dlo wrote:Some great wines in that lot .... and quite an eclectic bunch..... thanks for posting. Seajanus, do you always drink your iconic reds this young?
Some of them were tasting at a winery, some were bottles I actually like a young red, but a old one when it hits the mark is certainly something special. Had a 77 grange a few months ago that was superb. Though that '99 Taylors shiraz still has me wowed.
Without getting the purists chucking rocks on my roof...I actually think your avatar is a better wine than Grange.
Have had 61, 65, 66, 68, 71 and probably most from 76 on wards...but for a bottle of Grange give me 6 Lloyd reserve any day of the week.
Cheers Craig.
Thanks Craig
Had an awesome '96 Lloyd for my 40th that blew last nights Grange out of the water. You are much more Grange educated than me. Only 78, 96 & 97 for me.
Ps. Received a '10 Teusner Righteous from my wife yesterday.... Happy days.
Ross, to be fair many of these wines were one offs, or tastings in the days where Grange was not smothered in the pretentious bullshit that it is now, with many former tastings either being free, or a very nominal cost, with a number of vintages represented in amongst a number of other Pennies wines or those of other makers. To be honest many of the vintages of St Henri are more appealing to me. I have a dozen or so and thats about it, a couple of vintages from the 70s, 80s and 90s.
For Lloyd however, the very early 90s, plus the 94, 96, 97, 98, 01 and 02 are all crackers IMHO.
Anyway is it just me, or it seems that all the wine people I mix with, Grange is hardly mentioned and most had drunk their birth year wine ( decade of the 60's) many years ago and the interest is just not there. Perhaps it is just a whole heap of hype?
Many, many moons ago (mid '90's, I reckon) I tried a single bottle Kay Bros. 1971 Cabernet Shiraz that won the McLaren Vale Bushing Festival Championship in 1972. Paid 10 bucks for it. It was unbelievably good (IIRC I gave it 19.5 back then!). About 7 years ago, bought a dozen at auction from what must have been a fantastic source, mostly very high fill levels and good corks, although there was some bottle variation, but the bulk in terrific condition. I paid about $17. A few more appeared on the secondary market, but were much more expensive and fill levels were all below the neck. I didn't bite. Great wine and the notes from our wine dinner a few years back speak for themselves .....
"The 1971 Kay Brothers Cabernet Shiraz was a revelation. I have opened three bottles of this in the past month and they been pretty much identical in every respect, including my rating of 93 points! For a wine approaching its 40th anniversary to be so intact, consistently good and not disintegrate upon opening, is, in itself, a wondrous thing. It's difficult at this rather late hour to recall the wealth of rich extract still present in this wine, but perhaps it's better not to try to dissect such a grand old wine into fragments. I'm pleased just to highlight the wonderful experience of slowly sniffing and sipping this small piece of Australian wine history with a group of fellow wine lovers gathered together for the first time in a unique ambiance." - DL
"This also belied its age, and was both remarkably fresh and full of genuine interest. The cabernet and shiraz components had integrated seamlessly into a beautiful, fully resolved, aged wine. A privilege to drink." - PS
On the right in the photo below is the wine David is talking about. David put on an awesome lot of wines for what was the the first of many great Capital Taster dinner events.
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Mike Hawkins wrote:Some nice wines Gavin. I opened a 1990 Mt Ed on Sunday which was drinking really well. How was the 1980 Grange ? I'm taking a bottle to the Penfolds clinic next week and might drink it shortly thereafter if its ok. I went quite long on 2003 Cos and bought a 6 pack of 2009 Guiraud, so would be interested in your take on those 2 as well (please!).
Cheers
Mike
Well, on the night, as these things always are
1990 Mt Edelstone and 1980 Grange were both, well, underwhelming! Nothing wrong with either, but both were a bit, well mwah! (if that's a word.
The 2003 Cos was tannic, dry and even more tannic. Not the fruit behind it I would have liked, and not sure that time will do the job (although I do not have wide experience with Cos). Not great on the night.
2009 Guiraud was delicious, balanced sweetness, balanced intensity (meaning not OTT) and quite delicious, really enjoyed it!
Just one guy's opinion ... please feel free to chime in
Steve Norman, and or Mark Wickman, who were also both there that night!
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Thanks Gavin - a shame about some of those....
I left about a glass and a half of the 90 Mt Ed and drank it last night (day 3). It was absolutely sensational. A nose that filled the kitchen and beautifully balanced, velvety and long on the palate. It was significantly better than day 1 and gave me high hopes for a longer drinking window than I initially expected.
Had a 2012 Riebke tonight... Great value and maybe my bargain of the year. Bursting with black current goodness, five spice, pepper and a lick of tar. Really jumps out of the glass. Take a bow Teusner...
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Evans and Tate Metricup Rd Cab Merlot 2011 Just maybe worth the 96 pts scoring. Immediately MR plums and blackcurrent...dusty oak, prevailing length with a touch of eucalypt. Just shy of full bodied. Nice wine, elegant for the price range. Will cellar well in the medium term. Revisit 2018.
2002 Haselgrove "H" - Wrattonbully Cabernet Sauvignon - once a big bruiser of a wine and now totally elegant. So surprised by its evolution of secondary characteristics so quickly. A pleasant surprise but a concern as well.
If you can remember what a wine is like the next day you didn't drink enough of it Peynaud
Matt wrote:Had a 2012 Riebke tonight... Great value and maybe my bargain of the year. Bursting with black current goodness, five spice, pepper and a lick of tar. Really jumps out of the glass. Take a bow Teusner...
Thanks for the note Matt, do you (or anyone else, as I know a few people have tried these) have any view on cellaring potential? They seem such good value I thought about putting a couple away as I do like medium-aged Barossa shiraz...
