The Auswine Forum

Which is the better cellaring prospect ?

Hunter Semillon - good examples last 10 years

Clare/Eden/others Riesling - good examples struggle to go 7 years and only great examples last over 10 years.

Very general question.

Very general answer.

Adair

Well, which is better, Jaguar, or Mercedes?

So the answer, of course, is - it depends. Which region, which producer, which wine, which vintage. If you're thinking about 2 particular wines, you might get a more useful answer.

And what is aged? I've not tasted many of either wine at greater than 20 years old - at which point it comes down to storage and bottle variation. Very specific examples of Eden valley riesling (old Leo Burings) are reknown for aging extraordinarily well - the same goes for a few old Tyrrells Vat 1 and McWilliams semillons. Whereas oaked Barossa semillons and King Valley rieslings are earlier-drinking prospects...

cheers,
Graeme

I have had spectacular examples of both about 30 years old. If I had to make a generalisation it would be riesling simply becasuse age worthy examples are easily to find and the Clare is more consistant than the Hunter. Riesling wins my vote finally on price. The Richmond Grove Watervale Riesling is about $13 on specially and is a mighty fine drop. Classic semillons (other than Mt Pleasant Elizabeth) start from $20.

For Semillion the obvious choice is the Hunter: Tyrrells Vat 1 & McWilliams Mount Pleasant Lovedale immediately come to mind - some of the long term classics like Lindemans and Rothbury keep having label changes and are hard to find. Margaret River is producing some very good ones (Moss Wood). Typically oak matured semillon doesn't age as well as unoaked.

There are lots of great rieslings. Grosset is the current benchmark. Leo Buring especially the legendary 1973s the previous. Clare, Eden Valley are the most obvious areas in Australia but look out for others like Pipers Brook and the Seppelt Drumborg.

David

GraemeG wrote:Well, which is better, Jaguar, or Mercedes?

So the answer, of course, is - it depends. Which region, which producer, which wine, which vintage. If you're thinking about 2 particular wines, you might get a more useful answer.

And what is aged? I've not tasted many of either wine at greater than 20 years old - at which point it comes down to storage and bottle variation. Very specific examples of Eden valley riesling (old Leo Burings) are reknown for aging extraordinarily well - the same goes for a few old Tyrrells Vat 1 and McWilliams semillons. Whereas oaked Barossa semillons and King Valley rieslings are earlier-drinking prospects...

cheers,
Graeme

Hello Graeme,

I have had a few aged Barossa Semillons recently, okay, only 5-6 years old, but they can be quite special... and cheap!

And yes, what does "better" mean?

And yes again, I sometimes forget this , but not all Semillon produced in Australia is from the Hunter!

Adair

I definitely had hunter Semillon & Clare reisling in mind when posting the question. I have had experience cellaring hunter semillon and have only recently started cellaring Clare reisling was interested and some thoughts and ponderings.

GraemeG wrote:Well, which is better, Jaguar, or Mercedes?

Jaguar, or Mercedes?...........pretty damn hard call if you ask me..........I'll get back to you on that one.......what car do you prefer to drive?

David Lole wrote:

GraemeG wrote:Well, which is better, Jaguar, or Mercedes?

Jaguar, or Mercedes?...........pretty damn hard call if you ask me..........I'll get back to you on that one.......what car do you prefer to drive?

For Jags, I'll have a Mark V, XK120, early E-type and a well-sorted XJ V12 Series 2. On the Mercedes front, it's the 300SL roadster (50s), 300D sedan (also 50s), 280SL (60s pagoda-style) and a 600 just for fun. And perhaps a 300 SEL6.3 for the latent masochist in me.

For the Jaguars, I'll need a mechanic 2 days a week; the Merc's will only need servicing annually, but the bill will discharge Mexico's national debt...!

Incidentally, we got ourselves a white 97 Laser, manual, air-cond, 61000km, 3 mths reg, FSH, $10.5k private sale. We're pretty happy...

cheers,
Graeme

GraemeG wrote:

David Lole wrote:

GraemeG wrote:Well, which is better, Jaguar, or Mercedes?

Jaguar, or Mercedes?...........pretty damn hard call if you ask me..........I'll get back to you on that one.......what car do you prefer to drive?

For Jags, I'll have a Mark V, XK120, early E-type and a well-sorted XJ V12 Series 2. On the Mercedes front, it's the 300SL roadster (50s), 300D sedan (also 50s), 280SL (60s pagoda-style) and a 600 just for fun. And perhaps a 300 SEL6.3 for the latent masochist in me.

For the Jaguars, I'll need a mechanic 2 days a week; the Merc's will only need servicing annually, but the bill will discharge Mexico's national debt...!

Incidentally, we got ourselves a white 97 Laser, manual, air-cond, 61000km, 3 mths reg, FSH, $10.5k private sale. We're pretty happy...

cheers,
Graeme

Okay, I get it now, you prefer Clare Riesling over Hunter Semillon

What about marsanne. Adair put on a vertical of Tahbilk back to 1994 I think and all were going strong with great complexity particulalrly the 1997 I think

Cheers

paul

PaulV wrote:What about marsanne. Adair put on a vertical of Tahbilk back to 1994 I think and all were going strong with great complexity particulalrly the 1997 I think

Cheers

paul

Paul,

Sorry, David did not mention the Ferrari!!!

Actually, the Tahbilk Marsanne tasting went back to 1989, with the 1992 showing best for my palate, and with another 5 years in it. The 2000 will also be a cracker.

Adair

age the sem - riesling is just so tasty on release that it seems a shame to lock it all away for so long.
Now nondescript young hunter Sem might refresh but there ain't a hell ofg a lot of interest. But open a goody (eg vat1) after 6 years or so and it's worth swooning over...

Can't quite get the Tahbilk Marsanne thing.

Tried a bottle of 96 (with dubious cellaring possibly) definitely not corked but still would prefer aged Hunter semillon or Clare Reisling although cannot complain about the price.

Have a 2000 and wonder when I shoud open to see if the the raves about the Marsanne are justified or are more a personal preference or individual style thingy ?

guest wrote:Have a 2000 and wonder when I shoud open to see if the the raves about the Marsanne are justified or are more a personal preference or individual style thingy ?

Wait at least 2 more years on the 2000 vintage. It is a great year that will still have great acid when those developed flavours arise.

Adair