Appellation Australia

Domaine Weinbach Schlossberg Grand Cru Cuvee St.Catherine Riesling 2004 (375mL)
Peaches, pears, orange peel and marmalade on the nose. A rich, viscous and weighty palate with excellent texture and length. Bold, but balanced.
92/100

Domaine Fourrier Les Goulots 1er Gevery-Chambertin 2003
A nose of red berries, candy, violets, chocolate and cinnamon. Touch of stalk to the medium bodied palate. Decent length and structure. Nice.
88/100

P&C Bonnefond Cote Rotie 2001
Licorice, dark chocolate, raspberry and coffee aromas. A juicy, ripe palate with the elements of the wine well integrated. Very good.
90/100

Taylors Vintage Port 1977 (375mL)
Vanilla, jasmine tea, licorice and cedar. Palate is smooth and of medium length, but doesn’t have the complexity or depth I expected. A bit of a let down as it is meant to be amazing.
88/100

These notes are from a dinner at Linda’s on King Street last week. The food was good, service was excellent - the only problem was an overcharge by 2 bottles on corkage, but at $3 a bottle it wasn’t a major issue.

NV Vincent d’Astree Gouttes d’Or Premier Cru Champagne
Biscuity nose, with some apple and light candy aromas. Fresh mouthfeel, quite drinkable but lacks depth and length.
87/100

1998 Dom Perignon Champagne
Very intense nose of smoke, nuts and peaches. Very good balance and composure on the palate. This bottle was looking a bit more advanced than some bottles last year but was still very tasty.
91/100

2006 Grans-Fassian Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Spatlese Trocken
Lime and spice on hte nse. Medium bodied palate with some noticable residual sugar despite the Trocken labelling. Lacked points of interest.
84/100

2005 Wantirna Isabella Chardonnay
Served blind and some tasters picked it as Chablis. A nose of grapefruit, earth, a touch of funky yeast and oats. Forward flavour on the palate without being over the top. Nice length and texture. I thought it was drinking well now and over the next couple of years.
89/100

2001 Rayas Blanc Reserve
50% Grenache Blanc, 50% Clairette. Grilled meats, fairy floss, wax and lemon on the nose. A bold palate, savoury and with good texture. Interesting even though I think it is yet to develop great palate complexity. Almost certain to divide opinions.
89/100

2005 Vincent Girardin Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes
Blackberry, graphite and earthy aromas. Ripe fruit on the palate, but with some good tannins for the level. Overall though, quite uninspiring.
86/100

1998 Bodegas Muga Rioja Gran Reserva Prado Enea
Ash, licorice, earth and tobacco aromas. Good flavour intensity and also nice balance between the acid, fruit and tannins. Quite approachable now, it is going to be drinking well over the next 5 years.
90/100

2007 Head Shiraz Grenache Viognier
A new label from the Barossa. 93% Shiraz, 5% Grenache, 2% Viognier. On the nose, aromas of chocolate oranges, band-aids, vanilla and spice. The palate has lots of black and blue berry fruit, but also a metallic edge. Avoid.
75/100

2006 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese
Honey, spice, botrytis and peach aromas. Medium bodied with balanced medium sweetness. A good wine, but more time in bottle to develop complexity would be recommended.
88/100

1982 Moet et Chandon Brut Imperial Rose
A fine stream of bubbles. Strawberry jam is the dominant aroma with earth, smoke and cherry supporting. Medium intensity of flavour on the palate with good acid support. With a persistent finish, this was very tasty.
90/100

1979 Leo Buring Eden Valley Eden Valley Show Reserve Riesling DWI16
Golden coloured. Shy nose with some honey, hay and citrus. The palate is showing signs of tiredness with the acid and fruit barely holding on. Drinkable, but not nearly as good as I have heard great bottles of this can be.
85/100

2007 Kay Brothers Amery McLaren Vale Moscato
Shy nose, just some grape aromas. A touch of spritz and some soft sweetness to the palate, there is no depth to it though.
85/100

1992 Cantina Terlano Alto Adige Sauvignon
Minerals, grapefruit and floral notes. The palate is fresh and lifting, but there is a richness and complexity to it that is amazing. Aside from the complexity, there was little to indicate the amount of age that this had. Interesting and quite unique.
90/100

1995 Domaine Santa Duc Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues
Meaty, graphite, blackberry and brambly aromas. The palate shows strong tannins but is otherwise quite restrained. If the intense tannins subside with time then this will take a step up to be great.
87/100

1993 Dunn Howell Mountain Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Barnyard aromas at the fore, with some raspberry, tobacco and eucalypt coming through as well. The palate didn’t show any sign of the brett to me, it was medium bodied with excellent balance and length.
89/100

1999 Wild Duck Creek Estate Alan’s Cabernets Vat 1
Dense, deeply coloured. Tobacco, bramble, cinnamon and sappy aromas. Sweet fruit flavour to the medium bodied palate. Lacking a bit in structure to me.
87/100

