The Auswine Forum

Thought I'd start our very own auswine thread to correlate notes on Wendouree wines over the upcoming years. Polarizing wines that need a lot longer than most think- I find them fascinating when some tertiary notes enter the mix.

Wendouree Cabernet Malbec 1992- Secondary market purchase and looking at the cork it was stored in someone's lounge room.

Decanted for a few hours in a half decanter. Not much happening so a few hours in a full decanter.

High notes of menthol prior iodine, beef stock with a slightly bitter shade of blackcurrant amongst lavender florals. Willing some sweeter truffle notes to come more into the play but they faded. Very long wine, the palate has great freshness which could be a touch of menthol ( considering the cork ). Spicy black fruits don't always fill the long wine, leaving the impression of hollowness and austerity in the mid-palate , prior to sweet and earthy fruit persistence aided by very fine and near resolved tannins completing the wine.

I enjoyed the wine, even though the vintage was never going to have the muscle to complete, which meant a wild ride at times with iodine/mineral/lavender/blackcurrant bud flavors dominating the structural edges of the wine leaving an austerity many would be critical of.

91pts ( not bad when you look at the cork )

Great Idea Jamie..

Watch out for those dodjy auction lots though...

Wendouree Cabernet Malbec 1991- Classic mint, blackcurrant and tobacco leaf aromas prior more developed and ashen scents of truffles and salty licorice. Beautifully weighted, full and undeveloped black fruit flavors that just start to open up by bottle's end with various shades of dark fruits and black pepper. This is kind of like the Piedmont dilemma whereas solid aeration can bring out the palate but the aromatics the casualty and there's a mad scientist approach in getting it right- same scenario with the Wendouree here, as the palate flavors began their march the aromatics drifted toward a tertiary spectrum. Superb carry through to the finish, where the tannins sit beautifully on the good length and a powerful persistence, culminating in lingering, earthy and developed sweet plum and black fruit flavors with re-emerging top-gum puckering tannins.

The wine was initially poured into a half decanter, then a full decanter for a few hours as the wine needed to open up. Secondary market purchase and the cork was in better nick than the 1992.


93pts

I know it's been mentioned before, but Lita Brady rates 1991 as the best year she has seen for Wendouree.

Jamie, could you blend some decanted wine with some fresh from the bottle, giving a possible best of both worlds?

LOL, I'll try that- perhaps with a generic nebbiolo first !

Where's the 'like' button on this forum? I don't have any comments, but have quite enjoyed the thread.

1992 Wendouree Shiraz:

This was fully mature and was a real treat. 1992 was not the best vintage in Sth Australia and perhaps this actually helped. The wine had a bright red colour and had a big nose of red fruits and iron and earth. The palate as smooth and round and full with lots of fine grained tannins. Had a distinctive iron earth and spice character to support the red fruits (red plums mostly). This was balanced and clean and very long. My reaction was YES! Finally a Wendouree that is fully mature and completely in the zone and very much of its place and maker. A very distinctive and individualistic expression of Clare Valley Shiraz. Still plenty left in the tank, this wine can go another 20 years I reckon, but who cares what a lovely wine right now.

Brodie

Here you go, I'll pitch a couple in:

1999 Wendouree Shiraz - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (15/10/2014)
"2015" Sydney International Wine Show - stewarding notes; 11/10/2014-16/10/2014 (Blue Mountains, NSW): {cork, 13.7%} (me) Pouring my wine for the great and good I didn’t get to really analyse it properly myself; but the overwhelming impression was of an immense and brooding mouthful of dark menthol shiraz, with quite fierce tannins and a generally disjointed quality. Perhaps a decent decant would have helped; on this occasion you’d conclude that it’s a big, dark, austere shiraz, tannic and brooding, in need of another decade in the cellar. Not much to show for a decade’s cellaring; lucky I have another pair of bottles…

1998 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (25/09/2015)
{cork, 13.5%} Still a dark garnet, although it has an orange/brick tinge. The nose is developed, with soy, cranberry and tobacco aromas. The palate is aging nicely, with plenty of intense flavours of the slightly rustic kind, similar to the nose, with finely graduated dusty tannins and some acid still. It's medium-weight, with a medium/long finish, dry, not too fruity nor earthy. Polished for malbec, perhaps, but very enjoyable, and with another decade easily ahead of it.

cheers,
GG

Hacker wrote:I know it's been mentioned before, but Lita Brady rates 1991 as the best year she has seen for Wendouree.

