The Auswine Forum

Went to this on Sat arvo. Great that so many of the tables had the winemakers on them to discuss their wines. Lots of good wines and some very passionate people. General comments were that the 06's are looking much more elegant than the 05's but good wines amongst both of them.
The two standish wines (The Relic and The Standish) were Excellent as was the Kalleske Johann Georg.
Kalleske's Clarry's was best VFM for me with plenty of interest for less than $20. Their Old Vine Grenache was also very good+.
Spinifex only had their Taureau and Esprit 06's on tasting and the Esprit was very good - excellent.
Sons of Eden had a Very good Kennedy GSM 06 at a good price.
Tin Shed Single Wire shiraz 04 was excellent for the money also.
Tuesner had a Lost Barrel Shiraz 05 which was supposed to go in the Albert but spent an extra 12 months on oak - and the fruit just ate up that oak with it hardly being noticable. Big flavours but an excellent wine - particularly at the bargain price of $28.
Clancy Fuller had some nice wines from different vintages - all very good.
Hobbs Gregor and SV both very good but overpriced for mine.
Massena Howling Dog Shiraz 06 was Very good + as was Mt Billy 06 Antiquity
Radford Dale 2005 Eden Valley Shiraz was the most elegant of the 05's on tasting and was nicely balanced and good VFM.
Schwarz had their 06's on tasting all good to very good - the Cab Shiraz very easy to drink.

All in all a good tasting, well run. Just have to work out which ones I want to put in the cellar. Will grab a few Clarry's for sure.
Dave J

Thanks for the notes. This bunch are about first stop these days for something on the up ...

Any chance of a bit more detail on the Standishes and the Kalleske Johann Georg ... I guess all 06s?

I bought the Standish 04 Relic and it's a ripper but these are hardly cheap wines by any standards (unless against Grange).

Cheers -- Jay

The Relic and the Johann were 06 and had more elegance, but still plenty of Barossa fruit - they will both last the distance. The Standish was '05 so a much bigger wine, but not overripe, all very good balance and structure. All Excellent and while expensive represent fair value in the super premium category.