The Auswine Forum

Hi Good Peoples,

Time for your weekly drinkin' reports please. You know the drill. Lurkers especially welcome; we don't bite (much ).

2007 LONGVIEW "Whippet" Sauvignon Blanc-Adelaide Hills $22

Fresh and crisp with reasonable length but lacking the mineral intensity of better NZ sauvignons. Citrussy and sharp but without the body and concentration I was hoping for.
Still, pleasant, my wife liked it with dinner.
Cheers,
Attila

Massena The Moonlight Run 2005 (GSM and Cinsault)
Grenache apparent throughout but the nose on this seemed very scant. Nice enough but a bit flat ultimately; lacking the zing and excitement of some others of it's type. With time, it opened up a bit but wonder how much it would improve?

Clairault 03 Cabernet Merlot
Delicious, chocolate and herbal notes. Quite nice acid and grippy tannins. Very competent.

Orlando Trilogy Rose
Nice palate length, just the right level of sweet. Good stuff.

Wirra Wirra - Church Block - 2006 - a bargain at around the $20 mark - a mix of cabernet sauvignon/shiraz/merlot - a nice. smooth blend - maybe lacking a bit of complexity but at this price represents good value.

Vasse Felix - Cane Cut Semillon - nice light bodied dessert wine without the honey stickiness of a Botrytis - very nice indeed and half the price of Noble One!

Grandfather Port - always good!

Carpineto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva, 2001. Lovely deep red centre with the merest hint of bricking on the rim alone. On decanting, gloriously floral and redcurrant aromas permeate the room, with a touch of pomegranate too in the glass. In the mouth, slightly sweet red cherries and redcurrant, slightly mouth coating, with lovely soft drying tannins. Long, but mild savoury red fruit finish with great acidity. After half an hour or so in the glass, a savoury black cherry dark chocolate liqueury flavour appears. Over a couple of hours, the fruit definitely moves to the savoury black cherry spectrum and the tannins soften slightly. Rather tasty! I suspect this has the fruit and structure go a while yet too.

Jingalla Vignerons Select Riesling, Porungorups, 2006. A day 2 bottle after one glass was drunk but not really noted in any way. Very, very pale yellow. Nose has a touch of lemon sherbet. Light and crisp in the mouth, dominated by a crisp appliness (but slightly sweeter than Granny Smiths!) with a touch of pear and run through by a touch of slightly sweet orange but finishing crisp with good tooth-drying acidity and with a slight palate roundness if that is not too contrary. Reasonable length comprising soft apple hints. After a while, perhaps with a bit of warming, hints of honey float through on the front palate. One for short to medium term at most I suspect, although lovely right now. This wine is quite different to the other rieslings in this area with regards to flavour profile. Others such as Dukes, Castle Rock and Zarephath are solidly at the lime/lemon sharp acidic citrussy (and I suspect longer lived) end of the spectrum, which I also love, and therein lies the interest!

Devil's Lair Fifth Leg Red Blend, 2006. Rank with nail polish remover. Green, thin, weedy and dilute. Gave me a headache after a few sips. Down the sink.

Cheers

Dave

Hello all,

2006 Escarpment Martinborough Pinot Noir
Wow, what a wine. It captivated wifey and I for hours. Fragrant nose that leaps out of the glass, with sweet cherries, stawberries, and spicy influences- hints of cinnamon and anise. A youthful and vibrant palate did not disappoint, with a medium body, but excellent length. Each sniff, each taste, something different, always evolving. Rich sweet fruits and spicy savoury characteristics entwine, finishing with succulent, velvety tannins. A truly scintillating experience!

2004 Henschke Keyneton Estate Shiraz Cabernet Merlot
Following the Escarpment, we wanted something bigger for the mains, so we ordered this. We knew it was going to be a tough act to follow, and compared to the prior wine, this was a blousy and rather clumsy fruit bomb. Minty, violet dark berries with a hint of pepper, sweet vanilla/chocolate oak, medium to full bodied, reasonable length, but chunky tannins. On any other night, we probably would have quite enjoyed this, but alas, sufferred on the night due to it's company.

2001 Ata Rangi Martinborough Pinot Noir
Ignited by the excitement the Escarpment created, we tried this the following night when dining out. Much lauded NZ Pinot, don't know much about quality of vintages there, but we just had to try it. Colour alot deeper than the Escarpment. Aromas of dark cherries, plums, hints of violets, along with a bacon smokiness and mushroom earthiness. The palate was alot heavier, and flavours more savoury, with great length, and resolving tannins. A superb wine, but for wifey and I, pipped into second place by the vibrance and excitement of the Escarpment.

This is a bad sign, a very bad sign.....

Cheers,

Monghead.

Henschke Mt Ed 98- Brett problems aside. Drinking well when served cool(ish).

Henschke Mt Ed 97- Very good for vintage. Lacking a bit of weight and finishes with confectionary-cassis- menthol and a raspiness.