Hacker,

After trying a number of 91s, I've sent mine to auction.. I just don't 'get' this winery.

Cheers

Mike

The 91 Shiraz is fantastic...Cab Malbec as well..

91 Shiraz Mataro I haven't had but I'd imagine it is good..

Shiraz Malbec...some people really like this blend but it is still my least favorite and the least like what I'm looking for...

I think the problem with Wendouree is they take years to really start looking good..and even then, sometimes they just never look good...Which is why I'm also a believer that you have to enjoy the young Wendourees (although given how the last 4 Wendouree vintages look, they don't even have that anymore) with all their tannins and acid and lowish fruit...as well as a bit of acetic acid...They sometimes remind me of somewhere been a closed Bordeaux and a young Barolo...

But even as a Wendouree fan..I can fully admit that some of the wines are just going to stay in the awkward phase for a long long time and they may never evolve properly...

[quote="Polymer"]

But even as a Wendouree fan..I can fully admit that some of the wines are just going to stay in the awkward phase for a long long time and they may never evolve properly...[/quote

Very interesting comment. you say may "never evolve properly"; are you suggesting quality issues with the winemaking or even vineyard?

1991 Wendouree Shiraz - Tasted 16/11/2014
Not showing its years, thats for sure. I'm not sure whether this wine needs more time or whether it will ever come around. Some acidity sticking out on the mid palate, fine tannins giving structure and plenty of well developed fruit. Strong nose, however finish was underwhelming. Needed time to open up. Good wine, but not great wine. 89

I love Wendouree but the 1991 Shiraz was not my favourite. The 1990, however....

1990 Wendouree Shiraz (Magnum) - Tasted 26/9/2014
Wow. Bit of a restrained nose but that's about the only bad thing I can say about this wine. Was opened a few hours prior, and the wine was lovely with tons of dark red fruits, a bit of "nail polish", some minty and olive notes and a fine veil of very well integrated tannins to give structure. Great length. Surprisingly fresh, probably due to the magnum volume, may have a few years in it but this wine is right in its peak, hands down best Wendouree I've had. 96

sch5252 wrote:Very interesting comment. you say may "never evolve properly"; are you suggesting quality issues with the winemaking or even vineyard?

I don't know if issues is the right word...

The nail polish component tends to fall off quite a bit when they evolve properly...and not so much when they don't. The tannins tend to soften quite a bit as well...

It could just be ones I thought should have come around were still 10+ years from coming around...I don't have a lot of experience with very very old Wendourees so I don't know for sure...

Been quiet here ! Better write this one up!

Event: HKWS Wendouree Shiraz/Mataro Vertical

Venue: Flint Restaurant, JW Marriott Hotel


Dust off your taste buds from the Festive Break, and join us for this…

This evening we will explore 12 vintages of A.P. Birks Wendoure Shiraz/Mataro (Mataro = Mourvedre) from Clare, South Australia.
2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995

If you look at Australia’s Langton’s classification, the Wendouree Shiraz ranks amongst Australia’s top 21 wines - ‘Exceptional’, while all four of Wendouree’s other wines, including tonight's Shiraz-Mataro, make it into the next tier of 53 wines rated ‘Outstanding’. This is, in others words, one of Australia’s long-standing and greatest estates.

Yet you will almost never see it.

The reason is simple. The wine is not distributed. All of it is sold via mail order direct to private customers in the domestic Australian market. The annual order form marked with crayon goes out, by mail, to the lucky few customers on the list, and only the crayon-marked forms returned by mail are accepted.

