A Sunday BBQ with some Shiraz

What else do you drink at a modern Dutch summer BBQ: big, bone warming shiraz. Actually we managed to get some sun in the end but it never got above 18

Auz Riesling is great when its young and the sun is shining. Never had a good old one though. The Greek wine was very nice and its a great country for good value, interesting whites.

• 2001 Alkoomi Riesling Black Label Frankland River 82 Points

  Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Frankland River

  (6/10/2013)

  These wines do age, but its an acquired taste. Less petrol than the Tim Adams, with better quality fruit, but again a touch of soap and petrol. It's interesting and worked ok with our bruchetta starter, but it was more fun when it was young and fresh.

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• 2001 Tim Adams Riesling 78 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley

  (6/10/2013)

  Initially I thought this had gone, but it was just the wiff of dry petrol. Exotic wine that has definetly changed over the years, but not for the better. There is a lot of petrol, soap and stone fruit and the high acidity stops it from being to cloying. Interesting, but only to a group of wine collectors - my mother would probably have poured it down the sink. Drink young.

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• 2011 Gaia Assyrtiko Wild Ferment 88 Points

  Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini

  (6/12/2013)

  Lots of slate and minerals on the nose. The oak drys it out a touch, but it does not really detract from the piercing fruit. Lots of acidity meant it went great with the Bruschetta. Not the best Greek wine ever, but I´d happily buy a lot more.

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As we all know the link between quality and price if fairly weak..We had an enormous 2 rib chunk of meat with these, as well as 4 kg of roast potatoes and carrots...Only 5 of us and very little left

• 2004 Greenock Creek Shiraz Alices 95 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley

  (6/12/2013)

  In years gone past they would have used this as a hair restore cure for old bald men. Its a massive wine, with an incredible nose of smoke, earth and meat. With 15.5% alcohol and a rich extraction its a wine that appears to be well endowed. At the same time though its not cloying like some large wines can be and there is no heat on the nose or the finish. I gave this a 20 hour decant before drinking and even now, 4 days after opening, the last glass is only just starting to oxidise. I actually thought my tastes was moving towards wine with more elegance and less alcohol, but this was like a 1000 volt electric shock to the tastebuds and I survived. Brilliant.

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• 1997 Chalk Hill Wines Shiraz 94 Points

  Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale

  (6/12/2013)

  Mclaren Vale is my favorite wine region for Shiraz and this is one of the best wines I have had from the area. Its at its peak now, with a lovely mineral nose, tobacco and red fruits. As well as being quite complex, its got bags of pure fruit backed up by food friendly acidity. A really great and underrated wine. Shame it was the last bottle.

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• 2009 Burrowing Owl Syrah 91 Points

  Canada, British Columbia, Okanagan Valley, Okanagan Valley VQA

  (6/12/2013)

  Not the highest scoring wine of the day, but definitely "wine of the day". I´ve had a few ok merlots and cab francs from Canada, but no great red wines until now. This was text book syrah, with a berry fruit and a touch of pepper. Much lighter than the Auz wines, this had layered fruit, refreshing acidity and a medium finish. Does not appear to be a wine to make old bones, but it was lovely to drink now and much better than the Chardonnay I tried from the same house. Definitely worth taking a few bottles back to Europe to surprise your friends.

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• 2008 Ergo Sum Shiraz 83 Points

  Australia, Victoria, North East, Beechworth

  (6/12/2013)

  Tale of 2 wines here. This was the expensive one, that costs around 80 euro here. Dark purple colour with a very closed nose. It does not have much on the palate either. You can tell that its well made, but its boring as hell and really hard to see why anyone would want to shell out this sort of money for such an average wine. 3 days later, the wine has oxidised more that the other wines at the tasting, despite us leaving a lot. One to only buy in the bargain basement sell outs.

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• 2004 Lyngrove Shiraz Platinum 92 Points

  South Africa, Coastal Region, Stellenbosch

  (6/12/2013)

  When I told Ramon to bring something from the new world, he looked into his cellar and found only 2 wines: an Auz Riesling and this, which he picked up for 4 euro on a sell out table recently. This is approx 75 euro less than the Giaconnda and make no mistake the quality difference is marked. Here you have a to die for nose of leather, saddle and stables. In the mouth its complex and slightly sweaty. The fruit is a bit muted and maybe its a bit too secondary, but its a cracking, cracking wine and its exactly what you expect from a mature French Syrah. Lovely wine that is absolutely at its peak and despite all the CWG wines I´ve bought over the years, the best South African Shiraz I have drunk. Oh to find some more at that price...

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• 1976 Rudolf Müller Ortega Beerenauslese 96 Points

  Germany, Rheinhessen

  (6/12/2013)

  96 points and its not even Riesling. Best wine of the day and even better than all those DRC, Haut Brions etc from a few months ago. The sweetness has died down, so its now nor Kabinett than BA, but its perfectly balanced, rich, with peachy fruit, light on its feat and the finish goes on and on....Gorgeous

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After this the rum collection came out and the night became a bit blurred. I still prefer wine to good rum, but its a close thing in the summer.