The Auswine Forum

Only asking after finding an entire stray box stashed away in a corner.
Would this cheapy get any better with the time it has spent hidden away.
We are having an event and putting on a bunch of free beer and wine.
Will open and see if it's ok to serve as the reisling (no wine buffs attending)
Any chance it might actually be nicer now?

Riesling can improve. Definitely the best varietal of the JC basic range. May be pleasantly surprised. Best option would be to open one

cheers

Carl

i hate the idea of wasting a bottle of anything. It has to be opened when people are keen to drink it. That's the only reason it's not popped yet!
We bought some 10yo Hunter Valley Semillon cleanskins on a tip from a friend and opened one of those and it was deemed too good for the event. It would go unappreciated.
So we've been drinking those all Summer
good to some consider that JC one of the better ones

Dear Rocknoise

I used to buy (early 90's) dozen bottles of Mcwilliams Inheritance riesling for about $4 a bottle and leave them in the cellar for a couple of years - and then they were fabulous! Maybe your JC will do the same

Regards

Luke

My money is on the JC Riesling looking good!
Adair

I agree with Adair.

Mahmoud

Without being pessimistic, doesn't it depend on what you expect from a (now) seven year old bottle of white?

Don't get me wrong, I am an advocate (as this forum will attest to!) of cellaring riesling, but I'm not convinced JC was made remotely with this in mind. It was made to be a 'drink now' wine, and if you get a drinkable wine out of it after seven years, you're a lucky person. I won't go into the long list of things that might make it less than pristine

I hope I'm proved wrong.

Cheers

Allan

Waiters Friend wrote:Without being pessimistic, doesn't it depend on what you expect from a (now) seven year old bottle of white?

Don't get me wrong, I am an advocate (as this forum will attest to!) of cellaring riesling, but I'm not convinced JC was made remotely with this in mind. It was made to be a 'drink now' wine, and if you get a drinkable wine out of it after seven years, you're a lucky person. I won't go into the long list of things that might make it less than pristine

I hope I'm proved wrong.

Cheers

Allan

Hahaha!

I am not suggesting it is going to be a great wine experience. But I have had many aged whites, including 1990s Sauivignon Blancs from the Hunter Valley that were most interesting drinks after 10 years.

This wine has a much greater chance of being a nice drink. I don't think it will have the acid structure of a 90+ point wine, but it is likely to be broad and flavoursome and something that would be quite enjoyable when chilled. Being JC, the fruit will be of good quality (no not great, but there are many lower levels in the OW range) and free of winemaking faults that are highlighted with age. And it is Riesling and not, say, Sauvignon Blanc so it should have some ability to age even if it were not made for it.

Okay rocknoise, hurry up and open it!

Adair

I had a similar wine recently from the same vintage - it was Yalumba riesling 02, and it was not good. Deep yellow, dull fruit, going a bit vegetal. Hopefully the JC is better...

not good... not enjoyable...
nothing much but dull straw on the nose.
A hint of buttery characteristics but no fruit zing and a harshish bitter finish.
Allan, now i'm curious (as a bit of a novice) what are just a couple from he "long list of things" that make a drink-now likely to be less than pristine?

A shame indeed.

cheers

Carl

One of the most important things for longevity is balance, a balance between the fruit and the acid. Too much of one doesn't make for long life. Likewise with too little.
With red wines you can add the amount of tannin to the equation. Too much tannin always gives you a hard taste in aged reds, too little and it doesn't last the distance!
I've had a lot of trouble finding a riesling good enough to cellar for the long term. I particularly like aged rieslings. I've bought quite a number and still haven't found one.
Hope the above helps.
Kim

plummy wrote:One of the most important things for longevity is balance, a balance between the fruit and the acid. Too much of one doesn't make for long life. Likewise with too little.
With red wines you can add the amount of tannin to the equation. Too much tannin always gives you a hard taste in aged reds, too little and it doesn't last the distance!
I've had a lot of trouble finding a riesling good enough to cellar for the long term. I particularly like aged rieslings. I've bought quite a number and still haven't found one.
Hope the above helps.
Kim

Hi Kim,

Which rieslings have you tried that have failed to last the distance for you and also which aged rieslings have you liked?

I should mention that I actually find this variety one of the easiest to cellar to be honest. Especially if one just looks at white varieties. Its chardonnay that I find hard.

cheers

Carl

griff wrote:

plummy wrote:One of the most important things for longevity is balance, a balance between the fruit and the acid. Too much of one doesn't make for long life. Likewise with too little.
With red wines you can add the amount of tannin to the equation. Too much tannin always gives you a hard taste in aged reds, too little and it doesn't last the distance!
I've had a lot of trouble finding a riesling good enough to cellar for the long term. I particularly like aged rieslings. I've bought quite a number and still haven't found one.
Hope the above helps.
Kim

Hi Kim,

Which rieslings have you tried that have failed to last the distance for you and also which aged rieslings have you liked?

I should mention that I actually find this variety one of the easiest to cellar to be honest. Especially if one just looks at white varieties. Its chardonnay that I find hard.

cheers

Carl

Hi Kim

Acid vs fruit is certainly a big part of the equation for riesling. Alcohol is another (related) one, and those that are too high in alcohol don't have longevity. If anything, a touch of 'steeliness' and shyness when young might bode well for a glorious cellaring future....

Having said that, I have a reasonable amount of riesling in the cellar that I have confidence will cellar well (10+ years in some cases), and I've had a couple of stellar rieslings twice that age. Without listing labels, pick your location (Eden Valley, Clare Valley, Great Southern), try a couple and see if you find pristine fruit and balanced acid - maybe the Petaluma Hanlin Hill is a good starting point. PM if you want a list of my personal favourites.

Carl,

Have to agree with you on Chardonnay - of the white varieties, this is the one I would love to cellar more of, and spend the most money on, but don't go much beyond 5 years generally. I've been disappointed more often than not, at some expense. I have 30 or so in the cellar (including some big guns), but don't go back past 2004.

Cheers

Allan

thanks for the tips guys!

just something that came to mind - non-wine buffs usually tend to prefer young fresh rieslings, because the kero characters are so unfamiliar, so even if this bunch were drinking well as aged rieslings, your friends may not like them much anyway