Another Penfolds night for the Rotters; ostensibly a 10/20/30 year retrospective, attempting to restrict to 2008, 1998, 1988 vintages. I knew there’d be some double-ups, but I didn’t expect a triple. We decided to drink the treble of Bin 707s against some random extra wines that showed up, but some cork victims changed the plans. Still, where the wines weren’t ruined by their packaging, they were pretty damn impressive.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929813]NV House of Arras Brut Elite[/url] - Australia, Tasmania
{cork,12.5%} [Glenn] Bottling 1301, so based largely around the 2013 vintage. Crisp and appley. Medium weight. Dry. Medium sized, quite aggressive bubbles. The palate is about citrus-type fruit, with little yeast or autolysis influence. Seems very much chardonnay dominant. Medium-length dry finish. Lacks for complexity only; some time might help a little.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929814]1998 Penfolds Bin 389[/url] - Australia, South Australia
{cork, 14%} [Kim]
Brickish colour, brown tinges. Big vanilla and chocolate nose, aged, but with a rotting, earthy aspect. Dry, with medium/high gritty tannins and medium acid showing a hint of volatility. Not fresh on the palate; it’s about roasted, aging fruit; ripe but too astringently tannic. Baked. Weak back palate. On the downslope on this occasion; but experience with this label is now very inconsistent, and that from bottles decently stored. Not showing its best, but that’s typical!
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929816]2008 Penfolds Bin 389[/url] - Australia, South Australia
{screwcap, 14.5% [Stephen] Plush, rich nose of plums, currants, blackberry and chocolate. The palate is smooth, ripe, even and warm. Slightly anonymous red/black flavours – I suppose they follow the nose but it seems a bit bland somehow. Verging on jammy rather than oaky. Medium dusty tannins, little acid. Pleasant to drink, if simple. Probably needs time, but it’s oddly unconvincing for a decade old. Wait with crossed fingers.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929818]1998 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707[/url] - Australia, South Australia
{cork, 13.5%} [Gordon] Bottle 211094, double-decanted 3 hours earlier. Volatile, bacterial and thoroughly not right. Not obvious TCA, but as the following two bottles showed, clearly a cork or hygiene-related fault somehow. NR (flawed)
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929817]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
{cork, 13.5%} [Aaron] Had a 40-minute decant. Big, chocolate and cedar nose. Liquorice too. Very ripe, powerful. Plenty of oak on the palate, too, with sweet chocolate and currant flavours. Medium chalky tannins, medium-bodied with lowish acid. Makes a bit initial impression in the mouth, then flattens out a bit, and only finishes medium length. Weaker back-palate, despite the pleasant flavours it’s just a bit hollow and simple for a Coonawarra flagship red. The more I taste JR from the late 90s the more I understand why they ripped out so many vines and re-thought the oak treatment.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929820]1998 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707[/url] - Australia, South Australia
{cork, 13.5%} [David] What a contrast to the other bottle. This offers a developing, fragrant nose of currants and coionut. Not overstated, but evolving nicely. The palate is cedary and spicy, with rich liquorice flavours. The palate is even, and although it’s towards the full-bodied spectrum, it’s not the monolith you might fear. No, it’s very drinkable. I thought this pleasingly consistent with the following (3rd!) bottle, although I gather others at the table found a bigger difference between the two non-faulty bottles we had tonight.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929823]1998 Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707[/url] - Australia, South Australia
{cork, 13.5%} [Greg] For me, this was a near-carbon copy of the previous example, with its vanilla, coconut, chocolate flavours in the Penfolds style; fullish-bodied, with medium powdery tannins, medium acid, good palate balance, medium-long finish, and some considerable time left still to evolve, maybe with marginal improvement. Good thing I decided against bringing one of these, or we might have had four bottles!
