Wine thread

[Bazal]

Ok this has stopped changing now, so details incoming.

As a random aside brought on by the social isolation, I used to cop shit from old buggers in the industry. Which eats at a guy with anxiety. I copped shit because when I did write ups I tried to make them fun, and even within my own business I got push-back for that and I got kind of overlooked at times with my views. Essentially they didn't believe I knew much because of how I wrote and talked about wine.

I always reckoned wine should be fun, right? So when I did write ups or anything I made them fun and interesting and tried to grab people. Eventually I did get one buyer, very well known in the industry, who was on my page, but it kinda sucked before then.

What I always did though was a kind of free form tasting note as I drank a wine that laid a platform for whatever I wrote, and cos I'm not very good at doing nothing I've started doing them again as if I was working and it mattered.

Anyway that's just a random memory thanks to social isolation anxiety. Probs should up my meds, lol. Gonna copy the raw note for shits and gigs.

 

[horrie hastings]

Was thinking of a Mount Ashby Estate 2012 Merlot tonight but seeing only having pasta bake have decided on a Liqourland spend get staple, Samuel Wynn Last Rites Cab Sav . Still keeping the Ringbolt 2013 Cab Sav for some special occassion on Bazals recommendation , the special occasion may be when I tell our smartass pretentious area manager to get f*cked .

 

[Bazal]

2003 Guidalberto

--Colour--

Deep red, surprising, only moderate bricking at the edges. Expected more. Clear & bright

--Nose--

Oak heavy on first sniff, rich chocolate. A little funky, musty, expect that to blow off with air (lingered mildly, not unpleasant). Ivy? Definitely cedar. Vanilla marzipan, like wedding cake icing. Meaty, almost like a fully cooked ragu, little savoury tomato. Fennel seed. Gravelly damp stone thing after air.

--Palate--

Lean, austere. Fruit still there in spirit, hints of sweet ripe cherry in the mid palate and a little leafy blackcurrant at the back. Tertiary character strong. Tobacco leaf, fennel seed, bresaola, tomato, pepper, old leather, porcini, dark chocolate with hazelnut. Dark fruit comes out with the air, really dark blackberry, damson? Even fig.

Tannin and acid fantastic, integrated and fine but very present, palate cleansing.


As a young wine this is bombastic, powerful and oaky with big fruit and tannin and punchy layers of flavour. As an aged wine it's regal and quite delicate. Drinking the young wine you would never expect the austerity of the old. It's changed entirely to the point that you wouldn't recognise it against a younger version.

Honestly the only reason I would hesitate picking this as an aged left-bank Bourdeaux blind is that ragu character. It smells and tastes like Italian food to a surprising extent. Also the hazelnut I guess, that's classically Italian but not generally Tuscan, it's more Piedmont. 2003 was a lesser Bolgheri vintage!

Current vintage at Dan's (online/Prahran Cellars only) is $75.99 for the 2015, which was a stellar vintage and the incoming 2016 was even better in Bolgheri. Given this lesser vintage has gone as well as a $100-125-odd Bordeaux (Aus prices), I'd class quality vintages of this as a genuine bargain.

There you go @Drew-Sta

 

[Bazal]

Was thinking of a Mount Ashby Estate 2012 Merlot tonight but seeing only having pasta bake have decided on a Liqourland spend get staple, Samuel Wynn Last Rites Cab Sav . Still keeping the Ringbolt 2013 Cab Sav for some special occassion on Bazals recommendation , the special occasion may be when I tell our smartass pretentious area manager to get f*cked .

My previous area manager got the arse. I was unsurprised.

I'm flattered by your faith in my Ringbolt recommendation and I'm lucky the wine is definitely good enough to bear it out (IMO). But just as a follow up I'd not let it go much beyond early 2022. Personally I haven't had it for a few years but my recollection of it would have it drinking best this year.

 

[horrie hastings]

My previous area manager got the arse. I was unsurprised.

I'm flattered by your faith in my Ringbolt recommendation and I'm lucky the wine is definitely good enough to bear it out (IMO). But just as a follow up I'd not let it go much beyond early 2022. Personally I haven't had it for a few years but my recollection of it would have it drinking best this year.

Seeing what a shit year this has been it will be definitely being drunk some time this year , seeing it was the last bottle left at work and wasn't a core product I made sure it was written off .

As for the area manager, we had 3 guys from BWS high up came in the store about 5-6 weeks ago , one was an a previous Liqourland boss and he said to me, your area manager was a failed Coles manager and they couldn't work out what to do with him, swarthy merkin is making life hard for everyone and can't work out why all the managers are leaving.

