The Auswine Forum

Hello all,

Last night, finished off the 1997 Maison Champy Savigny-les-Beaune by having a sniff, and tipping it down the drain. Terribly oxidised compared to day prior.

Started on 1999 Leroy Bourgogne (rouge). Amazingly perfumed on opening. Cherries, strawberries, and hints of forest floor mushroom flooded the kitchen upon pulling the cork. The palate was vibrant, and complex. Masses of sweet and slightly sour cherries, cranberries, and strawberries intwined with beautiful savoury, earthy, mushroom and herb characteristics. The palate was light to medium bodied, the length medium, and the texture was soft and supple. Really impressive wine.

Hopefully the other 1/3 bottle holds up for tonight.

Cheers,

Monghead.

We had a 98 Hardy's Tintara Cellars Shiraz last night. Another bunch of wines I'd sort of forgotten about but glad I suddenly remembered. Wonderful nose, filling the room with spicy savoury plums which follows through on the palate with a wonderful white pepper finish. Good medium body and nice length. With every mouthful I was thinking, OMG, this is really delicious. These were around $11 on release and are drinking fantastically right now. Scrumptious 93.

Mine was day two on 2005 Chateau Puyguerand. Sunday night it was bretty and I preferred to open a 2007 Voyager Chenin Blanc. Last night the fruit had developed nicely to the point that it just covered the brett and in the end i had a very savoury impressively young claret with good extract. It even poured with purple bubbles there was so much anthrocyanin in the wine.

cheers

Carl

Couldn't resist the last third of a bottle (opened on Sunday night to compare to the Voyager CM 04 opened before it) of Cullen DM 04 last night. Had a taste of the Voyager first, still have a couple of glasses left in the bottle that's sitting in the fridge. The comparison was truly an example of the justification of a wine being more highly priced (2x in this case) due to it's greater quality.

Back to reality tonight though - with the value equation reversed. JC chard 08 is ok for $7.99 but Tahbilk's cleanskin dry white for $3.75 ambushes it for flavour though with a bit of residual sugar to plump up the predominantly tropical fruits.

Cheers

daz

bacchaebabe wrote:We had a 98 Hardy's Tintara Cellars Shiraz last night. Another bunch of wines I'd sort of forgotten about but glad I suddenly remembered. Wonderful nose, filling the room with spicy savoury plums which follows through on the palate with a wonderful white pepper finish. Good medium body and nice length. With every mouthful I was thinking, OMG, this is really delicious. These were around $11 on release and are drinking fantastically right now. Scrumptious 93.

I remember this wine well. I had bought a half case, and drank and enjoyed the first 3 (though from memory, I thought them quite simple), but then the last 3 were corked, all opened on the same night What are the chances of that hey???

To our pleasure, the '99 Leroy held up tonight, though less vibrant. Still a great drink though. Confirms for me this has at least 5-10 years left in it.

Moved onto the 2003 Seppelt Chalamber Shiraz. Well, on the opposite side of the spectrum, this was full, intense, and bursting with dark flavours. Verg good and phenomenal QPR.

monghead wrote:

bacchaebabe wrote:We had a 98 Hardy's Tintara Cellars Shiraz last night. Another bunch of wines I'd sort of forgotten about but glad I suddenly remembered. Wonderful nose, filling the room with spicy savoury plums which follows through on the palate with a wonderful white pepper finish. Good medium body and nice length. With every mouthful I was thinking, OMG, this is really delicious. These were around $11 on release and are drinking fantastically right now. Scrumptious 93.

I remember this wine well. I had bought a half case, and drank and enjoyed the first 3 (though from memory, I thought them quite simple), but then the last 3 were corked, all opened on the same night What are the chances of that hey???

Yeah, I think I bought 12 and had a couple on release and a few in the years to now. I've either 4 or 5 left now but they have certainly improved with a bit more time. They were a solid simple quaffer on release but got pretty good press at the time for those qualities. A lot more complexity now and happy I saved a few for ron.

Nothing last night. Tonight, a half bottle of 2007 Xabregas Shiraz with the steak. Possibly still a little early for this one, and the remaining bottles will be left for another year or so. Very dark, full bodied, a little sharp (acid) and mildly tannic but no doubting there is quality in this one.

I decanted it shortly prior to drinking, and poured the other half into a screwcapped half bottle. We will see what the other half is like in a day or two....

