There's this offer on at Tesco.com at the moment, which seems very reasonable.

http://www.tesco.com/winestore/controll ... &R=3098346

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mel

[quote="meljones"]There's this offer on at Tesco.com at the moment, which seems very reasonable.

Mel, that is a good tip . Of the 2006, It could be very concentrated after all these worrying droughts in Oz. Needs to be investigated for medium term cellaring.

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Duncan

2006 was a very good vintage for the southern regions, a mild spring, some early ripening and high sugars resulting in deep concentration and high alcohol, as reflected in this particular wine at 14.5%. This can lead to questionable balance, have you tried this Mel?

Well GK - She clearly hasn't, judging from her silence.

I took a punt and bought six. I will try one before putting it away. If it's not to my taste for laying down, it goes back. The Yellow label is bloody dull, I've never had President's selection. We shall see if it comes up to Bin 407 standards.
Of questionable balance ? They are coming up a bit hotter from Oz these days: I find that bottle age does even things out with these hefty reds.
Peter Leeman The Barossa shiraz 2002 14.5%
Penfolds Bin 407 Cab, 1998 14.0%
Penfolds Bin 128 and Bin 28, shiraz 2005 14.5%
Mudgee hill of gold Cab 1999 13.5%.

To make up the 12, I bought Curious Cove Nz SB for £4.74 per bottle.

I can't find that link of Mel's, for her commission. Pete, will have to put a URL up here so I can see the thing on the page. It could be that my belt and braces firewalls are hiding it. The netwoork here, as well as the PC have firewalls.

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Duncan

To be fair, Mel is a very busy girl with plenty on her plate. She listed her responsibilities on here once, not sure I could manage.

Strangely, the one Wolf Blass wine I do enjoy regularly happens to be one of their cheapest, Eaglehawk Riesling, it goes lovely with a curry.

In that case I definitely could not manage, my kids graduated and left home some years ago. Hey GK, I'm not knocking the articulate Mel

GK, the knight to defend against such philistine newbies ! I'd better get out of here

A girl with such an educated palate for one so young, who goes out sampling them all, and reports back, is a massive favour.

* * * * * * * *
* Cheers Mel * Hope you get something of a break during Christmas
* * * * * * * *

Yeah, I nearly bought that NZ Riesling that was so discounted at T. Do you know these GK ?

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Duncan

'Nurse Ratched!!!'

Don't you have a Majestic and Tesco banner at the bottom of the Search Offers page. Could do with click through commission from you lot as I expect its worth quite a lot, although the majority of readers, I imagine, use the site before grabbing the car keys.

Just got back from Jerez, as guest of Gonzalez Byass. What bliss. Fabulous wines, busy, very pretty town, for a weekend visit, out of Stansted. Lovely restaurants, heaving with merry faces and excellent christmas decs. Beautiful lighting on ancient Jacaranda trees and an inordinate amount of sherry and tapas.

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mel

Your trip sounds great. Hope the weather was good. Hmmn, I can feel some fine fino on a little ice coming on - Was it still warm during the midday in Jerez.

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Duncan

Well GK,
When the WB Presidents Selection Cab arrived it was 2005 and with a screw cap ! I've never laid down a wine with a screw cap !

Looking up South Australia, which is a massive wine growing region, Coonawarra, Margaret River, Langhorne Creek, the Barrossa - the list goes on and on.
Anyway, vintage reports from BBR and the wine Advocate, say that 2005 was superior to 2006, and is given 9 - 10 out of 10 for the important areas.....not the cheap generic stuff - However, opinion and domaines do differ, have a look at this dismal report for 2006 from Louis Latour who has a domaine on the Margaret River.

http://www.louislatour.co.uk/Membership ... ionReports

look at the these comments for 2006 also http://www.erobertparker.com/newSearch/vintageChart1.aspx

the 2005 season is considered better than 2006 so Tesco's error did me a favour this time. Also 2005 is one year nearer to drinking time;

Tin caps ? do they survive on their side in the cellar ? Can they be tampered with. Why a tin cap for laying down ?

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Duncan

Mel,

Do you ever have a chance to talk to Tesco's wine club ?

If you do, would you please say to them:-

That if a customer orders a particular wine from a particular vintage, that is advertised as saying it has a natural cork stopper.

THEN THAT IS WHAT A CUSTOMER EXPECTS TO RECEIVE ! Trade Description Act

Does a tin screw cap store correctly for six years ? - which is stated on the Tesco web site. Also why have these discounted tin cap Aussie reds - Kalimna Bin 28 included got a tin cap from Tesco's, and not at other retailers ?. How do I know if the wine is true to type and is what it purports to be ?

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Duncan

Indeed, a mixed bag of reviews. I think there is a tendency to overlook the quality of certain vintages when comparing them to exceptional ones, such as the 2005. The same could be said of Bordeaux, everyone remembers the '05 vintage but '04 was also a very good year and offers better QPR for the canny wine buyer.

