March Sydney Offline

[Krusty]

Righto, first challenge overcome, remembered to grab the wines out of the vintec this morning before leaving for work. Have the '12 1er as promised and managed to find an '04 Doisy-Daene in 750ml to finish on.
Looking forward to it gents.

[catchnrelease]

I've changed the booking to nine, see you guys soon.

[TiggerK]

Epic night, had to leave the lads post-tasting sipping some very fresh tasting Endeavour beer at the Strawbs Hill pub. Mighty fun times were had by all... WOTN hard to pick... Lots of good whites, some even liked by the red bigots! Some had the Hoddles 1er Pinot 2010, some the 2013. I like the older stuff but still hard to pick between the McwWilliams Rosehill 95, the Bowen 91. Honorable mention to the Wynns Centenary 91 from mjs, while not the best bottle I've had of it, it's a pretty darn great wine, thanks for bringing it!

Will do some pics asap.. Cheers everyone!

[pc79]

My very novice and crappy notes:

1) 2007 Les Beaux Regards – Bereche et Fils – toasty, lemon/lime, tarty lemon finish. Finishes a tad short, but good drinking
2) 2014 Clonakilla Riesling – Slatey, flinty, lemon sherbet, apples and pineapple, fresh cut grass, good length
3) 2012 Philippe Bornard Jura – got a bit of orange wine style, over fermented funk about it, a bit vegetal for me.
4) 1998 Tyrrells Futures Semillon – slightly oxidized. Caramel macaron, almond, burnt apricots and crème brulee. Quite nice
5) 2006 Margan Semillon – peachy, hay/Lucerne, hit of rubber, sweet finish
6) 2008 Neudorf Chardonnay – stone fruits, nectarine, pear and a bit of biscuit, good a little sweet,
7) 2013 Russell Hamilton Chardonnay – A lot lighter and less giving than the Neudorf, acid pokes out a little, quite tightly wound, green grapes,
2010 Hoddles Creek 1er Pinot – 2hr decanter More developed than the other Hoddles, but still integrated beautifully. Some had this as WOTN. Up there for me. Dark Cherries, Kirsch, a little stemmy, undergrowth adds interest.
9) 2012 Hoddles Creek 1er Pinot – a lot more closed than the others, popped and poured bit of dirty shed poop, bit closed, similar nose/mouthfeel to 13, but needs air
10) 2013 Hoddles Creek 1er Pinot – 1hr decanter. Wow, my pick of the three, dark cherries, strawberries, amazing depth, some wet earth and spice, slippery tannins carry. Great balance. 97GW – hmm.. maybe a solid 94
11) 2012 Vieilles Vignes Santernay Vincent Girardin – stinky chook poop, savoury, darker than the Hoddles. big tannins. Took bobthebuilder back to childhood. Interesting
12) 2012 Romney Park Reserve Pinot – Vanillan oak, sweet and a bit of alcohol n he nose, some toffee. Quite a full throttle pinot, heavy fruit and alcohol. Brutish in comparison to the others
13) 1991 Wynns Centenary – blackcurrant/tobacco/cedar, quality aged Coonawarra. After time in the glass, fruit slipped away and became more wooden. Slightly scalped?
14) 1991 Bowen Cabernet – richer and more fruit than the Wynns, a little sweeter and more length. Better. Tweedle de Tweedle dum
15) 1993 Maurice O’Shea – again, a little stripped of fdruit. Getting a whole lot of barrel and gone after 30mins in the glass
16) 1995 Lindemand Pyrus - Pepperoni pizza, a bit of vegemite, blackcurrants and plenty of fruit still in this carries it through the finish
17) 1995 Mount Pleasant Rosehill – so much better than the O’Shea, still quite a bit of fruit keeping it balanced. Great aged Hunter
18) 2002 Chales Melton – ‘puoarrrr’ went around the table. Cardboard, corked. Some debate around the table. I didn’t get it stratight off the bat, but with a few minutes in the glass, it’s stuffed.
19) 2004 Doisy-Disgorged Semillon Sauternes – bobthebuilder loved this . Poured himself a solid glass  lemon sherbet, pineapple express, apricots it’s a bitter sweet symphony that is life

Many thanks for everyone’s generosity, great banter and a few (unneeded) frothies at the Strawberry Hill Hotel to finish the night off. In bed by 2am. Bring on the pinot night!

