Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[TheRealTMA]

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

Ah Reminds me of Bleeding Espresso

 

[JohnM]

View attachment 66313View attachment 66314

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!!!!!!!!

That's a real coughtail!

 

[juddles]

JohnM, am off to Australia again tomorrow - involves yet another 6hr stopover in the LAN lounge in SCL - will do a toast to you with all three of the reds they will have

 

[Wozza]

Hawkeye adjudicates: the ball skimmed the line. It's in! Second set ends. How's the McGuigan Farms Shiraz 2012 going? Well, she's lost the first set comprehensively. But she's just won the second set in a tense tie break, thanks to a failed line court challenge!

There's been many McGuigan detractors, some on here, and many outside this fine Forum. With good reason, some will legitimately say. Set One - the detractors. I've just tried the Farms 12, and I personally think it's a bargain buy at c$23 a bottle. It drinks well now, but will surely develop into a fine wine in 7-10 years time. Set Two - the Farms. Just!



I must admit, I bought this wine rather petulantly, not doing any homework. I hadn't bought any wine in a while. And the numbers and descriptions all said: BUY! So I did. I then log on to the Dan's thread and my heart sinks a little. As the WineMarket deal is expertly and quickly revealed, and, with it, the wine is rubbished. If I had read those posts before pressing Confirm, then I would have cleared the shopping basket, and sighed an online sigh of wine retail relief, having avoided another weaselly marketing must-buy wine advert.

But you know what? I am going to keep this excellent Samantha Stosur.

Why the tennis and Sam Stosur analogy / moniker? Well. As my tasting note below indicates, the Farms 12 is elegant (or feminine) for a Barossa Shiraz. But it has some serious muscles on it. And we are not talking a legendary Serena Williams kind of Barossa Shiraz. But there's still great pedigree - noting Stosur has won the 2011 US Open.

On Cellar Tracker (and a shortened version on Vivino), I have just posted the following tasting note:

2012 McGuigan Shiraz Farms Shiraz, Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley - CellarTracker

http://www.vivino.com/wines/124542071

"A quintessential Barossa intense and fine 3.8 from me. This wine hails from McGuigan's premier single vineyard Farms site where the old vines produce intense Shiraz that is hand picked and matured in American and French hogsheads for 20 months. The nose is sublime and sweet, with blackberries, blueberries, a touch of cedar, spice and stainless steal. There's intense blackberries, black olives, chilli chocolate and spice on the big full bodied palate. With food, the finish is smooth and elegant. Without food, there's more a dry lingering finish. It's a definite keeper for 10 years time where this should have a 96 written all over it. At c $23 from WineMarket (with cash back and 20% discount code), this is no doubt a future bargain ..."

This wine keeps popping up at under $30 a bottle. In 7-10 years time, it should be a bargain buy, and game set and match. So if you are unsure, and you like your big, elegant Barossa Shiraz - this Hawkeye says its in!

Blogged this post here: http://Game, Set, Match – Sam Stosu...ess.com/2016/03/01/game-set-match-sam-stosur/

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I wish I'd opened this bottle other night when I had the Diana Madeline and Yeringberg:



Formerly part of a 5th cru chateaux until division in 1942, it didn't have the greatest reviews on CT, but whether that's due to expectations of Pauillac wine I'm not sure. Certainly I found it great drinking on the night, and would have loved to compare it to the other two without relying on my faulty memory. It definitely wasn't fruit-forward - but what Bordeaux is? Perhaps a bit too "dusty" and "musty", but I don't find that objectionable.

 

[QF WP]

Had this little gem at lunch today - never knew there were producers in Gundagai. Very impressed - smelt aniseed overtures and could have finished the whole bottle had it not been a business lunch

 

[juddles]

The selection today at the SCL LAN lounge

 

[juddles]

JohnM,

I must make a confession, one which may see me ostracized from this thread forever -

I had promised to make a toast to you with each of the LAN wines on offer. But I didn't. After an evening in BOG doing the LAN wines I did not feel like any more red this morning, so I took these photos while having a JD & coke!

I am not worthy......

 

[esseeeayeenn]

JohnM,

I must make a confession, one which may see me ostracized from this thread forever -

I had promised to make a toast to you with each of the LAN wines on offer. But I didn't. After an evening in BOG doing the LAN wines I did not feel like any more red this morning, so I took these photos while having a JD & coke!

I am not worthy......

Oh god I thought you were going to say you drank merlot ...

 

[juddles]

Oh god I thought you were going to say you drank merlot ...

esseeayeenn, good God no!! A straight Merlot?? I would prefer diet Coke. :O

 

[esseeeayeenn]

esseeayeenn, good God no!! A straight Merlot?? I would prefer diet Coke. :O

Friends don't let friends drink merlot.
Straight or otherwise.

 

[Deleted member]

Friends don't let friends drink merlot.
Straight or otherwise.

Or as they say in TLOTFAP. Merr-low.

 

[JohnM]

There, there Juddles, everything will be alright....

JohnM,

I must make a confession, one which may see me ostracized from this thread forever -

I had promised to make a toast to you with each of the LAN wines on offer. But I didn't. After an evening in BOG doing the LAN wines I did not feel like any more red this morning, so I took these photos while having a JD & coke!

I am not worthy......

 

[penegal]

Must be something in the air... I had a G&T at home last night to use up a lime on it's last legs.

 

[Daver6]

Friends don't let friends drink merlot.
Straight or otherwise.

Best wine I've ever had was a straight Merlot...

 

[TheRealTMA]

Friends don't let friends drink merlot.
Straight or otherwise.

Try a merlot from Edi Kebber from Collio in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Your life will change forever.

Also had some brilliant Napa Valley merlots!

 

[blackcat20]

I also dont mind the odd Merlot. More for me I guess.

 

[penegal]

The problem I find with Merlot is that an "average Merlot" can be very average. They same can probably be said for Petit Verdot in the Australian market. That said, there are some truly great [un-blended] Merlots out there.


For something affordable and close to home, I recently (last year) tried the Cullen Preservative Free Merlot and was quite impressed. I have been buying a lot of the Mangan vineyard and their (her?) Merlot, Malbec & Petit Verdot blend is excellent. I cheated and checked the website. The current vintage (2014) is a 38/35/27 blend.

FWIW, the quality of Merlot in Margaret River is generally quite high, although much of what is grown is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon to create those traditional [Bordeaux] blends which Margaret River is famous for.

In SA, numerous producers seem to be growing a little Merlot now. I would like to try the Mike Press one soon (on an AFF member's recommendation).

 

[beefarmer]

Friends don't let friends drink merlot.
Straight or otherwise.

Transgendered friends of mine love a good merlot, so do a few straightees. Funny that. Rochford 2009 is a particular favourite. Originally they were not going to release it being the year of the massive fires, but lo and behold, they let it out in 2004 and it's a beauty.
Where there's smoke, there's fire, is George Pell a liar?

 

[TheRealTMA]

[..]
Where there's smoke, there's fire, is George Pell a liar?

Ah so that was the problem, someone replaced George's communion wine with Merlot hence causing memory loss! Maybe they were taught to "Don't ask", "Don't tell" about the communion wine lest they find out it was Merlot?