My turn to host a dinner tasting last night, theme: Australia.

First up were a couple of whites, with clams.

1998 Yalumba Barossa Semillon - I picked this up at the Vancouver wine festival
a few years ago because I thought it was a Semillon with aspirations to be a
Chablis. It showed lemon and quite a bit of mineral in the nose, and was smooth
and quite rich in the mouth, definitely a bit more in the French style than
your typical Semillon.

1998 Tyrells Vat 47 Pinot Chardonnay (Hunter Valley) - bought at the same
festival (not by me), this was very nice too, although not as good a match with
clams. Sweet rich nose, fairly typical oaked chard, lower acidity, and my only
criticism was that the fruit ended early and the acidity carried on, so that
while it wasn't all that high in midpalate, the wine suddenly seemed to be high
in acid because that was all that was left to taste.

1985 Lake's Folly Cabernet - I asked every one to predict where their wines,
tasted blind, should come in the tasting order, and we got it almost perfect
last night. This mature wine was appropriately offered up first. An excellent
Bordeaux style of nose, primarily cabernet, the wine completely mature and just
lovely. Those who left some in their glass found that it developed an
attractive tar component in the nose with a bit of time.

1997 Mt. Langi Ghiran Shiraz - this wine had a nose that was very much Northern
Rhone, and it had the metallic note you get in Cote Rotie, (although none of
the violets). It had bright fruit and was sweeter than the European version
would be, but all in all a creditable Shiraz done in the restrained style.
There are days when you want an ooze monster (see the last wines in this
tasting) and there are days when this style is much easier to take!

1995 Eileen Hardy Shiraz - I first tasted this wine when Bill Hardy came to
town about 6 years ago and presented a short vertical. It is (based on my old
notes) 50% Padthaway, 50% McLaren Vale fruit. When young, this wine had always
shown the more typical mint nose, but last night it was big time dill all the
way. Medium bodied (I think you have to read that in the context of what we
were tasting) and still a fair bit of tannin. On palate, lush cherry liqueur
fruit and yet more oak (a bit much perhaps). This wine could use more time.

1995 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet - Shiraz - good nose with some slight Bordeaux
elements but also mint, medium body, almost elegant, good length. Hey - I can
put up the 90, 92, 93, 94, and 95 - anyone
want to continue the run and do a vertical tasting?


1999 Cape Mentelle Zinfandel - someone had to pull this one out, and as he
expected, it flummoxed us. Dark wine with a eucalyptus nose and lots of sweet
fruit, a bit hot. The fruit melded well with the tannins and it had good
balance, but as was the case with the 1996 we had, there was no varietal clue
whatsoever.

1999 Chestnut Grove Merlot Manjimup (Western Australia) - a real hard one - a
varietal not exactly in the top 5 when you think of Oz, and a producer none of
us were familiar with. The nose was bitter chocolate (the only indicator of
varietal?) and the wine was medium bodied, well integrated, admirable length,
and not very merlot-like, damn it!

1997 Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz - my friend and I had set this next pair up, so
we didn't guess the wines. I have seen several reports of the doom and gloom
variety recently about these wines, and the only way to know if they were true
was to start pulling corks. The 97 was dark (like that needed saying!), and a
rubber nose that segued into tar and licorice as it opened a bit. A big wine,
noticeably hot, but it drinks quite well, with a sweet fruit finish, the
tannins not hitting until a half beat later. I have no reservations about this
wine - I tasted it on release, and while it has lost some of the baby fat
fruitiness, it has gained more in terms of increased complexity and by becoming
more accessible. A long life ahead would be my bet, and my case will stay
buried for another few years.

1998 Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz - we figured that even though this pairing
constitutes the sort of infanticide I normally criticise (all the while
greedily sucking up other's notes), in this case it was merited. This wine was
quite different and showed much less development. The nose was a bit sweeter
than the 97, and the middle had a good chalky mouth feel to it. The wine was
even darker, and the flavours of primal fruit were completely undifferentiated.
I have no idea how long this monolithic Shiraz will need to start showing its
stuff, but it isn't going to be next year! I find the naysaying relating to
these wines a bit perplexing. I guess there are people that value 'fruit above
all', and I wonder whether they prefer to drink their vintage Port at 5 years
old, and think those of us that leave them 20 or more are daft. From my point
of view, these wines, tasted when they first hit our market a few years ago,
have lost nothing that would make me run about doing my Chicken Little
impression. From where I sit, the sky is NOT falling.

