1984 Seppelt Great Western Vineyards Hermitage

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:42 am

I went to the Cellarbrations down the road today after I heard they had a bunch of old riesling there. Ended up spending my old riesling money on a 1994 Tyrrell's Vat 1 semillon and a 1984 Seppelt Great Western Vineyards Hermitage - it's probably a few month's older than I am!

I've done a bit of research and I've found TORB's notes on the 1985 that he made in 2001, Mr. Oliver doesn't have notes for the 84 but reckons the 85 was worth 88 points and had a drinking window of 97 to 02.

The bloke at the shop reckons it was still holding up alright but was showing it's age. He also reckons it needs ages in the decanter to show well - he thought it was gone, then came back six hours later to find it showing beautifully. Interesting!

So, there was no other option but to open it...

It's been in the decanter for about half an hour and like the wine selling guy, I reckon it's a few years past it. There's some fruit there but mostly there's just slightly thin, watery acid and tannin and a slightly fruity but bitter and astringent finish. Of course, I haven't made up my mind yet - one of the advantages of working from home is that I'll be able to visit the bottle downstairs every so often to see how it's doing.

The Vat 1, though, is superb. Pity the bottle isn't cold, and it's 11:10am, and I'm working, and there's no cricket on TV... I gotta wait until later tonight to investigate it further

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:55 pm

The Seppelt is past it. Don't bother. The Tyrrell's, though, is stunning... and has years left.

Cheyne · Post by **Cheyne** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 1:55 am

Steve,

Interesting that you were let down by the Seppelt. I had a bottle last year that was fantastic. It had definitely hit its peak drinking, but i still found the aged characteristics that came through interesting. Sure the fruit had taken a back seat, but the wine was still a great example of an older shiraz. I also found that its low alcohol level (around 12.5%) a huge change from so many of the monsters around at the moment, and was left to wonder what to expect from some of the more recent vintages of the St Peters.

Cheers
Cheyne

dlo · Post by **dlo** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:32 am

Steve,

The 1985 Seppelt GW Hermitage (as it was called then) can be pretty awesome. It displays a fair whack of dimethyl sulphide, which may account for JO's score and drinking window. Unfortunately, Jeremy's annual doesn't specify the date when last tasted (important information to know when trying make decisions on a wine's suitability etc.).

Unlike your bottle of 1984, the 1985 is a totally different proposition. It's definitely still drinking well today, although, as my recent note (18/03/06)
below testifies, should be drunk soonish.

Seppelt's Great Western Shiraz (labelled as Hermitage) 1985 - a wine that The Godfather and I have drunk together on many occasions for close to 20 years now. Harbouring a bright red/medium ruby core with only minimal bricking, the exaggerated dimethyl characters on the nose should have been a dead give-away for The Godfather to pick this COTB (he didn't!). Full of black plums, mulberry, blackberry, roasted capsicum, tinned sweet corn, savoury/chocolate/mocha oak and a touch of white pepper; the only distracting character that marred the bouquet was a touch of asparagus (that with time, thankfully, dissipated). In the mouth, succulent sweet, spicy red and black fruits (as noted above) may be just starting to tire just a frac, although ripe acidity still pokes through, and with integrated fine-grained, fluffy tannins, present a well structured, fully mature wine of some class. Creamy/mocha oak, seamlessly meshed throughout, plays an important, supportive role in the wine's flavour profile. Surprisingly, there's less of the overt dimethyl here than found in the bouquet (a good thing!). Still an Excellent example but, if representative, must be drunk soon.

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:27 pm

[quote="Cheyne"][/quote]
My apologies for not replying sooner. I've been slack!

I was also surprised at the stuff I found inside the bottle. A few people had suggested that the wine would show aged shiraz very nicely, but this stuff was nearly undrinkable. Certainly not drinkable with a cellar full of drinkable stuff nearby. It's a pity, because I know other vintages of this wine are great.

Oh well. That's wine, I guess

Steve · Post by **Steve** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:39 pm

dlo wrote:[/i]

Again, my apologies.

I've heard great things about the 85, but at the time I was buying this thought it was the 84 I'd heard good things about. Oh well.

I tasted the stuff with Dad and he was surprised, many years ago he remembers opening a bottle of it on my 5th birthday and reckons it was "pretty good" - and that coming from him means it's very good!