Aged Hunter Pinot? Plus a Frenchy?

French wine is incredibly expensive in Australia...Based on the conversations I've had with various wholesalers...basically everyone is keeping the price up and pocketing the margins. Apparently it is for when the currency is against them...which hasn't been the case for a long long time.

2005 Chateau Les Grands Marechaux. Cotes de Blaye. Mostly Merlot with a bit of Cab Franc and Cab Sav. A real value wine for 2005 Bordeaux. Punches very well above its weight. If you can still get it, you'll find it 20-30 in the US. 50-60 in Australia. Started off rather tight but really opened up with some air. Really nice red fruit, some herbs, spice maybe a bit of licorice on the nose. Decent acidity. Good red and dark fruits on the palate. Tannins are not too big in this..and I don't think they have been for awhile....The wine is going down really smooth...maybe too much. I would definitely drink this now or in the next year or two. A fantastic value at 20-30...at 60 AUD...no way.

1998 Petersons Back Block Pinot Noir. Hunter Valley. Not a fan of Australian Pinot in general (although there are some good ones). The Hunter Valley is not really suited for Pinot but you sometimes get a few here and there. I don't believe Petersons even makes this any longer. A lot of red fruits, cherries and spice on the nose..a bit of leather as well. My nose says Pinot but not necessarily Australian Pinot...interesting. Palate strikes me as oddly similar to some of the other aged Petersons stuff I've tried. Really good acidity, I'm a bit surprised considering the general lack of acidity in Australian Pinot. Maybe its the age, I'm not sure. Getting a good amount of cherry on the palate, some nice leather, earth, leaves and herbs. A bit of spice in there as well. As this gets air, the more Pinot like it starts becoming and it is quite nice. I had read some other notes online that this was a big fruit bomb type Pinot..it definitely doesn't strike me as that right now...I'm not sure what it is about the Hunter but their reds, even this Pinot, age really well.