I started with the 2005 Shiraz, which has passed this way before without disappointing, but also without inducing a reorder. It’s a big full-bodied shiraz with red berries and spice on the nose and the depth of flavour that you’re looking for when you need something to go with a big hairy steak. The other bottle was going to be sampled with something a few notches up from the Cajun flavoured rump that the first one washed down. and a few weeks later I matched it up with a simple rib fillet. Gorgeous...
Curiosity got the better of me the following day and I decided we needed an aperitif style to sip on while Madam caught The Movie Show and I got dinner together. The 2008 Carlyle Chardonnay Marsanne would more than likely fit the bill. After all, the newsletter that came with the tasting pack described it as an attempt to come up with a clean, fresh and fruit driven wine which sounded like what I was looking for, and with a Wine Club discount the reorder price was $14.85 so the reorder factor came into play as well.
The curiosity factor helped, of course. In the newsletter Jen Pfeiffer describes the wine as an unwooded Chardonnay that needed something extra with the extra coming in the form of Marsanne, and it works rather well. Clean pale colour, aromatic nose (and you can definitely pick the Marsanne) and a refreshing wine that's easy drinking to the point that the empty was removed around the time that dinner hit the table. The timing mightn't have been ideal since we're coming into winter and I like it as a summer afternoon drop. On the other hand they're suggesting that it'll go on for a couple of years, so I think we'll be queueing up for more.
A search for something to go with a plate of beef ravioli with a basic tomato source saw me reach for the bottle of 2006 Carlyle Shiraz once a glance through the brochures in the Pfeiffer’s pfile had suggested it might go well with a home made tomato sauce.
Which it did, deep dark red in the glass, rounded fruity nose and generous mouthfeel. I was sitting and savouring long after the ravioli was gone, and went as far as checking the Pfeiffer website to see whether I’d blundered with the recent reorder that’s due on the doorstep any day now.
I’d gone for a mix of the current release of the Gamay along with the Chardonnay Marsanne, and had I been placing the order a week later would have been inclined to add the Carlyle Shiraz to the mix. However, they’re on to the 2007, so I’ll have to wait for the next tasting pack, check that out and proceed from there.
So, at the point where we’re updating this entry, where are we?
2000 Merlot - Waiting for the right occasion.
2004 Red Pfizz - Should be in the fridge around Melbourne Cup Day
2005 Shiraz - Both gone, thinking about reordering.
2006 Carlyle Shiraz - Gone, and they’re on to the 07. Pity.
2007 Carlyle Cabernet Merlot - Will be sampled in the near future.
2008 Carlyle Chardonnay Marsanne - Both gone. Good stuff. Reordered.
2008 Gamay - Reordered.
2008 Marsanne - Sitting in the fridge. Will be sampled in the near future.
Old Distillery Rutherglen Tokay - Coming up on a winter night.
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