It's Sunday, don't wait for Ric

[Red Bigot]

I think he had a big night out in Sydney last night, and I need to go for a bike ride before it get's too hot... So here's most of my week, another dinner still to try and remember.

Monday tasting group, two shiraz from the 'emerging' Gundagai region, I and the group palate were poles apart this time:
Te mata Woodthorpe Cab/Merlot Hawkes Bay 2002 Too lean and leafy for most of the group amongst the richer, softer shiraz, I liked it for it's pure varietal character and nicely balanced medium-bodied structure. (Group #6)
Sou'West Vineyards The Alabama Gundagai Shiraz 2002 Made by Andrew Birks (of Birks Wendouree lineage), fragrant, indeed estery nose was a little off-putting initially, but this eventually seemed to breathe off, the bright ripe dark cherry spectrum fruit attractive, good mouthfeel and structure. (Group #5)
Hardy's Oomoo MclarenVale Shiraz 2002 A toss-up b/n this and the Ingoldby, similar flavour spectrums, the Oomoo being a touch lighter and with a cedary oak overtone, easy drinking. (Group #2)
Ingoldby McLarenVale Shiraz 2002 Richer and heavier, heaps of nice ripe fruit, very easy drinking, but a little simple and boring (group #1)
Annies Lane Clare cabernet/merlot 2002 Not a lot negative to say, just an unexciting quaffer really. (Group #4 also)
Bidgeebong Gundagai Shiraz 2002 This one has won a bunch of awards, I can see how the fragrant nose and bright fruit would stand out in a crowd of SA shiraz, it was easy to pick the similarity in the two Gundagai reds, from the almost estery nose to the slightly unusual cherry / blood plum fruit. This didn't seem to have the intensity and structure of the Alabama (group #3)

Rockford BP Shiraz 1993 Possibly the least of Rockford vintages in the 90's, softening and identifiably Barossa shiraz, just not up to the expected impact. Maybe it's just in between, JO suggests 2005 - 2013 drinking window, I hope he's right.

St Francis MclarenVale Shiraz 1996 Not even sure why I bought this one years ago, the winery seems to now be a hotel/conference centre. It's matured into a a fleshy, soft warm style of red that is easy to drink without worrying about complications such as complexity.

Kaesler Old Bush Vines Shiraz 1996 This was made by Reid Bosward while he was at Cellarmasters, I'm told the quality of the Kaesler fruit then tempted him to organise the syndicate that bought the estate when it came on the market. Once of the occasional gems that CM used to come up with years ago that kept me a member for a few years, $12.75 in early 1999. Not as big and intense and without the same oak quality as used these days for the Kaesler Stonehorse/OV shiraz, but the quality of the fruit and wine-making show through. Drinking well now, but with a few years ahead of it yet, I've had this over the years amongst other Barossa Shiraz at 2-3 times the price and it hasn't been found out of class.

Piper Heidsieck Champagne 1995 With the aircon struggling to keep up with several days of mid-high 30's heat, what better excuse than Valentines Day to quaff a bottle of nice champagne. Nice drop typical of the lighter, fresh Piper style, but reasonable complexity. Must get some of the 96 Pol Roger people are raving about...

[Guest]

Sunday morning tends not to be the best day to jog the memory but a few notes from this week include:

1999 John's Blend Cabernet Sauvignon - $37 - 35 months in new French and American oak, and it shows - luckily, the fruit manages to hold it up. Beautiful nose of chocolate, confectionery, cedar, sweet spice and vanilla. More of the same on the palate, adding blackcurrant and more vanilla. This is almost syrupy in taste and texture, I can't see why it won't last for many years as it shows plenty of fine tannin to hold it all together. Maybe a touch one dimensional, with all that oak - give it time?

1997 Mitchelton 'The Wine Society' Reserve Shiraz - $11 Auc - Still quite youthful in colour, just starting to show the signs of maturation on the rim, otherwise medium-deep red-purple. Well integrated nose of plum, spice, hint of coffee. Tannins have integrated completely, this is a medium possibly full bodied wine. Plum, blackberry, with just a hint of chocolate and vanilla. Long after taste for this 'size' of wine. Nothing spectacular, but goes down a charm. Drink now.

1995 Reynell Basket Pressed Shiraz - $25 - Heavy sediment in the bottle, very deep vibrant crimson with slight bricking at the rim. A little tight on the nose, cherries, spice, plum, not much else going on. Big tannin, almost 'hard' palate, confused with cherry, plum, mint, a little tart. Very disjointed, give it time, or is it a dud?

