Wendouree

[Chad]

Hi guys/girls

Just wanted to ask if anyone has recieved their Wendouree mailer yet? By my calculations they should be arriving in the mail any day now. Must say that these are the wines I get most excited about each year. Maybe it's the whole, "Will I get offered any or won't I thing..." I believe the 2008 vintage was good for Wendouree. Does anyone have any information on this?

Good luck to all, who like me, get excited when they get home to find an envelope with the Wendouree logo on the front.

Chad

[rednut]

I just hate the red or blue line across the page and getting nothing when ordering......

[rooman]

To me, Wendouree is a case of the Emperor's Clothing. To far I simply just don't get all the hype over their wines. I have tried about half a dozen different Wendouree over the years and bar a very drinkable 2000 Cab Malbec recently, I have found them clossal monsters that always seem to need another 2 decades. Now if it was Tim Kirk's wines, I would be lining up with our new PM on a cold and frosty morning outside Canberra for my allocation. Is there anyone out there who really enjoys the wines?

[pstarr]

To me, Wendouree is a case of the Emperor's Clothing. To far I simply just don't get all the hype over their wines. I have tried about half a dozen different Wendouree over the years and bar a very drinkable 2000 Cab Malbec recently, I have found them clossal monsters that always seem to need another 2 decades. Now if it was Tim Kirk's wines, I would be lining up with our new PM on a cold and frosty morning outside Canberra for my allocation. Is there anyone out there who really enjoys the wines?

Yes. Me.

[Gavin Trott]

To me, Wendouree is a case of the Emperor's Clothing. To far I simply just don't get all the hype over their wines. I have tried about half a dozen different Wendouree over the years and bar a very drinkable 2000 Cab Malbec recently, I have found them clossal monsters that always seem to need another 2 decades. Now if it was Tim Kirk's wines, I would be lining up with our new PM on a cold and frosty morning outside Canberra for my allocation. Is there anyone out there who really enjoys the wines?

Yes me

Tannic, can be, colossal, rarely.

.


.

[PaulV]

Sent all mine pre 2005 off to auction. Most recent vintages much better balanced IMHO

[Luke W]

I find each Wendouree a different experience and haven't been disappointed in any of the 30 or so bottles that I've tried. They are not stereotypical and each wine has a great expression of terrior. With the pre 2002 wines I found that you had to wait for many years to get the benefits of their class but most of those since that I've tried have been approachable after 6-10 hours in a ship's decanter.

Some of the wines I've enjoyed the most have been their "lesser" wines and even from years that you wouldn't expect great things (eg. Shiraz Malbec 1997). Some of the wines taste better a day or even 2 or 3 days after opening and some like the Pressings need many years to show their potential. Some of the old shiraz's and cabernets and cabernet malbecs (1990/1994/1996) are drinking gloriously now. They're a bit like first growths - its a bit silly to drink them until they're probably 15-20 years old.

There is a kind of mystery to them and to your allocation - I get a dozen or 2 some years and last year I only got 2 bottles (even though I order up to 2 dozen every year). I think that's part of the charm and also keeps their value high (my local 1st choice sells them from $150 - $250).

I suppose Tony Brady has a pretty difficult job trying to keep the mailout fair particularly in low production years where demand probably outstrips orders by 10 to 1.

viva Wendouree

cheers

Luke

[rednut]

Mine arrived today, no red or blue pencil this year. Maybe there is hope of aquiring something I order... $50 for the Shiraz.

[Luke W]

Thinking about the Wendouree and the next vintage gave me a longing to have another so I opened a 1996 Cabernet Malbec (750ml, 13.1% alcohol).
I opened it at 3pm and put 95% into a decanter and then swilled the dregs and loved every grainy bit!

Initially I found a clear plum colour with garnet edges and long legs, an herbacious aroma of capsicum, thyme, oregano and marjoram with a slight menthol lift.
The palate at this stage (0 hours) was stewed plum with tomato leaf giving way to plums, cranberries with some Chanel 5 in the background....
The tannins were puckering but the wine was silky and harmonious somewhere between light and medium bodied.

An hour later I could taste the vanillin from the oak and some raspberry nuances.

Three and a half hours later I could identify some meaty aromas which moved to stewed plums over the next couple of hours. The palate became more spicy and was redolent with blackberries, plums and black cherries. By the time I was on the last glass the wine was more medium bodied and had strong strawberry and milk chocolate overtones.

I'd say I enjoyed this wine as much as my last Grange (vintage 2004/drunk in Feb 2010)!

Thanks for the inspiration

cheers

Luke

[gastrorob]

2001 Wendouree Cab Malbec, brooding power rather than collosus. Complex nose, hint of mint. Firm palate, moderate length, whack of tannin. Good for several years yet.

[Gavin Trott]

Wendouree mailing list members

I am not a mailing list member, as a retailer and given the obvious conflict of interest I never joined,

however,

am long time fan, and collector of these wines.

