Once again a merry band of men and women from the Winestar Forum met up in order to enjoy some food and wine.
The Restaurant: I quite liked the restaurant; my entree of Balmain Bug Raviolo was excellent and was perfect for the white wines. Wasn’t quite as impressed with the main of Char-grilled Sirloin on mushrooms, but it was still good. Service was fine and corkage very reasonable ($3pp). Came to about $70 per head including bread, a small starter, entree, main, dessert, gratuity and corkage.
The Wines: Only the Kalleske Cleanskin was served masked on this occasion.
Charles Heidsieck NV (Mis en Cave 2000) Brut Reserve – (Champagne, France): Hyper-active, fine bead. A little bit of toast initially, with a hit of unbalanced acid on the finish. Pleasant enough, but I don’t think it is going anywhere special. 86 Points
Mount Mary Triolet 2001 – (Yarra Valley, Victoria): Blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle. Something off-putting on the nose asides from some grassy notes, someone at the table mentioned oysters and I wouldn’t disagree. It didn’t have a great deal of complexity or interest on the palate – some tropical fruit but it was only barely there. Pulled up a bit short and watery on the finish. Didn’t live up to the reputation for me, perhaps just not my style. 84 Points
Plantagenet Riesling 1991 – (Mount Barker, Western Australia): Nose was not giving anything away. Much better on the palate, aged toasty characters with structure holding in-tact. Balanced across the palate with a good length finish. No kerosene characters. Was holding up very well for a 14 year old West Australian Riesling and I though was quite pleasant to drink but without having the intensity of a great aged Riesling. 89 Points
Savaterre Chardonnay 2001 – (Beechworth, Victoria): A wonderfully complex nose of peaches, cream and pears with well integrated oak supporting. Restrained elegant power on the palate, lovely mouth-feel, still showing some freshness. Great balance and structure. Clean, long finish. Best Australian Chardonnay I’ve had this year and I’m going to do my best to source some of this. My favourite wine this evening. 93 Points
Giaconda Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 – (Beechworth, Victoria): Tobacco and smoked meat on the nose. I noted down that the tannins are still quite prominent. A modicum of class, perhaps a shadow of the past. A good enough wine and I certainly wouldn’t refuse a glass, but not mind-blowing, and certainly not living up to reputation or price. 88 Points
Seppelt Dorrien Cabernet Sauvignon 1991 – (Barossa Valley, South Australia): Nice enough savoury bouquet and palate, but the fruit was missing in action, presumed dead. Finish pulled up short. Mike, who brought this bottle, had tried a much better bottle earlier this year. Ah, the “joys” of bottle variation. 86 Points
Penley Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 – (Coonawarra, South Australia): Notes are a bit scarce on this one sorry. Was a bit green (on the nose) and mean (unbalanced tannins). I thought that it was lacking in length and pulled up short on the finish. 86 Points
Clos L’Eglise Pomerol 1999 – (Pomerol, France): Thought this was looking a bit tired and weary for a ’99. The shop is closed for business, nothing there to hold any interest. Might just be going through a phase which it will come out of. 85 Points
Kalleske Shiraz Cleanskin 2002 – (Barossa Valley, South Australia): A glass stainer. Massive nose – Somebody mentioned Chocolate Bullets which summed up perfectly the liquorice and chocolaty oak. Despite the full on body, there was still balance to be found. Perhaps a little bit short on the finish, but I don’t think you’ll find better value for $7.50 anywhere. 89 Points
Preveli Merlot 2002 – (Margaret River, Western Australia): Sadly, without any doubt corked. Not Rated
Clarendon Hills “Sandown” Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 – (Clarendon, South Australia): Nothing happening at first. Was given a couple of hours in the decanter to open up (and I believe a number of hours beforehand) – If anything it got worse as time went on and in my opinion was offensive in the end smelling a bit like rotting cabbage. Maybe TCA affected but definitely not a good bottle either way. Not Rated
Oliver’s Taranga Shiraz 1996 – (McLaren Vale, South Australia): Deep red in colour. Quite powerful but lacking balance and I found the alcohol overbearing, leading to a hot finish. 86 Points
Henschke Keyneton Estate 1996 – (Barossa and Eden Valleys, South Australia): Blend of 65% shiraz, 30% cabernet and 5% merlot. Yes it was a little bit gamey (read: bretty) but I thought it was all the more interesting for it. Lovely complex nose, great balance and a good length finish. Close to hitting its peak. My favourite red wine of the night. 91 Points
Seppelt Great Western Shiraz 1991 – (Grampians, Victoria): Was a bit clunky and all over the place to begin with, but after half an hour seemed to pull itself back together and was quite enjoyable, if lacking in anything to make it stand out from the crowd. Likely a couple of years past its best. 88 Points
Miranda Golden Botrytis 2002 – (Riverina, New South Wales): Didn’t pick up a whole lot of botrytis in this. Not a great deal of intensity. Some overt sweetness sticking out, but not enough to ruin my enjoyment. Medium length finish and a good accompaniment for dessert. 88 Points
Malivoire “Moira Vineyard” Chardonnay 2002 – (Ontario, Canada): Disappointing. Very developed in colour for a reasonably recently bottled Chardonnay. A very oniony, sulphury nose put down to mercaptans. “Do Not Put In Mouth” stuff. Took most of the bottle home to see if they blew off but was just as bad the next evening. Can only put this down to being a bad bottle, I will write to the maker and see if they care to respond. Not Rated
Perhaps this offline should be known as the “It has shown better in the past” night with so many bottles not showing as well as they had previously! I had a good time regardless and am looking forward to the next one.