1996 Thomas Hardy Cabernet - I first guessed it might be a 1998, and when told
no, identified it as a 1996. This wine was quite appropriately left until the
end, as impenetrable as the Fox Creeks had been, this was perhaps even
'thicker'. Very dark, and now showing some complexity, it had a cassis nose
with a fair bit of vanilla and lots of mint. Well structured, this wine needs
another 5 years to mellow out. Very nice. Both this and the Foxes use American
oak when many winemakers have shifted to French, but they make good examples of
wines where American oak works well. I'd love to taste any of them done with
French - I wonder if the winemakers have done any experimental barrels?

We tasted these wines with a Provencal beef stew (oragne juice and rind with
black olives etc), and then continued the last 3 with cheese, and finally
opened the Port

1980 Offley Boa Vista - I had been fooled by the Grahams of the same vintage
only the month before, so thought I'd be able to do the same. I suppose I gave
it away when I responded to guesses in the early 80s by telling them they were
'Offley close". This wine nearly witnessed a sad end for our hero. I had a
general idea of where it was in the cellar (all Ports are on the bottom as they
don't need to be readily accessible), but since it was placed in that
repository my cellar had grown, rather like a river, where sedimentary deposits
consisting of newer cases end up concealing earlier deposits. I had removed a
tier (or is that rank or file?) of cases in front of where I estimated the
Offley to be (I was one row over) and was lying prone on the floor, reaching in
behind the stacks of cases to try and dislodge the Offley, when the cases on
either side of the ones I'd removed started collapsing, and with bottles
raining about my ears and onto my head (it was fortunate that the floor is
carpeted and that I am large and soft, but even so it was only BC wine....). I
tried to get up, but my not inconsiderable bulk, the looming cases and an old
racquetball knee injury had me pinned, and it was difficult to move under the
cases without pushing on the wood racks with the good stuff in them. I had
visions of my wife coming home and wondering where I was, being unable to hear
my increasingly faint and plaintive cries (I was also unable to reach a
corkscrew to fortify myself), but in the end I managed to emerge with Offley in
hand and the damage limited to dignity, which with no one to witness is quickly
healed. Which is a lot about the retrieval of the Port, but nothing about the
wine itself. It was hot. It was bloody hot. It was so hot, that this was its
defining characteristic. The colour was starting to 'give' a bit, but there
were no real clues for people, because the fruit which was there was adequate,
but was quickly subsumed in the alcohol, which obliterated everything else. We
all agreed that we wouldn't expect to guess either year or wine, so we went on
to the bonus round.

Beaulieu Vineyards Muscat de Frontignan - I picked this up sometime around 1980
when I was racing old sports cars at Laguna Seca, and would load up on wine on
the way home. I don't believe they make it any more - it is fortified (18%) and
matured in French and American oak. It comes in a squat sort of bottle, and
when poured it was light brown, almost like a very old red wine or a Madeira
and was redolent of the Muscat grape. Interesting.

"1995 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet - Shiraz - good nose with some slight
Bordeaux elements but also mint, medium body, almost elegant, good
length. Hey - I can put up the 90, 92, 93, 94, and 95 - anyone
want to continue the run and do a vertical tasting?"

______________________________________

I live much too far from you to consider a vertical tasting, but I did
search my wine list and found a single bottle of 1989 Penfold's Bin 389
Cabernet - Shiraz. I was wonderng if you have tasted this wine in the
last few years.

Your experience with the wine bottles adds new meaning to "down under".
There was a recent case in which a man had a huge collection of books
and papers that completely filled his apartment. There was a collapse,
and he was buried under a mass of books and papers and could not get
out. His landlord finally heard his calls for help, and he was rescued.
This story was carried by newspapers and TV stations all over the US.
Now I can only imagine what the press would do if you had a cell phone
with you and had called for emergency help. That story would make
headlines around the world. "Prominent Canadian Attorney Buried Under
Wine Bottles. Fire Department Responds And Digs Him Out Unharmed".

