Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[RooFlyer]

Nice wines .. red or white? Take your pick



Private tasting at Mission Hill Winery , Okanagan Valley, BC. Check-out some of the photo roll on their web site - these guys have over-done the 'winery experience' just a tad!!

The tasting was of their top shelf 'Legacy Collection' including the 2011 Oculus - 51% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc. I was surprised at how much merlot there was in it, yet it didn't come through all that strongly. A very nice wine, but for me, not very challenging or interesting. Their Quatrain - Merlot 40%, Syrah 20%, Cabernet Sauvignon 20%, Cabernet Franc 20% - was however slaughtered by the merlot (I'm not a fan of merlot). The last red, the Compendium - 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc - was OK. The only white in the tasting, the 'Perpetua' chardonnay is one I could actually drink - not much oak at all .

All in all I was a bit disappointed; they were all nice to good for me, happy to drink them, but any blend with a lot of merlot in it I regard a bit askance.

I also tried their 'Reserve' range sav blancs (very bland), pinot noir (now there's one I could buy a case of) and their Syrah - not a patch on the Aussie style that I like.

More in my Sth American trip report when I catch up - the winery itself is worth a visit just for walking around, and lunch! Great merchandise range too!

Their 2011 Martins Lane pinot apparently won Best Pinot Noir International Trophy (under 15 pounds) and Best Canadian Red Wine at the Decanter World Wine awards (FWIW), so they are now establishing a separate winery for it!


Edit: I'm not sure who parked this in the parking lot ... but I want one!

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Edit: I'm not sure who parked this in the parking lot ... but I want one!

View attachment 49141

Me too

 

[TheRealTMA]

Nice wines .. red or white? Take your pick

Private tasting at Mission Hill Winery , Okanagan Valley, BC. Check-out some of the photo roll on their web site - these guys have over-done the 'winery experience' just a tad!!

Interesting. We found their reds to be nothing brilliant but quite drinkable for Okanagen Reds. Their reserve Chardonnay and the Legacy series Perpetua chard were very nice to our palate.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Serious end of trip now with Willamette Valley tastings for Pinots and Chardonnay mainly. Today we manager four wineries in the Dundee Hills area. The spoils were





I don't want to double post so please see TR for details and photos. Seattle, Vancouver Island, Willamette Valley, Portland the long way round - Page 7

Wineries were

1. Native Flora
2. Anderson Family Vineyard
3. Colene Clemens Vineyards
4. Utopia Vineyards

All smaller wineries in different areas with similar but different wines.

 

[JohnM]

This excellent Mornington Pinot met its destiny on Saturday night.

 

[JohnM]

Went to a friend's 65th :shock: birthday lunch yesterday. Pouring rain most of the afternoon but we were very snug inside Lamont's from 1230 till after 5 .



The Greywacke SB kicked things off. I missed getting a pic at the time but I bought a bottle to bring home. One of the best Marlborough SBs I've tried - fresh, crisp and none of the overt tropical fruits.

Ignore the second red wine from the right. It was a 'alcohol removed' red that someone brought. Maybe it was my friend's D-I-L who was nursing an infant. It wasn't meant to be part of the lineup.

I was pleased to try the 2012 Deep Woods Cab Sav. It got good reviews and one of my sons gave me a bottle for Xmas. Good now but will be a cracker in a few years.

 

[QF WP]

Had a good friend from AKL fly over yesterday and brought these with him.



Unfortunately I had already decanted this offering:



Was as good as I remember the last one - not a heavy Shiraz at all.

 

[TheRealTMA]

The Greywacke SB kicked things off. I missed getting a pic at the time but I bought a bottle to bring home. One of the best Marlborough SBs I've tried - fresh, crisp and none of the overt tropical fruits.

Kevin Judd's Greywackes are indeed wonderful. Some of the best expressions of Marlborough SB as it should be IMHO. Do get your hands on the wild yeast Wild Sauvignon style as well and don't overlook the Pinot. Fabulous. Available from DMs or Nicks.

As an aside, many of the Egyptian sarcophagus were made out of huge slabs of Greywacke! - the rock that is.

 

[Daver6]

Monday night drinks with friends over for dinner

 

[JohnM]

Monday night drinks with friends over for dinner
View attachment 49232

What's the red?

 

[Daver6]

What's the red?

You mean "was"

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1664071 Not my wine. Owned by a certain yank we both know This was the third of six and showed much better than the previous two. Will last another couple of decades with ease!

 

[JohnM]

You mean "was"

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1664071 Not my wine. Owned by a certain yank we both know This was the third of six and showed much better than the previous two. Will last another couple of decades with ease!

Allowing for kindness from the demon lump of tree bark in its neck, though .

 

[Buzzard]

Enjoying tonight with a home made vegetable soup and pasta with meatballs, this cracker from the Fo. A mere $8.75 this 2012 WA Cabaret Merlot has a beautiful nose, fruit driven with a nice hint of mint finish. Even Mrs. B who is one not to be argued with likes it.

 

[Steady]

Hopefully the new vintage of this is not far away on the FO

 

[Buzzard]

Hopefully the new vintage of this is not far away on the FO

Didn't I just order a dozen of the older vintage?

 

[Steady]

Didn't I just order a dozen of the older vintage?

You most likely did - I missed out on the AP Cab Merlot when it was offered a few moths ago - it was when the thread was going through the cryptic clue phase. I am just hoping that as the FO have started a new round with the AP Cab Sauv that the Cab Merlot will follow shortly

 

[MadMick10]

You most likely did - I missed out on the AP Cab Merlot when it was offered a few moths ago - it was when the thread was going through the cryptic clue phase. I am just hoping that as the FO have started a new round with the AP Cab Sauv that the Cab Merlot will follow shortly

I think the AP Cab Merlot 2013 was on last week - I order a dozen and I'm expecting delivery soon.
[EDIT - Delivery has been made!!!! Confirmed 2013 Cab Merlot!]

On the 2012 - I opened another bottle on Friday night, and enjoyed it, however I was really surprised that the glass and a half I had left in the decanter tasted even better on Sunday!

 

[Major]

This Shiraz is from one of my favourite vineyards and went down a treat with last night's leg of lamb. The nose was closed to start but after aerating it opened up. Not a big wine but good flavour with the lamb

 

[TheRealTMA]

Very interesting cool climate Syrah from Domaine Serene in Dundee hills today. (Vineyards for this are north around Columbia river gorge in Washington State.) Great nose, one could smells the fruit from 2 feet away, nice fine structure and texture and soft quite silky tannins. Unlike any OZ Shiraz.

 

[boomy]

Feel like an afternoon tea, but I don't drink tea so instead opened this recent purchase from epiQure.

Nicely oaked but not too creamy and buttery like so many local Chardonnays.