Question - What is the wine that changed everything for you?

[dan_smee]

Hi All,

I posted a link to my blog a while ago, and I saw that a few people from here read it. My first post was about the wine that changed everything for me - that is, the wine that got me into drinking wine, and the wine that turned me from someone with an arbitrary understanding of wine, into someone who can actually appreciate good win, make selections without recommendations, know about good and bad vintages in regions etc...

So, I want to know, what are the wines that got you all into wine, and when did you drink them? This is my little story http://thewinebl0g.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/bottle-that-changed-everything.html about my first real wine epiphany.

For the record, the wine was a 1996 McWilliams Mount Pleasant Lovedale Semillon, consumed in April 2011.

[Luke W]

Up until 1979 I didn't much like red wine (unless you could call Cold Duck red wine!). I had developed a fairly sweet palate, liking aussie generic goons of sauterne or moselle and Coolabah casks and maybe even the odd Penfolds Club port. At a dinner party one of my mates bought around a bottle of Mount Pleasant Phillip 1975 and I tried it and found that I liked it. It was more posh than casks et al and so became the item to take to dinner parties. Then soon enough Jacobs Creek Cab Shiraz Malbec came along and this became a popular standard as well. But I reckon the first wine that really made it for me was a late 70's Mildara Shiraz Cabernet (Coonawarra) and the 76 BL from Wynns. I bought dozens of the Mildara and was very disappointed when it went up from $1.75 to $2 a bottle. These wines convinced me that I needed red wine in my life and living without it would be poorer.
Soon enough other wines followed: Penfolds 389 was about $5 a bottle and Hill of Grace $4.40, Bin 707 was $10 and Grange about $12. Wonderful starts to a life of loving red wine.

cheers

Luke

[ticklenow1]

Being a bit of a "Barossaophile" nowadays, it is often a source of amusement that the first 2 "Wow" red wines that hit me were from the McLaren Vale. They were the 1994 Hardy's Eileen Hardy Shiraz, and the 1995 Rosemount Balmoral. I was predominately a white wine drinker until then and these two wines converted me almost immediately. Having only consumed cheaper mass produced industrial type red wine until then, these two wines just blew me away. Their depth of flavour and complexity were something that I'd never experienced before.

The downside being that I have now spent probably way more than I can afford on higher quality red wines to cellar. Not to mention the cost of building a cellar!

As for white wine. 2 spring to mind. A 2001 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay and a 2001 Mount Mary Chardonnay both did to me what the above red wines did. It made me realise that most of the time, you really do get what you pay for.

Cheers
Ian

[dlo]

The wine got me going was the 1976 Wynn's Black Label Cabernet consumed early in 1983.

[dan_smee]

Great stories all.

It makes me very envious of those old enough to remember the days of supreme affordability of the very best.

[Gavin Trott]

There were many

but

1970 Lindemans Bin 3870 Hunter River White Burgundy

Drunk 2 decades after it was made ... can wine really taste like this!

1963 Mildara Cabernet (Peppermint Patty) ... humbling

1996 Salon ... breathtakingly intense, long, fine and makes a mockery of what is commonly sold as Champagne!

rank as a few.

.

[damonpeyo]

Great stories all.

It makes me very envious of those old enough to remember the days of supreme affordability of the very best.

+1

I think mine would be different (for my generation I guess )

Couple years ago, when I was given chance to taste and compare 1994 Hill of Grace and 1996 Penfolds Bin 389 I was very glad to discover them, I actually preferred the Bin 389 over Hill of Grace, and made me realise there's no point get carried away with Grange/Hill of Grace hype, despite I have tasted several vintages of the Grange while I was growing up from my grandparent's collection, but wasn't "into" wine at the time, I was more happy to drink cheap $5 bottled Italian Lambrusco ( not the casked shit), and I still drink it to this day, I just love the refreshing mild fizz.

I am one of those folks who doesn't like Cabernet Sav's way too aged, like over 15+ years I actually prefer them just in the 7-12 year old range. But with Shiraz's I prefer them over 10+ plus years. I was lucky to discover aged reds, not all of them rocked my boat, but I actually preferred aged Riesling's over Aged Reds.

On the same night, when I sampled Hill of Grace/Penfolds Bin 389, I was lucky to taste some so many different aged Riesling's from the early 90's, and that's what caught my interest and attention when comes to aging of wines.

But I been drinking Tahbilk's through my parents since I was 16 years old, they used to give me a glass or two with dinner. Been drinking them for nearly 17-18 years now.

