“Bring your oldest wine to share” was the theme. That meant back-ups! Perhaps surprisingly, nothing was undrinkable, although one or two bottles turned out to be for emergency use only. Otherwise the overall standard was amazingly high. Wines were almost all decanted just before service and generally served in what was assumed to be increasing order of weight.
- 2004 Dom Pérignon Champagne Metamorphosis Iris Van Herpen Label - France, Champagne
{cork} [Gordon] Who’d have thought that DP feel the need to indulge in co-branding arrangements? Anyway, this is surprisingly pale – indeed light – for a twenty year old wine. Nose is light and ethereal, with citrus, gentle yeast and cheese aromas. But delicate and polished. Palate is similar, with fine creamy bubbles, subtle flavours, light/medium weight, with a crisp and crunchy texture and a medium length finish. Amazingly fresh for twenty years old and can easily be cellared longer. A wine that draws you back for another mouthful. Very impressive. - 2002 Petaluma Riesling Hanlin Hill - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley
{cork, 12.8%} [Aaron] Mid/deep gold colour. Burnished nose of honey and oil; maybe it’s the sweet smell of death? At any rate, the palate is dry and coppery. There’s no sense of developed fruit; it’s all withering brown leaves and low acidity. Not technically oxidised, just flat and gone. Drinkable, but with a very short finish. Possibly screw-capped bottlings - it was sealed with both closures, no doubt due to Croser’s commercial Amorim connection – still have a pulse; this one’s headed back to the mortuary. - 2010 Aurelien Verdet Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
{cork, 13.5%} [Andrew] Surprisingly aged. Brett, compost, pongy socks. Vague remnants of rose-like fruit. Better on the palate, but still drying out a bit. Gently aging, little obvious fruit, but it’s not exactly complex either. Generally speaking, a bit wishy-washy, even by Burgundian standards. Decanted right before serving. Could have picked up with more air, I suspect, but will always be a bit prosaic I think. - 1988 Antoine Ogier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Reine Jeanne - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
{cork, 13.5%} [Graeme] Decanted right before serving. Earthy, stewing compost/black fruit, formic acid. Leathery old palate, with aged ripe fruit. Fully mature, but still surprisingly vigorous. Low dusty tannins, medium acidity. Medium weight, even palate, short - 1993 St Hugo Cabernet Sauvignon Coonawarra - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
{cork, 12.5%} [Paul] Welcome to Australia! Soft old mint, in the traditional Coonawarra style. Black fruit too. Lovely soft palate; less minty than the nose, with black fruit and some cedar and vanilla. Medium-weight wine all round, nicely balanced. Fully mature, but not past it. Beautifully fresh for thirty years. Decanted just before serving. - 1991 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz Michael Hermitage - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
{cork, 13.5%} [Aaron] Aged nose; soy and balsamic and blackberry essence. Spicy aged shiraz palate, a little bit ‘generic old red wine’ but largely riding now on the masses of sweet oak after all these years. Still has medium chalky tannins, low/medium acidity and a medium length finish. Pretty good all round, and ready to drink! - 1983 Metala Shiraz - Cabernet - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, Langhorne Creek
{cork} [Matt - guest] Wearing a wine-show/lab label, but we assume it’s the same as the commercial bottling. However, this has now faded away into a bit of a volatile ruin with no real interest left. Pass. - 2000 Capannelle Solaré - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
{magnum, cork, 13%} [Andrew] 80% Sangiovese with the rest Malvesia Nera. Astonishingly young from the big bottle (and decanted into a Riedel artwork for serving). Mixture of malt, blackberry, oak, spice. Rich on the palate, with some raisin character too, even balsamic, but not quite over-ripe. Maybe the fruit seems a bit scorched on the finish. Medium/full weight, medium chalky tannins, low/medium acid, medium/long finish. Very drinkable indeed. In this format will keep an age, but I don’t think there’s improvement left. - 1998 Stonehaven Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Vineyard Release - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Padthaway
