2018 Jimmy Watson Trophy winner - Xanadu

[Sean]

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[Mahmoud Ali]

The closest I have is the 1986 Pyrus, the year after they won the Jimmy Watson Trophy. Word has it that they submitted a sample of a 1985 blend and it unexpectedly won. As a result Lindeman's had to bottle a wine and come up with a name for their new cabernet blend wine.

I note that there is only one Penfold's wine on the entire list, the 1964 Bin 64 Lalimna Cabernet, nothing since then.

Mahmoud.

[Sean]

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[wiggum]

I have a couple of the 2002 Eighth Maker which I got on the cheap from an ex Wolf Blass worker. I had it recently and it was pretty special.

[Mahmoud Ali]

PS. Nah, Grange won it a couple of times in the 60’s.

Crikey, how did I miss those? I blame it on the A D Rattray Cask Islay Whisky .....

[n4sir]

TI note that there is only one Penfold's wine on the entire list, the 1964 Bin 64 Lalimna Cabernet, nothing since then.

Mahmoud.

PS. Nah, Grange won it a couple of times in the 60’s.

Yep, Sean is spot on. As well as the 1963 Bin 64 Kalmna Cabernet, the 1965 and 1967 Grange won the JWT for Penfolds...

A list of previous winners -

2017 Turkey Flat Vineyards Grenache 2016
2016 Deep Woods Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
2015 Home Hill Winery Kelly’s Reserve Pinot Noir 2014
2014 S.C. Pannell Adelaide Hills Syrah 2013
2013 Yabby Lake Vineyard Block 1 Pinot Noir 2012
2012 Best’s Great Western Bin No.1 Shiraz 2011
2011 Glaetzer-Dixon Family Winemakers Mon Pere Shiraz 2010
2010 Harvey River Bridge Estate Joseph River Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
2009 Eden Road Wines ‘Long Road’ Hilltops Shiraz 2008
2008 Flametree Wines Cabernet Merlot 2007
2007 Scarpantoni Estate Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
2006 Shingleback Wines D Block Reserve McLaren Vale Cab Sav 2005
2005 Geoff Merrill Wines Reserve Shiraz 2004
2004 Casella Estate Yellowtail Premium Reserve Cab Sav 2003
2003 Saltram Wine Estate The Eighth Maker Shiraz 2002
2002 Rosemount Estate Traditional Cabernet Merlot 2001
2001 Pepper Tree Wines Reserve Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2000
2000 Punter’s Corner Spartacus Reserve Shiraz 1999
1999 Wolf Blass Wines Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 1998
1998 Katnook Estate Coonawarra Shiraz 1997
1997 De Bortoli Wines Yarra Valley Gulf Station Reserve Shiraz 1996
1996 Hardy’s Eileen Hardy Shiraz 1995
1995 Hardy’s Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz 1994
1994 Rouge Homme Wines Richardson Block Blend 1993
1993 Elderton Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 1992
1992 Seppelt & Sons Harpers Range Blend 1991
1991 Mitchelton Vintners Pty Ltd Print Shiraz 1990
1990 Peter Lehmann Wines Pty Ltd Stonewell Barossa Shiraz 1989
1989 Mildara Jamiesons Run Cabernet Blend 1988
1988 Hardy’s Padthaway Cabernet Sauvignon 1987
1987 Riddoch Wines Coonawarra Cab Shiraz 1986
1986 Lindeman's Wines Coonawarra Pyrus Premium Claret Blend 1985
1985 Hollick Wines Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 1984
1984 Cape Mentelle Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 1983
1983 Cape Mentelle Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 1982
1982 Mildara Mildara Cabernet Shiraz 1981
1981 Lindeman’s Wines St George Cabernet Sauvignon 1980
1980 Krondorf Wines Burge & Wilson Cabernet Sauvignon 1979
1979 Orlando Wines Cabernet Sauvignon 1978
1978 Chateau Yarrinya Cabernet Sauvignon 1977
1977 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1976
1976 Wolf Blass Wines Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 1975
1975 Wolf Blass Wines Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 1974
1974 Wolf Blass Wines Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon 1973
1973 Berri Co-op Winery & Distillery Cabernet Shiraz 1972
1972 Seppelt & Sons Dorrien Cabernet Sauvignon TTI 47 1971
1971 Gramps Orlando Cabernet Sauvignon 1970
1970 Basedow Wines Bin 15 Dry Red Cabernet Shiraz 1969
1969 FE Osborn & Sons d'Arenberg Cabernet Sauvignon 1968
1968 Penfolds Grange Claret type 1967
1967 Saltram Wines Claret 1966
1966 Penfolds Grange Claret type 1965
1965 Seppelt & Sons Great Western Hermitage 1964
1964 Penfolds Bin 64 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon 1963
1963 Hardy's Cabernet Sauvignon Bin C404 1962
1962 Stoneyfell Wines Metala Cabernet Shiraz Claret Type 1961

