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Wine thread

F

formeropenside

Guest
NTA said:
I like to think its rather Australian of QLD actually :)

Good to be Australian, better to be a Queenslander. I still celebrate both Australia Day and Queensland Day though. Its 150 years of not being New South Welshmen now - or it will be on June 6, anyway.

Nothing better than a nice Kangaroo steak on Australia Day anyway.
 

Pfitzy

George Gregan (70)
formeropenside said:
Queensland Day

:nta: You mean "Moreton Bay Penal Colony Day" don't you? They lost the proclamation of Queensland yonks ago - only one left is the original ;)
 
F

formeropenside

Guest
NTA said:
formeropenside said:
Queensland Day

:nta: You mean "Moreton Bay Penal Colony Day" don't you? They lost the proclamation of Queensland yonks ago - only one left is the original ;)

Still preferable to being a NSW-man.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
NTA said:
Bundaberg Red is clearly the closest thing any of us will ever get to an angel pissing on our tongue. Filtering it with red gum - genius and absolutely, without doubt, the only way to properly celebrate Australia Day.

There's some, but not a great deal of it in Queensland. Most river red gums live along the banks of the Murray-Darling system in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. I would suggest the large trees harvested to make charcoal for filtering purposes came from around Deniliquin, Tocumwal or Echuca. Looks like Bundaberg Rum have gone for an Australia-wide production.

Have a squiz at this: http://www.reec.nsw.edu.au/geo/scirrg/scrrg1.htm
 

Cutter

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
Lindommer et al, what do you think of the Hilltops Wine region and can you recommend any good drops from there.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Hilltops? One of the world's great wine regions. A Shiraz from Moppity Vineyards (between Young and Boorowa) won best Shiraz and followed up with best wine of the show at a major wine wine show in London last year. Reds are probably better than whites, although well made Chardonnays (ie. minimal use of oak) can be very good. Shirazes and Cabernets from central New South Wales, all the way from Mudgee to Wagga Wagga, are massively under-rated by the wine trade and consumers. Hilltops wineries have planted a lot of Italian varieties during the last decade and the Sangioveses, Nebbiolos and Barberas coming through are on the verge of outstanding. They also source fruit from New South Wales' coolest region, Tumbarumba, and the Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs from here are up there with the best of them. Hardy's use Tumbarumba fruit for their best Chardonnay, Eileen Hardy.

Best brands, in order:

Grove Estate-very good Shiraz, in some years exceptional (their Shiraz Viognier is made by Tim Kirk from Clonakilla, Australia's best SV winemaker), Cabernet always vvg, Italian varieties as good as any other from Australia (WineWise rated their Nebbiolo Australia's best for 2008). Pleasant whites (Semillon and Chardonnay). GE make a Zinfandel, which I can't stand but Septics love it, you might. GE also make a delicious blend of Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Petit Verdot & Barbera which can be only be bought at cellar door; unfortunately, it sells out quickly every year.

Chalker's Crossing-a talented young French winemaker, Celine Rousseau, took up residence here about ten years ago and improved the wines enormously. Cabernet, Shiraz and Sauvignon Blancs are all very good. CC do contract winemaking for small growers in southern New South Wales which you have to ferret out with a miner's lamp. One of them, Paterson's Gundagai Vineyard, from near Tumblong, grows some of the best Shiraz and Cabernet I've ever tasted. CC also grow olives and make an excellent extra virgin olive oil. Like most Australian ev olive oils they're much better than the imported ones when they're fresh. Well worth a visit.

Freeman Vineyards-a unique experience to be had here with Australia's only plantings of Rondinella and Corvina. Brian Freeman used to be an academic in the Charles Sturt University wine school at Wagga Wagga while planting his own vineyard. He makes the wine in an Italian "amorone" style where the grapes are partly dried before vinification. An amazing wine.

Other than the above three brands, McWilliam's use Hilltops fruit for their Barwang brand; I can't help thinking Barwang has been downgraded somewhat with the new label and I notice McW don't enter Barwang in as many shows as they used to. The wines still stack up.

Lindsay's Woodonga Hill's worth a visit, they produce one of Australia's few (the only?) straight pinot meuniers. The Visitors' Centre in Young carries a small range of other boutique wines. Try Arkstone, Binbilla and Moppity wines if you can find them.
 

Thomond78

Colin Windon (37)
2001 Tahblik Marsanne.