"Bill Spohn" > wrote in message
...
> My turn to host a dinner tasting last night, theme: Australia.

As an Aussie, I find your comments most interesting.

Snipped

> 1985 Lake's Folly Cabernet - I asked every one to predict where their
wines,
> tasted blind, should come in the tasting order, and we got it almost
perfect
> last night. This mature wine was appropriately offered up first. An
excellent
> Bordeaux style of nose, primarily cabernet, the wine completely mature and
just
> lovely. Those who left some in their glass found that it developed an
> attractive tar component in the nose with a bit of time.

(This is fairly typical of Hunter reds!)
I have tried this wine on a number of occasions and can echo those
comments - very well made.

> 1997 Mt. Langi Ghiran Shiraz - this wine had a nose that was very much
Northern
> Rhone, and it had the metallic note you get in Cote Rotie, (although none
of
> the violets). It had bright fruit and was sweeter than the European
version
> would be, but all in all a creditable Shiraz done in the restrained style.
> There are days when you want an ooze monster (see the last wines in this
> tasting) and there are days when this style is much easier to take!

Interesting! I have totally gone off Langi Ghiran reds as to me they have
that eucalyptus character so common in that regio. I really dislike this in
a wine. I don't really see much Rhone character in the '97.

> 1995 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet - Shiraz - good nose with some slight
Bordeaux
> elements but also mint, medium body, almost elegant, good length. Hey - I
can
> put up the 90, 92, 93, 94, and 95 - anyone
> want to continue the run and do a vertical tasting?

Try the '98 - this was a great year in Oz, and this is an excellent wine.
Pity I am here and you are there - I have all the vintages from 90 - 98. I
actually prefer these to Grange, (heresy!!)

snipped

> 1980 Offley Boa Vista -
lol - I wish we made this style here!

If you like desert wines, I suggest you try the Lindeman's Hunter River
Porphyry. I don't know if you can get that in the States, but I love the
style and it does not have that horrible cloying character that a lot of
Riverland Oz desert wines get.

Cheers
Ron

I did>search my wine list and found a single bottle of 1989 Penfold's Bin
389>Cabernet - Shiraz. I was wonderng if you have tasted this wine in the>last
few years.
>

I did a couple of years ago and as I recall it was still going strong.

That story would make
>headlines around the world. "Prominent Canadian Attorney Buried Under
>Wine Bottles. Fire Department Responds And Digs Him Out Unharmed".
>

As long as no bottles broke......

But the longest I'd have had to stay down there would have been a couple of
days - SWMBO would notice my absence when the garbage needed taking out!

>> 1995 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet -
>
>Try the '98 - this was a great year in Oz, and this is an excellent wine.
>Pity I am here and you are there - I have all the vintages from 90 - 98. I
>actually prefer these to Grange, (heresy!!)

I didn't buy the 98 (lack of space at the time) but did just buy the 2000,
which shows quite well (not as good as the 98, mind you).

How much did the 2000 bin 389 cost in your area ?

mukesh shah
singapore

"Bill Spohn" > wrote in message
...
> >> 1995 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet -
> >
> >Try the '98 - this was a great year in Oz, and this is an excellent wine.
> >Pity I am here and you are there - I have all the vintages from 90 - 98.
I
> >actually prefer these to Grange, (heresy!!)
>
> I didn't buy the 98 (lack of space at the time) but did just buy the 2000,
> which shows quite well (not as good as the 98, mind you).

>How much did the 2000 bin 389 cost in your area ?

$35 Can - about $25 US

Salut/Hi Ron Lel,

le/on Sun, 18 Jan 2004 00:57:44 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

>
>"Bill Spohn" > wrote in message
...
>> My turn to host a dinner tasting last night, theme: Australia.
>
>As an Aussie, I find your comments most interesting.

As an expat Englishman living in France, I found them fascinating! But then
I always do.

>Try the '98 - this was a great year in Oz, and this is an excellent wine.
>Pity I am here and you are there - I have all the vintages from 90 - 98. I
>actually prefer these to Grange, (heresy!!)

