5/18/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Complex spicy nose. Austere palate but will develop. Leave 10 years.

5/18/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

The blend gives it more complexity but less elegance than the Carrodus. A little less power, also. Bought to sit beside the Carrodus with Gilda in 12 years.

5/18/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

A fine, balanced cab that should age well. Bought to put beside the Bin No.1 in 12 years with Gilda.

5/18/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Good youthful balanced, restrained Shiraz. Time should treat it well.

5/18/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Lovely balanced, elegant Shiraz/Viognier. Should age very well. Drinkable young but better with time.

5/18/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Mulberry fruit. Lovely intensity. Needs time.

5/18/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Still lots of S. some development emerging. I’m uncertain about its development path. Needs time.

5/18/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Sulphur. Good structure under the S. Needs 10+ years

5/17/2024 - richard.presser wrote:

Fine Pinot aromas and flavours. Lovely balance. Should develop well.

5/17/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Fine complex aromas. Youthful austerity. Medium weight, complexity. Good length. Understated. Should benefit from a decade in the cellar.

5/17/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Rich complex ripe, touch of botrytis?
Wonderful richness, complexity, balance, poise. Now for 10+ years.

5/17/2024 - richard.presser wrote:

Lemony acid with a trace of richness. Palate is more austere than the nose suggests. How will it develop? It could show greatness with 10 years but it may not. I’m sceptical.

5/12/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Medium red.
Spicy, meaty, red cherry pinot. Showing some developed complexity. Lovely core sweet pinot, again with some development. A little hardness detracts from the party but definitely worth a look. The core Pinot flavours are rare outside of Burgundy.

5/11/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Fine, rich, perfumed, elegant, wonderful balance. Medium weight. Exquisitely perfumed. Rich, balanced, wonderful complexity & elegance. Amazing at 16 years. Even better with time.

5/11/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

2019 Single Vineyard dinner
Fine, rich, perfumed, elegant. The contrast with the Mt Edelstone is stark. The intense, inky expression of the year is there, but it's so overwhelmed by the extraordinary finesse, perfumed complexity, balance and elegance. As with all truly great wines, it's balanced from Day 1 and will likely be until it fades. Drinkable now but better not looked at for 15 years.

5/11/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Henscke single vineyard release dinner
Inky. Very intense, yet soft. Should progress. Began to open up in the glass.

5/11/2024 - richard.presser wrote:

Strong, clear shiraz, sage and rosemary. An inky character that it shares with the Mt Edelstone. Round, some austerity. How will it age?
Not for me.

5/11/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Light-medium red
Red cherry, cranberry, spicey.
Spicey, zippy, red cherry, a little plum, acid driven, medium weight yet with some complexity, medium length. I find it intriguing in the sense of how will it develop. On balance, I think it's a 5 year wine.

5/11/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Pale coloured. Restrained nose. Pristine with subtle oak but not something that excites. Ditto palate. These vines are close planted- this is the whole 9 yards. But it perfectly illustrates that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear… If the location doesn’t have what it takes (and it could entirely be young vines that limit it), the best practices will not make great wine. I’ll give my other bottle a decade.

5/10/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Pleasant clean light weight Chablis. Drink up.

5/9/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Minor amount of fine solid deposit. Still deep magenta to the edge. Lifted inky aromas. Some aged complexity but very minor for 11yo. Big, rich, sweet but still youthful. At 15 alc. it’s something of a bulldozer. Impressive for being a culled barrel. Unquestionable winemaking by Ben Riggs. You may not like the style but it is very well executed. I will leave my last bottle for a good sleep.

5/5/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Medium red. Violent decant.
Clean fresh red cherry, touch of cranberry. Gentle oak whisper.
Soft sweet above red fruits. Judicious oak. Good balance. Medium length. 2-3 years in bottle will balance it. Drink by 2030.

