Turon La Croix 2002

Date: 26 February 2006

Another wine from the hamper series. Nose was typical Bordeaux leather and oak with herbal notes. The wine was a little thin on the palate with hint of chocolate and dark fruit. Aroma did not last and dissipated after about an hour and half.

Rating: average

Elderton Barossa Command Shiraz 1998

Date: 17th February 2006
Venue: Kam Bo Seafood Restaurant, Ap Lei Chau, Aberdeen

I have tried different vintages of Elderton Command Shiraz and they are always characterized by super rich fruit. Colour of the 1998 was dark purple, bordering on black, completely opaque. This bottle was opened without decanting at the restaurant, an inexpensive low-keyed seafood restaurant in a grass-root area. Customers parked their cars by the roadside. On the photo, you can see the headlights of the Pagani Zonda on the right, the Maserati MC12 in the middle, and my outgunned Boxster S on the left. Back to the wine - nose was great right from the start, perfumed, ripe plum, oak and chocolate aromas tantalized the olfactories. Palate was full with flavours of coffee, chocolate, plum and vanilla. Velvety smooth tannins with an exceptional finish.

This wine's potential was not fully realized because decanter and proper wine goblets were not available. It will improve with further cellaring and I look forward to trying this vintage again in 5 or 6 years time, if I can resist the temptation to drink up my stock in the next few months.

Rating: excellent

Jean Balmont Reserve Merlot 2003

Date: 10 February 2006

Been back in HK for a few days after the CNY break. Friday evening, feeling a little lethargic after overbooking patients for several days, and finally having cleared backlogs of medical reports and paperwork. Time to dispose of bottles of table wine from the Christmas and New Year hampers.

Can't recall which hamper this bottle came from. Aly likes the graphics design of the label. Colour medium red, herbaceous, minty aroma with a just a little fruit in the background. Thin bodied with a tad of citrus flavour. Slightly astringent finish.

More or less what I expected from this Vin De Pays.

Rating: poor

Tatachilla Partners Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2003

Date: 6 February 2006
Venue: Air NZ Business Lounge, Sydney

Dark purple in colour. According to Alyson, this has rotten egg, smelly sock aromas. Spicy flavour with a tinge of truffle and coffee, and a bit of coarse tannin. This will appeal to those who like "complex bretty" reds.

Rating: average

Montana Reserve Marlborough Chardonnay 2003

Date: 6 February 2006
Venue: Air NZ Business Lounge, K-S Airport, Sydney

The label says "barrique fermented" and this is revealed in the forward oaky nose with a herbaceous background. This chardonnay has good acidity with lemon peel and slightly nutty flavours.

Rating: good

Lindauer Special Reserve Brut NV

Date: 6 February 2006
Venue: Air New Zealand Business Lounge, Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney

This salmon pink sparkling wine has a fruity, rose-petal aroma. It felt light and soft on the palate with a pleasant citrus flavour.

Rating: good

Petaluma Shiraz Adelaide Hills 2002

Date: 5 February 2006
Venue: Kam Fook Restaurant, Chatswood, Sydney

Red wine pairing with chinese food is often a hit and miss affair. Using a powerful Australian shiraz reduces the chance of a mismatch. Dinner at this busy restaurant was a 12 course CNY set menu including environmentally incorrect shark's fin soup, cholesterol ladden deep fried and roasted entrees, potentially ciguatera toxin carrying coral cod and other delicacies. Colour of the shiraz was bright red with some cloudiness, likely due to the young age of the wine, there was little residue. The nose was sweet with apricot fruit. Flavours of typical shiraz spice and black pepper. It went quite well with most of the dishes.

Rating: good

Saltram No.1 Shiraz 2002

Date: 2 February 2006
Venue: Wilson's Apartment, Sydney

This vintage has won several trophies in the 2004 Perth Royal Wine Show as well as a few gold medals. I tasted a bottle of the 2001 vintage last December and thought it was excellent.

The wine was opened and aired for an hour without decanting. Nose was sweet with plum and spice, similar to the 2001 but a tad weaker. Palate was very spicy initially and overwhelmed the underlying fruit. The shiraz was then poured into the decanter and retasted after half an hour. What a metamorphosis - excellent weight and length with integrated flavours of plum, pepper and vanilla. Finish was a little rough as tannin was still a little coarse. A wine that is drinking alright at the moment but patience will be rewarded.

Rating: good

Penfolds Coonawarra Bin128 Shiraz 1994

Date: 30 January 2006
Venue: Charter Boat - SeaQuarters, Icon Formula 52, Rozelle, Sydney

I bought a case of the Bin 128 back in 1995 when it first hit the shelves. People don't usually cellar the Coonawarra shiraz. It is an inexpensive wine and meant for immediate drinking.

This is the second year we chartered this boat for harbour cruise and fishing. We were well aware of the recent controversial dioxin issue and the ban on commercial fishing in Sydney harbour. Catering on the boat consisted of the quintessential Ozzie BBQ lamb chops, sausages, and prawns, with Sydney rock oysters as entrees. If Sydney harbour fish should not be eaten due to dioxin contamination, imagine the dioxin level in the famous Sydney Rock, each filters around 40 gallons of harbour water a day.

This 12 year old shiraz is already showing its age. Colour is brick red with a fading rim, loads of residue stirred up during the boat trip. In the absence of a decanter, it wasn't possible to separate the precipitates. Condition for tasting wasn't optimum, although there were plastic wine goblets, most us were drinking out of tumblers for fear of tipping the wine in the waves. Aroma is faint, with hint of blackberry and liquorice, there was no discernable oak despite the label explaining that the wine was matured in oak barrels for 12 months. Mild spice and plum flavour and a very smooth texture, tannin has all but disappeared. I have 6 bottles of this elderly shiraz left and these probably won't last much longer than another year or two in the wine fridge.

Catches of the day were red snappers, all of them released as they were not up to legal size, flatheads - a couple of keepers and a large silver bream.

Rating: average