In Pictures: More From ARSE4

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Andrew Barrow in Tasting Reports

The full list of the ‘official wines’ those speed tasted on the three tables is up on Adegga… Each producer was showcasing one wine and had just 4 minutes or so (Chris Unger showing the Jim Barry The Lodge Hill Riesling and Yalumba’s The Scribbler went WAY over time!! We put it down to being passionate about his wares rather than just being overly talkative!). For me the highlights were the McWilliams Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon 2005, the Tahbilk Viognier 2009 and the Wakefield Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2008.

Then, as the food arrived, a flurry of other wines flew around the tables – far too many to keep up with (which is my excuse for not writing them down!). Many had been opened a couple of days from a previous AFFW tasting and were delicious. A comment I made referencing a Yalumba Scribbler 2008 tasted a few weeks ago was so disappointing in comparison to the carefully decanted bottle showcased here; storage possibly to blame but decanting certainly opened it up beautifully. More pictures on Flickr.

arse4 wine tasting - alister purbrick of Tahbilk
arse4 wine tasting - henschke mount edelstone shiraz 2005 decanted
arse4 tasting - phil ryan of McWilliams with Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon 2005
arse4 tasting - tahbilk viognier 2009
arse4 wine tasting - Jim Barry lodge hill riesling 2008

Vinoteca did us proud with the food, a three course lunch comprising

arse4 tasting - the starter

Salt baked celeriac, Jerusalem artichoke, red onion & aioli which we tried with numerous whites, with Riesling coming out tops.

arse 4 tasting - main course

The main course of Braised lamb, minted peas & spring vegetables was divine with the various reds; the Campbells Bobbie Burns Durif 2006 with its higher acidity, arguably, the better match…

arse 4 - dessert

The dessert was superb and THE most perfect match with one of those ‘flying bottles’, a Campbells Muscat Topaque – sadly only one small glass came my way…