The Auswine Forum

Greetings wine lovers,
First I have to disclaim that I don't drink alcahol and thus I know almost nothing about wine. Zip, zilch, nada. I even had to look up the answer to the "verify you are a human check" when it asked what colour grapes Pinot Noir is made from. Ok now we understand each other.

I have recently aquired a bottle of wine and I am looking for some information about it. I asked a couple of local bottle shops and they didn't have a clue. The label is a bit damaged so I can't read all the information on it, but what I can read says the following.

Vintage 1957
Made from Hermitgae grapes grown
in the O'Halloran Hill, Coromandel
& Happy Valley Districts in
South Australia

Private bin no.

Bottled April 1960

Glenloth

Selected Bottling

Grown and matured at the cellar of
Glenloth Wines Ltd. O'Halloran Hill South Australia
Net Contents 1pt 6fl ounces

Can anyone please give me any information at all about this wine?

Thanks in advance.

If you don't drink alcohol, what is your interest? If your hoping that this mystery wine is going to be worth a fortune just because its "antique" I think you will likely be disappointed... Very few wines become valuable when aged for 50 years

Thanks for your reply.

No, I am not seeking to make my fortune selling this wine... I am more interested to know (a) what kind of wine it is and (b) will it still be any good to drink, if it is I might give it to a wine drinking friend, if not, will be it of interest to anyone for any reason?

Glenloth was originally an old vineyard and winery established at O'Halloran Hill, just north of Reynella and near the Happy Valley reservoir - it must have been pretty close to where my parents built the house I grew up in. As the business grew, the winemaking facilities were moved to nearby Happy Valley, also very close to Reynella in the far northern region of the McLaren Vale GIC - most of these places have been overtaken by urban sprawl many years ago.

Hermitage is what we used to call straight Shiraz, so basically that's what you are looking at - a very old Shiraz from the far northern region of McLaren Vale; going by the bottling date it's probably seen at least two years in oak which would possibly indicate it's made in a big style that may age well (lots of extract, lots of oak). About the closest thing to it that you could find would be something from Reynella, or maybe Primo Estate's Angel Gully Shiraz from Clarendon (and Normans were still making wines from nearby Chandlers Hill before they went broke). Maybe the Old Marion vineyard at Oaklands Park would be the next closest, but that's predominantly Grenache with Shiraz usually a minor player.

As to what the wine would be like now, well there's no such thing as good wines but good bottles at 57 years of age. Condition will be a key factor, if the fill level is low you can pretty much write it off immediately (do you have a photo of it you can post here?) - even if it's good, it may be of curio value only. I have to admit I'm a little interested in what it's like, because 1957 happens to be my elder brother's birth year.

It also might be worth asking your questions to wine critic Philip White who has spent a lot of time in the McLaren Vale region and knows much of it's history and geology, especially the older areas like this that have been overtaken by housing. http://drinkster.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
Ian

Hi Ian,
Well I am blown away by your knowledge of this apparently obscure winery. It's fascinating. We so often forget how many worlds there are within the one world we share. It is only by opening doors like these that one gets to see into those other worlds that one normally does not partake of.



Here is a photo of the label.



Here is a close up of the top to show that the bottle is filled to about an inch and a half under the bottom of the foil wrapper though you can't tell due to the darkness of the bottle.

1957 is my birth year, and I know that it was a very very poor vintage in SA.
Those either side of it were much better.

The two answers you got originally were so polar opposites. Glad you got a good response to a fair question the second time.

triumphant wrote:The two answers you got originally were so polar opposites. Glad you got a good response to a fair question the second time.

I don't know the winery so couldn't offer an opinion. But if I had a $ for the number of people we get on here who found a bottle in their auntie's cupboard / under the stairs / left in their new apartment / etc etc and wanted to know what it is and if it was worth something I would be a very wealthy man - so I thought I would first and foremost disabuse any such notions.

My advice with all of these questions is simple: no the wine is not worth anything. No it is unlikely to be still be drinkable. Nonetheless, you should open it and find out - what else are you going to do, throw it out without opening?? Easier to open it, try some, if its awful pour it out and then you can recycle...

I mean, its still a natural product made 57 years ago and it just might - might - be drinkable. That in itself is pretty cool.

Here is a list of 10 things that happened the year that wine was made:

1. Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the 3rd and final time.

2. Harold Macmillan becomes the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

3. Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated for a second term as President of the United States.

4. Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat is published in the United States.

5. Standard & Poor's first publishes the S&P 500 guide.

6. The Treaty of Rome (patto di Roma) establishes the European Economic Community (EEC; predecessor of the European Union) between Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

7. The Federation of Malaya gains independence from the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom announces that Singapore will gain self-rule on January 1, 1958.

8. John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, 3 years before forming the Beatles.

9. American Civil Rights Movement – Little Rock Crisis: Governor Orville Faubus of Arkansas calls out the US National Guard, to prevent African-American students from enrolling in Central High School in Little Rock.

10. Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2, with the first animal to orbit the Earth (a dog named Laika) on board.

Brucer wrote:1957 is my birth year, and I know that it was a very very poor vintage in SA.
Those either side of it were much better.

