Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 1996

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

I've gone back through my postings here, and it seems I have never posted a tasting note for this wine. This surprises me, as I have definitely posted that I stock this wine as an 'anniversary' wine, in this case, the birth of my first-born Elizabeth (coincidence? I think not).

I stocked up on a number of bottles and 3 magnums when this wine was released around 2000/2001. Since then, I have opened a bottle on her birthday every year since. We have not had a corked wine or an oxidised wine in all of that time (although I've certainly copped a few of later vintages).

Anyway, although it's not E's birthday (that's in March), it is her high school graduation, so we opened one for dinner tonight. This wine continues to amaze me with its longevity.

The cork came out in two pieces, but was still in sound condition. No cork taint or oxidation, or even the early 'off' smells you get with some older wines and which blow off in a few minutes.

Lovely clear golden colour, with no hint of browning. The nose is definitely not a 'jump out of the glass' fruity style - we are definitely into tertiary development, with honey, lanolin, and light toast and butter. This is a style I enjoy, particular with food (and yes, it was the informal graduation dinner). The palate has some acid remaining, and this supports the slightly nutty and honeyed citrus (not citrus in a sharp sense) that flows through the palate.

This has definitely softened with age, and is quite different to, say, an 8 year old of the same wine - but as a 'birthday' wine, this looks like it will at least last until the lady's 18th (which was the original intention / hope) and perhaps longer. I hope so - I haven't opened the three magnums yet!

Cheers

Allan

PS: An ironic twist. How many times have you taken a 13 year old 'younger' version of the same wine to a restaurant - as the back up? We didn't need to open it.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Allan,

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for writing a tasting note on this wine, and a fine story to boot. We don't get much in the way of Semillon over in these parts and never the Elizabeth.

I first came across the Elizabeth on my first visit to Australia, back in 1995. I was intrigued to see the '86 Elizabeth, a museum release, festooned with gold award stickers, on store shelves. I took a bottle to a special dinner that was meant to precede an '82 Henschke Cabernet Franc that I got at cellar door. It was my first aged Semillon. I had to wrap my head, and my palate, around the wine to understand it but in the end was quite impressed.

Five years later I was back in Australia and this time the '96 Elizabeth was on the market. I tasted a bottle, it was young, backward and unyieldingly acidic, apparently what defines a classic cellaring vintage. Anyway I brought a few bottles home to Edmonton and here it has rested untouched and waiting for "the moment". Whenever I've checked the colour looked fine, no sign of premature aging.

Your note has gone a long way to reassuring me.

Thanks..........................Mahmoud.

[Waiters Friend]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Mahmoud, for keeping the faith. Have you not opened ONE of these wines in the intervening decade or more since the 1996 vintage became available? I thoroughly encourage you to do so now.

Surprisingly, later vintages of Elizabeth are not holding up as well, with early 2000s being a little hit and miss. I stopped buying after 2006 , as 2007-2009 were not released to my knowledge, and 2010 was a SSB blend, I hear.

Cheers

Allan

[Waiters Friend]

And I forgot to mention Mahmoud's reference to the 1986 Elizabeth. The 1986 Lovedale (not Elizabeth, but the single vineyard wine) remains the greatest Australian white wine I have ever had. Sadly gone now (my last one was drunk last year), but even at 26 years old, sublime.

[HunterGW]

Hi Allan and Mahmoud- I have jumped in a little late (only just joined the forum). Having worked at Mount Pleasant winery for the last 20 years, I thought I would comment.....Great to see that our Elizabeth and Lovedale Semillons continue to be well regarded, and the 86 Lovedale to my tastes is certainly one of the best wines I have ever tasted also - I would rate the 03, 07 and 09 (yet to be released) particluarly in the category of up to the 86 standard.
Re the Elizabeth - we continue to release the Cellar aged Elizabeth - the 2006 (1 trophy and 6 gold medals) has just sold out and the 2007 (6 gold medals) is soon to folllow - you just don't see it in the wine stores as much as previous, as we made a decision a few years back to start to release the Elizabeth as a young wine as well as an aged release - most wine stores decided to stock the younger as it remained at the same price. It was then decided that the early release (2010) required a little Sauvignon Blanc in the wine to broaden it's appeal as a young wine (an agreed mistake) - the current young Elizabeth (2012) is back to it's origins, and if kept for 5 years+ will gain the aged Hunter Semillon characters we all love.
FYI we have in the Cellar Door a small supply of 2001 Magnums and 750ml, as well as 03 Lovedale.

Hope this helps to clarify. Have a look at our website http://www.mountpleasantwines.com.au - it has a lot of great information.

Regards

Greg

[Polymer]

Surprisingly, later vintages of Elizabeth are not holding up as well, with early 2000s being a little hit and miss. I stopped buying after 2006 , as 2007-2009 were not released to my knowledge, and 2010 was a SSB blend, I hear.

Yeah...I agree 100%...I've had some early 2000's that were absolutely terrible...I love aged Semillon and love acidity but some of these had just turned into pure acid with everything else just gone..there was nothing there to develop...With over 10 years in the bottle they showed nothing that indicated Semillon or aged Semillon.

