The Auswine Forum

You may have covered this in the past so I apologize for having to ask you to regurgitate it.
We are seeing mostly 2003 Oz reds in our system right now - some are good and some are very disappointing.
I think I need to admit that I need some help wading through this vintage of Australia region by region in order to gain a better perspective on what I should focus on in my investments.
I have a pretty good handle on producers I favour so I just need more advice on which regions were stronger in this vintage.
Unfortunately I haven't had the time to wade through all the posts here on a regular basis so I really appreciate your taking the time to give me your first hand and knowledgeable experiences with the various regions.

Cheers,
Mishy Please don't be intimidated by my BIG avatar Barossa Bum

Mishy,
With the exception of the Hunter, 2003 looks to be a vintage that you may wish to avoid as a generalisation.
A lot of S.A. suffered with damaged fruit and very low yields. There were, no doubt, a lot of great wines produced but they will have to be sorted from the rest.
Try before you buy and do a lot of research.
These links give a bit of an overview, not gospel but worth looking at.


http://www2.langtons.com.au/tools/tool_ ... _chart.asp

http://www.australianwines.com.au/faq/report03.html

Thank you Gander,
I bookmarked the sites you posted.
Looks like I'm pretty restricted to the Hunter Valley eh?
It's good to note many of the the '04s might be a better investment and something to hold out for. In the mean time I'll bulk up on the better '02s I can still find.
Cheers,
Mishy

Mishy wrote:Thank you Gander,
I bookmarked the sites you posted.
Looks like I'm pretty restricted to the Hunter Valley eh?
It's good to note many of the the '04s might be a better investment and something to hold out for. In the mean time I'll bulk up on the better '02s I can still find.
Cheers,
Mishy

Margaret River is also good in 2003.

Thank you Gander,
I bookmarked the sites you posted.

You may also want to check out Ric Einstein's TORB website:
http://www.torbwine.com/

He's reported in pretty good detail about the 2003 vintage in a number of articles, and it's a wealth of information on Australian wine in general.

Cheers
Ian

Ian,
I was already snooping through Ric's site of past tour diaries, I noticed a few brief vintage reports scattered within those diaries but wanted something as a quicker and more pointed reference.
I do read TORBs site often, an excellent resource for me My only complaint is that we don't see several of the wines he loves, although we do see many, only about 1/4 are available to me and at double the cost it is to youse guys
Every once and a while I do score something brilliant tho

Hi Mishy
As has been said earlier there will be some great wines from 2003 and it will be a matter of finding what is available in your area. I attended a tasting yesterday that included some 2003 reds and 3 wines stood out to me. 2003 O'leary Walker Shiraz (Clare & McLaren Vale) $18 each. 2003 Paul Osicka Heathcote Shiraz $27 each. 2003 Sanguine Estate Heathcote Shiraz $35 each. I had previously had the excellent 2003 Tatiara Cambrian Shiraz also from Heathcote at $35 each and this seems to indicate that Heathcote has done fairly well as a region. Beringer Blass's vintage report indicates lower yields but good quality from most regions (you can see it here
http://www.nicks.com.au/cgi-bin/frame?url=/vinrep2003 ). Good Luck.
Cheers Andrew

Oops that was me

Anonymous wrote:Hi Mishy
As has been said earlier there will be some great wines from 2003 and it will be a matter of finding what is available in your area. I attended a tasting yesterday that included some 2003 reds and 3 wines stood out to me. 2003 O'leary Walker Shiraz (Clare & McLaren Vale) $18 each. 2003 Paul Osicka Heathcote Shiraz $27 each. 2003 Sanguine Estate Heathcote Shiraz $35 each. I had previously had the excellent 2003 Tatiara Cambrian Shiraz also from Heathcote at $35 each and this seems to indicate that Heathcote has done fairly well as a region. Beringer Blass's vintage report indicates lower yields but good quality from most regions (you can see it here
http://www.nicks.com.au/cgi-bin/frame?url=/vinrep2003 ). Good Luck.
Cheers Andrew

Andi,

It's a Cardinal Sin to post another competitor's link on this site

Mishy, James Halliday put out a 2003 vintage report in 2003 which you might find helpful.

http://www.winepros.com.au/jsp/cda/auth ... sp?ID=5134

Mishy wrote:Looks like I'm pretty restricted to the Hunter Valley eh?

try Lakes Folly. They only make two wines a cabernet & a chardonnay.

christo

Christo wrote:

Mishy wrote:Looks like I'm pretty restricted to the Hunter Valley eh?

try Lakes Folly. They only make two wines a cabernet & a chardonnay.

christo

I'd be very surprised if Mishy can get LF in Canada....

MartinE wrote:

Christo wrote:

Mishy wrote:Looks like I'm pretty restricted to the Hunter Valley eh?

try Lakes Folly. They only make two wines a cabernet & a chardonnay.

christo

I'd be very surprised if Mishy can get LF in Canada....

and the Chardonnay is only available in mixed dozens. No tasting at cellar door.

Graham

Yes, I can't get Lakes Folly in Canada, and ordering and shipping, not to mention the 115% Duty I would pay would triple the price, but thanks Cristo.
I did buy the Grosset Polish Hill Rieslings '03 from Clare Valley based upon this sites recommendations. I did taste it from the supplier shortly after purchase and I found it extremely edgy and sharp at the time, I'll give it a few years in the cellar before I open one.
Thanks to all for your advice and the links supplied, they really helped a lot !

Mishy wrote:Yes, I can't get Lakes Folly in Canada, and ordering and shipping, not to mention the 115% Duty I would pay would triple the price, but thanks Cristo.
I did buy the Grosset Polish Hill Rieslings '03 from Clare Valley based upon this sites recommendations. I did taste it from the supplier shortly after purchase and I found it extremely edgy and sharp at the time, I'll give it a few years in the cellar before I open one.
Thanks to all for your advice and the links supplied, they really helped a lot !

Mishy,

IMO Grosset PH is not a riesling that you drink young or wait 5 years for like many Eden/Clare rieslings...It is very sharp young and needs 7-10 years.

M.