Finally tried a bottle of the 2004 Witchmont Shiraz
A little DMS on the nose. Past the Ribena there was some interesting savoury herbs like bay leaves. Nice balance of savoury and sweet flavours and reminded me a little of Torzi's wines for some reason. Finished a little disjointed with some hightoned acidity. Very good with food but I don't know about the word's best syrah

cheers

Carl

05 Robertson V Max 05 , I must say this is a very nice red Even had some bitumen and soy on the nose which i really enjoy I can tell you yo leave it alone for another couple of years its just started to integrate . YUM

Regards Dazza

2005 Lake Breeze Cabernet
Drinking very nicely, everything in place, and nowhere near as oaky as the Bernoota. Still has plenty of petrol in the tank, but why wait?

Cheers
John

2005 Schild Estate Merlot - When we first tried this, my friend's comment was 'Mmm... Meaty' - and he was right. A very meaty wine, a lot dryer and bolder than I would expect from a merlot. Dark fruit aromas, and a ballsy pallate with excellent length. Highly recommended - 17.5

Wynns Black Label CS 2001
Like a few other 2001 Coonawarras, not as much of the obvious mint and violet the cooler years seem to accentuate. This is robust, flavoursome and oak-amped which doesn't do it any harm. Improved with airing/audozeing. Still quite vigorous.

2006 Cigale GMS
Limpid red. Beautiful lithe spicy nose of spice and some boiled sweet notes amongst the savoury notes. Fresh, bright palate of spiced cherries perhaps some meaty notes. Finishes quite zingy with the cheeks feeling the tannin after a couple of glasses despite not noticing them on the palate. Very good wine and with potential!

cheers

Carl

Seeking refuge tonight in a 2006 Toolangi Yarra Valley Pinot Noir. Not bad, but there is something very faintly medicinal to the nose along with some nice charcuterie. Palate presses the right buttons in terms of ripe strawberry and a bit of blackberry. Nice and meaty/earthy on the finish. Firm structure; good acid. Nice wine overall.

Mount Horrocks Clare Valley Riesling 2002

Displaying a most attractive youthful luminescent straw green colour, this outstanding example of Clare riesling opens with a fascinating array of musky scents of lime juice, ripe Josephine pear, crisp new season green apples, lightly-browned toast, minerals and honey with the merest hint of petroleum. In the mouth, the wine raises the bar another few notches delivering a precise and focussed attack, bucketloads of fresh fruit aka the nose, incredibly good mouthfeel, with beautifully-judged minerally acids providing a crisp and invigorating finish of considerable duration. A marvellous expression of this country's best region for this variety that only requires another few years to be at the peak of its powers and should last to the end of the next decade if well-stored. Secured by a screwcap and weighs in at 13% A/V. 93 points.

dlo wrote:Mount Horrocks Clare Valley Riesling 2002

Displaying a most attractive youthful luminescent straw green colour, this outstanding example of Clare riesling opens with a fascinating array of musky scents of lime juice, ripe Josephine pear, crisp new season green apples, lightly-browned toast, minerals and honey with the merest hint of petroleum. In the mouth, the wine raises the bar another few notches delivering a precise and focussed attack, bucketloads of fresh fruit aka the nose, incredibly good mouthfeel, with beautifully-judged minerally acids providing a crisp and invigorating finish of considerable duration. A marvellous expression of this country's best region for this variety that only requires another few years to be at the peak of its powers and should last to the end of the next decade if well-stored. Secured by a screwcap and weighs in at 13% A/V. 93 points.

Sounds like a real treat dlo.

I too dabbled in a little riesling tonight...

2008 Leo Buring Clare Valley Riesling

Pleasant lemon acidity with a slatety minerality. Nice, tight and focussed. Very enjoyable, and great QPR once again.

Waiters Friend wrote:Nothing last night. Tonight, a half bottle of 2007 Xabregas Shiraz with the steak. Possibly still a little early for this one, and the remaining bottles will be left for another year or so. Very dark, full bodied, a little sharp (acid) and mildly tannic but no doubting there is quality in this one.

I decanted it shortly prior to drinking, and poured the other half into a screwcapped half bottle. We will see what the other half is like in a day or two....

A follow-up on the Xabregas Shiraz. Leave a year or two and then have another look. Not much change in 24 hours - only fractionally softer. A good sign?

One more midweeker:
2000 Wild Duck Creek The Blend 13.5% Still a bit volatile on the nose with a dark core of licorice wafting through. Very deep red still. Some balck fruits mixed in subtly with the licrice. On the palate it is medium bodied and surprisingly elegant. Red fruits - raspberry and red currants. as it opened up more in the stewed plums spectrum. A little bit of a volatile finish but not really detracting in any way. Right for drinking now. 89

griff wrote:Finally tried a bottle of the 2004 Witchmont Shiraz
A little DMS on the nose. Past the Ribena there was some interesting savoury herbs like bay leaves. Nice balance of savoury and sweet flavours and reminded me a little of Torzi's wines for some reason. Finished a little disjointed with some hightoned acidity. Very good with food but I don't know about the word's best syrah

cheers

Carl

I agree Carl....got caught up in the 'World's Greatest' hype last yr and bought 6 but really it is lacking in wow factor for the status it received


ross

Arakoon Doyen Willunga Shiraz 2003
Yuck. Dense, rich, black, ink and a load of obnoxious alcohol. Too much for me, at 9.8 standard drinks and showing every bit of it.

