Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[TheRealTMA]

Boomy and I are both drinking cab so you're outnumbered

LOl. As a registered DYKWIA, of course I get five votes!

 

[JessicaTam]

LOl. As a registered DYKWIA, of course I get five votes!

[mod hat]
[tongue in cheek]
No you don't.
[/tongue in cheek]
[/mod hat]

 

[blackcat20]

Dropped into my local Danny M's for a carton of cold frothies and like a moth drawn to a flame I surely could not pass up the Wolf Blass tasting.

Firstly, the Grey Label blend 2013 - very nice. Good fruit, good weight and nicely balanced. Still young, but plenty, plenty of promise.
Secondly, the Brown Label 2013 - not enough of an end palate for me, sweet fruited, oak integrated nicely, but just doesn't finish as well as I would expect.
Thirdly, Platinum. This is a real beauty and I think it was the 2013 as well. Beautiful everything, and at over one hundred and thirty, you would hope so. Not over oaked, not too fruity, just seamless. Loved it as you can guess.
Fourthly, the 40th anniversary Black. Nice enough, nice to get a free sample, but after the others, I felt it was understated. Just didn't give me the wow as the platinum did.
Lastly, I went back to the Grey blend to see how it would go after two 'powerhouses'.
It went damn well. My second favourite after the Platinum. Brown came in fourth.
I passed up on the straight grey shiraz so cannot comment on this one, but all in all, a pleasant segue after the visit to the beautifully chilled cool room.

We did the tasting on Thursday. Did you taste in that order?? I really liked the Grey Cab Shiraz, TomVexille preferred the shiraz. The Black and Platinum also went down well, but are obviously very young and are made to cellar. We grabbed the six pack of the new releases, $299 online but with wish card, cash back, and the $50 voucher I won, it was quite a steal.
The guy running the tasting told us to hang on tight to our 2012 Grey and Brown as they will continue to improve (and the Grey is already phenomenal).

No night is Pinot night. :shock:

I am enjoying a 2013 Fox and Hounds Shiraz Cabernet. It is developing well.

I like pinot, but its hard to find a good one. Still bummed I missed the Fox and Hounds but it was during a tight budget phase...

 

[TheRealTMA]

[mod hat]
[tongue in cheek]
No you don't.
[/tongue in cheek]
[/mod hat]

With skin (even a tongue) in the game, you can't fall back on your moderators tastevin!

 

[TheRealTMA]

No night is Pinot night. :shock:.

One has to have standards, JT. You can lead a horse to water I'm told but leading AFFers to good Pinot is a much more difficult task!

 

[donovan301]

Unusually for me, not a pinot in sight ;-)

That being said, rather an indecisive weekend I must say...

Hello EpiQure BNE

Nothing mind blowing,
but a selection of Quaffers with a couple of gems for future research.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

No night is Pinot night. :shock:

That thud we all just heard was the sound of ten thousand Burgundian winemakers keeling over

 

[AnonymousCoward]

What happened to the review AC??

I had a couple of sips of the Vilmart & Cie champers before it disappeared off to the next-door neighbours - a bit tarter than what I'm used to from the major brands. But I'm not a champagne drinker, so I have no idea whether that's a good or bad thing. Anyway, the bottle didn't come back, so I assume it was OK (at least)

The Petaluma Coonawarra 1997 was drunk with a big-flavoured spaghetti bolognese - a bunch of herbs from the garden, plus the best organic, mercifully killed cows (had to drive across town to get it) and, according to the advertising I was shown, I'm sure even the machine that turned the meat into mince was in accordance with all international laws, the Geneva convention, and would still get a hefty vote if standing for election in chardonay swilling socialist strongholds like Balmain (apologies to Keating). Sauce reduced for ~3 hours before serving. Colour was still a good, deep-ish red: cork was in excellent condition. 1997 was a 60/40 cabernet/merlot blend, and for mine the fruitiness was receding, to be replaced with mustiness of aged wine, plus the spicey/savoury flavours of old cabernet. The middle glasses where best drinking - I think it's getting past it's best as the last glass was pretty musty IMHO. But still a great bottle to open (another cork to add to the cork jar!) and for me it reinforces how good a combination of Petaluma Coonawarra is with Spag Bol

 

[JohnM]

A couple of very good drops from across the ditch this weekend.

 

[TheRealTMA]

A couple of very good drops from across the ditch this weekend.

View attachment 66515

Excellent choices ( and taste), JohnM!

 

[QF WP]

Got to sample this little beauty that I received yesterday:

Not quite sure what producer, grape variety and vintage; so needless to say it was very young and front of tongue

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Got to sample this little beauty that I received yesterday:

Not quite sure what producer, grape variety and vintage; so needless to say it was very young and front of tongue

Very cute.. glad you got to experience a little bit of the Hunter Wine Tour

 

[penegal]

I love a good wine story, even if it's the story of how you bought (or stole?) and drunk the bottle, which this one is.

---

In October last year 44 AFFers descended on Cairns, QLD for the annual AFF gathering. The Saturday night dinner was held at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel, and the [in]famous after party was also at that hotel. After we were evicted from someone's room, a second after party continued in the downstairs bar, the foyer, and the hotel courtyard until being broken up in the wee hours. At some stage over the evening several bottles of wine made their way to this party, and the left overs made the trek back to the Hilton with a rather inebriated group of AFFers. I believe the opened bottles were drunk or tipped out, but this beauty made its way to an executive floor room belonging to mickeyc747. When mickeyc747 checked out he gave this to me, as he couldn't take it with him. The bottle which was probably chilled, and then allowed to return to room temperature, so storage was not ideal. When I returned to Chateau penegal this bottle was put in the the "Drink Now" pile.