What is Wendouree’s website, or email address you ask? Neither exist. You write to them, you know, like we used to in the 20th century.

All this, I suspect, adds to the mystique of the Wendouree label. But the wine behind it is very grounded. Wendouree has some of the best, and oldest vineyards in the world. 19th-century planted bush-trained, super low yielding vines, followed by fairly straightforward winemaking. The wines are super long-lived, pure, often very intense, and reminiscent, in a way, to the likes of Chateau Lafleur, or Henri Bonneau’s ‘Celestins’ (at least that’s the way fans like me see it!).

Wendouree is the work of Tony and Lita Brady who have farmed and produced these wines since the mid-1970s.

For more information, I suggest this article written by Jamie Goode -
http://www.wineanorak.com/barossa/clare ... douree.htm

Mike Hawkins wrote:

Hacker wrote:I know it's been mentioned before, but Lita Brady rates 1991 as the best year she has seen for Wendouree.

Hacker,

After trying a number of 91s, I've sent mine to auction.. I just don't 'get' this winery.

Cheers

Mike

Neither do I Mike although they are good wines just IMO not great. When we arrived in Adelaide in 1990 we were buying their wines for around $10 and regarded them as well above average quaffers. I recall at an Adelaide offline Sparky muttered similar words (particularly the menthol flavours) so we are in good company albeit a minority. Just can't get with the hype. A bit like me and Pinot Noir. I just don't get it and my wallet is all the better for it.

Carl

I don't think you're in the minority at all...I think quite a few people if not a majority of people just do not like or think highly of Wendouree...

They're just very backwards for much of their life..if not all...For some the tannins are very harsh, for others they're not so and I'm not sure why. You then have the high acidity and some very awkward flavors....and you either like that or you don't....I really enjoy Wendouree but there are quite a few younger ones where I can definitely see why people dislike them...and then you have the ones that are completely fantastic...

Personally I think anything younger than 95 is not drinking well...the recent vintages are actually very approachable but I have no idea where those are going....

For whatever oddball reason...I think their Cab Malbec is the best and Shiraz Malbec is my least favorite...but then I think the straight Shiraz is better than the straight Cab...*shrug*

I just had a Taylor's St Andrews 2001 Clare Cabernet last night and the eucalypt was too noticeable. I've found Wendouree wines have this note dominating when the wine is scalped ( 10% - ish ) but it is otherwise generally in check.

Menthol is interesting as it is a note you see in a lot of traditional Barolo and this has me wondering if its part of the winemaking process.

In reference to Wendouree tannins, I've always felt the local criticisms come from drinkers with little exposure to wine styles outside of Australia and perhaps Old World France. Having had the wines back to the 60's the tannins often come into balance though often they don't just like some Bordeaux and Barolo.

Wendouree just might be the Aussie version of d'Angerville in Burgundy. Lots of lovers, lots of haters. Guess that makes it interesting.

JamieBahrain wrote:In reference to Wendouree tannins, I've always felt the local criticisms come from drinkers with little exposure to wine styles outside of Australia and perhaps Old World France. Having had the wines back to the 60's the tannins often come into balance though often they don't just like some Bordeaux and Barolo.

I don't know if it is lack of exposure...What I find is that Wendouree tannins are not very harsh because they sit in the middle of my tongue...same with Barolo/Barbaresco...

Which is different than say, hard Cabernet Sauvignon tannins...which are more in my gums...

The result is, I don't mind the tannins at all..whereas other people feel them the same as they would with Cabernet Sauvignon...If all I got from the wine was really harsh tannins and acid..I'd probably not enjoy them at all...

I'd say this is more, well, genetic than anything else...but who knows....

It probably sits along the same lines of - Where do you see Barolo sitting if you were putting wines in a tasting order....

For me, they're right after Pinot Noir...for others, they'd put them near or at the end.....

