I drank the Rosemount last night. Not bad, especially for the price.
BTW, guys, it’s Rosemount, not Rosemont. Check out their website.
Yes, but they’re Aussie, and so spell things differently. Harbour, colour, etc. Over here we dispense with the extraneous “u.” 
I was waiting for someone to ask me why I hated America, since I included the “u”. 
Tried the Shiraz tonight along with some steaks off the grill.
It’s smooth & has a nice musty tone. I’d definitely list it as a bargain at $9.00 for a 1.5 L bottle.
Alas, my optimism on obtaining the Fess Parker was ill-founded. Every other variety except the Frontier Red. I’ll keep looking. I don’t know what it is with celebrities and vineyards (Greg Norman, Fred MacMurray) but I hope it continues.
I bought the Rosemount this weekend, and seemingly at the high end of the price range here noted here ($13 for a 750ml bottle). Following the link provided by John Mace, I am now a bit confused. Rosemount seems to have the Diamond label represent single varietals, and puts the blends out with a different label. And my bottle didn’t look like the label on the website. However, it was labeled Shiraz Cabernet, (60% Shiraz/40% Cabernet) so I’ll assume that I got the right one.
I’ll be using some words here that I have seen used in wine descriptions, so feel free to correct me if I am using the wrong term, or a correct term but in the wrong way.
I tried it last night with a rib roast. My usual cooking style is to have the first glass while I am preparing the meal*. The first glass was a little “tight”; that is to say, I felt that my tongue was coated with something, and the flavors weren’t getting through. Were those tannins? I’m assuming that they were, as they reminded me of the feeling that strong or overbrewed tea creates in the mouth. It’s something that I associate with Cabernets rather than Shiraz, so I’m guessing that the 40% Cabernet was all at the top of the bottle . As I tend to do with a Cabernet, I let the glass sit for a bit, and left the bottle open (maybe a half hour).
The second glass was much better, but no surprise there; that is the story of my drinking life. I felt that the tannic flavor had smoothed out considerably, and I was starting to be able to tell where the Cabernet left off and the Shiraz began. I am a shameless Shiraz fan, and that’s a hint what my eventual pick will be. But I found this to be a nice blend. The Cabernet seemed to add a bit of refinement to the Shiraz, and the Shiraz seemed to keep the Cabernet from seeming too austere. That was my first night review, and I’ll be interested to see how it stands up tonight. Nice choice, silenus! With that name, guess it goes without saying, though…
My only concern is the price that I paid, and I hope that I haven’t been swayed by what you folks paid. If I had picked this up for under $10, or if I had paid this amount for a 1.5L, I’d be buying this one again soon. I do have a Costco membership, so I’ll try them the next time I’m there to see if I can get a good price. As it is, there’s a lot to try between $10-$15, so it might be awhile before I try this one again.
*Not unlike the old joke about bowling and beer: Cooking is an excuse for drinking wine, and drinking wine is an excuse for bad cooking.
Oddly, that link doesn’t show any blends in the Diamond Label line, although they say that this label is blended wine… At any rate, the bottle I bought sounds just like the one you bought. Does it say “Diamond Label” up at the top of the bottle (on a band near the mouth)? Mine cost about $7 or $8 at Safeway, and maybe a bit less with the 10% discount for buying 6 or more bottles (I bought a case of different wines while I was there).
I was expecting to find a Rosemount label that looked like this
Instead I came home with a label that looked more like this
Rosemount Estate Diamond Label, Shiraz Cabernet 2004 and then the back label specifies a Shiraz 53% Cabernat 47% blend
The one I based this selection on was the top example provided by flickster. Rosemount has several levels of wine, at different prices. The straight diamond label (the bottom one) is their upper tier wine. But either example will give you a good idea of what they are trying to do with the blend.
The bottle I sampled was also the 2004 diamond label 53% shiraz-47% cabernet
I found this one at the Publix in my nieghborhood for only $8.99. What I bought is the Rosemount Estates Diamond Label Shiraz Cabernet, 2005.
I found it to be quite pleasant and drinkable but it didn’t exactly knock my socks off.
My experience was very similar to that of Plynck I had my first glass while preparing dinner and was a bit underwhelmed. But once it opened up a bit I liked it. I got a scent of cherry licorice candy in the nose and it has a nice soft finish. A really good bargain and a very nice everyday wine. I’d definitely buy this one again.
Dinner last night was hamburgers, fries (both homemade) and a tomatoe and buffalo mozarella salad. I seasoned the fries liberally with Montreal Steak seasoning and they were quite peppery which was kind of nice. I thought the wine really paired well with the ground chuck, they complimented each other nicely. The peppery flavor in the fries brought out some of the spicier notes in the wine.