{cork, 13.5%} [Geoffrey] Here’s a label that seems to have disappeared into oblivion, but on this showing deserves to be around still. Rather like a younger version of the St Hugo, although with less polish, more brawn. Vanilla oak is a bit more obvious. The palate combines chocolate and vanilla with black fruit in the classic Oz way before the ‘turbo-Parker era’ of high alcohol wines arrived. There’s a sweetness to the finish that the oak gives; tannins have faded into softness but there’s just a little acidity left to keep it together. Decently even palate, medium length finish. Travelling very nicely at full maturity. No decant, just poured at table. - 1988 Orlando Shiraz Lawsons - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Padthaway
{cork, 13%} [Graeme] Long list of gold medals on the back label, in the old fashioned, culture-cringe way! This was always a mint-fest in the 90s vintages, but here it’s fully aged, with a soft spicy white pepper character, low/medium chalky tannins and medium acidity. Just a nod to spearmint on the palate, but not overbearingly so. Medium length finish. Very satisfactory. No decant (thought it might have been a bit fragile), also no ullage; but there was plenty of sediment in the bottle. - 1998 Tahbilk Shiraz - Australia, Victoria, Central Victoria, Nagambie Lakes
{cork, 13.5%} [DavidH] On the face of it this was the humblest of the reds tonight (with Metala) but it was in no way disgraced – in fact was quite a match for more fancied bottles. A softly leathery and spicy nose precedes a soft and ethereal palate, with spicy red berry flavours, little oak, faded tannins, medium acidity. It’s light/medium bodied and perhaps fading a little, but is in great condition for an entry-level wine at a quarter century old. - 1998 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Shiraz Michael - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
{cork, 13.5%} [Geoffrey] Barbeque and charcoal nose, aging oak, black fruit. Charry sort of palate. Aging but edgy. Spiced blackcurrant flavours. Medium/full body, medium chalky tannins (still oaky!), low/medium acidity. A bit patchy on the medium-length finish somehow. A wine to wallow in now, not for a book club discussion. Decanted before service. Think this was the end of the road for this style – the label took a break until the 2003 vintage. No point in keeping this, but no immediate rush to drink either. - 1998 Ingoldby Shiraz Reserve - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
{cork, 14.5%} [Stephen] Another label whose great years were under the stewardship of winemaker Walter Clappis, after which it just became a brand name in a big conglomerate. The ‘reserve’ wines came late in the day. This has distinct raspberry/blackberry fruit aromas, showing more pure age than actual development. Super-ripe palate, with lots of warmth; it’s a bit juice-like and syrupy compared to just about all the previous reds. Full-bodied, soft tannins, lowish acidity. Big, luxury style. Will hold for a bit. - 1989 Penfolds Grange - Australia, South Australia
{cork, 13.5%} [Glenn] This old trooper! Still has the lively confectedness and exotic polish of previous bottles - I seem to have drunk from at least eight previous bottles of this going back to 1999 – although this has toned down a bit since last time (2019!) Ticks all the ‘medium’ boxes, has some spice and richness. As ever, not very ‘Grange-like’ but a very decent wine all the same. Nothing to be gained by further cellaring though. - 2016 Magarey Lane Cabernet Sauvignon Glenroy - Australia, South Australia, Limestone Coast, Coonawarra
{14.5%} [Glenn] Back-up bottle. Single vineyard, apparently. Glenn claimed to get this cheaply – there’s a eponymous winery website selling it as current release for $115. Wow. Tastes rather raw and sappy after everything else tonight. Yes, currant fruit, and jam. Tastes a bit raw, with a bit of a green spice to it, despite the % alcohol. Grapes not evenly ripe, maybe? Medium powdery tannins, medium weight, medium acid. Perhaps cellaring will help, although I’m not entirely convinced. - 1967 Château d'Yquem - France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes
{cork} [Gordon] Aged nose. Metallic/copper note, with vanilla bean on the nose. The palate is old, and a bit frail, but it’s enchanting, with vanilla, marzipan and a wisp of honey and caramel all viewed through half a century of development. About medium weight and seemingly sitting at an off-dry level of sweetness, it’s this balance of gentle sugar and aged flavour that give it a long, gentle finish. Reflective. A privilege to taste. - 1944 Royal Oporto (Real Companhia Velha) Porto Colheita - Portugal, Douro, Porto
{cork} [Gordon] Seems more in a tawny style that a vintage port. Also quite light in colour, with a tawny appearance that’s not far off the Yquem (although a bit murkier). Ancient but gentle nose of caramel & honey. Spirity palate with caramel, sultana, lots of alcoholic warmth – almost too much really. Sits very much on the tip of the tongue. The aged mustiness only reinforces the tawny impression. Medium/long finish. Not quite a knockout wine, but then the base material is eighty years old…
