Wynns Black Label CS - potential vertical? When?

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

Following on from my TN on the 2010 BL, and previous threads, it raises the question of when to look at these wines. I have most vintages back to 2001, but if I offered a vertical now from 2018 to 2001, would I be 10 years too early?

Cheers
Allan

[Ian S]

Others with greater experience than me will chime in, but from my own experience, this label is very useful, as I can find enjoyment on release, yet they age wonderfully without seemingly going into their shells. For me that tasting would get a thumbs up, but getting an older vintage or two might (cringes as he writes it) 'take it to another level'.

[GraemeG]

I doubt there'd be much real interest in 2012-2018 on the grounds they're a bit young and cookie-cutter similar. But 2001-2011 might be better, especially if you could throw a few 90s or earlier into the mix. Alternately, do even years from 2018 back to 2002.you want a bit of space. Things were a lot more variable back in the cork days - a straight run of vintages may have been a bit more varied, but for the wrong reasons!

I tasted a big vertical nearly 20 years ago which was a lot of fun. Notes I took at the time:
[url=https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=8554]NOBLEROTTERSSYDNEY - WYNNS CABERNET VERTICAL: 86, 90-00 - Lucio's, Paddington (3/11/2003)[/url]

The Noble Rotters gather in Sydney for the November 2003 dinner. A Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon vertical is on the cards. Wines were not decanted. Drinking from oldest to youngest in brackets of 3, the wines are (alcohol % in brackets)

• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175109]1986 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (12.9%) Brick red, with a little fading at the edges. Lots of cigar box and pencil shaving aromas – very much secondary characters to the fore here. There are some herby eucalypt fruit notes remaining, but this is essentially a mature experience. It’s still wonderfully alive – the fruit and tannins very soft, acid still plentiful. Its medium bodied, wonderfully drinkable, and grows almost sweet in the glass. Unlikely to improve, but great drinking now.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175111]1990 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (14.0%) This is a much darker red – hard to believe its 13 years old. Clean prune & blackcurrant fruit, some light vanilla oak on the nose. Plenty of spicy, yet smooth & powerful tannins on the palate. The fruit is rich and full with much less development than 86. This is lovely, but needs years yet to reach its optimum, I feel. In context, it’s almost brutal in its power. Carries 14.0% alcohol with narry a shudder.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175112]1991 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (13.5%) Another deep red wine, though less dark than 90. The aromas are similar, but a bit more rounded and integrated. The fruit is the same clean Coonawarra blackcurrant, but it’s more subtle somehow. The palate is almost polished, with a more elegant balance of primary fruits and development than its older brother. – treading a fine aging line. I find this slightly more pleasurable than the 90 at the moment – but the 90 will live longer, and should perhaps surpass this wine? Power or elegance emphasized – that’s the difference between these two. Remarkable drinking for wines that were barely $10 when released…
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175114]1992 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (13.5%) A quite bright red, this has some bricking at the edge. The nose is almost a little sweet, with blackcurrant candy aromas. It’s somewhat astringent on the palate – evenly so, but the finish fades quickly. Acidity is fair, but this feels like much work has been done in the winery to compensate for weaker fruit. It’s a perfectly acceptable wine, but falls well short of the standards established by 90 & 91.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175117]1993 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (13.5%) Dark red. The fruit is a bit more generous than 92 but cloves and gentle oak stand out on the nose. It has a medium weight palate, although lacks the complexity of the first bracket wines. The finish is somewhat astringent perhaps, and although this is in no way a deficient wine, I can’t see any improvement left. Drink now, or hold without expectation!
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175119]1994 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (13.5%) Deep red – no bricking here. This is a bit closed in some ways, presenting a monolithic nose of mint and vanilla – as though the American oak was dominating in the winery. There’s some sourness of fruit – which is more pronounced than the last 2 wines. It’s endearing somehow, and gets a little better sitting in the glass. It’s relatively big and brutal – could be a less successful version of the 90. Hard to call for me - will it look more like 93 with time or gain richness? A sleeper?
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175120]1995 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (12.5%) Crimson red, but the colour didn’t glow like its contemporaries. The fruit has a simplistic, candied quality to it. Rather one-dimensional on the palate – relatively astringent, fruit reticent, with a phenolic, hard-pressed, macerated quality to it. This isn’t going anywhere, and is the least of the wines so far. Drink up.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175123]1996 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (13.0%) Deep black-red. The wine is a bit closed at first. It eventually opens with rich ripe blackcurrant fruit over underlying subtle spicy oak. Lots of aroma layers here. The palate, too, is restrained, but eventually builds, with plenty of ultra-fine tannins, but it’s still reluctant to open up and sing. A bit quiet, but has all the hallmarks of a great wine, given a little time. Patience. Elements of 90 & 91 here. One to keep.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175124]1997 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (13.5%) Deep red. A diffuse, blurry nose (or is it me?). Much less focused than the 96, this reminds me most of the 92 in some ways. Not a great deal of interest here.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175127]1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (13.5%) Dark, dark red. Intense black & red fruit, powerful toasty vanillan oak, and yet there’s still some authentic cabernet herbaceousness here as well. There is tremendous depth of aroma. This is an imposing, balanced, yet still unintegrated wine. Iron tannins, fine-cut acid and ripe fruit all attack in uncoordinated fashion. I think this will be a great wine, but I find little pleasure in it at this early stage – it needs about 10 more years. Only drink now if you’re a young-wine junkie…
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175128]1999 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (13.5%) Deep crimson red, but sadly corked. Under the TCA there’s a hint of decent fruit aroma remaining, but the palate is utterly stripped, and remains an astringent shell. NR (flawed)
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175130]2000 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon[/url] - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
  (13.5%) Surprisingly simple nose of cherry-sweet strawberries. Totally different to the previous wines. Still tannic on the palate, but otherwise quite light, with a desperately short finish. Not faulty that I can see, but vies with the 95 as the clunker of the night.
• [url=https://www.cellartracker.com/note.asp?iWine ... te=1175132]2001 Miranda Sémillon Golden Botrytis[/url] - Australia, New South Wales, Big Rivers, Riverina
  Golden yellow. A low acid, sharply botrytis-flavoured wine. A bit simple in its confected presentation of apricot fruit. One glass is enough, and I don’t think this is for keeping.