I’ve still got half a bottle left. I wonder how it’ll fair after having been open for a day. I put the cork back in when we were finished with dinner but didn’t bother with the vacuum sealer so it’ll oxidize some by tonight. We’ll see.
I don’t think it’ll pair well with my coffee or I’d taste it now.
It does. The label looks a bit like flickster’s second link, but the diamond was smaller. The bottle tapers from a circle (at the shoulder) down to a square (at the bottom). Mine was a 2005, which may explain the differing percentages.
And based on the prices noted here, I got taken to the cleaners. 
Yes, that was exactly what I got.
One would not expect the winery to put out the exact same blend each year, since the wine from the various grapes is going to be different. I would assume they are looking for a certain taste, and then tweak the percentages to get it. I have to admit, though, that I was a bit suspicious at seeing a precise 60/40 blend. I wondered how much art actually went into selecting those numbers.
I’ll see if I can pick these up tonight or tomorrow. I’ve had a few Rosemount wines and I’ve never been incredibly impressed by them, but they are usually pretty decent value wines.
I know I have some notes on some Fess Parker wines in my binder at home, possibly a Frontier Red, but who knows.
As always, looking forward to them.
I’m a complete wine beginner. All I know is that I like red wine, and I’m pretty sure I like Cabernet. I’m going to try to get in on this as a way to learn a bit more!
We opened the bottle of Fess Parker Frontier Red Lot 61 last night. Though I only had a sip or two, I am pleased to say that, even though 61 is an older lot, I could not detect any off notes at all. It is actually a really enjoyable wine, full of fruits (cherry, maybe) and some spice. Not super complicated, but with enough facets to keep me interested. Low tannins. We were eating hamburgers last night, and I enjoyed the pairing. I will return to it tonight so see how it has shaped up after some breathing.
So I went into the store, and entertainingly enough, there was a big display of Rosemount stuff on special right as I walked in! I do think wine up here is more expensive than in the US - I got a bottle of the Diamond Label 2004 Shiraz (I couldn’t find a blend) for $16, after $2 off because of the special.
I have another bottle to finish before I open it, but I’m very excited to try it out and see if I can identify any of the qualities you guys have been talking about.
Be sure to open this bottle and let if breath for 15 minutes or so first. It might be good idea to pour your first glass and let it sit for that time, too. And make sure you take time to sniff it, and let it sit in your mouth a bit before swallowing. That is, if you *really *want to identify the flavors. (And if you want to get fancy, you can swirl it in your glass first.) You’re not likely to taste any of the subtleties if you just gulp it, tempting as that might be!
But don’t do that for the Fess Parker. Our host has instructed us not to overanalyze that one.
Just opening the bottle doesn’t do much to let wine “breathe.” It really needs to be poured into a glass and splashed a bit. If you do this 15 minutes before dinner is ready, the wine will be ready too. Shiraz especially to me needs that breathing time to really open up the flavors.
I guess it depends on the wine, but I’ve found that to be helpful in most cases. Else, you’d have to pour every glass 15 minutes in advance. Sure, it’s better to pour the first glass and let it sit so that you’ve depleted some of the wine and it recedes from the neck of the bottle, but it’s even better still to decant the whole bottle. It’s all a matter of degree. Bottom line, don’t pop the cork, pour a glass right away, and expect to taste the flavors that other people taste who have let it breathe and open up.
Rather than resurrect and zombify the Week 1 thread from 6 months ago (and what the heck, bump the thread back to page 1 again), I thought I’d hijack here about the Folie a Deux Menage a Trois. I picked it up recently for $11, and I had it the other night with a grilled shish kabob of sirloin tips and veggies over rice.
Wow! I liked this one right out of the gate; I opened, poured, drank and smiled, all within 30 seconds*. For me, this had a nice balance. Fruity and friendly, not acidic or acerbic. In this case, the second glass was just as good as the first. I had another glass last night, and it was still good, but I don’t think that additional breathing added anything to this one. I see this as the perfect “goes with almost anything wine”, and to have around the house for guests who know they would like wine, but don’t have any real preferences.
My only fear is that, as I drink more wine and become more discerning, this is one of those wines that I’ll look back at as being more of a beginner’s wine because it is so easily accessible. I really hope that I don’t turn into that sort of person, because I remember my delight in drinking this and I don’t want to lose that. I want to be the sort of person who can appreciate a lighter classical composer or Mahler with equal pleasure.
*And how was I able to open that wine so fast, you might ask? I’ve always liked the waiter’s corkscrew, but it seemed to lack something. It would get the cork about 2/3 out, but the last part was up to you. And then I found the double hinged corkscrew, and life was good again. But you should be able to find this for $10 or less.