TN: 1998 Cult Shiraz

[Tom Pedersen]

On Friday, my friends Jesper and Torsten put together an amazing line-up of 1998 Oz Shiraz. 9 People were attending – and luckily I was among them! It was a very, very interesting event, and certainly helped settle my personal ranking on the highest regarded 1998s. 9 of the 11 wines were known in advance, but all wines were served blind and revealed after the flights.

Flight 1
Henschke Hill of Grace 1998
Lighter ruby with some transparency. Volatile nose with overripe plums, elderberry, red blackberris, flowers and marcipan. Got increasingly volatile with airing. On the palate this was balanced, with medium body and a mineral pronounced acidity. The fruit seemed hot and stewed. Soft and open-knit with the mineral and cinnamon spiced finish. Very strange showing. (90?)

PenfoldÂ’s Grange 1998
Opaque cherryred. Charry oak on the nose, blackberry, sweet jammy fruit, licorice, and hints of currant also. Thick and textured, this mineral driven wine has a dominant slight hard acidity and lots of oak tannins. Plenty of fruit is hidden and subdued, but this wine is closed for business and should be left alone, as it needs to integrate its components. (95+)

Torbreck Runrig 1998
Dark opaque black with ruby rim. Beautiful open floral nose, with cloves, sweet licorice, blackberry, tar and flowers. Fruitdriven, velvety with layers of dark fruit this is well balanced and opulent at the same time. Superripe acidity and tannins complete the picture, but the wine still lacks the magic of a truly great wine. (97)

Flight 2
Veritas Hanisch 1998
Opaque ruby. Developed on the nose with ryebread, cocoa, barnyard, mokka, asphalt. Very deep but not very fresh. Mineral, aggressive acidity, rather disjointed from the fruit, suggest along with my 4 previous encounters with this layered and elegant wine, that this bottle is off, or the wine is heading downhill. I hope the former is true, as Hanisch on form is stunning. (94)

Burge Family, Draycott Reserve 1998
Dark cherryred. Hints of caramel in the closed dark nose. With airing it suddenly opens and reveals blackberry, sweet spices and tar. Classic expression, but with the offputting caramel note. However, on the palate this is sensational! Perfect acidity supports perfect pure fruit that is so layered that the wine seems almost creamy in its texture. Fine structure gives promise for an even greater future. (99)

Kaesler Old Bastard 1998
Slightly lighter in color than the former wine, this is so spicy on the nose with white pepper, balsamic notes, minerals and cocoa in the dark licorice fruit. I knew immediately what this wine was when it hit my palate. The cloying thickness of the fruit, too fat and to sticky, with slighty hard acidity is possibly unique in Shiraz. Salt and licorice in the flavor of this wine that desperately lacks definition. IÂ’d be interested to see how this ages, however. (94)

dÂ’Arenberg Dead Arm 1998
Seemed corked.

Flight 3
Greenock Creek, Roennfeldt Road 1998
Deep opaque ruby. Tell-tale Roennfeldt nose with blackberry, tar, licorice and perfect sweet fruit. Potent, full-blown and huge on the palate, this is similar to 1996. Salty and licorice driven, this thick velvety monster of a wine is outrageous! (99)

Fox Creek, Shiraz Reserve 1998
Black opaque color. Closed down aromatically only revealing barnyard, licorice and sweet blackberry jam this wine is slightly cold in its appearance, having fine balancing acidity that however does becomes hard in the finish. Structured and uncharming at this stage. (93)

JJ Hahn 1914 Shiraz 1998
Bring out the red bell peppers! This exotic, unique wine shows bacon, red peppers, flowers, cocoa and red/black berries. Great nose! Slighly cold on the palate also with obvious structure, really mineral acidity and red pepper infuced fruit this wine is nicely balanced and quite lovely. (97)

Clarendon Hills Astralis 1998
Opaque ruby. Spicy, jammy fruit, oak in the closed aromas. Structured, with sweet fruit and a mineral and cold face, this is very toned down and classy in its appearance. However I do not really like it at all. It acidic, hard in structure and shows only closed fruit. (92)

Other wines:
Prior to the tasting a sample of 2002 Kaesler Old Bastard. Surely this is fine Shiraz, but it lacks the crazy fatness of the 1998, and also is more mineral in its unkind acidity. (92-94)

After the tasting:
Greenock Creek, Roennfeldt Road 1996
This continues to be a benchmark and reference. Very much like the 1998 in style but possible even bigger! IÂ’ve been lucky enough to have had this a few times and it has been perfect every time! (100)

Fonseca 1970 Vintage Port.
UK-bottling. Dry! Complex and wonderfully harmonious. Licorice and tar in the fruit and plenty of structure. Needs another 30 years I guess. Great stuff!!!

