A question from a total beginner...

[WazAndy]

Hello all,

Last weekend I had the great pleasure to enjoy a couple of glasses of Chateau Palmer 1995. It was amazing. Well, it would be at nearly $400 a bottle.

I know it's a Cab Sav (50%,) Merlot (45%) and Petit Verdot (balance) blend.

My (potentially quite naive) question is, seeing that my palette is fairly basic. Is there a wine I could buy here in Australia that might get close to the Palmer without smashing my bank account?

Thanks,

Andy.

[Inside trader]

Try the Woodlands Cabernet Merlot - about $25

[dave vino]

You'd have to spend at least $70 to 'come close' even to a new palate. Bear in mind you'd be looking at around 2000 onwards vintage wise for similar aging characteristics as the Bdx's tend to age a lot longer. 1995 was a good year in Bdx with bigger style wines coming out of it (more fruit forward)

AU
Cullen Diane Madeline
Lakes Folly Cabernets
Yeringberg Cabernets
Howard Park Abercombie

NZ
Stonyridge Larose
Te Mata Coleraine

At the everyday drinker end of the scale the Woodlands as suggested is a good drop. (try and find one with about 5 years on it),

Flametree Cab Merlot
Voyager Estate Cab Merlot ($40-ish) or the Girt by Sea ($25ish)
Yarra Yering Agincourt Cab Merlot ($40ish)
Blue Poles Allouran
Vasse Felix Cab Merlot

[redwhiteandrose]

For a new drinker, top of the range wines like DM could be a waste Imo. Obviously depends on the person who's drinking it. Why not start with a Woodlands cab merlot and see how it goes.....

OTOH Bordeaux is quite different to Australian wine, so maybe a Cru Bourgeois would be a more similar choice without breaking the bank. 2009 was a ripe year and some are coming into the drinking window.

FelixP......?

[felixp]

Hi WazAndy,
I am sorry to hear the bad news. Your new-found love, expensive French red, is a very difficult habit to kick. My advice is quickly rush out and waste $70 on a bottle of Penfold's 407, hopefully you have not had enough great Cabernet wines yet and therefore will not suffer from Palmer-withdrawal symptoms. The 407 will re-calibrate your taste buds, and in a month's time, you will have forgotten all about your nasty little Bordeaux experience. Your bank manager will be eternally grateful.
Palmer 95 is a beautiful but interesting wine, as in it is not actually very typical of the marque. To me, it is much more northern-Medoc like, in the style of an excellent bottle of Cos d'Estournel. Margaux wines typically have more femininity and fragrance than you might have tasted, and the 95 Palmer tends to be a little more meaty and earthy. A beauty none-the-less. Time will serve it very well, but I remember my last encounter with it, in 2013, and it was showing wonderfully well.
I guess my point is, if you really liked the style of the 95 Palmer, you could do worse than look for a cheaper St Estephe red to try. Meyney, Haute Marbuzet, and Lafon Rochet spring to mind. Calon Segur is another, but you will need to go back into the 80's to find this perennial cellar-dweller a point.
I am not really sure of the prices down there, but have a look around for a Meyney 2003 or Haut Marbuzet 2004, shouldn't cost more than $70-80 there. They are not anywhere near Palmer's class, but might be the style you are seeking.
If you want an Aussie wine similar in age, and not too dissimilar in style, have a look for the 1995 Moss Wood Cabernet, a cracker of a wine.

[Mahmoud Ali]

If you want an Aussie wine similar in age, and not too dissimilar in style, have a look for the 1995 Moss Wood Cabernet, a cracker of a wine.

The 1997 Moss Wood Cabernet that I tasted at a Jeremy Oliver conducted tasting at Fig Tree Cellars in Sydney was a clear Bodeaux look-alike - the nose was delightful. That was some time ago so I don't know what it might be like now but I can't believe that it wouldn't be very nice even today.

Mahmoud.

[WazAndy]

Wow. Some wonderful, concise help. I shall try some of the recommendations and report back. Thank you all! Andy

[rooman]

Andy

I don't disagree with any of the suggestions above, the one extra piece of advice I would add is that 20 year old Cab Sav blends from Bordeaux or Australia are substantially different to young wines from either country straight off the shelf in the local bottle shop. Good Cab Sav blends in particular really need 12 years or more to open up and hit their strides, IMO. Hence if you have jumped straight to the blue ribbon circle of wines, being aged cab sav blends, I would suggest you look for the above wines being sold on the secondary market through auction houses.

Buying on the secondary market is more of a lottery since you are relying on how well people have stored their wines and praying they are not moving heat affected or poorly stored wines but it is really the only way to acquire wines in their drinking windows if you haven't stored them yourself. Frankly buying current vintage top shelf wines such as Cullen, Moss Wood, Voyager and drinking them now is a complete waste of your $$ given they are not built to be drunk now or really any time in the next 10 years.

Mark

[Waiters Friend]

One from the West is the MyattsField Cabernet Merlot Petit Verdot. I have a couple of vintages in the cellar, and you will probably get it for around $24 CD.