The Auswine Forum

Hi Good Peoples,

The silly season is just about over and most people are back at work so hopefully now transmission of weekly drinking reports will return to normal.

I had a few good ones this week. The Yalumba 1998 Black D Sparkling Shiraz is a terrific wine for the price. Complex multiple berry flavours, chocolate and incredible drying tannins which become quite noticeable as the wine warms up, this is a good one for those that want a bottle of FRS without having to pay $40.

Brian gave me a bottle of Warimbilla 2002 Durif a Little while ago to try. Wow, talk about a kick in the mouth and head (17.5%) wine. This is as jam packed as a wine can get and shows zero heat despite the high alcohol level. Its very well balanced too! Rated as Highly Recommended with an extra unofficial boot upwards due to the lushness and condition of the drinker at the end of the bottle. I shared it with a friend and we normally get to at least open a second bottle over dinner at Vin Santo, but not this time.

Now what have you been drinking?

2001 FLEMINGS Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon

I've received this wine just before Christmas. I haven't heard of winemaker David Fleming before, so I was interested to try this. Colour dark red, a youthful, sweet and ripe cabernet that was very much like a McLaren Vale red with rich and sweet jammy fruit. Very decent at AU$16. Apparently this is an export label, hard to track down in Australia.

2000 McWILLIAMS Regional Collection McLaren Vale Grenache

Excellent and fresh fruitbomb. Ripe and good with pizza.Good cleansing acid finish. At it's peak. I got this one as a Christmas gift, it probably cost around $17. Very decent.

Cheers,
Attila

Brian gave me a bottle of Warimbilla 2002 Durif a Little while ago to try. Wow, talk about a kick in the mouth and head (17.5%) wine. This is as jam packed as a wine can get and shows zero heat despite the high alcohol level. Its very well balanced too! Rated as Highly Recommended with an extra unofficial boot upwards due to the lushness and condition of the drinker at the end of the bottle. I shared it with a friend and we normally get to at least open a second bottle over dinner at Vin Santo, but not this time.

Torb, with that % of alcohol it must have been the Parolas Durif made by Warrabilla. It is one very beautiful wine.
MM.

Attila wrote:2001 FLEMINGS Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon

I've received this wine just before Christmas. I haven't heard of winemaker David Fleming before, so I was interested to try this. Colour dark red, a youthful, sweet and ripe cabernet that was very much like a McLaren Vale red with rich and sweet jammy fruit. Very decent at AU$16. Apparently this is an export label, hard to track down in Australia.

Cheers,
Attila

Attila

Interesting, its on my current tasting bench, will be available through me shortly. (if it passes tasting bench muster!)

Tahbilk Marsanne 1997 - Drank over a few nights and only enjoyed on the first night. I haven't tried a lot of marsanne before, but it seemes like this is a definite drink now before its too late wine. After the first night the palate just got thinner. Maybe other vintages will cellar better than this.

Pierro chardonnay 2000 - rather tight and reserved on the first night, however fleshed out on the next couple of nights. Quite advanced colour but good balance and structure as expected. Personaly I enjoyed the $16 Orlando St Helga riesling 2002 more that I tried last week. Shows to me how riesling is such excellent value.

Peter Lehman Mentor 1998 - opened up in the decanter/glass over a couple of hours. Medium bodied. Good balance and fair value at $40. Should cellar well for another few years but i would question the depth of fruit to last far beyond the next 5 years. Good but not great. I could be underestimating this.

Pirramimma Petit Verdot 1997 - I've really enjoyed this vintage a couple of times previous, but only after it gets a really good airing. Best a few days after opening, telling me it will cellar well for at least 5 more years. Lots of everything here. Great if you like a classic McLaren vale red with lots of everything. Strong tannin and acid show early with the fruit taking time to reveal its self but when it does its oh so enjoyable. If drunk now then best with strongly flavoured food. Even better, dont drink for a few more years and it should be superb.

Little River shiraz 2000 - 100% Swan Valley fruit. This small winery says it aspires to French styles. Personally I'm not sure if they have suceeded or not as I haven't tried many french shirazes. Seems too ripe but could it be the product of a hot vintage that made picking early difficult? Other vintages I have tried have shown better than this. I tried the 01 from barrell in 2002 and thought it to be a better wine. The 98's I drank over a few years also seemed to have been picked at a better maturity.

