TN: 1980 Wolf Blass “Gold Label” Riesling

[Adair]

Hello All,

I could have titled this post “A surprisingly excellent night’s drinking” but needed to follow the/my usual naming convention. Thinking about it, in general, any night where Wolf Blass wines provide pleasure is surprising (gee, that was harsh!)

I usually don’t log on in the evening, preferring to consume paid work time with wine “work”, but the opening of these two wines pushed me to do so.

1980 Wolf Blass “Gold Label” Riesling – this wine holds some sort of record for most trophies (cynical comment: don’t most Wolf Blass wines?!) but I did not expect it to be showing very well, especially after discussion with one who has a much greater experience with aged Australian whites, David Lole. However, this wine was very well cellared and, with half the bottle gone, is a pleasure to drink.

The cork is totally wet but comes out well. The wine is darker than what I would describe as gold but is not as dark as “Dark Gold”. Actually, when I think about the colour of pure gold, gold is probably a good descriptor. I wish I could find my (our) digital camera but Mardi is not home and I don’t know where it is. The nose is enticing. Very developed but not oxided. Yes!!! Much more intense than expected. Honeyed with toast and ripe, sweet, marmalade citrus. There is definitely a floral component that, I think, in a blind tasting would enable me to pick this from, say, an old Elizabeth Hunter Semillon. This marmalade is quite light when opened allowing less “heavy” sweet citrus flavours to dominate but it gets more prominent with air time. This actually benefits the wine – read on. The front palate is very broad, as expected, and rich. It does not cloy. There is a bit of spice as well, probably from the florals being intensified over the years. I am drinking history here. I was 3 when this wine was made. The middle palate is a concern soon after opening. Flavour does not dominate, acid or maybe alcohol does. The bottle says 13.4%. However, after 10 minutes (I have now nearly finished half a bottle and SMSed a friend to gloat about the wine – sad but true), the sweet, marmalade citrus as well as other flavours open up over the “holely” middle palate. Hmmmmm… this wine is GOOD. The acid is still there providing an exceptional finish, especially for a wine of its age. I would say that it was a “long finish” for a young Riesling, but as this wine is 23 years old, I describe the finish as “very, very long”. You just don’t get these marmalade and other lighter developed sweet citrus flavours going as long as this. Point to note: this wine is easily recognised as New World. It has a character of fruit driven purity that is very distinguishable and has no noticeable residual sweetness. It, obviously, finishes dry – actually, very dry! Taking another sip, I think one point I should highlight is that the marmalade does not dominate or cloy unlike many aged Elizabeths of this era (try a 1980 for example – had this two years ago: marmalade oxidation in a bottle). There are lighter, more hightened florals, citrus and spice on the palate. After 1 hour, the marmalade in the wine has still not created an oxided mess.

I hope I am giving you a good feeling of the wine despite my very unstructured notes. However, I only rate this wine as Excellent. Despite my enthusiasm, I can’t deny that this wine should have been drunk 5–7 years ago - David was right. It just lacks a bit of depth despite its intensity and complexity. However, the pleasure this wine provides is an example of how important balance is to a wine’s longevity. I hope the 2002 Petalumas, Grossets and Kilikanoons that I have in my cellar provide the same amount of enjoyment in the next 10-20 years. I suspect they will.

Kind regards,
Adair

P.S. Just opened a 1998 Wolf Blass “Yellow Label” Cabernet Sauvignon… its nose is most promising... yum, the palate is good too... Could be a very surprising night!

[JamieBahrain]

Yum!

[Attila]

The Gold Label from Blass can be a good surprise, especially and old one like the one you drunk.
I too was surprised by the quality of the 1998 yellow label cab. It is a FAR BETTER wine than what the AU $12 pricetag would suggest. The 1999 or the 2000 were O.K. but the 1998 is simply outstanding at the price.
Cheers,
Attila

[bacchaebabe]

Loved the post. Nothing like a semi-drunken ramble!

I've often said some of my most significant wine experiences have been with aged whites. I love my reds but an aged white can be a truly memorable experience.

I'm still not sure about the 97 rieslings and am hoping they are in a hole at the moment and in another five years and longer will be glowing. At approx $10 a bottle I can afford to take that chance and wait.

[Adair]

Loved the post. Nothing like a semi-drunken ramble!

Was it that obvious?!


I totally agree with you about "some of my most significant wine experiences have been with aged whites".

Aside: Every time I have a great white I think about what Ric is missing out on. However, he seems to be getting into the bubbles a bit lately.

Adair

[David Lole]

Loved the post. Nothing like a semi-drunken ramble!

I've often said some of my most significant wine experiences have been with aged whites. I love my reds but an aged white can be a truly memorable experience.

I'm still not sure about the 97 rieslings and am hoping they are in a hole at the moment and in another five years and longer will be glowing. At approx $10 a bottle I can afford to take that chance and wait.

Kris,

Hi. Just a word of warning on '97 Rieslings (Clare in particular). I have posted here and 'ye olde' forum at some length on the premature development of many Rieslings from this vintage. Suggest you monitor very carefully if you haven't tried any for a while. A lot of mine have met their maker (down the sink) or been sold at auction if still drinkable but lacking any future. Provenance wasn't the problem for most of the duds.

Say hello to PLCB for me next time you catch up

[GraemeG]

Hi. Just a word of warning on '97 Rieslings (Clare in particular).

Yes, 97 Clare rieslings - the Vintage of the Century, as I recall. Probably my first real experience of vintage hype when I was starting to build a cellar of wines to age. I didn't really stock up at all, and later, when I tasted some I was glad.

But I did 'fall' for the hype on the 98 reds - although I bought a fair bit of sub-$20 reds which I intended to be good quaffers - and they need drinking now, I feel.

Don't ahve much 02 Clare either - once burnt, twice shy...

cheers,
Graeme

[Guest]

Graeme,

Hello. Once bitten, twice shy, indeed! But I'm confident many 2002 Clare Rieslings with their tightness of structure and very good acid levels will shite over many of the disappointments from 'that' vintage. 2003 's looking very smart from the better producers as well (some even better at release than the 'vaunted' 2002 vintage)

Cheers,

David Lole
(forgot to sign in)