 

[Bazal]

Seeing what a shit year this has been it will be definitely being drunk some time this year , seeing it was the last bottle left at work and wasn't a core product I made sure it was written off .

As for the area manager, we had 3 guys from BWS high up came in the store about 5-6 weeks ago , one was an a previous Liqourland boss and he said to me, your area manager was a failed Coles manager and they couldn't work out what to do with him, swarthy merkin is making life hard for everyone and can't work out why all the managers are leaving.

Seems to be a trend with their area managers mate, ours was the same in Canberra. No idea and drive staff away.

At First Choice our customer service manager was the best admin manager I've worked with anywhere ever but freely admitted she knew little about stock. We closed, they gave her a Liquorland and we both wanted to work together, I'd do the part time 2IC and manage the stock (cos I was back at uni) and she'd run the store. He refused, made her work 70+ hour weeks, criticised her store performance endlessly and made her quit.

 

[horrie hastings]

Seems to be a trend with their area managers mate, ours was the same in Canberra. No idea and drive staff away.

At First Choice our customer service manager was the best admin manager I've worked with anywhere ever but freely admitted she knew little about stock. We closed, they gave her a Liquorland and we both wanted to work together, I'd do the part time 2IC and manage the stock (cos I was back at uni) and she'd run the store. He refused, made her work 70+ hour weeks, criticised her store performance endlessly and made her quit.

About a year ago they gave our store a new manager, she was going to be a 2IC at the nearby drive thru store but seeing the area had about 4 managers leave they threw her in as manager at our store, lovely lady but had no idea about things, one of her early orders was 12 pallets and we can only squeeze about 5 pallets in the shop/ storeroom, also her reciepting was a nightmare, I would find so many mistakes, I don't blame her though because she was thrown it at the deep end. She has moved on this week and so the area manager is blaming me for everything that has gone wrong in the shop for the last 18 months( which included another manager stealing) instead of him looking at why he put incompetent people in top positions in the first place.

 

[Bazal]

About a year ago they gave our store a new manager, she was going to be a 2IC at the nearby drive thru store but seeing the area had about 4 managers leave they threw her in as manager at our store, lovely lady but had no idea about things, one of her early orders was 12 pallets and we can only squeeze about 5 pallets in the shop/ storeroom, also her reciepting was a nightmare, I would find so many mistakes, I don't blame her though because she was thrown it at the deep end. She has moved on this week and so the area manager is blaming me for everything that has gone wrong in the shop for the last 18 months( which included another manager stealing) instead of him looking at why he put incompetent people in top positions in the first place.

Not sure how long you've been there but I feel like it's a while?

For me, since about 2015 they've gone the way of supermarkets in liquor...and it's not worked.

EDIT maybe even earlier on reflection

 

[Bazal]

I should also add for those playing at home that I've just ordered a six pack of the 2015 Guidalberto thanks to dat APS lyf

And an Edit....Buller Tokay, which I found in my cupboard post Super Tuscan and which must have been open at least two years.

This is a wine for @Scott Gourley's Lovechild. even with me being a genius and forgetting I opened it this is beautiful. Dried fig and maybe dried pear, candied chestnut, sweet golden grapes, soft and tasty

 

[horrie hastings]

Not sure how long you've been there but I feel like it's a while?

For me, since about 2015 they've gone the way of supermarkets in liquor...and it's not worked.

EDIT maybe even earlier on reflection

Liqourland from late 2007 but was with Quaffers from 1996 till it closed and I went to Liqourland in 2007. Even back then Liqouland was crap but even then it wasn't as bad as it is now.
I miss Quaffers and meeting the makers and reps and the tastings with them, I built a reasonable wine knowledge but nothing like yours but it all turned to mush after I went to Liqourland.

 

[Bazal]

Liqourland from late 2007 but was with Quaffers from 1996 till it closed and I went to Liqourland in 2007. Even back then Liqouland was crap but even then it wasn't as bad as it is now.
I miss Quaffers and meeting the makers and reps and the tastings with them, I built a reasonable wine knowledge but nothing like yours but it all turned to mush after I went to Liqourland.

Your wine knowledge is better than you reckon mate, IMO.

I used to shop at Quaffers. I think that's kinda why I went to First Choice when I did. I'd been doing retail for ages almost by accident; when I was first at uni I was at Coles and I blew my knee up badly and I ended up managing a department. So when I was struggling to find a job later I went for Dans and First Choice...missed Dans by a bees dick (with a manager who later wanted to poach me lol) and got First Choice. My first manager was a wine writer who moved from VC essentially for more money for his kids. Was a pretty bloody handy wine culture at that stage....it just went horribly awry later

 

[horrie hastings]

Your wine knowledge is better than you reckon mate, IMO.