5/5/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Light golden colour. Developed varietal nose. Beautiful. Wonderful balance. Rich palate. Almost reeks of Gewurtztraminer but not in a negative way. Masterfully made. Olivier is a true master. Amazing for an entry level wine. Wonderful QPR. Drink over the next 2 years.

5/4/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Fine. Shows some of the richness and complexity of Roederer, but just a baby. Needs at least 5 maybe 10 years.

5/2/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Mostly solid precipitate. Medium red, edge showing age.
Fine, clean, pure. Restrained fruit characters. Some bottle complexity but slight for a 14yo. No sign of the acetone characters seen in the recent Bellota glass.
Wonderful long, balanced Brunello structure. Very little expression of other fruits. A little black cherry at a push. A wonderful, elegant, refined, balanced Brunello. Will hold for at least another decade and should express greater bottle complexity. A wonderful Brunello.
7 hours later - has opened up to show much more aromatics and flavour. No sign of fading. Bodes well.

4/30/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Deep red, red edge. Some fine deposit as well as solid deposit on the bottle. Difficult to decant.
Wonderful, rich, complex aromas. Barnyard. Showed more Pinot-like aromas on opening but these dissipated to express the power, evolved richness and complexity of this wine. Mature aromas but in no way retiring.
Rich, developed palate. A mint-like lift on the nose and palate has emerged with time.
Wonderfully complex, mature, rich, long flavours, with a developed sweetness. Beautiful balance. Long, long flavours.
Did I mention that I am enjoying this? 😂
IMO, fully mature and will stay on this plateau for perhaps a decade. Wonderful.

4/30/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Fine lemony nose. Showing little development for 10 years. Lemony flavours, slight bottle development. Very elegant for Meursault. Short on power. Acid was high on opening but on the table it shows good balance. Elegance and finesse are the hallmarks.

4/29/2024 - richard.presser wrote:

Minor deposit, haze on the bottle. Medium red.
Dank nose. Not corked, just flat. Flows onto the palate. I suspect an off bottle. Let’s see if it breathes up.
7 hours later - showing some fruit on the nose but still muted. Showing better structure on the palate as well, but again still muted. I will try another.

4/28/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Medium red. Some deposit. Nose of red cherries, herbs, amphora lift and complexity. Lavender. Wonderful and most unusual.
Palate is sweet red cherries, lighter style, quite acid but not overly so. Would it have been better drunk young? The pundits thought so.
I’m going to keep my last bottle for some time to see what it does. I’m quite curious about it. Beautifully pure and clean for a complex, long winemaking process - 180 days on skins in beeswax lined amphorae…

4/26/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Medium deposit. Light red. Lovely red fruits. Cranberry.
Light to medium weight. Nebb tannic structure, though balanced. Beginning to lose its youthful fruit.
Drink up.

4/25/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Slight deposit. Medium-deep red.
Dark plum aromas with mint. Pristine.
Fruit richness with the floral lift of Fleurie. Fruit has closed down somewhat, leaving the acid showing. Just a baby.
I will give the rest a decade. 110yo vines…

4/20/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Lifted raspberry aromas.Lifted aromatics.
Significant VA. Adds to the wine as a youngster but would likely become unpleasant with age.
Drink young.

4/22/2024 - richard.presser Does not like this wine:

Very broad nose, almost some nougat character.
Ditto palate. It is falling apart in quite a strange way. It’s like it’s totally lost its acid backbone.
A lesson for me in this. Condrieu can live for decades, the best of them. Even Yarra Valley ones that are quite well made may well need to be drunk young.

4/22/2024 - richard.presser wrote:

Deep magenta.
Intense, rich, ripe. Dark plum.
Ripe, intense fruit, though lacks the structure that comes with the old vines of the Barossa. These vines are not the oldies. 14.7 alc.shows...

4/20/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Tasted at the Prince Wine Store Cotes du Rhone and beyond tasting, April 20, 2024.
From the owners of the renowned Chateau de Beaucastel this is a blend of 40% Grenache, 40% Mourvedre and 20% Syrah matured in a mix of oak barrels and stainless steel vats for a period of 12 months.
For me, this was the standout in a lineup of about 30 wines. A lovely well fruited, approachable wine. Not a keeper but wonderful QPR for the short term.

