Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[Daver6]

No holding you back Daver6! Before I even refreshed the page.

Yes I originally used a Riedel Chardonnay glass but didn't do it justice. The Zalto Pinot glass was perfect. Brilliant in fact to open the wine.

Surprising the difference the Zalto made.

Agree, I love my Zaltos. The Zalto Burdungy glasses are my go to for wooded Chardonnay (unwooded...what a waste of grapes )

 

[TheRealTMA]

Agree, I love my Zaltos. The Zalto Burdungy glasses are my go to for wooded Chardonnay (unwooded...what a waste of grapes )

Agree on the Zalto, have a few different types.

Have had some very nice unwooded Chardonnays actually. Generally though not for keeping more than 2-3 years but still nice drinking. The Akarua 2008 was an special exception case in point.

 

[Wozza]

I was lucky to try some pretty amazing wines on Friday night. As I attended Vivino's first Sydney Offline Meet-Up at the CBD Bistro.



There were nine Reds (one a magnum) and two Whites. The majority of the wines were from Australia, but there was a Frenchie and a German to mix things up. The format of the night was - bring whatever you fancy bringing - they'll be blind tasted.



In winning order based on my own taste experience, the wines were:

1. the Parker Terra Rossa First Growth Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 - 4.6 out of 5 from me. I have been selling and swapping some younger vintages. But based on this aged one, that's very short-sighted of me.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/2508451
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?191735

2. the Brokenwood Graveyard Vineyard Hunter Valley Shiraz 1999 - 4.5 out of 5 for me. I have been dying to try this for ages. Serious wine royalty that didn't disappoint.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/21317152
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?117953

3. the Henschke Keyneton Estate Red Blend 1998 - 4.3 out of 5 from me. Having recently tried a 2012, it was a real treat to try an aged one to give me an indication of how good this wine could be.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/2542914
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?344102

3. the Home Hill Kelly's Reserve Pinot Noir 2014 - 4.3 out 5 from me. Another one of my bucket list wines. Absolutely stunning journey to this wine. Left me wondering what age would do to this amazing wine.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/13940933
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?2210702

5. the Kingston Estate Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 1998 - 4.2 out of 5 for me. What a stunning wine. I can't believe so many of these White blends are drunk so young when they have the potential to turn out like this.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/122284196
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?2316253

6. the Yalumba Cabernet Sauvignon - The Signature 1995 - 4.1 out of 5 for me. So vibrant, I had no idea this was so old when tasting it blind. Just a touch too dry for my tastes.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/62554
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?54421

7. the Laughing Jack Limited Two Barossa Valley Shiraz 2010 - 4.0 out of 5 from me. This was a sawn-off shotgun of a wine. Massive, with much more to come.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/9909342
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?1953806

7. the Howard Park Abercrombie Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (magnum) - 4.0 out of 5 from me. Very classy wine that had aged beautifully. Another wine ticked off the bucket list.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/3760546
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?1840292

7. the Saint Cosme Cote Rotie Syrah Viogner 2008 - 4.0 out of 5 from me. Wow. Such a different wine. We were all stumped blind tasting this. Very unusual flavour profile, and very nice.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/1200833
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?853518

7. the Kaesler WOMS Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 - 4.0 out of 5 from me. This was the biggest wine of the night. And for me, the biggest disappointment (as it was the wine I bought from last year's Halliday Hero Pack. It was super smooth, but at least 10-15 years from its peak.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/331200
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?1608550

11. the Donnhoff Riesling Trocken 2014 - 3.9 out of 5 from me. Very different to our Aussie Rizza's. It was bright and breezy, with apples in the mix with the usual citrus fruits and minerals.

http://www.vivino.com/wines/19187750
http://www.cellartracker.com/w?2095889

The food was excellent, and we were only charged $10 a bottle for corkage. They even wrapped and decanted the wines for us. I got to tick off some Aussie wines I had on my bucket list, including the Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz, the Home Hill Reserve Pinot and the Howard Park Cab Sauv. I also got to try some new styles, including the Cote Rotie and the German Riesling. In the end, we consumed over $1,200 worth of wines.

Above all, we all had a great night meeting new people.

If you are interested in attending future offline Vivino meet-ups, then watch the wine posts from the featured top Vivino posters. They have so far done one in Melbourne and one in Sydney. I am sure they'll be heading to a city near you.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Was the Cote Rotie a Shiraz Voignier or a straight shiraz?

Edit: I find most Kaeslers to be huge wines. Best left undisturbed for many years

Sounds like an amazing night. Will need to make an effort to see if I can get an invite to another

 

[Wozza]

Was the Cote Rotie a Shiraz Voignier or a straight shiraz?

Edit: I find most Kaeslers to be huge wines. Best left undisturbed for many years

Sounds like an amazing night. Will need to make an effort to see if I can get an invite to another

Just checked - it was the Syrah Viognier.

Yep. School boy error listening to the 97 JH review. It will totally be a 97 one day. But just not now.

I'll let you know when the next one happens. Hopefully in April.

 

[penegal]

Wozza - Is that different than the forum?

 

[Steady]

I was lucky to try some pretty amazing wines on Friday night.

3. the Home Hill Kelly's Reserve Pinot Noir 2014 - 4.3 out 5 from me. Another one of my bucket list wines. Absolutely stunning journey to this wine. Left me wondering what age would do to this amazing wine.

Does anyone know if any of the earlier vintages of this wine were a stand out?

