Small wine tasting evening last night:
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Pick of the crop (excluding mine):
- 2010 Moss Wood - still a baby, cassis, big tannins, black fruits, great structure
- 2012 Rockford Basket Press - red fruits, pepper hints, medium tannins, vanilla in the background, lingering finish
- 2010 Alex 88 - cassis and blue/black fruits. Still huge.
- 2012 Jean Noel Gagnard Chassagne Montrachet Les Caillerts 1er cru - green grapes, orange notes zesty acid vanilla & minerally finish
Honourable mentions to:
2012 Penfolds St Henri - still to young, but looking good
2012 D.V. Cantena Mendoza Malbec - great Malbec
2010 Murphy-Goode Zinfandel Liar's Dice - huge 15.5% alcohol, but great structure that covers this.
I popped in the:
- 2008 McWilliams 1877 Shiraz/Cabernet blend +
- 2008 Lindemans Limestone Ridge Shiraz/Cabernet
Both got 96 Halliday points. the Mcwilliams is dripping in trophies and medals, including Decanter Wine Magazine trophy for best shiraz/cab blend worldwide in 2015. The Limestone Ridge also has a few. I think the 1877 was voted WOTN, and it is great, but can do with more cellaring. The Limestone Ridge is also excellent, but less restrained that then 1877. Both need more time IMHO
1996 M.Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée - my last magnum of this. Took a serious 3+ hour decant to get rid of the barnyard funk, but afterwards revealing that great Rhone syrah flavours, if you're a fan of that - wet soil, leather, spice, velvet tannins, with some blue fruit holding it all together.