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929821]1998 Wirra Wirra Cabernet Sauvignon The Angelus[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
{cork, 14%} [Gordon] Another victim of cork bark. This was overtly cardboard-like and mouldy; a textbook example of TCA for only the cork-lovers to enjoy. NR (flawed)
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929826]1988 Penfolds Grange[/url] - Australia, South Australia
{cork, 13.5%} [Graeme] Double-decanted four hours earlier. Aged spice and leather. Very seductive, intense but gentle, with sweetly rotting fruit overtones. The palate has a touch of malt, coffee, along with classically rich and spicy south Australian shiraz fruit squarely in the Grange mould; violets, flowers, strawberries. This has a hint of dry brittleness on the palate, true, but it still has medium powdery tannins and medium-full weight, with a medium-long finish. Beautifully mature and probably not worth keeping too much longer.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929824]1997 Penfolds Grange[/url] - Australia, South Australia
{cork, 14%} [Geoffrey] Decanted at the start of the dinner (2 hours). Bears a remarkable stylistic similarity to the 88; it’s not often you get to try decade-apart Granges side-by-side. This too has lots of liquorice and leather, but is tighter than the 88, with bitter dark chocolate flavours and dark grape fruit. It’s partly-developed, medium/full in weight, with medium-high powdery tannins, and a beautifully even palate, which really promises another decade’s aging. Will take another decade’s aging easily on this showing; but the prices for these nowadays outstrip their inherent vale I rather think. Who’s buying them these days?
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929825]2008 De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Sémillon[/url] - Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina
{375ml, screwcap 10%} [Glenn] Deep orange/gold. Lovely rusty nose, smelling of complex botrytis and apricot aromas. The palate has a syrupy texture, with overwhelmingly sweet marmalade flavours, molten botrytis everywhere, rotten apricots; as decadent as the pre-revolutionary Romanovs. What holds this together is the acidity, just giving it enough structure to work despite the medium-sweet flavours and bestowing a medium-long finish, which, although it’s not crisp by any means, somehow just hangs together. A wine greater than the sum of its parts; not always the case with Noble One this century, although I still wouldn’t be keeping this much longer.
Great selection of wines. Would that we had a Penfolds night which wasn’t overly tilted towards either St Henri (absent tonight) or 707, but which showed the whole range. Oh well, keep on practising I guess. And, as we drag ourselves into the modern era, perhaps we’ll have fewer victims of antique packaging in the form of tree-bark…
cheers,
Graeme
I was going to present a vertical in HKG, as part of my process of warming my good wine friends to Aussie classics and that isn't reassuring. I'm no JR expert! Thought it was better than that?
"Barolo is Barolo, you can't describe it, just as you can't describe Picasso"
JamieBahrain wrote:Thanks Graem, intersting comments re - JR.
I was going to present a vertical in HKG, as part of my process of warming my good wine friends to Aussie classics and that isn't reassuring. I'm no JR expert! Thought it was better than that?
It is. Yes Wynn's were a little OTT with oak handling...but as were many other makers at the time. If anything...it's the Michaels that were the oak monsters. I would press on with your vertical.
There is also a well noted phenomena...it's called bottle variation.
Cheers
Craig
Doubt a JR vertical would be a dud! 82 can be world class (cork and storage permitting of course), but 88,90,91,93,94,96 and 97 are all drinking well now. 86 seems very variable, I can't recall a 98 personally, 02 is monolithic but I'm keen to try an 04 as it had very good structure and interest on release. Undoubtedly too young though, so hanging on to the few I have.
JamieBahrain wrote:Graeme was basing his experiences beyond a single bottle.
Best I run through a vertical of JR myself . We are subsidising Aussie events and not filling dinners - don’t want a dud Aussie event .
Not how I see it, I was reading the note not the follow up on vineyard rejuvenation
Perhaps you can organise some cheap airfares and a few of us could make the journey
JamieBahrain wrote:Thanks Graem, intersting comments re - JR.
I was going to present a vertical in HKG, as part of my process of warming my good wine friends to Aussie classics and that isn't reassuring. I'm no JR expert! Thought it was better than that?
The nineties bracket of the 1982-2010 John Riddoch Vertical I attended just under four years ago was about as strong as I expected it to be:
I have very little experience with this century's JR, but I reckon of the 80s and 90s I've been more disappointed than not, oddly enough. Maybe my expectations are too high.
20th century Michael was too oaky, and isn't a wine I seek out because it's just not that good (not had the '55 though!). It really isnt!
