Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[afro]

A sticky with bodied, very different to the 2010(light , sweet). This vintage has more flavour , complex , I wish I have some ice-cream in the fridge.

 

[gxia]

It's been a while since I last posted a review in this thread. But it would be super rude to keep this one to myself ...!

The Serrat - Serrat is sublime. Much more elegant than 2015 and 2016. And it's all the better for it:

Wozza on Vivino

Big recommendation from me.

I bought both 2015 and 2016, all very nice. Ordered a dozen of 2017, based on Wozza's recommendation.

 

[Jay684]

Saturday nights drinking - an excellent nights drinking with a sore head the next morning

 

[boomy]

Looking forward to dinner tonight with one of our favourite Barossa labels, hopefully in ideal drinking condition

 

[Deleted member]

The last one had turned and we elected not to consume it.

There was also a Two Hands dessert wine not shown in the photo

Well hidden

 

[afro]

this is not the first time I opened a bottle by mistake(screwcap does have its problems!)

Anyway,no decant, abit of vanilla and spicy at first,this 50/50 blend doesn’t leave a hole in your palate, a great Shiraz Mourvèdre blend.

 

[burmans]

this is not the first time I opened a bottle by mistake(screwcap does have its problems!)

Anyway,no decant, abit of vanilla and spicy at first,this 50/50 blend doesn’t leave a hole in your palate, a great Shiraz Mourvèdre blend.

Gotta love anything from Marius.

 

[Wozza]

I opened the Serrat - Serrat Pinot Noir 2017 last night and found it utterly beguiling. Especially on the nose. And despite it's obvious youthfulness on release.

I can't think of a better Pinot in Aus at the moment at this price point. Sadly, they have sold out ar Serrat and I am not sure if they are available online elsewhere.

Tasting note here: Wozza on Vivino

 

[blackcat20]

I opened the Serrat - Serrat Pinot Noir 2017 last night and found it utterly beguiling. Especially on the nose. And despite it's obvious youthfulness on release.

I can't think of a better Pinot in Aus at the moment at this price point. Sadly, they have sold out ar Serrat and I am not sure if they are available online elsewhere.

Tasting note here: Wozza on Vivino

Looks like they've pretty much been cleaned out of everything except the SV. I do love their Pinot, though havent tried the new vintage yet. Got a 98 from Halliday.

 

[Wozza]

Looks like they've pretty much been cleaned out of everything except the SV. I do love their Pinot, though havent tried the new vintage yet. Got a 98 from Halliday.

A JH98? Wow. I'm not surprised. The nose is a 98 for me. But still very youthful palate isn't quite there. Hence a Wozza 96 from me at this just released stage. Glad I got some. A bit gutted I didn't get to try Carson's first Nebbiolo release. I bet it's a cracker for the future (knowing Nebs take time to reveal their real beauty). Hope you and hubby are well BC. Warm regards from Sydney

 

[blackcat20]

A JH98? Wow. I'm not surprised. The nose is a 98 for me. But still very youthful palate isn't quite there. Hence a Wozza 96 from me at this just released stage. Glad I got some. A bit gutted I didn't get to try Carson's first Nebbiolo release. I bet it's a cracker for the future (knowing Nebs take time to reveal their real beauty). Hope you and hubby are well BC. Warm regards from Sydney

They did very well with Halliday this year; 98 for the Pinot and SV, 97 for the Chardonnay, 96 for Grenache, 95 for the F-T and 94 for the Nebbiolo.
Your Comments - Serrat

The Nebbiolo is a new one for me, we missed out last time. So I'm looking forward to it but will probably sit on it for a while. Did enjoy the Fourre-Tout though, very interesting blend.

 

[afro]

i know one thing for sure, Halliday doesn't taste all the wine himself for the past few years(6-7 years), his team does it. the high scoring system has been a turn off for me.

 

[afro]

Gotta love anything from Marius.

Symphony is my favorite out of the three, there will be a 4th wine next year.

 

[JohnM]

Today at Segreve Hotel in the highland cloud forest in Costa Rica.

Neither especially good examples but reasonable enough. The Wente was interesting in being from the SFO Bay Area east of Berkeley and apparently a quite old US vineyard.

 

[Glider_]

Opened this cheeky drop tonight at my favorite French restaurant Chez Pierre to celebrate a number of big milestones that all converged.

We started with Veuve Cliquot with scallops then a 2010 Grange with lamb shanks.

I think I'm not quite in the league of folks who can truly appreciate it. I found it to be a huge red but still quite approachable. It was fascinating to savor on its own and went well with the lamb. It obviously still has many years of cellaring up its sleeves. It did have quite a lot of sediment.

A great night was had by all. No regrets

 

[Steady]

If that glass wasn't sitting next to a Grange I would have said it was a new world Pinot glass - it may be slightly more open at the top?

 

[Glider_]

If that glass wasn't sitting next to a Grange I would have said it was a new world Pinot glass - it may be slightly more open at the top?

Yes it looks a bit more like a pinot glass but the top was nice and wide and didn't bump your nose as some do. I think the intention was to give the wine as much room to breathe as possible given its relatively young age and relatively short decant, and the shape had a lovely mouth feel.

 

[JohnM]

Some scraps tonight at an Argentinian parilla in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The food was straightforward and robust, with fabulous thick tenderloin cooked perfecto.

It was the final night of our tour, so I influenced a couple of the other guys to try across the spectrum of a good selection of Argy wines that dominated the wine list.

The key thing I noticed was that, while the quite extensive red list was Mendoza-dominant, there were a few from the Neuquen region in N Patagonia. Not only that, they were from Fin del Mundo, which, thanks to cr@p maps on my TomTom GPS a few years back, I only found just after they had closed. (I had earlier got to sensational Familia Schroeder in the same area, though, so my day was not entirely wasted.)

Finally my chance to try their wines, so I applied a little persuasion to the guys to share in a little tasting.

But first, the wine list had - literally - one white wine on the list! (Hey, this is a macho parilla...!). It was a Chardonnay. One of the ladies asked if they had an alternative. Out came a Trapiche (big Argy producer) Torrontes from Salta in NW Argentina (the home of Torrontes.) I stole a taste. It was good.

To the reds.

Phwoar!

Anything from Catena in Mendoza is bound to be good (sensational winery to visit BTW.) This was their mid-level wine. Smooth in the true Mendoza Malbec character, but a richer, fruity style.

The Fin del Mundo (‘end of the earth’ owing to the very S latitude) straight Malbec, on the other hand, while it had the characteristic sleek smoothness, it also had a more restrained, less fruit-forward, and elegant palate. Kind of like the plushness of a very good Central Otago Pinot. Velvet glove stuff. Just seriously well-balanced and drinkable wine.

But the Fin Special Blend was just a sensational wine! It was the top-priced wine on their list, and double the price of the other two - but worth every cent. Cab Sauv, Malbec and Merlot. Just so rich, voluptuous and with velvet smoothness and incredible balance and finesse. Not a tannin hair out of place. OMG - what a finale!

I have one more night in San Jose, but with a very early rise on Sunday morning to go to the airport. However, I think I will be seriously tempted to go back tomorrow night (early) for another Fin Special Blend solo with another superb steak! The restaurant is only about 300m from my hotel...

I’ll probably never get another chance...

 

[AisleSeat]

Very earthy, with some plum and blackcurrant undertones.

 

[afro]

Finish the week with another Shiraz Mataro.
Not as easy going as the past few vintages(2011-2015)bold , black fruits hiding in the background , seems unsettle . I didn’t decant this wine and had 2 glasses within 4 hours. Not much changed along the way.