The Auswine Forum

Have you acquired any / many magnums and why? Have you been surprised by what you could or couldn't get in that size?

For me it's sentimentality. I only have one, a Rockford BPS, of our wedding year and I'd like one for each child. I thought I'd keep our anniversary for our 20th with the hope that both of our father's could enjoy it with us. No idea what to keep the kids ones for . I guess I like the idea that hopefully they'll age slower for a longer time than the standard sized ones I have too.

Does anyone own anything larger?

I like mags for high end champers from the best vintages. They age superbly and uniformly IMO. They are tough to fit in wine storage units though

I love Magnums...

I hate that they're a pain to store.
I hate that for some reason outside of Europe there is a huge uplift in price..in Switzerland, for example...it is 2 x 750 + 2.50. So basically you pay the same plus some extra because of the bottle.
In the US, direct for some places you're looking at 2 x 750 * 1.2-1.5.

It could just be availability as well...So many things are available in Magnum but not all of it actually makes it out of the region..

I have a few magnums in the cellar, but rarely open them. For any occasion with less than, say, 8 people, I'd rather open two different wines.

The biggest I've had was a double magnum of Maxwell's Lime Cave Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, which met its demise at a bloke's night in 2012. Great wine but probably not appreciated as fully as it could have ben.

I bought over a dozen Magnums from my youngests birth year. Probably the best way to go as Magnums age slower.

Kalleske Greenock Shiraz
Charles Melton Grains of Paradise Shiraz
Turkey Flat Shiraz x 2
Gomersal Shiraz x 3
Torbreck GSM
Rockford Basket Press Shiraz x 3
Petaluma Hanlin Hill Riesling
Seppeltsfeild VP x 2
And a few others I can’t remember.

I also have a few from my wedding year as well (2004).

I have quite a few others as well. Several vintages of Rockford Basket Press are some of my more treasured bottles.

I think they are great for dinner parties of 8 or so people. Only problem is the cork roulette on most of them. The cost of Magnums in Australia is a bit of a pisstake though. As Polymer suggests, we get touched here in Australia compared to Europe.

Cheers
Ian

I hate large format bottles. I've had a few and they just awkward.

The only large format wine I have left is one double magnum of a 1991 Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet and an opportunity to open it just doesn't come up. I've been moving this around my wine storage units trying to make it fit for the last 10+ years and it's giving me the $#!T$.

Cheers Con.

I have 10 year vertical of Woodland Flagship CS magnums. Really proud of them but almost at the point of what am I going to do with them? Almost bordering on sentimental value.

Any ideas?

I have only a potted selection of magnums ... '13, '14 and '17 Tyrrell's Vat 9 Shiraz, a 2004 Brokenwood Semillon and '90 Stanton and Kileen VP which were presents, one 2009 Bodegas Muga Rioja Gran Reserva Prado Enea, and the '12 and '14 Yarra Yering Dry Red #1 (before they ramped the magnum price up)

I buy and consume a fair few every year. Bit of a family tradition we crack one on birthdays when the 8 adults get together. Also at my works end of financial year and xmas dinners. Last year was a number of
04 Dutschke St Jakobi
05 d'Arenberg Coppermine Cab Sav
02 Elderton ode to Lorraine blend.
01 Tahbilk shiraz
Magnums.

Still got some special ones I'm saving for my kids birth years. But that is well over 10 Years away.

Also a 05 Wild Duck creek springflat shiraz I'm looking to share one day. Just have to find the right occasion.

Yes they are really painful to store, but there is nothing like seeing the happiness on someones face when you plonk a great big bottle on the table.

Would like to buy many more but 3 plus times the single price. Just brought Petaluma '18 Riesling $16:50 a bottle... the magnum at the CD was $80!!!!
Go figure??
Cheers Craig

Con J wrote:I hate large format bottles. I've had a few and they just awkward.

The only large format wine I have left is one double magnum of a 1991 Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet and an opportunity to open it just doesn't come up. I've been moving this around my wine storage units trying to make it fit for the last 10+ years and it's giving me the $#!T$.