cheers,
Graeme
Hmm. Hunting back through my Cellartracker records, I find 9 notes on the 98, enthusiastic at first but with waning enthusiasm as the year go by:
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1193383]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (3/06/2002) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=8729]NobleRottersSydney - Launching the '98 cellar (2) (Darling Mills, Glebe)[/url]: Black wine. Incredibly rich, upholstered über-cabernet nose. Very oaky, true, but somehow aristocratic, with plenty of ripe fruit underneath. Far too young to drink now, and hard to see (after this much wine) exactly where this will go, but it seems to have the right stuff to be a long ager…
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1180637]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (7/04/2003) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=8609]NobleRottersSydney - Revisiting the '98 cellar (Lucio's, Paddington)[/url]: Black-red. Predictably monolothic nose, somewhat closed, and I suspect not particularly indicative of the wine’s potential. It smells as black as a coal mine, and still tastes extraordinarily disjointed. The tannins are fine, but they grow over time, burying the ripe fruit. Really shouldn’t be touched for many years.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175254]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (4/08/2003) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=8559]NobleRottersSydney - Bordeaux v Australia (Lucio's, Paddington)[/url]: There were no surprises here. Black, with dark red tinges at the rim. Raw, charry oak on the nose. There is some syrupy blackcurrant fruit somewhere on the palate, but its obliterated by the (admittedly fine) tannin assault. I regard this as effectively undrinkable at present. Possibly the fruit will hold together for 20 years, because that’s how long it feels the tannins will need to soften. Remarkable in many ways. I don’t want to see this wine again before at least 2010!
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1121195]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (7/05/2007) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=8135]NobleRottersSydney - Revisiting the '98 cellar (Alio's, Surry Hills)[/url]: {cork, 13.5%} Remarkably opaque in colour – still black! The nose is tight, closed, a bit smoky. Ripe & powerful, but sullen. The palate gives away lots of chalky tannins, but is otherwise very unyielding. Everything spells potential; this is all anticipation and not much achievement at the moment. Will be very good in the end, I think, but not for some time. Leave in cellar.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1120520]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (6/07/2009) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=8131]NobleRottersSydney - Revisiting the '98 cellar (Alio's, Surry Hills)[/url]: Forewarned by the Saltram, we had these last cabernets decanted. This offers richly upholstered aromas of currents and discreet oak; ripe and barely developed. Medium-full bodied, still with a mass of chalky tannins and great intensity, this is powerful, rich cabernet. Yet, somehow it lacks the finish of a great wine. Medium length, reasonable balance; maybe it needs more time. Past form says yes, but I find that JR often disappoints – the attempt to make a supercharged wine somehow adds up to less than the sum of the parts. Don’t be mistaken – this is still a very attractive wine, and I’d expect that more time will improve it, but I still think there’s a dimension missing somehow.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=2135127]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (6/06/2011) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=14528]NobleRottersSydney - Cabernet prior to 2001 (Alio's, Surry Hills)[/url]: [cork, 13.5%] {Greg} This wine, opened two hours earlier but not decanted, was at least a generation younger than the ’90. Dark garnet and opaque. Some development is apparent on the nose, but it’s still dominated by rich dark cabernet fruits and cedary oak aromas. The palate is even more youthful; with dense curranty fruits, highly dusty tannin texture, laced with chocolate & oak flavours, all forming a full-bodied but even wine on the palate. It’s big but not crude, and wants another ten years at least to settle down. Ought to surpass the 1990. I think. But who knows?
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=2167268]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (4/07/2011) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=14681]NobleRottersSydney - Revisiting the '98 cellar (Alio's, Surry Hills)[/url]: [cork, 13.5%] Little to add to last month’s note. Ruby. A little development. Massive nose of dill and coconut, blackcurrants fruits too, but mostly oak, oak, oak. Full-bodied, not quite as tannic as those oak aromas might lead you to expect; and in fact does retain a touch of authentic cabernet herbacousness about the flavours. But that vanilla is everywhere… Leave it, in the hope it will come together and mature. But I think even Wynns have toned down the oak in more recent vintages.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=2896608]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (2/07/2012) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=18549]NobleRottersSydney - Best Oz vintages 90-02 (Alio's, Surry Hills)[/url]: [13.5%, cork] {Geoffrey} Double-decanted a few hours before.Lots of vanilla here, along with musty, leafy and compost aromas. Cabernet? Medium-full bodied, this too is somewhat over-oaked for me, although it retains a leafy sourness of varietal authenticity. The tannins have really backed-off in the last few years; even a couple of years ago this was still swingeingly astringent. Other Rotters were bigger fans than I; it seems a bit disjointed to me, not having attained full maturity yet. Despite a slightly short finish, I’m inclined to allow this more time still to come together. Hold.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=6929817]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (5/02/2018) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=37988]NobleRottersSydney - Penfolds at 10 20 30 years (360 Bar & Dining, Sydney)[/url]: {cork, 13.5%} [Aaron] Had a 40-minute decant. Big, chocolate and cedar nose. Liquorice too. Very ripe, powerful. Plenty of oak on the palate, too, with sweet chocolate and currant flavours. Medium chalky tannins, medium-bodied with lowish acid. Makes a bit initial impression in the mouth, then flattens out a bit, and only finishes medium length. Weaker back-palate, despite the pleasant flavours it’s just a bit hollow and simple for a Coonawarra flagship red. The more I taste JR from the late 90s the more I understand why they ripped out so many vines and re-thought the oak treatment.