I don't have any Grange or Hill of Grace in my collection, have no desire or goals to do so. They just don't simply interest me, but you gotta give Penfolds/Hill of Grace a pat of the back for pure luck and clever marketing especially with Asians.

[sparky]

The wine that got me into it initially would probably have been a Bailey's Shiraz. Can't remember too much of the detail as I was only about six at the time.

Not exactly the wine that got me into it, but one of the game changers was the Maison de Grand Esprit Chassagne-Montrachet 07, tasted for the first time at one of Murray Almond's infamous annual Wine and Cheese tastings a couple of years back.

Blew my spending limit out of the water in one mouthful and my credit card balance just hasn't been the same since..

[Mahmoud Ali]

I cannot say that there was ever a wine that got me interested in drinking and collecting wine. From the begining I was inclined to buy a different wine each time I went to a party or a friends place.

One year the government raised taxes on wine and cigarettes and almost six months later they announced another increase. That did it, I decided that I would buy a dozen bottles before the new taxes came into effect. Not only that, I would now spend $10-12 instead of the usual $5-6. So I trundled on down to the specialty wine store (all retail wines stores were operated by the Alberta Liquor Control Board) to pick up some wines. In this store was a huge side section filled with wines young and old from all over the world. It was carpeted with walls of wooden racks and a basement cool room that housed all the better bordeaux and port including the older vintage wines.

I was dumbstruck. How do I choose a wine from such a diverse range of wines. As I browsed the racks I noticed that sometimes the same Bordeaux differed in price according to a single vintage difference, the '80 which was inexpensive vs '81 vs ' the '82 which was very expensive. Also, identical looking German wines from the same vintage had differing prices. Welcome to the world of kabinet vs spatlese vs auslese.

There was nothing to do but go to the library and pick up a few wine books that might explain things to me. The more I read the more I realized that I needed to have an example of a wine from every country and region and that I needed to cellar them in order to discover their full potential. That is why I still have a couple of bottles of Tahbilk and Taltarni Cabernets (no shirazes back then) that cost $10-$12 dollars at the time.

So, no seminal wine, rather a government tax hike is responsible for my wine passion though my partner calls it an obsession.

Cheers..............................Mahmoud

[redstuff]

My obsession was kicked off with a couple of wines - 96 Lawson's and the 96 Stonewell.

[Luke W]

My obsession was kicked off with a couple of wines - 96 Lawson's and the 96 Stonewell.

That Lawson's we had at the Brissie offline was sensational - what year was it?

[redstuff]

I think that was the '02

[Matt]

Henschke's 'Euphonium' and Rockfords 'Basket Press Shiraz'.

[TiggerK]

Big, buttery, oaky chardonnays, served really cold at picnics during a memorable summer of love was a good start. A few trips to the Hunter then fueled the fire, then came a Bin 707 1998 as a birthday treat to myself during a flash lunch in 2000. A number of other 1998's sealed my fate, and wallet has never since recovered.

[PaulG]

2006, office christmas party, I was never really into wine, especially not red, until I tasted this wine. One of the people on my table was from the Barossa, and told me I had to try it because it was made by some guy called 'Rolph Binder', who was quite good.

One sip, and I was hooked, and I haven't looked back.

JJ Hahn '1914' Shiraz, vintage 2002.

[Craig(NZ)]

1994 Nautilus Sauvignon Blanc was the one that lit the fuse

then early on...

1996 Delegats Proprietors Reserve Sauvignon Blanc (unfortunately the last vintage made of this)
1996 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc
1993 Henschke Cyril Cabernet Sauvignon
1993 Orlando Lawsons Shiraz
1995 Te Mata Coleraine

[phillisc]

A good post here Dan
I was fortunate to accompany my father on a number of SA country and interstate trips as he was 'flogging" high tensile steel flexi-posts' first used in vineyards from the late 70s. Wolfie kicked off with a first up order of 120 000 units. The memories of Tablik, Mitchelton, the Hunter, Coonawarra, are enduring and really influence what i still buy 30 years later.

There are probably 4 wines or groups of wines that really did it for me and thankfully and luckily 2 still do.

1. all those beatiful old MV shirazes, cabernets and blends from Chateau reynella, southern vales cooperative, Wilpena yellow label claret anyone?
2. the first David Wynn releases from Mountadam Eden Valley in 1984, beatiful cool climate cabernet, not green, just soft lingering tannins that went on for ages, any of the kaiser sthul ribbon releases, the 1980 green label riesling and 1986 red label shiraz...magnificent, early 80's Tollana TR 222's and 16's
3. 1978 Rouge Homme Cabernet.....cried the day that the beautiful yellow label died, a watershed day being in the Wynns CD on the day of release of the great 1982 JR and putting 2 dozen in the boot (can't even get 3 bottles now Moira for what I paid back then )
4. a silly purchase but a sublime and surreal experience and think there are a few left somewhere, an 88 and 90 Bollinger RD...would love to drink more vintage french, this was truely amazing

Cheers Craig.