Bloody magnificent. Bit like a German Riesling in its way, honeysuckle, a bit of honey, still some lovely citrussy notes and a length in the mouth beyond belief. Just went on and on, like lemon-and-honey barley sugar, with enough acidity to lift it.

Had it with pot-roasted guinea fowl, and it was glorious. A real wine to savour slowly over a couple of hours. I suspect it'd be superb with some good cheese, too.

Glorious wine, and no sign it's lost its edge yet. I've another bottle which I intend putting away for the long haul.
 

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
Not sure if this is the right place, but does anyone know where I can get some plum wine in Sydney?

It's mostly a bitch to find, I've only ever found one bottleshop in China town that stocks it, and they're pretty overpriced (and I'm not even sure if they still have it).
 

PaarlBok

Rod McCall (65)
We had Giniel de Villiers, the Dakar Rally Champ and x Paarl Gimmie last night on TV, he qouted:

"Life is to short to drink bad wine"

Growing up on Barrydale, schooled at Paarl Gim and now living in Stellenbosch, he knows.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Ash said:
Not sure if this is the right place, but does anyone know where I can get some plum wine in Sydney? It's mostly a bitch to find, I've only ever found one bottleshop in Chinatown that stocks it, and they're pretty overpriced (and I'm not even sure if they still have it).

Plum wine, not plum brandy (slivovitz)? You've obviously got a recipe for which you need it. I'll keep an eye out.
 

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
Lindommer said:
Ash said:
Not sure if this is the right place, but does anyone know where I can get some plum wine in Sydney? It's mostly a bitch to find, I've only ever found one bottleshop in Chinatown that stocks it, and they're pretty overpriced (and I'm not even sure if they still have it).

Plum wine, not plum brandy (slivovitz)? You've obviously got a recipe for which you need it. I'll keep an eye out.

Yeah, plum wine. Nah, it's for drinking purposes. GF really likes it a little chilled. Keeps her happy!
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member

PaarlBok

Rod McCall (65)
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Cutter

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
Lindo - further to your message above, we are trying to cater for a party with local wines. Based partly on your superb summary above, we have chosen the Moppity Vineyards Shiraz 2005 and the Freeman Fortuna 2007 which I think will meet with your approval. We are now looking for a localish sparkling wine to close it out. Someone has suggested the CSU Tumbarumba Pinot Chardonnay and (someone else) the Gallagher 2006 Blanc de Blanc (which is pretty bloody pricey). Do you have any comments on these and other suggestions?

Cheers.
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Date? Time? Place? PM me, Cutter.

The CSU sparkler's the one to go with; it's older than the Gallagher one and has the traditional varietal makeup. It's probably best not to choose a blanc de blanc unless you sample it first; b de bs aren't to everyone's taste. A lot of Tumbarumba chardonnay finds its way into Australian sparkling wine as it's cool climate fruit which retains its acidity. High acidity is essential for good sparking wine; the Champagne region is at the very limit of wine-grape growing due to its cold climate.

Can't say I know the Gallagher drop, but it should be good considering what fruit goes into it. Would you believe Greg Gallagher used to be the head of the CSU wine school? The only other sparkler I can recall from this part of the world bottled under a regional name is the Mannus 2005 Sparkling Pinot Chardonnay produced by Tumbarumba Wine Estates, which would be very hard to find.

Don't forget to finish off with one of the world's great wines: an old Rutherglen muscat.
 

Thomond78

Colin Windon (37)
Right, question; 2001 D'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz. Ready or not?

It's tempting me. And I'm weak. But I don't want to kill a bottle that good too young... :nta:
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Well, Thomo, according to the old "a third getting better, a third on the plateau and a third declining" rule a 2001 d'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz is probably getting near to the end of the first third and won't get much better. It SHOULD hold its peak for, say, the next ten or so years before going into a gentle decline but I don't think it's going to improve a lot. I tasted some (well, a lot of) old d'Arenbergs from their museum in late 2006 and thought they'd started to decline after about 20 years. Mind you, they were still bloody nice wines with no acid and gentle, soft tannins but the fruit had started to slip a bit by then. Chester Osborn's of the opinion the modern wines are better than older ones due to the work he's put into the vineyards to improve the soils by making them biodynamic and I think a tasting of the recent vintages bears that out.

Do you have more than one bottle?
 
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