Wine Report Lunch 3rd March 2026 from Stephen O'Halloran .
Today we lucky members who were there enjoyed a rare treat , Paul Irwin's de constructed famous Ruben Sandwich, New York Style . As Paul told us , this meal took a huge amount of time & effort in putting it all together . The Brisket was sensational & the various trimmings worked so well . Paul , we are indebted to you for this rare feast .
With regard to the wines , the Canape wine was a Mitchell McNicol Clare Riesling from 2015 . This wine really got people talking . The reason ? It was most unusual ! . An 11yo Riesling still in great shape in terms of colour & a crisp mouthfeel , however it had some unusual features , such as high acidity , high alcohol 13.5 %, a slightly sweetish finish but the overall product teamed up well with the canapes served . An unusual Riesling . Discuss .
Wine no 1 on the lunch menu was an Argentinian Malbec " Alamos " from the Mendoza region 2024 @ 13% . Malbec from this region is amongst my favourites of that grape , big colours , big fruit, powerful but well balanced & an attractive finish . A bit more time in bottle would not go astray , however the wine today was still a great match for the strong beef flavours of the Ruben . A fair amount of Tannin detected , with some cherry, prune & plumb hints . Overall an enjoyable paring with the main . Well chosen .
Wine 2 was the Eden Rd Syrah 2021@ 12.5 % from the Murrumbateman region near Canberra . A classic cool climate Syrah , light to medium weight, spicy with good acidity & some tannic hints. An Elegant finish . I was enjoying this wine until our resident wine maker Phil Laffer explained to me that I should not be having such a good time with this wine, due to the unwelcome presence of excessive Malic acid , which is commonly found in grapes as well as other acids such as tartaric acid . The chemistry of the wine grape is a very complex field , & I will not attempt to go into that subject , which is far above my pay grade . I am sure Phil will be delighted to provide more info on Malic acid if you ask him nicely . I will of course defer to Phil's assessment of the wine & will down grade my assessment from " enjoyable " to " just average , marred by excessive Malic Acid ". Everybody now happy ?
Wine 3 was the room favourite , the Penfolds Bin 128 Shiraz from Coonawarra , 2002 @ 14 % . Now a 24 YO wine , with obvious traits of the ageing process , but none the less , still drinking beautifully . The Vintage was tricky with low yields & some variable results . Some of the red grapes were of high quality however . This Bin 128 shiraz was clearly one of the better ones from that year . Some browning around the rim , to be expected , but still generous flavours of blackberry & plum . Medium weight with fine tannins & a lasting persistent spicy finish . A lovely old wine .
Final wine of the day was the Poderi Barbera d'Alba 2015 @ 14.5 % . Assessment of wine is of course a matter of personal taste & subjective evaluation . This was my wine of the day . A wine from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy , dense , juicy & chewy . Not overpowering , but very evident high quality Barbera fruit . Delicious , some acidity noted , minimal tannin . A delightful Italian lunch wine , just the perfect match for a good Veal Scaloppini .
