthy red/black fruits and a very spicy kick of black pepper.


I also tried a number of wines from Torbreck at an instore last Saturday:

The 2006 Woodcutters Semillon & 2006 Roussanne/Marsanne had good waxy/citrus fruit but nothing overly special, and were slightly warm on the finish.

The unoaked 2007 Cuvee Juveniles was surprisingly ripe and chocolaty for the label, the 2006 Steading remarkably similar apart from the addition of well handled spicy/vanillin oak.

The 2006 Woodcutters Shiraz was a little stinky at first, but with a little breathing was steady if not spectacular. The 2005 Struie on the other hand had a lot more depth and complexity with some dark chocolate and earthy petroleum, very nice and the QPR pick of the bunch.

I really liked the 2005 Factor a lot, it’s surprisingly plummy and elegant with a long, sweet finish. The 2005 Descendant in comparison was rather stinky on the nose, followed by too much apricot; the palate had good depth and feel but again was a too smoky/savoury for my liking (ie. too much Viognier).

Finally and amazingly there was the 2004 Runrig, which conclusively proved its superiority and why it’s so sought after. Incredibly rich with concentrated red/black fruits, dark chocolate and earthy petroleum characters and seemingly not a sign of the 3% Viognier, the feel velvety already and the length outstanding.

Cheers,
Ian

[quote="mattECN"]A planned AFD yeserday turned wrong, below are brief impressions:

2005 O’Leary Walker Shiraz

Superb value for sub-$16!! Concentrated fruit, excellent balance, nice finish, not much else you can ask for really. Has all the hall marks to age well over the next 5 years. Excellent.

2004 Stovehaven Hidden Sea Cabernet Sauvignon

Surprise packet, bought this on a merchant’s recommendation. Very good varietal characteristics, concentrated fruit, lovely flavours and finish, bargain at $15. quote]

Hi Matt. Must agree that the OLW Shiraz 05 is a complete wine and very delicious, a great marriage of Clare and McLaren fruit. I paid $19 but it's still excellent value at that price.

Don't particularly remember trying the Hidden Sea Cab 04, probably have though as I've had a fair few of this label and they've generally impressed as being varietal, reliable and good value.

Cheers

daz

A few weeks in Oz saw me raid the Sydney cellar.

1996 Lanson Champagne - love this wine. Lots of acid and will be more approachable in a few years
1999 Hougtons Jack Mann - one of the best wines of the year so far. Still really youthful, complex and long.
1990 Pichon Baron - a different wine altogther to the Jack Mann, but right along side it in quality.
1988 Jaboulet La Chapelle - no fruit. All tannin and acid. The bottle earlier this year was much better.
1988 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz - starting to dry out. Will drink the last bottle next year.
2002 Rosemount Balmoral - bit one dimensional for me
2002 Taylors St Andrews Riesling - had this on Qantas and its a super wine. Just starting to get some secondary characteristics
2005 Turkey Flat Shiraz - seemed sweeter than previous vintages
NV Lanson Champagne - dosage way too high
96 Orlando St Hugo - one of the best releases from this label. No hurry to drink up.
NV Pommery - reasonable quaffing champagne - nothing much else to add
1994 Limestone Ridge - I fear this particular bottle had seen the end of its road
1998 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz - drinking really nicely for a cheapie
1990 Seppelts Show Sparkling Shiraz - decent. Was expecting a brett-fest, which thanfully its wasnt
2004 Moss Wood Cabernet - how good is this wine going to be ? Wonderful nose, great length. Up alongside the 99 in quality.
1991 Penfolds St Henri - superb wine. Prefer this to the 1990, but not quite at the level of the 1986.
1986 Henschke Mt Edelstone - not quite as good as the bottle on my last visit which was WOTY for 2006. But this was extremely good nonetheless. Glad I loaded up on this wine at roughly eleven bucks a bottle.

Back to a bleak NYC autumn now. Enjoy your summer down under.....