A rarity served blind to start the night. Figured it was either an old Alsace SGN or a German BA. Such was the lovely lushness and fresh liveliness of the wine that I thought it was much younger though. Lovely nose. Some caramel and toffee, along with a touch of dried apricots, some figs and tons of apples juice. More sweet apple juice on the palate, very yummy, with a hint of cherry and some citrus notes reminiscent of super-ripe, sweet lemons, a little touch of prunes at the mid-palate and a nice savoury earth and mineral note. Still so very alive, with lovely dollops of fruit and mineral spread throughout the creamy texture of the palate. Really nice balance too. Finish was long and mouthfilling, with gummy apple and apricot fruit, some plums and just that little, little touch of rubbery petroleum. A beautiful wine.

Very pleasant NV. Nice nose. Yeast, earth, some toast, along with savoury mineral and sweetish white fruit scents. Palate was rather simple, but had this just deliciously mouthwatering balance and freshness, with lemony flavours riding on a bed of mineral. Finish was long and juicy, with more sweet lemons and a pure appley flavour. Lots of persistent, which was surprising given the narrowness of range flavour-wise. Must say this really came alive with the correct food, especially the scallops and truffled egg, which just set off a rush of flowers at the back-end of the palate. A pretty Champagne.

Excellent. Not quite on par with either the Fino or Amontillado from the same house I thought, but nevertheless a really good wine in its own right. Nose had lots of concentration, wowing me from the get-go with whiffs of yellow fruit and flowery hints lying amongst woody smells and distinct walnut skin accents. More woody flavours on the palate, along with some orange zest, wafting honey flavours, more flowers and a smoky note, all clean, fresh and superbly balance, so that the wine seemed to be dancing lightly across the palate in spite of its obvious concentration and depth. It was clearly finer and more precise than the other Manzanilla on the flight. Finish was super-long, slightly salty, with a rush of preserved figs, some spice and, when had with Cantonese waxed meats, a super flowery, almost chamomile like tail. A really good wine indeed.

Pretty good, but way overshadowed by the Equipo Navazos La Bota on the same flight. Unfair match. Still though, plenty to like here. Complex nose, with flinty minerality, a melange of salty notes like cured meat, some funk, salted fish, Chinese salted eggs, some preserved plums and just that bit of black tea. More salty notes on the palate, with some preserved fig-peel at the attack, moving on to nutmeg across the mid-palate and on to a smoky finish with more ham-like notes. Good intensity and length, with a nice creamy, oily texture and a pretty good sense of structure. Somehow just rather clunkier and less fine than the Equipo Navazos. Otherwise, I enjoyed this. Surprisingly when really well with steamed live prawns, which brought out the creamy richness of the wine, along with a little rim of nuttiness.

This was truly, truly stunning. Golden amber in colour. Lovely nose. Honeyed walnuts, onion rings(!), maple syrup, briney prawn shells and floating scents of white flowers. Very nice, but it was on the palate where this wine really sang. So much going on here, where do I begin? Creamily textured, it had beautiful balance, with lots of fresh life and energy pulsing through the wine. It needed that freshness too, given the profound depth, intensity and almost incredible concentration it had, with rich tones of plums, fig skins, orange peel, mahogany wood, honey, with a little salty under-layer - just so much going on, yet all poised with a really impressive sense of finesse and precision. Finish was absolutely incredible too. Really long, with lots of power wed to that fine cut and definition that marked the wine - yeast and earth tones, were mixed with savoury notes and a fresh flower lilt right at the very end. An awesome wine.

I thought this was great - good enough to take the wine of the night gong on any other evening, save for the fact that it was paired against a staggeringly good Equipo Navazos Amontillado on the same flight. This was certainly no slouch though. Beautiful on the nose. Sweeter than the Navazos, and perhaps more attractive, it showed maple syrup, honey, apricots and lots and lots of flowers. Plenty of depth here, with lovely perfumy highlights. Palate was every bit as delicious as the nose promised. Really fresh on the attack, with lovely mouthwatering acidity very nicely framing savoury earth and saline notes, dried stone fruit flowers, some orange peel and tangerine and a sweet lift of flowers towards the mid-palate. Superb integration and balance here, with every part tightly knitted together in a harmonious whole. Really nice finish too. Fresh and lively, with more sweet flower and apricot notes. A real charmer.

