It’s gloating, but here’s another one of those posts of ‘look what I’m drinking, and you’re not’.

But stuff it, when the wines are this good, it’s worth talking about.

For this #gloatpost, it’s a wine show judges’ dinner, aka another event where you think ‘that’s far too much great wine for such a small number of people’. Last week it was the ANZ Boutique Wine Awards, with my one-day judging cameo tying in with the dinner held at a (curiously near-abandoned) restaurant in Sydney’s Inner West.

Now, the best examples of this dinner genre are not only heaps of fun, but an ideal excuse to crack out the best/most obscure wines in your cellar, typically with people who will appreciate it. As you can see by the wine list, everyone dug deep here too, and with plenty of younger faces in the room (rather than just the usual round of grizzled blokes like me), the event felt a little less starched and formal, even if I was driving rather than emptying my glass (and enjoying a Moretti chaser).

The whole shebang was made even more fun thanks to chairperson Toni Paterson, who ditched the wine-tasting-is-a-competitive-sport-and-get-stuffed-if-you-don’t-like-that ethos that can shadow some wine shows and made this much more inclusive/less shit.

Now, enough chat, shall we look at some of the wines? Notes are vibes, and I’m also putting a score here, which I’m not 1000% comfortable doing for wines without super-detailed notes, but more for a comparison point.

Vouette et Sorbée Blanc d’Argile NV

Just tipping too far into overtness. This is a common thread with Vouette et Sorbée: I can admire the full-tilt lofi oxidative thickness, but then I can’t finish a glass because of the oxidative thickness. Sometimes the balance is perfect, and I bow down to the Champagne God, and indeed this has complexity for days, even if I wanted more vitality. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Georg Müller Stiftung Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Riesling Trocken 2017

This bottle (which may or may not be a Grosses Gewächs) was an entrant from the (now-defunct) Canberra International Riesling Challenge, hence the label, and hot dog is German Riesling like this a magical drink, with just a little flush of softening toast over pure green fruit. Incredibly delicious. 18.7/20, 95/100.

Jim Barry Florita SLRA – 3 Riesling NV

A fascinating take on Clare Riesling. The Barrys make this from a solera system (but they can’t put solera on the label, hence the SLRA bit) of barrel-matured Florita Riesling, spanning 2021-2025 vintages. This is the third release, and it’s a soft, generous, lightly honeyed thing. A bit rounded, and the barrel ageing shaves off the limey Clare edges, which I missed a lot, but there are some fascinating layers here. Interesting, if not a slam dunk. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 2024

Fresh, juicy, but a bit singular. I love the GG version of this wine, but this feels more affable off-dry Riesling (with slightly too much simple sweetness) than benchmark. Still very smashable, if simpler than I want. 17/20, 90/100.

Juliusspital Würzburger Stein-berg Silvaner GG 2022

The Sylvaner/Silvaner expression in this was great. It’s like a WSET exam wine, complete with the white pepper crunch. A bit lean and sour, but super definition and spotless, really quite intense and very German. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Keith Tulloch Field of Mars Block 3B Semillon 2017

Like its brother from the Hunter Valley Heritage Vines tasting, this is in a good place, maturing but not too fast, maybe a little fleshy but also classic. Entirely enjoyable and in a great place. 18.5/20, 94/100.

Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon 2017

Fascinating to compare the two ’17 Sems side by side. This had a more pronounced green fruit/yellow toast flavour contrast and amps up the intensity over the Keith Tulloch, though it’s probably more shades of flavour than a step up in quality. A great Vat 1 right here, regardless, with this big volume of flavour that just goes on and on. I don’t know how you can dismiss Hunter Sem with wines like these two on the table. 18.7/20, 95/100.

Keith Tulloch Celest Vineyard Chardonnay 2025

I have zero notes, even though winemaker Brendan Kaz was in the room talking about it. I’ll work on revisiting this.

Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chenevottes 1er Cru 2018

Clear the calendar. The wine of the night? Maybe close. This is a giant Chardonnay. Wild reduction, a full, mouthfilling, chunky, thick richness of bottle age and all that fruit and winemaking weight, and yet somehow, somehow! It still finishes fresh. Bow down to the white Burgundy lord; this was megastar stuff. 19/20, 96/100.

Bachelet-Monnot Maranges La Fussière 1er Cru 2023

I’m embarrassed to admit that despite spending a week in Burgundy back in March, I don’t think I tasted a single wine from Maranges (or at least none in my notes). Anyway, this appellation is next door to Santenay and is largely reds, which makes this white Maranges even more unusual. I thought this suffered after the heavyweight PYCM above but punches way above its weight with a clear peach meets stony balance to it that felt right, if a little contained. Quality Chardonnay this. 18/20, 93/100.

Flowers Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2023

Beautiful. Of all the reds in this lineup, this was easily the most drinkable, with a limpid red fruit freshness and finessed, pure, sappy, fresh Pinot Noir expression that felt wonderful. I may be underrating what is a lovely wine. 18.5/20, 94/100.

