Between lunch and dinner with Diane Griffin 26 April 2016 It is an ongoing quest to convert my beautiful wife to Pinot outside Burgundy. With Diane and I having the lions share of the Epogee we needed something to get us through the afternoon before dinner. A good as time as any to tempt Shell…
2015 Keith Tulloch ‘Epogee’ Voignier Marsanne Rousanne
Lunch with Diane Griffin. 27 April 2016 Diane, like Shell, is not a fan of white wine. One of her favourite vineyards is Elephant Hill in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Here she tried their Voignier and loved it. The cellar is very thin when it comes to whites outside of Chablis. Luck was on our…
2013 Curly Flat Pinot Noir
The risky business of what to open after a Grand Cru burgundy. 16 April 2016 With the Burgundy finished Australian pinot once again became a discussion point. Why do we get it so wrong so often? Curly Flat is the rare exception. Clearly inebriated, it suddenly seemed an excellent idea to open a half bottle…
1999 Domaine Gaston & Pierre Ravaut Corton Les Bressandes Grand Cru
Grand Cru from a great vintage. 16 April 2016 Shell runs the cellar. Browsing through the list and selecting the wines. Narrowing her search to ‘Burgundy’ she chooses whatever takes her fancy. In this instance a Grand Cru from the highly rated 1999 vintage. When I suggested that this might be considered a special occasion…
2014 Oakvale Limited Release Semillon
Quail for lunch. 16 April 2016 Aside from the occasional Chablis, Shell does not drink white wine. After a glass or two with the quail she declared this undrinkable. Taking one for the team I finished the bottle while making dinner. 2014 Oakvale Limited Release Semillon Typical Hunter Semillon. Lemons, pears and green apples on…
2001 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz
A change from burgundy. 6 April 2016 Sometimes you need a change. It cant be all about burgundy all the time can it? 2001 Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz Black berries and cherries. Olives, tar and tobacco on the nose. Balanced with well integrated tannins on the finish. The 389 never seems to live up…
2008 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits-Saint-Goergres Les Vaucrains Premier Cru
Birthday celebrations continue. 27 March 2016 After the Cristal there was no going back. I have vague memories of great food and fine conversation. So nice to share a birthday with my beautiful wife and her family. Oh, there was some wine as well…. 2008 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits-Saint-Goergres Les Vaucrains Premier Cru To be…
2007 Louis Roederer Cristal Champage
Birthday celebrations 27 March 2016 Rachelle and I have birthdays only a few days apart. Leanda and Vishal treated us to lunch at Cumulus Inc on Flinders Lane. Celebrations were off to a flying start when the bubbly was ordered. Even Shell, who claims to dislike bubbles enjoyed this. 2007 Louis Roederer Cristal Champage Straw…
2002 Henschke Cyril Cabernet
A change from Burgundy 20 March 2016 It took some persuading for Shell to abandon Burgundy for the evening. Ox cheeks braised in red wine for most of the day was going to require something with a bit of weight. We picked this up a few weeks ago from our ‘not to be named’ bottle…