The usual crew gathered at Ian’s for the normal overindulgence to greet the festive season. The notable absentee being Tom, undergoing another round of treatment in hospital. Our thoughts and best wishes for a speedy recovery, mate.
All wines were served blind.
McWilliams Elizabeth Semillon 1995
Lovely deep yellow colour with developing toast, honey and nuts in the bouquet joined by plenty of straw and grassy varietal fruit on the palette, too. Good acid balance and a medium finish. Rated Excellent for what it is. Another QPR special from our Lizzie that’s sure to go 5 years +.
Pol Roger Vintage Brut 1995
Deep straw/lemon with a touch of light brass in the hue. Potent baker’s yeast and crusty bread on the nose. Powerful ‘toasty’ palate, much more ‘Bolly R.D.’ in style than the last bottle I tried with Christian Pol Roger in Sydney recently. Extremely impressive all the same, and great value for around $60. Can’t wait to try the ’96.
Yarra Yering Dry White No. 1 1994
This wine had most of us stumped although I thought it French and possibly a Bordeaux blend with some age. Bright lemon in colour with a sulphurous, flinty, grassy, herb and charry nose and palate. Plenty happening in the mouth but the sulphur was a tad overpowering for me. Has lasted quite well. Recommended.
Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay 1999
I’ve tasted this wine on several occasions recently and, apart from one bottle not showing quite as well, is hard to fault. How this wine carries the 14.5% alcohol so effortlessly is still a mystery to me. Outstanding wine.
Seppelt Show Reserve Sparkling Shiraz 1991
Medium ruby with some amber in the hue and the tiniest of bubbles. Rich choco-berry nose with some sweet earth in the background. Lovely ripe berried fruit, creamy texture and medium body. Good persistence. Excellent. No Brett, off characters or anything to suggest faulty winemaking.
J.J. Confuron Chambolle-Musigny 1996
Deep colour for its’ age. Plenty of sappy pinot fruit in the nose with notes of game; cool and sophisticated palate. No shortage of plum and cherry fruit to cope with the seasoned oak and plentiful (integrated) acid. Quite long, well balanced and surprisingly weighty for a village model. Reference point for this village and year IMO. Rated as Excellent for what it is.
Howard Park Cabernet 1988
Bright red and clear. Lifted nose of stewed red and black fruit and some licorice. Reminded me of the idiosyncratic traits of some of the1982 Penfold’s reds. Relatively light, sweet, red fruit (raspberries) endowed palate. A little fluid and diffuse. Easy enough to drink but somehow lacklustre. Very soft finish. A trifle short. Something’s not right here! Judgement deferred.
Plantagenet Shiraz 1993
Brooding deep colour. Cedar and white pepper nose with some old leather and a modicum of spicy, savoury red fruit. The palate had plenty of structure – good grip, but the fruit seems to be fading. Still worthy of an honorable mention here although by this late stage of the night things get all too fuzzy.
Tried but no notes taken - Mt Canobolas Very Old Tawny – very poor, can’t say cat’s piss on a nice forum like this, so I won’t say it. And finally, a very pruney, relatively tired Stanton and Killeen Vintage Port 1976 that was drinkable but I’ve had plenty from this producer a whole lot better. Provenance may be an issue here, I was told.
End of Year Wine Group Bash
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Guest
David,
If the 91 Seppelt Show Reserve Sparkling Shiraz didn't show any brett then you were extremely lucky. I have sat in 'brett education classes' (which are all the rage in the industry at the moment) and it has been poured as the opening bottle, just so that we were all clear on what brett smells and tastes like (it is a Benchmark Brett wine, so to speak). Personally I suspect that the 'background earthy characters' were probably low-level brett, but not having tasted the particular bottle in question I cannot be sure. What is true is that you seem to know a great deal about wine, and have a seasoned palate, so if you say that there was no brett, then you are likely right. It is a freak that there was no brett though.
I should also say that I like this wine, despite its brett. But I am a sucker for seppelt.
anon.
If the 91 Seppelt Show Reserve Sparkling Shiraz didn't show any brett then you were extremely lucky. I have sat in 'brett education classes' (which are all the rage in the industry at the moment) and it has been poured as the opening bottle, just so that we were all clear on what brett smells and tastes like (it is a Benchmark Brett wine, so to speak). Personally I suspect that the 'background earthy characters' were probably low-level brett, but not having tasted the particular bottle in question I cannot be sure. What is true is that you seem to know a great deal about wine, and have a seasoned palate, so if you say that there was no brett, then you are likely right. It is a freak that there was no brett though.
I should also say that I like this wine, despite its brett. But I am a sucker for seppelt.
anon.
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David Lole
Dear guest,
I made the point because of the rampant criticism expressed on the boards for some time now. I've had a 91 that was 'horsey' and 'mushroomy' which I noted as overtly 'brett'. There could be some wide variation in the levels of affectation from bottle to bottle and I seem to have a higher tolerance to the stuff.
I made the point because of the rampant criticism expressed on the boards for some time now. I've had a 91 that was 'horsey' and 'mushroomy' which I noted as overtly 'brett'. There could be some wide variation in the levels of affectation from bottle to bottle and I seem to have a higher tolerance to the stuff.