The 2005's I've had were just ok..with most of the acidity gone....the 2006's I've had were actually quite good and could still go a lot longer in the bottle...

Hard to complain about a 15 dollar bottle of wine though....I think the museum releases (which I think sell for about 17 or so) are worth a shot to see how they're doing....not sure the Elizabeth, in general, is worth buying and cellaring yourself though...too hit and miss...

[Waiters Friend]

Thanks Greg, for the information about post-2006 Elizabeths. I'd be delighted to continue with my Elizabeth (and to a lesser extent Lovedale) obsession if the wines are going to develop in the same way as arlier vintages. My first was somewhere around 1984.

A supplementary quesion - will the shift to screwcaps change the botling conditions, and therefore the wine?

Cheers

Allan

[Waiters Friend]

[quote="Polymer"][The 2005's I've had were just ok..with most of the acidity gone....the 2006's I've had were actually quite good and could still go a lot longer in the bottle...quote]

Hi Polymer - I agree with you about the 2006s as a (by HV semillon standards) younger wine. However, I found the 2005 Elizabeths to be the best since 1999, and suggest they might also last longer thn 2006. Personal opinion, of course.

Cheers

Allan

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

A follow-up to the previous post from December 2013, as my Elizabeth has just turned 18, and we cracked a magnum of the 1996 Elizabeth to celebrate.

What a difference a magnum makes.

In contrast to the quite developed wine I commented on in December, this looks relatively youthful. A strong streak of lemon and acidity on both the nose and the palate. Also less honeyed (only a little) and not at all toasty, this is in great condition, and fully justifies my belief (and investment) in this wine so many years ago. I have full confidence (cork permitting) that the remaining two magnums will hold up for the 21st. I hope the single bottles fill in the interim.

By the way, the lady herself seems to be developing a palate already. She enjoyed 2 glasses from said magnum, and gave me a couple of comments that could almost be tasting notes. Aaahh ... that makes me a proud parent

Cheers

Allan

[HunterGW]

Hi Allan - re the screwcap effect for Elizabeth - we did a 5 year trial in the early 2000's before we went 100% screwcap - the trial showed that in most cases the wine was a little less developed than under cork. The main difference is that we aren't seeing the wastage we did with the wines under cork.
Regards
Greg

[Waiters Friend]

Thanks Greg. I am much happier with the screwcaps, for the reason you raised.

Has the 2007 been released yet?

Cheers

Allan

[HunterGW]

Hi Allan - the 2007 has just been released, tasted it last night with our recently retired winemaker Phil Ryan, who made the wine in 2007 and regards this as better than the recent 05 or 06 Elizabeth - it showed up as a very vibrant, zippy, lemony aromas with some underlying, subtle developing toastiness - yummy.
Cheers
Greg

[Waiters Friend]

The annual follow-up tasting (i.e. birthday BBQ) took place lst night (my daughter Elizabeth turned 19). We opened two 750 ml bottles of the 1996 Elizabeth for the assembled company.

Notes are still pretty much as last year. While the wine is clearly honeyed, toasty and developed, it is certainly not past it, and in pretty good condition.

These were the last of the 750ml bottles I purchased in the early 2000s. I have two magnums remaining, and I hope they are as good next year and the year after as the 18th birthday magnum was.

It has been amazing to have the annual tasting of the wine, and seeing its development over 14 years (so far).

Cheers
Allan

[Mark Carrington]

Lovedale '03 is outstanding, IMO. I was fortunate to be able to visit HV ( including Mount P who provided a v. warm welcome) just over 12 months ago & thought '07 a top notch vintage for Semillon. If I was lucky enough find some (untried) Lovedale '07, I wouldn't hesitate to buy some.
Mr. Webb of this parish bought along a Lovedale with considerable age (can't recall year) as BYO & it was my favourite wine on the trip.

[Waiters Friend]

This has become my annual follow-up on this wine. My second-last magnum was opened last night for Elizabeth's 20th birthday. Fantastic wine, that does not remotely appear 20 years old. Light gold colour, good acidity, not overly toasty or honeyed, primary fruit has obviously diminished but lemon butter and lanolin remains.

The magnum disappeared in record time and I only got half a glass (someone seconded my glass as well) Bugger!

[Pej]

You have prompted me to stop over looking this wine. I've had it a fair few times from the 2007 vintage on wards and I think it's great, but it's only ever a bottle here and a bottle there. I tend to go straight for the Lovedale but obviously you can get a lot more Elizabeth for your money. I was only up the Hunter last weekend too stocking up on some Sem, but I was making an effort to visit wineries I don't usually go to.

[Mahmoud Ali]

I was only up the Hunter last weekend too stocking up on some Sem, but I was making an effort to visit wineries I don't usually go to.

I once made a similar trip, not to stock up on wines but to taste only the Hunter Wines, which of course was mostly Shiraz and Semillon. So which ones did you visit, what impressed you, and what did you stock up on?

Mahmoud.

