The Auswine Forum

Always disappointed by bin 407 - yes even those first 2 vintages 1990 & 1991. The 2000 & 2002 Craiglee shiraz are both in great form and no hurry to knock them off (despite the conservative drinking window on the label the good vintages improve for more than the specified 7-8 years and both ...

Ian, That is a terrible run and not indicative of the quality of ageing of good sangiovese. That being said IMHO 1998 is a pretty poor vintage for really good sangiovese (not surprised as I love both Cepparello and Tignanello - even if Tignanello is really a super-Tuscan not straight sangiovese - bu...

Ian, Interesting that you should put htis up as opened both 1996 and 1997 over the last weekend. I had both open for 4 hours and THEN poured into wine jugs about 1.5 hours prior to serving. I agree the 1996 has fabulous potential - but not quite there. By contrast the 1997 is closer to its peak on t...

1998 TR222 drinking pretty well and the TR16 shiraz is also holding up ok. The real beauties of the old Tollana range were the occasional Reserve shiraz - made infrequently but many classes superior to the standard TR16. There was a rumour that a Reserve 1996 and 1998 were to be made but the fruit w...

Phil, I haven't had a bottle of the 76 since 1996, so that is a long time ago! 1976 in MR was NOT a great vintage - and the wine is not comparable to either the 75 or 77 which were the early benchmarks (but there is alos a tendency with the passing years for the writers to become soggy with nostalgi...

Second bottle from a six pack, Fred, and both times, not my wine . Last bottle opened some months back (from the same source) seemed riper upon opening and I can't recall how it fared in the glass, sorry, but I do remember it being very bloody good. The bottle yesterday was spectacularly classy at ...

[quote="dlo"] Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz 1998 - very classy, particularly upon opening but it didn't improve in the glass, looking older and losing focus and the brilliant delineation as it sat in the glass. Otherwise I enjoyed this one a great deal for the most part. I haven't yet reco...

David, I agree with you (but always preferred the 83 over the 82). The flagship CS has always been very good but the shiraz lost its way from the mid-80s to about 1994 (the 1994 is back on track), while the Trinders - formerly known as Cab-merlot was a quaffer of reasonable quality but no great dist...

Mmm- I bought a couple more 71s at $110 from a restaurant up a the snow in about the same vintage....but as you know I am chronically incapable of selling wines I like ...unless someoen made me an offer too good to refuse. My stash of 71 Grange has been drunk, but as of 18 months ago it is still the...

Let's see Australian:- 1971 Grange on release at under $10 (about $9.99)... at the time the poor man's Grange bin 389 was about $3.50, HOG was a competitor at <$4, and Mt Edelstone was a better cellaring wine and about 20c cheaper than HOG 1976 bin 620 and 621 at $10 per bottle reflecting on whether...

I say that Oz CS typically closes form 5-8 but that does not mean it miraculously open at 9! Quite the reverse: my rule of thumb on the wines I mentioned is that they should be in their window from the age of 15 in decent vintages....caveat as I am yet to see a wine of that sort under screwcap albei...

Is the 2001 worth trying at all now? Have been hanging to open a bottle to try but don’t want the 99 experience (waste of time). Assuming decent cellaring, my window for the 01 would only start in about 6 years time. Too many people fail to note that most CS hibernates at least from age circ...

Ian, As a longtime Moss Wood supporter (since the first vintage!), you got a dud 99. Of the wines you listed the stars should have been/will be (IMHO) 1991: drinking superbly but as with all such wines it is a question of the individual bottle... 1995: very very good 1999: destined to be a star in a...

Ian, Starting with the best: that Lindemans 1970 Chablis: if you get a good bottle it is still (arguably) the best white ever made in Oz - certainly the best semillon (and I am a huge vat 1 fan) - but after nearly 40 years it is a random number generator. The last one I tasted (18 months ago) was su...

