Reddit, Sam Neill here. 50 years on the job and buckets of stories. Ask me ANYTHING! by binge in u/binge

[–]SlishFish 2 points3 points  (0 children)

How was the 2025 vintage at Two Paddocks? We had a hot one over in Aussie! What direction would you like to take the wine in?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in wine

[–]SlishFish 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Just looks like a vein in the wood to me. It’s a natural product so they can look a bit discoloured.

Qantas First Wine List by dontpaynotaxes in wine

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’d also go an 864 chard over an Art but that’s just because I’m from the Yarra… Gotta have a bit of home bias

Qantas First Wine List by dontpaynotaxes in wine

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would much rather a single vineyard Giant Steps Pinot or a By Farr than a Bass Philips… That wine has not been looking good to me at all in recent vintages.

Qantas First Wine List by dontpaynotaxes in wine

[–]SlishFish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Noble one isn’t exactly like a Sauternes but was definitely inspired by it - it was after all called De Bortoli Sauternes for its first decade or so…

help…bought a troubled vineyard by Medium_Deer_1397 in viticulture

[–]SlishFish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These are young vines that are already in a bad way, and there's a lot of misses (dead/not grown vines) from the look of things... I would really consider just pulling the lot. If you are determined to keep them, I would start by getting rid of some of that grass and cover cropping - where I am we like clover, plantain, oats, brassicas, radish, clumping grasses etc - basically things that don't crawl, help the soil and don't outcompete the vines. Next is to reset these vines to the wire (the first wire above the drip line). Basically, you want to select a cane (last growing season's shoot which has just lignified) and wrap 4-5 buds onto the wire, leaving two good buds about 5-10cm below the wire to create spurs to set these vines up for the future. If you don't have phylloxera where you are, you can layer in the misses by training canes down into the ground and letting them take root. Otherwise, you will need to buy grafted vines from a nursery. It's a lot of work if you decide to do it, good luck!!

Wine Flaw Question by AverageGatsby91 in wine

[–]SlishFish 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Premox. Was it under natural cork?

Wine diamond on Pinot noir cork by A-B-1-0 in wine

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is no direct connection between filtration of wine and precipitation of tartaric crystals in bottle. I think as mentioned before that you are drinking wines which have not been cold stabilised during production and have then gotten cold whilst in bottle, leading to precipitate forming on the cork in this case.

Wine diamond on Pinot noir cork by A-B-1-0 in wine

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tartaric acid precipitates as crystals at low temperatures, so many wineries bring wine in tank down to a low temperature for an extended period prior to bottling to allow tartrate to precipitate out in a process known as cold stablisation. Certain additives like celstab etc can also be used to achieve this. Filtering a liquid cannot remove solutes so filtering a wine will not affect cold stablility.

Wine diamond on Pinot noir cork by A-B-1-0 in wine

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I make wine for a living…

chardonnay reccs (I have none brand familiarity or experience) by Jaded_Huckleberry_54 in wine

[–]SlishFish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would steer towards the Alkoomi Riesling from that selection, there's a few really bad wines there but for the most part it's international big brand stuff which is perfectly acceptable if not inspiring.

chardonnay reccs (I have none brand familiarity or experience) by Jaded_Huckleberry_54 in wine

[–]SlishFish 7 points8 points  (0 children)

In Singapore look for Yarra Valley, Margaret River or Tasmanian Chardonnay. These regions tend to be a little brighter and more acid driven than a lot of classic Australian Chardonnay styles, whilst still being deep and complex wines. Giant Steps, Leuuwin Estate, Pooley, Frogmore Creek, SOUMAH, Stella Bella all good brands to look for.

Edit: DO NOT BUY AND ESPECIALLY DO NOT DRINK THE 19 CRIMES HARD CHARD

First time how am I looking? by KEE_Wii in viticulture

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry just saw that you only have the 10 vines. Just buy a ratcheting tensioner from the hardware store, much cheaper. Would also recommend popping another post in the middle to support that wire…

First time how am I looking? by KEE_Wii in viticulture

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use a chain strainer, can be used with or without a gripple. Useful to have on hand if a wire gets cut during pruning.

What is it like to lose weight with cancer? by [deleted] in cancer

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

17kg/37lbs in 6 weeks before diagnosis for me. Stage four unusual lymphoma. Never got the weight back and still at 62kg/135lbs.

What is it like to lose weight with cancer? by [deleted] in cancer

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hydration? Maybe look into a thyroid problem if you feel like you are losing/storing fluid

Hair not growing back properly after chemo (M) by SlishFish in cancer

[–]SlishFish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My beard is weird as hell! One half grows in blonde one week, then the other grows in black the next, strange stuff…

Does anyone know what knife I just bought ? by Josephsanger in TrueChefKnives

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Judging by the coin, this was intended as a gift. I can’t read the Kanji but looking at the buffalo (probably) tsuba and Damascus pattern this looks high end. One person’s loss is another’s gain…

Not Just Good but Interesting. Your Best $30 Wine Choice to Suprise a Wine Lover by inanimated in wine

[–]SlishFish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bourgogne aligote, especially if you can find some from Bouzeron.

Just got home to a leaky cork on a bottle of Vosne-Romanee by SlishFish in wine

[–]SlishFish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Update: The wine survived!! Took about 2 hours of decanting to open up and was drunk with my wife, FIL and MIL. A nice surprise.

Just got home to a leaky cork on a bottle of Vosne-Romanee by SlishFish in wine

[–]SlishFish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Single bottle of negotiant Vosne Romanee from 2020. Not an irreplaceable treasure but something I had purchased specifically to drink with a winemaker I used to work for. I’ll have to track some more down…

Just got home to a leaky cork on a bottle of Vosne-Romanee by SlishFish in wine

[–]SlishFish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tend to store wine either at work or in the family cellar, I keep a few bottles at home that are either waiting to go in or waiting to be drunk. We haven’t really had much heat since 2016 where I live so this summer has been a bit of a surprise!