TV: 3 St Halletts & 3 Wynns Black Label (bit long)

[Martin Phillipson]

Hi All

Just a few thoughts:

1999 St Hallett Old Block

Top stuff this! Decanted for about 4 hours, served in Riedels. Initially I was a bit worried, I found it disappointingly thin and fairly acidic. However, as time passed it began to broaden. Beautifully balanced wine, nice fruit but not overripe, some acidity and a good spine of tannins. Oak barely noticeable on the palate (save for providing structure). Very very nice, but wasn't wowed the first night so half went into a 375ml sherry bottle in the fridge. The second half the next day was sensational!! It had continued to broaden into a real mouth filling wine. Lovely flavours of plums & carob and that wonderful "christmas cake" taste of good shiraz. Everything still in balance, no sign of falling apart at all.

A real winner in my books. Again, further evidence that some of the Barossa 1999 shiraz are excellent wines with great structure (I have noted similar comments on here by others about the Rockford BP 1999) and better long term prospects than many of their initially more showy 1998 counterparts. No hurry at all on this one, it was opened too early but ended up being a real treat. A bargain here for me at $38 CAD. Just picked up a 6 pack of the 2002 for $40 each. If it's anywhere near as good as this I'll be happy.


St Hallett Blackwell Shiraz 2002

Flew in a whole case of this from St Hallett in order to make sure I got some. Opened a bottle a while back and was blown away. This one was less impressive. No detectable flaws here, I just think it has gone into a bit of a hole (anyone else experienced this with their 2002?). Still a nice wine but was notably coarser than the Old Block (this bottle was opened after the 2nd half of the 1999 Old Block) but blacker and thicker. Has real potential, with lots of big fruit and big tannins but it appeared a little disjointed. Not an off bottle, I really think it just needs a bit more time to re-emerge. Not worried just not as good as my initial bottle. Given bizarre Canadian pricing, this was only $5 less than the 2002 Old Block??

St Hallett Faith Shiraz 2002

This got big plaudits on release (Good Living Wine Thingo I think). Very nice drop. Was great with food. Lovely plum flavours with a hint of mint, and a long spicy finish of cinnamon and maybe a hint of cloves. Really nice wine for the price and again, was just great with food.

On the St Hallett's, 3 very good Shiraz indeed and not a Parkerised one amongst them. Simple recipe of quality fruit and judicious use of oak and you get some really nice bottles.


As for the Wynns, I opened a 1994, 1996 and 2001 BL when a few non wine obsessed friends came over. Won't provide detailed notes just a few observations on the trio.

The best wine was the 1996 which was developing nicely with rich fruit and chalky tannins. The other 2 however, were a bit disappointing. I had high hopes of the 1994. It was a Cuisine(NZ) Top Cabernet and that's why I had bought it (I always trust their wine reviewers) and it said it was built to last. That maybe but I think the fruit isn't going to outlast the tannin and oak. On this evidence I think the 1994 might be drying out, just a bit too tough for my liking and i don't think it's going to soften before the fruit dies. The 2001 was similarly tough but that is probably more to do with its youth than anything else.

I have a fair bit of BL in the cellar and I am a tad worried that they are all going to go the way of the 1994 in that even though I liked the 1996, all these wines were quite tough and not overly joyful. Am I getting spoiled or does anyone else share my concerns about the BL being a bit too tough. I read a glowing review of the 2002 on here and am hoping that this may indicate the vineyard changes are going to bear fruit (da da dum).

Any thoughts on the above?

M

[Mike Hawkins]

I had the 94 BL last year and found it delightfully youthful.

[Jersey]

I had a case of the 2000 BL and it is excellent, better than the 2001 in my opinion. And as for the 2001, I agree, it was a bit chewy. I'm actually looking around for another case of the 2000 because my stash is disapearing rapidly and I want to have some around in another 5 years to see how it goes.

Mick.