The consistency of the Wynns is remarkable. Even the least of the vintages (92, 95) are respectable drinking after a few years, and the great vintages (86,90,91,96 and maybe 94?) represent enviable value for their modest cost. The back label, which changes very little from year to year, claims both new and used US and French oak is used – it may be that this flexibility the winemakers have, together with the large Coonawarra resources they can access, enables them to achieve such continuity of style. Even in 1998, the urge to let the alcohol levels rise has been resisted. It’s almost as though the black label wine is intended to vary as little as possible, while John Riddoch sees the full orchestra treatment.

I think a lot of this wine is drunk too early. By themselves, the 96 & 98 are very impressive, but only by tasting them alongside 90 & 91 does their great potential become obvious. For a $25 wine these days, it’s a terrific buy (2000 excepted!).

[Rossco]

Two years ago we had a vertical between 1960's - 1999
http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16358

1999's were still very young.

Lots of cork failures in the 90's too.

Not sure when the vineyard rejuvenation
took place but assume it was 00's?

Penfolds apparently started to take a lot of the fruit (still do?) in this period too, so there was always that question about quality. Plus they started doing 11ty 'single vineyard' releases again diminishing availability of BL fruit?

[GraemeG]

I think the missing Riddoch's from 00-01-02 are a guide to the vineyard works.
And I'd expect that with TWEs Penfolds push that a lot of top Wynns fruit was diverted there in a way it wouldn't have been in the 20th cent.

[phillisc]

Just sitting here reflecting on another week and opened an 08 BL. Darkest purple, almost inky black. Great nose of blue berry, black fruits, slightly savory toasty character. Fabulous fleshy plush profile, so smooth a twinge of acid which carries through so well to lovely fine tannins. A touch of sweetness to finish. Effortless really to drink...onto the next glass. When will this be ready, so primary, yet so balanced. Glad to have a couple of cases...think this is a cracker of vintage.
Cheers Craig

[mjs]

Just sitting here reflecting on another week and opened an 08 BL. Darkest purple, almost inky black. Great nose of blue berry, black fruits, slightly savory toasty character. Fabulous fleshy plush profile, so smooth a twinge of acid which carries through so well to lovely fine tannins. A touch of sweetness to finish. Effortless really to drink...onto the next glass. When will this be ready, so primary, yet so balanced. Glad to have a couple of cases...think this is a cracker of vintage.
Cheers Craig

Craig,
Happened to pull a couple of bottles of the ‘08 BL and some other labels out of the cellar last weekend to go in the pantry drinking stock, so decided to open one tonight. Similar thoughts to you, beautiful bouquet, great fruit, alive in the mouth, dark but medium weight, quite youthful still but easy to drink now, tannins, nice structure, good finish, a little dry perhaps. Definitely worth keeping.
Cheers, Malcolm.