 

[JohnM]

Does anyone know if any of the earlier vintages of this wine were a stand out?

I had a 2011 last weekend. It was very good but I wouldn't rate it awesome.

 

[Wozza]

Wozza - Is that different than the forum?

No. The same. Most of those that came were regular Aussie contributors to the Vivino app / forum. David O organised this one. He's currently the No. 2 ranked Aussie Vivino poster. Just follow him and a number of the other top 10 and you shouldn't miss it. Several of the top 10 advertised the night by posting a fake Wine Review as the advert. This was it:

http://www.vivino.com/wines/92188906

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Just checked - it was the Syrah Viognier.

Looking at the rules for Cote Rotie, and it seems up to 20% viognier is permitted, though <5% is most common. But that wide permitted % might give rise to a few unusual tasting wines.

 

[Steady]

Another cheapie from Langtons - not a wow wine but I'm really enjoying it. Good nose and long finish, pepper and an earthy / leather / cigar quality with just a little tannin at the end. It is similar to a 2004 (from memory) Blue Pyrenees Merlot I had at a restaurant 6 or so months ago - this came in a lot of 3 and I'm happy I have 2 more to have soon.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Sunday night Pinots: new shipment from Gibbson valley so time to get into last year's buys. Still a bit young but gorgeous wine.


With a nice salmon risotto.

 

[Wozza]

Looking at the rules for Cote Rotie, and it seems up to 20% viognier is permitted, though <5% is most common. But that wide permitted % might give rise to a few unusual tasting wines.

AC, I haven't had anything like it. I thought it was a full bodied Pinot blind tasted. Nobody got close to guessing this one.

You wouldn't expect a Shiraz / Syrah dominant blend to have this review:

http://www.vivino.com/wines/1200833

"SYD OFFLINE. Joint seventh on the night for me. And a very different but elegant 4.0 from me. The nose displayed sour cherries, wet forest floor and nougat for me. The light to medium bodied palate followed suit, with a touch of pepper on the fine finish. So different. Totally stumped blind tasting this. But I really enjoyed it. Thanks Joe the Alchemist. A new wine experience for me."

I quite liked it. But did think South Australian Shiraz die-hards would not be impressed!

 

[AnonymousCoward]

AC, I haven't had anything like it. I thought it was a full bodied Pinot blind tasted. Nobody got close to guessing this one.

You wouldn't expect a Shiraz / Syrah dominant blend to have this review:

http://www.vivino.com/wines/1200833

"SYD OFFLINE. Joint seventh on the night for me. And a very different but elegant 4.0 from me. The nose displayed sour cherries, wet forest floor and nougat for me. The light to medium bodied palate followed suit, with a touch of pepper on the fine finish. So different. Totally stumped blind tasting this. But I really enjoyed it. Thanks Joe the Alchemist. A new wine experience for me."

I quite liked it. But did think South Australian Shiraz die-hards would not be impressed!

I find northern Rhone Syrahs to be quite light-bodied in my (limited) experience - I had a 2011 Victor Berard Crozes-Hermitage Syrah about a week ago, and it was as you describe: something a bit heavier than a Pinot. I guess that's why some of the cooler-climate shiraz producers in Australia are busy labelling their plonk "Syrah" to associate it more closely with Rhone rather than the Barossa/Spainish shiraz experience.

Cote Rotie has the additional twist of viognier being added to the blend, whereas Hermitage etc. is mostly pure Syrah (also allowed is blending with Roussane or Marsanne, but that's not common)

 

[Rocket09]

Does anyone know if any of the earlier vintages of this wine were a stand out?

I have the 12, 13 and 14's in my cellar. The 12 was a cracking wine, 13 not as good as the 12 at this young age but give it some time, 14 I haven't tried yet.

 

[Steady]

I have the 12, 13 and 14's in my cellar. The 12 was a cracking wine, 13 not as good as the 12 at this young age but give it some time, 14 I haven't tried yet.

I was looking for some of the '14 on a recent visit to Hobart but everywhere I looked only had the '09

 

[Rocket09]

I was looking for some of the '14 on a recent visit to Hobart but everywhere I looked only had the '09

Yes as soon as it won the Jimmy it disappeared from their website and went up $15 per bottle. I'm only a short drive away so I drove down and grabbed a few bottles before they sold out. Only seen the 11 and 09 for sale lately, both not representing this wine at its best. I think I paid $45ea for the 12 which is one of the best Tassie Pinots I have had.

Was at Pooley for a wedding on the weekend. They had the Coorinda '13 Pinot and Butchers Hill '14 Pinot on offer. Both were good, especially with Lamb from Smolt who did the catering.

 

[juddles]

Hello all, just sharing what was a very different bottle for me.

Was in the countryside in Spain last week and the choices of wine to purchase were limited. I am usually only a Malbec man, with cab sav/merlot blends a very distant second, and things like tannat and bonarda just occasionally. So I had no idea what half the varietals were that made up this bottle.

But it was delicious!!!!!!!!

 

[Sedimental]

In keeping with the theme of something different this went a treat with beef cheek penne.
Tried it as there was a favourable review in the Fin Review a couple of weeks ago.

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

In keeping with the theme of something different this went a treat with beef cheek penne.
Tried it as there was a favourable review in the Fin Review a couple of weeks ago.

Mmmmmm.... beef cheek penne... It's been in a year or so.. maybe you have forgotten me on the invitation list??
Here is my EOI again