The Auswine Forum

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How good are old Aussie reds.

These are the bottles I’ve opened in the last few months.

1990 – Barossa Valley Estate Black Pepper Shiraz.
1996 – Craiglee Shiraz.
1997 – Petaluma Coonawarra.
1996 – Rockford SVS Moorooroo Shiraz.
1991 – Petaluma Coonawarra.
1996 – Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz.
1980 – Lindemans St George.
1996 – Chateau Reynell Basket Press Shiraz.
1996 – Orlando Jacaranda Ridge.
Last night 1990 – Craiglee Shiraz, Opened this because I pushed the cork in while I was checking it out.
Tonight another 1997 – Petaluma Coonawarra, my last bottle and better than the last one.

Cheers Con.

Wonderful wines Con, thanks for the notes...have had many of these over the journey...still have a couple in the cellar. Can't believe that I paid $90 for 3 magnums of 90 E&E, at Liquorland on West Tce of all places
Cheers Craig

Very nice Con, and I quite agree that old Aussie reds can be very good. Yesterday afternoon (Sunday) we had a bottle of Tyrrell's Vat 11 'Baulkam Shiraz', Hunter Valley (13.2%). It was a smashing wine, full of earthy, herbal, barnyard poo, and leather, that really impressed the two tasters at the table, and the look on their faces when it was revealed to be 'new world' was priceless. They were going France all the way, the Rhone in particular.

Cheers ......................... Mahmoud.

PS: The Vat 11 was a cellar door release that we picked up back in 2001. She liked the Vat 11 while I gave a slight edge to the Vat 9. We now know that her pick has paid dividends. I'm giving the Vat 9 a bit more time.

Bibi Graetz Testamatta 2009- Great wine with a burger watching the footy. I love a good Super Tuscan - but c’mon, I can get three magnificent Barbaresco or Barolo for the same price!

An orgy of fine wine this week in Hong Kong . This humble experience completes .

[url=https://postimg.cc/mtvxrpD6][img]https://i.postimg.cc/zGBq0915/9-F08-EC2-A-96 ... 3-F916.jpg[/img][/url]

Con J wrote: 1990 – Barossa Valley Estate Black Pepper Shiraz.
1996 – Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz.
1996 – Chateau Reynell Basket Press Shiraz.

Hi Con,
How were these travelling? I have quantities of similar vintages of these wines (96, 94, and 91 respectively) in my cellar back in Australia, and thinking they should still be travelling well, however seeing as I am unable to travel am wondering whether or not to hold onto them. I'm willing to bet they are drinking magnificently now though...

I had the EandE Black Pepper from 1991 in March and it was in great shape save for a big whack of oak. Well cellared bottles should last another 10 years Kenzo.

Mike Hawkins wrote:I had the EandE Black Pepper from 1991 in March and it was in great shape save for a big whack of oak. Well cellared bottles should last another 10 years Kenzo.

Hey mate how did the Maserati handle?

Con J wrote:How good are old Aussie reds.

These are the bottles I’ve opened in the last few months.

1990 – Barossa Valley Estate Black Pepper Shiraz.
1996 – Craiglee Shiraz.
1997 – Petaluma Coonawarra.
1996 – Rockford SVS Moorooroo Shiraz.
1991 – Petaluma Coonawarra.
1996 – Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz.
1980 – Lindemans St George.
1996 – Chateau Reynell Basket Press Shiraz.
1996 – Orlando Jacaranda Ridge.
Last night 1990 – Craiglee Shiraz, Opened this because I pushed the cork in while I was checking it out.
Tonight another 1997 – Petaluma Coonawarra, my last bottle and better than the last one.

Cheers Con.

Wow Con! Some bloody good wines there. Old Petaluma's and Lindemans can be sublime.

Andrew Jordan wrote:

Mike Hawkins wrote:I had the EandE Black Pepper from 1991 in March and it was in great shape save for a big whack of oak. Well cellared bottles should last another 10 years Kenzo.

Hey mate how did the Maserati handle?

Not as well as the Porsche!