The 96 has fared worse, if anything:
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1124078]1996 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (14/11/2007)
{cork, 13.5%} Opened at eleven years of age to celebrate the electoral shellacking given the sordid and arrogant Howard government, the second half of whose rule was an obscene travesty of Westminster Parliamentary democracy. The wine is still a deep garnet, with a faint colour lightening around the rim. The nose is an amalgam of pure cassis and vanillan oak; there’s not great development of secondary characters yet. The palate retains the essence-of-cassis quality, the fine powdery tannins are quite strong still, acid is quite soft, the finish is of decent length. Overall, though, a bit muted in impact – I think it’s between two stools at the moment, and needs another decent cellar sleep to develop into something decently interesting. Wait.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1121100]1996 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (19/08/2008)
{cork, 13.5%} A little sign of age is apparent in the colour, but the nose is still resolutely oaky. It’s agreeable enough in a Rioja-sort of way, but I think this is either over-oaked, or in something of a developmental slump at the moment. Hoping for the latter, as I’ve a handful of bottles still cellared. Not likely to fall over, but let’s hope the development continues on the path of complexity, instead of just simple decay. It’s a bit one-dimensional at the moment.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=3204226]1996 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (5/11/2012) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=19959]NobleRottersSydney - 1996 South Aust reds (Alio's, Surry Hills)[/url]: [cork, 13.5%] {Graeme} Double decanted 3 hours prior. This should have been a triumph of the night, but the nose was bacterial and disgusting. The palate was stripped and flat. Seems to be a mix of brett and oxidation. Or something. Not obviously corked, though. A disaster. NR (flawed)
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=3206114]1996 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (16/11/2012)
{cork, 13.5%} Depressingly similar to the bottle from Nov 5, although at home, and with more time seemed slightly more drinkable. Still seems rent with bacteria somehow; or maybe this was cooked at some stage early in its life. At any rate, tastes nothing like I'd expect from a JR of this vintage. Stale and flat.
The rest are a mixed bag, but more misses than hits I reckon:
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1350371]1986 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (5/06/2000) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=9787]NobleRottersSydney - Langtons Classification (Darling Mills, Glebe)[/url]: {cork, 13.5%} Very similar to the 1990. Deep garnet red. Transcribe the same note; this is possibly a little more tannic, still with black fruit/chocolate flavours. Medium length finish. Will hold longer.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1350370]1988 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (5/06/2000) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=9787]NobleRottersSydney - Langtons Classification (Darling Mills, Glebe)[/url]: {cork, 12.1%} Brick red. Cedary (oak) nose. Still woody and tannic on the palate – more angular than the 1990. Shortish finish, dominated by oak. A much older-tasting, thinner wine than its younger sibling. Had this a number of times at this age – always the same; doesn’t quite have the stuffing for the structure it was supposed to inhabit. In context, fruit deficient.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1350369]1990 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (5/06/2000) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=9787]NobleRottersSydney - Langtons Classification (Darling Mills, Glebe)[/url]: {cork, 13.5%} Deep purple/red. Mulberry/chocolate nose, intense & focussed. Well-structured palate; fine-grained tannins, warmth of ripe fruit, medium-length finish. Oak still dominates the palate over the fruit – hope for evening up as it ages further. Not quite the ‘wow’ factor you’d expect from 1990.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1122189]1990 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (7/04/2008) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=8146]NobleRottersSydney - Margaret River v Coonawarra (Alio's, Surry Hills)[/url]: {cork, 13.5%} Gently restrained aged cassis and cedary oak aromas greet the nose. The palate is still very tannic, with a mass of chalky astringency framing the ripe cabernet fruit, which blooms much more on the palate than the nose hints at. There’s plenty of weight on the mid and back palate, it’s full-bodied overall, with a medium length finish. A very good wine, but I was expecting a multi-dimensional wine from this vintage in Coonawarra, and although enjoyable, I find this a bit four-square and lacking excitement somehow. Never had it before, so can’t comment further.