All Drinks Considered

Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot 1999

2010-06-03T14:36:00.005+10:00

Had a bottle of this during a recent trip to Sydney and my high school friend had this bottle available, which his sister was kind enough to share with. Coonawarra cabernets have always been my favourite and this one is no different, it wine simply melts in your mouth and it was a pure luxury to drink amongst close friends with in the verandah with view of Sydney Harbour!! A beautiful wine and an amazing night we had that one night in Sydney, simply speechless.

Appearance: Unfiltred medium/red-purpled coloured wine.

Nose: Ripe fruit characters that are powerful in both aroma and flavour. Juicy bouquets of blackberry and plum fruit with a bit of typical coonawarra oakness.

Palate: The palate is as smooth as Michael Jackson's song "smooth criminal", the whole bottle was finished before you knew it and you didn't know who drank the most.

Summary: Speechless......was busy enjoying the wine!

Overall: "Unforgettable - Nat King Cole" - 9 / 10

Chateau Loudenne Cru Bourgeois 2004

2010-01-12T09:07:00.007+11:00

Had a nice glass of this wine from Bistro Guillaume at the famous French fine-dining at Crown Casino to match the steak I ordered. I think I am starting to appreciate French Bordeaux wines further, its subtleness and elegance are a complete comparison to the Aussie local reds. This is a Bordeaux Merlot dominated blend typical from the Right-Bank, which is hard wine to find at local cellars so if you can get your hands on it is definitely worth buying.

Appearance: Purple/violet coloured wine.

Nose: The wine is full of fresh red berries as soon as it was poured into the glass. I would say raspberry would be the dominant aroma that instantly feels the nose.

Palate: A medium-bodied wine that is smooth, silky and an enjoyable drink that has plenty of fruit tannins. The flavour tasting reminds me of a bottle of homemade jam. It is simply a very well balanced wine with alcohol content at 13%.

Summary: Love it, went well with the steak ordered for the night.

Overall: "Excellent - Simply a real delightful wine to drink" - 8 / 10

Leconfield Cabernet Coonawarra 2001

2009-09-29T14:17:00.004+10:00

Last Friday night was a case of a simple night out at the local BYO Italian Restaurant and thought this one was ready to drink after a couple years in the cellar.

Appearance: Deep crimson red coloured wine.

Nose: The wine is rich in dark berries/blackcurrent and hint of vanilla oak/earthiness. I should of decanted longer (if was drinking it at home would of used the decanter) as the wine became more concentrated as time went after opening.

Palate: A medium-bodied wine that delivered a real taste of sweet fruit cassis/blackcurrent and a sense of earthiness that really typify Coonawarra cabernet, along with subtle hints of vanilla oak. It had good concentration of fruit and it got better with time with steak ordered as food matching main dish.

Summary: Love it, went well with the steak ordered for the night.

Overall: "Excellent - Simply a real delightful wine to drink" - 7 / 10

Xanadu Dragon Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

2009-09-14T15:10:00.005+10:00

Went out on Saturday night to a Korean BBQ Restaurant and decided to have marinated beef and pork on charcoal. The wine list had Xanadu Wines, which I had the chance to taste before and well remembered for its cabernet sauvignon, hence we decided upon a bottle of cabernet sauvignon which the restaurant had on sale for $30 dollars.

Appearance: Deep red coloured wine.

Nose: The wine is quite approachable with aromas of blackcurrant with hints of chocolate or mocha.

Palate: Quite a full-bodied palate that delivers value for your money. There are tastes of dark berries/cassis, along with hints of chocolate flavour with a touch of vanilla to throw in along as well. Tannins are still slightly firm and probably well do well to give it a bit more time to decant and soften it up. I thought the finish might be a bit short, but this might be due to dinner tonight in ordering strong marinated meat at the local Korean BBQ Restaurant that might of stimulated my taste buds a bit too much. Too much spice in my personal opinion does not really match any wines, no matter how great the wine is since your palate is either numbed from the spice/chilli or kept busy cooling down via downing water/carbonated drinks.

Summary: The wine should have tasted a bit better if not for such strong chilli/garlic marinated meat and its side dishes; although it is good drinking now and great value for money if bought retail.

Overall: "Good - Every day drinking wine" - 6 / 10

Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2006

2009-09-11T10:02:00.008+10:00

I have to admit that I have never tired any of the Clonakilla wines until now, when a mate told me how much he enjoyed the wines at its winery when he went up to Canberra a couple months ago. Based on his recommendation, I got myself a bottle of the Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2006 for last night’s dinner at the famous Stalactites Greek Restaurant in Melbourne (known for its Souvlaki after clubbing to early hours in the morning and hungry for a nice meaty fix-up). I was already slightly tipsy with a couple of beer before hand prior to drinking this bottle so here we go on the review.

Appearance: Dark purple coloured wine.

Nose: A very fragrant wine bursting with perfumed aromas of dark cherry and blackberry as soon as you open the bottle.

Palate: From my personal taste I think it is quite a full-bodied wine that is full of berry flavours. It is definitely a very fragrant and juicy wine that tastes clean with firm tannins throughout to the finish. I should have decanted this wine a bit more to give it time to reveal further its complexity and enhancement of its dark berry flavours, and hints of subtle earthy flavours that should come out from this wine. I did find it hard to fully differentiate the fruit flavours of this wine but it definitely has a very good lingering after-taste finish and length. Although the wine is very approachable now, I think another few years will be good to soften up the tannins and give a bit more velvety texture to the wine.

