1990 Eileen Hardy Shiraz
Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 11:47 pm
1990 Eileen Hardy Shiraz (13.5%)
This was a wine I purchased many years ago. A friend served it to me blind and I was quite impressed with it. Back then I used to score wines and in my book it was a 91 or 92 point wine and seemed quite worthy of cellaring. The back label said it was made from a blend of Padthaway, McLaren, and Clare Valley Shiraz, basket pressed, and aged for 14 months in new American and French oak hogsheads for 14 months. It said that 1990 was a great vintage and that it was the best Eileen Hardy ever made and had excellent cellaring potential for 10 or more years. It was about C$16 and I thought it was well worth it. The only question was whether to cellar 4 or 6 bottles.
The first cellared bottle I opened was when it was about 13 or 14 years old and my goodness it was disappointing. Despite it being only 13,5% it was quite jammy and ripe, displaying none of the backbone it had when it was young. I thought I had completely misread the wine and thought it a mistake to have cellared it. My strategy when finding a wine I do not like is to forget about it, and hope for the best, after all, opening another bottle I don't like serves no useful purpose.
A number of years later a friend who had tasted the wine when I did many years ago, and decided to cellar it, served me a bottle. Although it was still somewhat sweet, it was no longer jammy and was showing a hint of tertiary character. Still not what I prefer in a mature wine but seemed to be getting there.
A week ago I opened one of my bottles to see how it was doing. This particular bottle looked to be in need of opening. The ullage was high, at the mid-shoulder level, unlike the remaining bottles. I perhaps erred in serving it to people less familiar with aged wines as they didn't like it. Myself I thought it was a bit edgy, so not quite in pristine condition. The sweetness had gone and it was rather dry and leathery. I wouldn't say it was corked but it did seem out of sorts. Becausae of the level I would say it was not a representative bottle but since I have not really liked the wine since originally tasting it I would say the jury is still out on this wine.
Mahmoud.
This was a wine I purchased many years ago. A friend served it to me blind and I was quite impressed with it. Back then I used to score wines and in my book it was a 91 or 92 point wine and seemed quite worthy of cellaring. The back label said it was made from a blend of Padthaway, McLaren, and Clare Valley Shiraz, basket pressed, and aged for 14 months in new American and French oak hogsheads for 14 months. It said that 1990 was a great vintage and that it was the best Eileen Hardy ever made and had excellent cellaring potential for 10 or more years. It was about C$16 and I thought it was well worth it. The only question was whether to cellar 4 or 6 bottles.
The first cellared bottle I opened was when it was about 13 or 14 years old and my goodness it was disappointing. Despite it being only 13,5% it was quite jammy and ripe, displaying none of the backbone it had when it was young. I thought I had completely misread the wine and thought it a mistake to have cellared it. My strategy when finding a wine I do not like is to forget about it, and hope for the best, after all, opening another bottle I don't like serves no useful purpose.
A number of years later a friend who had tasted the wine when I did many years ago, and decided to cellar it, served me a bottle. Although it was still somewhat sweet, it was no longer jammy and was showing a hint of tertiary character. Still not what I prefer in a mature wine but seemed to be getting there.
A week ago I opened one of my bottles to see how it was doing. This particular bottle looked to be in need of opening. The ullage was high, at the mid-shoulder level, unlike the remaining bottles. I perhaps erred in serving it to people less familiar with aged wines as they didn't like it. Myself I thought it was a bit edgy, so not quite in pristine condition. The sweetness had gone and it was rather dry and leathery. I wouldn't say it was corked but it did seem out of sorts. Becausae of the level I would say it was not a representative bottle but since I have not really liked the wine since originally tasting it I would say the jury is still out on this wine.
Mahmoud.