TN: 1998 Wynns Black Label Cabernet

Ralph · Post by **Ralph** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 10:16 pm

Pulled this from the cellar Sat night last to match with roast lamb. Decanted for one hour prior.

Deep brick red colour. Typical cool climate nose with light herbaceous overtones. Well integrated oak with smooth drying tannins. Finished with good length.

Very enjoyable. Nice moderate 13.5% alcohol.

In hindsight I should have opened a bottle of the '98 St Hugo to compare. Fortunately I have a couple of 98 St Hugo magnums resting comfortably for a future roast.

Still searching for my quote byline!

Andrew Jordan · Post by **Andrew Jordan** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:49 am

Ralph,

Have a few of these in the cellar. Any ideas if the wine has peaked, or would you give it a few more years?

Thanks in advance.

Red Bigot · Post by **Red Bigot** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:57 pm

apjordan wrote:Have a few of these in the cellar. Any ideas if the wine has peaked, or would you give it a few more years?

AJ, I have this listed to drink from about 2008 through 2012 (JO says 2010-2018), I think it is definitely a 10+ year wine with reasonable cellaring.

Wizz · Post by **Wizz** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:05 pm

Red Bigot wrote:
apjordan wrote:Have a few of these in the cellar. Any ideas if the wine has peaked, or would you give it a few more years?

AJ, I have this listed to drink from about 2008 through 2012 (JO says 2010-2018), I think i is definitely a 10+ year wine with reasonable cellaring.

Jumping in: thanks everyone, I'd been wonderig when to attacke these. SOund slike a few more years yet,

TORB · Post by **TORB** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:03 pm

I am going to disagree on this one based on personal taste more than anything else. Whilst it will hold for some time, my gut feel says it won't actually improve. That was based on a single recent bottle. I didn't make a TN but I did bring back the drinking window.

Muscat Mike · Post by **Muscat Mike** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:20 pm

I had one about 6 months ago and felt it had a lot of improvement left in it.
MM.

TORB · Post by **TORB** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:37 pm

Mike,

Could be bottle variation; I will try another soon.

Ralph · Post by **Ralph** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 10:13 pm

I'd agree with the general consensis, certainly very nice now but no indications of peaking out.

Does get back to personal taste. If you own a couple or more you could afford to try one soon and then taste how it's developed with one some time thereafter.

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:54 pm

Had one last night. Still tastes quite young to me. I'd give it another couple of years.

Bill

707 · Post by **707** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 1:09 pm

Last one I had indicated that there's still a way to go for this vintage. Not an absolute great Black Label but servicable :-)

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 7:22 pm

What are the best vintages of this? I have only got some 2001's which I havent tried yet as it would be too early for me as I like to let Cabs have 5-8 years rest.

How do 96 and 98 compare?

707 · Post by **707** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:10 pm

1982, 1986, 1990, 1991 are classics. 1996 is very good, probably in front of the 1998 IMO. 1999, 2000 are good wines, 1993 underrated. 1989, 1992, 1995 best avoided after this amount of time, tough vintage conditions in those years.

GraemeG · Post by **GraemeG** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:44 am

Anonymous wrote:What are the best vintages of this? I have only got some 2001's which I havent tried yet as it would be too early for me as I like to let Cabs have 5-8 years rest.

How do 96 and 98 compare?

I posted notes on a vertical here hopefully - if the link doesn't work search for 'Wynns, cabernet, vertical" and you'll find it.

Wasn't planning on opening a 98 until 08. I think 90 & 91 are the ones to drink now - possibly 94. (Finish 95 & 97 now). 99 can wait a while too. Don't bother with 2000 to drink or keep. Haven't tried 01. Good rumours here about 02...

cheers,
Graeme

n4sir · Post by **n4sir** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:37 pm

TORB wrote:Mike,

Could be bottle variation; I will try another soon.

There's always been a lot of variation with this one guys.

On its release I found it green, tannic and ugly, until I (deliberately) found a developed bottle which showed enormous potential. The last two I've had at home have been superb and yet incredibly youthful, and the last (from Steve's cellar) blind at the API options night green, herbaceous and very developed.

