2006 d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie, Shiraz 94%/Viognier 6%, alc 14.5%.. opened last night but recorked due to it's extreme anger!... now tonight.. promising nose of sweet meatiness and leather...despite it's Cote-Rotie like blend.. it is sweet, clean and "large" on the palate.. no iodine..no blood... not funky... clearly Australian.. I guess it is asking to much to see the apparation of an Ogier or Jamet but hey.. you gotta hope! Probably good for what it really is but.. I wish I had opened a Cote-Rotie
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'06 d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie
- Thread starter drssouth
- Start date
originally posted by SFJoe:
Don't ask at whom the Magpie laughs....
Quite an existential answer.. what are you drinking this evening?
I should have said, "Ask not..."originally posted by drssouth:
originally posted by SFJoe:
Don't ask at whom the Magpie laughs....
Quite an existential answer.. what are you drinking this evening?
I am drinking airplane swill, but AA has wifi on some transcons these days, thus I can join the group.
Eden Mylunsch
Eden Mylunsch
originally posted by drssouth:
Probably good for what it really is but.. I wish I had opened a Cote-Rotie
It's okay for what it is, but if I were looking to find Cote-Rotie in Australia, McLaren Vale (and D'Arenberg) wouldn't be the focus of my search. The weather and climate aren't right there and Chester Osborn just isn't the guy to do it anyway. Three strikes and yer out! in the terroir countdown.
For something a little more in the spirit of Cote-Rotie I'd send you up the road to Torbreck in the Barossa Valley or over to Victoria, where Carlei Estate makes some righteous Shiraz/Viognier in Heathcote and where Julian Castagna's Shiraz from Beechworth (biodynamic and from a cool climate) is worth investigation and even drinking. Each of these alternates are priced right around what you'd pay for real Cote-Rotie, so unless maybe you're in the mood for antipodean diversity (a cause in which I am very much in support) you're bound to be disappointed if after a sip you think to yourself "man, I coulda hadda Gallet!"
-Eden (Wendouree and Galah are the bona fide, ultra-whack, super-shizzle Oz Shirazes- they're old world and old school, but still not Cote-Rotie)(nor are they trying to be)
I like Wendouree for the pure insanity of it. Terroir + typicity, for sure, and I'm not sure the latter doesn't trump the former.
I'll never understand Eden's love for Torbreck, no matter how many times she visits; they're mediocre but eminently drinkable wines when they're not horrible, the latter of which is the case far too often. From top to bottom, but especially top, which is regularly wretched. The lower-level wines can be very much OK, in certain vintages. But I love the LA Queen of Mylunsch, nonetheless.
I'll never understand Eden's love for Torbreck, no matter how many times she visits; they're mediocre but eminently drinkable wines when they're not horrible, the latter of which is the case far too often. From top to bottom, but especially top, which is regularly wretched. The lower-level wines can be very much OK, in certain vintages. But I love the LA Queen of Mylunsch, nonetheless.
Joel Stewart
Joel Stewart
don't know about the laughing magpie as a cote rotie lookalike, but give the wine 4-7 yrs and it's closer to a southern rhone to my palate. i think most darenburgs do this.
Salil Benegal
Salil Benegal
I'd disagree with Torbreck. I love a lot of their wines, but I've never found those wines (especially the bigger ones like the Factor & Descendant) to have the elegance or flavour profiles of a Cote Rotie. Some of their wines are great - but for me they're just very good examples of Shiraz down under, rather than Cote Rotie ringers.originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:
For something a little more in the spirit of Cote-Rotie I'd send you up the road to Torbreck in the Barossa Valley or over to Victoria, where Carlei Estate makes some righteous Shiraz/Viognier in Heathcote and where Julian Castagna's Shiraz from Beechworth (biodynamic and from a cool climate) is worth investigation and even drinking. Each of these alternates are priced right around what you'd pay for real Cote-Rotie, so unless maybe you're in the mood for antipodean diversity (a cause in which I am very much in support) you're bound to be disappointed if after a sip you think to yourself "man, I coulda hadda Gallet!"
-Eden (Wendouree and Galah are the bona fide, ultra-whack, super-shizzle Oz Shirazes- they're old world and old school, but still not Cote-Rotie)(nor are they trying to be)
Interesting to hear that about Carlei though. I've heard a lot of good things about his Shiraz and am keen on trying some if I ever find a bottle around here - the problem is that it's almost impossible to find.
