The 1965 Lindemans Bin 3110 is about as iconic as you can get in Australian wine. James Halliday ranks it in the top 4 Australian wines ever made, up with the 1952 Grange and 1962 Bin60A. The scarcity and reputation of the wine has seen its price move into the thousands of dollars. We were privileged last night to share a bottle of this wine as it approaches 50 years.
The theme around the bottle was to bring something interesting with a bit of quality. We ended up with a really nice varied tasting, taking in reds and whites from Australia, NZ, US, Germany, France ranging from 1953 to 2012.
We were lucky to enjoy the Private Dining Room at Steel Bar and Grill. As always the service and food was spot on. The staff there are great at working around our somewhat unconventional meal progression ensuring the food always played a complementary role to the wines, timing the dishes to be ready based on how we were progressing through the flights on such a busy night is testament to the fantastic kitchen team, serving staff and maitre'd overseeing it all. http://www.steelbarandgrill.com/main/
The final line up of wines was as follows :-
1990 Pol Roger
1998 Pol Roger
2012 Christian Moreau Vaillon Chablis 1er
2006 Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay
1995 Tyrrells Vat 47 Chardonay
1983 Dr Burklin-Wolf Wachenheimer Gerumpel Riesling Spatlese
1965 Lindemans Hunter River Burgundy Bin 3110
1987 Faiveley Latricieres-Chambertin Grand Cru
1986 Mt Mary Cabernets
1997 Kendall-Jackson Great Estates Cabernet Sauvignon
2010 Chateau Thivin Cote de Brouilly
1973 Tulloch Private Bin Dry Red
1974 Brown Brothers Shiraz
1994 Wendouree Shiraz
2001 Cullen Diane Madeline
1991 Wynns Limited Release Cab/Shiraz
1953 Anton Siepchen Nackenheimer Engelsberg Beerenauslese
1966 Leo Buring Bin P121 Vintage Port
Food was
Harvey Bay Scallop Ceviche
Wootton Valley Scotch Fillet with Hand cut chips & red wine jus
4 Cheese - Platter's
Panacotta with Strawberries and Pistacio
The Scallop Ceviche was really refreshing and well put together and went well with the whites. I asked for the steak to be cooked Medium-Rare and it came out perfect!! No-one seems to be able to get this right, but on this occasion they nailed it
1990 Pol Roger Have always been a fan of Pol Roger, Churchill certainly was on to something when he named Pol Roger as his favourite champagne. The two wines although only 8 years apart couldn't have been more different in both appearance and flavour. Golden almost botrytised looking in colour. On the nose there was breadcrumb and jersey caramel showing the aged characteristics. The acid creeps up on you, initially I thought it was lacking it a bit. Beurre bosc pear, apple and a nice residual sweetness, butterscotch, lemon butter with a good to great length and a real suppleness about it.
1998 Pol Roger - The colour on this was barely yellow in comparison to the 90, lemon pith and musk on the nose and seems to be just a baby. The acidity was really sharp and focused, and provided a barrage of fruit power in a real assault to the mouth (in a good way). The fullness on the palate (almost creamy-like) surprised me with an almost Dom like dimensionality to it. Had a real ethereal powder-like aroma develop as it sat in the glass. This will do another 15 years in a canter, lovely wine.
2012 Christian Moreau Vaillon Chablis 1er Peach, Lemon, way too young and had me struggling to find something to like in it at such an early stage of its life. It was very linear and fresh and clean with hints of aniseed and a nice smooth finish. Needs another 10-15 years to start developing secondary characteristics and a bit more interest, horses for courses as others at the table enjoyed it, maybe not my style at this moment in time.
2006 Kumeu River Coddington Chardonnay Oaky with smoky, burnt pork crackling, the oak was so much that it simply overpowered the fruit. Very full on the palate and a bit out of balance and as a result finished short. Not sure what is happening here and whether the oak will subside. First ever Kumeu I've had that hasn't punched above its weight, all the others have been great.
1995 Tyrrells Vat 47 Chardonnay Nice rich caramel, toffee and quite surprisingly a good dose of acid to balance it out. This was showing a lot lighter than the other 90A, Vat 47 we've had in the past. The tartness provided are really good balance to richness of the fruit. It felt young and vibrant and at a sprightly 20 years old was showing really well, and had you coming back for more. Nice length completed the picture.
1983 Dr Burklin-Wolf Wachenheimer Gerumpel Riesling Spatlese Toffee Apple, mint/spearmint with some herbal nuances, made for good conversation and interest. Navel oranges with an edgy acidity giving a great length.
On to the Reds the Lindemans was first cab off the rank. I was having another Woodleys Treasure Chest moment - what if it is no good, what if I can't find anything positive in it, or it's corked needless to say like the Woodleys this a profound wine of the highest pedigree.