Fast forward a few months and I was meant to be travelling this week, but a last minute work emergency meant that I was asked to remain in Melbourne. This whole situation was rather upsetting as it meant that I missed out on the Flyertalk QF AGM Do in Brisbane on Saturday. In any case, as I always do - I make the best of the situation. My Scottish friend was at the chateau for dinner last night, and I cooked BBQ chicken with rice. Forgetting he was a Chardonnay fiend from way back my suggestion of a red wine was knocked back in favour of this mystery Chardonnay which had once again found its way to a chilled state.

And boy - what a lovely meal it was. The food, wine and company all left me in a much happier mood than the last fortnight. So thank you very much to Bindibuys or Jojen who I assume purchased this wine and took it to the do before I "stole" it. I definitely owe you a drink.

---

Hart & Hunter Single Vineyard Twenty Six Rows Chardonnay 2014
Hunter Valley, NSW



The bottle cheats by providing it's own tasting note - "Stone fruits complement creamy barrel ferment characters for a delicate complex palate with a juicy citrus finish."

A good summary I think - There is a touch of butter, but "creamy" probably describes it better than I would. This is an excellent wine - and certainly loved the food. This style is what I love about Australian Chardonnay. It was an absolute pleasure to drink, which may explain why the bottle evaporated so quickly.

 

[beefarmer]

Just enjoyed a 2010 peccavi cabernet merlot , basically a good quaffer, and how would I describe it.

Not half as good as the boys here, albeit with the older 2008 version.

Nevertheless, I will leave it to the experts here. An interesting amalgam of insightful commentary only missing Justin and Andre with more floral, less eloquent adjectives. Enjoy

Bogans Guide to Wine – BOGAN’S GUIDE TO WINE – PECCAVI – NO REGRETS – CABERNET MERLOT 2008

 

[QF WP]

I love a good meal put on by a supplier. In this instance, yesterday I was at the Brisbane Hilton :



Whilst a little young and poured straight from the bottle, it was full bodied and seemed a better pair with the steak than the chicken.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Elderton Command Shiraz 2002: what you'd expect from a big, bold Barossa shiraz that's had plenty of resting time. Black fruit flavours now combining with savoury flavours: some chocolate and herbs. Tannins well integrated, and if there was a fault it would be that the palate drops off a bit suddenly, but that might just be this bottle. Bottle says that it's good drinking in 15-20 years, so it might be that I'm still a year short!

 

[TheRealTMA]

Elderton Command Shiraz 2002: what you'd expect from a big, bold Barossa shiraz that's had plenty of resting time. Black fruit flavours now combining with savoury flavours: some chocolate and herbs. Tannins well integrated, and if there was a fault it would be that the palate drops off a bit suddenly, but that might just be this bottle. Bottle says that it's good drinking in 15-20 years, so it might be that I'm still a year short!

Excellent! Better to be short than OTT, Bru! So many keep wines too long.
For me a Bin 128, 2010. Superb drinking. Could keep longer but would I last that long?

 

[Wozza]

Feeling like I've just got a steal of a new wine!

Currently, Hare's Chase is a side project for Peter Taylor. He's the current production manager at TWE. If he keeps producing wines like this, then TWE better get the Seek advert out!

What's the wine I am waxing lyrical about? Answer: the Hare's Chase Ironscraper Shiraz 2013.



Langtons sent out a pretty compelling email about this wine. They were clearly excited by it, using marketing puff (they are normally a bit more reserved) like:

"Ironscraper is a masterful expression of Barossa Shiraz - just what you would expect from a Penfolds Senior Red Winemaker." And: "This is a true insider's wine. Hare's Chase flagship Shiraz, Lepus, is $130 a bottle. Ironscraper is phenomenal value at $25." And: "Here's your chance to get in at the source. But there's not all that much of the 2013 Ironscraper, and insiders will be quick to grab their share. Be among them."

On Vivino, I have just posted the following (and first) tasting note:

http://www.vivino.com/users/8818052/activities/90083650

"Wow. Sometimes you just know when a future star has just tickled your senses! So much so, this brand new Barossa Shiraz (with a dash of Cab Sauv) gets a rugged but elegant 4.2 from me.

It's the first wine released from the Hare's Chase Marananga Vineyard after the vines have come of age.

The bottle label describes a tough place, with ironstone bedrock, little rain and hares living amongst the vines. And at the winemaking helm is Peter Taylor (production manager for TWE!).

Langtons said $25 was 'phenomenal value' for this 'exceptional Shiraz'. Totally agree. Colour: impenetrable dark garnet. Nose: mulberries, white pepper and cedar oak. Palate: warm, elegant (meaty) mulberries and cranberries, peaking with a long soft spice and black pepper finish."

[For those on Cellar Tracker please click: http://www.cellartracker.com/w?2324324]

Interstingly, on their website they describe their differentiator as follows:

"What makes them different when there are so many great Barossa wines? In simple terms, we make wines which are elegant not overt. We have fine-tuned a style which is less upfront than some other Barossa wines - more subtle and food friendly but still authentic Barossa with deep colour and concentration, richness and length. We are inspired by the wines of the Côte-Rôtie in France which have depth and complexity but are not syrupy or heavy."

Looks like I wasn't the only one to jump for the Langtons hyperbole, as their allocation quickly sold out. But don't fret, you can buy a six pack at $35 a bottle with free delivery direct from the Hare's Chase winery:

Shop | Hares Chase, Barossa Valley

I would not feel hard done by paying $35 delivered. It drinks so well, even at this early age. But surely its going to be such an excellent wine in the future. It's so seamless, with a powerful elegance. Highly recommended from me.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I've taken the liberty of adding this to CT for you.

 

[Wozza]

I've taken the liberty of adding this to CT for you.

Thank you, kind sir. Much appreciated.