Cheers Con.

Con,
I'll take it off your hands if it's that much trouble
cheers
Malcolm

A number of years ago I was moving wines in my cellar when much to my surprise I came across my first and only magnum, a 1996 Marques de Riscal Riserva Rioja. Where it came from I did not know, and to this day have not figured it out. Since then I did buy a 2000 d'Arenberg d'Arry's Original because it was a well priced museum release and thought I might have an occasion to serve a magnum.

Indeed they are awkward to cellar, and despite the pomp and ceremony of a magnum at the table, I seldom get an occasion to serve one because, as mentioned in a post above, my group also prefers to have two different wines instead of a magnum. For this reason I once made a deliberate decision to buy a pair of 1995 Marchesi Antinori Chianti Classico Riservas instead of the well priced magnum. However, despite all this, in the last couple of years, I have acquired several more magnums merely because of an addictive tendency to succumb to a bargain. A 2009 Dandelion 'Lion of the Barossa' Shiraz for a relatively paltry $20 was irresistable; equally so but more expensive was a last bottle on the shelf of an '08 Merry Edwards Sonoma Pinot Noir (a California icon); and an '09 Cantenac Brown (a third growth Margaux) which has to be sheer folly considering it will need more time to mature than I can ever give it.

Let me add that Mike Hawkings is bang on the money when it comes to champagne in magnum - and perhaps any good quality sparkling for that matter - they age better and remain fresher. They also have the added benefit of being perfect for almost any occasion because who can ever resist second pours of champagne.

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

Have had many magnums over the years, perhaps starting with Redman Cabernet in the late 70's at $9/magnum.

Seriously, they are great for special occasions, restaurants with friends for example, the wine is generally more reliable than by bottle with older wines. Examples include lots of magnums of Wynns JR and BL, various Penfolds Bin389, Wynns '91 Centenary, various Redman Cabernet, Penfolds 96 Block 42 and recently an Irvine Grand Merlot. For Con J and Ozzie W, I think I even have a magnum of '09 1er Gevrey in the cellar. Also have some early 00's double magnums of Katnook and maybe an Imperial of Leconfield something or other. Love 'em.

Looks like I'm bucking the trend here, I have a huge number of large format bottles.
My most-used large-format wine is the double magnum, I absolutely love them. At a wedding here in NYC and opened a double magnum of Roumier Bonnes Mares, which was superb and the large format just seemed to fit the celebratory occasion.
Aussie wines, particularly shiraz, age far, far better in magnums, double magnums and imperials. I don't have an explanation for this, but my experience says that it happens almost without exception.
Beware buying magnums of Bordeaux, they age at a snail's pace... recently opened magnums of 1990 Haut Bailly and Montrose showed incredibly young, in the latter case, too young!!
I just store them on the floor of the cellar, stacked on each other, no problem!!

I've made plenty of poor decisions in my decades of cellaring/purchasing wines, but getting large formats has certainly been one of my better choices.

PS, agree on the strange Aussie "custom" of charging a huge premium for large formats, there really isn't any basis for that. This is particularly true in the case of Burgundy, yet at the Domaines there is an absolutely minuscule premium applied. Yet another way for greedy importers to gouge the poor customer.

I have about a dozen magnums mostly NZ classic bdx blends from great vintages. I have purchased six of them within the last 12 months. I find there is seldom an occasion to open them, which with a comparatively small cellar is actually an advantage as they are left to slowly age without the risk of being prematurely opened. The definitely protect a wine from being opened on impulse.

I am getting to the age now though where I will stop buying magnums

The cost of magnums from NZ producers is sensible. It is usually just a shade over double the price. The bespoke handling, glass price etc required makes this fair enough. I know one winery that uses 750ml*2+10 as their formula

Have about 30 magnums and drink about 1- 2 a year. I love large format bottles but don't get to drink them that often. Mostly a mixture of French and Aussie with few others

Have one double magnum of 2001 Cavallotto Bricco Boschis San Giuseppe which will be ready to drink when I am between 90 and 100. I bought it as it cost less than 4x cost of single 750ml bottle- can't resist a bargain right?

brodie

felixp21 wrote:Beware buying magnums of Bordeaux, they age at a snail's pace... recently opened magnums of 1990 Haut Bailly and Montrose showed incredibly young, in the latter case, too young!!