1992 Shiraz, brooding red to almost purple.
Cork in great shape, 3 hour decant, nose slightly muted but a bit of that menthol eucalypt character, still had primary fruit, great balance with out tannins dominating.
A wine that I would call solid rather than spectacular...the question is where does it go from here as this bottle showed no signs of fading.

Cheers
Craig

Wines presented generally well this evening. Just the one definite taint which wrote off the 1997.

I am wondering if Wendouree is wasted on Australians. Tonight, we had broad and extensive drinkers and the highest end of collectors, the fickle Burgundy palates and the classic Bordeaux lovers, and of course, the patient and most understanding Piedmontese geeks. Wines were very well received and staggeringly consistent in style despite the significantly varying proportions of mataro from vintage to vintage. People laughed at the suggesting the tannins were fierce and couldn't understand the polarizing nature of Wendouree in its home market. The worst comments of the evening were that the wines were not mind blowing though Linden Wilkie ( the organizer and proprietor of the Fine Wine Experience which does incredible commercial vertical tastings of the greatest wines of the world ) did explain his personal epiphany was with the straight shiraz- and the cabernet, cabernet malbec along with the shiraz are where often the best expressions of Wendouree.

I liked the choice of dinner wines to give folks an idea of comparisons to the components of the Wendouree shiraz mataro blend. A retro-Aussie shiraz in the 96 Meschach, Cornas from Clape, and Beaucastel 2007 though I'd have been happy to pitch in for the 500USD a bottle Beaucastel Hommage which is a straight mataro and would have completed the assignment better.

And Wendouree is sold and a done deal the hot rumor. Wow! I wonder what my personal black crayon greeting on the annual mail-out will eventuate toward under a more commercial entity?


Evolution in the glass was kind to all wines with many folks suggesting higher ratings if we'd scored after dinner.








Wines served blind and decanted at 1730. 16 tasters.


Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 2006- Some newer oak apparent. Black licorice, brown earth and truffles- a little peppermint too. Again, the oak apparent on the palate, it's not obtrusive though perhaps a little unexpected. A terrific vibrancy and power in the classic Wendouree frame - the entombment I call it, where powerful extracted fruit on the structural edges brackets a complexity which may or may not be happening within. An earthy dustiness throughout like a dry northerly blowing topsoil through the vines prior a long finish of sweet and fine tannins. Folks impressed with the balance.

92pts+

0 Firsts, 1 Second, 2 Lasts.

4th for me and 9th for the Group.


Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 2005- Opens up pleasantly toward and effortless scent of blackfruits and roasted meats. Weight and intensity gives a great palate prior to youthful and sweet tannins drive home a wine in evolution.

0 First 1 Second 0 LAst

6th for Me and 11th for the Group.


92pts + and off to a consistent start!


Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 2004- Beautifully fruit lifted, with a drifting Burgundian like aromatic complexity in multiple shades of red with curious menthol/medicinal undertones. The aromatics plough through the palate on a solid base of red and black fruits, powerful acidity carries the wines as it lingers with fine, sweet and pleasantly medicinal persistence.

1 First 5 Seconds 0 Lasts

3rd for Me and WOTN for the Group.

93pts

Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 2003- Elegant aromas of red licorice , truffles and a brassy iron-minerality with dominating beef stock undertones. Red and black shaded fruit on the palate with dusty oak. Clean finishing with a nice grip. On return a lack of intensity stood out to many with the 2003 though still a great drink!

3 Firsts 0 Seconds 1 Last

8th for Me and 4th for the Group.

91pts






Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 2002- Closed! Second pass a big sniff draws out dark cherry, faint Chinese medicines / tea with powerful dark fruits and herbs. Palate is open though. Choc-mint red and black fruits give a good complexity within a powerful bracketing force of extracted fruit - good finish with lavender infusion on the finish. Needs more time or aeration as the development incomplete.

5 Firsts 1 Second 1 Last

10th for Me 3rd for the Group.

90pts+


Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 2001- Classic Wendouree violets and other florals, mint, lavender, iron minerality. Mouth-filling and full on the edges, modest though welcoming complexity within grippy tannins on the finish push forward on the palate suggesting more time and a little backwardness.

