The Auswine Forum

Another lunch in Yarraville at Bar Romanee

Leoville Barton 1990
Leoville Barton 2000
Leoville Les Cases 1985
Leoville Les Cases 2000
Montrose 1989
Montrose 2000
Wynns Black Label 1982
Wynns John Riddoch 1982

No real First Growths this time, but this was on a par with the 82 Lunch we had a few months ago. Served blind in pairs we were told these were all Bdx with a theme in each flight. I didn’t take notes, but all the wines were at least 4*, with the 85 Cases, 89 Montrose and 82 Black Label being the stars if the day due to their complexity.

The 3 2000 wines are in a lovely place, but just need some time to turn into their older brothers.

The Wynns pair are always a conundrum. Fresher than the Bordeaux wines, it’s the Black Label that comes across as the better wine, with the expected tomato leaf and bell pepper. Con thinks that the John Riddoch just needs more time. That might be true as there is plenty of fruit left, but it could be that they used either a bit too much wood or selected the wrong parcels. Both are still a bargain when compared to the French wines.

Light was shining in at the end of the day and nobody managed to take a good photo of all the bottles, although we do look good

Oops

I forgot the last wine. Nice old sticky with the chocolate pudding.

Great line up, thanks for the notes.

Quite often appears that the BL shows better than the JR - fascinating really. Highlights why worth a 6 or 12 every vintage. Hopefully the quality of more recent vintages has the same legs.

Cheers Ed

Who’s the clown at the back?

Cheers Con.

Who is the fat man next to him ? Really need to get rid of that double chin.

Great wine club you guys have going in MEL.

Meanwhile, in the City of Churches & Big Shiraz …

JamieAdelaide wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 1:01 pm Great wine club you guys have going in MEL.

Meanwhile, in the City of Churches & Big Shiraz …

Well, c’mon Jamie, let’s do something about it!

Con J wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 10:59 am Who’s the clown at the back?

Cheers Con.

mychurch wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 11:36 am Who is the fat man next to him ? Really need to get rid of that double chin.

Nice to put names to faces.

mjs wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 11:22 pm

JamieAdelaide wrote: ↑Sun Oct 08, 2023 1:01 pm Great wine club you guys have going in MEL.

Meanwhile, in the City of Churches & Big Shiraz …

Well, c’mon Jamie, let’s do something about it!

I’m opening a bunch of medium bodied Shiraz this Friday in North Adeaide. See the Craiglee post. C’mon over… got a few old timers from here coming!

But seriously one reason I’ve gone back to work overseas is to keep up access and meeting old fine wine drinking buddies abroad. Obscurely all those amazing foreign wines I collected over 20 years and brought to Australia using airline resources, are now dribbling back overseas to dinners and events. Cheaper to have kept the cellar HK.

If either of you, or anyone else, is in Melbourne on 4th Nov then we are having our next get together. Theme this time will be Vic Riesling, specifically Granite Hills and Sepplt Drumborg, but we are pretty relaxed normally about ringers. Planning on tasting the 00, 04, 08 and 13 of each, but that’s just a plan.

JamieAdelaide wrote: ↑Mon Oct 09, 2023 9:06 am
I’m opening a bunch of medium bodied Shiraz this Friday in North Adeaide. See the Craiglee post. C’mon over… got a few old timers from here coming!

Thanks Jamie, would have been good, but I am heading to Coonawarra on Friday for a long weekend of tastings and dinners

Ahh yes the old BL/JR debate. I have an 82 BL mag and a few loose bottles and about 6-8 left of the JR. I do agree that an 86 and a 90 comparison that i did a few years back saw the BL take the points on both occasions. Perhaps as suggested JR just needs time, the recent releases under screw cap will certainly outlive me

You boys are teasing me, 02/10/12/17/22 Drumborg are floating around somewhere as are a few old Mitchelton Blackwood Park's and some Delatite's made by Ros Richie...must get over to Melbourne one day.

Sorry about the Craiglee Jamie, 94-02 in the cellar, but I will be crossing paths all weekend with Malcolm, certainly looking forward to a mini break.

Cheers Craig

Pity I don’t have the 94.

I, like most here it seems, have had BL vs JR many many times over many many vintages.
For me, the 1982 is the best vintage since Wynns split its wine into JR and BL, followed by 90. In both those vintages, BL has shown the better wine.
Both wines were pretty ordinary for about a decade starting 1993, mechanical harvesting, poor viticulture etc etc. but since then both lables back on track.
However, the best vintages of BL, esp 76, 66 and 71, are better than anything produced since JR came in.
For me, 1976 BL is the second best wine Wynns ever made (behind the 55 Michael)

I haven’t had the 55 Michael, but love the 76 Black label. It drinks as though it’s 15 years younger.