The Auswine Forum

I thought people on this forum might be interested in my post on another wine forum where I extolled the virtue of cellaring daily drinkers so that one could drink mature wines on any given without worry. In the past few days I took advantage of my earlier efforts and opened four bottles in four days, all with meals. Here is photograph of the four wines including the famous Houghton White Burgundy (now called Classic White?), an everyday drinker that blossoms into a lovely wine, much like old semillon.
My post: The 2001 Clos du Caillou 'Les Bouquet des Garrigues' CdR was probably faulty, very brett-like, and necessitated the opening of another bottle. but the rest turned out okay, pleasantly drinkable and well suited with dinner. The 2002 Planeta 'La Segreta' Sicily, was a Nero d'Avola blend served with turkey breast and was immediately identified as an Italianate by my other half. The 2001 A-Mano Primitivo had lost it's original depth and intensity but was still plush, with a jolly fruitiness that was engaging and complimentary to the pan-fried beef and vegetables. The 2000 Houghton 'White Burgundy' was an Australian purchase, cellared based on Australian critics who said that the ordinary White Burgundy could be cellared and would be identical to Houghton's Museum Release wines. So I took a punt, brought a few bottles home, and was pleasantly rewarded by a mature, complex wine that admirably complemented pan-fried bass fillets.

My advice to anyone interested in mature wines is to buy extra bottles of better than average everyday wines so that you have mature wines to enjoy furthur down the road.

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

You're a wise man Mahmoud. 20 years ago, I would have said my cellar was based largely on that principle - and included a couple of magnums of 1996 Houghton's White Burgundy.

As my income has risen, so has my average spend per bottle, and the value and quantity of the cellar has increased probably tenfold in that time. However, the 'reliable quaffer' principle still holds to some degree, and there's wines like Oliver's Taranga shiraz (at $25 a bottle), Seppelts Chalambar Shiraz ($18), Pewsey Vale Riesling ($16 on a good day), and a few others that all look much better after a few years in the cellar, and have become regular buys as a result.

Cheers
Allan

When I first started cellaring wine, cheap wines that could cellar well were certainly of great interest and Houghton White Burgundy was definitely there. However not long after the forced name change, it pretty much disappeared from the shelves. A shame as I'd still be keen to buy the odd bottle now. I recall trying some of the museum releases at a tasting in London, and for me they were a big step up from the new release and I'm not sure any I cellared ever got quite as interesting, but they certainly improved. Maybe the museum programme was focused on the more likely cellaring vintages?

At the same time as this, I also explored cellaring Tahbilk Marsanne and whatever Hunter Semillon I could find (a remarkably difficult task over here).

For reds, there was more choice, albeit for £1-2 more, with too many to name, but when the likes of Wynns Black label Cabernet Sauvignon was £10 a bottle and sometimes on offer below £7, it was a happy time. The Penfolds reds were good value back then as well. One lesser mentioned wine that stood out well, as a similar price to the HWB, was the Rutherglen Estates Durif. £5 a bottle in 2002, it was developing very nicely in 2009 and I reckoned back then it might be coming to the downslope round about now.