Not the best Cava, but certainly pleasant and very drinkable as an aperitif. Gentle streams of fine bubbles framed a nose of yeast, marzipan, white fruit and malty, barley tones. Palate was very frizzy, very dry, with lemons and some mineral. Finish was ever so dry, with a slightly bitter zest to it. Simple but pleasant enough.

I thought this was quite outstanding for a young vintage Champagne. Gentle bead worked its way through a pretty orangey pink - somewhere between copper and onion skin. Apart from a little yeastiness and a lilting, fried-shallots like frgrance, the nose was a dead-ringer for a Burg with a bit of age on it, all earthy, meaty inflections, mineral and subtle red fruits. Same could be said on the palate. Lots of Burg shades, with petite fruits rouge and orange peel mingling with dusty mineral and deep, meaty notes, just laced through with enough lemony notes and gentle mousse to reminded you that this was a Champagne. Still a bit primary, but with plenty of strength and concentration and layers of complexity just waiting for age to peel open here. Superb balance and focus as well, moving into a dry, but juicy finish studded with a nice minerality. Simply Brilliant with Otoro Sashimi. 92+

Extremely ripe, modern rendition, but certainly pleasant enough, especially with a grilled Teriyaki Cod dish where the sweetness of the sauce worked well with the fleshy ripeness of the wine and its dry backbone. Nose opened with a burst of banana split, cream soda, white flowers and ripe white fruit along with a little underlayering of mineral. Palate had a pleasing dryness and minerality, but lacked a bit of that fresh verve that one would expect from a young Soave. Instead, it has obsiously been pumped up beyond its usual nuetral what fruit to show more banana notes and touches of ripe grapefruit. Finish was dry, with some earthy minerality. Not bad.

An excellent bottle. Drinking wonderfully now, but still tasting fresh and very, very young. So much so that most people guessed it in the 2000s. Deceptive green gold colour. Nose showed drops of petrol suggesing age, along with tiniest pricks of spice, lovely earthy mineral and a honeyed, peachy tone. Lovely palate too - still extremely lively, with a superb balance. Sweetness had certainly eased a little, but a slightly creamy richness suggested an Auslese rather than a Spat. Well-integrated flavours of pineapples and yellow fruit mingled with aged notes of nectar, figs, lime, orange peel and kumquat. Lovely finish too, long and sappy and rather honeyed. Not a blockbuster style. Lots of complexity, but it was so understated and subtly delicious and so well-knit that it just slid down the throat in a gentle glide. I could drink bucketloads of this and still want more.

Very impressive for what it is. Green gold in colour. Almost new world Chardonnay like on the nose, with earthy mushrooms, dusky mineral and honeyed notes along with whiffs of white asparagus. Ripe palate had an oily texture. with beeswax, sweet white fruit, musk and a slightly slaty undertone. A bit hollow on the finish, which dissipates rather than pull away convincingly, but overall a pleasant, well-balanced wine.

A nice wine, but rather buried under oak at the moment, so much so that it came across as a modern-styled Bordeaux blend instead of a Sangiovese. Very ripe nose, with lots of vanilla and woody notes on the nose, along with hints of glycerin thrown over layers of sweet prunes, preserved plums powder, orange peel and plenty of earth. Obvisouly some age here. Lots of plush richness on the palate as well, but nicely balance by some clean acidity and fine, slightly mouth-coating tannins. Again, ripe flavours gelore, with sweet cherries, dried figs and more liberal dashes of plum powder along with touches of mineral and menthol. Finish was decent, with savoury notes, spice and a layer of woody tannins. In spite of some obvious secondary notes, this is still a wine that needs some time. The oak disturbs me somewhat though - not sure the fruit will be able to stand up to it years down the road.

Perfect wine if you want to teach someone how to idenitfy Brett. Flawed? Maybe not to that extent, but the Brett certainly distracted from the varietal and terroir characters of the wine. Stinky animale nose, just wave after wave of sweaty horse saddles and barnyardy funk wafted out of the big-bowled glass. A bit better when I poured it into the smaller, Bordeaux shaped one, when some earth and touches of capsicum came out. Palate had its fair share of horse and leather as well, but was thankfully a bit clearer, with clean cassis flavours, sinewy tannins and plush, ripe berries all freshened up with good acidity. Finish was hard to make out in the mdist of a horsey linger. Far from unpleasant, but not altogether enjoyable given the immense barnyardy-ness of the wine.

Only Irvine makes Merlot like that. Obviously ripe and new world, but also obviosuly well-made and pretty yummy. Nose had lots of cocoa powder along with dusty earth notes, a touch of leather and plenty of ripe, sticky plums and prunes seasoned with bits of thyme and other herbs. Palate had some aged notes in its almost dried plums and prunes, along with peppery spice and a hint of rubber, but had full on richness. High acidity kept the wine really fresh and clean in spite of its sweet ripeness, but no one on the table thought it was anything but a new world. A few of us guessed Merlot on the nose, but switched to Shiraz when we tasted it - a testament to how concentrated it was. All in all, a pretty nice wine but, as always, not in the style I prefer.

Clearly some quality here, but too young to really appreciate. Nose obviously had some depth and complexity, with grassy notes wed to warm, ripe white fruits and mineral galore. Still all rather tight though. Palate was similarly reticent. Lots here, slatey mineral, juicy grapefruit, custard apples, sour sop and clean, citrus notes moving into a pink guava finish. Yummy, but all seeming to need a bit of coaxing to get out. I would give it a good long time before broaching again.

Fiona's bottle! This was definitely prematurely aged, but still very fun to drink. Colour was a deep, brownish amber. More brown than amber actually, like an old Cognac. Nose had gone all caramel, dried longans and figs and raisins with touches of tea and wood. Very much like a tawny port. The woody note carried on into charcoal on the palate's attack, followed by more dried figs, nectar and maple syrup. The port references ended there though, with fresh, grapey flavours, kumquats and good acidity perking the palate up at the mid-palate, moving into a still-fresh and spicy finish. Quite yummy indeed.