Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

I attended the Penfolds Kalimna Club Icon and Luxury Collection release dinner on Wed night. It was held at the Old Swan Brewery.

Upon arrival were had canapés and were given an extremely cold glass of the Cellar Reserve Chardonnay. I don't have notes on it and unsure what year, but was less than impressed with the wine. Even after warming up, the nose was quite closed and had a rather astringent finish. I didn't finish my glass.

First two wines matched to marron were the 2012 Reserve Bin Chardonnay. This is all Adelaide Hills fruit and a wild yeast ferment. Expressive nose of green melon, white peach, cashew and river pebbles. Weighty palette, high acid. Heaps of stone fruit, nuttiness and white grapefruit with a long finish. This wine is only made in good years and I really enjoyed this. 94 pts

2011 Yattarna. Mainly Tasmanian fruit.Rather delicate nose. white peach, grapefruit and lemon pith. Really balanced in the mouth, with lemon, white grapefruit and stone fruit. Good length. Just didnt amaze me. 91 pts.

2010 St Henri. Dark fruits, plum, tar, dark chocolate on a really intense nose. Some white pepper too. Quite tannic in the mouth with high acid and heaps of juicy fruit. Mainly darker berries in the mouth. This is a huge wine with a long life ahead of it. Really balanced and a long finish. I loved it. 94 points.

2011 Magill Estate. This was from an average vintage, single vineyard and it showed. The best fruit from the vineyard goes to Grange. This was disappointing. Med nose, Dark berries, chocolate ad hints of red berries. Med palate, med+ acid. Dark fruits and some sweet vanilla. med- finish. Just a bit thin really. 88 pts.

2011 RWT. This wine surprised me and was a lot better than I was expecting. Tight nose initially. white pepper, mint leaf, plus the expected dark fruits and plum here. Chalky tannins. High- acid with well balanced oak. The palette exceeds the nose here and finishes long. 92 pts.

2009 Grange. Med nose of chocolate, dark fruits, coconut, aniseed and even a hint of brine! Super elegant in the mouth. Just so balanced really. Massive fruits, high acid and mouth coating tannins with a long finish. 94 points. Good wine...sure is. Worth it...no way.

NV Great Grandfather Port (30 years) Intense nose with nuttiness (hazelnut), some sheery like aromas as well as raisin. Good palette wieght, med+ acid, low tannins and med+ sweetness. Super nutty and a long finish. 93 pts. Not sure if this is worth the money over the Grandfather Port (20 years).

All in all a good night and a great opportunity to try the wines. The speaker was a little disappointing and to some extent just trots out the company spiel.
 
They didn't make their top tier Cabernet based wines for 2011 due to poor vintage conditions. A lot of the Cabernet fruit filtered down into the Bin 389. Can't recall the exact Bin number (I think 169) which is the Coonawarra straight Cabernet wasn't made either. The 707 is a multi-region blend.

To be honest, I think they should have also not made the Magill Estate Shiraz. With a RRP of $130, you could knock the first digit off and then maybe consider it a buy.
 
[h=1]2005 De Bortoli Hunter Valley Shiraz[/h]On opening, the nose was quite closed. 30 minutes in the decanter and this really opened up. Plenty of earthiness, saddle leather, cassis, blackberry, mint, phenol.

Medium palette, medium plus acid. well integrated medium tannins. Red berries, graphite, liquorice and mint with a medium finish.

Probably at its peak. Wish I had a couple more bottles. Excellent QPR.
 
[h=1]2011 Heemskerk Pinot Noir Derwent Valley[/h]Medium nose of red cherries, Chinese five spice and hints of white pepper and clove

Medium plus acid, medium minus fine velvety tannins, red berries, cherry, and savoury notes with a long finish.

This is a good elegant wine that certainly needs some more time in the cellar.
 
That is good news about the St Henri. What has happened to the 707?
St Henri is the one getting all the attention, if you have any inclination to get this I suggest you get in now. From reports I have had this could sell out and within weeks.
 
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I think this falls into the budget category $20 special at Uncle Dans.
We were surprised at just how pleasant it was and went down with twice cooked duck in cherry sauce + trimmings.
It has now made my "ok for the daily drinker" list.
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I just picked up the last 2 bottled of the 2010 St Henri. :) pondering if I should open and give it a taste now or wait for an occasion.
 
I just picked up the last 2 bottled of the 2010 St Henri. :) pondering if I should open and give it a taste now or wait for an occasion.

Still quite a bit of 2010 available in ADL. Picked up a nice wooden box of six on the way to do grocery shop. Just old Mrs. B we have to do a slight detour :mrgreen:
 
In Aspen they love Cask Wine. Wtf???? Turns out Cask BROS is a very fine drop. And i thought they were offering chateau cardboard :)
 
so tonight I sampled the 06 Almond Grove Mourvedre ( recent Vinomofo deal).. retail for the current vintage is circa $70.
I'm not into all the flowery word games so..
It's a mourvedre.. so a bit plain ,some might say bland, but with really good structure.
Time has done it's job well and the wine presents as a mature and very genuine high quality offering with no skeletons that I could find ( and no mean feat imho)
For 30 bucks it was a steal and I'm gonna ring them tomorrow to see if they have any more…..
 
Went to the boss' for dinner the other night and he was very generous with his cellar (inc. a 94 Grange, some 389 and 128 and other delights).

Probably my favourite of the night. Lots of fruit, really complex and just a delight to drink.

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Still quite a bit of 2010 available in ADL. Picked up a nice wooden box of six on the way to do grocery shop. Just old Mrs. B we have to do a slight detour :mrgreen:

I'm sure you meant told :D

$480 for 6. I did sign up as a cellar door member and I think this was the member price.

Not a bad price considering current supply and demand
 

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