Predrinks
95 Pol Roger - Alcholic/chemical nose, intense mid palate with a long finish, apples, small bead.
No 8 Sparkling Pinot Chardonay - Dry grass, straw, hint of pear. Less intense than the Pol Roger, well balanced wine.
Prawn Gyoza - partly steamed, soft on one side, crispy on the other.
96 Marc Bredif Vouvray - Green citrus and apples, good length with a slightly sweet finish.
86 Marc Bredif Vouvray - funky tropical fruit, the oak was more forward in this one, a slightly buttery note led me to suggest Chardonay
Marinated Sardines with salad - Fremantle Sardines are very underated
09 Grosset Polish Hill Riesling - Complex but not overly fruit driven nose, zesty palate leaving some fizz on the tongue. Picked early as an Australian Riesling, the acid cut right through the sardines.
05 Frankland Estate Poison Hill Riesling - out of whack, undrinkable.
Scallops wrapped in prosciutto
95 Marc Bredif Vouvray - Restrained fruit on the nose. At this stage, i was a little over Vouvray, but having tasted 3 different vintages, it did highlight Vouvray's versitility with food.
08 Pouilly Fume - Perfume rose petals, flowers and tropical frut nose. This wine smelt amazing, but dissapointed with a short finish compared to the Vouvray.
Drunken Mushrooms
08 Felton Rd Central Otago Pinot - Dark cherry's and raspberrys, fine tannins, a lighter style of pinot compared to the Craggy Range.
08 Craggy Range Te Muna - Funkier heavier nose, black cherry's and predictable palate. Hotter, bigger with more alcohol and tannis, but not out of balance. Prefer softer expression of Pinot.
Meatballs - Though hotter than anticipated, i did like this dish and tonight i will be making a meat sauce with sausages, ground pork & beef + Weapon sauce, to bake with par cooked pasta.
04 Tabula Ribera Del Duero - Alcoholic, hint of diesel suggesting good age, tannic. Drinking nicely.
06 Roda Reserva Rioja - red fruit jube perfume, tannic but well balanced.
There is a school of thought that suggests tannic spanish varieties don't soften up much over time, it would be interesting to test this hypothesis. For the record, the table voted unanimously for the Roda.
Lamb Cutlets and Sausages - awsome cutlets.
02 Holy Trinity GSM - Jammy nose, a classic & technically correct GSM, went well with lamb.
98 Cims Solanes - Strong diesel notes when decanting made me think i had a wine that was past it, but on tasting it was drinking nicely. The grenache & humble carignan blend is new to me and appeared to strip out some of the overripe fruit characteristics found in some GSM blends.
Lemon Tart with Cream and Ice Cream.
07 Chateau Fihot - a light & young and enjoyable sauternes.
Tokaji Aszu 4 Puttonyos - burnt honey, some flor characteristcs.
09 Peterson House Botrytis Semillon (sparkling) - a simple wine, sexed up with carbonation.
06 Inniskillin Icewine (sparkling) - honey & orange marmalade, almost like an old sauternes.
I found myself enjoying the Fihot & the Icewine.
Thanks to Steve and Dave for hosting the meeting.