Rosemount GSM 1998 - a very particular style that I am surely growing out of. 10 years ago i may have thought this to be a super drop. How things change. A sound wine with lots of body and American oak. Drink over the next couple of years.

Pepperwood Estate shiraz 2002 - a very small production wine from a relatively new label and from young vines. Only 120 dozen or so made from Capel Vale WA fruit. Distribution exclusively through friends of the grapegrower who essentially is making wine as a retirement hobby. Has 1 red and 2 whites in his portfolio. The whites are the best to date. This red seemed to lack any real winemaking skill. I couldn't drink and spat out the first mouthfull. There must be hope for future.

[/b]1999 Jean Greiner Tokay Pinot Gris, Alsace[b] I don't usually buy or cellar european wine but some years ago went to a tasting of Greiner wine and was impressed enough to buy some of the aromatics to cellar.

Medium gold in colour, strong aromas of dried stonefruit and some bubble gum, candy.In the mouth flavors of butter scotch and caramel not overly sweet if anything some bitterness in the after taste. Powerful flavor that does linger for sometime in the mouth a wine that cries out to be had with food. The aromas and flavors in this wine i associate with wine somewhat older than this.

Cheers
Geoffrey

Well. I opened the famous, controversial 'crappy wine thread' wine, the 1999 Rosemount split-label Semillon Chardonnay on the weekend, having judged that it was probably not in need of further cellaring.

It's beyond straw, definitely moving to a mid-yellow. The nose is very restrained - with perhaps a hint of muted grapefruit or maybe a wisp of faint vanilla oak. On the palate the flavours are very mild - there's not much fruit at all, just a little buzz of acid. It's not oxidised at all, just seems to have faded. In some ways its rather like a weak grapefruit cordial drink.

Drinkable - certainly. Satisfying - well, beyond a certain thirst-quenchingness, no. Worth cellaring for 3 years - definitely not.

Crap? A judgement call. Undoubtedly less good than it was 3 years ago. I don't recall whether the back label carried a "best drunk over the next x years" comment. Not a wine I imagine Phillip Shaw would have expected to be kept for very long - nor is it made for that purpose. Beats me why anyone would cellar it.

cheers,
Graeme

Attila wrote:2001 FLEMINGS Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon

I've received this wine just before Christmas. I haven't heard of winemaker David Fleming before, so I was interested to try this. Colour dark red, a youthful, sweet and ripe cabernet that was very much like a McLaren Vale red with rich and sweet jammy fruit. Very decent at AU$16. Apparently this is an export label, hard to track down in Australia.

I will have a number of cases available for bidding at my next online auction, catalog available from later this week (but more likely early next week as I am have a couple of rather large consignments of Rockfords, vintage ports and Wolf Blass to photograph and sort through yet).

2002 Mesh Riesling - this well and truly lived up to the hype. Lemon and flowers on the nose, on the palate lemon and lime with a zesty, acidic finish. I wont be touching the others for some years.

2000 Craiglee Shiraz - probably my favourite Victorian shiraz, this too was a ripper. Pepper and cinammon on the nose with pepper, mulberry and charry oak on the palate. Good length and should improve considerably.

Had a few goodies last week...

At a dinner with a friend...

1996 Pol Roger Vintage: very good champers, plenty of green apple and citrus notes, fine bead and a great mouthfeel. Will really start to strut itself in about 2 years. Good value champagne, far better than the high production NV stuff.

2000 Ata Rangi Pinot: opened very well, from the bigger end of town (which made it clear this was not burgundy) great cherry and plum like characteristics, very well balanced, drinking well now but will hold for a few mote years.

2000 Chateau D'Issan: wow, what a classy wine, elegant but with plenty of concentration and depth, typical margaux purity, lots of red currants and chocolate. I really enjoyed this and much cheaper than the big guns without losing much quality at all, seek it out for around 60-100 AUD.