Grosset Gai 99- Excellent style.

Rockford 00 Vine Vale- Outstanding though not far from dipping over the edge.

Petaringa Over the Top shiraz 2004- settling nicely into a good Vale style.

JamieBahrain wrote:Rockford 00 Vine Vale- Outstanding though not far from dipping over the edge.

Had the 1999 on New Year's Eve. Was well stored by a friend but we found it starting to slide in terms of its balance. Acid was diminished. Still had a lovely texture - almost oily and reminded me in terms of palate weight of an Alsatian style. Best thing about it was that it changed constantly in the glass.

cheers

Carl

In amongst other things.

2004 Mastrojanni Rosso di Montalchino - What a great wine. I love it.

2004 Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Riserva - good fruit, bad winemaking - this bottle marred by acetic balsamic vinegar characters. Same with the 2001 vintage. I am sensitive to this though and others my be more tolerant. Curiously a little better on the second day.

2002 Ata Rangi Pinot - Good wine. Developing well. Not astringent at all but it does have a bitter herb flavour running through ripe plum, cola and undergrowthy fruit. I like it.

2005 d'arenberg Coppermine Road Cab - very good. both varietal and long term. Strong tannins
alongside
2005 Wirra Wirra Angelus Cab - much softer than the Coppermine but equally good. - maybe not quite but better now. Both excellent cabs.

GW

2005 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz
Such a cheap wine, but full of value, excellence, and satisfaction, Clare Valley at its very best. 40year old vines, this will escalate in price in the near future.
Intense violets, deep-purple, lovely dark fruit, and such a surprise, low alcohol, lovely balance, spicy peppers, not too much oak, and soft tannins, perfect for a summer bbq. Drinking well right now, stock up.

screw cap ( helpful instructions on the cap! )
13.5% alcohol
$20 or less
drink - 2010
Fabulous. A great introduction to Clare Valley Reds.
95/100

2007 De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Sauvignon
(from Dixon's Creek)
I picked this up for $18 a bottle, and oh my god, this is just too good to believe.
Fresh cut grass, lemon, lime, crisp acidity, glorious fruit, this is a match for the best from NZ, it has a long, mineral crispness, with defining acidity, and tons of fruit. Deeeeee-licious.

screw cap
12% alcohol
$18
Drink - 2010
Exceptional
95/100

2006 Palliser Estate Chardonnay While I normally prefer my chardonnays with some age, this is very good drinking now -- good balance & weight, & with the structure to last a few years.

2002 Peregrine Pinot Noir Not sure about this one. Cherry fruit but somewhat oxidised on the nose; went well with the meal (duck breasts), but a little astringent on its own.

Cheers
Peter

A few more for good measure

Shaw and Smith Riesling 2007
Quite a dry style, a bit short, not memorable

Shaw and Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2007
Pungent, gooseberries and tropical fruit on the edge of the palate. Very accomplished.

Shaw and Smith M3 Chardonnay 2006
Benchmark stuff, beautiful, finessed wine, quality oak, nutty, aromatic, balanced.

Shaw and Smith Pinot Noir 2005
Lovely earthy nose, but not as fabulous through the palate. Good but not sure it's quite $45 worth.

Shaw and Smith Shiraz 2005
Velvety, medium bodied, lovely wine.

Hahndorf Hill 2004 Shiraz
Nice but not entirely convincing, a little lacking in depth.

Leo Buring 2007 Clare Riesling
Zingy, and full of flavour with intense lme and length. A touch over-sweet.

2005 Diamond Valley Vineyard Blue Label Pinot Noir - Medium body with black cherry and plum aromas, good length. Easy drinking Pinot!. Excellent value for around the $25-30

2003 RockBare Barossa Babe Shiraz - Sensational full-bodied Barossa wine. Lovely sweet plum/prune fruit. Excellent flavour, length and structure. Drinking well in 2008!. Another great value wine for around the $40

Leigh

Several bottles of Forest Hill Vineyard Cabernet Merlot 2004 A nice combination of these varieties, very good palate depth and length, the finish has softish, ripe tannins. Definitely my wine of the week and a bloody good bargain for $11 (runout stock).

Cumulus Climbing Chardonnary 2005 This was more to my preference than the "Rolling"($11) sibling I also had recently. Mainstream Aussie chard with a touch of class and very good value at $12 (yep, more runout stock).

Wynns Coonawarra Cabernet 2003 Glad I opened this, there was some seepage past the cork. Don't know if I automatically marked the wine down because of the seepage but I was less impressed by it than I have been earlier bottles. It was better the next day though. Regardless of how some bang on about cork being a superior seal to screwcaps, the latter are much more reliable.

O'Leary Walker Shiraz 2005 Bloody nice shiraz that marries the fruit from McLarenvale and Clare very neatly to result in a wine with a bit of complexity, some depth and some length on the finish.

