TN:Lindemans HR Burgundy Bin 3110 1965

[DaveB]

...cracked open at 5pm today in the office.

Still remarkably youthful in colour with some bricking around the rim...lovely sweet, savoury fruit on the nose.....redcurrants, red cherries, exotic spice, mahogany, roasted meats, game, leather, wood smoke, red strap licorice...constantly evolving in the glass and just smells otherworldly. The palate is uber complex and shows remarkable concentration for its age....content and form.....the architecture of the wine is something quite special....textured and still retaining fruit sweetness....leathery, savoury, spice studded redcurrant and red cherry fruits, roast meat, leather, redskin lollies, herbs and a touch of spearmint. There is bright acidity and walnutty tannins and it is a captivating, truly great wine that drinks beautifully now and will continue to drink well for another twenty year in my opinion.....a better example than the one tried a while back in the Hunter.....99 points from me.......Andrew Caillard called me a sad git for not giving it a perfect score with the obligatory arguement about giving a wine a top marks....that said this is a grand vin and is as close to perfection as you could wish for......99 Points

[Red Bigot]

Dave, I was lucky enough to try one of these about 10 years ago when it was occasionally available for around $100 pb, certainly a superb wine and one of the best reds I've ever had the pleasure of tasting.

[Brett]

Dave

I can only support you, I was fortunate to pick up a few 10 years ago, the last, drank at my in laws 40th aniversary dinner was superb notwithstanding a flight and 37degrees on the day of the tasting (thankgod for aircon). My comments were very similar to yours with the one outstanding feature being enjoyment by all present. A great wine is surely one that can be appreciated by people of all levels of experience and interest in wine. Certainly as close to perfect as I could ever hope.

brett

[Gavin Trott]

...cracked open at 5pm today in the office.

[/b]

Now you're just showing off!



Seriously great wine.

[GraemeG]

So the mystery is, "why does the hunter produce such great red wines, but only every 50 years or so...?" Given the famous Bin 1590 preceeded the 3100/3110 pair by only 6 years, do we now have to wait another century? The 1983 Bin 6600 was a pretty remarkeble affair; are Hunter vintages really so variable they only repeat in half-century cycles?

There must be some great vineyards left. What's the answer to the mystery?

(Tasted neither Bin 1590 nor 3100/3110, but will travel if necessary... )
cheers,
Graeme

[Gary W]

It is not a mystery. People just are not looking hard enough to find them...
2000 Graveyard, 2003 Meerea Alex Munro will be (are) great Hunter classics. I have a feeling, Mr G, that you would have bagged this wine on release as being too high in alcohol (14.5+) and too tannic....

GW

[Baby Chickpea]

the 2000 Graveyard is the best Hunter wine, red or white, since the 1965 Bin 3110 as far as I am concerned.

[fred]

The saddest thing is Lindemans relative demise at least as regards HR shiraz, having made in chronological order:-

1959 bin ??? memory loss - a classic
1965 bin 3110 (and 3100)
1966 bin ??? (not bad)
1983 bin 6600 (still lovely but variable in singles but young in magnum), Steven of this
1987 Steven bin???

the years since have not produced any classics (the 1991 bin ??03 was fair but the reserve relatively disappointing, and the 1994 drinkable).

In the 1960's and 1970s even their Nyrang adn Auburn ranges were damned good shiraz with a few years on them while the Steven was consistently reliably good.

Elsewhere in the Hunter Graveyard 2000 is the only GREAT HR shiraz I have seen since the 1983 bin 6600, while a few vintages of Petersons Back Block shiraz are the only competitors to the other years of Graveyard for the next tier (and the aforementioned Steven of 1987), together with the 1994 Rothbury Reserve shiraz (which was/is the Steven in disguise!!).

Hell Hole Meerea Park and Alex Munro are pretty good modern flagbearers but these days I taste the HR shiraz and generally only buy the HR semillon (and this from someone who while no RB would still consume 10 bottles of red to every one of white!).

