Ultra Indulgence – It Helps!

Written by Ian Robertson on 3rd November 2007

Having had an established core group of tasters that come together every few weeks or so sounds like a complete and utter wank I admit. You can picture everyone huddled around the table, sipping and slurping away at their wines and commenting about the gorgeous butternut pumpkin flavours. (or some such…) Yet, having a few people who are willing to chip in a few bucks is about the only way us mere mortals will taste REALLY good wine in context with each other. We all live in hope of discovering a truly outstanding wine that consistently delivers at under $20, but reality says that the best of the very best do cost a pretty penny. And that means everyone banding together to cover some costs.

And that is exactly what my Tasting Group did this week, and in one of the weeks to come. We shelled out some serious money per head, bought a case of wine that averaged about $80 a bottle, and settled into some serious tasting. This week we tasted six absolutely lovely wines together with a fairly swanky little cheese platter and had a complete blast.

Wines like Gianconda Chardonnay and Bass Philip Pinot Noir are not the sorts of things that you can taste often on your own budget after all.

There were certainly members of the Tasting Group that did not have the funds or the fortitude to pay that much money for two nights of wine drinking, and I can totally understand their reasoning. But, really, how much gets spent on a night out on the tiles normally?

Of course, the budget did not quite extend to some of the classics – Penfolds Grange, Henschke Hill Of Grace, Clarendon Hills Australis to name a few were still a little beyond what was comfortable spending for most – but names like Leeuwin Estate, Jasper Hill and Glaetzer Amon-Ra are certainly no slouches.

So, after our 1st Night of what we called “Ultra Indulgence” wine tasting, it has to be said that most of the wines with the cult reputations certainly deserve them. I don’t think I have handed out so many ‘Outstanding’ ratings in a number of months, let alone one night!

I tend to focus on value quite a bit on this site. Value in wine is really something that we are all searching for. But lashing out now and again can really help you qualify what it is you are searching for in terms of quality as well.

Plus, there something so darn neat about polishing off a $180 bottle of Giaconda Chardonnay with friends and conversation!