KH: For 21 years from 1976 to 1996 inclusive this was the benchmark of entry point wines that rewarded cellaring, and made very decent wines even in poor vintages (eg 1992, 1993, 1995), while the good vintages boxed well above their weight : 1976, 1990, 1991 & 1996 spectacularly. However since 1...

Pipers Brook 2002 chardonnay : perhaps the best Tasmanian chardonnay I have tasted - but some VERY dodgy corks/oxidative effects. If you get a pristine bottle, you are in for a treat, but some are just "gone" oxidised badly and you will pick it up on the nose without needing to taste (and ...

Ian, Well-cellared magnums of both 66 and 71 are considerably better than the 65!!! (IMHO) Also missing from the group and drinking well - albeit never stellar, is the 94, which is one of our quaffers at home at present. 98 needs at least another couple of years to enter its window, and 99 is more s...

My tip for you is that unless you just enjoy oak, JR only comes into its own as an integrated wine as the BL is on the downhill slope/fading. On that note for my palate:- well-cellared 1982 (the first JR) & 1988 are the best drinking at present - with the 82 likely to remain superior until it st...

Oh..in that case most of the 83 Lindies magnums are shit..they were re-bottled from singles and they invariably look tired compared to singles. GW I'm not sure where you get your facts Gary but there were both original release magnums of the 1983 reserve and classic releases from Lindemans. Certain...

Pre-dinner: 1996 Pol cuvee Winston Churchill: young to the point of vinfanticide but a superb Pol for the ladies (note to leave these for another 5 years) Dinner to celebrate a friend and my birthday with our respective wives:- Stuffed zucchini flowers with crab & prawn on an avocado & pea l...

Graeme,
check your PM please...
regards

Thankyou and congratulations for outstanding service to Petaluma for their replacement of 2 corked bottles of 2001 riesling with (at my request) the screwcapped 2002. While noting this, the good bottles of 2001 are just entering their mature phase for drinking - but alas will never challenge the 198...

Just a couple of points:- Unless the Leonay and Grosset Polish Hill have very significant age on them, there is little or no point to showing them: they need far more age to show reward than the others (eg Leonay 1991 is only just in my window - and 1994 still too young!!). As to age: please remembe...

Ian, the request was for "90's" (which may include 00 at a pinch I guess) 2000 PN in Yarra was pretty good (most of the recent even years have been) but the particular wine is not as good as 01 or 95 (albeit I did not include it as I took a more restrictive view of the parameters) regards

Gavin, I think the best Mt Mary PN from the 90s was clearly the 1991 and John liked the 1995 as well ( I would rank it second). 1994 & 1998 are ok but pass on the remainder IMHO. In the 80s MM was at the forefront of PN for Oz but has slipped since, whereas the cabernets/Quintet is regularly amo...

Well general basis is that Grange won't be discounted much but RWT circ $110-120 pb magill will come to around $80 pb St Henri to $60 389 to $35-8 kalimna to $17 based on recent vintages. That will give me for $500, around 4+RWT (but <5) 6 Magill 8 St Henri 13 389 29 kalimna... ...so being unkind th...

I voted for the case of 389 but your choices are slightly odd both as to numbers and as to omissions:-

eg for the latter I would have chosen say 8 bottles of St Henri!

I initially read Attila's review as more critical of 2002 (perhaps focusing on the first and 2nd sentences of the last paragraph). Well, that may be a fair review as to how it sits now but for my tastes in decent vintages the bin 28 hits its straps from about 7-8 years and drinks beautifully at arou...

Of the recent vintages (ie last 15 years) the 2000 is by far the best, followed by the 2003 IMHO. However, if you are going to plonk (sic) the asking price for this wine on the table I strongly suggest that you cellar the wine for at least 15 years from vintage date in either case to obtain somethin...

As a true pedant I strive to apply the first edition of Fowler's (1926) which is far more entertaining and pungent reading than the later editions. The examples given in that first edition often make great reading. Oddly enough, precision and accuracy in writing are important - and watching a new ge...