TN: 2001 d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz/Viognie

[tjaehnigen]

Well, I can't keep my hands off the stuff. I was having dinner with Dr. T and I brought that as one of the possibilities for the red of the evening (the other was the 99 Coriole Mary Kathleen). Ah well.

Pairing this wine with a proper meal made this wine even better, IMO. I will agree with my original notes, only to add that the pepperiness had subsided and that I got some more floral notes on the nose this time. It's gotten a bit more elegant as well. Maybe my last bottle hadn't rested enough before I opened it. I tried to get more today, but MacArthur's was closed (ARGH!). I think this tasting makes it worthy of a notch or two more.

TJ points (now) = 90

[tjaehnigen]

2001 d'Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz/Viognier

This was tasted at the November 2003 DC Crü event

This was the mystery wine that I was responsible for bringing this time (the first bottle of perhaps a new and long tradition?). I had it as my backup for the last dinner and so I knew it’d be in the mix for this time (I brought a CdP and a Henry’s Drive (regular) Shiraz as the other two bottles we never got to). So I figured what the heck. This is a great wine. I think time in the bottle keeps making this one better. This time, I still got the pepperiness and roasted meats, but the jammy and earthy notes and retreated slightly to the background while giving way to interesting new nuances. Some of these nuances were chili powder, slate (instead of pebbles) and oatmeal with brown sugar. A faint niblet of dill was there too, at the very end. This wine is GREAT with food. This is worth now 91+ TJ points.

(Jaimetown’s TNs)-- This was my kind of Aussie Shiraz. wonderfully balanced without being over the top.

(Fred’s TNs)-- This was our blind tasting wine, but it didn't take long to realize that this was TJ's back up bottle from last month. I'm really glad he took this out because I was bummed we didn't crack it last time. You could tell right off it was Shiraz but it was softened up by the blend just enough to make this approachable right off instead of it needing alot of airtime. As it opened up I got a good spicy caracter that complemented the rich berry flavors. I would own a bunch of this.

(Dinwiddie’s TNs)-- First wiff and Fred cried SHIRAZZZZ. Very nice wine, I think the Viognier adds to this blend. Quite elegant. Very good with the beef.