A quiet Thursday lunch

Every so often, a small group of us get together for a quiet lunch. This was only the second lunch of the year, this year with some Dads in attendance. Back the Le Pelican, a favourite BYO in Sydeny. Again very good food but grumpy waitresses are one way for struggling restaurants in this climate to go out of business. With some many new people at the table, it was hard to make extensive notes but did jot down the follow.

First up to refresh the senses. Veuve Clicquot Vintage 2002. Sadly I don't drink enough champagne to be able to make well informed comments but I do like the vevue house style, a bit more fulsome and yeasty in style than the leaner styles such as Bollinger. A young vintage wine, there was a subtle nutty after taste

Marchand & Burch 2007 A new joint venture operation from WA. Citrus tones on the nose, pale yellow, this is a well made chardonnay. Excellent length and structure with a light touch of lemon and a hint of pineapple. Finished just a little short but should fill out with time. At $65 a bottle not bad value and one I would buy again.

Grange 1989. May that the Dad's attend regulary. Brick red medium bodied colour, this is a super silky wine drinking beautifully at present. Mocca gamey taste with a touch of spicy hoy sin. No difficulty give this WOTL.

Grant Burge Meshach 1991. Not dissimilar in style to the Grange but without the added finesse. A soft and spicy fruit nose. Dark colour, again soft tannins with a slight stewed fruit dry finish, lovely wine

Brokenwood Graveyard 1994, lighter in colour than the two preceding wines. The more Graveyard I drink, the more I regret not having any in the cellar. The nose is more floral and less stewed. The tannins, super sexy and soft, with a more savoury finish.

Moss Wood Cab Sav 1994, I found this lacked the complexity of some earlier vintages I have tried recently. The palate has started to integrate but there is no real sense of depth and I kept thinking eucalyptus. A touch of caramel on the nose.

Howard Park 1998 Cab Sav Blend, 75% C/S, 15%CF and 10% Merlot. Medium bodied, red berries, the wine is still far too young.

Rockford Basket Press 1998. A monster of a wine. Stewed fruits and not something that should be opened for another 10 years based on the more refined style of the older wines above.

Ch Lafaurie Peyraguey 2003. Rich botrytis nose, huge and very generous sauterne style with wonderful acidity to avoid it being overly cloying. A superb wine. 2nd place for WOTL

[Jenise]

What a great lunch. In various other vintages I've enjoyed wines from every Australian winery you mention here but the Marchand & Burch, and you brought back some good memories of our last trip to your great country. And one funny one: on arrival in Sydney, we checked into our hotel at like 8 in the morning desperate for a little nap. We undressed and got into bed--and then laid there, eyes open, too tired somehow to fall asleep. So we got up and rummaged around in the mini-bar, finally selecting a half bottle of Howard Park cabernet (in the U.S., you would never find so fine a wine in your mini-bar, quite the opposite, so we were quite blown away by it) which we drank virtually for breakfast, and finally we slept. All day, and right through the show we had tickets for at the beautiful opera house, that is.

Crazy lineup, Mark. Great to see some notes on some of those Aussie classics. That Grange sounds like a real beauty, and good to see some love for Graveyard (Brokenwood is one of my favourite producers, although I'm yet to experience a drinkable Graveyard). Unfortunately that's one of those wines that barely makes it beyond the Australian border, and on the rare occasions I've seen it I've avoided buying given its price and reputation of needing a couple of decades normally to hit drinkability.

Salil, Jenise thanks for the feedback. Each time I do one of these lunches, I realise just how much big Aussie reds benefit from time in the cellar. Many of the top tier reds really need 15 years or more to show what they are capable of becoming. When given the time, they really do become a case of the ugly duckling and the beautiful swan. Collectors accept that top Bordeaux requires time to really deliver up its best. Experience is teaching me the same about our top reds. As for the individual wines whilst the Grange was clearly in a class of its own, I keep finding the Graveyard comes out on top as my favourite wine at these lunch. Fortunately there is still a good supply on the secondary market.

Salil, Jenise thanks for the feedback. Each time I do one of these lunches, I realise just how much big Aussie reds benefit from time in the cellar. Many of the top tier reds really need 15 years or more to show what they are capable of becoming. When given the time, they really do become a case of the ugly duckling and the beautiful swan. Collectors accept that top Bordeaux requires time to really deliver up its best.

Agreed, and top Aussie wines are no different. I had a serious 'WOW' experience a couple of years ago that got me hooked with a bottle of 1991 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet. Absolutely thrilling, and the experiences I've had with things like Henschke, Wendouree, Leasingham Classic Clare Cabernet (the 96 was stunning, held its own against a Greenock Creek Roennfeldt Road and an 02 Grange at a dinner when I had it) and Mount Langi Ghiran when those wines have 10 or more years of age have convinced me those sorts of wines are definitely worth cellaring for the long term (when they're actually available and affordable).

[David M. Bueker]

I'm surprised at the positive showing of the Sauternes. Most 2003s I have tried seemed overly heavy, in need of an acid boost. Glad yours was enjoyable.

I'm surprised at the positive showing of the Sauternes. Most 2003s I have tried seemed overly heavy, in need of an acid boost. Glad yours was enjoyable.

I'd agree, David, with the exception for me of the Chateau Rieussec. The style of that wine, even in the 2003, gives it more structure and less extraneous weight than most others I've been able to try.

On the other hand, you and I expect everything to need an acid boost.

I'm surprised at the positive showing of the Sauternes. Most 2003s I have tried seemed overly heavy, in need of an acid boost. Glad yours was enjoyable.

I'd agree, David, with the exception for me of the Chateau Rieussec. The style of that wine, even in the 2003, gives it more structure and less extraneous weight than most others I've been able to try.

On the other hand, you and I expect everything to need an acid boost.

Unfortunately this is the only 2003 I have tried so far. The style is definitely much richer than a number of the different '05 I have put away and richer than some of the '90 of the same label I had tucked away. I picked it up at auction recently when I saw it topped the WS sauterne ratings for the year. I do wonder how long it will last but on the other hand it is so moreish now, I think I will drink most of them early whilst I want for other bottles to come on.