Nice wines I have drunk recently - Red or White

[YNWA]

Trying to plan two days in the Barossa... Any must do's?

Fermentasian in Tanunda for dinner

 

[QF WP]

Had this onboard my flight tonight and it's not one with which I'm familiar - never seen it served to J pax before and not seen it on EpiQure.

Richardson Cabernet Sauvignon

 

[JohnM]

Had this onboard my flight tonight and it's not one with which I'm familiar - never seen it served to J pax before and not seen it on EpiQure.

Richardson Cabernet Sauvignon

Blue Pyrenees is a producer that has long flown under the radar. And what was your opinion of it?

 

[Captain Halliday]

Blue Pyrenees is a producer that has long flown under the radar. And what was your opinion of it?

I don't drink much sparkling but their Midnight Cuvée is very good IMHO.

EDIT: I believe that Cab Sav is from their reserve series and when you can get it retails at around $44-$50 per bottle.

 

[JohnM]

Continuing on the MARQ wine theme, I tried the Malbec tonight.



It was good, but…

How can I best describe this? It’s a really nice wine but, first up, it’s probably too young. I’ll put the second bottle in one of the cabinets and forget about it for a while. I expect that it will improve with some age – primarily soften. While the nose and underlying tannins were fairly soft, there was an overriding tartness or bitterness that spoilt the overall sensation.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those people blessed with dense taste buds (it is well-established that some people have orders-of-magnitude more taste receptors than others. The great wine tasters of the world are, literally, physiologically ‘different’ from other people.)

So, the way I like to describe wine is against the benchmark of a ‘good’, ‘desirable’, call it what you will, representation of that variety or blend. I am not much good at describing wine in terms of whether it tastes/smells like roses/chocolate/sweaty armpits and so on. (That is no criticism of those who are blessed with the ability to discriminate those nuances and capture them in prose. I wish I could.)

My way is to read a lot and then seek out good wines from the region where the variety or blend is famed – and then visit it as part of a xONEx! I do like tasting wine, but if anything, I am more interested in where and under what conditions the grapes are grown and the wine is produced (Disclosure: I am an agricultural/biological research scientist by profession. The production system and its geography is my underlying interest.)

I then find good restaurants with good wine lists in that region and do some experiential learning. To me, the only real test of a wine is with food. I then have my benchmark.

From there on, I evaluate a wine as to whether it tastes/satisfies like that benchmark.

Sorry for the long preamble peeps, but where is this leading? Well, here: I think there is probably no clearer example than Malbec as to what I’m driving at.

As someone who has wrestled a few decent Malbecs to the mat with a juicy lump of beef off the asado/parilla in Argentina, I think I have a sense of ‘what the fuss is about’ with Arg Malbec. So, rather than saying a Malbec tastes like leather/chocolate/plums… whatever, I say: “Does it taste/feel anything like that cracker Salentein or Catena Zapata Malbec I had in Mendoza or at Cabana Las Lilas in Buenos Aires?”

When I taste an Australian Malbec, do I get that? Simply put: no. Does that mean it’s a bad wine? Simply put: no. So, bottom line, does it mean it meets the (my) ‘benchmark’? Simply put: no.

I guess the bottom line is this: if anyone who hasn’t had the experience of good Arg Malbec tastes an Australian Malbec, by and large I think their response is going to be: “Yeah, that’s OK, but what’s the fuss about? I think I’ll go back to a Shiraz or a Cabernet.”

Bear in mind that in Argentina at San Juan, about 150 km north of Mendoza they are trying to produce Shiraz and are mighty p*ssed off that they can’t capture the character of the Barossa! They raved about Australian Shiraz there! It cuts both ways!

So, like Australian producers who are trying to differentiate into new varieties, they face both a fickle consumer in a flooded market and a benchmark that they can’t meet.

Just recently, I was at Faber, a small Swan Valley producer and proprietor John Griffiths said that his source of Malbec south of Perth is no more as the vines have been pulled (along with a few other ‘left field’ varieties). Malbec may be underrated as the MARQ label says, but unfortunately, as produced in Australia, it doesn’t differentiate enough to get people coming back to it.

This also goes to the heart of what I said upthread about people here drinking entry-level Argentinian Malbec: they may not get a (sufficient) sense of ‘what the fuss is about’ and dismiss it (and as idiots the proponents.)

Sorry peeps… had to get it off my chest!

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Oh man.. After reading all that I think I need a drink!

 

[Buzzard]

Where was my invite?

If only I knew you then.

 

[Buzzard]

Trying to plan two days in the Barossa... Any must do's?

Not saying anything, I can feel another tour coming on

 

[boomy]

Not saying anything, I can feel another tour coming on

We are going to wait patiently for an official statement hopefully after the McLaren tour

 

[RooFlyer]

Nothing like carrying on the disgraceful orgy of food and drink that is Christmas ... into the New Year

Great friends who I usually see over Christmas/New Year but didn't this time, visited for a couple of days and we made up for lost time! All Tasmanian fare of course ... more (their) garden grown raspberries and local cherries than was strictly necessary (but since when did they matter!), King Island cream, lamb, fresh salmon, olives, cheese (oh, the cheese!), and of course flatheads caught just off my place in the bay and had an hour later for lunch. No crays, which went against tradition.

But none of you want to know that, so what was drunk.