[Hacker]

Thanks guys, great night! So much wine, something like 20 or so bottles for nine blokes. Copious notes were being taken by those to my left and right so all will be revealed shortly by others, but there were some wines that were in a higher class to others - not in any order - Pyrus 1995, Bowen Cab 1991, Rosehill 1993, Wynns Centenary 1991, Neudorf Moutere Chardonnay 2008. The others were still lovely and would on their own, be a joy to drink by themselves. Only casualty sadly was a Charles Melton 2002 Shiraz which was TCA affected. The Hoddles Creek flight of the 2013, 12 and 10 1er pinots was enjoyable and others voted one or other WOTN, but for me they just didn't reach the lofty heights that some have bestowed on them.

The food at the Devonshire was good and beautifully presented, but it reminded me of the nouvelle cuisine style of the 1980's with very small portion sizes. Give me a 300gram steak and fries any day!

Cheers,
David

[Krusty]

Epic night, had to leave the lads post-tasting sipping some very fresh tasting Endeavour beer at the Strawbs Hill pub !

How good were they, totally unnecessary but very refreshing !

Thankfully after talking a great game of pool, the skills didn't back it up and I knew it was time to go home.

Once again a fantastic night, great company, excellent food (although agree on the portion sizes Hacker), and amazing generosity from all particpants.

WOTN for me by a mile was the Rosehill, excellent old Hunter. Wine of the Hoddles vertical for me was the '10, whilst great merit in both its younger siblings, and probably better structured wines, especially the '13, I just kept going back to the '10.

Too many discussion points, but worthy of merit, the Pyrus, I love this wine, almost always delivers, Wynns, not the best bottle but still an excellent wine, I didn't quite get the excitement about the Bowen, what was in my glass was nice but seemed to disappear quickly for me, maybe needed a second glass. All the whites were wonderful, particularly the Neudorf. Did we really go through 19 bottles of wine, yikes.

Good to finally meet my doppleganger, things started getting weird when we realised we worked in the same industry, lived in the same area, both played golf, etc. Great to see some new faces. Good fun !

[mjs]

Totally agree that it was a great night. Wines were all interesting, lots to choose from and hard to pick a WOTN. They just kept on coming!! Probably the Bowen for mine, but the Maurice O'Shea was also very close. Some great wines, enjoyable conversation and food was pretty good. Perhaps for me the various dishes in the dego menu didn't quite do it for me, for example the first couple after the fish starter, looked very similar, like someone had just randomly thrown a whole lot of stuff on the plate. Also didn't feel as if I had over eaten. First world complaint though

(Probably) wisely was at the after dinner drinks just for a very short while!

Will probably, and sadly, be my last Sydney off-line for a while, the work stint in Sydney is coming to an end and will only be here intermittently after Easter. Would obviously put my hand up if I'm in town again though!

Thanks to all for the generosity of the wine and good company

cheers
Malcolm

My raw notes taken at the time for what they are worth

Bereche et Fils Les Beaux Regards Champagne 2007
Beautiful yeasty toasty nose, creamy mousse mouthfeel, lemony,

Clonakilla 2014 Canberra Hills Riesling
Pale pale straw, zesty fresh nose, lemon, medium acid,

2012 Les Gaudrettes Chardonnat Cotes du Jura
Green yellow straw, subdued bouquet, oxidised style, flat, not attractive,

1998 Tyrells Hunter Semillon
Bright golden, honey oak bouquet, bit whiffy, complexity, softish,

1999 Margan Hunter Valley Semillon
White gold, stone fruit, cold though, nice drop

2008 Neudorf Chardonnay Moutere Nelson NZ
Light golden, slight green edges, slight burnt character, reasonably fresh fruit still, green apples, bit tropical, nice acid, long palate, very attractive.

Masked white
Medium straw, bit of toast, maybe 2010, Australasian, Margaret River? Nice structure,

Revealed as 2013 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay Hegel-en-Aarde Valley Cape of Good Hope SA .... Got that right!!