[sjw_11]

Briefly living in the Barossa when my dad was GM Production for Wolf Blass in 1990. My initial wine collection was of labels rather than wines! I still have a great collection of 1990ish labels from Rockford, Blass, Burge Family, St Hallets...

A natural extension from this to start trying wines when reaching a legal age. Early wines after that which got my more hooked... A Brown Brothers King Valley Cabernet 1982 (in 2003), Wolf Blass 1981 Black Label, Wynns BL Cabernet 1993 (found at the regular price in W/W Liquor in Rundle Mall), and a Bremerton Tamblyn 2001... a bit of a random mix but all helped stoke the fires of interest.

[dlo]

A good post here Dan
I was fortunate to accompany my father on a number of SA country and interstate trips as he was 'flogging" high tensile steel flexi-posts' first used in vineyards from the late 70s. Wolfie kicked off with a first up order of 120 000 units. The memories of Tablik, Mitchelton, the Hunter, Coonawarra, are enduring and really influence what i still buy 30 years later.

There are probably 4 wines or groups of wines that really did it for me and thankfully and luckily 2 still do.

1. all those beatiful old MV shirazes, cabernets and blends from Chateau reynella, southern vales cooperative, Wilpena yellow label claret anyone?
2. the first David Wynn releases from Mountadam Eden Valley in 1984, beatiful cool climate cabernet, not green, just soft lingering tannins that went on for ages, any of the kaiser sthul ribbon releases, the 1980 green label riesling and 1986 red label shiraz...magnificent, early 80's Tollana TR 222's and 16's
3. 1978 Rouge Homme Cabernet.....cried the day that the beautiful yellow label died, a watershed day being in the Wynns CD on the day of release of the great 1982 JR and putting 2 dozen in the boot (can't even get 3 bottles now Moira for what I paid back then )
4. a silly purchase but a sublime and surreal experience and think there are a few left somewhere, an 88 and 90 Bollinger RD...would love to drink more vintage french, this was truely amazing

Cheers Craig.

I agree about many mentioned above. The 78 Rouge Homme was an unbelievably good wine.

[n4sir]

Good topic Dan.

Going back into the memory bank, probably the first wine that made me seriously think of upgrading what I was drinking was a taste from a magnum of 1994 Wynns Michael at an instore.

Another event that made an impact about the same time was a tasting of the Verve Cliquot range at another instore - noticing and being able to describe the differences between the non-vintage, vintage Brut and La Grand Dame was a big moment in terms of starting to take things more seriously.

Cheers,
Ian

[Deano]

A friend brought around a 1996 Henschke Keyneton Estate and i loved it. Went to find more in store's but current vintage was 1998...now i'm hooked...(i think the odd sip from Dad's old reds from his cellar was the true seed when i was sub-18 though!!)

[Chuck]

A 1980 Seaview Cabernet got me going and a 1986 Penfolds Bin 389 sealed my fate.

Carl

[Scotty vino]

For every birthday/xmas/milestone for the old man i'd get him a red of some description.
Since the late 80's early 90's I'd go into any bottlo' with a few bux and ask for a 'decent cellaring red'.
For the most part I'd never drink em or take much of a tasting interest at all.
I just knew he liked reds so i continued to buy them over the years.
Penny dropped eventually and I was hooked.
I remember buying a 98 d'arenberg dead arm which we tried years later.
That was a definitely a turning point.
I've since discovered he had some late 70's HOG floating around back a few years....
they've.....disappeared.

[Wayno]

Oddly enough, two wines when I was flatting many years back. A Chain of Ponds Amadeus 1994 Cab and a Chain of Ponds Novello Rosso. I also reckon I tried Bin 389 94 vintage around the same time and after that I was on the rocky path.

[markg]

It was a 1997 Tollana TR222 Cabernet.. had in the Barossa when I was taking a mate visiting from the UK around. The revelation inspired me to absorb as much wine (and information) as I could. Good timing too because I had just started working for IBM at the time and was seconded to Penfolds to upgrade all their computers after their reverse takeover by Rosemount.. Gave me the complete run of the place in Magill, Nuriootpa and all of Seppeltsfield.. had a great time chatting to all the lunch-alot crowds about my new found passion

[George Krashos]

Well, it was women too, not just the wine. The two were hand in hand when "everything changed". As a youngster, I swiftly realised that the big, impressive date at the fine dining restaurant didn't quite gel with me ordering a can of Coke. So wine it was ... in my case it was at Maggie Beer's Pheasant Farm and the wine in question was a Henschke Abbott's Prayer 1990. A lovely introduction to things vinuous. Getting into wine during the release of the 90s and 91s was a great blessing. Even if my Uni student finances weren't up to buying case lots.

