The Auswine Forum

Red Bigots mention of a clean skin for $15 from the Barossa was the catalyst for this post.

Obviously it takes people with 'palate-confidence' to pay more for clean skins than the 'Dan Murphy $4.95' crowd.

So what is the most everyone here has paid for cleanskins?

I'm sure that there will be people who completely disagree with this statement, but I won't buy a wine where the maker has refused to put his name on the bottle so as to be recognised.

I have trouble believing that wineries are selling a more expensive wine more cheaply under the guise of "marketing savings".

I'm sure there are good cleanskins around as RB mentioned in his notes, but something doesn't stack up right for my thoughts.

Anyway, i can hear the naysayers telling me to go and spend my money on brand labels....

13$ is the most I have paid... although... have been tempted by the 20$ ones in the past.

Glen,

I buy very few cleanskins in any quantity, but I do taste a few and would probably buy a few more if I didn't already have so much wine.

The Auswine cleanskin was one of the rare ones that Gavin did and it has turned out well. I've paid up to $20 for a cleanskin, but I knew what the wine was - Norman's Peacock Cab blend 1998, I've still got a few left from a dozen to drink soon, it's ready, starting down the other side of peak, but I've enjoyed every one so far.

That well-known Sydney merchant has a big range of "cleanskins" and I've tried quite a few of them over the past couple of years, some free samples, some more recently I bought a mixed case to try. It's pretty obvious what many of the wines are and they will mostl likely tell you if you can't work it out. Most of those I've tried recently seem to be fair value and one $16 Heathcote Shiraz quite impressed my tasting group.

There are already predictions of the cyclic demise of the cleanskin market as the glut recedes due to small harvests in 2007 and probably 2008, I think that's a little premature, but it will probably be much harder to find good wines as cleanskins than it is at the moment.

Red Bigot wrote: I've paid up to $20 for a cleanskin, but I knew what the wine was - Norman's Peacock Cab blend 1998,

That was my most expensive cleanskin as well, but I have none left. I was aware of what it was too. With a label I had seen it for $80+. Great drink.

I also bought some of the $15 from Gavin that have been good even when I did mix them up.

Graham

I think about $13 is the most I have spent on a clean skin. I mostly know what is in the bottle before shelling out either from tasting or from a winery. Gianna clean skins like Warrabilla are a known quantity, barrels not up to scratch for the labeled wine and sold cellar door mail list only. I don't have a problem with this at all but I get your point with some of the Melbourne cleanskin shops etc.

Glen

I know I shouldn't mention another retailer but their business is very different to what Gavin's and they are pretty small. (Please delete if you want to Gavin)

Nude wines in Tas specialise in Tassie cleanskins. Because they are small they do seem to get genuine Tas clearance stock and cancelled orders. The most expensive cleanskin I ever bought was from there, a $15 Tamar Valley Pinot. They have tastings so you can make up your own mind.

You can also "work out" what a few of the wines are. I beleive they have had Holm Oak and Lubiana wines in the past.

The other cleanskin I paid $15 for (from a different place) was a Goulburn Valley Reserve Shiraz but the capsules were removed and you could read Mitchelton on the cork. This was in 2003 I think so it seemed like it was a genuine cellar release. Excess stock of back vintages that they couldn't move was the reason I was given at the time.

I try to buy directly from wineries and in the last year or so have had some pretty decent cleanskins from Jim Barry, Warrabilla and Dromana Estate, but most have been around the $10 mark. With so many great value labelled wines in the $15 to $40 price range I wouldn't be willing to pay much more than $10 for a cleanskin.

I've occasionally dropped into a shop in Melbourne that sends regular e-mails about this weeks 'Deal of the Year, Basket Pressed Shiraz from Barossa from really Old Vines from a 5 star rated winery, RRP $40' etc. After tasting I rarely leave with any more than a couple of bottles that have been fair value at around $10.

I paid $20 for a cleanskin at a winery once (won't say which one given it was probably illegal for them to sell it without anything on it). It was actually their very good sparkler which they had found a few more cases after they had run out of labels and printing more labels would have been prohibitively expensive for such a small bunch. I think it would have been about $30 with the label.