Flight of Hoddles Creek 1er Yarra Valley Pinot

2013 (has been decanted)
Deepest colour of the three, deep salmon, beautiful nose, nice red fruits, medium weight, very good drink

2012
Noticeably thinner salmon colour, simpler fruit, red fruits, ok

2010
Medium salmon, bit more meatiness on the nose, very bright fruit on the palate, slightly darker fruit, nice drinking

Amazing how all three became more alike in 15 mins or so. All very good, but perhaps not up to the super hype that's out there.

2012 Vincent Giradin Santenay ASC
Deepish red purple, slightly dusty nose, bright red black fruit, bit savoury, drying later, quite interesting to return to it later. Held up well

2012 Romney Park Pinot Noir (I declared a personal interest in this one!)
Deeper red purple, nice red fruits, some tannin, grainy, meaty

1991 Wynns Centenary Shiraz Cabernet
Dense red purple, beautiful dusty nose, some comments about some dialling down of fruit, very slight fault?, quite drying finish, beautiful to nose the dregs

1991 Bowen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Deep garnet red, black fruits bouquet, voluptuous fruit, beautiful mouthfeel,

1993 Lindemans Pyrus
Deep red, slight rim, black red fruits, tannin, nice black red fruits

1993 Maurice O'Shea Shiraz
Medium red garnet, beautiful bouquet, bit of mint maybe, beautiful mouthfeel, hard to consider it is a 21yo wine,

1995 Mount Pleasant Rosehill Vineyard Shiraz
Medium red purple, some edging, beautiful aged nose, nice combination of age and fruit,

2004 Ch Doisy Daene Sauternes
A little orange in colour, great acid, sweetness, beautiful to drink,

[catchnrelease]

Good night, I really liked the food. Portions were a bit smaller than I was expecting, but quality right up there for me.

My WOTN was probably the '10 Hoddles Creek Pinot, with honorable mentions to the '08 Neudorf Chardonnay and the '99 Margan Semillon.

Also interesting to try some Pinots in both standard glassware and the Zalto Burgundy glasses. Palate's the same but the Zalto definitely gave a more 'three dimensional' (if that makes sense) aroma to the wine, while also highlighting any imperfections! Eye opening.

[Bobthebuilder]

So glad I managed to squeeze into this one for my first offline.
It was a fantastic night and it was great to meet such a friendly bunch of guys, thanks to all of you for your warm welcome!
I though all the wine was great (apart from that one CM I brought along), but The Bowen, Pyrus, CH Doisy (sorry about that pour, I got to stop mixing talking and pouring! ) and the Vieilles were probably my favourites.
I thought the food was very good, well presented, but the servings were really small, and had there been a hotdog stand outside the pub I probably would have grabbed one for the walk home.
I have wanted to try the place for a while now and think I will probably go back in the future, but ordering off the menu.
I learnt a fair bit too, not just about the wine but how to pace right from the beginning, and when I woke up this morning I leant one more thing, the need to spit a bit more!
All up a really fun night, look forward to doing it again soon

[Diddy]

Only casualty sadly was a Charles Melton 2002 Shiraz which was TCA affected

Shame about the Charles Melton - I've had the 2002 and it's a lovely drop.

[Polymer]

Great night...Not sure I had a WOTN though...Plenty of great stuff..

I think it was a pretty interesting night overall....

Haha..I think Dave Vino's comments about pacing should be mandatory reading for anyone that hasn't attended one of these before ...

I also thought it was funny that as much as we were joking about pc79 and Krusty being twins...they had a LOT of mutual interests, same job field, etc...

[pc79]

new bffffff's

[rooman]

PC 79 and MJS, thanks for really concise notes. At times, some writers tend to meander on for line after line, like a drunk man returning home from the pub. Sadly I have an incredibly short attention span and zone right out. Again well done and thank.

As an aside, perhaps we should have a rule that no wine description is allowed to go for longer than one line on pain of being excommunicated from the Forum.

[mjs]

like a drunk man returning home from the pub

.... did you see me on the train later?

Thanks for the comments about the notes. I don't tend to go on too much, if nothing else, you get left behind in the tasting. I do have reputation for getting left behind a bit on our Maralinga Wine Appreciation Society trips