The Auswine Forum

hi all,

I have a little dosh to spend on cellaring wine and was wondering what you all might suggest out of current releases? i'm not sure whether to go for fewer bottles of more 'premium' wines, or to get a case of cheaper ones.

I'm looking more towards reds: my wish list at the moment includes the yet to be released 2004 st henri, 2004 wynn's michael shiraz, 2004 bull's blood (one of my fav's if I ignore the price) and 04 gemtree obsidian... oh and have people tried the latest lake's folly?

I'd be very interested to hear what you're buying for the cellar!

tim

Out of that list I would take the St Henri.

Cellaring is best if you go for something that you are less inclined to open when your friend asks "What else have you got?". That way they might just last until they are ready in your opinion.

The St Henri might be good and I am tempted by it. However, why don't you simply pick something that you really like the Bull's Blood that you mention? Nothing else is better than a wine that you like cellared by yourself drinks well.

cheers

Carl

Haven't tried it yet (mind you, I'm most sorely tempted to crack 1 of the 3 I have) due to Halliday's TN that recommends at least 10 years cellaring, but Kilikanoon Oracle Shiraz 2004 seems to be well-regarded by some here who have tried it.

Polleters Cab 2005 I can attest to being an excellent wine - if you can find it. Kaesler Stonehorse Shiraz 2005 is a very good wine as is Capel Vale Cab Merl 2005. Grant Burge Filsell Shiraz is usually very good too. Coldstream Hills cab can be very nice from good vintages. These wines are very good value and will cellar up to 10 years, perhaps longer for some, depending on vintage. Wolf Blass Grey Label McLaren Vale Shiraz 04 is a very good wine and the Grey Label wines are worth considering when discounted to $30 or less as they often are.

Cullen Diana Madeline Cab Merl is always excellent, even from so-so vintages; the last one I tried was a 2000(a lesser vintage) the fruit/oak balance and palate length was very impressive. These days it can be found for only 20-25% or so more than St Henri and the better vintages will cellar 20+ years too. I've stashed a couple each of 99, 01 and 04 but only have 1xSt Henri 96 and 2x02s. There's also a cheaper Cullen cab merl avaibale these days but I think it's meant for drinking up to 8-10 years. Seen some complimetary reviews of it though.

Tahbilk 1860s Vines is one of my icon wines. The 97 I had last year was probably drunk at least 5 years before it should've been. It's getting up there at $100+ though. Haven't tried many Reserves but they are more affordable and should last 10-15 years in the cellar. Even the standard cab and shiraz from better vintages will last 10-15 years and are top value. Had a couple of bottles each of the standard cab 1981 and shiraz 1986 in the last 6 or so months. They'd hit their use-by dates but were emminently drinkable, most enjoyable.

Paxton Shiraz gets some good reviews - haven't tried it, but it's on the radar. I've had some Jeanneret Denis Shiraz 02 recently that I thoroughly enjoyed but I'm not sure whether there have been any vintages of this, their flagship wine, released since the 02.

There are so many........

Cheers

daz

p.s. Dammit, I almost forgot to mention Turkey Flat - the Shiraz is a permanent excellent-rated Halliday Top 100 wine and the cab has become well regarded too in better vintages - I've only tried the 03 which verged on excellent - the 02 is very highly regarded. Then there are the Peter Lehmann wines.

Tim,

On that list I would go for the Bulls Blood or the Obsidan. Both are terrific wines.

Thumbs up for the Obsidian.

I would (and did) be looking to source some Meerea Park gear, especially Alexander Munro Shiraz 2005 if you can find it, although all their 05 reds are excellent.

Another recommendation would be Samuel's Gorge Shiraz - most impressive young wine I tasted last year when you consider price ($35 per bottle).

Tim
In general I'd seek balance - a few proven stars of the cellar (e.g. the St Henri), maybe the odd potential future star (Gemtree?), plus a good number of good value wines, that would be expected to improve in the cellar, but won't break the bank (e.g. Wynns Cabernet, Mt Pleasant Lizzie, various rieslings, etc.).

Always of course heavily leaning towards your own current tastes (though also recognising that tastes do change), but unafraid of throwing the odd gamble into the cellar to see what comes out in 5-10 years.

Do I practice what I preach? Sort of, but tend to buy too many upmarket wines and not enough good value cellaring stars.

One final factor - how big is your cellaring stash? If quite small then wines often get culled in relative immaturity. If this is expected, don't focus solely on wines like Wynns Michael or John Riddoch, that can be hard work inside their first decade. Better to start with something a little more accessible, but with a potential upside. Nothing stopping you putting a small number of wines away for the long haul, if you've got stuff to drink in the meantime.

Hope this helps

Ian

Hi Tim
If was in your shoes I would go for a mix, say some classic's like St henri or a 389, 05 esp. For something a bit cheaper but still cellar worthy I would not hesitate to by some balgownie cab or Shiraz and even some Shaw and smith Shiraz.

By the way what is bull’s blood and who makes it.
Regards
Trev

John Duval Entity Shiraz if you can find it.

Teddy wrote:Hi Tim
By the way what is bull’s blood and who makes it.
Regards
Trev

In Australia, it is Shiraz-Mataro pressings, made by Rolf Binder
http://www.rolfbinder.com/index_cart.ph ... how_detail

Tried the Lakes Folly 06 at cellar door late March and thought it was excellent. Worth buying if you are a fan (which I am).

Thanks everyone for the responses. There are loads of suggestions there which I'm sure will keep me busy for a while.

I have a reasonably young cellar at the moment (nothing pre-2000) as I really only got the bug a couple of years ago, but i do try to balance it out much as Ian suggested above. It doesn't always work though and I'm finding increasingly that I'm buying long term cellaring wines like Cullen DM 05 (interestingly - picked it up for a little under $70), d'Arenberg dead arm 04 ($45)... i.e. established names from good vintages and having to hit up the local bottle-o for day to day drinks.

so your suggestions to get a good number of cellaring wines that won't break the bank will be taken to heart and hopefully in a few years I will have some reasonably aged decent wine to drink regularly! So, on your advice, for the moment I will try to resist the urge to blow all my dosh on 'icon' wines and buy some everyday drinkers as well.

p.s. Trev,

Rolf Binder's bull's blood is a magnificent wine. when i find myself in the mood for a real 'meat and veg' comforting shiraz it really is one of my all time favourites. So keep an eye out for it if that's your style.