Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[botchee]

Pinotage can be great - Kanonkop is one of my favourites. Would be very interested to know which one you had, as I'm on the lookout for decent pinotage. It's far more affordable than the other thing I've started buying, which is Barolo :shock:

Kumkani don't make a bad Pinotage can source from some Dan Murphy stores. If you can get you hands on the Kumkani Sav B it is a red drinkers white, bloody awesome.

 

[beefarmer]

Kumkani don't make a bad Pinotage can source from some Dan Murphy stores. If you can get you hands on the Kumkani Sav B it is a red drinkers white, bloody awesome.

I have never tried one, but on a radio wine show on sunday, they mentioned the characteristic smokiness of the wine? How is it?

 

[botchee]

Different, not to everyones taste, but you should try one at least once, there are some very bad Pinotages on the market as well. Some Dan M stores stock a couple of brands.

 

[beefarmer]

Different, not to everyones taste, but you should try one at least once, there are some very bad Pinotages on the market as well. Some Dan M stores stock a couple of brands.

Ok...give me your best example in the sub thirty bucker range and I will do myself a favour and give it a whirl. Possibly this Friday night with me old mate Pete, he who is battling motor neurone disease. Like I told the Danny Murphy chap in east Doncaster, one chance only, give me your best shiraz and under $18.....he ummed and rrrred and said can you make it $19? Out came the Adelaide hills wicks and his choice was supurb. Botchee...shoot.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Ok...give me your best example in the sub thirty bucker range and I will do myself a favour and give it a whirl.

If you're asking for DM options, they only have two in stock, Durbanville Hills for $19 and Kanonkop for $38. I'd go with the Kanonkop - you can get 17% off with cashrewards

 

[botchee]

Agree with AC on the Kanonkop, don't know about the Durbanville but next that Dans stocks would be the Kumkani.

On another note tried the Wills domaine block 3 cab sav last night, certainly tantalised my taste buds last night, wished I had of bought more.

 

[The Warlock]

Had a mate over last night and we ran through a few of my recent VM purchases

1.Hewitson Mad Hatter Shiraz 2013 - Nice fine tannin, very little noticeable acidity, slightly overpowering vanillin oak on the finish that became more of a problem the more I drank but overall enjoyed. I was expecting better.

2. Lou Miranda Golden Lion Barossa Shiraz 2014 - Pleasantly surprised by this as I was expecting a vile fruit bomb but it actually had some nice eucalyptus complexity and went down well after the Hewitson (two big wines) Would have been mortified to have paid the $50 RRP but at $11 dollars or whatever I got it for in a mixed 12 couldn't complain.

3. Blue Pyrenees Estate Red 2012 - This wine was the highlight of the night. Decanted it for an hour or so which really helped open it up. (I drank my first bottle of this without decanting and it was a mistake) It was a very closed, dry wine. We only got halfway through this last night so using the time honoured clingfilm and elastic band method I sealed it up in the decanter for the night and am finishing it off now as I write. It's much better now, so anyone else who's bought this wine try giving it a good few hours in the decanter I think it will really improve it. Gonna age the remaining four bottles I have and regret going halves on the 12 with a colleague now. I think this is one of the best bargains I've picked up from VM.

 

[Steady]

A Tassie Pinot with just a little bottle age tonight, very impressed, wish it wasn't my last

 

[georgehall]

Pinotage can be great - Kanonkop is one of my favourites. Would be very interested to know which one you had, as I'm on the lookout for decent pinotage. It's far more affordable than the other thing I've started buying, which is Barolo :shock:

I finally got back there tonight with the expectation of buying a case...the $55 bottle price stopped me though...

I got a bottle to open over the weekend, FYI it is the Delheim Pinotage 2014, which on a Google search probably isn't worth anywhere near the $55, but seems to be exclusive to the venue.

 

[JohnM]

Very impressed with this straight Merlot.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Sunday night Pinots: this is drinking extremely well. Still a little young yet tho.

 

[Alzoam]

A little bit of a treat here for us tonight, have never tried the wine before but have committed to buying going forward. Such a lovely nose to this wine, 10 years old but you would never pick it. Still fresh with lots of primary red fruit and cherry flavours. Some spice and just a touch of aniseed, the medium body had such wonderful length. Minimal tannin and acid was balanced with nothing out of place here. A very enjoyable wine.

 

[QF WP]

I've been absent on this thread for a couple of weeks...

Former next door neighbours settled back in Brisbane after 4 years in NYC and a year going around Australia, so I was charged with the responsibility of the wines:



An investment manager took me and another 14 advisers out to dinner last Monday night



The after dinner wine with a cheese plate

 

[Sedimental]

A little bit of a treat here for us tonight, have never tried the wine before but have committed to buying going forward. Such a lovely nose to this wine, 10 years old but you would never pick it. Still fresh with lots of primary red fruit and cherry flavours. Some spice and just a touch of aniseed, the medium body had such wonderful length. Minimal tannin and acid was balanced with nothing out of place here. A very enjoyable wine.

I have a magnum of the 2004. My only Clonakilla. Should I open this soon or wait?

 

[Steady]

Mmmm, on par with Rockford BS IMO - I need some more of these

 

[Alzoam]

I have a magnum of the 2004. My only Clonakilla. Should I open this soon or wait?

Sedi,

I am far from the oracle on such things as how long to keep a wine or on this wine in particular, but I will impart upon you the knowledge that I have. The 2006 was very approachable, nothing out of balance so to me suggests it was right in its drinking window. My usual course of action when considering when to open one of my aged wines is to call the cellar door, in my experience they are always more than happy to discuss their wine and in my view they are the best people to give advice on such things. I spoke to a lovely lady at Clonakilla who told me that she had the 2005 SV only a few days before and stated it was drinking 'extremely well'. The advice she told me that they usually give on their SV is to open around the 10 year mark which was bang on for mine, this may be a little longer for a magnum but to be honest I do not know how much extra time a magnum needs vs a 750 ml. I had a quick look at the winefront and Mike Bennie reviewed this wine and gave a drinking window of 2016 to 2024+ I imagine for a magnum which will age more slowly it may be on the earlier side of it's life to open. One thing to point out though was that my bottle was a stelvin closure, if your magnum is under cork then the aging process may be a bit quicker (that is my understanding of cork v stelvin anyway). I opened my bottle around 3 hours before drinking it and just poured out a splash to taste straight away rather than decanting. Based on my bottle though and its freshness and life I do not think you need to rush into drinking yours.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sedimental]

Mmmm, on par with Rockford BS IMO - I need some more of these
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+1 Ashton Hills Shiraz and SS

 

[JohnM]

Now, this was a cracker. I'm coming to the conclusion that S Africa does straight Merlot like no other .

 

[Major]

A few wines that have graced the dinner table recently

The Clonakilla has that WOW factor. There is nothing to complain about, it has great flavour, is well balanced and every mouthful is a delight. It will reward cellaring for many years.

The other 2 were smooth and medium bodied. We still enjoyed them

 

[drron]

Now, this was a cracker. I'm coming to the conclusion that S Africa does straight Merlot like no other .

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A great winery to visit as well.