I tasted the Bin 389 when at Penfolds, and, although very impressed indeed,
I can't say I _prefer_ it to Grange, for me that's a little like comparing
Blue Stilton and Gorgonzola. De gustibus non disputandum est. They'be both
world class. IMO. However, for MY taste, the amazing Old Block Shiraz from
St Hallets and the top (sorry, forget the name) Shiraz from Ch Tahbilk were
more to my taste.

>snipped
>
>> 1980 Offley Boa Vista -
>lol - I wish we made this style here!

Hmm, don't know that I agree, I prefer my ports to be all delicacy and
subtlety - like the Warre 63 we had at Christmas.

However, (not suggesting that the good doctor would emulate Offley's) you
could perhaps try to get Yarra Yering "Portsorts". Tasting in Barrel
reminded me VERY much of the (very) young top ports I was lucky enough to
get to know in the late seventies/early eighties, when I was a regular at
the Christies and Sothebys weekly pre-auction tastings.

>style and it does not have that horrible cloying character that a lot of
>Riverland Oz desert wines get.

Yeah they can be a bit sticky! That's why I was so taken with the Chambers
botrytised muscadelle I tasted at the vineyard. Mind you, some of the top
liqueur muscats are pretty extraordinary too, for all their gooeyness.

--
All the Best
Ian Hoare

Sometimes oi just sits and thinks
Sometimes oi just sits.

Hi Ian,

"Ian Hoare" > wrote in message
...
> Salut/Hi Ron Lel,
>
> le/on Sun, 18 Jan 2004 00:57:44 GMT, tu disais/you said:-
>
> >
> >"Bill Spohn" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> My turn to host a dinner tasting last night, theme: Australia.
> >
> >As an Aussie, I find your comments most interesting.
>
> As an expat Englishman living in France, I found them fascinating! But
then
> I always do.
>
> >Try the '98 - this was a great year in Oz, and this is an excellent wine.
> >Pity I am here and you are there - I have all the vintages from 90 - 98.
I
> >actually prefer these to Grange, (heresy!!)
>
> I tasted the Bin 389 when at Penfolds, and, although very impressed
indeed,
> I can't say I _prefer_ it to Grange, for me that's a little like comparing
> Blue Stilton and Gorgonzola. De gustibus non disputandum est. They'be both
> world class. IMO. However, for MY taste, the amazing Old Block Shiraz from
> St Hallets and the top (sorry, forget the name) Shiraz from Ch Tahbilk
were
> more to my taste.

I must admit, I find Grange a little too volatile for my taste.
Tabilk make a number of "reserve" Shirazes. One - probably the one you
mean - is the 1890's Vines Shiaz. Yhey also produce Special Bins

>
> >snipped
> >
> >> 1980 Offley Boa Vista -
> >lol - I wish we made this style here!
>
> Hmm, don't know that I agree, I prefer my ports to be all delicacy and
> subtlety - like the Warre 63 we had at Christmas.

Names dropper! I am down to my last 12 bottles of 63, mainly Grahams and
Fonseca
>
> However, (not suggesting that the good doctor would emulate Offley's) you
> could perhaps try to get Yarra Yering "Portsorts". Tasting in Barrel
> reminded me VERY much of the (very) young top ports I was lucky enough to
> get to know in the late seventies/early eighties, when I was a regular at
> the Christies and Sothebys weekly pre-auction tastings.

Had a big argument with Bailey Carrodus some years ago about the excess
volatility in his wines, and so refuse to buy any more of his stuff. lol
>
> >style and it does not have that horrible cloying character that a lot of
> >Riverland Oz desert wines get.
>
> Yeah they can be a bit sticky! That's why I was so taken with the Chambers
> botrytised muscadelle I tasted at the vineyard. Mind you, some of the top
> liqueur muscats are pretty extraordinary too, for all their gooeyness.
>
> --
> All the Best
> Ian Hoare
>
> Sometimes oi just sits and thinks
> Sometimes oi just sits.

On 17 Jan 2004 16:03:29 GMT, (Bill Spohn) wrote:

>My turn to host a dinner tasting last night, theme: Australia.