[Pej]

I was only up the Hunter last weekend too stocking up on some Sem, but I was making an effort to visit wineries I don't usually go to.

I once made a similar trip, not to stock up on wines but to taste only the Hunter Wines, which of course was mostly Shiraz and Semillon. So which ones did you visit, what impressed you, and what did you stock up on?

Mahmoud.

The main idea was to try not spend more than $30 or so per bottle. I was looking for good value stuff that I wouldn't mind opening young but also hopefully ageing well in the cellar.

Eagles Rest - The time before when I was up there, the guy from Lake's Folly recommended checking out Eagles Rest so that was my first stop. The girls working there were brand new and had never hosted a tasting for anyone before, so I felt like I was educating them more then they were educating me. But they were friendly and the wine was good. Their chardonnay has won a bunch of awards recently and I think they gave it a bit of a price hike because of it. It hindsight I probably should have bought some but at the time I found the 2013 Estate and Dam Block Semillons to be great value.

Tyrrell's - I hadn't been to Tyrrell's in a long time so I wanted to try their Single Vineyard and Vat ranges. They don't let you taste current release unless you're a member so it was mainly 2009's and 2011's with a couple 2010 Semillons.

Highlights were:
2011 Belford Semillon - The acid and mouth feel appealed to me a little more than the Stevens and the HVD but I would have been happy with any of them.

2011 Vat 1 Semillon - So refined. I tasted all the Semillons together and it's class clearly stood out from the rest. I broke my $30 or so rule.

2011 Vat 47 Chardonnay - Oak, acid, fruit all combined perfectly. I had to resist.

2011 Vat 9 Shiraz - This needed a good decant but seeing they just popped and poured it really wasn't giving much. However with the tannin structure it had, I'd really like to try it again after a long sleep but not with my money.

De Iuliis - Heard a lot of good things about them but had never been there before. Overall quality was good.

Highlights were:
2009 Semillon - A 2009 of this quality for 30 bucks was hard to turn down.

2014 De Iuliis Shiraz Steven Vineyard - I have found quite a few 2014 Shiraz to be just too fruit forward for how I like my Hunter Shiraz. This is not one of them. Still plenty of fruit but not so much that you can't pick up on the earthy/leather qualities.

Andrew Thomas Wines - Again wines I've wanted to try for a long time but for some reason, just haven't. No Kiss Shiraz until the 2014's are released.

Highlights:
2015 Braemore Semillon - Mouth watering acid. Simple at the moment but clean and refreshing. I bought some for to see how it travels.

2009 Braemore Semillon - Way more developed than the De Iuliis of the same vintage. May not be a good thing for the future but for right now it's delicious. I was tempted to buy but thought I would just see how my 2015's go.

Hart & Hunter - Good quality overall but the winner for me was their Fiano which was a refreshing change from all the Semillon, Chardonnay and Shiraz I'd been tasting. Tradition style with some skin contact. Great texture. Great value.

That was way more than I was expecting to write so I hope you got something out of it. I didn't take any notes so this is all just from memory.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Thanks Pej, brought back memories. I too liked the Sems at Tyrrell's and De Iulius, but also Margan, Keith Tulloch, and Tulloch. Unfortunately none of them are available here in Edmonton.

Mahmoud.

[Waiters Friend]

Having had a 1996 Lovedale last night, what came out of the magnum of Elizabeth was a better wine at the same age. Of course, cork, bottle variation, and format make a difference, but what I wrote the above notes on was a much better wine than the 1996 Lovedale experienced last night.

A shame, as the 1986 Lovedale is the greatest Australian white wine I have ever drunk (and had about 15 bottles between 12 and 26 years of age).

[Waiters Friend]

This has become my annual follow-up on this wine. My second-last magnum was opened last night for Elizabeth's 20th birthday. Fantastic wine, that does not remotely appear 20 years old. Light gold colour, good acidity, not overly toasty or honeyed, primary fruit has obviously diminished but lemon butter and lanolin remains.

The magnum disappeared in record time and I only got half a glass (someone seconded my glass as well) Bugger!

My daughter's 21st birthday party was last night, and with it, we opened the very final bottle (magnum) of 1996 Elizabeth Semillon. My notes from last year still stand, and the wine is frozen in time. Sightly honeyed and toasty, good clear gold colour, secondary characters and acid all in balance.

It's been a fascinating exercise to enjoy this vintage of this wine each year on my daughter Elizabeth's birthday. As the wine was released as a 5 year old, it's likely we started this tradition in 2001 or 2002, and, although all bottles and magnums have been under cork, we've not had a single dud bottle. Obviously my daughter has matured alongside the wine, and she is now developing a wine palate. The price of an education was around $15 a bottle (and less in 2001).

Cheers
Allan

[JDSJDS]

Thanks for this thread, and for keeping us in the loop each year. I imagine you must be sad to see the last bottle go! We have the 2007 Museum release here in British Columbia at a great price (for here) of $24, and I have drank a few so far and kept 3-4 to wait a few years to try. It's still in a youthful phase, and seems like it will last as long as the 1996..