Danny - your comment is redolent of hyperbole (or just stirring) as you have omitted the Lindemans 1970 "chablis" which I still rate as one of the best wines to come out of Oz - and with a couple of 1970s Leo Buring rieslings the best Oz whites to reach maturity....

regards,
fred

[Gavin Trott]

Danny - your comment is redolent of hyperbole (or just stirring) as you have omitted the Lindemans 1970 "chablis" which I still rate as one of the best wines to come out of Oz - and with a couple of 1970s Leo Buring rieslings the best Oz whites to reach maturity....

regards,
fred

I had a full case of these that I enjoyed over the past decade, ending about 3 years ago.

Always very good, sometimes great, sometimes other wordly!

Agreed

[GraemeG]

I have a feeling, Mr G, that you would have bagged this wine on release as being too high in alcohol (14.5+) and too tannic....
GW

Too bloody right. After all (to paraphrase the old 'Dan Bradman + modern cricketer' golf joke), I'd only have been 12 months old at the time!

In all seriousness though, I guess experienced tasters should be able tell which wines have the stuffing to age forever, and which are just showboats that fall apart relatively quickly; the 98 Chapel Hill Vicar, for instance, which was magnificent upon release (lashings of oak tannin, 14.5%) but is positively dessicated today. Doubtless you could furnish further examples, possibly Robert Parker (perhaps inadvertently ) could too. Trouble is, you need that experience of tasting the wines at both ends of their lives to establish your scales. People like Evans & Halliday ought to be infallible in that regard (Broadbent for Bordeaux). But maybe it's not always even that easy for them.

cheers,
Graeme

[Baby Chickpea]

Danny - your comment is redolent of hyperbole (or just stirring) as you have omitted the Lindemans 1970 "chablis" which I still rate as one of the best wines to come out of Oz - and with a couple of 1970s Leo Buring rieslings the best Oz whites to reach maturity....

regards,
fred

I agree that both the 1970 Lindemans Bin 3875 Hunter River Chablis and 1970 Lindemans Bin 3870 Hunter River White Burgundy were superb wines (I drank a few of the Classic Releases of both wines in late80/early 90s when i worked for a retailer). Indeed Iwould include them as up there as among Australia's best whites with 1973 Leo Buring DWC17 Eden Valley Riesling and 1987 Leeuwin Estate Art Chardy. But, for me, the 00 Graveyard has the potential to surpass both the Lindemans in time. Hyperbole? Perhaps. Conviction? Certain.

[DaveB]

Fred....

Here are your missing Bin #'s

1959 bin 1590 or 1600 memory loss - a classic
1965 bin 3110 (and 3100)
1966 bin 3300, 3303 & 3310 (not bad)
1983 bin 6600 (still lovely but variable in singles but young in magnum), Steven of this
1987 Steven bin....dunno possibly a 7210

Cheers

Dave

[TORB]

In the 1960's and 1970s even their Nyrang adn Auburn ranges were damned good shiraz with a few years on them while the Steven was consistently reliably good.

Fred,

You have brought back happy memories. They were staples in my cellar when I first started collecting and those Nyrangs could be terrific.

[michel]

In the 1960's and 1970s even their Nyrang adn Auburn ranges were damned good shiraz with a few years on them while the Steven was consistently reliably good.

Fred,

You have brought back happy memories. They were staples in my cellar when I first started collecting and those Nyrangs could be terrific.

Aint that a fact- they even had a Museum Release of the Nyrang a decade or so ago which was the bees knees.

