http://davidlole.com David Lole's wine tasting notes Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:43:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Having opened perhaps my second or third bottle, I'm now more convinced than ever, that this wine represents the purest expression of the unoaked version of this grape variety since the ridiculously good version of this label made in 1986. I've yet to try such a pristine example of Tyrrell's old vine Semillon ... http://davidlole.com/2008/07/27/tyrrells-hunter-valley-vat-1-semillon-1999/ 2002 was a terrific year for Riesling in South Australia. Both the Eden and Clare Valley's produced vibrant wine's realising outstanding, pristine fruit, indelible acidity and wonderful ageworthy structure that (mostly) are standing up to time in bottle with considerable aplomb. Displaying a bright light green/pale straw colour followed by a fine zesty bouquet of ... http://davidlole.com/2008/07/26/penfolds-reserve-bin-eden-valley-riesling-2002/ 9.6% A/V AP Nr 2 576 510 10 77 Incredible deep bright burnished yellow gold colour. Lavish, intimidating but still amazingly fresh nose of super concentrated, coconut-coated and honey-dipped yellow peaches, apricots and nectarines with undertones of ripe naval oranges, concentrated lime juice and poached green pears. Wow! The more this unctuous ... http://davidlole.com/2008/07/20/saprum-wehlener-sonnenuhr-riesling-beerenauslese-1976-gold-capsule/ A.P. nr. 2 577 050 20 84 7.3% A/V This most remarkable offering from Fritz Haag must rate as one of the most compelling German Riesling's I've had the pleasure of trying in my twenty-five years of serious wine drinking. Admittedly, my exposure, to date, of the great estates, vineyards and ... http://davidlole.com/2008/07/15/fritz-haag-brauneberger-juffer-sonnenuhr-riesling-auslese-1983-lgk/ A. P. nr. 3 551 083-19-84 A/V 7.7% I recently opened a TCA-affected bottle of this and thought it only fit and proper I drag another from the cellar for reconsideration. Beguiling youthful colour of bright light gold with a gorgeous flash of green as you raise the glass to the light. Delicate, but intriguing, ... http://davidlole.com/2008/07/11/zilliken-saarburger-rausch-auslese-riesling-gold-capsule-1983/ This Coonawarra icon has delivered its fair share of stunners as well as a few disappointments along the way, but here the secret lies in the fact this, like so many good Bordeaux's, from a good vintage, is a minimum twenty-year-wine. And twenty is when I like to start drinking ... http://davidlole.com/2008/07/04/wynns-coonawarra-cabernet-sauvignon-1988/ This overachieving Pauillac Fifth Growth has produced quite charmimg and consistently high quality claret since the Chateau was acquired by the Borie family in 1978. I've been fortunate enough to enjoy many vintages of G-P-L from the late seventies into the mid-eighties. The 1982 being totally spectacular on both occasions ... http://davidlole.com/2008/07/02/chateau-grand-puy-lacoste-1979/ I have no experience with Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal and although '86 is a well-regarded year, I've also noted many a scribe's report for this vintage's harshness of tannin, so I was a little surprised by this wine's lithe personality and wonderful resolution. Fully mature but holding an extremely good deep ... http://davidlole.com/2008/06/28/chateau-haut-bages-liberal-1986/ Lovely medium ruby core with some lightening towards the edges. Enticing and still elemental varietal nose brimming with dark plums, pinot sap, sweet earth, a tweak of beetroot and some wonderfully-judged spicy, cinammon oak. A class act with fantastic integration of components and, seemingly, with substantial development in store. After ... http://davidlole.com/2008/06/21/voss-estate-martinborough-pinot-noir-2001/ For those unaware about this domaine, this vineyard belonged to Bruno Clair's mother, Genevieve Bartet. Until 1998, the wine was sold under the label Domain G. Bartet with Bruno controlling the cultivation and vinification since 1986. As from the 1999 vintage the wine has been marketed under the Domaine Bruno ... http://davidlole.com/2008/06/20/domaine-g-bartet-gevrey-chambertin-1er-cru-clos-st-jacques-1996/