It's always been a bit of a crap shoot, and nothing's changing.

Cheers,
Ian

Andrew Jordan · Post by **Andrew Jordan** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:37 pm

In the interest of science opened the 1st bottle out of a case purchased on release last night. Wanted to try this wine for myself due to the recent interest concerning the life of this wine.

Decantered for well over an hour. A fair bit of sediment was present in the wine, and it had started to crust on the shoulder of the bottle. Colour was glowing, a deep, dark red. The wine definitely took itÃƒâ€šÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s time to open up, and initially I though that this might be one of those Ãƒâ€šÃ¢â‚¬Å“uglyÃƒâ€šÃ¢â‚¬Â bottles Ian described above. But after some time, it started to wake up and show itself. Definitely had herbaceous overtones as Ralph noted above, but black fruits, dark chocolate and earth aromas started to come to the forefront with some time in the decanter. Initially tasted after decantered and I was not impressed at all, very bitter, green and disjointed. Left for an hour and retried. Fortunately, the ugly duckling had disappeared replaced by an emerging swan. Although still not fully integrated, this wine nearly has it all. Well balanced with a complex palate of blackcurrants, plums and dark chocolate, fine, powdery tannis, and good use of oak. Nice finish but not overly long. No taste of age or decline - still a youngster - and has a bit of room for improvement but not much, maybe a couple of years. Though saying this it definitely has a many years in front of it. Will try another in 2 years time, and probably drink the rest over the next 7 years after this.

n4sir · Post by **n4sir** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 7:28 pm

I agree with you Andrew that breathing could be a big key to this wine, but it's not the only factor. The last full bottle I had May 2004 (I can't believe it's that long ago now!) had a great flush of air (giving it the equivalent of about a 2 hour kick-start) and sang from the first drop:

n4sir wrote:I was a little worried to read these recent reviews, and as it’s been 18 months since I last opened a bottle, it was time to see how mine are cellaring:

1998 Wynns Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon The colour is still a glowing, glorious, inky purple/black. I decanted the bottle with a breatheasy, and while there’s no crust on the bottle itself, significant tannic crystals have formed in the wine. After going out 10 minutes to get some takeaway, a glorious perfumed bouquet wafted through the front door welcoming me home from the other side of the house! Blackcurrants dusted with icing sugar, violets, strawberries, and blueberry form the nose’s sweet backbone, with some coffee oak way off in the background. The malty oak is more prominent in the complex palate with some olive, interwoven chalky tannins and rich chocolate/blackcurrant fruit all in harmonious balance. There’s no sign of any decline since I last tried the wine 18 months ago; the wine's just getting better, with a long future still in sight. Makes the 1998 Penfolds Bin 407 look pretty ugly (I can’t believe how the latest Rewards of Patience has a drinking window until 2018 – it will be lucky if it makes it to 2008!).

Sorry (well actually happy) to say it guys, but it looks like you scored a couple of advanced or dud bottles.

Cheers,
Ian

n4sir wrote:I'm sitting here looking at the glowing purple hue coming off my last glass of this beautiful wine on its second evening, and can't help think about how varied these comments are.

Is there some of the dreaded batch variation at play here? On release I freely admit I hated this wine, but over the period of the last three years it has really softened, developed fantastic complexity, and somehow kept its youthful appearance, like it will go on past my lifetime. Just the look of it is incredible over five years out from vintage.

Cheers
Ian

Steve's bottle at the API options night this year appeared far more developed and yet had that initial green streak again. The amount of bottle variation to do with this wine has always been rather extreme, and that's not looking like changing soon.

Cheers,
Ian

Broughy · Post by **Broughy** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:57 am

On its release I found it green, tannic and ugly, until I (deliberately) found a developed bottle which showed enormous potential.

Noted previously that I think there is massive bottle variation in this wine, could it be different bottlings, pickings?

I purchased 2.5 doz of this on release and drank a doz within 12 months about 6 or so were really good had amazing RIPE fruit richness and quality, can't say I noticed the oak and I am a little sensitve to too much oak, of the remainder some corked, others just ordinary and GREEN.