Tyrrells Vat 1 Semillon 1998
I am fully convinced Tyrrells makes THE BEST Semillon in the world. 1998 and 1999, every single time I have them, are utterly fantastic.
I pop this one open, cork is in great shape...pour a little, not getting too much but at least it isn't corked...so far so good.
The wine is really tight...I'm really not getting much from the nose. The palate was really tight..not getting much from it either..the acid seems rather low at this point..I'm a bit disappointed. My friend thinks it is over the hill...I don't see how though unless it is completely oxidized but I think it would taste differently...
Near the end of the first glass and a LOT of swirling, the wine starts to wake up a bit..acid is coming through..nose is coming through...My friend asks if I have a Vinturi..and what do you know, I do. Give that a go and wow...I normally don't care if I use a Vinturi and it only makes a slight difference here or there...This time it made a HUGE difference.
Honey, grass, biscuits and toast on the nose...this is what I love about aged Semillon. Still had a lot of very lively acid which is fantastic...This has at least another 5+ years....Honeysuckle, toast and a just a tad of lanolin on the palate....ever so slight. I really love this stuff. I have yet to be bored of good aged Semillon, maybe because I don't get enough opportunities to drink really good ones or maybe because it is just that good..either way, great way to start the evening.
Meerea Park Terracotta Shiraz 2002. This is actually a Shiraz Viognier but it is labelled as a Shiraz. I'm going to guess because every year it doesn't hit that 5% Viognier but who knows.
I've always had mixed feelings about this line from Meerea Park...At its best, you get very nice florals and aromatics combined with this added depth and softness to the shiraz....at its worst it is quite harsh on the palate and the Viognier seems to stick out but only the bad parts...This was a combination of the two. Wonderful aromatic nose...red fruits, some smokiness, some very savory notes coming from the nose..a bit of herbs...quite nice. The palate still had great acidity, a wonderful array of red fruits, cherries even. It didn't have that overly savory characteristic I tend to see from Australian SV's and I'm going to guess it is because of the bottle age...This is actually very Rhone like and while I hate using that term...it was actually very much like a Cote Rotie...BUT, at the end there was this slight spike of something...I'm going to guess Viognier..that didn't go down quite right with a few other people..but I thought was fine.
Yering Farm "John's Estate" Winemakers Selection Limited Release 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon.
This was the first "Premium" type wine I bought in Australia while on a trip to Melbourne. I actually think I bought it before moving to Australia and I think I even took it back to the US and then back here again. I had somewhat low expectations for this wine for several reasons. First off, it has gone through a lot of travel and probably more than a few less than ideal storing conditions. Secondly, I felt this would be on the end of its life based on other things I read... Third, my palate has changed quite a bit from when I bought this so I wasn't sure what to expect...
I cut off the wax capsule, popped the cork...so far it all looks ok. The nose has some very nice herbal notes and a lot of red fruit. It smells a lot fresher than I would have expected it to and the color of the wine isn't showing its age nearly as much as I would have expected. Still very bright, no signs of bricking at all...Interesting...
Palate had loads of very FRESH red fruits..bright fruit..I'm really really shocked...Maybe it is because this was the 4th wine of the evening...I'm not really sure but this is really standing out. Some herbs on the palate, a very slight touch of mocha...The palate had great acidity...The tannins are very well integrated...From memory the tannins on this were very fine and silky when I bought it so this isn't a big surprise...This is actually very much in a style that I'd like today but really just odd ball luck. I doubt I liked this before because of the acidity but the cool climate of the Yarra probably just pulled it out for me....I'm really sad to see this one go but it was a good time to open it...
Franciscan Estate Merlot 2008.
A wine a friend bought from their trip to the Napa. Franciscan has always made a relatively good wine at a reasonable price and this is no exception. Nice solid fruit, well made wine but maybe a bit simple compared to the others...Granted, the others had a bit of age as well...Overall a good wine, good QPR..
And lastly....A cake that my wife made for me....The best cake someone has ever made for me...Tops the bear cake my mom made for me when I was 3 which eventually fell over. R2D2 in his Iron Man costume.
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