Chatto Isle Pinot Noir 2021

Is there Shiraz in here? A counterpoint wine to the Flowers, this was an oak-forward, dense and really quite purple Pinot of dark fruit and swagger. I can admire that weight, but there was a foursquare, ‘is this really Tassie’ punch to this. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Yabby Lake Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019

Autumnal and just a little smudgy, this had complexity but maybe lacked a little cohesion, with an angularity that wasn’t countered by fruit. I think I would have liked this more as a younger wine. 17.5/20, 91/100.

Sadie Family Soldaat Grenache 2024

Absolutely fascinating. I kept coming back to my small pour and wish I had more, if just to try and get my head around it. Old vine Swartland Grenache, and to me this felt more like one of the Spanish mountain Garnacha than anything, with this pomegranate, bittersweet, lightly herbal, yet still ripe palate that kept changing like a chameleon. Not an easy wine at all, especially with that bitter edge, but wildly vinous, deadly serious, a terroir expression par excellence and ultimately, utterly captivating. Would love another look. 18.7/20, 95/100.

Aptitude Connubio Dolcetto Sangiovese 2024

I really like Greg’s Aptitude range, with lots of charisma. This was a bit more minty and mulchy than my last bottle, as if the Dolcetto has taken over proceedings, with this leathery cherry, savoury sort of mod Adelaide Hills red mode here that feels very modern and precise, even if the acidity is a bit intrusive. 17.5/20, 91/100.

Weingut Veitsmühle Rimparer Kobersberg Domina Kabinett Trocken 2022

Now we’re in proper esoterica territory. A red/almost rosé from Franken, made from the local Pinot Noir cross called Domina. It’s like a tangy, reductive, herbal light red, if anything, a fresh sort of drink, though it felt a bit tart and unfriendly rather than all that drinkable. The sort of thing which has a local following but maybe a time-and-place drink. 16.5/20, 88/100

Hungerford Hill Shiraz 2017

From magnum, and I believe this was the first Shiraz made from the Sweetwater vineyard when Bryan Currie started taking fruit from it. This feels very Hunter Valley Shiraz too, though cast in a modern vein, with this black plum sort of unfolding bright fruit and a real sense of openness that will win hearts and minds. I did quibble the acidity here, though it also gives this freshness and a backbone. 17.7/20, 92/100.

Baricci Montosoli Brunello di Montalcino 2021

How much time do we have? Whatever, it’s not enough to see this red resolved today. Like a young Barolo or Bordeaux, I felt like we were peering into future greatness with this Brunello. Coincidentally, I tasted the whole Baricci range with David Ridge the other week and came away full of admiration for the classic, classy oak meets forest berry fruit meets sandpaper tannins. This felt formative, though, with oak and tannins in particular a way apart, but the elements all there enough to have you nodding. I’d love to drink another bottle of this and actually mull over the whole bottle. 18/20, 93/100+

Penfolds Grange 2017

Another 2017, and fascinating to try with the wines around it. I rarely even see Grange anymore (whereas it was a yearly multi-vintage looksy before Penfolds excommunnicated me), so fun to check in. Hardly a heralded Grange vintage, but try and argue with what has been delivered. It’s a flattering red that tastes very Barossan to me, with this irrepressible cocoa and vanilla powder American oak plushness, an unwavering silky ripe length, and this freshness that would trip you up – it could be four years younger. There was something in the style here which reminded me of what St Hallett Old Block once tasted like, rather than what you’d say is a more multi-regional Grange expression. It’s such a mouthful of ripe, chocolatey, plummy fruit. What stops it from reaching the highest heights is the lack of tannins – they’re mainly oak tannins, rather than anything, and feel like an afterthought rather than a focus. Regardless, this is a wine that will make plenty of people happy, and I admire for fulfilling its big dog Aussie red purpose. 18.5/20, 94/100.

Pradorey Élite 2022

This bottle followed me home from Ribera del Duero in February. It tasted much the same as back then, and fascinating to try next to the Grange. This had more tarry blackness, more tannic detail, more of this chewy, coal-black, limitless flavour depth, yet it lacked the inviting flow of plushness. I think this is a great Tempranillo, and it feels so different to equivalent Rioja (for a Spanish benchmark) that it stands alone. My only quibble is the warmth, which threatens at every turn and drags the drinkability down a smidgen. The plus sign is real as well, as this will get even better, though I wouldn’t know as i sadly have no more. 18.5/20, 94/100+.

Château d’Yquem 1959

The options wine, and I went out early as I kept thinking it was an old Spanish Moscatel. Dumb. Andreas Aragon was sitting near me and flashed his MS credentials to almost guess the wine too. Fun! Anyway, this was more curio than anything, yet still seriously drinkable. It pours black/treacle brown in the glass, and despite apparently being a hot vintage, it looked dryish to finish, which is probably just because this wine was doing that old sweetie thing where it looks less sweet as it ages. I was kicking myself after it was unveiled, as the faint marmalade notes gave the game away. In my defence, the cold tea and orange fruit tea meets treacle hints feel more Muscat than Sauternes too. Anyway, what a pleasure to taste this, even if its more old wine than a real ‘oh yes this is Sauternes’ thing that you still get on wines twenty years younger. It’s not going to fall over yet either, based on this bottle, and unlike many oldies, it’s actually good to drink. My rating here is largely made up – very hard to do justice to oldies like this. 18.7/20, 95/100.