2001 Leasingham Bin 61 Shiraz - $16 - There're probably enough notes floating about. Infanticide, but impressive. Such good value.

1999 Haselgrove McLaren Vale 'H' Shiraz - $25 - Someone once called this 'baroque', very appropriate I think. Deep almosy inky red-purple, holds onto the side of the glass. The nose is wonderful, revealing hints of coffee, lots of chocolate, cherry, slight vanilla and spices. The palate reflects more of the same adding plum and layered spice to the chocolate equation, this is a big generous silky wine, with a long finish. Sexy. Now-2015?

2002 Merilba Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - $? - Cold climate wine from New England, near Armidale in country NSW. Much too young to tell, very deep dark crimson red. Lots of French oak, almost too sweet?, spice, cherry, vanilla, red berries. Medium body and a somewhat short finish, however lovely very fine dry tannins. Revisit in six months?

Happy drinking :0)

Jakob

[Jakob]

...forgot to log in. Knew it was a bad day for remembering things

[Red Bigot]

1999 John's Blend Cabernet Sauvignon - $37 - 35 months in new French and American oak, and it shows - luckily, the fruit manages to hold it up. Beautiful nose of chocolate, confectionery, cedar, sweet spice and vanilla. More of the same on the palate, adding blackcurrant and more vanilla. This is almost syrupy in taste and texture, I can't see why it won't last for many years as it shows plenty of fine tannin to hold it all together. Maybe a touch one dimensional, with all that oak - give it time?

Jakob, this is just a pup as yet, I've only just finished drinking my 90 vintage, from about 10 years of age you wouldn't know it had 33 months in new oak, the fruit more than coped too. I've got every vintage from 91 to 2000 and find it incredibly consistent, although cellaring potential can vary from about 8-15 years. Also, if you buy at the right place the price has gone up comparatively little, $20 for the 91, $30 for the 99, $26.50 for the 2000, most other reds of this class have more than doubled in street price in the same timeframe.

[buzz*]

More Information please Producer, stockists etc

TIA

Buzz

[MartinC]

Courtesy of a friend who hand carried it back fr AUS.

<b>Henry's Drive Rsv Shiraz 2002</b>

WOW, I love this wine. Straight out of the btl. this wine is like strip-tease act, extremely provocative... it dazzled with it's knockout nose of creame d'vanilla and the huge oppullent texture completely memerized our senses with it's orgasmic intensity. The tannins is ultra fine with tons of upfront fruits sinfully extracted, not overipe but well stuctured. I cannot imagine another wine that can pack so much masses into a 750 btl. A long and memorable finish. A sumo wrestle of a wine. Leave this to Sparky Marquis - this is a uncompromise "trill de la force" winemaking


I'd their 2001 and also the Shirvington'01 but nothing like this liquid seduction. Now my only headache is how to purvey some since I don't seems to find it in the market.


Cheers,

[TORB]

Thanks for kicking things off Brian, it indeed was a big night.

Joseph Sparking Shiraz - my second last bottle of the original disgorgement. still as fresh as a daisy and the sweet liqueured fruit is simply glorious. One of the best sparking reds made IMO.

Weddouree 1990 Cabernet Malbec opened up like a five year old wine. Still heaps of primary fruit flavours and the wine is just starting to mature. Will last ages. Outstanding.

Weddouree 1991 Shiraz is also just a pup and has heaps of fresh fruit. Still has years ahead of itself and whilst it was Excellent, it was the weakest wine of the night.

Jaspers Hill 1992 Georgia was stunning. Huge amount of flavour, great finish and is in its peak drinking window. My favourite of the night and rated as Outstanding.

Then we finished off with a Morris CD Only Reserve Tokay, fantastic wine, great complexity and phenomenal value at $30 for 500ml.

Food at Tabou was also terrific.

Now what have you guys been drinking?

[Red Bigot]

More Information please Producer, stockists etc

TIA

Buzz

Buzz, it's made by John Glaetzer, limited distribution to fine wine shops, there is also a Margaretes Shiraz starting from a few vintages ago.
In Canberra it's available from Market Cellars (incl back vintages), Georges Liquor Stable and Kingston Fine Wines (Kingo Pub). The $26.50 was on special at the Kingo, they'll probably still do it at that price if they have any left, the other shops have it at $32+.

Gavin doesn't list it, he may be able to source some if you ask.

[Red Bigot]

Food at Tabou was also terrific.

