Who is the Throsby Creek Oenological Phalanx?
This Newcastle ( NSW Australia) based wine society started in 1991. The original members embarked upon a spiritual journey of vinial indulgence in order to
- Drink shedloads of wine
- Talk about it circumferentially
- Make a record of these discussions
The Phalanx membership is capped at twelve. Members are by nature varied in bias and persuasion, loosely representing the gamut of communicable philosophies. As old members expire, potential aspirants are vigourously investigated before acceptance to the Phalanx.
Wines are consumed once a month in a lightly choreographed ritual of moist, lucid, errant banter. All wines are purchased with a budget of $20 a head and presented un-disclosed by the host to win critical acclaim or savage shame upon their choice. The host may choose one $240 bottle or 240 $1 bottles - the choice is theirs; typically 6 or 7 bottles are served.
Comments and ratings are recorded and presented on this website for the benefit of cyber wine buffs who like to compare notes.
The wines listed on this site include all wines consumed to this month, with an average rating out of 10 (Phalanx registered rating system), and the price at the time of purchase in Australian dollars. The rating system is simple - 10 is fantastic, 1 is very, very bad.
Throsby Creek Oenological Phalanx
Wine of the Year Scoring System
There has been much discussion and conjecture about the Throsby Creek Oenological Phalanx Wine of the Year scoring system. As it is a primary objective to enjoy wine as it is drunk, cheap or expensive all have their merits, then therefore our scoring system should reflect that ideal.
So,.... the scoring system is this:
- The wines standard rating out of 10 is the starting point
- Additional marks are given based upon the wine price range
- Less than $10, then additional 1.0
- $10 - $25, then additional 0.8
- $25 - $50, then additional 0.6
- $50 - $80, then additional 0.4
- $80 - $100, then additional 0.2
- Above $100, no additional marks
Therefore a good inexpensive wine may beat a great expensive wine, depending on the marks given by the revered (and feared) Phalanx.
Where the hell is Throsby Creek?
Throsby Creek is a lovely creek that flows through inner city Newcastle in a moist, lucid, errant way. Some may consider the Creek to be nothing more that a man-made water course, but within that man-made water course is a gallant river just waiting to break it's banks!