Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[Steady]

I had a few bottles of 2015 Rockford Alicante Bouchet Rose matched with wood fired pizza for Christmas lunch and dinner.

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

For Christmas we had the Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque 2007 in the special Belle Epoque glasses
Delicious

 

[Kohen]

Xmas Day Drinking

The Joseph NV PRIMO ESTATE

Moet Grand Vintage 2006

The High NOON Rose

William Fevre Petit Chablis

Highlight easily the Joseph with Baked Ham and Smoked Turkey - perfect on 38 degree Rads day

 

[Captain Halliday]

Christmas ham with 2007 Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna. A nice drop, but in hindsight a touch heavy for the ham.

 

[RooFlyer]

I had a few bottles of 2015 Rockford Alicante Bouchet Rose matched with wood fired pizza for Christmas lunch and dinner.

For us the AB (chilled) came out for the pre lunch nibbles; with the lunch steaks I managed to find, much to my surprise, a 1997 Henschke Hill of Grace; decanted it but other than removing sediment, it didn't need it. It was possibly just beyond its best but no complaints from the table!

More AB for the ham for dinner last night.

 

[beefarmer]

There has been some serious fermented grape juice pulled out in the last few days. Great to see that everyone is enjoying their nice wines over the festive season. Can't wait for Thursday nights' roundup from the affers.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Christmas Eve dinner....

 

[Wozza]

First chance to breath after a wonderful, but exhausting Christmas few days. Highlights included some amazing food, catching up with family and friends, and an amazing Christmas service. Low-lights included opening the large wooden Thomas TTE table and realising it hadn't been manufactured correctly, so I was manually putting sink holes in assembly pieces at Midnight when I was hoping to be at the Midnight candle service. (I finished at 1am in the end, and it was worth it as the little guys in the house went flying into the lounge to immediately play with their new train set - at 6am!).

For our Christmas Eve family gathering, I was tasked with bringing the wine. So I brought two Veuve NV, two Reds and two Whites. The bubbles were polished off in a matter of minutes by the twelve adults - no doubt they were also winding down after a hectic run-in. The Whites were not touched, but the Reds were well received especially when they started to take their first sips and were then clambering for the bottle, asking what they were drinking. It's a nice reaction that you don't get that often. What was the wine?

It was the Torbreck RunRig Shiraz 2005 that I had acquired in that 10 Year pack from Langtons recently. It is (now was) the best wine in the box of six 2005 vintage wines. Not sure what I paid for it, but they all averaged out to be $82 a bottle, which is an absolute steal having now had it (I suspect some of the lesser wines were padding out the price of the RunRig).

On Vivino I reported:

http://www.vivino.com/wines/12473



"A sublime 4.7 from me. I always worry opening a wine when there is such expectation. Especially at this price point. It's got to knock the socks off the over achieving 97 pointers below $100. And it did. It was sweet, savoury and hugely complex on the nose and palate. But it was harmonious too. I thought I had drunk my best red of 2015 - the Les Amis 09 - but it's big sister has just de-throned it. The only negative was my lack of will power. It was clearly in its primary years and has decades ahead of it."

The other Red that everybody loved was the Parker Estate First Growth 2008. But somebody said it was a bit ordinary when drunk side by side with the RunRig. How ironic, when only a month ago I was reporting on this thread that the Parker was outshining those pretty ordinary Dan Murphy's wines at a birthday party. And it was now being outshone by the RunRig that is obviously in a different price bracket to the First Growth.

And so, as I look back on the dodgy workmanship on the train set table that was missing some sinkholes and look back on the irony of how a wine makes people feel when it is drunk side by side with others - it makes me think - you pay for what you get! At least you do when it comes to the 2005 RunRig, I am happy to report. What a magnificent wine for a magical time of year.

May I wish all my fellow AFF Wine Lovers a peaceful Christmas and New Year holiday. God bless.