The only Oz Shiraz I've found even remotely Northern Rhone like is Mount Langi Ghiran's estate Shiraz with some age - a bottle of the '99 a few months ago was stunning - just loaded with pepper, leather, funk and sandalwood with really good balance and acidity. (Wish I'd bought more, or at least shown a little patience.)
Cheers,
Salil
[who still turns to New Zealand for Cote Rotie ringers]
Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
I like Mount Langi Ghiran, too. (And I also have none left....)
Bill Averett
Bill Averett
originally posted by drssouth:
'06 d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie2006 d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie, Shiraz 94%/Viognier 6%, alc 14.5%.. opened last night but recorked due to it's extreme anger!... now tonight.. promising nose of sweet meatiness and leather...despite it's Cote-Rotie like blend.. it is sweet, clean and "large" on the palate.. no iodine..no blood... not funky... clearly Australian.. I guess it is asking to much to see the apparation of an Ogier or Jamet but hey.. you gotta hope! Probably good for what it really is but.. I wish I had opened a Cote-Rotie
I've tried the 2006 Laughing Magpie recently. I appreciate it for its total Aussie-ness(not Awesome-ness), but Cote-Rotie it is not. I think that for lover's of Aussie wines, this is in an incredible value every year. I'd like to try this wine 6-8 years down the road.
Eden Mylunsch
Eden Mylunsch
originally posted by Thor:
I like Wendouree for the pure insanity of it. Terroir + typicity, for sure, and I'm not sure the latter doesn't trump the former.
I'll never understand Eden's love for Torbreck, no matter how many times she visits; they're mediocre but eminently drinkable wines when they're not horrible, the latter of which is the case far too often. From top to bottom, but especially top, which is regularly wretched. The lower-level wines can be very much OK, in certain vintages. But I love the LA Queen of Mylunsch, nonetheless.
As you know, insanity is my stock in trade, but puh-leeze Thor, you of all people should know that it's appropriate to respond to the statement made, not the statement you thought was made. Quoth the raving (c'est moi): "For something a little more in the spirit of Cote-Rotie I'd send you up the road to Torbreck". Are you running for office on a losing ticket or something?
And now look what happened - you've got half the disorderistas in the free world (well, at least Salil) jumping up and down, spewing bile and venom while shouting slogans such as "Torbreck's okay but it ain't Cote-Rotie!!" Big duh. You want Cote-Rotie, you've got to buy Cote-Rotie. Maybe if you want Aussie Shiraz, there may or may not be some Cote-Rotie that'll get you close, but close isn't analogue and why be a resister if you really want a transistor (which is some sloganeering left over from my days in the hi-fi business).
BTW, have you tasted one of the Torbreck big guns that's been sufficiently decanted? We're not talking about a wine rep at a trade tasting harsh-decanting a bottle of Struie immediately before pouring it into your glass, but the real old fashioned style of decanting. I find that 8-12 hours in a decanter enables these wines to become more approachable to old-worlders such as yourself. No, it won't remind you of your beloved New Zealand Shiraz (nor even the fantastic Shiraz that's coming from South Africa nowadays) but perhaps with the proper aeration, the wine will find some traction within your palate preferences and you'll understand why I think that Torbreck is consistently producing the finest lineup of wines grown and made in South Australia, even if they don't taste like Cote-Rotie.
As they say down at the Rowboat Regatta, "different strokes for different folks". Perhaps I should just go paddle my wheres elseware.
-Eden (drinking 1993 Bastide Blanche Cuve Fontanieu Bandol tonight, and I'm not in any way confusing it with Torbreck's The Pict, another fine Mourvdre)
Salil Benegal
Salil Benegal
Time's a good idea with those wines - I recollect being absolutely blown away by a glass of the 00 Factor drunk 2 days after the bottle was originally opened and decanted. By that time it was all leather, earth and some eucalyptus.originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:
BTW, have you tasted one of the Torbreck big guns that's been sufficiently decanted? We're not talking about a wine rep at a trade tasting harsh-decanting a bottle of Struie immediately before pouring it into your glass, but the real old fashioned style of decanting. I find that 8-12 hours in a decanter enables these wines to become more approachable to old-worlders such as yourself.