2000 Wild Duck Creek Reserve Shiraz: my first experience with a reserve shiraz from this house. The nose smelt heavily of cough syrup, I couldnt really get much else, this didnt really disappear during the night but softened slightly, on the palate it is totally different, lots of spice and plum, very concentrated and a little bit hot. Its a good wine but nothing to write home about.

2002 Mitolo GAM: Cork closure, bit different from the stelvin closure I had the week before, I actually preferred the stelvin, it wont surprise too many to hear that the stelvins fruit was more intense. Still a great wine though, lots of coffee chocolate and black fruits, intense wine with a really long sustained finished. Definately buy. I havent really liked many of the high pointed big barrossa blockbsters but this one is different.

Then a quick couple of drinks on Wednesday night....

1997 Chateau Margaux: I really like this wine from such an unheralded vintage, such purity and focus, very elegant and sexy wine, I have written about it many times...this is the style I like.

1996 Chateau Montelena: From the Napa valley and stylistally very different from the above, very rich, lots of tannin, very good wine built for the long haul.

1999 Messario: Wow wow wow...I have spurted on about this previously, straight merlot, and just great great stuff.

Also had a 2001 parker terra rossa coonawarra, but only got a glass, good QPR. NV Veuve Cliquot was OK...

Rockford Basket Press Shiraz 2001
absolutely delicious...I'm hooked

GraemeG wrote:Well. I opened the famous, controversial 'crappy wine thread' wine, the 1999 Rosemount split-label Semillon Chardonnay on the weekend, having judged that it was probably not in need of further cellaring.

It's beyond straw, definitely moving to a mid-yellow. The nose is very restrained - with perhaps a hint of muted grapefruit or maybe a wisp of faint vanilla oak. On the palate the flavours are very mild - there's not much fruit at all, just a little buzz of acid. It's not oxidised at all, just seems to have faded. In some ways its rather like a weak grapefruit cordial drink.

Drinkable - certainly. Satisfying - well, beyond a certain thirst-quenchingness, no. Worth cellaring for 3 years - definitely not.

Crap? A judgement call. Undoubtedly less good than it was 3 years ago. I don't recall whether the back label carried a "best drunk over the next x years" comment. Not a wine I imagine Phillip Shaw would have expected to be kept for very long - nor is it made for that purpose. Beats me why anyone would cellar it.

cheers,
Graeme

Thanks Graeme, this certainly paints a clear picture of the wine, no doubt on the downhill run. Not a worldbeater for sure, but was it good qpr on release do you think? Interested to hear your thoughts.

Had a few during the last week but have moved house as well but one of interest with the TV on 01 Rockfords BP Shiraz of which i havent tried yet.

I love Rockford wines but had a 93 Basket Press with Mustard Beef Fillets the other night and at 14.5% alc was almost undrinkable. i couldnt get my palate to get past the mouthfeel and actually try and find some flavour past the alc. the colour was still good but dont ask me about fruit, acidity or structure, all i can tell you is that there was alcohol in it. any others had this wine recently? what is the alc vol of the 01 BP?

Brett

Brett Stevens wrote: what is the alc vol of the 01 BP?

Brett

I think it states 13.5% on the bottle. Seems about right

Guest 1 wrote:
Thanks Graeme, this certainly paints a clear picture of the wine, no doubt on the downhill run. Not a worldbeater for sure, but was it good qpr on release do you think? Interested to hear your thoughts.

Value for money? Dunno. I suppose in 2000 this would have cost, what, $7 or so. Guess that's OK - I never tasted it when released. I imagine it would have been a reasonably acceptable picnic or BBQ wine - something to buy cold from the bottle shop and head down to the beach. Probably way better than the split-label reds, which have always tasted thin to me, at least on the few occasions that I tried them.

But I imagine than for another $1 or so you could have probably purchased Richmond Grove or Wynns rieslings, either of which I would have preferred, and both of which would have better tolerated 4 years cellaring. . .

cheers,
Graeme

deleted

Thanks for the notes Adam. Fair comments, to my mind.

I think Adam has got a thoughtful palate/mind for wine.

Percieves characters and then rates them according to his preferences.

Cheers

NV Solear Manzanilla (Sanlucar de Barremeda, Spain)

A bit more body and not as elegent or tangy as the Hidalgo La Gitana, but very enjoyable nonetheless, and at £4.99 a bottle who can complain? Not me, that's for sure.