4/19/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Developed complexity. Lifted ketones. Too much?
Peak? Certainly this bottle. Disappointing bottle, IMO.

4/13/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Good weighted Soave. Pleasant drinking. Now- 2028

4/13/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Lovely weighted flavoursome Chardonnay. Shows the great vintage. Good for their entry level.

4/12/2024 - richard.presser wrote:

Deep purple. Not decanted.
Nose of cassis and black currant.
Rich, sweet Shiraz. A little short and one dimensional. Ripe and powerful but a long way short of the great Barossa Shiraz available from this vintage.
Disappointing. Let's see what 24 hours does for it.
Next day. Shows a little better balance but still short.

4/11/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Pale. Little to no colour devt. As yet.
Aromas of apple and pear, beginning to show traces of bottle devt.
Palate is richer and more complex, though still very young. Very fine and long. Another 5-8 years will serve it well. It speaks well for the vintage.

4/8/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Deep purple. Sweet, perfumed, dark fruited Shiraz.
Black fruited, ripe and sweet. Blackberries and black cherries. Excellent balance. Needs a decade.

4/8/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Intense purple. Intense blackberry Shiraz aromas, with breathing showed the Viognier lift.
Intense black fruits. Balanced but very powerful. Acid stood out early but settled. Lacks the wonderful 2021 Barossa flavours but still very good. Needs 10 years.

4/6/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Youthful, sweet pinot nose.
Ditto palate. Medium to light weight, very quaffable young pinot. Went well with lunch.
IMO, not a keeper. 13.8 - surprising. Speaks well of the vintage in the YV.

4/6/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Nose expressing from the moment of opening, even at 12C. Tobacco-like aromas, which were complemented by red fruits as it breathed and warmed. Just entering its drinking window.
Medium weight complex red/blue fruits, the early tannin dominance receded as it opened. Lovely balance with Nt St G restraint. A classic Chevillon. Chevillon is like it’s found its own commune. A touch of Vosne without the austerity of N St G. They’re always like this, IMO. Very enjoyable.

3/31/2024 - richard.presser wrote:

Minor sediment. Medium colour. Sweet red fruits in a tight acid frame.
Sweet red fruits, high acid, shortish. The fruit is for now, the acid not so. Unbalanced. I will leave the other bottle to see what it does. Less enthused than on the first tasting in a dinner setting. OK for the price.

3/28/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Tasted at Torbreck dinner. Good richness and aged complexity. This listing shows it as being Muscat, but that's not my recall. Let's see when it shows up...
From their website - The Bothie is a fortified blend of traditional grape varieties which have been used to make this style of wine in the Barossa for generations. Including Madeira Semillon, Frontignac, Palomino, Doradillo, Grenache and Shiraz, these varieties have a rich, and sometimes forgotten history of fortified winemaking in the Barossa.

Current Vintage
NV
When the vintage allows, the grapes are picked at optimum ripeness. A small amount of spirit is then added to the fermenting wine to arrest the yeast activity and raise the alcohol level. The resulting barrels are then allowed to mature over a number of years to develop a rich tawny colour and deep, concentrated flavours, until ready to be added to the Bothie blend.

Nope... Not Muscat...

3/28/2024 - richard.presser wrote:

Simple, sweet, youthful. A gift from the Torbreck dinner - March 20, 2024.

3/28/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Rich, fine, displays the elegance and complexity of the Viognier skins. Great length, richness and power. Again, shows the intensity and complexity of 2021.

3/28/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Intense blackberry flavours. Needs 15 years. Great intensity and inkiness to the 2021 wines. Rich and ageworthy.

3/28/2024 - richard.presser Likes this wine:

Deep purple. Young, simple shiraz on opening. Fruit emerges with air.