It would want to be if you provided those wines and JG 'only' paid for the food

[monghead]

Hiya guys,

Had great expectations for the Valentine's dinner, but was a little disappointed. Had hoped to savour the 95 Cullen Cab Sav, but the restaurant had sold out of it. The sommelier then suggested the 1995 Chateau Calon-Segur, as an equal alternative.

The wine took hours to open, even with repeated decanting by the sommelier. Even after that, it was quite a task to appreciate much fruit on the palate. The nose was initially muted, but later opened up, displaying a savoury, cherriness, with cedary oak. The palate was dominated by the fine, silky tannins, and cigar/leather nuances. The savoury cherry fruit was quite difficult to appreciate. The wine was of medium weight, and the finish was relatively long, but somehow, the wine tasted flat, and un-interesting, though the sommelier assured us the wine was drinking well. Would have been quite nice if the fruit was more pronounced....

Is this the french style? Less fruit, more savoury, and finer tannins, and I'm just not used to this style? Or do you think I got a dud bottle?

Anyways, it was a great night out nonetheless...

Monghead.

[Red Bigot]

<b>Henry's Drive Rsv Shiraz 2002</b>

WOW, I love this wine. Straight out of the btl. this wine is like strip-tease act, extremely provocative... it dazzled with it's knockout nose of creame d'vanilla and the huge oppullent texture completely memerized our senses with it's orgasmic intensity. The tannins is ultra fine with tons of upfront fruits sinfully extracted, not overipe but well stuctured. I cannot imagine another wine that can pack so much masses into a 750 btl. A long and memorable finish. A sumo wrestle of a wine. Leave this to Sparky Marquis - this is a uncompromise "trill de la force" winemaking

Martin, you certainly like some extreme wines, I tried this at the Canberra National Wine Show last year, my brief scribble says "16.0%, OTT" (over-the-top) and I didn't particularly like it. Neither did the judges, it failed to score a medal in a strong class of 50 2002 shiraz, topped by the Wolf Blass Gold Label Adelaide Hills Shiraz/Viognier (under Stelvin), a sublime wine. Still, the only judge that matters is yourself....

[TORB]

Food at Tabou was also terrific.

It would want to be if you provided those wines and JG 'only' paid for the food

Brian,

It was a six course detestation menu (and not inexpensive). We have had a few dinners over the years and I have probably come out on top at a number of them so we are about square, but friends don't keep count. And best of all Marion had a wonderful time with her 3 Valentines dates.

[Sean]

deleted

[Pelican]

1992 Dom Perignon ( Magnum ) : The most pleasing and enjoyable sparkling wine I've had in the " elegant " expression of sparkling wine. Rich but superfine. Like all good fine wines it defied the law of diminishing returns as the last glass was as good as the first. The little booklet that came with it I cannot disagree with - glazed pineapple , dried fruits and a "preciseness" that you do not find in sparklings from outside Champagne.

2003 Charles Melton Rose of Virginia ( $18 ): good Oz rose - like raspberry Aeroplane Jelly that won't set ( due to the alcohol ! ) I'd like to see more rose that is $10 or under and also 10% alc or less - maybe the overpricedness is why we ( Australians ) don't drink more Rose.

[Buzz*]

[/quote]

Buzz, it's made by John Glaetzer, limited distribution to fine wine shops, there is also a Margaretes Shiraz starting from a few vintages ago.
In Canberra it's available from Market Cellars (incl back vintages), Georges Liquor Stable and Kingston Fine Wines (Kingo Pub). The $26.50 was on special at the Kingo, they'll probably still do it at that price if they have any left, the other shops have it at $32+.

Gavin doesn't list it, he may be able to source some if you ask.[/quote]

Thanks for that Brian

Buzz

[Buzz*]

Food at Tabou was also terrific.

It would want to be if you provided those wines and JG 'only' paid for the food

Brian,

It was a six course detestation menu (and not inexpensive). We have had a few dinners over the years and I have probably come out on top at a number of them so we are about square, but friends don't keep count. And best of all Marion had a wonderful time with her 3 Valentines dates.

What Rick, they cook food that nobody likes?
A classic Torbism

love your work

Buzz

[Guest]

[JamieBahrain]

1994 Chateau Baron de Pichon Longueville-Dusty, earthy nose with subdued black fruits. Smooth blackfruits and chocolate palate with a long but faded finish. Tannins softned with aging and the palate succulent but not inspiring. Medium weight.