Mitolo Jester Shiraz 2005 Nice, and though not quite up to the standard of the above wine, a very agreeable expression of McLarenvale shiraz.

As an aside, I probably won't win Brian's "count the corks" competition but I did win one of Brad's and Danny's two cases of their wines of the year

Cheers

daz

My wife was lucky enough to win a case of Villa Maria PB Pinot Gris 07, so we've been drinking a few of those. What a cracking little wine for sipping in the garden on a hot day (the weather's been super here in Auckland). Almost peach in colour, its off-dry, very fruity and aromatic (pears and spice), with a nice crisp finish. Very moreish!

2001 Ata Rangi Martinborough Pinot Noir
Ignited by the excitement the Escarpment created, we tried this the following night when dining out. Much lauded NZ Pinot, don't know much about quality of vintages there, but we just had to try it. Colour alot deeper than the Escarpment. Aromas of dark cherries, plums, hints of violets, along with a bacon smokiness and mushroom earthiness. The palate was alot heavier, and flavours more savoury, with great length, and resolving tannins. A superb wine, but for wifey and I, pipped into second place by the vibrance and excitement of the Escarpment.

Buy the 06, it is all class

2006 Cat Amongst The Pigeons Barossa Valley Shiraz
While drinking this I thought that I would let my 'signature' sing the praises of this wine but it deserves more than that. Good 'tish' it certainly is.
Very fullsome with very good cling. Ripe berry aromas with rasberries, plums and a very very subtle hint of smoke. The palate showed a joosiness that I love with mouthfulls of ripe red fruits and confectionary. The finish was a little hot (which I don't mind) but when I then proceeded to enjoy it with meatballs in red wine and tomato based sauce it matched perfectly. I finished it off with Old Gold Roasted Almond chocolate.

How they can afford to make Barossa Shiraz of this quality for $15 is amazing. Absolutely smashing!!!

92/100.

Dr - 307 wrote:2006 Cat Amongst The Pigeons Barossa Valley Shiraz
While drinking this I thought that I would let my 'signature' sing the praises of this wine but it deserves more than that. Good 'tish' it certainly is.
Very fullsome with very good cling. Ripe berry aromas with rasberries, plums and a very very subtle hint of smoke. The palate showed a joosiness that I love with mouthfulls of ripe red fruits and confectionary. The finish was a little hot (which I don't mind) but when I then proceeded to enjoy it with meatballs in red wine and tomato based sauce it matched perfectly. I finished it off with Old Gold Roasted Almond chocolate.

How they can afford to make Barossa Shiraz of this quality for $15 is amazing. Absolutely smashing!!!

92/100.

I was going to write about the same wine - seems someone has stolen my thunder. I got much the same outcome, minus the smoke plus vanilla on the nose, and darker spicy fruit. I had mine with rare scotch fillet and my famous spicy px onions. (which probably explains the "spice" in the wine)

I'd wholehartedly agree with the 92 - it's not without faults, and lacks a little complexity. But you'd be hard pressed to find better value for money in this price bracket imo. Speaks volumes about Greenock. Yet to have a bad 04, 05 or 06 from Greenock.

Rockford 05 Cabenet
Loaded with fruit and the tannins were quite agressive so a little time to settle , raw and too early to drink but i wanted to try it , so out it came

Rockford 04 cabenet
Great depth of colour, fruit a little hidden with velvety tannins on the palate

Penfolds Bin 28 shiraz 04
Musty oak , great colour opened up as the night rolled on i must say you could really note the difference in oak compared to the rockfords.

05 R/Ford c/s 94/100
04 R/Ford c/s 92/100
04 Penfolds Bin 28 shiraz 90/100 IMO

Nearly forgot...

Penfolds Bin 311 Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2005
Very impressive, quality oak, nuts, peaches, great length.
Hot on the heels of some superb chardonnays of late - Hoddles Creek, Voyager Estate, S&S M3, Mountadam... so many delightful, finessed, sculpted wines.

Last Friday night I went to the pub up the road with the neighbours and shared a couple of bottles of 2005 Wicks Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. It's a pretty decent quaffer, medium bodied, very sweet and very minty - it seems to hide the 14.5% alc pretty well, maybe because of all the other mint and sweetness.

Saturday I went to a 21st and tried a few red cleanskins not worth mentioning, and a magnum of 2000 Lengs & Cooter Shiraz Cabernet Malbec, which was looking quite leathery and a little jammy, and drinking at its peak. That was followed by a bottle of 1999 Tollana Shiraz, which was also leathery, drinking nicely and at its peak too.

Cheers,
Ian

'05 Majella Cabernet - Coonawarra, SA

Well, where do you start. For such a cabernet, you'd think this had more age than it does. Follows similar lines to Majella 04 and 02 Cabs but this had a slightly increased mineral structure to it. Well formed and ripe tanin structure will age well in 5 yrs. Loads of black current and slight mint/menthol in the back palate.

Very well done by Majella wines again, can't wait to see this wine in a few years.