1998 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd, Achleiten, Freie Weingartner Wachau (Wachau, Austria)

Deep yellow gold in colour. An enticing slightly floral nose of honey, acacia and vanilla with touches of black pepper and ground nutmeg. On the palate, full bodied, evolved, honeyed grapefruit and quince. Finishes long with peppery spice and good acidity. A great match for kedgeree and superb value at under £10.

1998 Zinfandel, Sherrer Winery (Alexander Valley, California)

Clear bright raspberry red. Jammy nose - lots of raspberry and strawberries, plenty of vanilla (presumably American oak) and touches of black pepper. Full bodied, lots of ripe sweet fruit - bria/blackberry/raspberry, peppery spice and warm alcohol. Good acidity. Drinking at its peak now - will not improve.

Cheers
Phil

Yay! My second post to this forum.

Friday Night
2002 Fox Creek Verdelho. Screw Cap. Seemed almost bitter??
Followed this up with the remants of a half bottle of Rockford 2001 Cab Sauv. Very nice. Really opened up from Thursday night and was a pleasant well balanced wine.

Sat
Goundry Reserve Riesling 2002. Not normally a fan of the rieslings, but this was nice and refreshing. Nice lime flavours. Drier, zesty style while not being too "zingy"

Sun
Marchesi Di Barolo "Cannubi" 1998. Picked this little puppy up at Singapore Airport on the way back home. Fantastic wine! Nice full bodied, with a fair lasting finish. A 2 glasses Wines of Italy award.

Mount Langhi Cab Sauv Merlot 92. Got onto this one just in time I think. Not very experienced with drinking mature wines. Could pick up hints of Strawberry. Any more experienced drinkers here able to tell me if this is "normal"

...... looking forward to contributing regularly to this forum.

Kevin,

The barolo is a very nice wine, Im a big fan of the style but have only had this producer once and it was the 97....if it interests you, this is what Robert Parker said about the 1998:

An impressive effort from Marchesi di Barolo, the 1998 Barolo Vigna Cannubi exhibits a dark plum/purple color as well as a soft, modern style displaying notes of lavender, rose petals, ripe black fruits, and a touch of toasty oak. A sweet attack is followed by a rich, medium to full-bodied, long Barolo with tannin as well as outstanding balance. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2015. from www.erobertparker.com


Cheers!

Adam

Adam wrote:2002 Mitolo GAM: Cork closure, bit different from the stelvin closure I had the week before, I actually preferred the stelvin, it wont surprise too many to hear that the stelvins fruit was more intense. Still a great wine though, lots of coffee chocolate and black fruits, intense wine with a really long sustained finished. Definately buy. I havent really liked many of the high pointed big barrossa blockbsters but this one is different.

Adam,

you might want to choose your terms more carefully, it is not possible for the closure to impact on how concentrated/intense the fruit is in a wine.

I understand what you're trying to say, but this description could be misleading

So many but a holiday in France and will sum up in a few sentances.

2000 Bordeaux is delightful. Fruit purity and intentsity.

Cote Rotie has been garbage. Chateauneuf du Pape requires some decent money to get what is delightful and unequalled in Aus.

The wife enjoys Gewurztraminer. The French do a wonderful varietal expression for under ten dollars Aussie from Alsace. Consistantly from one producer to another.

Adam wrote:Kevin,

The barolo is a very nice wine, Im a big fan of the style but have only had this producer once and it was the 97....if it interests you, this is what Robert Parker said about the 1998:

Adam

Thanks mate appreciate the tasting note!

Kevin

Anonymous wrote:Adam,

you might want to choose your terms more carefully, it is not possible for the closure to impact on how concentrated/intense the fruit is in a wine.

I understand what you're trying to say, but this description could be misleading

Guest,

TCA Taint, even at very low levels, has a pronounced affect on the intensity of fruit flavour and concentration, perceived by a taster. Given that cork is the most likely vector, by far, for taint to enter a wine then it is definately the case that the closure impacts on how concentrated/intense a taster will find the fruit.

