Wine thread

[Twizzle]

My Christmas present to me, its obvious where my taste lies:

Laughing Jack Barossa Shiraz 2015
Workhorse Barossa Valley St Johns Rd Cab Shiraz
Filsell Old Vine Barossa Shiraz 2015
Bowen Estate Coonawarra Cab Sav 2014
Deepwater Estate Cab Sav Merlot Margret River 2012
Wolfblass Grey Label Shriaz 2010
Zema Estate Coonawarra Cab Sav 2012
Reschke Vitulus Cab Sav Coonawarra 2011
Shaw and Smith Sav Blanc Adelaide Hills 2016

I dont normally do White but sampled this and as soon as it caught the nose I bought it without tasting it.

Merry Christmas to me, wine, scoth and cricket for the next week

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

So, which bottle should I be drinking for NYE? There is also a 1998 Peel Estate Shiraz, it didn't want to come out of the paper...

 

[Bazal]

I don't know that the Barolo or the Graveyard are old enough yet tbh....

That said I prefer my wines to have a bit of youth still so they'd probably be perfect for me

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

So between the Xanadu Cabernet and Peel Estate Shiraz...

 

[Bazal]

Actually doing a little research the Barolo might be the go....that or the Xanadu. I know nothing about the Peel, I've had much more recent vintages but not many

 

[horrie hastings]

I've only just discovered this thread.
Does any one remember a place called Quaffers? basically it was a big liquor warehouse around before Dan Murphy's even set foot inside Sydney/ NSW. Once it was set up there were two stores in Sydney, two in Melbourne, one in Perth and one in Adelaide I think also. I started work in the first store at Waterloo in early 1996, late 1995 Coles bought out the Farmer Brothers name and the big warehouse they had in Waterloo, it was set up with fine wines, cheap wines and all the rest, once the Waterloo store became popular they opened a store in Hornsby and the two Melbourne ones, it was a great place to work at the time as you would get the wines makers and producers come in and do tastings after hours, it really expanded my wine knowledge and all the perks and freebies were great. Really don't know what happened but with changes in senior ranks in Coles they decided to snub Quaffers and put all their effort into Liquorland then Dan Murphys came in and cornered the market so after 7-8 really good years Quaffers was run into the ground and by late 2007 it ceased to exist. I really miss my time working there and my wine knowledge has gone to the dogs since I was sent off to the mind numbing crap wine shop called Liquorland.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Actually doing a little research the Barolo might be the go....that or the Xanadu. I know nothing about the Peel, I've had much more recent vintages but not many

Xanadu was a bust, suffered heavily from cork taint. Have popped the Peel Estate, bit line ball on this one as well, I'm going to give it an hour to breathe and see what happens.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Peel Estate Shiraz 1998. Improved on the nose after that hour, but still had a long way to go. Ended up getting nearly 6 hours decanting before it was ready, and patience is a virtue.

Still plenty of dark stone fruit, and with a good lick of tannin to make it interesting. Secondary notes of leather and bramble coming through without being overwhelming. Think I caught this one in time, good job SGL!

 

[Bazal]

2012 Chemin de Moscou. Costco bargain, $40 plus in Europe, $15 at Costco. 80% shiraz, 14% grenache, the rest cinsault. All fruit from Minervois

Great purple-red colour, medium bodied. Dark cherry, blood plum, pepper, game meats, dried thyme. Tannin is quite severe in a way, but really nice and feels more classically northern Rhone rather than typical Languedoc. An absolute steal

 

[Bazal]

2012 Grant Burge Holy Trinity.

Great purple colour typical of the Holy Trinity...Quite brash on the nose, big and jubey. Unfortunately and surprisingly it's actually quite green and underdone on the palate, oddly for the vintage. Big, hard tannins and an aggressive stemmy character. There's fruit hidden under it but even after five or six hours breathing it's tough to find. It will come out with more time, but I don't necessarily think it will age long term...

I quite like it in a French way, it's like a cool season Chateauneuf Du Pape. But as a Barossa GSM it's maybe not going to win a lot of fans.

 

[Twizzle]

I dont think I've ever had a bad Grant Burge

 

[Bazal]

2015 Jacobs Creek Reserve Riesling.

One of the most underrated labels going around IMO. People pass them off because of the Jacobs Creek name but the reserve wines are unbelievable value for money. And I think the Riesling is the best of the range.

It's got everything you want in a Riesling. Excellent nose, loads of citrus and blossom, the barest hint of fruit sweetness but bone dry on the finish. I'm always most impressed by how pure and clean it is...

 

[Drew-Sta]

2015 Jacobs Creek Reserve Riesling.

One of the most underrated labels going around IMO. People pass them off because of the Jacobs Creek name but the reserve wines are unbelievable value for money. And I think the Riesling is the best of the range.

It's got everything you want in a Riesling. Excellent nose, loads of citrus and blossom, the barest hint of fruit sweetness but bone dry on the finish. I'm always most impressed by how pure and clean it is...

Had a few of the Rieslings over in Tonga as its one of the few I trusted that were available. Drank bloody well every time and never let me down.

Jacob's Creek is not as bad as people make it out to be provided you go with the right labels.

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Wildekrans Bot River Pinotage.

I never thought I would hate a varietal more than Merlot, but I may have just now. This honestly tastes like someone stuck a handful of nails into a blender with some purple colouring, chucked it in a bottle, and called it a day.

 

[Bazal]

Did you know that, in wine industry circles, there is a universal sign for pinotage?

 

[Twizzle]

I dont mind Merlot in blends, Margret River has some decent Cab Merlots

 

[Bazal]

Merlot needs to be from anywhere but South Australia. Not that there aren't decent SA wines, but usually (like their shiraz and cabernet) it's far too ripe, which makes it overly fruit driven and sweet...and merlot doesn't handle ripeness like shiraz and cabernet do.

I tend to avoid Aussie merlot as a rule, but there are some really nice examples too

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

Did you know that, in wine industry circles, there is a universal sign for pinotage?

? ? ?

 

[Bazal]

I'd have thought the picture of the choking man would have been easy enough to decipher, but apparently not for a Dragons fan

 

[Scott Gourley's Lovechild]

I'd have thought the picture of the choking man would have been easy enough to decipher, but apparently not for a Dragons fan

Didn't come up on my PC, but has on my phone...