Stonier Pinot Noir 2007
The release valve. Very good.

Normans Chais Clarendon Cabernet Sauvignon 1998: McLaren Vale/Adelaide Hills

Second last btl....still going ok for an old timer.... fruit fading slightly but general structure still there


ross

2001 Seppelts Chalambar Shiraz
In a fit of madness we opened a bottle of this tonight.
Inky black, opaque, bright red edge.
Lifted aromas of berries, white pepper, cinnamon and cloves, earth, barbeque meats, dark plums, blackcurrants and other black fruit.
The palate is a riot of very many flavours, loads of pepper, all-spice, plums and black berries, fine grained cedary french oak, integrated tannins, complex, multi-layered, but mostly absolutely choc full of fruit.
Very long savoury finish, a little back palate oak, but nice.

PS Some liqueur cherries appearing now.

Singing tonight, but still very primary, and has ample legs to go another 10+ years
95/100

Had a Shiraz line-up tonight

2007 Ravensworth Hunter Shiraz
Saturated red. Spicy nose. Juicy middle weight palate with very fine tannin finish. Should age a treat! Good/Very good

2006 St Cosme Cotes du Rhone
Inky dark red. Hydrogen Sulfide. Reductive. Shall look at tomorrow. Funnily enough this is the cork sealed wine!

2006 Paradise IV Shiraz
Inky dark red. Savoury spicy nose. Beautiful savoury palate (yes there is brett but in check at this stage). Black pepper silky wine. Reminds me of a cross between a Bannockburn and a Scotchman's Hill Shiraz. Very good now but while I would like to age it, the brett precludes that option for me.

cheers

Carl

2 days old, and the 2003 Seppelt Chalambar Shiraz is still holding up very well. Lost some of it's vibrance, but still loads of spicy fruit to keep us happy.

Tonight, 2000 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz.

Deep dark purple, rich nose with a hint of clove over the plum and (blue?)berry. Firm but not clunky tannins and a very long finish. A very good wine indeed from a lesser year, and it could possibly have gone another 5 years, I reckon.

The other half of the bottle is under screwcap and will be sampled tomorrow night.

Cheers

Allan

Before I fall asleep, two tonight:

97 Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz Nose of vanilla bean which carried through to the palate. Still tasting very young which surprised me for the vintage. Nicely resolved tannins and very good drinking right now but feels like it could go even further. My last bottle. 89

04 Noons 12 Bells Starting to get through a few of these. I've realised I keep buying these but don't get around to drinking them so trying to rectify this at the moment. Al lot of licorice and very fruity. Tastes quite big and the alcohol is there but not too dominant. A bit of spice for interest. 89

Two solid quaffers.

A couple of midweekers from the last two weeks (I've been cutting back):

Grant Burge Miamba Shiraz 04 - Not bad at all - this bottle was better than the last, so I've noticed a bit of variation. Big, rich and fruity without being jammy or hot. Perfect for a cold, rainy wednesday. Cork.

Greenhough Hope Vineyard Riesling 06 - nice well made wine, but lacked a wow factor for me this time (previously I've been very taken with it, so it may be a food matching thing).

Villa Maria Cellar Selection Hawkes Bay Chardonnay 06 - this was super - tasty, concentrated and characterful. The 07 CS was back to being made in Marlborough - it would be interesting to compare with the Hawkes Bay as this was the most enjoyable villa chard I've had in recent memory. Perhaps a couple of years under the house has helped.

bacchaebabe wrote:97 Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz Nose of vanilla bean which carried through to the palate. Still tasting very young which surprised me for the vintage. Nicely resolved tannins and very good drinking right now but feels like it could go even further. My last bottle. 89

This wine brings back memories as it was one of the first wines that made me think there was something different to Rosemount, Wolf Blass Yellow Label etc. Just wish I worked it out earlier

cheers

Carl

Michel Lynch Bordeaux AOC 2005
Cheap Bordeaux. If it is ever going to shine, 2005 might be a good chance. OK but uninspiring. Light to medium-bodied, a touch of minty fruit, acid a little spiky. I think better Bordeaux can be had for under $20.
p.s. 12.5% alc/vol is an advantage on a school night! Long time since I had a red this low.