Wine thread

[Bazal]

2020 Chapelle de Potensac, Medoc, Bordeaux

Really intense and concentrated. Nose of rich dark fruit and cassis, slate, a little cedar and tobacco. Tastes much the same, concentrated dark berries, very Cab Sauv despite Merlot being dominant in the blend. There's also tobacco, liquorice, even a touch of something like blood orange? Mineral finish is only exaggerated by the tannin and the acid, the balance and structure is excellent and while there are obviously more powerful, interesting wines from Bordeaux and even the Medoc itself, it seems to hit every point that it should.

If this is a second wine I'd love to try the first. At $42 from Uncle Daniel (and given Bordeaux prices in Aus generally) I'll be returning.

 

[Drew-Sta]

2008 St Cosme Cote Rotie

Been cellar digging and I opened this first and got a face full of musty barnyard BS, which is why I opened the Dead Arm. But I left this because sometimes it'll stabilise as it opens with the air, and it did! There's still a funk, so I think there's probably a bit of Brett hanging about. Although Cote Rotie and funk are friendly anyway, this is a little beyond. It's probably not what it should be, but you can see what it could be. It's good.

Nose is earthy and tart, rhubarb and blackcurrant, violet, dried garden herbs, green pepper. Palate is peppered bacon, blackcurrant, tapenade, mocha, and bay leaf. It has the perfumed delicacy of a Rotie once you get past the funk.

As a wine I like what there is and I wish it was clean, but as a Cote Rotie it does lack body and intensity I think. Of course that might be the Brett as well. And I'm yet to find a Cote Rotie I don't get along with.

Brett is an asshole. Wish he'd keep to himself.

 

[Bazal]

2007 Chateau Monbrison Grand Vin de Margaux.

More cellar diving, felt appropriate to start Le Tour. A little bricky, very closed, needed a little decant.

Super powerful nose, cassis, violet, sandalwood, leather. The age shows more in the mouth, the fruit is still rich, classic cassis and blackberry, but it is starting to fade into the background a little. Leather, wood, truffles, chocolate and aniseed come up behind the fruit, and the finish is still long and powerful even as the tannins start to tire a little, replaced by a rebounding note of slightly stewy plums and rhubarb acidity.

The structure and balance is everything you want from a Bordeaux too. Just a really nice example

 

[Bazal]

St Hallett Faith Cabernet. Less highbrow than the last few bottles, needed something to put in the Beef Daube for tomorrow, $15 at Liquorland.

Pretty typical Barossa cab sauv. Intense cassis, blackcurrant jam, quite a bit of spice. Full and juicy and with great fruit power and mild tannins, but it finishes clean and with good length, some brambly/eucalypt herbaceousness and olive savoury notes to keep it under control.

It's soft and approachable and rich but not overripe. It's very obviously a St Hallett wine tbh, all the hallmarks of the Barossa but deliberately made to be just that touch lighter its feet, cleaner and less overcooked.

For $15 I'm very happy.

 

[Bazal]

2009 Moss Wood Cabernet - back to good shit from the cellar

This is one of Australia's top cabernets, and from a very good vintage at least for Moss Wood. It always has a small percentage of Petit Verdot (8% in this one) and Cabernet Franc (4%).

Dark fruits dominate the nose, blackberry and mulberry direction, with a little cola, bay leaf, cedar, leather and graphite. The fruit is the first thing you taste too, rich and dark and concentrated, but it's followed by autumn spices, earthy dry brambles, and olive tapenade on the finish. Chocolate and vanilla come through after it's gone, a little tannin too.

But it's very round and I doubt it's ever even heard of a mid-palate hole. It's concentrated and powerful and grand, but still has an elegance and preciseness to it. Deserves every bit of its high reputation

 

[Bazal]

2006 Penfolds 407

My last one, Penfolds reckon it'll go 20 years+. Spoiler, it won't. Which is no surprise to anyone who knows how Penfolds rate their own wines tbh.

Like, it's not dead. And the colour was really promising, still quite red and intense. It was very flat and closed though, but I was decanting it so I left it for a while. Still flat. Ran a glass through a Vinturi. That teased out some aroma.

Sweet black olive tapenade, liquorice, clove, cedar. A little black cherry. Very one dimensional on the palate, very little fruit, more olive, strong black tea, dry oak, quite acidic but little tannin left. The mid-palate hole seems to have swallowed half the wine.

I don't feel like it's faulty, I just feel like it's old. It's been cellared ok as well, not perfectly but plenty of wines from the same sort of years have come out from the same spot and been great. I think it's just another indicator the wines are supremely overpriced, personally, but it could always be a bad bottle.