Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[sigmadelta]

I bought a shed load of Rustenberg's John X Merriman Cabernet blend, for a couple of vintages. A really fantastic wine with loads of cigar box and full of fruit. It will last ages.

 

[georgehall]

Sunday night Pinots: this is drinking extremely well. Still a little young yet tho.
View attachment 76021

Yet to try their Pinot but I had their Gamay a few weeks ago and I was very impressed. Fantastic wine.

 

[Wozza]

My last act before I conk out again, suffering from serious Aussie-Europe jet lag. In fact, I'll be tucking up in my 6 year old's bed as he has already conked out in his full school uniform alongside my wife at 5pm this evening. That's much better than yesterday when my wife failed to pick him up after school yesterday and when I walked in to find him sleeping in the hall as I walked in the door! - Any tips for the 2, 6 and 39 year olds to beat the jet lag would be gratefully received! As I am seriously suffering on my third full day of work whilst the three of them party most of the night.

Luckily, I have taken my medicinal sleep-inducing, context-calming, Barossa Shiraz:

the Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart Shiraz 2012



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

http://http://www.cellartracker.com/w?1854375

http://www.vivino.com/users/warren-dav/reviews/50391236

"Ohh...I like this Barossa Shiraz! So velvety. So smooth. And so cheap!

The grapes are sourced from Carl Lindner's ancient, gnarly vines, some over 100 yrs of age. The wine is matured in French oak barriques for 18 mths (25% new). And the wine's namesake - Dandelions - are left amongst the vines to suppress Winter weeds and provide mulch in the Summer.

The nose doesn't give many clues to the wonderful palate that awaits you. In fact, you get a good dose of asparagus, alcohol and pepper on the nose. But ripe blackberries, fleshy black cherries, strawberry, chocolate, violets and delicate slightly smokey spices flow elegantly across the medium-full body palate and fine lingering finish. It's like drinking a premium Margaret River Shiraz! I loved it.

It's wonderful and rewarding to drink now, but will no doubt continue to reward the more patient for at least another 5 yrs. It's no surprise that it has a Halliday 95, Decanter 91 and countless national and international awards. At $12 with some tricky discount codes and cash back from Wine Market. This represents great value. Hence a Wozza 95/100 (4.2/5.0) from me."

 

[beefarmer]

My last act before I conk out again, suffering from serious Aussie-Europe jet lag. In fact, I'll be tucking up in my 6 year old's bed as he has already conked out in his full school uniform alongside my wife at 5pm this evening. That's much better than yesterday when my wife failed to pick him up after school yesterday and when I walked in to find him sleeping in the hall as I walked in the door! - Any tips for the 2, 6 and 39 year olds to beat the jet lag would be gratefully received! As I am seriously suffering on my third full day of work whilst the three of them party most of the night.

Luckily, I have taken my medicinal sleep-inducing, context-calming, Barossa Shiraz:

the Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart Shiraz 2012

View attachment 76201

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

http://http://www.cellartracker.com/w?1854375

http://www.vivino.com/users/warren-dav/reviews/50391236

"Ohh...I like this Barossa Shiraz! So velvety. So smooth. And so cheap!
The grapes are sourced from Carl Lindner's ancient, gnarly vines, some over 100 yrs of age. The wine is matured in French oak barriques for 18 mths (25% new). And the wine's namesake -Dandelions - are left amongst the vines to suppress Winter weeds and provide mulch in the Summer.

The nose doesn't give many clues to the wonderful palate that awaits you. In fact, you get a good dose of asparagus, alcohol and pepper on the nose. But ripe blackberries, fleshy black cherries, strawberry, chocolate, violets and delicate spices flow elegantly across the medium-full body palate and fine lingering finish. It's like drinking a premium Margaret River Shiraz! I loved it.

