QOTD: Fox Creek Duet (Cab/Merlot/Cab Franc) is really good at its price point.

I have to agree with other posters here, I have seen you try a 4-6 year old Grange and complain about the oak, but for somebody that has read and researched wine you appear to have absolutely no understanding of how oak contributes to a great 30 year old wine.

You wouldn't drink a First Growth at 5-10 years old, likewise you wouldn't drink a Grange at that age.

If you drink a Grange at ANYTHING less than 20 years then you are pissing your money up against a wall. Likewise if you drink a Bin 389 at less than 15 years you are also pissing your money up against a wall.

Gary, PLEASE, PLEASE, try a 1990 Bin 389, Grange or Bin 90a and learn what great aged Aussie wine is all about.

If you like the D'arenberg Hermit Crab, you should try their "Dry Dam Riesling". I loved it when I had it earlier this year. Also, if you get a chance, having a meal at their Cellar Door restaurant is amazing.

My favourite Australian wines seem to change quite a lot, but at the moment:
WHITE
Pewsey Vale - Riesling (Eden Valley)
RED
Kay Brothers Amery - Block 6 Shiraz (Mcarenvale)
Penley Estate- Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Coonawarra)

I think you're right on point, Gary. The bin 407 is also ridiculously oaked. It smells like my face is coated in butter. That being said, my favorite Australian wine could be Penfolds' Grange

I enjoy WLTV but would love to see Garry try some of the wines listed by Miles to dispel any generic myths he may have about Australian wines. As with all wines around the world try and source out good vintages. But as with most great Aussie wines they will need time in a dark cool place. Garry might want to follow this link http://www.langtons.com.au/Wine/ClassificationV... for some ideas on Australian wines and vintages to try. However this is just the tip of the iceberg for great Australian wines.

I can fully understand Bill's frustration when Garry drinks a very young wine especially a Bin 389. Never drink these wines young! I personally do not like them at all when they are young. Wines in this style are made for the long haul. I drank a 96 & 98 Bin 389 in the past month and both these wines are still another 10-20+ years from their peak. I have also seen Garry drinking young Grange from a poor vintage. Why bother? A. Go for a top Vintage and B. Drink it in 30-50 years time when it is designed to peak. I recently drank a 71 & 76 Grange (both awesome wines!) and both still have a few years left in them yet. Even at 38 & 33 years old I don't doubt these wines will still be drinking well at their 50th birthdays.

QOTD:
WHITE
2008 macforbes RS37 Riesling (Strathbogie Ranges) – (Cellar Door in Yarra Valley)
2008 Galli Estate Artigiano Chardonnay (Sunbury)

RED
2005 Curley Flat Pinot Noir (Macedon Ranges)
2003 Domaine A Cabernet Sauvignon (Coal River Valley in Southern Tasmania)

QOTD:

A Wednesday - Hope Estate 2007 Hunter Valley Shiraz

A birthday dinner - McGuigans 2005 Personal Reserve Shiraz

qotd: jim barry lodge hill shiraz

Favorite Australian wine would have to be the Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet Merlot.

I have to say I agree with you on the Kooyong Massale Pinot Noir, there really is not anything compelling on the pallet of this wine. It's inoffensive at best.

In regards to the Penfolds Cab/shiraz Bin 389 I think you have to realize it's not really a wine made to be drunk so young. I personally don't enjoy drinking these wines when they are young, as you say the oak is overpowering. After they have aged a few years it is a very different matter. The oak that was overpowering as a young wine will mellow to create a beautifully balanced older wine with everything in harmony.

Bream Creak Pinot 2007 (Tasmanian winery, hard to find outside Tasmania)

G'day Gary-

As an aussie i feel our wines have been typecast as over-oaked fruit bombs!
Of the wines you've tasted I most certainly agree, but you mainly focus on the hudge brands that make wine in this style for the U.S. export market, usually from Barossa/Mclaren Vale etc, some of which we never see here (thankfully)!

See if you can get your hands on good vintages of the following (although they are usually quite consistent)

Bass Phillip, pinot noir (Reserve or premium),(Gippsland, Vic)
Savaterre, Chardonnay (Beechworth,Vic)
Wendouree, Shiraz (Clare Valley, S.A.)
Mount Mary, Quintet Cabernets (Yarra Valley,Vic)
Bindi, Quartz Chardonnay (Macedon Ranges,Vic)
Yeringberg, Cabernets
Craiglee, Shiraz (Sunbury,Vic)
Moss Wood, Cabernet (margaret River,W.A)

Thanks for WLTV, very entertaining

Cheers,
Miles Fraser

QOTD: Langmeil 5th Wave, Charles Melton Nine Popes

Great Show!
I Wish I’d bought more when I had the chance.
Thanks anyway

I can't have favorites because I never drink the same wine more than once- how could I possibly when there's so much out there to try?! ; )

Great show - nice job, Benjamin! I love Australia and a lot of their wines, although I tend to side with Gary that there is an awful lot of over-the-top Aussie wines on the market. But, to be fair, they are darn delicious for the most part.

QOTD: My favorite Australian wine is Aman-Ra Godolphin Shiraz-Cab blend.

QOTD Pewsey vale riesling rox my sox

I like the value wines from Oz, they tend to have less oak. Terra Barossa Shiraz, even Yellowtail Reserve is good.

Great guest GV! And I really appreciated your passion about not over-oaking wines: I hope people were listening. Let the fruit speak for itself!

QOTD: Alas, I have had some Australian wines, but I haven't had many that stand out to me. I've had some good Rieslings and a few Chards though, just can't remember the names.

