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Wine thread

horrie hastings

First Grade
Messages
7,290
Like today, I've not been drinking heaps lately but I felt like a wine so I just grabbed a quaffer. $5-$10 Zilzie Bulloak Pinot. Ever so lightly chilled for a warm arvo, awesome drinking.

So the Zilzie Bulloak Pinot is ok, I work at Liquorland and everyone goes for the Sav Blanc, Cab Merlot and the Rose in the Bulloak range when it is a $5- $6 special but we don't sell a lot of the pinot compared to the other 3 varietals.
 

Bazal

Post Whore
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99,437
So the Zilzie Bulloak Pinot is ok, I work at Liquorland and everyone goes for the Sav Blanc, Cab Merlot and the Rose in the Bulloak range when it is a $5- $6 special but we don't sell a lot of the pinot compared to the other 3 varietals.

Both the reds drink well above the price point IMO. Nothing earth-shattering but certainly better than most in that bracket. I'd buy a hundred Bulloak Pinot before I bought a single Oyster Bay Pinot, for example.

I buy a few whenever they go on $5 or $6 just because I can't always crack out the stuff I collected as a premium product manager lol.
 

Bazal

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99,437
Pyren Vineyards Little Ra Ra Rouge 2017.

Weird stuff is right up my street, and a workmate is related to the owners so he brought me a bottle. A blend of early harvest shiraz with just two hours skin contact, run into a second parcel of extended whole bunch macerated shiraz, and then topped out with cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc. Unfined and unfiltered.

It's wild man. I'm not sure I can describe it. Strawberry and lime, some purple (an official wine flavour) from the franc, cherry, peach, redcurrant, orange blossoms, maybe some lychee....I dunno. It's fruit salad in a glass, but not in a jokey way. It still has tannin and structure to it, in fact it's unnervingly reminiscent of a central Victorian pinot in terms of weight and structure and acid and balance. But it keeps changing every time I taste it.

I think it's cool as f**k, I'm ordering a case next time I have some spare $$$
 

Bazal

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99,437
A long weekend calls for more wine...

2010 Peppertree Limited Release Hunter Valley Shiraz

One of my favourite wineries, hoping to head back this winter and pick up more. But that's beside the point.

Black. Rich. Gamey. Silky body with the tannins perfectly integrated. It's nearly as long as a Barossa Shiraz, but nowhere near as overcooked so you get the black fruit and the game meats and a minerality that's almost Rhone.

Apart from Brokenwood and Tyrrell's you don't normally get Hunter shiraz this rich, but they both charge twice the price for wines of this quality. Completely different to last night's drop but every bit as awesome.
 

Bazal

Post Whore
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99,437
Urban Winery Project White #3

Firstly, it has an Ahhh! Real Monsters label. So that's f**king cool. A blend of pinot gris and gewurtztraminer (both of which see extended skin contact) and a healthy dash of riesling (which is matured in oak).

Stupidly aromatic to the point of being dizzying, full bodied in the mouth with an absolute mess of flavour. In a good way. All three grapes add their own unique character but also become a lot more interesting in the blend. Wild yeast is evident, the oak ferment on the riesling is funky and gives great depth, the gris is rich and the perfume of the gewurtz lifts the whole thing almost into insanity.

Very cool juice.
 

horrie hastings

First Grade
Messages
7,290
Both the reds drink well above the price point IMO. Nothing earth-shattering but certainly better than most in that bracket. I'd buy a hundred Bulloak Pinot before I bought a single Oyster Bay Pinot, for example.

I buy a few whenever they go on $5 or $6 just because I can't always crack out the stuff I collected as a premium product manager lol.

$5 again at Liquorland and all selling well but with a lot of other half price wines selling at $9-$10 it is not selling as well as usual, the Bulloak rose is the one selling the best at the moment in the range. Had chicken lasagne for dinner tonight and had with a chilled Curious Kiwi Pinot noir, worked perfectly with the dish.
 

Bazal

Post Whore
Messages
99,437
$5 again at Liquorland and all selling well but with a lot of other half price wines selling at $9-$10 it is not selling as well as usual, the Bulloak rose is the one selling the best at the moment in the range. Had chicken lasagne for dinner tonight and had with a chilled Curious Kiwi Pinot noir, worked perfectly with the dish.

Have you had The Good Paddock pinot?

Easily the best of the mid-range ELB pinots IMO.
 

horrie hastings

First Grade
Messages
7,290
Have you had The Good Paddock pinot?

Easily the best of the mid-range ELB pinots IMO.

Actually put one in the fridge to chill down slightly to have with the bbq tonight but opened a Mad Fish Chardonnay to have instead, so still yet to try the Good Paddock.
 

Bazal

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99,437
Actually put one in the fridge to chill down slightly to have with the bbq tonight but opened a Mad Fish Chardonnay to have instead, so still yet to try the Good Paddock.

f**k me we got allocated 18 cases or something of that Mad Fish Chardonnay....it's nice, but people don't want 1L of mid range Chardonnay. 1L drinkers want the $7 stuff because they are alcoholics.

That Peter Lehmann magnum is another absolute farce of a thing..../rant
 

horrie hastings

First Grade
Messages
7,290
f**k me we got allocated 18 cases or something of that Mad Fish Chardonnay....it's nice, but people don't want 1L of mid range Chardonnay. 1L drinkers want the $7 stuff because they are alcoholics.

That Peter Lehmann magnum is another absolute farce of a thing..../rant

I think we were allocated 12 cases of the Mad Fish and we have about 6 cases left, yes I know what you mean , the Hardy’s RR range 1 lt for $7 walks out the door, the sav Blanc especially. We got 1 case of the Lehman magnum and have 1 bottle left. Bloddy Wahu is still our best seller though:rolleyes:
 

Mong

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55,681
Have you had The Good Paddock pinot?

Easily the best of the mid-range ELB pinots IMO.

I have one of these in the wine fridge I’m going to try out this afternoon... probably very shortly the way the morning has been :)

I struggle a bit with pinot’s so I’m not expecting huge things.
 

Bazal

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99,437
I have one of these in the wine fridge I’m going to try out this afternoon... probably very shortly the way the morning has been :)

I struggle a bit with pinot’s so I’m not expecting huge things.

I'd say it's a pretty good entry level for pinot because it's not too sappy or too sharp.

Some of the low quality cheaper pinots taste like tartaric acid...
 

Bazal

Post Whore
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99,437
Hip Sip Muscat. Very thin, basically just tastes like liquified sultanas. Disappointing, stuff like this is part of the reason fortified wines are dying.

The other reason is the perception that they are old people's/wino's wines. Like sherry.

They'll make a comeback...also like sherry, incidentally. And there's still enough crackers out there that aren't going anywhere to keep us happy in the meantime.
 

Mong

Post Whore
Messages
55,681
Both the reds drink well above the price point IMO. Nothing earth-shattering but certainly better than most in that bracket. I'd buy a hundred Bulloak Pinot before I bought a single Oyster Bay Pinot, for example.

I buy a few whenever they go on $5 or $6 just because I can't always crack out the stuff I collected as a premium product manager lol.

Got a bulloak Pinot today to try, not expecting much but will do the trick whilst preparing dinner waiting for the old lady to get home from work.
 
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