NobleRottersSydney - dinner at Minx
Minx, Sydney
Tasted Sunday, November 20, 2005 by graemeg with 614 views
Introduction
The boys’ night out a month before Christmas! Minx Gentlemen’s Restaurant & Bar in Pitt St was the venue for this…er…event, kindly organized by Andrew. With outrageous lies told to spouses, we gathered at 7pm for a degustation menu (of both food and girls, it seemed) and a selection of wines kindly provided by Andrew from the leftovers in the office, the tasting room, the warehouse, etc…Minx is subterranean, comfortable, and too dimly lit to observe the colour of the wine in front of you. Besides, often times the view is blocked…
1996 Jim Barry Riesling Lodge Hill
Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
From magnum. Some lime and smoke on the nose, but the palate is flattening out to a stale short finish biased towards the front palate. No freshness here, but a corresponding lack of aged complexity is more of a disappointment. Surely this level of oxidation is not typical at nine years old? A pity.
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2004 Ernest Preiss Riesling
France, Alsace
An attractive noseful of steel, minerals and apples... Fresh and zippy, with great length and terrific body. Silvery, persistent finish becoming more floral and rose-like as it sits in the glass. Very good.
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2004 Ernest Preiss Sylvaner
France, Alsace
A stony, steely, granite-smelling wine with a dusty, smoky note. Straightforward on the palate, but only marginally interesting after the riesling.
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2001 Domaine Michel David Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie Clos du Ferré
France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie
Somewhat nondescript – or perhaps just restrained, if you’re feeling charitable. Pungent nose of musk & flowers. The palate is dusty, low in acid and structurally a bit undefined.
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1993 Diamond Valley Chardonnay Blue Label
Australia, Victoria, Port Phillip, Yarra Valley
Also from magnum. Even in the dark its obvious that this is a very deep yellow indeed. A baked, burnt nose of honey and caramel, but overlaid with a patina of oxidation. Also developing a prickle of volatility. Short harsh finish all on the front palate. Should have been drunk last century.
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1998 Labouré-Roi Mercurey
France, Burgundy, Côte Chalonnaise, Mercurey
Pale brick red. Nose of sweaty armpit development over the remains of cherry/bubblegum fruit. The palate has that hint of bitterness that says this is starting on the downhill slide. Lightweight & quite short. A short drinking wine that’s been left a few years too long.
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1999 Château de Ferrand
France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
Soft, sweet cedar aromas of velvety plums. The palate is quite chewy, with short but fine tannins and dry savoury notes. It’s quite light-bodied, but reasonably persistent and pleasant. Lacks profundity, but a generally attractive food wine. Doing its best to prove that ‘less is more’.
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2002 Reschke Cabernet Sauvignon Bos
Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
Powerful menthol-spearmint fruit, with medicinal overtones. The palate is warm, even hot, belying the 13.4% claimed alcohol. Balance is toward the front palate, but the finish is rather raw and crude. Seems to become more fungal and ‘bretty’ is it sits in the glass. Not a keeper, I think.
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1999 Taylors Shiraz St Andrews
Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
The nose here is all blackberry & spice, iodine, ripe raisin berries and vanillan oak, with some coffee/chocolate hints. It’s a kind of warm-climate wine from a cool year. Palate has a front-mid balance, tannins are unobtrusively present, and there’s enough acid to just lift the wine a little. Well made, attractive wine, missing the last word in excitement, but shouldn’t be penalized for lack of extremism! Will no doubt hold longer, but drinks well now.
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1994 Hugo Shiraz
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
This wine is going feral – picking up notes of rotting meat, the once spicy fruit is now being chased out of town by rampant volatility. Drink up, if you’re game...
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2002 Davey Family Wines Shiraz The Gate
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Fruit bomb style of wine – lashing of currant, chocolate and blueberry fruit. The palate is initially big, but everything fades away quickly to a hot hollow finish of ultra-ripe fruit. I find it lacks acid & freshness. Suspect it’s aimed at Robert Parker’s newsletter, but I can’t imagine it hitting the target…
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1998 Ausvetia Shiraz
Australia, South Australia
Rich, ultra-ripe SA style – I presume the vagueness of the geographic indications means it’s a blend of Barossa, McLaren Vale & Langhorne Creek. The nose is big and ballsy, raisin-ripe, red fruit & spice. The palate is something of a tannic bruiser, but at 14% the heat is kept under control – some licorice flavours help damp the fires, perhaps. The finish doesn’t really live up to the promise of the nose – it’s a bit one-dimensional. I’m not sure I’d recommend this for further aging – it seems like one of those decadent style of wine that should really be drunk on release for the richness of it’s initial fruit; cellaring only reduces it’s exuberance without any corresponding increase in development or complexity.
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1996 Glaetzer Shiraz
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
Sweet Barossa fruit cake & choco-vanilla oak aromas with lifted sweet red berries & peppermint. On the palate the oak is quite subtle, swallowed up by the sweet confected fruit. The tannins do build with repeated tastings. Overall, however I find it a bit thick and lacking in freshness – not overly warm (14%) but perhaps lacking in freshening acid. Objectively, not bad though – and it is getting late…
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