Great guest, really nice guy to put up with you GV! QOTD: I have always dreamed it would be Grange.

Gary - WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LEARN!!
Penfolds is one of the last makers, probably in the WORLD, who consistently make wine that is NOT designed for early consumption (within 8-10 years). That 389 should not even be thought about untill 2015 at the EARLIEST!! Even the cheapo Penfolds like Koonunga Hill needs at least 5 years (forget Rawson's - that is not worthy of anything much). Its so unfair to rail against the oak - SO BOREINGLY - every time when you NEVER taste one of these wines that has the age the maker WANTS it to have on it. I have been asking you to tast some of these with 10 - 15 years on them consistently ever since WLTV started and you NEVER HAVE! I have even given you specific suggestions. Never, and yet EVERY time, the same old tired "oak monster"! Jesus, people have been making wines utilising oak for thousands of years now, is everyone else other than you just wrong?
PLEASE, for God's sake, put it in perspective!! Taste some OLDER Aussie fruit/oak-bombs!! Only then will you get it! Until then all you are doing is helping eradicate these last bastions of how wine USED to be made in Oz. Don't be partially responsible for that demise!

Very good show!

QOTD: For QPR maybe the Two Hands 2006 "The Angel's Share" Shiraz. Not mind-blowing, but for the reputation of this producer, and the lack of new wood flavors, extraction of fruit balanced with good acidity and complex mineral notes, the price of this wine is right for what it delivers.

Great episode, I've been watching for a while and this is my first comment.

QOTD: Had a few real good ones, but I'm gonna say to anybody reading this, you need to try Yellow Tail's sparkling wine. Surprising good. Hate Yellow Tail, very impressed with their sparkling. Don't know how widely available it is yet, but they have it here some local grocery stores on the west coast.

Good show. I wish I had the money and time to taste more wines... the time will come, though.

qotd: cannot recall any specific wine... they were all acceptable quaffing wines, though.

QOTD: Torbreck's The Struie was great, tried at a wine tasting. Also tried their Juveniles and would rather have 2 bottles of that. Gave the Ball Buster to my son as a gift.

GV - good show - enjoyed the guest. I think that he could take you though.

QOTD - White - Leeuwin Estate Artist Series Chardonnay Margaret River
- Red - a tie - BVE E&E Black Pepper Shiraz, Elderton Command Shiraz

QOTD:

My favourite Australian wines would have to be:

1) Yarra Yerring No.2
2) Giaconda Pinot Noir
3) D'Arenberg Dead Arm

Go Australia

QOTD - can I do a few
1. Clover Hill Vintage Brut
2. Tim Adams Reserve Riesling
3. Grosset Polish Hill Riesling
4. Hoddles Creek Chardonnay
5. Domaine A Pinot (in a good year)
6. Samuals' Gorge Tempranillo
7. Balgownie Estate Bendigo Shiraz
8. Dalwhinnie Cabernet
9. De Bortoli Noble One
10. Chambers fortifieds

Cheers
Andrew

Solid episode, am off to Binny's tomorrow to pick up the Hermit Crab.

QOTD: Definitely Glatzier's GoDolphin, what a marvelous wine!

QOTD: I don't really drink enough aussie wines to have a favorite. Just the other night i cracked open a 2004 Green Point Shiraz which was pretty complex and tasty.


I really want to get some of that Hermit Crab....

QOTD: Dammnit! So many to choose from. I love Aussie wines.
I do like the Yalumba and Penfolds vineyards.

Very good show - I have had the Hermit Crab and really loved it, but I'm still yet to try an Australian pinot noir that really impressed me.. I feel they are highly overrated and way behind NZ in terms of the new world.

QOTD - heaps to chose from, but possibly the Pewsey Vale riesling.. especially in terms of value. There are so many fantastic rieslings from Eden and Clare Valley.

Great guest! I used to be a Yellow tail drinker... it was the first red I ever could handle, it made me brave enough to try others, but sadly I lack experience with the Aussie wines, only had a one other Shiraz and some Sauvignon Blacs that I don't remember...

great episode - love the aussie whites - that hermit crab is a great weeknight QPR stunner - good call - keep on rocking!

Good Show! QOTD: Ironically, D'arenberg Darry's Original, fantastic wine for the price. Wish I'd bought more when I had the chance. Waiting for the next vintage. Second runner up is Mak Coonwarra Cab/Shiraz.

QOTD: Betts & Scholl "Black Betty" Shiraz

Another fun guest and a fine show.

I really enjoy sampling any new wine I can find from Australia with the goal of always expanding the pal. That being said we did go a bit crazy a few years ago and really enjoyed the Amon Ra (and Goldolphin too); I've enjoyed most of the Killikanoon wines I've tried as well.

A big fan of the Mollydooker wines

Great show, good to see you back on form and to see your passion get you all tongue-tied.

Hate to pick you up on this one but it's a cricket bat dude, not a paddle. ;)

QOTD: So many faves, Charles Melton Nine Popes, Turkey Flat Shiraz and Penfolds St Henri to name but a few. Pretty much any Eden Valley riesling.

Good episode. Fun chef and I love the Aussie lingo. QOTD: Yalumba Museum Reserve Muscat.

QOTD: I do enjoy Sauvignon Blanc from Australia/New Zealand. No favorite brand jumps to mind.

Recently I tried a JOHN DUVAL ENTITY Shiraz 2006 and didn't like it. It was very dry and the fruit didn't come forward at all. I wonder if anyone alse tried it and liked/disliked it. This wont keep me from trying Aussie wine again. Actually, I have a bottle of Yellowtail Shiraz 2007 in the bar and I'm curious to see how it performs.