phillisc wrote:Mahmoud, Halliday wrote an article in the Australian back in about 1992/3 extolling the virtues of Ovens Valley and particularly Wynns. Based on that I went out the next day and purchased three dozen 90 OV Shiraz for the princely sum of $45 a dozen. I still have about 15 left. IIRC, he gave it about a 20 year drinking window...not bad for a $4 red. At the time I managed to track down some 86, 91 and 95 vintages, but think these are long gone.
If only with a wine like this and 90 Koonunga Hill, 86 Kaiser Stuhl Red stripe, 86 Henschke K E (all sub $5 wines), had I brought 10 doz of each instead of a measly 2.
I have to say that your post is both evocative and sentimental, not only for some of the wines you mention but also your referencing of James Halliday, whose early reference book was my first window into Australian wines early in my wine odyssey. It was Halliday who, in the 80s, introduced me to the idea of aging Australian wines.
You are lucky to have bought Wynn's Oven Valley by the case. I first came across the '90 Oven Valley Shiraz in a Barossa bottle shop. Instinctively I was attracted to the wine, despite not knowing anything about it. That was in early 2001, and I felt sure it needed to be cellared so I decided to take them back to Canada. I picked up two bottles of the Wynn's and a couple of '93 O'Sheas to the till. Both the wines were in the A$30-35 range. For some reason the person at the till only charged me for three bottles. I don't recall which one he forgot but as I looked at my receipt and the wines in the bag I pointed out that he had forgotten to charge me for one of them. He thanked me for pointing out his mistake but as I drove away I couldn't help calculating what the cost of each bottle might have been had I not said anything. Human nature I guess. Later, at Wynn's cellar door in Coonawarra, I discovered that they had some '92 Ovens Valley. Having already bought a couple of the '90 Ovens Valley I decided not to buy any more. I am now kicking myself for not having bought any so forgive me for not having any sympathy for you not having bought more than two cases of the Ovens Valley for only A$4 per bottle. And YES, you should have bought 10 cases of them!
As for the other wines you mention, Koonunga Hill is a sentimental favourite. Again, I knew nothing of the wine's history but when I was overseas a British expat gave me a Decanter magazine and in that issue they reviewed 20 years of Koonunga Hill, from the original 1976 to 1996, stressing the quality of the '96 as being on par with the original wine. I immediately called home and asked my mother to pick up a half dozen of the '96 Koonunga Hill, a decision I haven't regretted. I've read about Kaiser Stuhl but didn't know that they had a Red Stripe wine. However, I do associate the name 'Red Stripe' with Baileys of Glenrowan, and when I visited Bailey's I bought a couple of their '91 Red Stripe wines and also brought them back to Canada.
Cheers........................Mahmoud.