Ignor

I suggest you should offer to send it to Brucer given it is his birth year. I am sure you will take you up on your offer. There is something very special about drinking a bottle of wine that was bottled in your year of birthday when you get to Brucer's age. I was born in '59 and had a number of wines from my birth year as part of various celebrations that year and it was a strangely grounding experience to be drinking something bottled the year I was born.

mark

Thanks, but I dont want it, it will be stuffed.
I am not into birth year stuff. I would rather drink a 2012 Standish.
Sam,thanks, makes me feel old.

Brucer wrote:Thanks, but I dont want it, it will be stuffed.
I am not into birth year stuff. I would rather drink a 2012 Standish.
Sam,thanks, makes me feel old.

Sorry Brucer ... it was only after I posted it that I suddenly thought "maybe I shouldnt emphasise how long ago it was when it is your birth year"

ignoramus wrote:Hi Ian,
Well I am blown away by your knowledge of this apparently obscure winery. It's fascinating. We so often forget how many worlds there are within the one world we share. It is only by opening doors like these that one gets to see into those other worlds that one normally does not partake of.

...that the bottle is filled to about an inch and a half under the bottom of the foil wrapper though you can't tell due to the darkness of the bottle.

While I grew up in the area and know a bit about what was around before the bulldozers moved in, I have to admit a chunk of that information came out of an old Len Evans book (Complete Book of Australian Wine), a really valuable resource for stuff like this.

There was a lot more there about the history of the winery, etc, but I tried to keep my answer relevant to your question. The fill level you describe actually sounds pretty good for a wine of this age, and the cork and capsule don't look too shabby either. That said, bottles as old as this one are always a huge lottery, it's best to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if it happens to be good.

I'm really interested to hear what this wine is like if you open it because it's my brother's birth year, and as Bruce mentioned 1957 doesn't have a great reputation for SA wines, although there may be a very remote chance of this bucking the trend: Reynella apparently made a pretty decent straight Cabernet Sauvignon that year, their Claret (Shiraz/Cabernet blend) not as good, while Pirramimma made a great VP.

Cheers.
Ian

and '57 Reynell VP
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12309&p=98100&hilit=reynella+vp#p98100

Ian,
Don't be embarrassed that you got information from a book. That's what they are for! Seeing it is of interest to you, you can have this bottle, so long as you promise to drink it with your brother and report back here what it is like. Please send me a private message and we can organise the details.

I

ignoramus wrote:Ian,
Don't be embarrassed that you got information from a book. That's what they are for! Seeing it is of interest to you, you can have this bottle, so long as you promise to drink it with your brother and report back here what it is like. Please send me a private message and we can organise the details.

I

A promise is a promise, and after finally opening this mystery bottle with my brother last Christmas this is what it was like:

Very dark brick/brown colour. Porty, oaky and vinegary on opening, aged balsamic, coconut, milk chocolate, leather and liquorice, with more minty/menthol characters appearing with breathing. The palate’s meaty and earthy, medium to full weight with leather and liquorice, menthol on the finish. All tertiary characters and really curio value only, but it still has a breath of interest remaning at 50 years old.

Thank you again Morgan for allowing this to happen!

Cheers,
Ian

Bravo!

For those of us that really like old wines, there is that thing of it being interesting even if not hedonistically enjoyable. Noting and accepting the faults and failings so the positives can also have their say.

Hear, hear!

Nice read this old thread.

Great to see the update after so long, and amazing that it wasn’t totally stuffed!

I love this forum!

Thanks Gavin.

Michael

n4sir wrote:

ignoramus wrote:Hi Ian,
Well I am blown away by your knowledge of this apparently obscure winery. It's fascinating. We so often forget how many worlds there are within the one world we share. It is only by opening doors like these that one gets to see into those other worlds that one normally does not partake of.

...that the bottle is filled to about an inch and a half under the bottom of the foil wrapper though you can't tell due to the darkness of the bottle.

While I grew up in the area and know a bit about what was around before the bulldozers moved in, I have to admit a chunk of that information came out of an old Len Evans book (Complete Book of Australian Wine), a really valuable resource for stuff like this.

There was a lot more there about the history of the winery, etc, but I tried to keep my answer relevant to your question. The fill level you describe actually sounds pretty good for a wine of this age, and the cork and capsule don't look too shabby either. That said, bottles as old as this one are always a huge lottery, it's best to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if it happens to be good.

I'm really interested to hear what this wine is like if you open it because it's my brother's birth year, and as Bruce mentioned 1957 doesn't have a great reputation for SA wines, although there may be a very remote chance of this bucking the trend: Reynella apparently made a pretty decent straight Cabernet Sauvignon that year, their Claret (Shiraz/Cabernet blend) not as good, while Pirramimma made a great VP.

Cheers.
Ian

Old Glenloth winery. I remember it. I snuck in there once. It was demolished for houses on 'jimmy watson drive'.
It's not far from Horndale Winery and Geoff Merrill.
The amount of times I buzzed past ol' Glenloth on the pushy on the way to a mates house....