Here are some comments re. '06 in Sth Oz-

Coonawarra - Frank DiGiorgio of DiGiorgio Family Wines says "yields are likely to be down by somewhere between 20-30%. The quality of the grapes can only be described as exceptional. The fruit flavours in the vineyard are looking well developed and of course this will make work at the winery an absolute pleasure.” Kym Tolley from Penley Estate reports that "Cabernets crop levels at Penley are below average but the number of bunches are high with small open bunches. Shiraz was above average yield. Flavours are great now and it should be a great year in winemaking".


Clare Valley - Tim Adams from Tim Adams Wines reports "a very mild February has resulted in wonderful flavour development with high retained acids. Riesling juice has fantastic fragrances of lemons through to grapefruit. The Semillon and Pinot Gris both look good, fantastic acidity, great colour, average yields. Reds are as good as seen with wonderful colour and astringency." Andrew Pike from Pikes and Pike & Joyce says "2006 promises to be the latest in a succession of excellent years. Climatic conditions have been typical of a Clare Summer - generally warm to hot and dry days with cool nights. This is critical for slow even ripening and especially important for natural acid retention in the grape juice which in turn is important for the development of aroma and flavour profiles along with ageing potential."

McLaren Vale - Graeme Hogan from Pirramimma says "Chardonnay and Semillon characteristically look good. At this stage yield has been down on average by about 10%. It may have been the heat wave in late January that slowed things down. Reds look great." Tim Burvill from Rockbare says "Crops are down especially in Shiraz. Fortunately, the weather took a turn for the cooler in February with almost been perfect ripening weather. I'm very excited about the quality of the juice at this early stage. My first reds are looking great."

Barossa Valley - Rob Gibson from Barossa Vale says "Barossa has obtained high sugar early with intense harvesting pressure on both white and red varieties. Generally fruit has been harvested in sound condition. Aromas have been exemplary".

Tim Althaus from Primo Estate reports “The 2006 vintage is looking pretty good so far, especially at our vineyards. The vines have looked healthy.

Langhorne Creek - Craig Willson from Bremerton says "the scene is set for a vintage of great flavour. It’s that time of the year when you wake at any hour of the night and hear the sounds of harvesters roaring, tractors with grape bins rattling down the road or truck after truck carting out grapes. Rebecca is delighted with the quality of the white fruit and the reds will be outstanding."

Fleurieu Peninsula - Michael House from Parri Estate says "We anticipate another good quality and strong yielding vintage overall however we have made a conscious effort to reduce our yields. This has involved some tough decisions not to harvest specific blocks of fruit and simply drop it on the ground but we feel this is in our long term interests and to ensure a viable future with a focus on quality."

Nicole Roberts from Shaw and Smith says "I can tell you that so far ripening conditions have been ideal; warm and dry, and yields are about average. We should be looking at some very good wine". Peter Leske from Nepethne Wines says "The season so far has been good. We had some intense heat in January which was of no consequence. Crops levels are average.

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Then again, if you were selling a car, would you not tell the buyer 'It handles like a dream'?

Duncan, the best way to find out is to open a bottle and drink it. It works for me.

GK's summing up:

Then again, if you were selling a car, would you not tell the buyer 'It handles like a dream'?

Duncan, the best way to find out is to open a bottle and drink it. It works for me.


Thanks for the 2006 Vintage season reports. However reading the end of season stuff, just before the Cab and Shiraz grapes were gathered in, many parts of the region suffered a wet March at harvest. So that whilst the growing conditions were pretty good, dilution occurred at the 11th Hour. This then gave the reviewers / tasters "a wise after the event reason" to announce after the wine was just ready for drinking to say, " that it was not as good as the 2005" in their opinion.

So what do we deduce ? ....Just as with the wonderful Cote d'Or vintage of 2005, when the harvest was undertaken in a dry and sunny Autumn, following a good Summer, with no late frosts and early budding on the vines.

Therefore, for cheap jacks like us who want something half decent for under a tenner, we have to pick off the good vintages from the bulk of mass produced gear that is piled up in the major supermarkets.

Who is going to advise me about laying down tin screw caps ? I can detect a Victor Meldrew's beligerence creeping in on this thread.
Robust Oz reds stoppered by a tin cap -

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Duncan

I'd be happy to lay something down for 6 years under a screwcap, but agree that if you ordered a cork on a 2006 and got a sc on 2005 they need a little nudge. On the other hand, you seem to have got a better deal.

Sorry to have been off the radar.

Lovely snow this morning. Just enough to be pretty, without the travel disruption. Back to school for the kids and back to work for the husband. Should soon have the house to myself and a chance to get on with some work.

Happy New Year you guys.