I made no notes at the restaurant so doing this from memory. Firstly when the menu is degustation, I never get the matching wine option, preferring to choose a bottle that goes with all courses as much as possible. This light to medium bodied Grenache fits the bill and ticks all the boxes - best district for Grenache in Australia; old vine Grenache, a terrific vintage in South Australia; and a hands off, alternate producer. Grenache can be such a chameleon from barely medium weight with stalky red fruits like this one, with a lovely red floral perfume, to full bodied versions like Rayas and Bonneau Celestins. Barb and I really enjoyed this. Also, Delectable, this was a Grenache Carignan blend - not offered in your database. Continuing our road trip through the Mornington Peninsula. — 9 months ago
Full bodied. Fantastic Pinot — 4 years ago
Splash decanted and served double-blind. Deep ruby color bordering garnet with a translucent, nearly transparent core. Already this wine has me between two minds and that theme continued. Medium viscosity. On the nose, medium+ intensity with reductive aromas present but they seemed to dissipate with time. Dark, tart funky cherry fruit (sort of like a Montmorency or similar sour baking cherry) with some dried herbs and some stone. To be honest, the nose is a bit reticent and it’s hard to tell what the oak treatment is. Pretty sure there is oak but hard to tell whether it’s neutral or large format. Whatever, on to the palate. The wine is dry with medium+ acid and medium tannin. The finish is medium+ and rather satisfying. The palate is much more open at this stage, again with the dark tart cherries and dried herbs with earth, stone and some spices. I was leaning pretty heavily towards Sangiovese at this point until, with a thimble-full of wine left in my glass, I got bruised strawberry and a whiff of French oak. The clouds parted and I was instantly transported to Burgundy. I called Pinot Noir, from the Côte de Nuits, Chambolle-Musigny, 2017, because it seemed young and not nearly as giving as I would want from a vintage like 2018 or 2019. I was so pumped when this was revealed and Fourrier no less! A pretty wine that still needs time to flesh out. — 3 years ago
Always a favorite from the Pyrenees mountains. Met this guy once. Cool pictures of the vineyards above the clouds. Satiny smooth with a fresh clean finish. — 8 months ago
With CSR and ES perfect match for simple Asian food. — 2 years ago
2022/4/17 with roast pork shoulder with new potatoes and carrots, garlic and rosemary. From the pop, this was less all-out than the last bottle. It was more about shadow and sunlight - clouds drifting across the sun. At first it seemed quite severe - hot, blasted stone, like those first traditional Barolos I loved 20 years ago - but also flashed juicy, tart berries, bitter cherries and spring flowers. There’s beautiful structure here - both tannin and acid - so I’m sure the future holds many more fascinating encounters. — 2 years ago
Plush, ripe with good length — 5 years ago
Willow Taylor
2022 laithwaites — 2 months ago