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Your Best Bottle of Red..?

PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:48 pm
by Dog_ger
Let's say under $15. Last couple I bought were on special for under that. Jacob's Creek Shiraz 2003 which i give a 7/10 and a Jacobs Creek Shiraz Cabernet 2004 8/10. What's your poison. I'm not a wine buff but am getting into the red's as I get older....

PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:25 pm
by mick
Tollana Bin TR222 Cabernet
Wyndham Estate Bin 555 isn't bad either

PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 7:07 am
by Booney
One that I can give away without looking cheap.
Its all grapes to me.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 7:25 am
by Jimmy
it hurts when i pee

PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 9:58 am
by Pseudo
mick wrote:Tollana Bin TR222 Cabernet

I'm currently working my way through a case of the Tollana TR16 Shiraz. Not bad for the money.
For a Cab Sav under $20, can't go past the Woodstock.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 9:37 am
by TigerBoss
The missus is in the wine game...we drink it like people consume air.

My favourite Red is the 97 Rosemount Estate Cab Sauv. I bought a carton back in 98 and have just started to drink them...they are quite superb.

1999 Wirra Wirra Church Block is an excellent drop too, though you'd be hard pressed to get it under $30 anywhere nowadays.

As for whites, I enjoy the 2000 Starvedog Chardonnay and the 1998 Leasingham Chardonnay. Sweet whites can go and get fugged...it's dry wine all the way.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 9:46 am
by mick
TigerBoss wrote:The missus is in the wine game...we drink it like people consume air.

My favourite Red is the 97 Rosemount Estate Cab Sauv. I bought a carton back in 98 and have just started to drink them...they are quite superb.

1999 Wirra Wirra Church Block is an excellent drop too, though you'd be hard pressed to get it under $30 anywhere nowadays.

As for whites, I enjoy the 2000 Starvedog Chardonnay and the 1998 Leasingham Chardonnay. Sweet whites can go and get fugged...it's dry wine all the way.


Try the De Bertoli Noble One (a sweet wine) just for desert one night, it may change your opinion of sweet wines. I agree many of the cheaper sweet wines are pure crap with no acid to balance out the sugar. When I was growing up one of the most popular wine styles was "moselle" super sweet leg opener. By the way towards the end of last year I managed to get a half dozen Church Blocks for around the $15.00 mark. Every now and again Skye Cellars has some good deals which sometimes includes the old CB (the fact that they sponsor Sturt doesn't worry me for more than a few seconds :lol: )

PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:32 pm
by Coorong
For the best red, from 125 year old vines that have NEVER been under stress, try the Langhorne Creek, Brothers In Arms red, 2001 vintage. Retails at $40+ but worth every cent.

PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:12 pm
by Sam_goUUUdogs
I have a bottle of Lindemans Jackie Chan Reserve Release amongst a collection that i have somehow :? , is it worth much money?

PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:58 pm
by Macca19
I too have only just started to get into wine in the past 9 months or so.

THe nicest ones Ive bought which ive then gone and bought another few bottles are:

Wyndham Estate Bin 444 Cab Sav 2002
Jacobs Creek Cab Sav Reserve 2002
Annies Lane Cab Merlot 2002

The last two especially are a bloody nice drop.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:56 pm
by McAlmanac
Coorong wrote:For the best red, from 125 year old vines that have NEVER been under stress, try the Langhorne Creek, Brothers In Arms red, 2001 vintage. Retails at $40+ but worth every cent.

Outstanding choice - if you've only got $20, try their shiraz/cabernet (I think they call it No.19 on the label).

Macca19 brings up a couple of beauties for the money too, especially the Annies Lane. 2002 was an outstanding vintage.

If you want to hover just above the $15 mark, the Leasingham Bin61 Shiraz is a very reliable drink from the Clare Valley. Also, Water Wheel Shiraz from Bendigo.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:19 pm
by Coorong
Mac, a man of taste.

I used to supply many wineries around Australia with Stainless Steel tanks and had a great selection. Friends used to gather and after all good wine is to share.

The secret to Brothers in Arms is in how they ferment. If you want I can share it, I built their fermenters and are happy to share the secret (as well as drink the result)

One comment that does stick in my mind is a wine maker from Europe once said to me, a poor vintage in Australia is still better than a good vintage in my country.

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:46 pm
by TigerBoss
Hooray for wine buffs.

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:25 pm
by Dissident
McAlmanac wrote:Macca19 brings up a couple of beauties for the money too, especially the Annies Lane. 2002 was an outstanding vintage.


I was up at Annies Lane Winery a month or so ago - bought a few bottles including their award winning Cab Sav. Can't wait to get into it ...

(and on a side note, try "Quince Cottage" - brilliant place to stay in Watervale, Clare Valley)

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:20 am
by therisingblues
Had a few good wines in my time, but cannot remember the names too well.
In Japan I buy a case of Banrock Station every couple of months, sometimes I get the Cab Sav and sometimes the Shiraz, sells for about $45 for six bottles. Half goes to the natives here over dinner or as part of the ritual Japanese custom of present giving.
I have been nursing a Greenock Creek Apricot Block Shiraz 1999 for the past couple of years and have a bottle of Barossa Valley Estate Spires Shiraz 2001, which is the sole survivor from my last trip down under.
There's a few internationals mixed in the collection, and then there is the Beaujolais Nouveux, which the Japanese buy in bulk around this time of year. Beaujolais is the product of fresh red grapes and for some reason that I don't understand it doesn't develop into a vintage and is best drunk early in the season. Beaujolais swapping is common at the moment. Not a bad drop, but I never heard of it before I came to Japan.
The local market here is interesting, it is like they brew the grapes sake style or something. Often the wines are completely lacking the finesse present in even the cheapest of foreign wines. One wine tasting I went to had about 12 huge bowls filled with wine and a soup ladel with lots of little plastic cups. Some wines were as sweet as black current juice, and tasted like there was whiskey mixed in with it, others were bad for other reasons. I really wanted to pick up a bottle of something, as a gift for somebody or as a memorial of the trip but just couldn't find one that was even close to reasonable.