Great to read about winesI know. Thanks Bill...... great summary.
>
>First up were a couple of whites, with clams.
>
>1998 Yalumba Barossa Semillon - I picked this up at the Vancouver wine festival
>a few years ago because I thought it was a Semillon with aspirations to be a
>Chablis. It showed lemon and quite a bit of mineral in the nose, and was smooth
>and quite rich in the mouth, definitely a bit more in the French style than
>your typical Semillon.
>
>1998 Tyrells Vat 47 Pinot Chardonnay (Hunter Valley) - bought at the same
>festival (not by me), this was very nice too, although not as good a match with
>clams. Sweet rich nose, fairly typical oaked chard, lower acidity, and my only
>criticism was that the fruit ended early and the acidity carried on, so that
>while it wasn't all that high in midpalate, the wine suddenly seemed to be high
>in acid because that was all that was left to taste.

HV Sems are my fave whites..... but not that young. :>)
>
>1985 Lake's Folly Cabernet - I asked every one to predict where their wines,
>tasted blind, should come in the tasting order, and we got it almost perfect
>last night. This mature wine was appropriately offered up first. An excellent
>Bordeaux style of nose, primarily cabernet, the wine completely mature and just
>lovely. Those who left some in their glass found that it developed an
>attractive tar component in the nose with a bit of time.
>
>1997 Mt. Langi Ghiran Shiraz - this wine had a nose that was very much Northern
>Rhone, and it had the metallic note you get in Cote Rotie, (although none of
>the violets). It had bright fruit and was sweeter than the European version
>would be, but all in all a creditable Shiraz done in the restrained style.
>There are days when you want an ooze monster (see the last wines in this
>tasting) and there are days when this style is much easier to take!

The 98 is/was a monster. Have you ever had the chance to taste their
limited release "Chook Block" Shiraz?
>
>1995 Eileen Hardy Shiraz - I first tasted this wine when Bill Hardy came to
>town about 6 years ago and presented a short vertical. It is (based on my old
>notes) 50% Padthaway, 50% McLaren Vale fruit. When young, this wine had always
>shown the more typical mint nose, but last night it was big time dill all the
>way. Medium bodied (I think you have to read that in the context of what we
>were tasting) and still a fair bit of tannin. On palate, lush cherry liqueur
>fruit and yet more oak (a bit much perhaps). This wine could use more time.
>
>1995 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet - Shiraz - good nose with some slight Bordeaux
>elements but also mint, medium body, almost elegant, good length. Hey - I can
>put up the 90, 92, 93, 94, and 95 - anyone
>want to continue the run and do a vertical tasting?
lol....I have 96 - 2000. The 2000 has the luxury of the Bin 707
Cabernet fruit blended, as thier was no 707 released that year. It
makes it so much more approachable as a young wine, yet still has good
legs to age with.
>
>1999 Cape Mentelle Zinfandel - someone had to pull this one out, and as he
>expected, it flummoxed us. Dark wine with a eucalyptus nose and lots of sweet
>fruit, a bit hot. The fruit melded well with the tannins and it had good
>balance, but as was the case with the 1996 we had, there was no varietal clue
>whatsoever.
>
>1999 Chestnut Grove Merlot Manjimup (Western Australia) - a real hard one - a
>varietal not exactly in the top 5 when you think of Oz, and a producer none of
>us were familiar with. The nose was bitter chocolate (the only indicator of
>varietal?) and the wine was medium bodied, well integrated, admirable length,
>and not very merlot-like, damn it!

