Went out for dinner at Aalia, one of my favourite restaurants in Sydney, on a stinking hot, 40 degree C day and tried some great (and well priced) wines from their sommelier’s selection BTG menu.
As always, the food was amazing, and the wines were a great compliment. Notes on the wine (and food) in the comments.
by KennethParcellsworth
3 Comments
Quintet slaps so hard
Photos and notes (in order):
1. **2024 Giuseppe Quintarelli “Bianco Secco’:**
Nose: Orange blossom, jasmine, lime leaves, grapefruit, apricot, river bed, wet stone
Palate: searing (high) acidity, lime, lemon, grapefruit, mandarin, intensive spicy fluvial minerality, limestone, wet stone, grass, chalk
Finish: long, sharp, citrus pith and rind, white pepper, crunchy minerality, petrichor
Fun, interesting wine, great with food on a hot day, needs way more time to hit full potential but has the structure, acid, and intensity to age. 90 points.
2. **Fattoush Cracker:** delicious.
3. **Iceberg lettuce, avocado ezme, feta and Lion’s mane mushrooms with black garlic and lentils:** Fresh and complex, respectively, mushrooms were phenomenal.
4. **2022 Louis Billard Meursault:**
Nose: apple blossom, candied grapefruit, yellow peach, lemon peel, croissant, frangipane tart, almond meal, flint, struck match, faint notes of dulce de leche and vanilla
Palate: Intense, rich, pure, and well-balanced. Meyer lemon, grapefruit, Granny Smith apple, Bartlett pear, elderflower, white nectarine, flint, elegant silty minerality, candied citrus rind, pastry, hints of vanilla and (dry) creme caramel. Fantastic creamy texture. Great acidity to balance the intense fruit flavours and the emerging secondary flavours.
Finish: long, full of preserved and candied citrus rind with touches of pastry and stone.
Beautiful now, will also age well. 94 points.
5. **Roast Cauliflower with garlic tahini and chimichurri-like sauce** (name escapes me): Tender, creamy and tangy.
6. **Halloumi baked in grape molasses with rockmelon, marjoram, and a buttermilk sauce**: Maybe my favourite dish, creamy, salty, fresh, a little sweet, I could eat 7 of these easily.
7. **2021 Mount Mary ‘Quintet’:**
Nose: redcurrant, red plum, pluot, bramble, cigar box, eucalyptus, cedar, Christmas pudding, warming spices (allspice, clove, nutmeg)
Palate: brilliant acidity, firm but pleasant tannins, red cherry, raspberry, underripe blackberry and tayberry, leather, clove, cacao, oak, great balance of acidic fruit and warming spice. Lovely cherry pit/plum pit astringency as well.
Nice palate but nowhere near as precise or complex as the nose, feels very tightly wound/in a dumb phase, has the intensity, balance, complexity (nose), and length of a great wine but needs time for the palate to catch up/unfurl.
Finish: long, astringent, spicy, red fruit driven
Nice to drink now but would love to try it in 5-10 years. 91 points.
8. **Smoked buffalo labneh, beetroot molasses, endives:** A fun one to eat, great combo of smokiness, cream, earthyness, and acid.
9. **Tumeric Sfouf with pumpkin molasses and buttermilk ice cream (alongside a few desert wines):** An all time favourite dessert of mine, crazy blend of sweet, spicy, and creamy flavours, unreal every time.
**2010 Château La Tour Blanche:**
Nose: apricot, yellow peaches and nectarines, orange marmalade, elderflower cordial, chantilly cream, vanilla, buttered brioche, coconut, touch of cinnamon
Palate: rich, unctuous, intense, complex, and well balanced. Candied lemon, grapefruit, and orange, apricot jam and orange marmalade, wild honey, Lyle’s golden syrup, fresh cream, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, light salted caramel, decadent and very creamy texture
Finish: all candied citrus rind, croissant, and poached stone fruit with ginger and light warming spices, long and luscious. 93 points.
**1988 Toro Albalá Don PX:**
Nose: liquorice, star anise, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, treacle, molasses, baked plums and apricots, maraschino cherry
Palate: black and red liquorice, chai spice blend, syrupy poached stone fruit, prune, fig, roasted nuts, dark chocolate
Finish: star anise, cinnamon, dried dark fruits in syrup, cacao. 92 points.
Fantastic notes from both food and wine, bravo