WTN: Winter's Night Dinner. Lamb and A Few Reds

Dinner at home with a few friends so didn't take notes given I was doing the cooking but general comments.

With cheese to start. Wynns Black Label 2006 Nice balance and very approachable red from Coonawarra. Medium bodied, deep purple coloured with soft tannins, very fruit driven.

Lanzaga Rioja 2002I wish I had more of this, actually I wish I had more Rioja in general. I am told it is a Modernist style. Gamey, earthy, undergorwth with savoury red fruit and a hint of after spice. Tannins still softening and some way to go. Lovely wine.

Next up classic oyster soup (new recipe, yummy) . First up Emrich Schonleber Lanz Riesling 2007 From the Nahe, with 11.5% alc, a little more weight than some German rieslings I have tried recently. Touch of sprtiz on the fore palate, grapefuit and lemon flavour. Very popular.

Cape Mentelle Chardonnay 2004 This has always been a poor vintage and the less said the better. After the riesling, it got the big thumbs down.

Onto the deboned lamb stuffed with wild mushrooms and fennel, served with white French beans. Bannockburn Cab Sav 2003 13%Quite an approachable wine. I dont recall having had many prior C/S from down Geelong way. Starting to take on some complexity. Medium bodied, red fruit, touch of cedar box and a touch of dark cherry..

Pirramimma Cab Sav 1997 Cab Sav Not a label I had seen before. From McLaren Vale. Probably at its peak, soft tannins, just north of medium bodied, tobacco, gamey red.

Turkey Flat Shiraz 1998 Corked. which is a pity because another bottle from the same case last week was drinking well now.

Into deserty things, Ch Lafaurie Peyraguey 2003 With a case down in the garage, I had been getting stuck into this wine recently. Wonderful lush rich wine from a hot vintage. Drinking well now. The sugar rush absolutely kick starts post dinner discussion.

Wheels started to fall off a touch around midnight. Decided to raid garage wine fridge only to discover I failed to bring any "Midnight Wines" in from the main cellar. Oh well grabbed a Saint Cosme C Neuf du Pape 14.5%. It never really stood a chance. Still at around 15C when consummed. Robust wine, firm structure. Likewise Petaluma 1997 Coonawarra. Cork crumbled. Again drunk far too cold, but seemed ok.

I've been following the Pirramimma Shiraz since their 1997 vintage and currently have a bunch of cases from 2000 on. It takes a few years of age for them to come around but when they do they're incredible for $16 to $22 a bottle. What's funny is that I've never seen a bottle of their cabernet sauvignon. They also make a decent petit verdot that's available here in the States.

DRew

Halliday rates Pirramimma as a 5 star winery. As I said I had never heard of them (which rates for very little) but the C/S from what was an average vintage was very drinkable without any great depth of complexity.

Odd about the Cape Mentelle chardonnay, David Lole seems to like it.

Jeebus, 06 Black Label's drinking well already? Must open one.

Meanwhile, nice to see another note on Schonleber. One of my favourite producers - and I really need to find more wines from him. Re. Pirramimma - have had a few wines from them (lower-end reds plus a botrytised Riesling), and found them just OK.

Odd about the Cape Mentelle chardonnay, David Lole seems to like it.

In all fairness to what is otherwise normally a very good wine, I have amended the note. For some unknown reason, the wheels completely fell off with this particular vintage. At the other end of the spectrum, the 06 was one of the top chard from WA in that vintage. Sadly I had a whole case of the 04 rather than the 06. I have also noticed recently I am consuming a disproportionate quantity of German riesling nowadays. I never had any time for the whole ABC thing but when I did a stock take recently, I discovered I had just over one dozen chard and close to 20 dozen riesling. And before you say anything, yes I know, I need more riesling.

Jeebus, 06 Black Label's drinking well already? Must open one.

Meanwhile, nice to see another note on Schonleber. One of my favourite producers - and I really need to find more wines from him. Re. Pirramimma - have had a few wines from them (lower-end reds plus a botrytised Riesling), and found them just OK.

A good friend of mine is bringing the Schonleber into Aus. So this was the first of 3 different wines now have. The others are the 2007 Halenberg Spatlese and the 2007 Halenberg Auslese. I have yet to try the last two. Have you come across them? Any thoughts?

Haven't tried the Auslese, but a good friend (whose palate I trust) commented that it was very, very sweet.

The Halenberg Spatlese is phenomenal and one of my favourite wines from the vintage. This was my note on it when I first tried it - awesome wine, just give it a bit of air and it'll be thrilling - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=22843&p=195793&hilit=halenberg#p195793

Salil

thanks for that. I have 4 coming. I might increase that to 6. That way I can try one now and leave the rest for later.

Mark