ADVICE NEEDED: Drinking Order

[Andrew Jordan]

Hello everyone,

I have a going away dinner tonight at a local BYO restaurant for an employee and have been given the task of obtaining the wine for the evening. The bottles I have purchased are the following:

2001 Devils Lair Cab
1998 Voyager Cab Merlot
2002 Wirra Wirra RSW
2003 Scarpantoni Block3 Shiraz

Does anyone have any thoughts on the serving order of these wines during dinner so that maximum enjoyment of each individual wine can be acheived, and that one wine doesn't over power the next??

Thanks in advance
AJ

[Gary W]

1998 Voyager Cab Merlot (older wine. V nice but mind the Brett...)
2001 Devils Lair Cab (still on Margaret )
2002 Wirra Wirra RSW (very rich and thick)
2003 Scarpantoni Block3 Shiraz (hopefully they will be drunk at this stage and not care too much about this one)

Depends what you are eating though.
GW

[Andrew Jordan]

Gary,

Thanks for the quick reply. I believe we are going to an Italian restaurant. Does this change your order??


Thanks
AJ

[TORB]

I agree with GW starting point and its often good to from form oldest to youngest but I don't think thats the case this time.

1998 Voyager Cab Merlot
2002 Wirra Wirra RSW
2003 Scarpantoni Block3 Shiraz
2001 Devils Lair Cab

My logic of this order is that the Wirra is very easy to drink, has great fruit and its seductive. The Block 3 has massive amounts of fruit (and I dont like the style) and is an in four face bomb. The DL has a truck load of tannin and will be almost hard (in comparison to the othres) at this young stage of its life.

[Wizz]

The DL has a truck load of tannin and will be almost hard (in comparison to the othres) at this young stage of its life.

Ric, I would have put the DL earlier - where GW has it - for this exact reason: after the fruit bombs it is going to look tannic as hell and possibly very ornery. I'm curious, why would you put it last (unless of course there is a cheese course there)?

AB

[TORB]

Hi Andrew,

Good question. If you had a line up of say an 86, 90, 94 and 98 and 2001 St Henri, you would normally serve them in the order listed. The softest and most integrated (most complex) first, moving through to the youngest and most tannic last.

Same logic, the others will be easier to drink. You cold do the DL first as it will be the hardest, but them you palate will have taken a battering, better to ease into IMO.

[Wizz]

Gotcha - I understand. I quite like the DL so I'm biased to show it off early,

AB

[TORB]

You are up early Andrew. I like the DL too, but it is a hugly tanninic monster that demands cellaring time. Mine will stay right where it is for some time.

[Wizz]

I'm usually awake by 6, but cruising the forums usually waits until I get to work (now),

AB

[Andrew Jordan]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the advice. The night went really well. We ended up at an Italian restaurant in Leichhardt called Grappa. Great food, good service, good stemware and they even decantered all the wines for us.

In regards to the wines, they were all very good. Top quality stuff. Didn't take any notes, but here are some impressions.

We started with a 1995 Leasingham Classic Clare Sparkling shiraz. Plenty of gold medals on this beauty, and it lived up to the hype. Not as rich as the 1994 but still a very good sparkling shiraz. It definitely got the approval of all the ladies at the table!

Next came the 1998 Voyager Cab Merlot. Took it's time to open up, and thinking back we probably drank it to soon and didn't give it enough time to really show itself. But that's usually the case at restaurants unfortunately.

The 2002 Wirra Wirra RSW Shiraz was the next wine to be poured. Caramel flavours hit the palate straight away with this wine, and from the tables reaction this was the WOTN. So smooth and went down too easily. Glad I have a few of these in the cellar. I tasted this at Wine Australia and thought back then it was one of the top 3 wines of the show. And this bottle didn't disappoint. A few of the guys at work will be buying this I think!

By this time we were finishing the main meal and the 2003 Scarpantoni Block 3 Shiraz was poured. Although a nice wine, just couldn't live up to the RSW. 15.0% alcohol in this monster and it was noticeable after the Wirra Wirra.

By the time we got around to the 2001 Devils Lair the night was rounding up so we gave the bottle to the employee who was leaving the company. Pity as I have never tasted this wine, but do own a few bottles, so was looking forward to trying it. Maybe I will have to crack one of my own to see what all the fuss is about.

Thanks again for the feedback.

AJ