1 First 1 Second 2 Lasts

7th for Me and 6th for the Group.

91pts+




Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 2000- Malty, stewed plums, licorice and worn leather. Though I considered this wine overly developed, all things considered, the wine had a fascination to it despite it's atypical expression.

91pts

1 First 2 2nds 2 Lasts

9th for Me and 10th for the Group

Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 1999- Minerals, red and black fruits, tight and smoked meats though I'm wondering if that's my steak cooking ! Full, with the violet sweet fruited edges with a centre of juicy grit with eucalyptus and menthol adding interest.

92pts

1 First 2 Seconds 0 Lasts

5th for Me and 2nd for the Group


Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 1998- Iodine, salty dutch licorice, truffle. Fully ripened palate fruits with lavender and eucalypt which sponsors a breath of austerity- bracing acidity and grippy sweet tannin. Needs time.

93pts+

2 Firsts, 1 Second, 2 Lasts

2nd for Me and 5th for the Group.


Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 1997- Corked very badly!


Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 1996- Powerful black licorice, earth and truffle. Some tertiary development providing high levels of complexity and this is where Wendouree hits its spot! Powerful structure with extracted fruit at the edges encasing tangoing secondary and tertiary development. Fine and puckering tannins.

94pts

3 Firsts 2 Seconds 6 Lasts

WOTN for Me and 8th for Group

Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 1995- Lid on the coffin here. Just so deathly closed. More on the palate a little cassis/licorice and dustiness. Wondering what the problem is here. 1995 vintage? Though I see where the bemusement of Wendouree critics in this wine.

85pts

1 First 1 Second 4 Lasts

11th for Me and 7th for Group

1999 Wendouree Cabernet Sauvignon Clare Valley - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (15/01/2016)
{cork, 13.7%} Garnet/bricking. Looks very much its age. I decanted this off considerable bottle-encrustation (less sediment in the wine) and drank it slowly over three hours. Although there is a cabernet/casis character to the developing aromas, its also strongly infused with minty - spearmint, peppermint - qualities. It's certainly aging - no-one would think this is 5-10 years old - but it's still hugely intense. The palate has medium/high tannins like iron filings, and they emphasise the dark green minty character of the flavours; it's not unlike drinking a glass of British Racing Green. It's never unripe, but it is powerful and assertive and rather hulking, despite not really being much more than medium-bodied in weight. As it aged in the glass I became less convinced about the finish; it did seem a little hollow and shorter then I expected, although it did appear to become sweeter on the nose. Enjoyable enough certainly, not exactly eye-opening, although it is at least quite distinctive. The cork was barely breached at all after ~16 years; were they all like this you'd confidently leave this for another decade probably, although perhaps not with a sense that it's going to actually evolve, as oppose to just age in a type of stasis. But, I've no experience with this wine at 25 years old, so who knows?

cheers,
Graeme

JamieBahrain wrote:LOL, I'll try that- perhaps with a generic nebbiolo first !

Yes, yes! Let the hate/love flow through you

added Ian's notes to the thread. Hope he does not mind.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14995

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FLIGHT 1: SHIRAZ MATARO

2012 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro, Clare Valley (screwcap): 80% Shiraz, 20% Mataro from the 1893 Central, 1919 and 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. 13.4% alc. Medium red. Bright cherries and rhubarb with hints of roast meats and black tea with subtle, spicy/lemony oak, more than a little Pinot-like; the medium-weight palate opens with thick, velvety tannins from start to finish, finishing long and meaty, slightly minty. Bright, breezy and attractive at this young stage, it will never be a blockbuster but then I don’t expect it to be either.

1998 Wendouree Shiraz Mataro, Clare Valley (cork): 85% Shiraz, 15% Mataro from the 1893 Central, and 1920 Eastern & Central vineyard plantings. 13.7% alc. Medium garnet. Meaty and developed, black and green liquorice, camphor wood and boot polish. The tannins have softened nicely as this wine has developed; I would say this is at its peak but will hold a good few years.