Oh, thanks for confirming that there is no hope for my '09 magnum of Bordeaux. Anyone want to buy a magnum of Bordeaux?

felixp21 wrote:Looks like I'm bucking the trend here, I have a huge number of large format bottles.

- My most-used large-format wine is the double magnum, I absolutely love them. At a wedding here in NYC and opened a double magnum of Roumier Bonnes Mares, which was superb and the large format just seemed to fit the celebratory occasion.
- Aussie wines, particularly shiraz, age far, far better in magnums, double magnums and imperials. I don't have an explanation for this, but my experience says that it happens almost without exception.
- I just store them on the floor of the cellar, stacked on each other, no problem!!
- I've made plenty of poor decisions in my decades of cellaring/purchasing wines, but getting large formats has certainly been one of my better choices.

PS, agree on the strange Aussie "custom" of charging a huge premium for large formats, there really isn't any basis for that. This is particularly true in the case of Burgundy, yet at the Domaines there is an absolutely minuscule premium applied. Yet another way for greedy importers to gouge the poor customer.

I agree with others about the high price of magnums but surely you have added fuel to the fodder of Australian importers and retailers with your list of advantages.

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

mjs wrote:For Con J and Ozzie W, I think I even have a magnum of '09 1er Gevrey in the cellar.

I don't have any magnums or larger format bottles. I prefer my wines to be ready to drink sooner rather than later. Waiting 20+ years for my Cabernet to get to the way I like it is already too long -- I don't want to make it even longer.

This thread got me curious so I went through the cellar database - it appears I have 28 magnums. I used to buy at least 1 of vintages and producers I like, and others just when they became available. Sold some, drank some - I do agree that it is fun to bring out a big bottle on occasion, especially for a group.

I remember at time of buying that some producers charged just double the standard bottle price; others charged a slight premium.

The "why did I buy this?" one was a magnum of 85 Warres port - decanted half into a 750ml bottle and put it back into the cellar for a while, and finished the other bottle with friends. Delicious, but far too young! Still not sure why I bought a magnum of port - although it was a very good deal.

The best large format for me was an imperial of 1972 Ch Margaux received as a birthday present - a terrible vintage, but in large format was drinking perfectly. With the small group we had on my birthday, it was like all-you-can-drink first growth for the whole night - very memorable (of what could be remembered)!

The list - probably time to drink the early to mid-90s wines soon:

1996 Lakes Folly
1998 Wild Duck Creek Alan's Pressings
1992 De Bortoli Cabernet Sauvignon
1998 Heritage Wines Cabernet Sauvignon
1991 Hollick Ravenswood Cabernet Sauvignon
2001 Red Edge Cabernet Sauvignon
2000 Chateau Tahbilk Marsanne
2001 Chateau Tahbilk Marsanne
1998 Bannockburn Shiraz
1998 Heritage Wines Rossco's Shiraz
2000 Kilikanoon Oracle Shiraz
1995 Plantagenet Shiraz
2001 Red Edge Shiraz
1996 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz
1998 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz
1995 Sandalford Shiraz
1996 Turkey Flat Shiraz
1998 Turkey Flat Shiraz
1991 Wynns Centenary Shiraz Cabernet

I'm looking forward to seeing how the Tahbilk Marsanne has held up compared to the standard bottles...
Bannockburn should also be interesting due to the story behind that vintage.

Hey Kenzo,

I think you're doing alright, most of your bottles are two decades and older while a few are only a few years away. You're in a good place.

Regarding the Tahbilk Marsanne, the only thing I can tell you is that a regular bottle of 1992 was stellar at 19 years of age. I expect that with your magnum being 19 years of age you should be safe. When you do open it please do let us Tahbilk enthusiasts know how it was.