Yquem 1990
A perfect example of this. Apricots, coconut and stunning sweet and complex fruit. Harmonious and balanced. Perfect!

Next day with my brother to check on this in comparison to these 1998s:
HenryÂ’s Drive Shiraz Reserve 2001
Thick velvety, layered fruit driven wine, with beautiful ripe acidity. Blackberries, tar, licorice, cinnamon, minerals. Intense on huge on the palate, certainly better than some wines in the tasting. Perfect ripeness! (96)

ThatÂ’s all. Thanks to Jesper and Torsten for a great GREAT night, which I barely survived...
Tom

[Grant Dodd]

Tom,

An impressive tasting. The Hill of Grace remains a bit of a mystery, and there has been a lot of talk on various forums over here about Henshcke being in a bit of a hole at the moment. I havn't as yet read a glowing report about the 98 HOG, pity, as it is one of my favourite wines.


Cheers

[TORB]

Tom,

Good notes, thanks for posting them. I notice that seven of the notes reference "mineral" in the descriptors which we don't use much in OZ to describe Shiraz. Can you enlighten us by what you mean and possibly provide other similar descriptors to help me better understand what you are getting at.

Many thanks.

[Neville K]

Tom,
Beautifully described. Our kinship with our Mary's adopted home could not help but be improved by such an imposing lineup.
Neville K

[Aussie Johns]

She's not an Aussie. Comes from Tasmania.

[David]

Aussie Johns,
Tassie people aren't Aussie???
Meaning they don't have right to vote for federal elections?

[markg]

Tom,

A great lineup, thanks for the notes.

I had the 2001 Henrys Drive Rsve Shiraz near release and thought that it was one dimensional and quite flabby (after expecting alot from it because I just loved the 2000 Reserve).

However, I have been hearing a few things lately to suggest that it may have either been a bad bottle or simply bottle shock so I think I may have to track one down and give it another go, thanks.

[Guest]

She's not an Aussie. Comes from Tasmania.

Looked like Aussie flags (although pre-Republic version) the Danes were flying intertwined with the Danish standard.

On another note AJ, would be very interested in your thoughts about the decidedly pedestrian offerings shown at the EUROPA tasting. Leaving aside the excellent Rieslings, and the very good Riojas and Pedro Ximinez, the French and to a lesser extent Italian offerings were pitiful IMHO.

[Neville K]

She's not an Aussie. Comes from Tasmania.

Looked like Aussie flags (although sadly the pre-Republic version with the Union Jack appendage) the Danes were flying intertwined with the Danish standard.

On another note AJ, would be very interested in your thoughts about the decidedly pedestrian offerings shown at the EUROPA tasting. Leaving aside the excellent Rieslings, and the very good Riojas and Pedro Ximinez, the French and to a lesser extent Italian offerings were pitiful IMHO.

[Tom Pedersen]

Tom,

Good notes, thanks for posting them. I notice that seven of the notes reference "mineral" in the descriptors which we don't use much in OZ to describe Shiraz. Can you enlighten us by what you mean and possibly provide other similar descriptors to help me better understand what you are getting at.

Many thanks.

Hi Ric,

The mineral descriptor arose from the style of acidity. For wines like the Burge and the Greenock it was sweet and superripe, in others really hard, while most showed a slate, mineral style. I tend to think that I could use this descriptor also in Tuscan Sangiovese and possible Riesling also (even though this could be for other reason also).

Tom

[Aussie Johns]

She's not an Aussie. Comes from Tasmania.

Looked like Aussie flags (although sadly the pre-Republic version with the Union Jack appendage) the Danes were flying intertwined with the Danish standard.

On another note AJ, would be very interested in your thoughts about the decidedly pedestrian offerings shown at the EUROPA tasting. Leaving aside the excellent Rieslings, and the very good Riojas and Pedro Ximinez, the French and to a lesser extent Italian offerings were pitiful IMHO.

Didn't make it there!!
Too bad the tasting wasn't any good. No decent French stuff, eh?? Not a good idea if you are trying to attract a new following.
Thanks for the tip, I won't bother going over to have a look.

[JamieBahrain]

Tom

I queried the mineral descriptor when in France amongst winemakers in Cote Rotie. I think their explaination was lost in translation!

I understood it in regard to Condrieu-mineral and earthy as opposed to the fruit driven expressions - classic floral & apricots.

I did not understand it with their Cote Rotie reds. They tended to indicate the mineral descriptor and earthy layman's explaination of the vineyard terroir.

Your explaination sits more comfortably.

Your note on the freakish Burge Family Draycott Reserve 98, the first I have seen since it was released. I had the wine on release and though obviously very good,I find it hard to tell how good a wine is so early. Your note would indicate justification of the hype-but I did note the magnums sell here for over two thousand Australian dollars at auction!