Or may be at Bullers 03 Calliope Shiraz from memory - the labels hadn't arrived yet so they were writing minimum legal and identification stuff on in gold pen.

buying a cleanskin is like going home with a girl that wont tell you her name

thats it Im going shopping for cleanskins


I think the top Ive paid would be about 16 clams.

Craig(NZ) wrote:buying a cleanskin is like going home with a girl that wont tell you her name

You have first-hand experience of this?

I'm told that sometimes a good time is had by all in these situations and sometimes it just doesn't work out. But you can say that about a lot of labelled wines too.

Red Bigot wrote:That well-known Sydney merchant has a big range of "cleanskins" and I've tried quite a few of them over the past couple of years, some free samples, some more recently I bought a mixed case to try. It's pretty obvious what many of the wines are and they will mostl likely tell you if you can't work it out. Most of those I've tried recently seem to be fair value and one $16 Heathcote Shiraz quite impressed my tasting group.

They had a $18 Martinborough pinot from Craggy Range that wasn't bad - I've got a couple left. That's my record...
cheers,
Graeme

Never bought a cleanskin, I was given one a while ago to try, havn't had the right opportunity yet.

buying a cleanskin is like going home with a girl that wont tell you her name

I don't see your problem, as long as her name wasn't Lola.

There is an interesting issue of terminology - whether "cleanskin" refers to generics put out through retailers or does it include anything without a label eg inventroy direct from winery which never got labelled ( a few of the larger groups are notorious for poor inventory control and "finding" pallets of wine a few years later).

In the former case - about $10 and still direct from winery where I knew what I was getting, albeit he sold a particular wine without label but by the dozen descriptor; and in the latter close to $40 for magnums of a very well-known wine from a decent vintage where the individual bottles sell for about that normally.

Unlabelled Best GW Bin0 Shiraz at $18.00

I bought several dozen of the Haselgrove McLaren Vale Limelight Shiraz 2001 (RRP $49) as a cleanskin for $18. Wonderful wine and I still have a dozen left, quietly maturing to be the best cleanskin ever!

I buy cleanskins regularly and pay around the $8 to $12 mark depending on the wine regions I'm at. For instance I would not pay any more than $8 from Bill Chambers (Rutherglen) because its usually a barrel he's forgotton about. Bullers tend to sell their nearly 'out of date' wines (Rose) as cleanskins which is quite pleasant but to drink straight away.

I also entertain and have dinner parties a lot so I do buy cleanskin wines for cooking especially the reds.

Most winneries, not all, have the cleanskins for tasting - I will not buy a cleanskin without tasting it first.

I must admit ... I did go to a winnery where they had a tasting. The wine was quite pleasant (Chenin Blanc) and fruity. When I opened the first bottle at home it was like drinking a desert wine. So be aware - what you taste is not always what you get.
I didn't throw it down the drain but used it as a topping on vanilla icecream.

I was fortunate enough to pick up a couple of 2001 Pinots whilst in Brisbane last year for the princely sum of $4.95.

How it came about and the reason I purchased these wines was that the night before I was out to dinner with my father and picked up a 2002 Red Hill Estate Pinot Noir. A very nice wine that went very well with the Thai/Asian dinner we had. The next day I went to their local bottle shop for a browse and came across the cleanskin and clearance section. I noticed a couple of clean skin pinots. I had a quick read of the label which simply said 2001 Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula. Upon further reading the label stated that the wine produced and bottled by Red Hill Estate and the address in very small print. So at $4.95 I thought it was worth having a punt and turned out to be a very good wine at a bargain price. From memory I think I paid somewhere between $25-$30 for the 2002 the night before. The thing that was really impressive was that the 2001 was a much better wine than the 02 we had the night before for the 1/5th of the price. So I guess it was just good luck, synchronicity and the wine universe aligning itself for us to enjoy a good pinot at a greatly reduced price.

Some 1998 Grange for $100 prior to the actual release. The bottles had all the correct etchings and were supposedly something to do with end of bottling run. Seemed a bit strange to me but was too good to knock back.

I used them at a couple of tastings where labelled bottles would have been hard to obtain and too pricey.

I felt a bit guilty when some time later a couple working at Penfolds were convicted of stealing a fair quantity of wine over the previous two years. I now realise these bottles were probably obtained by these guys after bottling but before labelling when the bottles were stored in bins.