Penfolds 407 1997-2002

[graham]

Retired all my 407 ( 97-2002) to the drinking rack last month. Not surprisingly the 00 and 01's had fallen apart, not a lot of fruit and a little stale. Opened a 97 last night with a wagu steak, what a nice surprise
Lots of fruit still (blackcurrent) and mint on the back palate, tannins still firm and a touch of oak. Yet to hit the 98's and 02's hope they aren't dead.

Only problem with stashing wine away year after year is when you realise that you have let a number sit in the racks unnoticed for too long. Other retirees in the rack to be hit in the near future:
Tahbilk Shiraz 99-02
Craiglee Shiraz 00-02
389 96-04, not touching the St Henri
Clonakilla hilltops 00-02
All my Rosemount Balmoral ( I'll get burnt here)

Lesson? Take greater note of my spreadsheet and drink windows!

Graham

[AndrewCowley]

I had an 04 Bin 389 recently. Was really good. Still has plenty of life, so no need for you to rush.

[burges]

I had the Rosemount Balmoral ’98 recently. It was drinking well and should be good for a few more years.

[Mahmoud Ali]

I would have thought that all the wines on your list would be on the younger side. They may be drinking well but should have plenty of life yet.

Cheers........................Mahmoud.

[graham]

Mahmoud
My thoughts as well but the wine gods proved fickle ; many wines have proved to be very hit and miss. As I like to say, some are like an angel pissing down your throat( I tend to get in a bit on trouble with this wine description) while other make me wonder why I purchased them in the first place.
I am pleased to say however my vat 1,47 and 9's rarely let me down as do my Yara Yering, Clonakilla, Lakes Folly, Cullen and Rockford.
But at the end of the day that's half the excitement
Graham

[cuttlefish]

Retired all my 407 ( 97-2002) to the drinking rack last month. Not surprisingly the 00 and 01's had fallen apart, not a lot of fruit and a little stale. Opened a 97 last night with a wagu steak, what a nice surprise
Lots of fruit still (blackcurrent) and mint on the back palate, tannins still firm and a touch of oak. Yet to hit the 98's and 02's hope they aren't dead.

Only problem with stashing wine away year after year is when you realise that you have let a number sit in the racks unnoticed for too long. Other retirees in the rack to be hit in the near future:
Tahbilk Shiraz 99-02
Craiglee Shiraz 00-02
389 96-04, not touching the St Henri
Clonakilla hilltops 00-02
All my Rosemount Balmoral ( I'll get burnt here)

Lesson? Take greater note of my spreadsheet and drink windows!

Graham

I disagree about the 01 407's having fallen over. That has to have been a bottle that wasn't quite right for some reason. I had that wine in the last 6 months or so, and it seemed ok to me.

[George Krashos]

Yep, I had the 01 Bin 407 on Friday night and it was singing. Left the 01 Bremerton Old Adam Shiraz for dead.

-- George Krashos

[graham]

I'll try another 01 407 this week. Bottle variation? Hopefully
Although up until 6 years ago I had all my wines stored off site in professional storage facility, after the 3 rd weekend in a row of seeing the temp at 18.4 I decided to build my own cellar . Here is hoping that's not the problem
Graham

[Mike Hawkins]

I really wanted to like 407, but other than the first two releases, i just dont think they reach the expected heights. For that matter, i feel the same about Cullen (now diane madeleine). All of them went to auction.......

[Broughy]

389 96 onwards all fine and will go further although some in their window now for drinking. 407 had some odd results that i am now putting down to bottle variation

[fred]

Always disappointed by bin 407 - yes even those first 2 vintages 1990 & 1991.

The 2000 & 2002 Craiglee shiraz are both in great form and no hurry to knock them off (despite the conservative drinking window on the label the good vintages improve for more than the specified 7-8 years and both 00 & 02 are excellent for Craiglee). BTW the 2000 needs a big decant...

389s are not really ready on any scale (except possibly forward cellaring conditions) albeit 1996 is always going to be supreb (best 389 since 71) and the 98 is a monster...

Balmoral generally makes 407 look good IMHO - and even better as vfm, so just not my preference but YMMV

Agree that you want to knock off the hilltops about now and they should be fine...

regards