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

I buy in large format fairly frequently - both magnum & double-magnum. Feel they add a little bit more to a 'special occasion', especially when you're drinking with non-wine people who appreciate the novelty value. Not to mention the ageing benefits (though I can't really claim much first-hand experience of having tested this).

My current list:

[*] 3 x Vieux Telegraphe 2013 (Mags)
[*] 1 x Il Poggione Brunello 2010 (Mag)
[*] 1 x Il Poggione Brunello 2010 (Dbl Mag)
[*] 1 x Klein Constantia Anwilka 2012 (Mag)
[*] 1 x Beaucastel 2012 (Dbl Mag)
[*] 1 x Tignanello 2010 (Mag)
[*] 1 x Ridge Lytton Springs 2013 (Dbl Mag)
[*] 3 x Chateau Cantemerle 2017 (Mag)
[*] 4 x Weinert Carrascal Anniversary NV (Mag)
[*] 1 x Lakes Folly 2015 (Mag)
[*] 1 x D'Arenberg Coppermine Road 2005 (Mag) - recently consumed

mjs wrote:

Con J wrote:I hate large format bottles. I've had a few and they just awkward.

The only large format wine I have left is one double magnum of a 1991 Petaluma Coonawarra Cabernet and an opportunity to open it just doesn't come up. I've been moving this around my wine storage units trying to make it fit for the last 10+ years and it's giving me the $#!T$.

Cheers Con.

Con,
I'll take it off your hands if it's that much trouble
cheers
Malcolm

Hi Malcolm.

You can help me drink it if your keen.
I was thinking of organising an off line in July, maybe then.

Cheers Con.

Current Magnums

1* Domaine Du Pegau CNDP 2012
4x Domaine Duclaux CNDP 2010
1x PioCesare Barolo 2011
4x Domaine du Vieux Lazaret CNDP 2012
2x Rene Rostaing Ampodium 2015
1x Tignanello 2014
1x Voyager Estate Cabernet Merlot 2012

A strange collection....mind boggles

Con J wrote: Hi Malcolm.

You can help me drink it if your keen.
I was thinking of organising an off line in July, maybe then.

Cheers Con.

I have one to bring that was trying to find a reason to crack, so let me know when you are organising.

I have two magnums as I find them awkward to cellar...

2007 Ernest Hill Shiraz William Henry
2006 Keith Tulloch Shiraz Kester

Probably time to look at both of them actually.

I only have a couple of magnums of Jim Barry's basic Clare Riesling as they were being sold last year for $30 so grabbed. I don't really seek out magnums, as I prefer the flexibility of two singles usually, but having said that would probably buy some opportunistically if I came across them in a store.

I picked up a 2016 Standish The Standish magnum a few weeks ago, I'm hopeful the larger format will help push that into good birth year territory. Definitely hurts the cellar space though!

Rossco wrote:

Con J wrote: Hi Malcolm.

You can help me drink it if your keen.
I was thinking of organising an off line in July, maybe then.

Cheers Con.

I have one to bring that was trying to find a reason to crack, so let me know when you are organising.

Sounds like we have a theme for July

I have more than I thought -
99 Houghton Jack Mann
99 St henri
96 Yalumba Menzies
09 JJ Prum Goldkapsel
09 Schloss Lieser Goldkapsel
17 MacForbes Woori Yallock
17 Pooley (1 of each of the pinots)
Thought there were Wynns Johns Riddochs as well, must have gone to Auction

and I have a pile of Auburn Riesling in Magnums too.

Wizz wrote:I have more than I thought -
99 Houghton Jack Mann
99 St henri
96 Yalumba Menzies
09 JJ Prum Goldkapsel
09 Schloss Lieser Goldkapsel
17 MacForbes Woori Yallock
17 Pooley (1 of each of the pinots)
Thought there were Wynns Johns Riddochs as well, must have gone to Auction

and I have a pile of Auburn Riesling in Magnums too.

Dumpring boy would be perprexed