1999 Jasper Hill Georgia’s Paddock Heathcote Shiraz
A big, ripe nose of charcoal, chocolate, eucalypt and cherry. Tannins stick and there is a touch of bitterness on the finish. The alcohol stands out as well with a glycerol like element to the palate.
85/100

2000 Tenimenti Fontanafredda Barolo Vigna La Rosa
Apricot, violets, coffee, tar and kirsch aromas. The palate is powerful, but also balanced and structured. Long and utterly delicious. Superb wine, easily the best of the night.
93/100

These were tasted at The Book Kitchen Restaurant in Surry Hills. Most dishes are available in entree and main course size, so most of us opted for 4-5 entree sized courses so that we could try a wide variety. Some dishes were excellent, while others lacked flavour. The service quality was also rather inconsistent. I will return, but hopefully these problems have been ironed out by then.

1996 Egly-Ouriet Champagne Grand Cru Brut Millésimé
Disgorged September 2004. Brioche, orange peel and lemon aromas. Long, bold and full flavoured palate, with some acidity in the background keeping it from being too full-on. Absolutely delicious. Much less advanced that a bottle had in the last couple of years that was great but not as fresh.
93/100

2002 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Reserve
Lime and some floral characters on the nose. Palate is medium bodied with strong acidity. Lacks interest and purpose.
85/100

1985 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame
Cocoa, nuts, orange peel and saffron aromas. Creamy and long on the palate, with fresh acidity providing lift. Excellent flavour and texture.
93/100

1996 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru
Citrus, earthy and a touch floral. Medium bodied with good acidity. Very good, but desperately needs time to develop and soften.
89/100

1982 Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Liesse d’Harbonville Blanc de Blancs
Pears, floral notes and a touch of toast. Deliciously fresh and fluffy palate. Amazingly youthful. this has lots of life ahead of it based on this bottle.
90/100

1979 Lanson Champagne Noble Cuvée
Honey, pine nuts and toast on the nose. Excellent complexity on the palate. Great length and balance. At its peak.
92/100

1976 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Reserve
Deep aromas of honey, toast and citrus. Palate is excellent with complexity and freshness both playing complimentary roles. Delicious and long.
93/100

1995 Moët & Chandon Champagne Dom Perignon Rosé
Delicate nose of cherry and strawberries. The palate has good body and the flavours carry into a good length finish. Very good, but it just didn’t thrill me.
90/100

1999 Bollinger Coteaux Champenois La Côte aux Enfants
Still Pinot Noir from Champagne. Black cherry, raspberry, stalks, candied aromas and a touch of pepper. Sweetly fruited, soft palate. Starting to show some signs of development, but most of the flavours are primary still. I’m glad to have tried it once, but it was interesting rather than great.
88/100

1997 Domaine Robert Arnoux Grand Cru Clos Vougeot
Raspberry, earth and some VA. Fruit is thin on the palate and the oak and tannins stand out.
84/100

1991 Michel Lafarge Beaune 1er Cru Grèves
Corked.
NR/100

2002 Domaine Meo Camuzet Grand Cru Clos Vougeot
This just kept getting better the longer it was left in my glass. Aromas of raspberry, red cherry, earth and pretty lifted floral notes. The palate is long, intense and has excellent structure. This was a standout among the Burgundies on the night and will only get better over the next 10+ years.
93/100

2004 Domaine Leroy Bourgogne
The nose is reminiscent of cool climate Shiraz rather than Pinot, with black pepper, cherry, lifted florals and mixed spices. An intense palate, dense and spicy. This is an enjoyable wine if you don’t mind that it may be hard to identify as Pinot.
89/100

1998 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs
Dark chocolate, cherry and boot polish on the nose. Good texture and length on the palate. Quite elegant and silky. Drinking pretty well right now and while it won’t fall over soon, I don’t know that there would be much more improvement to expect.
90/100

2000 Geantet-Pansiot Grand Cru Charmes-Chambertin
Initially beetroot and milk chocolate aromas with bacon and sausage dominating after some time in the glass. Palate is medium bodied but there is a touch of sourness that also grew the longer the wine was left. A shame as it was very nice when poured.
83/100

1985 Lake’s Folly Cabernet
Amazing floral notes for the age, backed by tobacco, leather and redcurrants. The palate is youthful and shows plenty of softly sweet fruit balanced by savoury characters. Grew in stature and intensity as it was left in the glass, the last sip was the best. Just a touch behind a stunning 1987 recently, but extremely good anyway.
92/100

N.V. Jacques Selosse Champagne Cuvée Exquise
Very doughy aromas with quince, apple and honey as well. The palate is not as sweet as I expected, to me it was much more subtle and along the lines of an off-dry style with great balancing acidity. Interesting and very good.
91/100