Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[Daver6]

When in Rome. A couple of Saffer wines with dinner last night

 

[blackcat20]

Posted elsewhere but let’s do it aagain - ANZAC Day such an important day in our calendar and thanks to our HEROES from generations gone by we are lucky enough celebrate this day in any fashion we choose.

I chose to surround myself with imm family members and a flock of Champs botts:

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Then after the game we lost by 4pts - we were robbed by the way - (can someone pls call Steve Hocking and tell him Tippy does have a neck and shoulders) - I told niece #15 to go down to cellar and grab any 2 botts red that take her fancy and we will head to local pizza/pasta establishment:


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So give me your thoughts - one of these wines slaughtered the other - pls tell me which one?

And just to add a bit of spice to AFF - penegal has offered to donate a bottle of Grange to the first person who can identify the person wearing the GRUMPY T-shirt in the background!

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Your niece has good taste the Vasse Felix would be amazing I bet...

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Your niece has good taste the Vasse Felix would be amazing I bet...

It was beautiful but still way to young - the Meshach knocked it's sox off!

 

[blackcat20]

It was beautiful but still way to young - the Meshach knocked it's sox off!

Ah ok. Still very jealous over here

 

[JohnM]

When in Jujuy Province Argentina (the province N of Salta Province), drink Jujuy wines.

From a 2500m vineyard. The addition of a little Syrah and Cab Sav gave a little acid and grip to the velvet Malbec and filled out the mouthfeel very nicely.

An eye-watering 1100 pesos in a restaurant , right near the top of the price list - and served in a very nice decanter. A far less eye-watering $35 when converted . Just insanely good value .

Note that this region is only a few km S of the Tropic of Capricorn. The combination of high insolation (incoming solar radiation) and very large diurnal temperature variation give these regions their unique wines, despite proximity to the equator. The chemistry of how this plays out in the grape is fascinating stuff.

Despite the ABV, not a touch of heat.

I thought Valle de Uco, about 100 km S of Mendoza, at 1200-1400 m, was the duck’s nuts. I’m now re-thinking that proposition...

 

[cove]

Tried the Xanadu 2016 Jimmy Watson winner and it was pretty good. I struggled to drink the whole bottle as Mrscove doesn’t drink wines nor spirits.

 

[JohnM]

The climb in vineyard altitude in the Andes continues. Where will it end?

This one from 2625m was a cracker. On the wine list at Fernando’s excellent restaurant in Tilcara, it was described as 60:40 Syrah:Malbec. But the label suggests Malbec predominates. And the ABV went AWOL...

An eye-watering 1000 pesos on the list. (The general price point on the quite extensive list is 500-600 pesos). But a far less eye-watering $32 when converted . Again, Fernando brought out a decanter. Exceptional stuff!

Heading back there again tomorow night and Fernando has lined up something special that is not on his winelist and is from an even higher vineyard. Can’t wait!

 

[Steady]

Tried the Xanadu 2016 Jimmy Watson winner and it was pretty good. I struggled to drink the whole bottle

Under the weather cove, maybe you need to take some vitamins or wasn’t it much chop..... can you handle a Cullen DM by yourself?

I have some of these - delivered yesterday - and plan to try one in a few weeks / months after it has had a chance to settle - maybe bottle shock is a wives tale - but I’m going to wait anyway

 

[cove]

Steady I was expecting to share but our lunch companion had a white wine instead. I started with a Peroni.
Lunch was brilliant as I went the seafood crepes, the duck and the a berry ice cream/sorbet dessert at Chez Pierre in Nedlands. I was glad I wasn’t driving home.
I tend to take a Diana or a Mosswood if we are visiting friends plus a bottle of bubbles like Moët or Veuve. Have some Piper and Mumm as back ups.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

A heavier than average Bordeaux, not uncommon with a Superieur. Opened up after two hours in the decanter and going well with my slow roasted lamb from the wood oven.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Oh, and this is the lamb that accompanied it (cross posted from the food thread)

 

[Major]

There's a food thread ???

 

[burmans]

The climb in vineyard altitude in the Andes continues. Where will it end?

This one from 2625m was a cracker. On the wine list at Fernando’s excellent restaurant in Tilcara, it was described as 60:40 Syrah:Malbec. But the label suggests Malbec predominates. And the ABV went AWOL...

An eye-watering 1000 pesos on the list. (The general price point on the quite extensive list is 500-600 pesos). But a far less eye-watering $32 when converted . Again, Fernando brought out a decanter. Exceptional stuff!

Heading back there again tomorow night and Fernando has lined up something special that is not on his winelist and is from an even higher vineyard. Can’t wait!

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Those prices you are quoting look great, another reason to push South America further up my bucket list.

 

[burmans]

There's a food thread ???

Plus one on that, where do I find where this was?

 

[Steady]

There's a food thread ???

Plus one on that, where do I find where this was?

What I ate today - the food thread

Very expensive steak and veggies

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[burmans]

When in Rome. A couple of Saffer wines with dinner last night

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Everything is so cheap in SA these days, and the wine is good, where do you get the good stuff in Oz?

 

[JohnM]

As alluded to previously, Fernando, the owner, with his chef wife, of the restaurant I’ve been going to each night while in Tilcara and with whom I’ve hit it off, pulled something special out of his personal cellar for me tonight.

Now, this is what can be called a very high set of vineyards at 2750-3329m. While the world’s highest vineyard is in Tibet and beats this by a few hundred metres, I doubt that the Tibet vineyard is yet producing wine of any standing. So, effectively, this wine is from the world’s highest vineyard.

Uraqui, which means ‘terroir’ in the local traditional Aymara language is indeed a ‘unico’ wine as Fernando described it in Spanish.

The 60:30:10 Malbec:Syrah:Merlot works a treat. The ultra softness of the high-altitude Malbec pimped up with a bit more acidity, mouthfeel and fruit flavours from the Syrah and Merlot. It was elegant and rich. Note that the phrase ‘Sin madera.’ on the back label means ‘No wood.’ in English. The remarkably soft tannins of these ultra high-altitude wines don’t need the conventional tricking up.

Also, 13.5% ABV is very restrained for wines from these parts, so there’s class winemaking involved. A very limited production from a small and unique producer that I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to try. A great finish to my trip as I’m heading back to Salta tomorrow and then out of there to Buenos Aires and on to home on Monday in QR J via DOH.

Tim Atkin MW gave this wine 96 points in his 2018 review.

Muchas gracias, Fernando! Just the nicest guy.

 

[Daver6]

Everything is so cheap in SA these days, and the wine is good, where do you get the good stuff in Oz?

Not really sure to be honest. I know Eurocentric brings in some South African wine.

 

[Daver6]

Two more Saffer wines a couple of nights ago. Both excellent.

 

[blackcat20]

One @TomVexille had been saving for a rainy day...