1993 Chateau Talbot-Pleasant nose of red currants and damp earth. A layer of dark fruit on the palate. Bit one dimensional. Finishing with fine tannins that give a dry, leathery aftertaste.

No cries of Good Bordeaux with either of the above protagonists.

Hewiston Ned & Henry Shiraz 02-Rhubarb and meaty nose. Big, chewy palate which subsides into a remakably smooth palate with a fine tannin finish.

Hewiston 02 Miss Harry GSM- Ripe, red berry with underlying oak. Evolved confectionary flavours of choc berry with the warm Barossa finish.

Kaesler Stonehourse Shiraz 01-Vivid purple edges noted on the pour. The youthful nose like a warm, strawberry doughnut from the tuckshop as a kid. The decanter opened the wine up into a more savoury expression with a smooth flow of dark fruit flavours and spice. A grippy finish.

Monghead-I hear your frustrations. IMHO a French wine experience best concluded with your own research as opposed to an Australian Sommelier.

[michaelw]

After questioning the forum on matches for chicken and hoisin sauce our guests arrived with two Pinots. So I was off the hook!

1996 Diamond Valley Pinot Noir (Blue Label): Lovely pinot with a few years bottle age. Showed as slightly brick-red in the glass. The fruit and tannins were very well integrated and even my non-red drinking wife found it to her liking.

1999 Diamond Valley Pinot Noir (Blue Label): The same wine, just a few years younger. This wine was showing more tannins on the palate and did not have the brick-red tinge. The fruit was more prominent as an individual character in this wine than it's older sibling. I'm guessing that another couple of years will see it begin to resemble the 96.

A great opportunity to contrast the same wine with a few years difference.

And many thanks to our guests for the wine. I will no doubt return the favour next time.

[GraemeG]

Humid, energy-sapping heat in Sydney, and so weÂ’re only drinking white wines, it seemsÂ…

2001 Dr Loosen Bernkasteler Lay Kabinett (Mosel) Yet another bottle of this lovely nectar. A pale greenish/straw colour, it has aromas of straw and green apple. Fresh acid, very little residual sugar, and only 8.0% alcohol make it very gluggable indeed.

2000 Grosset Picadilly Chardonnay (Adelaide Hills) HavenÂ’t drunk a wooded white for ages, so the first thing that hit me about this dark-straw / mid yellow wine was the smoky French oak nose. There are some melon, grapefruit and stone fruit nuances as well. The oak doesnÂ’t dominate on the palate, thereÂ’s plenty of acid underlying everything. Despite ripe fruit this is not a sweet wine by any means. ItÂ’s very full bodied, with a good length finish. I donÂ’t find a huge depth of complexity to the wine. At $40, itÂ’s a fair wine, but hardly a stand-out in the value for money stakes. Still seems to have plenty of years left in it, although whether it will actually improve is debateable.

2001 Barwang Chardonnay (Hilltops)
Considering the was probably a third of the price of the Grosset, it stacks up very well. Mid-yellow, this presents somewhat muted nuts and grapefruit under some smoky, not overpowering oak. ItÂ’s shows something of itÂ’s cool-climate heritage, with a slightly austere stony quality to it. Beside the Grosset itÂ’s a little harsher on the palate, the oak handling is a bit less refined and integrated, and the finish is generally shorter. But itÂ’s in no way disgraced, especially in view of priceÂ…

2001 McWilliams Limited Release Botrytis Semillon (Griffith)
A glowing gold colour, with a rich, almost over-botrytised nose of marmalade and apricot. I donÂ’t feel the acid/sugar balance is quite right on this wine, with some resulting flabbiness. Despite that, itÂ’s not too think or oily in texture, as can sometimes happen with these wines, but I donÂ’t think itÂ’s got an interesting aging future ahead of it either. Drink up.

cheers,
Graeme

[simm]

Sunday morning tends not to be the best day to jog the memory but a few notes from this week include:


1997 Mitchelton 'The Wine Society' Reserve Shiraz - $11 Auc - Still quite youthful in colour, just starting to show the signs of maturation on the rim, otherwise medium-deep red-purple. Well integrated nose of plum, spice, hint of coffee. Tannins have integrated completely, this is a medium possibly full bodied wine. Plum, blackberry, with just a hint of chocolate and vanilla. Long after taste for this 'size' of wine. Nothing spectacular, but goes down a charm. Drink now.

