I was in Waitrose at lunch to stock up on Katnook FB. Empty shelf. I asked the wine guy who I have spoken to on many occasions and he led me to an offer shelf with the last 4 bottles in the store. I the told him I was after a bottle or two of the Barrosa Shiraz but he told me they had sold out. I added a Stoneleigh PN and a Dourthe St Emilion to make up the 6. At this point he said "I shouldn't really be telling you this, but ..." and informed me that the next round of Waitrose offers starting Wednesday will be 25% off any 6 bottles.

I thought I'd pass on the heads up. He reckoned there would be no other offers running concurrently (double discount) but Mel may be able to confirm whether this is the case or not.

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tribs

Tribs, a great Heads Up ....

Now I only need to remember what I had book marked !

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Duncan

Well, you could get £62.50 off the madeira !

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Four wheels move the body - 2 wheels move the soul.

Yes, I posted somewhere else that the current offers stop tomorrow and the next batch don't start for another week, which is always suggestive of a "special" week. Haven't had confirmation from WR yet.

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mel

Opened a Katnook tonight. To my horror it was a 2007, as were my other 3. The other bottle bought a couple months ago is 06. I'm thinking I might take them back and order some online which is meant to be the 2006. Should I try the 06 I have first? Bearing in mind its the only one I've got.

It was quite nice but none of the typical Cabernet nose I was expecting. No noticeable mint. I think I prefer the 06 Asda labelled Katnook Cab that is under £7

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tribs

I dont think we as a group are over fussy with our vintage choices. We are looking for the extra dimension all of the time, and we know these wines.

tribs - I have no experience of the '07 vintage cab from Katnook. Sorry, none at all . Best to check at least, before you decide to keep them, you may kick youself for want of a bit of checking.

Which region is that ?

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Duncan

Coonawarra. Langtons gave 06 a 9/10 and 07 a 7/10

The Katnook FB in store have all been 06 and that is the vintage on the website, I had simply presumed that the 2007 vintage was not yet available and had not checked. They were the last bottles in store and I was simply glad to have grabbed some before the offer closed.

I took it to my parents to welcome my brother back from Japan, so it is all gone. I will open the 06 tomorrow.

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tribs

Yeah agree, you definitely want the '06 Coonawarra. More bottle age as well.

If you order, rather than going to Asda for their version, I hope the site does not let you down. Can you phone through to make sure you get the '06 ? Risky, if you can't check before pressing the pay by card tab

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Duncan

Well, there is not that much in it. More of a typical Cab nose with a little more mint and a teeny bit of horse on the '06. My god this wine is dry though and there is a bitter chocolate finish. I think the 07 is just a little bit sweeter, so I am going to keep the 3 of those I have.

If I decide to order a mixed dozen from WR before the current offer ends then I will include a couple of the presumed 06 Katnooks. I have a wine that I tasted in store that blew me away to try tomorrow night. It will make up the bulk of the order if it is as good as I thought. I do not drink on a Monday.

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tribs

Stopped off at WR tonight to see what I could get

picked up the last 2 Katnook 06 left on the shelf, rest were 07. Didn't read your post before then but finished a 2006 that was left in the fridge from the end if last week. It had kept well and I didn't find it in the least bit drying. I might have to take back my previous comment about prefering the montes alpha....

2 shelmerdine 08 (thinking I should have taken all 3!)

2 WR Chilean Cab Sauv 06

1 WR Douro 07 just to try out sometime

7 bottles averaged £8 each so pretty chuffed
may return to ge the last shelmerdine along with some different barossa & mclaren vale Shiraz they had. Also near got som of the pengolfs seventy six bit was a bit rushed

I still have some of the 06 left, so will try again later. It certainly has a better nose. It might be a candidate for a bottle aging. The label suggests 3-8 years for the 06 and that there were near perfect growing conditions.

The 07 suggests drink now or medium term cellaring.

From memory the first mouthful of the 06 is lovely. It is so dark and viscous that it coats the mouth. Perhaps during each following mouthful the tannin sticks to that coating making it drier. I tried with cheese but that made it worse.

Interestingly we had the 07 with chinese and that made it appear sweeter than it was initially.

My brother came and played 5-a-side footie with us last night. He used to play every week before he went back to Japan (He was there a year, came back for 3-4 and he's been there nearly a year). It was like he'd never been away. I'll be gutted when he goes back.

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tribs

I read the 3-8 yr cellaring quote and wasn't sure initially if it would hold out to 8 yrs
However, having had a quater of a bottle sat in the fridge since Thursday, it was still very good last night so it may have the legs
I only have 2 remaining and think they'll be lucky to see the end of 2011

Tried the one that blew me away. Something was missing though. The creamy vanilla oak nose that was a match for the much more expensive Te Muna Road. It wasn't there in my bottle. I tried to swirl and swirl and let the temperature rise to room temp. Just a faint sniff. Tried to replicate the little sample glass from in store. No difference.

Everything else is there. Bottle variance, perhaps? The bottle in store could have been left open at near room temp for hours. Maybe that was the difference. Surely the wine staff couldn't have used slight of hand and let me sample some old stock of the previous vintage and hand me bottles of the current one. Surely not.

I don't know what to do now. I have a full mixed case ready to order before the current offer ends presumably at midnight. Finger poised. Its still quite good, but... Decisions, decisions.

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tribs

You've got 50 minutes now. Rat bag decisions - if it doubt - YOU CAN RETURN IT for refund.

Craggy Range Te Muna Road bordeaux blend ? I have the celebrated Craggy Range gimlett gravells Merlot '07 yum, yum.....for laying down tho I want fully evolved and mature ripe merlot and I'd like it sooner.

You just can't fudge it.

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Duncan

Rubbish. Absolute rubbish.

I go through the whole order process, and after I have confirmed my card validation thing, there is a problem and half of the wines in my basket are all suddenly out of stock.

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tribs