They make a lovely Verdelho too. Not my type of wine, yet I find it
very palatible.
>
>1997 Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz - my friend and I had set this next pair up, so
>we didn't guess the wines. I have seen several reports of the doom and gloom
>variety recently about these wines, and the only way to know if they were true
>was to start pulling corks. The 97 was dark (like that needed saying!), and a
>rubber nose that segued into tar and licorice as it opened a bit. A big wine,
>noticeably hot, but it drinks quite well, with a sweet fruit finish, the
>tannins not hitting until a half beat later. I have no reservations about this
>wine - I tasted it on release, and while it has lost some of the baby fat
>fruitiness, it has gained more in terms of increased complexity and by becoming
>more accessible. A long life ahead would be my bet, and my case will stay
>buried for another few years.
>
>1998 Fox Creek Reserve Shiraz - we figured that even though this pairing
>constitutes the sort of infanticide I normally criticise (all the while
>greedily sucking up other's notes), in this case it was merited. This wine was
>quite different and showed much less development. The nose was a bit sweeter
>than the 97, and the middle had a good chalky mouth feel to it. The wine was
>even darker, and the flavours of primal fruit were completely undifferentiated.
>I have no idea how long this monolithic Shiraz will need to start showing its
>stuff, but it isn't going to be next year! I find the naysaying relating to
>these wines a bit perplexing. I guess there are people that value 'fruit above
>all', and I wonder whether they prefer to drink their vintage Port at 5 years
>old, and think those of us that leave them 20 or more are daft. From my point
>of view, these wines, tasted when they first hit our market a few years ago,
>have lost nothing that would make me run about doing my Chicken Little
>impression. From where I sit, the sky is NOT falling.
>
>1996 Thomas Hardy Cabernet - I first guessed it might be a 1998, and when told
>no, identified it as a 1996. This wine was quite appropriately left until the
>end, as impenetrable as the Fox Creeks had been, this was perhaps even
>'thicker'. Very dark, and now showing some complexity, it had a cassis nose
>with a fair bit of vanilla and lots of mint. Well structured, this wine needs
>another 5 years to mellow out. Very nice. Both this and the Foxes use American
>oak when many winemakers have shifted to French, but they make good examples of
>wines where American oak works well. I'd love to taste any of them done with
>French - I wonder if the winemakers have done any experimental barrels?
>
>We tasted these wines with a Provencal beef stew (oragne juice and rind with
>black olives etc), and then continued the last 3 with cheese, and finally
>opened the Port
>
>1980 Offley Boa Vista - I had been fooled by the Grahams of the same vintage
>only the month before, so thought I'd be able to do the same. I suppose I gave
>it away when I responded to guesses in the early 80s by telling them they were
>'Offley close". This wine nearly witnessed a sad end for our hero. I had a
>general idea of where it was in the cellar (all Ports are on the bottom as they
>don't need to be readily accessible), but since it was placed in that
>repository my cellar had grown, rather like a river, where sedimentary deposits
>consisting of newer cases end up concealing earlier deposits. I had removed a
>tier (or is that rank or file?) of cases in front of where I estimated the
>Offley to be (I was one row over) and was lying prone on the floor, reaching in
>behind the stacks of cases to try and dislodge the Offley, when the cases on
>either side of the ones I'd removed started collapsing, and with bottles
>raining about my ears and onto my head (it was fortunate that the floor is
>carpeted and that I am large and soft, but even so it was only BC wine....). I
>tried to get up, but my not inconsiderable bulk, the looming cases and an old
>racquetball knee injury had me pinned, and it was difficult to move under the
>cases without pushing on the wood racks with the good stuff in them. I had
>visions of my wife coming home and wondering where I was, being unable to hear
>my increasingly faint and plaintive cries (I was also unable to reach a
>corkscrew to fortify myself), but in the end I managed to emerge with Offley in
>hand and the damage limited to dignity, which with no one to witness is quickly
>healed. Which is a lot about the retrieval of the Port, but nothing about the
>wine itself. It was hot. It was bloody hot. It was so hot, that this was its
>defining characteristic. The colour was starting to 'give' a bit, but there
>were no real clues for people, because the fruit which was there was adequate,
>but was quickly subsumed in the alcohol, which obliterated everything else. We
>all agreed that we wouldn't expect to guess either year or wine, so we went on
>to the bonus round.

LOL... great yarn !!!

<snip>

Enjoyed your forthright notes Bill......appreciated. :>)

Regards
Swooper

>The 98 is/was a monster. Have you ever had the chance to taste their
>limited release "Chook Block" Shiraz?

I haven't seen it in our market, but will cozy up to the rep to see if a bottle
or two couldn't somehow fall off the back of the truck........