It's wonderful and rewarding to drink now, but will no doubt continue to reward the more patient for at least another 5 yrs. At $12 with some tricky discount codes and cash back from Wine Market. This represents great value. Hence a Wozza 95/100 (4.2/5.0) from me."

eLENA, YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Been a while since I posted here - didn't keep notes of everything (CT = CellarTracker scores)

2010 Baroli Barolo - Ruby red colour. Floral aromas. Red cherry flavours, with medium tannins. Good QPR Barolo (at least in Australia) - CT89

2012 Willoughby Park Kalgan IronRock Shiraz - This is seriously nice. There's lashings of red and black fruits, some vanilla, and fine tannins. Some savoury spices on the finish. It all ends up in a smooth, velvety taste in your mouth. CT91

2003 Shirvington Cabernet - Cassis and other blue fruits. Some earthiness and leather. Tannins pretty fine now. Just not much there now. It's a big alcohol wine (15%) made by the Sparky and Sarah (of Mollydooker now) which probably explains the big Robert Parker scores. Nice, but not fantastic. CT87

2013 Jeanneret Westward We Went Cab Malbec - reviewed before. Great QPR from VM. CT90

2006 D'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz - reviewed before. Great drinking, but need airing. CT90

2010 Star Lane Merlot - CT90

2010 Wolf Blass Grey Label Shiraz: Inky purple colour. Full bodied, with intense dark fruits: plum & blackberry, with some sweetness, vanilla and herbal notes. Smooth tannins. Still very big and young. CT90

2013 Hewitson Mad Hatter McLaren Vale Shiraz: Still very young - big dark fruits, but with that McLaren Vale chocolate undertone. Vanillan oak, but all in balance, with tannins not overtly obvious. Will get better over the next 5 years or so. CT90

2013 2013 Sottimano Langhe Nebbiolo Ruby red colour. Muted nose. Red fruit, a little on the sour/tart side. Dusty tannins that are a bit rough. Acidity is there to carry the wine for a few more years, but the fruit seems a bit thin. Unsure how much longer this will last. CT84

 

[beefarmer]

You seem to be as tough a marker, probably tougher, than Whand. An AC 90 is going to be at least four under a comparative JH score as a guesstimate. There is a reason why you pick up on nearly all the black market/mystery deals and that is you've probably had them all over the years. Drank a river, drank an ocean.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

An AC 90 is going to be at least four under a comparative JH score as a guesstimate.

I actually just use the CellarTracker scoring guide, but I've adjusted the descriptions by one level, ergo:

<80 Sink fodder
80-85 Average/Ordinary
86-89 Good
90-93 Very Good
94-97 Excellent
98-99 Outstanding
100 Extraordinary

 

[beefarmer]

I actually just use the CellarTracker scoring guide, but I've adjusted the descriptions by one level, ergo:

<80 Sink fodder
80-85 Average/Ordinary
86-89 Good
90-93 Very Good
94-97 Excellent
98-99 Outstanding
100 Extraordinary

just for the record AC, can you give us your last few 98 plus wines, and, like Robert Parker once said, you give one hundred when one hundred is deserved. Any of those in your days AH? Any anyone else lucky enough.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I've only recently started scoring the wines I drink - inspired by our own Wozza! Top wine I think has been a 94 pointer: Torbrek Runrig 2004. Though there have been others in the past that have probably rivalled that.

 

[Whining&dining]

You seem to be as tough a marker, probably tougher, than Whand. An AC 90 is going to be at least four under a comparative JH score as a guesstimate. There is a reason why you pick up on nearly all the black market/mystery deals and that is you've probably had them all over the years. Drank a river, drank an ocean.

Is that my name being used in vain Beefarmour (at least it's not beef curtains!) I mean Beefarmer? but seriously folks I AM a tough critic I don't see why I should pull any punches if something's not up to scratch. I particularly take issue with the idea that "you've only paid $10-12 for that wine, it normally sells for $50" mentality as I would feel mortified to have paid full retail price , heaven forfend!

 

[drron]

So for a long weekend in Armidale it was again a vintage port-

.

Not nearly as good as the morris or seppelts product but easy drinking.
Since home first was the son of Tahbilk-

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Not as much body as the Tahbilk shiraz but at it's peak and quite nice.
Then an old favourite-

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Drinking very well and still a little life left.Fortunately 1 bottle left.
Then an unusual entry from Ballandean-

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I wish I had bought more.Still some tannin and could probably last another 3-4 years.Very nice.

 

[Daver6]

Tasting group theme was wines from anywhere except Australia, France and Italy. A first for me was a wine from Vietnam.

 

[JohnM]

Nice enough, but this coughtail didn't live up to the promise IMO.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

Kicking off the weekend with a Coonawarra classic. Big upfront cassis flavours, with earth and some eucalytus. Dusty tannins. I think this needs more time. CT89.



