The inspiration for this tasting was a vertical of 28 Jimmy Watson winners of the 70s, 80s and 90s by Winestate Magazine 12 years ago (originally this was slated to be attempted on the tenth anniversary, but events prevented that happening until now). Back then the Winestate panel of Wolf Blass, Peter Bissell, Dan Traucki & Peter Simic were pleasantly surprised, and came to the conclusion that the wines reflected the changes of Winemaking skills and tastes from the seventies through to the nineties, in the process answering the criticisms the wines were overoaked and don't last. That original tasting can still be viewed at Dan Traucki's website for those who are interested.
We selected what we thought would be the 18 best wines from that original tasting (rating between three and a half to five stars) for this revisit. As usual the wines were served double blind in Riedel-style glassware; as many of them were old and potentially fragile, none were decanted and they were poured using Cantina wine filters in an attempt to keep them as fresh as possible while removing the crust.
FLIGHT 1:
2000 Pepper Tree Wines Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra (cork): 14% alc. Dark to inky red. Leafy, herbal and peppery reflecting the cool vintage, but there's solid still a core of earth blackcurrant fruit, along with a whiff of shoe polish; the palate's tart and tarry, medium to full weight with a jubey mid-palate and surprisingly sweet finish. While 2000 isn't a highly regarded vintage for SA, this was in pretty good shape.
1999 Punters Corner Spartacus Reserve Shiraz, Coonawarra (cork): 14% alc. Medium to dark garnet/brick. Like the colour, the nose indicates the wine is prematurely oxidised, full of vegemite, bran, stock and burnt tobacco; the palate's a little better, medium to full weight with some chocolate, mint, tobacco and liquorice, but finishes very dry. This was a visually perfect bottle, high fill level, no leakage or major cork staining; notch this one up to cork/production-related premox.
1998 Wolf Blass Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley (cork): 14% alc. Medium to very dark garnet. Ripe nose and palate, minty and chocolatey, medium to full weight with lavish oak that's very obvious without being over the top (although I am quite tolerant of oak - it should be noted others in the room thought it was OTT), finishing long and earthy with fine, chalky tannins. Looking pretty good now, this should have many good years still ahead.
1997 Katnook Estate Prodigy Shiraz, Coonawarra (cork): 14.5% alc. Dark to inky red/garnet. Very unusual and flamboyant bouquet in this flight, very sweet and very green courtesy of closed canopy/DMS derived characters: sarsaparilla, mashed peas, asparagus, boysenberry, white pepper and chocolate. The palate's just as green and sweet, medium to full weight with some additional ashtray/menthol and bitter characters, finishing long and very chalky. It's travelling well: if you can handle the style.
FLIGHT 2:
1996 De Bortoli GS Reserve Shiraz, Yarra Valley (cork): 13% alc. Light-ish to medium brick/red. Very leather and horsy and a whiff of dampness at first; with breathing there's some red and black liquorice, but the cork taint becomes far more obvious, especially on the stripped finish. Another one buggered by bark.
1995 Hardys Eileen Hardy Shiraz, McLaren Vale (cork): 14.5% alc. Medium to dark-ish garnet. Here's another bottle that smells oxidised, very stocky with vegemite, burnt tobacco, some ash and menthol; the palate's quite a bit better, with red cherries and jubes, mint and earth, finishing sweet. The fill level of this bottle was at the base of the neck, no signs of leaking, the cork was okay; I'd lean towards this not being a great bottle, possibly another premox victim.
1994 Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz, Clare Valley (cork): 13.5% alc. Medium to dark red. Still very young and fresh on the bouquet, red liquorice, mint, violets, some chocolate and truffle; likewise the palate is very young, plummy and jubey with grippy tannins and a dash of black pepper that flow through to the long finish. This is an outstanding wine with a long future still ahead.
1993 Rouge Homme Richardson's Block Red, Coonawarra (cork): 13% alc. Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot & Cabernet Franc. Despite a promising strong red colour, the wine was badly corked and not poured at the tasting.
1992 Elderton Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley (cork): 14.5% alc. Medium to dark red/garnet. Very ripe and fully mature, full of roasted nuts and dark chocolate, raspberries, mint and roasted meats; the palate has a very odd structure, a fat entry, dry mid-palate and chalky finish, but its length is excellent. Time to drink up now.
