With friends from Germany staying with us over January, we've been burning through wine at a fine old rate. These are the best scrawlings I can produce from memory:
Arrowfield Limited Reserve CS 99 - Ribena with oak. Very sweet fruit, no complexity. Agreeable.
De Bortoli Shiraz 95 - Nice wine; the fruit is on the way down but it was pleasantly mellow and complex. Oak non-intrusive, tannins soft. Highly Recommended.
Hallowell Riesling 01 - I still prefer my rieslings old and complex, rather than young and fruity. Others without this limitation rated this as Excellent. Not bad for a vineyard that Halliday doesn't list (Mt Hallowell in Great Southern).
Hardys Tintara Shiraz 95 - Beautiful wine - good fruit, good structure, non-intrusive oak, tannins soft but firm. Excellent+, maybe close to Outstanding. My wine of the week.
Heinrich Spindler Forster Ungeleuer Riesling Kabinett Trocken 02 - A pleasant drink, fairly light at the moment. I'd like to see whether it will improve with age. Regrettably, all of the German rieslings we were just given are sealed with cork. For now, recommended.
Another Heinrich Spindler Riesling, this one a Spatlese 01 (forgotten the details). I liked it more, with a more intense taste that calmed down in the glass. Highly recommended.
Jenke Cab Sav 98 - Nice wine, full of fruit muscle, tannins strong but not overpowering. One concern from a cellaring perspective, though, is a variety of semiporous synthetic cork. Highly Recommended.
Jenke Shiraz 99 - I just had a sip. Fruity, firm tannins. Recommended. However, another synthetic cork.
Lark Hill Fledgling Pinot Noir 02 - Everybody that tasted this described it as mellow. Pleasant enough drinking, but nothing special and I can't see it going anywhere.
Lillydale Gewurztraminer 99 - My German friends described this as 'Nice, but it doesn't taste like Gewurztraminer'. Recommended.
Moondah Brook Shiraz 96 - Not at all bad. Dominant cherry flavour which was not yet overwhelmed with oak. Recommended.
Oyster Bay Sauv Blanc (vintage not checked) - I just had a taste. I could drink it, but I still don't like SB.
Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz 92 - Still surprisingly youthful, the fruit not even close to fading. Highly recommended.
Penley Phoenix Cab Sav 01 - Smooth and classy, this will be a lovely wine in a little while. We made the mistake of having it after the Jenke CS which just outmuscled it. Highly Recommended.
Pikes Shiraz 91 - Wine was leaking out one side of the cork. Slightly oxidized. Drinkable, but we didn't try.
Platts Gewurztraminer 01 - Pleasant, off-sweet (we had it with Thai). Recommended.
Robertsons Well Cab Sav 95 - Fruit fading, strong oak (18 months on French oak...if it had been American oak it would be undrinkable). Agreeable.
Saltram Mamre Brook Cab Sav 98 - Great wine - the first I've opened of nine. Pleasant fruit, firm tannins, loads of aging potential. Excellent.
Seaview Cab Sav 91 - Disappointing. Fruit fading. Agreeable. I have two more bottles, and I hope that they're better.
Seaview Cab Sav 93 - A surprise packet. Structure was a little uncertain, but the tannins are soft and the fruit very much alive. Highly recommended+.
Tatachilla Partners Cabernet Shiraz 02 - Uncomplicated, fruity, Agreeable.
Taylors Shiraz 02 - Still lots of plummy fruit and oak. Opened late at night when my wife had an urgent need for a full-bodied red. Recommended.
Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Ridge Shiraz 02 - A lovely young shiraz, although I don't know if it has the tannins to benefit from extended aging. Highly Recommended.
Wyndham 1828 Brut NV - Cheap bubbly courtesy of NSW parliament.
Yalumba Cabernet Shiraz 99 - Up-front and fruity, with oak. Agreeable.
Yalumba Cabernet Shiraz 00 - Ditto.
It's been a good week.
Kieran