Sometimes Wendouree mailing list members are happy to let me have a little of the allocation they have been given, but do not want, and in this way I get a mix each vintage. ...

Should there be anyone in that boat from this vintage, I would love to hear from you!!??

Happy with any mix really, not focussed on the Shiraz necessarily??

Anyone, anybody !!!

Update, two kind people have offered me some of this wonderful wine, and plenty for my needs. My thanks to them, and anyone else offering, or thinking of offering!



.

[orpheus]

Mine arrived today (I'm in Sydney).

This time, no markings on it (usually, a red line). I only joined about 5 years ago, so I am of no particular importance. I have always been allocated some of what I have asked for. As I particularly like the Cabernet Malbec, this might be the explanation (as perhaps it is not as popular as the shiraz and shiraz blend wines).

I am sure there is a thread on what it is all supposed to mean, but could someone give some sort of explanation?

[Mandingo]

Sneaking suspicion that they are not marking this year's mail orders - mine had none and I have been on their list for 15 years. Perhaps everyone gets a full allocation?

[beachbum1971]

Hi Guys,

As a general question, how do you get on their mailing list?

A quick search has had me score a duck egg looking for a web site. I don't mind waiting for a while as I have gone back to uni, although would like to be in a good position once I have escaped again. I have been earning brownie points for a while with Rockford and really am in no rush to be a Stonewaller at the moment especially seeing I am now on Folly's A-List and need to sneak that past the bride.

Thanks,

Justin

[George Krashos]

About 8 years ago I wrote them a (in retrospect) cheeky letter basically saying that it was criminal that young, wine enthusiasts couldn't source their wines and that all the old people on their list will die eventually and so they needed some young blood to keep things moving along smoothly. Next thing I knew, I received an order form for the 1998 vintage and the rest is history. I've only ever missed out on 1 vintage (1999) and usually get most of what I order - if I don't, it's usually because I've been lazy in returning my order form. I hear that it's better to ask to get on the mailing list in 'abundant vintages' - as was the case in 1998 and is not the case with the second tranche of 2006s (the current release) and the non-existent 2007s.

-- George Krashos

[ufo]

Sneaking suspicion that they are not marking this year's mail orders - mine had none and I have been on their list for 15 years. Perhaps everyone gets a full allocation?

I got the dreadful red line again this year. I have been on the list for 8 years and always get what I order.
So what the hack is the red line for considering that fact that someone who has been on the list for 5 years does not get the red line ?!?!?!

[Chad]

UFO

I don't think you should get too worried. I got the red crayon last year and still got a full order. This year I had no crayon. Two years in a row I've been lucky to get offered all I ordered. Maybe no crayon is the evil sign..... We''ll see anyway. Good luck with your order.

Chad

[orpheus]

UFO

I don't think you should get too worried. I got the red crayon last year and still got a full order. This year I had no crayon. Two years in a row I've been lucky to get offered all I ordered. Maybe no crayon is the evil sign..... We''ll see anyway. Good luck with your order.

Chad

You and I are in the same position, Chad. I don't think we've done anything wrong, so I'm taking the absence of a red crayon as at worst a neutral fact.

[dave vino]

I got mine today. Red Crayon.

[richie32]

Has the code ever been cracked.......
What would a green tick imply?

[Deano]

If you are ordering your maximum quota (of 6 per variety) it won't matter, otherwise, take care when filling out the order form. The front page is not in the same sequence as the order form. The Cab/Malbec and CabSav are swapped around and if you didn't notice you might get the wrong quotas you thought you were getting.

[rednut]

Anybody else got theirs yet. My brother got his delivered Monday??
I havent heard or seen squat.

[Red Bigot]

In ACT, haven't received mine yet, will try to contact them next week if it doesn't arrive soon.

[JamieBahrain]

Are you all talking of wines delivered or just the mailer?

I am in ADL, though late ordering this year, and generally get my wines a few weeks after the mailer. Black Initials....

[Red Bigot]

Just called Wendouree - their mailout is based on the orders list from the previous year. I didn't order anything last year, so didn't get one this year, but they will send an order form asap, hope there is something left to buy...

[rednut]

Are you all talking of wines delivered or just the mailer?

I am in ADL, though late ordering this year, and generally get my wines a few weeks after the mailer. Black Initials....

I'm talking wine. He has his already.

[JamieBahrain]

I am in Adelaide and a long term mailing list member. Usually, each year, my wines are delivered within weeks whilst other folks have only just received their mailer.

SA a priority?

[Eurocentric]

I've been charged for a full order but it hasn't arrived yet (Sydney).

[dave vino]

Got mine yesterday, everything I ordered. Happy Chappy.

[gpk]

looks like orders for Qld are shipped, credit card just got wacked.....everything I ordered

Gerry