2006 Jasper Hill Riesling:
Smells great right after pouring with lifted florals, and lemon. Heavy in the mouth, touch bitter/phenolic on the back palate.
85/100
2007 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling:
Very smoky nose with some passionfruit. Medium body, lacking depth, acid and interest. Okay, but hard to get excited about.
86/100
2005 Faiveley Georges bourgogne blanc:
Peaches, smoke, lime and a little bit of caramel oak. Delicious palate – round with no hard edges, finishes clean and dry. Great value for money.
89/100
2005 Desaunay Bissey bourgogne rouge:
Cherry and some reductive sweaty aromas. Palate is also very cherry focused. Medium depth and length, some strong tannin to the finish. Good, not great.
86/100
2002 Rousseau Gevrey-Chambertin village:
Sappy, savoury meats, raspberry and perfumed nose. Delightful texture and excellent length. Really delicious and drinking very well now.
90/100
1987 Dominus cabernet sauvignon (Napa):
Earth, tobacco, eucalypt, gravel and cassis on the nose. Very elegant palate, medium length with very good balance and resolved tannin. Fully mature for my taste, with lots of complexity and interest.
92/100
2004 Chateau Lascombes:
A ripe nose, with blackcurrant, red berries, chocolate and plenty of cedar. The palate doesn’t carry the same ripeness, it is medium bodied and nicely restrained. Approachable at the moment, but will develop nicely over the medium term.
90/100
1998 Clos des Papes:
Spice, cherry, briary, some meat and blueberry. Savoury on the palate. Good length and carry. Could get better over the short to medium term.
90/100
1998 Janasse Cuvee Chaupin:
Musk lollies, liquorice, pepper and brown sugar. Good texture to the palate, some funky complexity maybe from some brett influence. Doesn’t hold back much, a dense flavour profile. Not really my thing but at least it had some interest to it.
88/100
2000 Yalumba FDR1A cabernet shiraz:
I was looking forward to this, based on some very positive reviews. Nose is swamped by vanilla oak – there are some blueberries and formic acid as well. Found very little character or depth to the palate, Mark described it well as “clumsy”. An immense let down.
83/100
1998 Muller-Catoir Haardter Mandelring Scheurebe Auslese:
Lovely nose – mango, guava, pineapple and a touch of kerosene. Superbly balanced palate, with excellent sweetness and just as good acid structure. Long and delicious. Will be drinking my remaining bottle sometime in the next 4-5 years.
95/100