Salil
[still thinks Henschke's better than Torbreck]
As you know, insanity is my stock in trade, but puh-leeze Thor, you of all people should know that it's appropriate to respond to the statement made, not the statement you thought was made.
Actually, I was responding to neither; I was responding to the statement behind the statement behind the statement, based on your many Torbreck-encomiums of the past. I apologize for peering into your soul in an attempt to read the rum-sodden tea leaves, but sometimes I can't help myself.
The basic fact of it is that, other than the occasional low-end bottling that's goopy fun, I don't like Torbreck. I do not like them in a moat, I do not like them with a goat. I do not like them in a bed, I do not like them decanted. I do not like the red Run Rig, I do not like it with grilled pig. I do not like well-aired Struie, I do not like 'cuz it's gooey.
I've had them long-decanted, yes. And short-decanted, and not-decanted, and at various temperatures, and I just don't think they're much good. Sorry. I've tried. More for you.
New Zealand Shiraz
Ah, but no self-respecting New Zealand producer calls it anything but syrah.
Eden Mylunsch
Eden Mylunsch
originally posted by Salil Benegal:
[still thinks Henschke's better than Torbreck]
No quibbles here, but I'd suggest that Henschke is "different" rather than "better". Is Latour "better" than Haut-Brion? Quite often, but not always. The Eden Valley fruit in the Henschke wines tends to be a little more high-toned and minty than the more earthy and darkly fruited Barossa Valley wines made by Torbreck.
I'm heartened by the fact that Henschke has made the switch to Stelvin across their lineup. I worked an even a while back where 9 (of 24) bottles of 1998 Hill of Grace were either corked or otherwise flawed. We stretched the remaining bottles to get about 300 pours from them and when I mentioned this to Prue, her response was something along the lines of "shit happens". If we were talking about a $20 drop it wouldn't be a big deal, but even back then the wine was going for somewhere around $250 per bottle and her response caused me to stop recommending her wines to my customers. This was a major shift for me because Henschke had been my go-to Shiraz ever since I'd been able to offer the 1986 Mt Edelstone for $15/bottle and the Hill of Grace for $20 (plus case discounts). While I could never rationalize the $500+ being asked for the 2002 HOG, at least I'd know that it wouldn't suffer from taint, and for that I'm appreciative.
-Eden (who knows, I'm likely to begin recommending them again)
Salil Benegal
Salil Benegal
Fair point. I just prefer Shiraz from the cooler regions in Victoria and Eden/Clare Valley - I tend to get far more aromatic complexity, structure and acid balance in the better examples from those, and I find Henschke a lot more consistent in that aspect than Torbreck (whose wines - particularly at the lower end - can occasionally be too over the top and soupy for my liking).originally posted by Eden Mylunsch:
No quibbles here, but I'd suggest that Henschke is "different" rather than "better". Is Latour "better" than Haut-Brion? Quite often, but not always. The Eden Valley fruit in the Henschke wines tends to be a little more high-toned and minty than the more earthy and darkly fruited Barossa Valley wines made by Torbreck.
Yikes - 9 out of 24 is ridiculous, and that response is shocking. At least it's heartening to see that they're moving to Stelvin now and not sending out any more potential TCA time bombs. (Not that I'll be able to afford them, if they're pricing the wines like that...)I'm heartened by the fact that Henschke has made the switch to Stelvin across their lineup. I worked an even a while back where 9 (of 24) bottles of 1998 Hill of Grace were either corked or otherwise flawed. We stretched the remaining bottles to get about 300 pours from them and when I mentioned this to Prue, her response was something along the lines of "shit happens". If we were talking about a $20 drop it wouldn't be a big deal, but even back then the wine was going for somewhere around $250 per bottle and her response caused me to stop recommending her wines to my customers. This was a major shift for me because Henschke had been my go-to Shiraz ever since I'd been able to offer the 1986 Mt Edelstone for $15/bottle and the Hill of Grace for $20 (plus case discounts). While I could never rationalize the $500+ being asked for the 2002 HOG, at least I'd know that it wouldn't suffer from taint, and for that I'm appreciative.
Cheers,
Salil
Graeme Gee
Graeme Gee
Actually, I think Henschke have abandoned cork entirely (at least for the Australian market) and are bottling their wines under either screwcap or vinolok - although what their basis is for selecting which particular closure I don't know.
cheers,
Graeme
cheers,
Graeme