1965 Lindemans Hunter River Burgundy Bin 3110 On the first nose, there was this lovely mellow fruit I've come to associate with greatest aged Bordeaux it's an almost effortless sense of power of aged fruit, leather, chocolate. There were dark fruits like blackcurrant, plums, redcurrant, xmas cake with a touch of funk. The tannins were still prominent and provided a perfect counterbalance to the massive fruit. This is a big, big wine, an all encompassing one. Visually very little bricking, it was more a uniform rustic ruddy brown made all the more remarkable by the fact that it was 50 years old. It started to transform in the glass with violets, dark cherry and stone fruit, white pepper and spices slowly winding their way up my olfactory senses, and that's how it was, an almost languid assault as it slowly unfurled after being bottled up for 50 years. The tannins and structure were so persistent it was like a film on the inside of your mouth, that I had to literally lick all the insides my mouth to remove any vestiges of it as they just kept on and on. The intensity of the fruit and richness of it was off the scale staying in your mouth for minutes after each considered sip. It was constantly evolving as I let it sit in the glass for about 2-3 hours and it didn't fade hardly at all. This is a very, very special wine and right up there in my best 5 wines. It lives up to all the hype, the 100pt scores, and like everyone says could go another 20 years with some sensitive re-corking and topping up. I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to try this.
As an aside, World of Fine Wine Magazine did an article on it which was really well written and makes for good reading. http://www.worldoffinewine.com/news/lin ... az-4205335
1987 Faiveley Latricieres-Chambertin Grand Cru Lovely fruit, very youthful, yet reserved and laid back with a great elegance. Smoky, dark cherry, rhubarb with ultra fine tannins providing masterful balance. This was a wine cheating the ravages of time like an aging Hollywood actor, appearing youthful and fresh at nearly 30 years of age. Super impressed with this, it's really testing my resolve, I just have to keep on repeating, "I will not buy any Burgundy, I will not buy any Burgundy".
1986 Mt Mary CabernetsGreen/stalky, tomato leaf, herbaceous, spotting a theme? I reckon this is what the Green Lantern drinks with his dinner. It had a nice underlying theme of red currants but really struggled to get away from the stalkiness of it. Nice structure as well.
1997 Kendall-Jackson Great Estates Cabernet Sauvignon To me this seemed heat affected/oxidised, with an almost burnt salty chocolate about it. On discussion, it wasn't exhibiting any of these characteristics when they opened it for Audoze and some suggested that maybe this is how it was meant to be. It put me in the mind of those 18% Greenock Creek monsters. The tannins were still quite prominent which helped in taming the overt jamminess of it. Maybe my palate is changing as I struggled with this.
2010 Chateau Thivin Chapelle Cote de Brouilly Started with a bit of overt fruit, which didn't translate onto the palate with a tart, acidic almost crunchy character. This was very linear and precise, plums, red fruits, tomato sauce, some nice spices Sichuan Pepper style. It had a real vibrancy and nervous tension about it which I really enjoyed and found interesting.
1973 Tulloch Private Bin Dry Red This was a bit past it, tasted a bit dirty, maybe some bacterial spoilage, had some nice chewy dark fruits.
1974 Brown Brothers Shiraz This was faulty, which is a shame.
1994 Wendouree Shiraz Shy nose, white pepper, dark cherry, tomato leaf, tart and quite lean and elegant. This is a not in your face wine, this is the quiet, shy person in the corner at the party, who is really interesting and nice once you get to know them. It had a nice structure and oak with them both resolved well into the wine, I'd be looking at drinking these up now, even though paradoxically it presents as a very youthful wine.
2001 Cullen Diane Madeline Compared to the Wendouree on the nose this was an almost sickly sweet. Inky black, the almost impenetrable colour alluding to this was but a baby at 13 years and was designed for the long haul. The richness and depth of fruit on this was amazing, make no mistake this is a big, big wine at a point in its life where it is almost monolithic in nature. Put this away for another 10 years.
1991 Wynns Limited Release Cab/Shiraz This was a backup I had in case of one of my other wines was not presenting well, and as I'm wont to do I invariably opened it, and I'm damn glad I did. A stunning wine, I remember seeing it at auction, 1991 + Wynns + Limited Release moniker + Shiraz/Cab, and I’m thinking ‘poor man’s Centenary Shiraz which for my tastes is one of the best wines to come out of 1991 in Australia. Wonderfully complex nose and purity of fruit, stewed plums, chocolate, mocha and an overlay of capsicum. Those lovely Coonawarra characteristics shining through with a real depth of flavour and softness on the palate. Impeccable blance and structure. love to know what went into this. Pretty close to my wine of the night apart from the Lindemans.
1953 Anton Siepchen Nackenheimer Engelsberg Beerenauslese This was quite floral, with burnt toffee, marmalade and a real lightness about it, hard to explain. At 60 years old it was showing really well.
1966 Leo Buring Bin P121 Vintage Port I didn't realise what this was as I wasn't at the table when it was poured, going by the size of the pour I thought it was another table wine, so I take a big slurp and it hit me and I'm like what is this!! and then it dawned on me that it was a VP. Funny how your perceptions of a wine are when you are expecting certain things from it and when they fall outside the bounds you don’t automatically change your scope but try and resolve them within the realm of what you think it is i.e a table wine not a fortified (confused?
) Really enjoyable night, thanks to Greg and Michelle for putting me up for the night, nothing wakes you up like opening the bedroom door and about 15Kgs of Staffy Bull Terrier licking fury, jumping up to greet you lol.