Got any of these wines in the cellar?

Which wines have you had and how was it?

I have tried quite a few JWT winners, including a very memorable and impressive vertical I helped organize a few years ago:
http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.php?f ... 4&p=115602

Since then I have tried the 2004 Geoff Merill Reserve Shiraz and the 2006 Scarpantoni Brothers Block Cabernet, both very big styles in line with the best from that vertical, but I was not impressed at all with the 2013 S.C. Pannell Adelaide Hills Shiraz: While lauded at the time, I think the changes in submissions and judging around that time have really warped the style of the winning wines, and I just cannot see a Tasmanian Shiraz, Yarra Pinot or (straight) Barossa Grenache having anything like the longevity of these previous winners...

I have also tried the 2001 Rosemount Traditional a few times and glad to say it is still drinking well, but I still have had absolutely no luck with further bottles of the 1993 Rouge Homme Richardson's Block (corked again) and 1988 Jamieson's Run (oxidised again). Somehow I have built up another 13 vintage vertical again between 1979 & 2006 including magnums, not as big as the last one but I should plan to tackle them en masse sometime soonish... (maybe with additions from other people)

Ps. I always thought a Stodart Trophy vs Jimmy Watson Trophy winners battle would be very interesting, still may do somethng in that vein.

Cheers,
Ian

[felixp21]

think I have had just about all of them, excluding the past five or so.
The Wynns 1976 is by far, by far, the best wine amongst that lot.

[Sean]

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[Waiters Friend]

I am presuming the winning Xanadu Cabernet is their 'standard' model, and not the more expensive Stevens Road and Reserve models. I've been buying the standard model for a few years now (in preference to the more expensive models) and they are consistently impressive, reliable and age worthy. Obviously I have not tried the 2016 yet (not released).

Cheers
Allan

[sjw_11]

I have never had a single one of the JWT winners

[Ian S]

I have never had a single one of the JWT winners

ditto

[crusty2]

I attended Ian's vertical and the variability of wines was possibly a reflection of wine style trends at the time.

The single best JWT I have tried was the Penfolds Bin 64 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon 1963, lucky enough to have tried this at a Penfolds recorking Clinic, absolutely stunning, and one of the best wines I have ever tasted.

[Craig(NZ)]

I bought well over a dozen of the 1995 Eileen Hardy Shiraz. Was a great wine on release but it never got any better with age, just changed arguably for the worse

[Sean]

deleted

[Bobthebuilder]

fantastic post sean
i read twice it was so good
thank you

[Waiters Friend]

Agree with Bobthebuilder - great post Sean. Insightful and a good view into the repercussions of winning a major award.

