Finally can supply a tasting note or two while I'm on vacation in Queensland.
Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Spatlese Riesling 1996 - incredibly youthful vibrant Riesling displaying somewhat less development than the years in the bottle might suggest. Laden with sweet citrus/peach/apply fruit, an impressive steely/mineral core and balanced by admirable ripe natural acidity, there's enough tertiary characters of honey and petrol loitering in the wings to suggest this may just get even better over many years. Fantastic length. More of an Auslese in must weight to me .... and a good match with canapes of fresh Tasmanian smoked salmon, egg, sour cream, chives and cracked pepper on wafer-thin blue poppy and rye biscuits. An envigorating, fresh German Riesling. A great way to start the afternoon. 93
I've tried some outstanding Zilliken Spatlese and Auslese over the last two decades, and this one rates (potentially) up there with the best of them.
Tyrrell's Reserve Belford Semillon 1997
This wine looked even younger than the Zilliken. Displays a very bright straw/light gold hue, rivetting primary Hunter Semillon aromatics of grass, soap and citrus with some faintly oily, earthy, nutty notes underneath. Ample in the mouth with bucketloads of grapefruit and lemon fruit, sensational G & T-like acid cut and a whopping great finish that just wouldn't go away. Dry as a dead dingoe's. I've been steadily working my way through a few cases of this wine over some years and can't remember a dud - this bottle is aging effortlessly towards a chequered future. One of Tyrrell's greatest efforts with low-alcohol, early-picked, unoaked, but gloriously long-lived, Semillon. Still needs years to be mature. 93
Went ohso well with spicy (Asian) pork balls in a tomato/capsicum/onion/garlic/zucchini sauce.
With a traditional roast chicken dinner we opened a 1996 Harmand-Geoffroy Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St Jacques - a reasonably impressive Burgundy with unfolding aromas of plum, sap, tobacco, beetroot and game, a fair whack of spicy caramel oak followed by a palate that worked better with the food but seemed a trifle acidic and tannic when drunk by itself. Mostly tart bing cherry fruit. Long finish. Needs more time. 88