1975 Wendouree Claret, Clare Valley (cork): First bottle was badly corked and not presented – unfortunately the replacement wasn’t much better. Dark garnet/brick with an olive rim. The first whiff is damp cardboard followed by oxidised, leathery/gunpowder with a backdrop of dirty socks, a little black liquorice and bitter chocolate remaining on the palate.

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FLIGHT 2: SHIRAZ

2012 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley (screwcap): 13.6% alc. From the 1919 Eastern Vineyard & 1893 Central bush vines. Medium to darkish red. Bright, minty and minerally with cherry pie and rhubarb, red liquorice, black tea, tea roses and subtle spicy oak, a lot like the Shiraz Mataro and again Pinot-like. The palate is again very similar to the Shiraz Mataro with a little more weight, bright and breezy with thick, black tea tannins from the start with a long, soft finish.

2001 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley (cork): 13.9% alc. From the 1919 Eastern vineyard & 1893 Central vineyard bush vines. Medium to darkish red/garnet. Savoury, developed nose with black tea, black liquorice, mint, camphor wood, mothballs, spices and noticeable VA lift. The palate’s spicy and peaty with notably fine tannins but also an odd structure, the acidity sticking out mid-palate finishing meaty but a little short.

1991 Wendouree Shiraz, Clare Valley (cork): 13.5% alc. Medium garnet/brick. Lifted nose with seemingly obvious honeyed/American oak, mint and menthol ahead of bright red fruits; the palate is beginning to fade, finishing sweet but with bright acidity. It’s okay, but nowhere near as good as previous bottles I have tried over the last few years.


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FLIGHT 3: MALBEC

2011 Wendouree Malbec, Clare Valley (screwcap): 13.5% alc. From the 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium to dark red with a hint of purple. Sweet perfumed nose full of black tea and liquorice, mint and sweet, smoky deli meats; the entry of the palate is fat, jubey and exotic, boysenberry, dark chocolate and pastilles leading to thick black tea tannins mid-palate, finishing minty, jammy and a little sweet. An unusual and fun wine as a youngster, an excellent result from the tough vintage.

2005 Wendouree Malbec, Clare Valley (cork): From the 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium to dark red/garnet. Minty, jammy and showing some age already, with meaty/black liquorice characters; the palate is quite odd, despite possessing a huge mid-palate it lacks structure and balance, finishing short. Dunno about this, maybe in a hole or maybe a poor bottle?

1997 Wendouree Pressings, Clare Valley (cork): Blend of pressings from Shiraz and Cabernet fermentations in combination with an equal quantity of Malbec from the 1920 & 1940 Eastern vineyard plantings. First bottle was corked and not presented. Medium garnet/brick. Opens with obvious VA and crushed ant/American vanillin oak, followed by camphor wood and old leather, fresh paint and mothballs; the fruit’s fading on the palate, led by secondary characters of sous bois, tea chest, earth and chocolate bullets, finishing minty and slightly hot. The 1997 vintage has become notorious for widespread levels of cork taint - better bottles are hanging in there, but the time to drink is now.


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FLIGHT 4: SHIRAZ MALBEC

2013 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec, Clare Valley (screwcap): 14.0% alc. 50% Shiraz, 50% Malbec from the1919 & 1920 eastern vineyard plantings. Medium red/purple. Wildly perfumed, exotic and slightly jammy like the straight Malbec, black tea and black jubes; the palate’s medium-weight and fruity, full of black tea and rhubarb with thick tannins mid-palate that flow through the long, velvety finish. Quite yummy right now.

2001 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec, Clare Valley (cork): 70% Shiraz, 30% Malbec from the 1893, and 1898 Central and 1919 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium garnet/brick. Smoky and meaty, black liquorice, cough lollies, mothballs, mint, menthol and umami; the palate’s smoky and meaty, the thick tannins have softened a little, the finish minty. Overall it’s fatter and far better balanced than the straight Shiraz.