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=2135126]1990 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (6/06/2011) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=14528]NobleRottersSydney - Cabernet prior to 2001 (Alio's, Surry Hills)[/url]: [cork, 13.5%] {Gordon} Double-decanted two-three hours prior to drinking. Solid garnet, no fading. Aged nose of old leaves and black fruits; generally attractive but not a knockout. Palate is quite mysterious; initially seeming quite dense with rich curranty fruits seasoned with oak, and boasting a decently long, medium-bodied finish, it somehow seems to add up to less than the sum of its parts. If it weren’t for the fact there seems to be a kind of hollowness at its core, I’d just say it needs more time. And yet, it’s evidently an older wine; it has soft dusty tannins, and enough acid to hold it together, yet it just doesn’t grab you. Maybe it’s just that it lacks ultimate complexity, and the expectationas of the 1990 vintage are a little too much for it. I don’t think it’s in any danger of falling over soon; you may as well hang onto it in the hope of a late transformation. A tough wine to call.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175234]1992 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (4/08/2003) [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=8559]NobleRottersSydney - Bordeaux v Australia (Lucio's, Paddington)[/url]: Despite its 11 years, this is still a very deep red indeed. The nose is all stewed blackcurrant jam and softened vanilla oak, overlaid with a powerful spiciness. On the palate the components all remain – some prickly acid, heavily worked fruit, and soft tannins. It still has a distinctly oaky flavour, which suggests it will never be a totally harmonious whole. It certainly has plenty of initial impact – far more so than the Lafon, but it lacks the persistence of the St Estephe [89 Lafon Rochet] wine. Certainly has plenty of time, although may not benefit from further aging. May have been a more harmonious wine with less oak…
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1515250]1992 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (25/06/2002)
Deep red. Violets and raspberries and lots of vanilla oak. The palate is full and rich; youthful – especially so for 10 years old – medium-full bodied, with powerful fine tannins and a general sense of pumped-upness. Perhaps this would pall beside better vintages, but it does Coonawarra ‘92 proud and belies all the reports of green wines from that vintage. Chunky and solid, although lacks the multi-dimensional depths needed to be a great JR.
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1161631]1993 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (9/10/2005)
1st bottle corked. Grrrr. 2nd (& my last) was dark red still. The overwhelming aromas are of oak. I reckon the 93 Black label is past it's best - this wine taste to me like the raw materials were never quite up to the task of John Riddoch. Some generously upholstered cabernet notes, but really it's a nose of softly developing oak that is the main flavour component. Something of a mid-palate hole, and a quite astringent finish - the tannins lack the complexity for a really rewarding experience. At current auction prices ($40-ish?) this is a fair buy. At the $50-odd I paid about 8 years ago, it wasn't!
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1123994]1994 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon John Riddoch[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra (18/04/2007)
{cork, 13.5%} Of unknown provenance for the first half of it’s life, this wine seems to be showing the signs of too-warm storage. There’s a little ripe-yet-herby curranty cabernet, but it’s more overwhelmed with smoky vanillan oak together with a varnishy note. The palate is warm, oaky and hollow – there’s a sort of vacuum at the core of this wine. Presumably not representative, but a disappointment nonetheless. I’m reminded of Sibelius attending a orchestral rehearsal of his Second Symphony from which the 3rd trumpet player was absent. The composer left very shortly, complaining that “I can only hear the trumpet that isn’t there.”
Back in the 90s I had a decent 84 and also a very pleasant 82 (from a thimble glass at my aunt's house!) but I've no written notes from those days, just vague memories...
Oddly, I'm still keen to try JR; there's something about it that makes me expect it to be top-notch. Perhaps I should lower my expectations!
cheers,
Graeme
Graeme, thanks for the great notes, really appreciative of them...have had about 30 JRs over the last 25 years. I am still perplexed by the 4 bottles of '86 that were all different, and could only give the best one about 8/10. Generally, I have found 84, 85, 87 and 88 all fairly positive. The half dozen 82s have been pretty good, as have 94, and 99. Its been 5 years since I looked at 90-93.
I have not tried 96-98 for some time and apart from a magnum of 03, I have not seen anything on from that, although the 08 at a Wynns function last year was very good, but far far too young.
Once the cellar sort out is finished...yes taking a while...I am looking at a vertical, 25 bottles a few to get through. Main problem is sorting the flights and the glassware.
Cheers craig
