The Auswine Forum

1998 Branson Coach House Shiraz – 14.5%

Very powerful, deep, ripe, nearly overripe for my palate, cherry ripe, fruitcake Shiraz fruit with sultana and some port-like nuances. Powerful choco-coconut and vanilla oak is very present but is in line with the wine. The palate is broad, very long and very smooth with a little glycerine mouthfeel. It has excellent structure but it is hard to decipher due to the wineÂ’s fruit power and depth. This is a textbook, show wine of great quality but nothing profound can be found yet, but it will age well for a long time. 18.3/20.

Adair

Had this almost 4 years ago. All I can remembered it was so creammy like mocha milkshake. Excellent wine and I'm amazed for such a precoucious wine it stood the test of time.
This was the last vintage by R.Binder. The late Malcolm Aspen took over the winemaking in 99, 00. His widow sold the property to Mike Twelfree in 2002.

It really was still a baby. Very, very good wine. It was definitely in your preferred style.

I had the good fortune of taking a good quantity of this wine back to the hotel room with me and sampling it again as an "after-breakfast treat", and it was still going strong.

Thanks for the notes. Rolf makes good wine!!!

Adair

Adair wrote:...again as an "after-breakfast treat"
Adair

It's so delicious that I dont spreading on my toast ((joking))

MC

I found a bottle at a shop in Allentown, PA USA. I had never heard of Branson before, but it was an 02 from a good area in the Barossa, so I grabbed it and had it that night for dinner. It was wonderful and what a compliment to the lamb we had. Went back the very next day to get the last bottle, and some other cheeky bugger had already grabbed it. When you snooze, you lose!

Mike

You should have asked a friend in Australia for an opinion first then you could have bought both bottles!

How's the Aust wine search going, finding a few?

When I got the Branson, it was one of those moments - saw something a little familiar, Barossa, 02, Roennfeldt Road, if it's like its neighbors, then it might be a winner, so I took a chance and got it. It was a pleasant, wonderful, big surprise, although I think lessons from professor 707 might have had something to do with the educated selection. Yeah, I know, should have had the guts to get both in the first place, even tho I didn't recognize the name.

Few is the operative word on other good Aussies. I did find an 02 Torbreck Descendant that I grabbed. They do have some Two Hands, but you didn't seem to be real positive on them. The "shop" (very big box wine store) that I found them at is a good 45 minute drive from my place, so I won't be going there often, but they do wave a good web site that I'm checking out.

Mike,
Brilliant isnt it? The packaging of Branson C.H. '02. Massive bottle with embosed letterings. So atractive and eye-catching that even a person who doesnt know about the wine will be tempted to pick up.
Drank one last nite, notes to follow.

Chow Chow,

Packaging actually did play a part in the selection. The wine was in the "fine wine" section of the shop, a good size temperature controlled cooler/cellar. It was down near the bottom of the Aussie display, and the bottle stood out, so yup, I just had to take a look. Well done for the marketing blokes and/or blokettes.

Mike

Chow Chow wrote:Mike,
Brilliant isnt it? The packaging of Branson C.H. '02. Massive bottle with embosed letterings. So atractive and eye-catching that even a person who doesnt know about the wine will be tempted to pick up.
Drank one last nite, notes to follow.

Hi Chow Chow

Did you ever try the C.H 02 and if so is it worth its asking price?