Started out a little tight, but this really opened up in the glass to be a top-notch wine. Nose was the most port-like of the sherrys we had, with fragrant honeyed tones wed to sweet dried figs and preserved kumquat notes, mahogany wood accents, hazelnut scents and a touch of caramel. Somewhat akin to the white-port that closed the night off, except that this was more expressive, more open and quite a bit deeper. Palate was absolutely delicious. Not quite as serious as the Amontillados of the previous flight somehow, but this was downright yummy, with rich plums and prunes, orange peel and a touch of dried wood flavours all in a creamily smooth, beautifully balanced package. In spite of the alcohol level, the only place where it peeked out was a tiny, tiny touch of heat at the back-palate, just about enough to be noticeable. Even then though, the finish was excellent. Longish and lingering, with snappy acidity giving life to savoury, earthy notes. Very nice indeed.

No change in impression from when I tried it at the cellar door. Still quite a miracle of a wine - a 16.5% monster masquearding as a much lighter, 14% or so bottle. Very sweet on the nose, with plenty of raspberries and cherries mixed with menthol and mint, some grassy flower scents, some meat, and some briary Zin notes with touches of spice at the edges. What was most distinct though was a sweet tomato, almost ketchup like aroma. Palate took off where the nose left off, with sweet dark cherries, some quince paste, almost jam at points, with some earth and more wild briar notes and, again, that ketchup-like flavours. I really liked the acidity running through this though, so much so that it actually came across as balance, fresh and rather light on its feet. Finish was decent, closing with some length and more herbal, minty, menthol notes. A decent wine, very interesting.

This was really quite good. Happy that I have a bottle stashed away somewhere. Clearly distinguishable as a Grenache blend I thought, but also clearly Aussie. Nice nose. Some glycerol, but plenty going on beyond that, with lots of pure sweet cherries, some herbs and incense, earth and iron and red meat flavours. More sweet cherries on the attack on the palate, some crushed blueberries, some spice, a little meat and nice earthiness. All still rather primary, but very delicious and certainly showing some budding complexity. There was really nice balance from acidity and quite a bit of surprising elegance there too. Finish was every bit as yummy. More sweet cherries and berries, all very fresh, seasoned with spice and herb notes. I liked this - drinking nicely now, but I would really wait a couple of years for it open up a little more.

A Parker wine if there ever was one, but really pretty good for what it is. 7 years from vintage and this wine is still inky black. A pretty good reflection of what lay on the glass. Lovely nose it must be said. Prunes, plums, blueberries with plenty of spice. All very concentrated. I do not think anyone on the table had doubts that this was an Aussie Shiraz. Attack on the palate was all black pepper at first, pointing away from Barossa. This was followed by dense flavours of sweet prunes and dark cherries completely layering the mouth - quite a monster here. Still very primary I thought, but there was some grip and, although it could have done with more acidity, pretty decent balance. Finish had decent length as well, with just a touch of alcohol at the back-end. Strangely enough for so many high alcohol wines, this was the only one where the alcohol showed quite obviously. Still, all in all, a pretty well-built wine, but one that really needs a lot more time to come around. 10 years would do it much good I think.

I actually really enjoyed this. Very interesting nose, with sweet cherries, some tobacco, sundried tomatoes and earth and some briary, bramble hints. On the nose at least, it bore more than a passing resemblance to the Cargo Road Zin a few bottles back. The palate though was more like an Amarone than anything else. A Rutherglen Muscat maker's Shiraz, someone commented. It attack with rich dried grape and ripe plum flavours, very appasimento like and quite delicious, along with more bramble, a touch of eucalyptus and some telltale aged-Aussie Shiraz crushed beetle flavours. Yummy, but what really impressed me was how the wine was both structured and well-balanced in spite of its rich weight. Finish was decent, with more fruit and bramble. Really nice.

Simple wine, but a real crowd pleaser - absolutely nothing to dislike here. Nose was rather neutral and indistinct, with some dried figs and a little savoury earth and not much else showing. Palate was rather nice though. Rich, sweet and creamy, yet very nicely balanced, it showed sweet white fruit, some honey, flowery tones and a nice seam of mineral and spice, especially moving towards the longish finish. A nice way to end the meal.