The Auswine Forum

Hi all,

You may remember a recent poll on this forum re: quality of 2002 vs 1998. I have not had much experience with the 02's yet, but had been dabbling in a few 98's. I posted that I found many of them had dreadfully under-whelmed me.

Recently uncorked another couple, and these wines have re-ignited my enthusiasm for the 98 vintage. The wines were the 98 Cullen, and the 98 No 1. The Cullen was sensational, with a bouquet that filled the air around the table as it was poured, and the palate did not let us down. It seemed to get better and better as we drank it. And the No 1? Well, it is still the huge fruit bomb (but balanced) that it was when we purchased it, with none of that dried out flatness/sourness that other 98's suffered from.

Hmmm can't wait to try the other 98's recently pulled from the cellar now.

Cheers,

monghead

Hi Monghead

I assume you mean the Cullen Cab Merlot and the Saltram No. 1 Shiraz?

Cheers
Elvis

My recent experiences with the 98 vintages are as follows:

Coonawarra Cabs: John Riddoch, Zema FR, Jacaranda
all have many years ahead of them, but the overuse of oak worries me.

The 389's are developing wonderfully and will be a stunning wine in 2010.

Totally agree about the Cullen.

Barrossa Shiraz: St Hallett, E&E BP, Rockford -
I think are all entering their peak windows soon and not long haul wines

On balance, I believe that the 1998 vintage has produced high quality wines from many regions around Australia. However, I tend to prefer 1996 for SA wines.

Probably have more 98's unopened than those I've drunk.

Drunk
Wynns Cab Sav - only one bottle (or maybe two) left from a half-case. No probs with this wine and of course drunk them too quickly.

Penfolds bin 407 - Much the lesser wine than the above, at all stages of drinking. Still fair value at ~ £8 on special

Tatachilla Foundation - Really impressive in youth, but with the 2nd half of a bottle dying overnight last year, I'm with others who suspect this needs to be drunk asap

St Hallett Old Block - Drunk quite young, so not really relevant to this debate. Wasn't overly impressed though

Primo Joseph Moda - Again drunk quite young, but seemed well put together and more optimistic than JO who IIRC closed the window on it last year

Plantagenet Cab and Shiraz - Both fine, both with more left in the tank

Katnook Cab - 1 bottle drunk young, 2 more buried in the cellar

Henschke Keyneton - Nicely complex a couple of years ago, but wouldn't have seen much sense in further cellaring

Bleasdale Frank Potts - I'm destined never to see how well these cellar as they acquire good complexity from an early age

Craiglee Shiraz - Picked up cheap at auction, might not be classic Craiglee, but still good and possibly reached it's plateau, but no signs of falling away yet

Bests Cab Sav - Drunk last year, this looked very classy, with still good structure and potential for a very long run. If I see anymore I'll be dusting off the cobwebs from the wallet.

+ A few earlier ones I can't recall.

So overall, only the Tatachilla seemed to fall away badly. Was 98 the vintage of the century? How would I know (and "am I bovvered?". I reckon it's a very good vintage and less risky than many. I'm happy to still have a good amount still in the cellar.

regards

Ian[/list]

I still have small stashes of untouched (or only 1 bottle sampled) 98 reds;
Bin 389, 707 & RWT
Wendouree Shiraz, Cab, Cab-Malbec
Cyril Henschke
St Peters
Mount Mary Quintet
Petaluma Coonawarra
I hoping all these will repay the cellaring. A couple of bottles of 98 Gaia suggest the rest need holding, the Wynns Cabernet I'm presuming is in something of a developmental hole at this stage, given it's variable performance.
Plenty of other wines from this year are now consumed - some only just in time. Bin 28 is travelling well but drinks nicely anyway, the Mamre Brook Cab was lovely 2 years ago, similarly Leasingham's Bin 61 is all gone but drank well.
Some fell over fast; Hardy's Tintara Shiraz, Chapel Hill's Vicar, Rosemount Show Reserve Shiraz - these are all dead by now. I sold my Edelstones - was not happy with their thin bretty texture as time passed by.
Later this year I'll be interested to try some more 98s from the Noble Rotters' group cellar, especially the luxury cuvees; Katnook Prodigy, Balmoral, Leasingham Classic Shiraz, E&C Block 353 Shiraz.

I think history will show 1996 to be a better year (for South Australia) than 1998.
cheers,
Graeme

A postscript. This post reminded me I'd popped one of our two bottles of Penfolds Bin128 into the "ready" slots.

Cracked the bottle tonight and it was excellent and for the price, even better. I guess it also had a degree of 'character' that can occasionally be missing from Pennies Bin wines (Bin 407 especially). It's certainly set up for good drinking now and the other one will get cracked in the next couple of years as it doesn't feel like a real long-termer for me.

regards

Ian