-- George Krashos

[tpang]

As with several others here, I'd struggle to name a single wine. I've turned several corners for red wine (pinot noir, Bordeaux, Barossa), whites (Burgundy chardonnay, Hunter semillon) or even fortifieds.

Pinot Noir - 1990 Romanee Conti La Tache
Bordeaux - 2000 Mouton Rothschild
Barossa - 2004 Torbreck Descendent
Californian - 2001 Sine Qua Non On Your Toes Syrah
Riesling - Donnhoff Spatleses and Ausleses (I've consumed too much sugar from these)
Semillon - Mt Pleasant Lovedale (Multiple vintages)
Marsanne - Tahbilk 1927 (Multiple vintages)
Fortifieds - RL Buller Rare Tokay, Alois Kracher #2 TBA Muscat 2000, Dow Vintage 1945 Port

[dlo]

As with several others here, I'd struggle to name a single wine. I've turned several corners for red wine (pinot noir, Bordeaux, Barossa), whites (Burgundy chardonnay, Hunter semillon) or even fortifieds.

Pinot Noir - 1990 Romanee Conti La Tache
Bordeaux - 2000 Mouton Rothschild
Barossa - 2004 Torbreck Descendent
Californian - 2001 Sine Qua Non On Your Toes Syrah
Riesling - Donnhoff Spatleses and Ausleses (I've consumed too much sugar from these)
Semillon - Mt Pleasant Lovedale (Multiple vintages)
Marsanne - Tahbilk 1927 (Multiple vintages)
Fortifieds - RL Buller Rare Tokay, Alois Kracher #2 TBA Muscat 2000, Dow Vintage 1945 Port

Excellent point about turning corners. IIRC, my first great experiences with the great wines', remembering this all goes back to when I started drinking wine seriously in my mid-twenties in the early eighties, would roughly amount to

Pinot Noir French - 1978 Romanee Conti Richebourg
Chardonnay French - 1981/2(?) Leflaive Bienvenue-Batard-Montrachet - (can't quite recall the year but it was somewhere around these vintages)
Bordeaux Red - 1961 Ch. Malescot-St-Exupery (drank another one about 4 years ago - I scored at 97!)
Bordeaux Sweet - 1975 Ch. d'Yquem
Rhone Red - 1978 J. L. Chave
Loire - 1947 Huët Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Haut-Lieu
Champagne - 1975 Bollinger R.D.
German Riesling - 1976 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Beerenauslese LGK
Port - Hardy's Museum Release 1956 Vintage Port
Australian Riesling - 3 Leo Buring "DW" numbered Eden/Clare Riesling's from the sixties (can't recall the exact years) - all drunk at a private riesling tasting in the mid-eighties - all absolutely in their prime.
Australian Semillon - 1970 Lindemans Hunter River Chablis (Classic release)
Australian Cabernet - 1976 Wynns Black Label
Australian Shiraz - 1963 Penfolds Grange
Australian Blend - 1962 Penfolds Bin 60A
Australian Chardonnay - 1982 Leeuwin Estate Art Series (and they don't make them like this any more)

[Brucer]

Mine was a Saltram 1978 Bin 88 Claret. Bought by my uncle in an RSL club in the early 80s. Made by Peter Lehmann I think.

[Rossco]

This is a great topic, and one very interesting way to trace back my appreciation of wine over the years.

I can specifically remember the moment I thought this wine caper might have some merit.

I was 18 and trying to impress a girl. So what does an 18 year old do except thinks of the classiest place to
take a lady he was trying to woo...... colonial tramcar restaurant in Melbourne.

ANYHOO.......there they served Tahbilk Shiraz...think it was the 96, but could have been 97.

I remember thinking WOW... where have you been all my life tahbilk shiraz! And it has never left my
side ever since............ unlike said lady who was being wooed.

Evolution of my wine preferences:

18 - Started drinking Reds (thought whites & bubbles were for sissies..... please remember I was only 18) - 96 or 97 tahbilk shiraz

25 - started REALLY appreciating some whites (mainly Riesling) - Moores Hill was the wine I turned for

28 - stared loving chardonnay & champagne - 1995 Dom & Toolangi Estate Chardonnay