FLIGHT 3:
1991 Seppelts Harper's Range Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec, Coonawarra & Langhorne Creek (cork): 13.5% alc. Light to medium brick. Bight, fresh bouquet that's attractive, fully mature and a touch grapey at times with coffee, earth/sous bois and truffle; the medium-weight palate is sweeter than the nose and leafy with cherry cola and sarsaparilla, finishing long and silky. While this was of the lesser rated wines in the Winestate tasting, it was a very pleasant surprise tonight; it appears to be drinking at its peak, although a few commented it has almost always been like that!
1990 Mitchelton Print Label Shiraz, Goulburn Valley (cork): 13.5% alc. Medium brick. Quite smoky and earthy, with attractive leather, caramel and truffle characters; the palate would be medium-weight overall, but has a notably fat mid-palate (almost McLaren Vale-like), finishing a little short. It's holding it together but lacks the wow factor of many other wines tonight.
1989 Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz, Barossa Valley (cork): 13.5% alc. Medium to dark garnet/red. The blockbuster wine of the JWT vertical, raspberries, dark chocolate, vanilla and crushed ants, coffee and smoked meats; the palate's full-weight, packed with the same chocolate coated raspberry characters, finishing extremely long with a surprising degree of elegance. Like it's 1989 Stodart Trophy winning Cabernet blend stable mate, this stunning wine defies the bad reputation of the vintage; both are legends in the making.
1988 Jamieson's Run, Coonawarra (cork): 12% alc. Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc & Malbec. Light to medium brick. Slotted in as a last second replacement for the corked Rouge Homme this was way past its best, with heavy oxidation characters of gunpowder, vegemite and burnt tobacco on the nose; the palate's a little better but very jammy, pop tarts and pepper, the finish dried out.
FLIGHT 4:
1985 Lindemans Pyrus, Coonawarra (cork): 12.5% alc. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Light to medium-ish brick/brown. Leafy and sweet with obvious closed canopy/DMS characters reminiscent of the 1997 Katnook Prodigy at the start of the night, sarsaparilla, pies and peas, and toffee/coffee oak; the structure of the medium-weight palate is nothing short of beautiful, lacy, soft and velvety, the finish long and tangy. While the colour of the wine was an initial worry, it turned out to be in perfect condition - maybe that shouldn't have been a huge surprise as the bottle was in perfect condition, looking like it possibly had been a later release or reworked by Lindemans at some stage.
1983 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River (cork): 13% alc. Medium to very dark garnet/brick. Very green and a touch stinky, coal, cigarette ash, truffle and horse poo; the palate's big, minty and earthy, full of ash, blackcurrant and menthol with gravelly tannins, finishing a touch green. It's a huge wine, but I found it a little simple and unimpressive tonight.
1982 Cape Mentelle Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River (cork): 13% alc. Medium to very dark garnet/brick. A very green nose like the 1993 but also more reserved, with coal, ash, menthol, peppermint and dried chilli; the palate's softer and bigger with some sweeter currant fruit, but there's also damp cork taint that goes on to completely strip the finish.
1980 Lindemans St. George Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra (cork): Classic Release Label, 13.5% alc. Light to medium brick/brown. Perfumed, leafy nose of white pepper and blackcurrant, ash and peppermint; the palate's riper and bigger than the 1985 Pyrus, medium to full weight with chewy, soft tannins and distinctive touches of asparagus and geranium on the finish. A polarising style, this looked pretty good tonight, although I liked the Pyrus more; this should keep a few more years too.
FLIGHT 5:
1979 Krondorf Burge & Wilson Cabernet Sauvignon, Barossa Valley & McLaren Vale (cork): Unknown % alc. Medium to dark garnet/brick. At a mere 35 years of age there's still lots of life here, the nose full of choc-mint, a touch of nail polish, toffee, tobacco, and intensifying peppermint with breathing. The palate seems just as remarkably fresh, medium to full weight with dark, earthy berry fruit and chalky tannins on the mouth-puckering finish. Bottle condition is the key to this wine; I've had dodgy ones with low fill levels that were well and truly gone, this one was a belter!
1976 Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (cork): Unknown % alc. Light to medium brick/brown. This bottle wasn't in great condition, and after an initial attractive burst of truffle, mint and espresso it began drying out, some potting mix characters and vegemite remaining with a rather dried out structure. Wines of this age are always a bit of a lottery, and this one did have some nice points.
Cheers,
Ian