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1999 Passing Clouds Graeme's Blend.
Cork broke in two... very muted nose and bitter palate.
2002 Virgin Hills...stripped nothing on the palate
2019 Bowen Cabernet, so bright, magnificent nose blue berry spice a touch of olive, rich palate oak fruit balanced lingering tannins, no acid that some complain of and for a Bowen low alcohol 14.7%. I tried this October 2020, just prior to bottling. We all thought wow...and 2019 Coonawarra will be good. Shiraz was equally as impressive.
The lady I live with, who has an amazing palate confirmed wines 1and 2 were dank and corked.
Will contact Passing Clouds, have lots of their gear, but VH is a hopeless situation...down the sink.
Cheers Craig

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The 2002 Virgin Hills was plagued by TCA and I vaguely recall it was the relaunch vintage. It was not cheap at cellar door and over-marketed, a Great White Hope, and in the end it could be had for $20 all over the place at auctions etc.

Was it low sulphur as well?

JamieBahrain wrote:The 2002 Virgin Hills was plagued by TCA and I vaguely recall it was the relaunch vintage. It was not cheap at cellar door and over-marketed, a Great White Hope, and in the end it could be had for $20 all over the place at auctions etc.

Was it low sulphur as well?

Great White Hope... beautiful, could not put it better myself....wonder how the business model based on outrageous concert packages is going now in the middle of a pandemic?
I am pretty sure the trophy acquisition in amongst much lesser wines is big headache. The marketing and winemaking certainly is, and IIRC it was on the market last year or so between $2-3M.
Jamie, the balance between organic/minimal sulphur/cool climate certainly challenges the fruit and the wine making.
I recently purchased 2 six packs from an eastern state etailer, that was a 12 bottle vertical (97-12, I think a few years not made, at about $28 a bottle). I have both standard and reserve editions going back to early 90s.... will now start opening!

I sent the GWH an email and followed up with a phone call that elicited a very testy response, simply enquiring why a Victorian based merchant has VH advertised in full page ads in The Australian, for $20 a bottle...when it was $65-80 on the winery website? This was denied, yet merchant had hundreds of dozens each of the 2000-02 vintages, I told him to perhaps buy today's paper and hung up.
Think you are right that certain vintages were poor and wine was quickly offloaded, to smucks like me...oh well.
I have had many good VH's and a few lemons. Thankfully I have many many top Victorian marques that are drinking beautifully at 20 years.
Live and learn I suppose.
Cheers Craig

A couple of days ago I had a bottle of 2012 Tua Rita 'Rosso dei Notri'(14%) a Sangiovese topped up with some international varietals. I had one when it was young and quite enjoyed it and thought it had mid-term potential. A bottle a few years ago seemed flabby and disjointed. I ascribed it to the international varieties and the higher alcohol. However this penultimate bottle seems to have turned a corner. The fruit was fresh and slightly glossy, some herbal and savoury notes, and though there were no tannins to speak of, it had enough acidity to carry it forward. Very pleasant, and well suited to the rosemary chicken we had for dinner. I won't be waiting long to open the next bottle.

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LEAS Chardonnay 2018

I've always thought this the best white, if not the best wine, in Australia over the past four decades, and here we have a vintage that confirms both. Noted for it's outstanding consistency of brilliance, this vintage takes the lineage to a whole new level.
Incredibly complex on the nose, brilliant mixture of white flowers, minerals, lemon and lime. This leads to a staggeringly long palate of similar complexity, white fruits, pears, lanolin, touch of mint. Somehow fat yet focussed, the new oak already swallowed up by the by the richness of fruit.
Probably the best young Australian wine I have seen, this should be extraordinary in another decade.
Could not recommend this highly enough, and I don't drink or buy much Australian wine.
97+ points, drink 2028-2048

A few at a luncheon recently:

2009 PAUL JABOULET AINE Domaine de Thalabert, Crozes-Hermitage I can only say that I enjoyed this a hell of a lot more than I thought I would. Probably the best wine I have had this year so far. Showing some nice aged characteristics but still enough fruit to stay interesting. Silken tannins and perfect balance. I'm not quite sure others at the table realised how good it was until the below wines were served. 4/5