Well, it started of disastrously. I went to serve a Pipers Brook sparking that I bought for the occasion only to find that instead of that, what was tucked up in the back of the fridge (which was otherwise crammed with food) just a French sparking - not even Champagne! Quelle horreur That's it on the left. But it was OK, but my guests countered with the good stuff from Jansz for lunch.




White was popular at any time, especially around the water and we tried a couple, but 42 Degrees South sav blanc was the popular choice. Velo is a small winery near Launceston and makes good, clean, well priced wines. Never had a problem serving it in a casual setting. Spring Bay noted for Pinot Noir but their Sav Blanc pretty good too.




But of course we waited for the meats at dinner and some robust reds. Although we are all huge devotees (not to mention consumers :shock: ) of Rockford, Henschke got the guernsey this time and the 1998 Hill of Grace was of course superb. Decanted for only half an hour due to the incompetence of the host (that would be me) with very few lees. Followed up with 2004 Mt Edelstone and a 1998 which oddly wasn't finished (due to exhaustion I think; certainly not lack of quality)




For stickys which only 2 of us were into, there was a Velo Late Harvest Sav Blanc and Taylor Fladgate 10yo from Oporto.

 

[Daver6]

You mention only two of you for the dessert wines...but don't mention how many for the rest. Conclusion, only two. Seems next time you should go for magnums

 

[RooFlyer]

You mention only two of you for the dessert wines...but don't mention how many for the rest. Conclusion, only two. Seems next time you should go for magnums

Three ... and point me to the magnums of HoG and I'll be there!

 

[Wannabee]

How do I give a big thumbs to amaroo's post and big thumbs down to Dan Murphy's who still don't deliver to the NT.
Not. Happy. Dan.:evil:

Edit: Typo

Are you sure? I just did a dummy order to Darwin and it came up with $19 delivery for the 6 bottles.

 

[markis10]

Henschke - and drive over the road and along a bit to visit the Hill of Grace vineyard and church. Rockford. Torbreck. Maggie Beer's for lunch. Yalumba & Seppeltsfield for the old wineries. Penfolds for some of their cellar-door only limited editions (a Sangiovese I recall was very good). Peter Lehmann. Grant Burge.

That should keep you out of mischief .

Penfolds have a Voignier in an ice wine style at present on their cellar door list that is very nice.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Are you sure? I just did a dummy order to Darwin and it came up with $19 delivery for the 6 bottles.

I stand corrected here. I hadn't tried for several weeks, possibly as long as 12 weeks. I've looked at the T&Cs and it seems my postcode is in. Not so for everyone in NT though.

Can't edit previous post. Mods, feel free to delete or this post might cover it.

 

[blackcat20]

Penfolds have a Voignier in an ice wine style at present on their cellar door list that is very nice.

Yering Station do something similar but you pay through the nose for it.

 

[bismarck]

Just ran into LL last night when I realised the Lebanese restaurant we went to was BYO. Despite the fact it probably isn't that much of a match with Lebanese food, I had a hankering for some Pinot so picked up this bottle (very slim range so didn't have high expectations)



Was pleasantly surprised. Very smooth with lots of nicely balanced fruit. Like JohnM, my palate is not particularly sophisticated so I'll resort to the JohnM Simpler and Fairer Highly Technical Wine Evaluation Scale Pat. Pend TM (I think we need an acronym) and give it a B* good.

 

[QF WP]

Blue Pyrenees is a producer that has long flown under the radar. And what was your opinion of it?

I had another glass tonight to double check my initial reaction on the flight (and to see if it tastes different on the ground). Definitely better today, as I had more time to drink as well and using a better glass than the QF J wine glass (if it can be called thus).

Smooth across the palate but I think it would benefit from some additional cellaring. The taste was also a little different due to the oxygen introduced into the bottle after opening and having it sit for 48 hours. I'd definitely buy it.

 

[JohnM]

As a result of a bit of rummaging around to see what's available in Australia, I stumbled over this: Malbec Mixed Case - Exclusive Vines.

This pack arrived today and I have a better feeling about them than I thought might be the case. Cutting out the retailer may be why the price is so reasonable.

Interestingly (to me at least) is that the Postales is from northern Patagonia near Neuquen. It's a still fairly small region that's starting to make a mark, especially for Pinot Noir. It's about 450 km NE of Bariloche and at 39 deg S latitude. Hobart is 42 and Otago is 45 deg S, Portland OR is 45 deg N and Beaune in Burgundy is 47 deg N, so it's getting up there with other notable Pinot regions in terms of latitude.

I was at Bariloche and Neuquen a few years ago and brought back three Pinots from Familia Schroeder (another non-trivial Argentinian winery: Image Gallery | Bodega Familia Schroeder.) Only one remains . I shall report on that in the next few weeks or months.

The other five Malbecs in the pack were all from Mendoza. Given that it is summer and asado (BBQ) weather, I shall take a hit for the team and work my way steadily through the six and report.

For those interested, I just posted this link on my Medoza TR thread as a very good overview of the Argentinian wine scene: Home | Wines Of Argentina.

 

[Daver6]

First wine club meeting for the year. Theme was blends of three or more varieties. Wine of the night was the 2001 Chateau Musar (Bekaa Valley, Lebanon). Ironic given the recent passing of the owner, Serge Hochar.