Murray

Murray wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adam,

you might want to choose your terms more carefully, it is not possible for the closure to impact on how concentrated/intense the fruit is in a wine.

I understand what you're trying to say, but this description could be misleading

Guest,

TCA Taint, even at very low levels, has a pronounced affect on the intensity of fruit flavour and concentration, perceived by a taster. Given that cork is the most likely vector, by far, for taint to enter a wine then it is definately the case that the closure impacts on how concentrated/intense a taster will find the fruit.

Murray

just to clarify things i think, the closure should have no physical effect on the ACTUAL fruit concentration of the wine per se - merely how a taster perceives it.
ie a tainted cork will impair the tasters capacity to perceive fruit intensity.

Thanks to Chris Judd for these two recommendations

Orlando Lawsons Padtheway 1998 Shiraz

What can you say about a wine like this?

When I brought the glass to my nose I was overwhelmed by the mint but not just ordinary mint. I thought peppermint, but this may be misleading. Spearmint is more like it with eucalypt and good fruit. The sort of wine you can spend a long time on without even tasting it. A deep crimson, full bodied wine, with very good structure and length and lovely soft vanilla oak. Excellent


Bannockburn Range 2001

Another WOW wine.

A very dark crimson wine with a nice sparkle about it. The nose was quite intense with nice fruit showing. Decanted for three hours before serious tasting. Significant alcohol sent us to the bottle which says 14.5%. Fine grained tannins and a nice spicy chocolate and xmas fruit on the palate which has a very good length. Drinking this wine reminded me of drinking a very young Parker “First Growth”. Seriously kick arse wine that is great to try now but put the rest away for another 10 years and then bring them out to impress your friends. Gary Farr must have saved up a lot since 1996 to make this wine. This will be a corker and highly recommended for your cellar.


This one thanks to MartinC

Wirra Wirra McLaren Vale Shiraz 2001

Bit of a 20% off sale going on here in Brisbane (thanks Stewart) so I lashed out on the 2001 WW Shiraz. Thanks again to MartinC who recommended this one after I put the 2000 in my best 10 under $30..

The 2001 seemed to have fresher younger fruit both on the nose and palate. This is a wine which I believe is one of the best examples of how McLaren Vale shiraz differs from the big Barossa shiraz. Not quite as lean and elegant as the Clare shiraz. Very dark colour with lovely chocolaty nose. The chocolate continues on the palate and good use of the oak with good length. Is it better than the 2000? Perhaps a taste off would be appropriate.

I figures I'd add this little TV here (last night's wine) simply because it wasn't deserving of a thread of its own.

2002 Lindemans Cawarra Shiraz-Cabernet
A humble wine, but at least it hasn't been cellared past its prime! Impressively dark in colour, the aromas are of candied blueberry fruits, and chippy oak nuances. On the palate it's quite thin and light - dilute, perhaps, presumably deriving from high-yielding vineyards. Tannins are so soft as to be nearly non-existant, but the wine certainly isn't offensive in any way. I find the flavours are carried along with a boost of residual sugar - almost enough to conceal the dilution of the fruit. With wines such as this a little RS goes a long way, I reckon. The finish is very short indeed - in fact for me the single most disappointing thing about this wine is the speed with which the flavours disappear.

It's a personal decision I realise, but if puch came to shove I would rather drink wine at twice this price, half as often...

cheers,
Graeme

In my continual search for a pinot around or under $20.00 - $25.00 , I bought a few Stonier's Pinot Noir 2002, having really enjoyed the 2001, when it was still around. The fruit profile is quite similar to the 2001, with dark plummy, raspberry fruit accompanied with some sappiness & slight meatiness (smoky bacon), but I did find the 2002 disappointed a bit, just finishing a touch short & a little hollow on the mid palate. Having said this, I think it is consistently one of the better Mornington pinots for QPR & I will try another bottle in a few months, as I think it may flesh out a bit more.
lantana

lantana,
go the 2002 Coldstream Pinot. It is lovely.

Guest,
Thanks I will, I've actually been enjoying the Coldstream Chardonnay from 2002, which I think is a very classy chardy for the money. Nice & tight, but still with enough fruit weight to enjoy anytime.
lantana