I used to shop at Quaffers. I think that's kinda why I went to First Choice when I did. I'd been doing retail for ages almost by accident; when I was first at uni I was at Coles and I blew my knee up badly and I ended up managing a department. So when I was struggling to find a job later I went for Dans and First Choice...missed Dans by a bees dick (with a manager who later wanted to poach me lol) and got First Choice. My first manager was a wine writer who moved from VC essentially for more money for his kids. Was a pretty bloody handy wine culture at that stage....it just went horribly awry later

Thank you.
I remember when they were trying to re invent Quaffers a couple of years before it closed and they came up with Big Box and they had the location picked on the corner of O'Rieidon st and Gardners rd Alexandria but that all fell through. After a about 2 years at Liquorland the manager at Dan's Alexandria noticed I used to come in the store in my Liqourland uniform and asked whether I wanted to jump ship, went for the interview and they loved my references from Quaffers but I was going on long service leave in January and couldn't start till March but they wanted me to start in December for the Christmas rush so I declined in the end.

Just another reminder of Quaffers tonight, Mrs Horrie wanted a scotch so went into the cupboard and pulled out the scotch glasses then realised there were more at the back which I had forgotten about , then there were the beer glasses which don't get used much anymore, then the countless wine glasses of all types that get used a lot.

 

[Bazal]

2016 David Franz Rose. Found in my cupboard. I don't ever buy rose really but I do remember I got a few bottles of this at the cellar door. I was concerned it would be rooted, but his current vintage on sale is 2017 so it's got to at least be saleable.

This is the rose with 108 varieties. Plenty of people call bullshit, but it's true. Basically IIRC he bought a couple of vineyards that had been used as experimental or hobby grows, and gone wild. So it's a field blend of weird shit that went wild, plus other weird shit that he thought "hey what if I did a rose with...?" I can't remember the dominant varieties in this vintage, but just as a guide, the dominant grapes in the '17 are black muscat (from Seppeltsfield Road!), white frontignac, crouchen, and riesling. Basket pressed and open fermented

I'm honestly not brave enough to do a tasting note. It's the most interesting wine I have ever tried.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I’m usually an occasional wine drinker who goes for mid priced stuff, but the social isolation environment has meant I’m having a lot more regular evening wines than normal. Thank f**k for Aldi is all I can say there

 

[Bazal]

2013 Mr Smith Reserve McLaren Vale shiraz.

Do you love wines that are heavy enough to choke a draught horse? Do you love oak so heavy, and fruit so overripe, that it tastes like you're drinking liquidised Cherry Ripes?

Then boy, do I have the wine for you!

I mean, don't get me wrong...it's nice, in a classically overripe and way overdone South Australian way. Big chocolate oak, ripe plums, plenty of spice. But man do we know how to overdo shiraz.

Still, Dans flog it for $45 and one of the places here in Canberra has it for $25, so it's pretty worthwhile for that sort of money. It's just a once every few months style for me

 

[horrie hastings]

Liquourland bombing out certain reds with a 3 for $36 or 4 for $40 promo, quite a few of their stock standard lines but Langmeil Blockbuster Shiraz and Jaraman Cab Sav are two which i was surprised were on 4 for $40. Stupidly yesterday half asleep when i went in at 6.30am, had a look at the Langmeil shiraz and it said we had 8 in stock, i found 2 on the shelf then pulled the stock room apart and found the box of 6, stupidly i put i on the shelf with out even thinking of getting 4 for myself or at least a couple with some of the other combinations but too late now, all gone, it will be interesting to see whether the warehouse will be exhausted of it after this weekend.

 

[Bazal]

If that Langemeil price is legit and not another classic Coles pricing cock up....that's f**king insanity.

Like, business-killing insanity.

 

[horrie hastings]

If that Langemeil price is legit and not another classic Coles pricing c**k up....that's f**king insanity.

Like, business-killing insanity.

Totally agree and i should have just snapped up the 8 bottles we had in stock but i wasn't thinking clearly as i was really off colour that morning and was trying to find someone to cover my shift I looked this morning when i went in but none and i doubt whether we will see it back in stock again.

 

[horrie hastings]

If that Langemeil price is legit and not another classic Coles pricing c**k up....that's f**king insanity.

Like, business-killing insanity.

Yep, double checked it yesterday and 4 for $40, just hope we get more back in stock tomorrow.

 

[horrie hastings]

If that Langemeil price is legit and not another classic Coles pricing c**k up....that's f**king insanity.

Like, business-killing insanity.

Picked up 4 bottles today which was $36 with the staff discount. Don't think the warehouse has anymore in stock.