And then the Barossa Old Vine Company Shiraz 2004. Now, this is just in a great spot right now. Deep, dark red colour. Red cherries, cinnamon, and vanilla notes. Medium tannins, round and full bodied, but oh, so velvet smooth on the palate, with some nice savoury spice on the long finish. This is a great example of aged Barossa shiraz IMHO. CT93

 

[blackcat20]

Something crisp and easy drinking with some Asian style fish and rice

 

[beefarmer]

Late this afternoon a mate and I headed off for our pre-dinner drinks at Danny M's. What with it being a Friday we thought some Wynns might be on the table as a little aperitif. Veni vidi bibi. On tasting were only two Wynns, a 2013 Black shiraz and a 2014 Black classic Cabernet. I am not up to date with current releases but I thought both would be 2014. After those, a Shanahans Old Dog shiraz tasting ensued . But we left with an entirely different wine that being the Shingleback The Davey estate reserve 2013 Shiraz. At home waiting was a Barossan Epsilon shiraz 2015 that I had procured mainly to see what it was like ahead of my Fo purchase of the tempranillo from them.

Let me say it's been a long time since two reds have taken me aback with their oomph. These two are heavyweights in the body department and we enjoyed them both.

Firstly the Epsilom Shiraz 2015. I asked the chap at Nicks east Doncaster how he rated the body on this and he said 8.5. I totally agree with him and I gave it a 9 initially. Deep, deep nose of black plums to match the colour. A little bit of cherry on the palate but the overriding feeling is of power. It has a little crimson in there on the swirl when there's a little left in a fat glass. This wine took about an hour to open up and the lovely oak in the background gives you an idea of what's to come. It is rich and quite simply lovely. But lovely in a big sort of way. It does not have cool climate finesse if you know what I mean. Like the Hungerford hill Gundagai shiraz. It isn't a sickly fruit bomb either. It's just damn big with a great future. Great with dinner.

This is where you never know what's coming. You think a wine is big till you try another. It them puts everything into context. Shingleback Davey estate Reserve shiraz 2013, about $23. I cannot remember a straight shiraz with this body in quite a while. There is a sheen to the wine, a slight surrealness to its very deep ruby/crimson/purple tones. Strangely, the colour is exciting. As I type, I think of Andrew Graham from ozwinereview who says an addition of viognier adds electro funk to a shiraz and gives it a lustre. Not mentioned on the bottle, at 14.5% as well, I reckon there's some in here. I am looking and smelling for violets. maybe. the oak in the background may be considered to be a little prominent, but that probably gives this wine the tannin base to last a stack of years. If you like your wine with plenty of cohunas, this Shingleback would leave many good cabernets in it's wake. the density and concentration in this wine are something to behold.

 

[Whining&dining]

. At home waiting was a Barossan Epsilon shiraz 2015 that I had procured mainly to see what it was like ahead of my Fo purchase of the tempranillo from them.

Great late night reading BF, I was nearly salivating at the description(s) being a total sucker for a big fat shiraz! Just wondering whether to follow suit and whack the buzzer on the Epsilon Temp as well, it's a new marque for me and a moderate buy-in price but I'm a frugal son of a gun...btw Kalleske wines and particularly Clarry's GSM are a fave of mine so maybe the family affiliations alone are worth a punt!

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

 

[beefarmer]

Great late night reading BF, I was nearly salivating at the description(s) being a total sucker for a big fat shiraz! Just wondering whether to follow suit and whack the buzzer on the Epsilon Temp as well, it's a new marque for me and a moderate buy-in price but I'm a frugal son of a gun...btw Kalleske wines and particularly Clarry's GSM are a fave of mine so maybe the family affiliations alone are worth a punt!

I believe my tempy was delivered yesterday, so tonight out with friends at a local indian may be a good testing ground. Not quite ready for that Squitchy stuff, but I may have no choice with the vindaloo.

 

[Whining&dining]

I believe my tempy was delivered yesterday, so tonight out with friends at a local indian may be a good testing ground. Not quite ready for that Squitchy stuff, but I may have no choice with the vindaloo.

Well I lost my bottle so to speak and now the Temp is temporarily gone! I'll be kicking myself if you report back with a glowing review BF! Must say I drink red in one form or another with pretty much everything, call me a philistine but red is the colour of my love....