1995 Reynell Basket Pressed Shiraz - $25 - Heavy sediment in the bottle, very deep vibrant crimson with slight bricking at the rim. A little tight on the nose, cherries, spice, plum, not much else going on. Big tannin, almost 'hard' palate, confused with cherry, plum, mint, a little tart. Very disjointed, give it time, or is it a dud?

Happy drinking :0)

Jakob

Hi Jacob, Quite curious about the Mitchelton being sold at auction. Wouldn't ahve thought there was that much around. And the original price of $19/bottle was good enough not to dump it. You never can tell though, can you. Very nice wine but not spectacular. Vintage specific.

I think the 95 Reynell does need to go a few more years... I have two bottles left so I'm keeping them deep in the back of the pack. You could be right though, it's fruit may not last the distance, but every review of it suggests approx.15+ cellaring from 1995. Let's try then and see.

regards,

[simm]

Hiya guys,

Had great expectations for the Valentine's dinner, but was a little disappointed. Had hoped to savour the 95 Cullen Cab Sav, but the restaurant had sold out of it. The sommelier then suggested the 1995 Chateau Calon-Segur, as an equal alternative.

The wine took hours to open, even with repeated decanting by the sommelier. Even after that, it was quite a task to appreciate much fruit on the palate. The nose was initially muted, but later opened up, displaying a savoury, cherriness, with cedary oak. The palate was dominated by the fine, silky tannins, and cigar/leather nuances. The savoury cherry fruit was quite difficult to appreciate. The wine was of medium weight, and the finish was relatively long, but somehow, the wine tasted flat, and un-interesting, though the sommelier assured us the wine was drinking well. Would have been quite nice if the fruit was more pronounced....

Is this the french style? Less fruit, more savoury, and finer tannins, and I'm just not used to this style? Or do you think I got a dud bottle?

Anyways, it was a great night out nonetheless...

Monghead.

Hi monghead,

I had a wonderful time doing this to a sommelier in Burgundy who thought we were all a bunch of no-hoper Australians who couldn't distinguish between red and white grapes. He brought out a wine which was to him good and then when I tried it I found it was slightly corked and the flavour was dead. When I suggested we try another bottle the look on his face was one of outrage as he begrudgingly went to fetch another. The next bottle was fine and the fruit was fabulous, and he had to eat his chips. I find it's worth being suspicious and asking for another example. They should know better, but not knowing the wine I can't say this about your experience or your sommelier

regards,

[monghead]

Hiya guys,

Had great expectations for the Valentine's dinner, but was a little disappointed. Had hoped to savour the 95 Cullen Cab Sav, but the restaurant had sold out of it. The sommelier then suggested the 1995 Chateau Calon-Segur, as an equal alternative.

The wine took hours to open, even with repeated decanting by the sommelier. Even after that, it was quite a task to appreciate much fruit on the palate. The nose was initially muted, but later opened up, displaying a savoury, cherriness, with cedary oak. The palate was dominated by the fine, silky tannins, and cigar/leather nuances. The savoury cherry fruit was quite difficult to appreciate. The wine was of medium weight, and the finish was relatively long, but somehow, the wine tasted flat, and un-interesting, though the sommelier assured us the wine was drinking well. Would have been quite nice if the fruit was more pronounced....

Is this the french style? Less fruit, more savoury, and finer tannins, and I'm just not used to this style? Or do you think I got a dud bottle?

Anyways, it was a great night out nonetheless...

Monghead.

Hi monghead,

I had a wonderful time doing this to a sommelier in Burgundy who thought we were all a bunch of no-hoper Australians who couldn't distinguish between red and white grapes. He brought out a wine which was to him good and then when I tried it I found it was slightly corked and the flavour was dead. When I suggested we try another bottle the look on his face was one of outrage as he begrudgingly went to fetch another. The next bottle was fine and the fruit was fabulous, and he had to eat his chips. I find it's worth being suspicious and asking for another example. They should know better, but not knowing the wine I can't say this about your experience or your sommelier

regards,

Well Simm, I did try to suggest to the sommelier that the wine was drastically lacking in fruit, and thus possibly corked, though not exuding the hessian sack/wet mould characters. However, the sommelier suggested back to me that it is characteristic of french wines generally to be less fruit driven than the australian wines that I am used to.

It ws a three chef's hatted restaurant, and I am new to french wines, so I did not challenge that any further. I guess I trusted him......Unfortunately, I did lead with the preamble that I was unfamiliar to french wines, so I hope he did not use that to misguide me.