[Gary W]

Brilliant wine this...though I do have a magnum available if anyone is interseted in purchasing! Can send pictures...Back label has minor stain from another wine, other than that ullage and capsule in perfect condition. Would be looking at around $320-350 for the Magnum excluding shipping from Melbourne

Cheers for your time Andrew

In good condition it would be worth 5 times that..
GW

[GraemeG]

Brilliant wine this...though I do have a magnum available if anyone is interseted in purchasing! Can send pictures...Back label has minor stain from another wine, other than that ullage and capsule in perfect condition. Would be looking at around $320-350 for the Magnum excluding shipping from Melbourne

Cheers for your time Andrew

In good condition it would be worth 5 times that..
GW

Think he's referring to the 83 Bin 6600...
Graeme

[Gary W]

Oh..in that case most of the 83 Lindies magnums are shit..they were re-bottled from singles and they invariably look tired compared to singles.
GW

[n4sir]

Oh..in that case most of the 83 Lindies magnums are shit..they were re-bottled from singles and they invariably look tired compared to singles.
GW

At the risk of thread drift, I heard you mention this before and wondered if many wineries still do this. I really had my suspicions about that '92 Mitchell magnum at the offline (perfect cork and capsule but a suspiciously low fill level, and the wine looked more developed than a 750ml bottle I tired earlier).

I'm not even sure if Andrew really should be advertising about selling his wine here anyway (at a fair-sized markup on what they sell for at auction) - Gavin is a wine retailer generously providing this forum to us at no cost, and I think it's rather cheeky to say the least.

Cheers,
Ian

[fred]

Oh..in that case most of the 83 Lindies magnums are shit..they were re-bottled from singles and they invariably look tired compared to singles.
GW

I'm not sure where you get your facts Gary but there were both original release magnums of the 1983 reserve and classic releases from Lindemans.

Certainly the original releases are stunning (subject to cellaring and individual variation) from my own knowledge and a few forum members have tasted at least one from my stash and I doubt there would be any disagreement as to the freshness and liveliness.

I am aware of a (much as in circa 1992/3) later release of magnums (which were not marked classic release either) through a large chain - most of which sat under strong lighting for an extended period on my observation at a number of stores - but caveat emptor!

regards

[browny200]

Yes you could say it's cheeky of me to advertise...either way I have a product that sells for $145 (if you use internet based wine specific seach engines) for a normal sized bottle. Thus a magnum which would still be in its prime, and would easily sell for more than double the $145.

Some of the Magnums were rebottled, however Lindermans indicated this on the back of the label. The ones that were kept back by Lindermans and bottled only once with the wine being kept in barrels until 1993 when they were finally bottled and released. Again this is specified on the back label.

Anyway hope you all have yourselves a jolly day

[Gary W]

10 years in barrel? Don't think so..that would be Vega Sicilia!
GW

[GraemeG]

Yes you could say it's cheeky of me to advertise...either way I have a product that sells for $145 (if you use internet based wine specific seach engines) for a normal sized bottle. Thus a magnum which would still be in its prime, and would easily sell for more than double the $145.

Hmm. Dunno about a wine-searcher, but Langtons are showing a last-sold 2008 price for Bin 6600 in magnum of $142.
Retail prices for back-vintages have as much credibility as the NSW government.
You'll find no takers here for your asking price.

Some of the Magnums were rebottled, however Lindermans indicated this on the back of the label. The ones that were kept back by Lindermans and bottled only once with the wine being kept in barrels until 1993 when they were finally bottled and released. Again this is specified on the back label.

I might believe this:
The ones that were kept back by Lindemans and bottled only once with the bottled wine being kept in bins until 1993 when they were finally labelled and released.
It'd hardly be the same wine if it had spent 10 years in barrel - as Gary notes.
cheers,
Graeme

[n4sir]

Yes you could say it's cheeky of me to advertise...

A friendly word of warning Andrew. As I previously mentioned this free forum is provided by internet wine retailer Gavin Trott out of the goodness of his heart (which we're all very thankful) for the purpose of people discussing wine enjoyment/information, and hopefully at the same time doing no harm to his own wine sales.

So please feel free to tell us about yourself, why you're interested in wine, and contribute to the many discussions about wine you will find here - no offence intended, but it's not a good idea to try flogging off your own wine with your very first post in direct competition to the guy providing this place (unless you've asked his permission to do so).

Cheers,
Ian