The Auswine Forum

This has been a bit of a controversial wine over the last month, so I thought it was a good time to evaluate a bottle. Interestingly, the bottle in question is a German export label I got through Wineplanet before it went broke, and the cork wasn’t in great shape. There’s some thick crusting on the bottle like its Shiraz stablemate, so decanting is essential.

1998 Chapel Hill The Vicar The colour is a deep, dark crimson/purple, with a glowing purple hue. Very closed cassis fruit nose initially, opening up to show some tobacco, smoky dark chocolate, dusty violets, and formic acid; later on there’s some mint, blackberry, sweet black cherry, and roasted coffee too. The palate has a very plush, plummy entry, with an exciting build up of fruit, smoky/meaty nuances, licorice, powerful acid and chalky tannins, finishing in a long, smoky finish. With breathing, occasionally this does seem to get a little hot in the mid-palate (14%). The oak is obvious at this stage, but there’s still substantial fruit power and a big structure to match it. Very impressive – I wish you could have tried this bottle Ric!

Cheers,
Ian

Ian, thanks for this note.

I have one of these, how long do you think before it enters its window?

cheers

Andrew

That's a real $64 question Andrew.

TORB expressed his doubts at the dinner last week, and it wasn't the first I've heard about the 1998.

The wine I tried was very powerful and elemental, and needed more time (at least 5-10 years). It's the first one I've tried in over two years, and it really has grown some big teeth in that time.

This comment may get a disbelieving response from Ric, but the bottle I had could have slotted into the dinner line up quite well: right before the 2001 Cullen, or maybe even between it and the 1986 Grange - and I don't think it would have got lost. That's why I wished he was here to try this one.

I'd hate to think that already there's signs of batch or bottle variation, but it seems to be occurring rather frequently with more current releases.

Cheers
Ian

Ian,

I glad yours was good, without wishing to flog a dead horse, I have had more than my share of problems with CH in the past and do not have much faith in them any more. If you ant some of the gory details go to this link http://www.torbwine.com/index.htm?..//pa/2002.htmand find the article How to win customers - and lose them too" Its about half way down the page.

Cheers
Ric

I've had 3 less-than-exciting experiences with CH-V98, and I'm holding my two remaining bottles as a kind of experiment to see whether they come good. I've found it very hot and hollow to date - and I'm confident of the cellaring of the bottles in my possession. Time will tell, I guess.

cheers,
Graeme