Anyways, I think you are right for now. Best to try the french stuff straight from the bottle shop, bypassing the 300% hike as it passes the doors of an up market restaurant.

Cheers,

Monghead.

[Adam]

In 1998 Parker described the 95' Calon Segur as thus:

The wine has closed down completely since bottling, but it is a sensational effort that may ultimately merit an even higher score. The wine is opaque purple-colored. With coaxing, the tight aromatics reveal some weedy cassis intertwined with truffles, chocolate, and beef blood-like aromas. On the palate, there is an element of sur-maturite (1995 was an extremely late harvest at Calon-Segur), fabulous density and purity, and a boatload of tannin. This deep, broodingly backward, classic Bordeaux will require a decade of cellaring. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2035. 92/100

Sounds reasonably similar given your descriptions of it being very unyielding and closed.

[jono2]

Parker revisited the wine in 2002, extending his drinking recommendation to 2007-2037

[Phil Shorten]

Saturday....

Got the night off to a flying start with a half bottle of Billecart Salmont Brut Rose - good as always - quite richly textured, though elegant as well.

Followed by another half bottle, the NV Argueso "San Leon" Manzanilla, in my humble opinion, the best Manzanilla on the market - medium weight, intense refreshing tangy salty/yeasty seaweed palate. A steal at £4.45 a half bottle.

The red for the night was a 1994 Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva - very traditional Rioja - a blend of Tempranilloa, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano aged in American oak. Initially the smell of dill dominated, but subsided very quickly to be replaced by fresh summer fruits intermingled with dark spices. On the palate, an extremely elegant wine showing soft subtle raspberry and strawberry fruit and chalky minerality. A wine to be savoured. They say this wine can age for decades, but I see no crime in drinking it now. This is about as different to an Australian wine as you can get.

Finished with a 1995 Disznoko Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos, purchased from the winery. Plenty of dried apricot, cumquat quince and kaffir lime leaf; all reflected in the rich sweet palate, together with toffee and touches of caramel. In my opinion, this wine didn't show its best, and would really benefit for a bit more time under lock and key.

Last night was a 2000 Villa Branca Chianti Classico, which went down a treat with a Risotto with Red wine, Radichio and Rosemary. A lot of sweet ripe fruit (which turned savoury with times in the glass) reflecting the warm vintage (IMHO, 1999 was the best of the recent vintages in Tuscany, comfortably eclipsing the much lauded 1997 vintage) and the typical silky mouthfeel of decent Chianti. Excellent value at just over £6.

Cheers
Phil

[Jakob]

Jakob, this is just a pup as yet, I've only just finished drinking my 90 vintage, from about 10 years of age you wouldn't know it had 33 months in new oak, the fruit more than coped too. I've got every vintage from 91 to 2000 and find it incredibly consistent, although cellaring potential can vary from about 8-15 years. Also, if you buy at the right place the price has gone up comparatively little, $20 for the 91, $30 for the 99, $26.50 for the 2000, most other reds of this class have more than doubled in street price in the same timeframe.

Thanks Brian - I certainly would be pleased to pick it up with that level of discount I've only tried two other vintages - the 1988 was well past its prime last year, with the 1995 at the other extreme. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to expanding my experience with this one.

[Jakob]

Hi Jacob, Quite curious about the Mitchelton being sold at auction. Wouldn't ahve thought there was that much around. And the original price of $19/bottle was good enough not to dump it. You never can tell though, can you. Very nice wine but not spectacular. Vintage specific.

I think the 95 Reynell does need to go a few more years... I have two bottles left so I'm keeping them deep in the back of the pack. You could be right though, it's fruit may not last the distance, but every review of it suggests approx.15+ cellaring from 1995. Let's try then and see.

I did figure I had a good value proposition on my hands with the Mitchelton. I've gone through most of the case now, and it has yet to disappoint. With the Reynell, I think you're right - we'll have to cross our fingers and wait a while. Thanks for input!

[David Lole]

Must get some of the 96 Pol Roger people are raving about...

Hi Brian,

If you can find some, get the '95, it's even better.

[Red Bigot]

Thanks Brian - I certainly would be pleased to pick it up with that level of discount I've only tried two other vintages - the 1988 was well past its prime last year, with the 1995 at the other extreme. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to expanding my experience with this one.

Jakob, agree on the 88, it was one of the early maturers. John Glaetzer actually thinks the 95 is about ready to drink for his taste, or so he said at a Market Cellars tasting lunch last year where the wine was on tasting. Then he is a chain smoker....