Hi Sam I think they lend themselves to more of a 'drink now' proposition however, I will still be putting a few away.. The 2010's are holding up well, and drinking very nicely at the moment, so 5 years shouldn't be an issue.
Matt wrote:Had a 2012 Riebke tonight... Great value and maybe my bargain of the year. Bursting with black current goodness, five spice, pepper and a lick of tar. Really jumps out of the glass. Take a bow Teusner...
Thanks for the note Matt, do you (or anyone else, as I know a few people have tried these) have any view on cellaring potential? They seem such good value I thought about putting a couple away as I do like medium-aged Barossa shiraz...
I would also look out for the 2012 Woods Crampton Barossa Shiraz at the same $17-18 pricepoint. Terrific drop. The WineFront boys rated it 93pts from memory.
Matt wrote:Had a 2012 Riebke tonight... Great value and maybe my bargain of the year. Bursting with black current goodness, five spice, pepper and a lick of tar. Really jumps out of the glass. Take a bow Teusner...
Thanks for the note Matt, do you (or anyone else, as I know a few people have tried these) have any view on cellaring potential? They seem such good value I thought about putting a couple away as I do like medium-aged Barossa shiraz...
Hi Sam I know a lot of people had the 2010 Riebke as the bargain of the year and Mr Halliday (for what it's worth) put a 20 year window on them I know they reckon the 2012 is as good if not better.
In relation to the Riebke, I am currently drinking the 2006 vintage along with the Thorn Clarke Shotfire. They are drinking well now and I believe they won't get any better. I have tried the 2010 vintage, and from my poor memory I found it to be a bit more elegant, and not as big as previous vintages. Hence as for cellaring potential I believe 20 years as being very optomistic. I would be aiming for 5 to 10years max.
Currently following up last nites Haselgrove "H" cabernet with the McLarenVale Shiraz of the same ilk. Much more fruity with a touch of Brett which doesn't detract from its wonderful barnyard and umami flavours. Don't think the missus will get much of this one. Still masses of primary fruit but a fair bit of complexity. Will last 10 years longer than its sibling.
If you can remember what a wine is like the next day you didn't drink enough of it Peynaud
2012 Chalk Hill Sagiovese Sour cherries, musky and a bit chalky. Needs a good decant i reckon, got much better in the glass
2010 Teusner Riebke Great wine. Great Value too..Pretty full bodied, plenty of dark fruits. Awesome example of Barossa Shiraz. This wine could live for a longtime More please!
2004 Elk Cove Pinot Noir - Gone unfortunately. Virtually no taste and no real nose to it. Even after leaving for a couple of hours there was nothing. 2006 Port Phillip Estate Shiraz - Very good. Plenty of white pepper, smooth tannin and savoury palate. Very much a food wine and won't keep much longer 2008 Yering Station Pinot Noir Rose - Very surprising. Found this in the back of the wine fridge and thought it would be gone but was very good. Lovely nose very stawberry like. Not overtly sweet in a rose sense either
Sexton. Dark cherry, spice, good structure and reasonable length. Quite a savoury effort, deeper, and bigger than the other two. Gladysdale. Elegant, but lacking a little depth. Bright red fruits, and great acidity. Needs time to settle down. Applejack. Pure Upper Yarra. Some red fruits, with a lovely savoury edge, and great persistence. Light, but well built. Again fine tannins, and perfect acidity give great balance.
My favourite was the Applejack, but I am a fan of the style. The Sexton was probably of similar quality, but I felt the Gladysdale was not quite if the same level. All far too young, of course. Up there with the Mayers as the best I have seen from this very promising vintage so far. I am eager to try the wanderer wines...
2012 Tellurian Viognier (screw cap). 14% alcohol. 7 months in seasoned French oak. Enjoyed on its own, with Gruyère cheese, and then with crab linguine. Pale, wheat-stained water. The nose is restricted, with apricot, honeydew, and honey. The flavour profile is very subtle, with lemon butter, ginger, and a hint of stone fruit and cashew. It is clean and refreshing, balanced, with a short to medium finish. Overall, it is a bit too subtle. I do not think I will be buying this one again.
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So, over the course of the week, I have gone through:
1 x 2009 Bream Creek VGR Riesling, TAS This is the kind of Riesling that me and my partner enjoy. Not acidic and sharp on the palate, but has just the right amount of sweetness to balance the aciditym making this extremely approachable. I am an absolute sucker for this type of Riesling and we were really happy to get 12 bottles of this after tasting this at the Tasmania Wine Show here in Melbourne a few months ago!
1 x 2011 Clonakilla O'Riada Shiraz Wow! I drank this over 3 days and each day this wine changed and in the end I was proved so wrong! And that's why I love wine! You think you know that wine and then it throws you an absolute curveball! The way this wine opened up over the course of the 3 days was amazing. From being just purely medicinal and herbacious on day one, to being able to get really savoury notes of pepper on day two to getting fruit and tannins on day three?! Nothing short of amazing!
1 x 2012 Bests Great Western Bin 1 Shiraz I think we are just spoilt for choice in this country and sometimes we don't recognise it! $25 a bottle for this incredible, cool-climate shiraz from the Grampians region?! Get outta here! Punching well above it's price, this is a smooth, well structured, elegant and approachable wine. With fruit and tannin and alcohol levels all in harmony, this wine is a no-brainer! Everyone will love it! Extremely well-crafted, readily approachable and worth every penny!
I actually like a young red, but a old one when it hits the mark is certainly something special. Had a 77 grange a few months ago that was superb. Though that '99 Taylors shiraz still has me wowed.