For me, as a relative newbie to wine, a trip across the country (in a commercial van) in 1995 was undertaken to explore some of the wine regions I had only read about. I happened upon Rouge Homme in Coonawarra not all that long after they won the JWT for their 1993 Richardson Red Block. I purchased a few as part of a mixed dozen. It was a good wine for the lavish sum of $15 (which was an average price for pretty good wines at the time - Grant Burge's Meshach was extravagant at $35) and confirmed my interest in Bordeaux blends, but it certainly was not a 20 year wine, and was looking a little tired after 5-6 years from purchase.

Good luck to Rouge Homme for winning the award, but it didn't stop the label being subsumed into a larger wine company, and soon becoming just a Southcorp label. I note the current Rouge Homme CS is available for around $14 a bottle, while the vineyard itself is in the hands of the neighbouring Di Giorgio family. The vineyard was apparently planted in 1908 but I do not know if the 1993 Richardson Red Block contains fruit from that vineyard. I'd be interested to find out. Certainly the current Rouge Homme doesn't.

So that's just one JWT story. Some are definitely more glamorous.

Cheers
Allan

[paulf]

The only JWT wine that I have is the SC Pannel Syrah which was a thirty-something dollar wine at the time of winning, and still is I think. It was cheap enough that I was willing to roll the dice on a 6 pack.
I enjoyed a few bottles, but I found the most recent bottle I drank maybe about 6 months ago, wasn't in a great space. I'm not sure whether it was a phase or whether it has fallen over completely.
Otherwise, I tend not to buy as most of the wines get pushed out of the price range where I am prepared to buy without trying first.

Having said that, I think that when the Yabbie Lake won the the JWT in 2013, I think that it helped not only Yabbie Lake but also the Mornington Peninsula region as a whole, particularly with it being the first pinot to win. I'd imagine that was true with the Glaetzer-Dixon shiraz in Tassie as well as I think it acted as a vindication of those regions.

[Ian S]

It really does make sense to take a balanced view.

That might mean being observant of wine shows / competitions, wine critics, enthusiastic wine shop owners, CT, wine forumites, friends. etc.

However if we bought every 'bigged up' wine from such sources, we'd have cellars of 50-100k bottles.

If we chased the high profile 'annointed' wines such as the JWT, various 'wines of the year' or the '100 pointers', then we'll end up paying a lot more in the sheep-like rush to buy them. If we think any of the above means we're getting 'the best of the best' then we're fools.

Instead, reading a tasting note that sounds appealing, or taking in a range of opinions when thinking about dabbling in a new region / wine style can be very helpful. The score might be 2/5 stars, or 88 on the popular (80-)100 point scale, but the tasting note might sound appealing. In all such instances it might be enough to buy a bottle or two to sample. If we like what we taste, we might return for more bottles of that or a later vintage, or another wine from that producer or region or grape. We're not paying over the odds in the rush for the elusive 'greatest' wine. We're also not ending up with a cellar full of wines that other people like, but that we might not care for.

[Dang]

Bought a 6-pack of Best's Bin No 1. My thinking: '11 is not a great vintage so Best's used all the good grapes for Bin No 1. Drank all and went back to get more, they were all gone!
The only JWT left in my cellar is the '96 Eileen Hardy and it's a Magnum, signed by Thomas Hardy himself. We had the '98 Eileen for the wife's birthday a few years ago (best nose ever!) and now we are not sure for what occasion we would drink the magnum.
I cannot remember what is the vintage of the Michelton Print Shiraz that we had quite a while ago.
Not a bad collection of JWT drinks for this neck of the wood.
Cheers.

[Steve]

I am in Margaret River at the moment and visited Xanadu yesterday. I thought it would be quite busy but we were the only people there at about 11am.

The JWT winner is available in a three vintage vertical of the same wine - 14, 15, 16 reserve cabernets, for $117/3 pack - which reflects the $39 retail price of each vintage. There's another way to get it, but it involves joining their wine club. The wine isn't released yet and isn't available any other way.

It's a very good wine and fantastic value at $39. I haven't been lucky enough to be able to taste newly crowned JWT winners only days after winning in the past, so I have no idea how it compares to prior winners.