 

[penegal]

I dont have a lot of wine-taster notes, but it was quite the punch in the face on the first sip. Had it in the decanter while I made dinner. Mellowed out a little but still quite punchy, with that nice spice that comes with a shiraz. Went perfectly with my pork and fennel meatballs.

I am holding my 2011 stock in the cellar a little longer, but I think it will drink well earlier than other vintages. Maybe 2017-2019-ish.

 

[Deleted member]

For Christmas we had the Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque 2007 in the special Belle Epoque glasses
Delicious
View attachment 60929

Good price?

 

[TheRealTMA]

Boxing Day night wines..

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Good price?

Santa smart thinking Santa also provided a chilled bottle (without box and glasses) for drinking straight away.. So this bottle is still untouched

 

[Wozza]

Not sure what others have made of the Lindemans Trio St George Cabernet Sauvignon 2012.

It had a fair bit of airtime on the Dan Murphys and Others thread. I was personally really impressed with how WineMarket handled an eBay / internal marketing stuff up - sourcing supplies of a product they didn't have and eventually honouring their sales. I picked up my 6 Pack direct from WineMarket after the original eBay orders had been processed. I think they came in at around $22 a bottle after the 20% discount code and 10% cash back. On Christmas Eve, I got my 6 Pack within 5 days, as is usual for WineMarket in Sydney metro.

On Vivino I reported as follows:



http://www.vivino.com/wines/4454897

"A promising 3.6 from me. I picked up a 6 pack from WineMarket with a few tricky discount codes and cash back scheme for just over $22 a bottle. Not bad for a cellar door $75 wine with a strong age-worthy reputation. This single vineyard Coonawarra classic has strong (mostly) blue and (some) black berries on the nose, with a touch of black olives and flowers. The palate is smooth and predominantly blueberries and chocolate. But the new and seasoned French Oak of 18 months is standing out at this early stage."

The irony with the long wait many had to endure is that the wine is nowhere near its drinking window! I don't think I will open another St George 12 for at least 5 years - the bottle label suggests 10 years, and I think that's probably right. The elements are all there, but they need time to mellow. And if there has been no improvement in 5 years, I can always shift the four remaining bottles through eBay!

What are others going to do with theirs?

 

[Sedimental]

Aim on tasting the 2012 St George in 2020. Recently had a '91 (cork closure) which was right in the groove.

 

[Delectable Blue]

I'll be trying one of my St George's soon and then putting the rest down for a long rest. I'll start drinking them from around 2020, and I'll probably save a couple to drink closer to 2030, depending on how they are travelling (and how I am travelling).

You must be a hard marker, giving them a 3.6. I haven't drunk the recent vintage, but I've never tasted a St George that I would rate under a 4. I prefer think in terms of the 100 marking scale, and then divide by 20. So your 3.6 would equate to a 72 point wine, which seems a bit mean to me.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Someone opened a 2010 St George at a christmas lunch I was at. I didn't partake, as I was driving, however the bouquet was great. I imagine a few more years of cellaring would improve it even more.

 

[blackcat20]

Observed an interesting 'trend' last night at a restaurant. Large group filling their glasses with red wine, shouting some sort of toast, then sculling/shotting the wine. Rinse and repeat some eight or so times over a short period. Was both horrifying and fascinating to watch, nevermind disruptive when trying to enjoy a quiet meal.

 

[Wozza]

Observed an interesting 'trend' last night at a restaurant. Large group filling their glasses with red wine, shouting some sort of toast, then sculling/shotting the wine. Rinse and repeat some eight or so times over a short period. Was both horrifying and fascinating to watch, nevermind disruptive when trying to enjoy a quiet meal.

Sounds like a club - tradition - thing. You have the smug knowledge that most of the wine downing lot would have woken up in a much worse condition than you would have done!

 

[blackcat20]

Sounds like a club - tradition - thing. You have the smug knowledge that most of the wine downing lot would have woken up in a much worse condition than you would have done!

Appeared to be a large family group (in fact six large tables worth).

 

[penegal]

Plenty of nice wines consumed over the holidays, although again I have been quite bad with photos and tasting notes.