Summary: This is a very good value wine for under $30 dollars, and I can’t wait to taste the Clonakilla Shiraz-Viognier one day!!

Overall: "Very Good – Enjoyed the unabashed fruitiness of this wine" - 7 / 10

Jasper Hill 'Cornella Vineyard' Grenache 2007

2009-09-09T13:56:00.026+10:00

A good friend provided one of Jasper Hill’s recent newly introduced wine variety, the “Cornella Vineyard” Grenache. Jasper Hill is a well-known Heathcote wine icon that has put the region on the wine map along with many other wineries up there, with its famous Georgia and Emily’s Paddock attempting to emulate the great Shiraz that Heathcote region is well known for.

Appearance: Deep medium-ruby coloured wine.

Nose: As soon as wine is opened, there is a lovely perfumed aroma on the nose, with fragrance dominated by hints of raspberry and plum.

Palate: Fresh but a strong wine that is fruit driven and juicy. Drink can be grippy and slightly imposing with lots of power given its dry tannic structure and high alcohol content, although it doesn’t overwhelm the palate. The after-taste fade with hints of sweetness/fruitiness left coating the mouth and lips. Good finish and length.

Summary: A full-bodied wine that is powerful though balanced with characteristics typical of the Heathcote region.

Overall: "Very Good – Enjoyed the unabashed fruitiness of this wine" - 7 / 10

High Mountain Taiwan Tea

2009-09-02T15:32:00.013+10:00

This tea was given to us from a family associate so I have no idea which Taiwanese region the tea is from nor the vintage of the tea produced. This is one of teas that I have kept at work for those afternoon tea sessions after lunch.

Dry Leaf Appearance: The leaves are rolled into rugged-looking pieces, slightly stalky with many steams appearing amongst the leaves. Colour indicates tea is lightly oxidized with appearances of light yellow coloured bits. Leaves definitely looked aged and is probably over its peak drinking period to be honest.

Infusion: The drink is lightly gold-yellow coloured reflecting its light fermentation process found typical with high mountain tea. Flora aroma is not really noticeable and in fact very little or limited, definitely lacks complexity on the nose.

Tea Taste: Initial drinks found the tea slightly astringent on the palate, along with with a dry and metallic taste leaving a grippy feel to the mouth and strong tannins lingering. Personally I think this tea is past its peak tasting period and is starting to tire out.

Overall this is not a drink that I would of bought personally.

Brewing Parameters:
Vessel: Glass Teapot 220ml
Tea Amount: 1.5 Tablespoon
Water Temperature: 90-95C
Infusion Times: 1st brew - 15secs; 2nd brew - 20secs; 3rd brew - 30secs

Score - 5.5 / 10

Gibraltar Rock Chardonnay 2004

2009-08-28T23:52:00.006+10:00

Its Friday night and there's always time for a relaxing drink to wind-down a working week. Given that tonight's meal consists of DIY pesto linguine pasta with buttered prawns and scallops, a quick look at the private 'cellar' (wardrobe) and pulled out a Chardonnay from the Porogurup region situated in Western Australia.

Appearance: Clear, young-looking, medium gold coloured wine.

Nose: The wine is quite accessible with slight aromas of lime and peach, while oak is fairly subtle.

Palate: Quite an uplifting medium-bodied wine with good length and balance. Wine is quite approachable with tastes consisting of lime and plenty of zest. I am surpirsed that it hasn't aged a bit more considering its been cellared for approximately 5 years, as it is still quite a young tasting wine. With more aeration the wine showed greater texture and cleaniness driven by citrus flavours.

Summary: Although it is not my personal preference, the wine is fresh, clean and showing citrus characteristics that drinks well now.

Overall: "Good - Every day drinking wine" - 6 / 10

Menghai 7632 Ripe Pu-erh Tea Cake 2008

2009-08-27T22:50:00.010+10:00

The #7632 is a classic recipe from Menghai which uses an average of Grade 3 fermented pu-erh.

This is indeed a very good everyday cooked pu-erh tea from Menghai Tea Factory. Upon opening the tea cake gave a hint of a slight sweet, woody fragrance; while colour of the leaves were medium brown coloured combined with lightly coloured yellow leaves covering the cake. Note the cake is quite compacted which requires a bit of care when separating the leaves, to ensure leaves are not broken and creating bitterness when brewing the tea.

Aroma of the cake was quite subtle with mellowing hints of sweetness and floral charateristics, a good example of an above-average cooked pu-erh tea. Once brewed, the taste gives a real sweet, smooth silky taste in your mouth, albeit the finish to the palate was a bit short. Colour of the tea was a bit reddish similar to lipton red from the tea bag, there is absolutely no bitterness or astrigentness to this drink and definitely quite balanced for a beginner like myself.

For Ripe/Cooked pu-erh tea I always use the yixing pot as recommended by many, and normally just a small pot for individual use. I have so far extensivley used this pot, hoping this will be the first to develop a nice coating/shine that retains the flavor and color of the tea.

Overall it is a decent cooked pu-erh tea which is very good for everyday drinking purposes!

Brewing Parameters:
Vessel – Yixing Teapot 125 ml
Tea Amount - Approx 8 grams
Water Temperature – Boiling Water
Infusion Times – 1st brew – 12s; 2nd brew 10s; 3rd brew 15s

Score – 7.5 / 10