It was hot where I was (north of Sydney). As a result, my Christmas drinks were a bit different from previous years, and I did not splash out as much. Yet, I enjoyed what I had.
For lunch, it started with a relatively unknown Grower Champagne, then on to some Rosé, and some Bourgogne. For dinner, it got more serious: Chardonnay from Leeuwin and Giaconda. I will report on this in a separate post.
What did you drink for Christmas? I want many of you to comment, please. Let's make this more interactive.
For lunch, it started with a relatively unknown Grower Champagne, then on to some Rosé, and some Bourgogne. For dinner, it got more serious: Chardonnay from Leeuwin and Giaconda. I will report on this in a separate post.
What did you drink for Christmas? I want many of you to comment, please. Let's make this more interactive.
8 comments:
Hello Thomas,
I was on call so I couldn't drink ...........until 5 p.m.
I've been trying to understand Chardonnay more so I tried Holyman Chardonnay 2017.
The biggest lesson I've learned from Chardonnay is the serving temperature makes such an enormous impact on identifying the elements.
For me, it seems as though, the wine doesn't reveal all it's charms until it is just below, or very close to room temperature.
In the case of the Holyman it's most charming aspect was the nose, when swirling the last few drops coating the inside of the glass.
It developed a spice scent with a sweetness.
One thing that slightly confuses me at his early stage of my self education, is the descriptor of the aromas, oyster shells, sea spray and minerality in Chardonnay.
How do you suggest I differentiate these descriptors ?
Regards
Colin
Here in Canada, '14 Burgaud Morgon Cote du Puy from Magnum and '11 Best's Old Vine Pinot Meunier with turkey dinner, then '07 DeBortoli Noble One to finish.
Here in Victoria, Australia I ordered assorted wines online from The Wine Bunker and my favorite of all is the Pinot Noir. It is better to order in bulk to save more.
We had a couple of bottles of Penfolds BinA 016 Chardonnay and a bottle of 2013 Bass Phillip estate pinot noir and I let my head go a bit and bought a bottle of Krug NV. All wines were fantastic and I will definitely be buying the Krug again
Nice to hear you are drinking Aussie wine in Canada, Henry. I believe there is only one Government agency there which buys international wine for import. When they come to Australia, wine organizations here roll out the red carpet. It seems to be working.
To Colin: you are really serious about aroma descriptors, aren't you? You are taking this further than I do. At some point, we are drinking wine, not the descriptors. The concept of minerality is very vage, and often associated with Chardonnay from limestone, such as in Burgundy. Oyster shells is more specifically related to the Kimmeridgean soil in the Chablis region, and therefore would be at the flinty end of the spectrum. But can I systematically taste the difference between the terms you mentioned? No, I can't, but maybe some people can. Let me know once you have worked it out. I would be interested what you come up with.
To Tony: I would have been happy to sit at your Christmas table!
We had a lovely Clarendon Hills Hickenbotham Cab Sav 2005.
Day started with some bubbly (2008 Veuve Cliquot vintage was gorgeous, Deviation Road stood up admirably to it).
This was followed by a couple of interesting whites (Adelaide was a bit warm on Chrissy)
Best's Concongella Blanc 2016 and Longview 2016 Chardonnay, the latter was quite closed when just open but with a bit of air hit its stride. A friend did the honours with Reds, Casa Freschi 99 La Signora, Penfolds 2002 Bin 389 and we finished with a Longview late pick Riesling.
Evening was all Reds territory.
Greenock Creek [2004 Cabernet, 2007 Cabernet, 2009 Cabernet, 2011 Cabernet, 2005 Alice Block Shiraz. Rounded out by a stunning 99 Roennfeldt Road Cabernet]
JC's Own 2016 Barossa (Stonewell) Shiraz
1999 Brand's Laira Cabernet (brilliant - it did not taste like a 20 year old wine)
Mac Forbes 2015 Hoddles Creek Pinot (too young and a tad underpowered on the fruit front)
VP Ports [Coates VP, 2004 Noon's VP and David Franz 1979 VP]
All in all good drinking.
The evening session sounds pretty amazing and would have required a bit of stamina. If you had the MacForbes after the Greenock wines, no wonder it felt underpowered.
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