1998 Wendouree Shiraz Malbec, Clare Valley (cork): 75% Shiraz, 25% Malbec from the 1919 and 1920 Eastern vineyard plantings. Medium to very dark garnet. Fully developed with lovely jubey fruit matched with lovely cedar oak and a touch of lavender, those familiar mothball/mint characters in the background; the palate is the fattest of the entire tasting, coating the mouth with chocolatey fruit and thick, velvety tannins, the length and balance excellent.


Cheers
Ian

I'm in Australia for 5 weeks and I thought I'd try some Wendouree. My strategy has been to purchase a few auction bottles as opposed to drinking my own stock, which have been cellared professionally since release. This satisfies my curiosity and keeps my collection in tact for longer term drinking or posterity.

Pictured below is last night's efforts. The auction purchase I think was a claim of proper cellaring but do compare the corks. Staggering is the difference! The 98 Shiraz Mataro's cork came out with ease, showing a perfect seal with a dark stain and zero seepage. Amazing. The 94 Shiraz, well, caveat emptor !

The 98 is finally in a window. It shows the complex florals of the vintage ( lavender and mint like mingling with lighter spice and menthol/ eucalyptus ) with darker fruit and iron like earth notes. Beautiful length with a wonderful palate complexity reflecting the aromatics. There are still firm tannins, Piedmont like and not out of place, very satisfying wine, world class and will go another 5+ improving and in my cellar will hold for decades. 94pts perhaps better with a slab of Clare Valley Angas beef.

The shiraz showed the brooding monster that it is. Fruit is impressive, fierce blackberry with some mint in evidence. Great structure and in a good place. The wine survived it's baking and I hope the dishonest vendor has many corked wines this year. Unfair to provide much more than a vibe for this wine.

Hi Jamie,

How were the corks sitting in relation to the top of the bottle in comparison?
Was there clear signs of heat damage on the Shiraz with the cork protruding?
I guess it's good to know that even considering the state of it, it still drank well!

Nic

G'day Bob


What's in evidence with many auction bottles when compared to the same wine professionally cellared is the cork's condition . Leaks and ullage show an obvious baking, less obvious is an inconsistent cellaring though once the cork pulled, there's little doubt. With the wines there's often a fruit freshness in evidence too- aromatically and in the flavor profile - so pronounced the difference and even in last night's case, the 98 showed a far greater complexity .

JamieBahrain wrote:G'day Bob


What's in evidence with many auction bottles when compared to the same wine professionally cellared is the cork's condition . Leaks and ullage show an obvious baking, less obvious is an inconsistent cellaring though once the cork pulled, there's little doubt. With the wines there's often a fruit freshness in evidence too- aromatically and in the flavor profile - so pronounced the difference and even in last night's case, the 98 showed a far greater complexity .

Jamie

Without reengaging on the merits or otherwise of Wendouree wines, I completely agree with your comments re the merits of cellaring ones own wines for the long haul verses buying at auction. One additional point I have noticed with cellaring my own wines from release is how much longer they also appear to take to get to their drinking window.

I store at Kennards who run the cellars at around 14 C which I'm fine with but it definitely appears to slow down their development. I remember reading a Michael Broadbent article on his experiences of buying cellars out of Scottish castle and estates when working at Christies. As these cellars often had long term temperatures around 9 degs they turned out to be amazing Aladdin Caves full of old Bordeaux and other such treats.

JamieBahrain wrote:G'day Bob


What's in evidence with many auction bottles when compared to the same wine professionally cellared is the cork's condition . Leaks and ullage show an obvious baking, less obvious is an inconsistent cellaring though once the cork pulled, there's little doubt. With the wines there's often a fruit freshness in evidence too- aromatically and in the flavor profile - so pronounced the difference and even in last night's case, the 98 showed a far greater complexity .

Yeah I agree totally with what your saying, just curious on the cork level pre opening.
Also, how was the ullage?