2011 Lake Folly Cabernets Had a slightly disorientating undergrowthy type nose that turned me off it a bit. Was OK but after the above wine, I was a little disappointed. 3/5

2009 Clonakilla Shiraz Viogner I've had this a couple of times before and never been impressed. Well, this bottle was amazing. It's in a great spot now and I think I will have to hunt my 2 remaining bottles out of the cellar. Lovely nose. Black pepper not encroaching at all and the apricots I got with the last 2 bottles (admittedly quite young) are now largely gone. 4/5

2009 Domaine A Cabernet Once again, a wonderful wine. Not as expressive on the nose as the Hermitage and Clonakilla SV, but it had it's own personality. Silky smooth, great balance and the tannins just kept going in the mouth. Excellent 4/5

2010 Domaine A Cabernet Didn't hit the heights of the 09 for me, but others thought it was better. Fruit was maybe a bit more forward and the wine as a whole was a bit bigger. It may possibly end up being the better wine long term, but I'll let those with better palates than mine judge that. 3.5/5

2015 Clonakilla O'Riada Shiraz This got the prize for best nose of the bunch. It was just intoxicating. i would have been almost happy to just sit, swirl and sniff. It definitely presented as a cool climate wine (which is not normally my thing) with the pepper and acidity and more so than the SV. I'm just not sure this is a long term wine, but that's not a bad thing. So nice now. Glad I have a few to drink over the next couple of winters. 4/5

Cheers
Ian

So stuck at home again and feeling a bit down. Luckily Mic and Jelle were free in Europe, so we had anther mini get together of the Weird Wine Group. I opened a ‘19 Vino Volta Chenin on Friday and was looking forward to comparing it with the Tripe.Iscariot. 2nd vintage I have drunk of the Absolution and again it showed good varietal flavour. It’s in the fatter style, with a chalky herbal nose. Needs time to warm up and when it does there are some green veg notes and some oatmeal. Mouth filling. Does not have the zing of the ‘16 though. Will improve in the bottle for a while. (3*)

The Pipo range of wines are all experiments of sorts for Lageder who, along with Terlan, are one of my go to names from the area. This is Grigo that has been left on its skins for an extended period and is a blend of 3 different vintages. Orange wine in style, but it’s more like a thick Rose. Lots of mint on the nose, with some herbs. It’s silky in the mouth with some tequila flavour, more mint, and some light berry fruit. So drinkable. It’s not weird to taste, but it’s very interesting. According to Mic, they have used this experiment to extend the skin contact in some of their other Grigio wine. One off production, which is a shame, as it deserves an audience in the sun. (3.5*)

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Coupla recent ones, both in outstanding condition. The Chambolle could even looked positively young. I have been drinking alot of local (Mornington Peninsula) Pinots lately. and needed this to remind me of how its all about structure.

kenzo wrote:

Con J wrote: 1990 – Barossa Valley Estate Black Pepper Shiraz.
1996 – Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz.
1996 – Chateau Reynell Basket Press Shiraz.

Hi Con,
How were these travelling? I have quantities of similar vintages of these wines (96, 94, and 91 respectively) in my cellar back in Australia, and thinking they should still be travelling well, however seeing as I am unable to travel am wondering whether or not to hold onto them. I'm willing to bet they are drinking magnificently now though...

Sorry for the late reply.

On this showing I would drink the 1990 E&E Black Pepper Shiraz sooner rather than later.

The two 1996’s, Reynell Basket Press Shiraz and Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz are drinking real well. I’ve had a few of these in the last couple of years and have been pretty much the same. I don’t see any upside in keeping them but should be good for a few years yet. Still have a few 94’s, 96’s and 98’s both the Shiraz and Cabernet and I'm in no hurry to open them, might try a 94 very soon.

Cheers Con.

Cheers for the update on these, Con!

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Celebrating my youngest daughters 23rd birthday, so naturally a '98 was on the cards.Decided on the best wines possible!:)

The Bin 0 was young, long and lovely.
The Thomson '98, well, nothing short of stunning. Fairly rich nose, but highly structured lighter palate, yet still quite powerfull... and long. Amazing.