Reviewing some 1998 Shiraz

[corcoran]

I've had the following in the last couple of months, and thought I would type up summary of how these '98's are doing.

Saltram #1 Shiraz - Wonderful aromatics of bread pudding, plums, blackberry and toast. Great depth, with rich and persistent flavors of plum, bread pudding, vanilla, blackberry, and licorice. Very long finish (over a minute) of licorice, plums and blackberry. This wine got better over the three days I tasted it. Rated as Outstanding.

This wine is evolving superbly. The complexity is better than when tasted a year ago, and the wine is wonderfully integrated now. I think it is a potential legend from a great vintage.

Mitchelton Print Shiraz - This surprised me with how much more I liked it than when tasted a little less than a year ago.
Dark dense purple, with maybe just a hint of reddening. Interesting, aromatic nose of plum, vanilla and licorice. Much more pronounced than when last tried. Flavors are very powerful, with plum, oak, cassis, vanilla, brush and licorice all mixed in for a very good taste. This definitely comes off as a cooler climate style, albeit still very rich. Rated as Excellent

Metala Original Plantings Shiraz - When I had this wine upon release, it was one of the great experiences of the year. It had just soaring aromatics. You could smell the raspberry across the room. This bottle did not have the super outrageous aromatics of the original bottle, but is still a great wine. Still very dense and sweet, the flavors are deeper and more integrated but not as flamboyant. Scents and flavors lean toward blackberries, almonds and licorice. The finish is still lengthy. This is aging into a nice wine, but I'm not sure I'll ever enjoy the aged version as much as the youthful one. Others may find the bottle development more to their liking. I believe it is developing well, I was just spoiled by the outrageousness of this wine in its youth. Rated as Excellent.

Edwards & Chaffey Section 353 Shiraz - I can't seem to keep my hands off this wine. It is a model of consistency, and is so delicious and easy to drink now that I'm down to two bottles. I doubt I'll ever find out how this one ages. Still a nice dark purple color, this continues to have wonderful aromatics of boysenberries, almonds, bread pudding, milk chocolate and spice. The flavors are wonderfully integrated and complex, and the finish is long and tasty. The pricing on this wine was very modest for the quality. Rated as Excellent, I don't think this wine will age like the other wines in this post, but I don't have a problem drinking it now!

Best's Bin 0 Shiraz - Beautful wine, and distinctive in its cooler climate style. Dark reddish color with a hint of purple.
Aromas of leather, brush, and dark berries waft out of the glass. Very nice. Flavors of dark berries, leather, brush, and licorice. Good length, somewhat leathery finish that makes the wine nicely distinctive. Aging very well, and I hope to try one other bottle in a few years. Rated as Highly Recommended, almost Excellent.

Vintage Review - still too early for broad assessment, but these wines have done nothing to diminish the reputation of the vintage. Most of the mid to higher end '98's that I've enjoyed of late are developing in a slow and positive fashion, with little change in color, and a slow integration of fruit and wood (the one exception being the Greenock Creek Apricot Shiraz). I'm glad I loaded up on the '98's, I think there's no hurry to uncork them. The '02 vintage, while being hailed as one the of the best ever by retailers in the States, has a lot to prove to even be considered the equal of 1998.

Up next - I hope to try the '98 Yalumba Signature this coming weekend. I'm also compiling a list of recently tasted '01 Shiraz and will try to write up a report on those.

[markg]

I had a 1996 Metala Original Plantings Shiraz recently and it was evolving nicely, lovely complex layers of flavour. Excellent value for money at around $25 - $30 considering the latest release sells in the region of $50 retail.

[Gerard Connors]

Corcoran,

I agree with your assessment of 98s. There's been a big "backlash" against 98s here in Australia in the media and the forums, with a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon of saying that they're already falling apart, that 99s will prove better, analogising btwn 90 and 91 etc. I think this is premature. For my part, I've enjoyed a lot of 98s and am pretty happy with what's tucked away in my cellar - just like in any vintage, it's a matter of buying smartly. You can't have wine without fruit and the 98s had great fruit. Having said that, at this early stage, I think all the hype around 02 is well and truly justified - the fruit purity is outstanding!

Ged

[Paul Simpson]

Brian,

Good notes as always. I was not going to open my 98's for a few years yet
but may now sooner based on your thoughts.

Best

Paul

[simm]

I've had the following in the last couple of months, and thought I would type up summary of how these '98's are doing.


Mitchelton Print Shiraz - This surprised me with how much more I liked it than when tasted a little less than a year ago.
Dark dense purple, with maybe just a hint of reddening. Interesting, aromatic nose of plum, vanilla and licorice. Much more pronounced than when last tried. Flavors are very powerful, with plum, oak, cassis, vanilla, brush and licorice all mixed in for a very good taste. This definitely comes off as a cooler climate style, albeit still very rich. Rated as Excellent


Edwards & Chaffey Section 353 Shiraz - I can't seem to keep my hands off this wine. It is a model of consistency, and is so delicious and easy to drink now that I'm down to two bottles. I doubt I'll ever find out how this one ages. Still a nice dark purple color, this continues to have wonderful aromatics of boysenberries, almonds, bread pudding, milk chocolate and spice. The flavors are wonderfully integrated and complex, and the finish is long and tasty. The pricing on this wine was very modest for the quality. Rated as Excellent, I don't think this wine will age like the other wines in this post, but I don't have a problem drinking it now!

Up next - I hope to try the '98 Yalumba Signature this coming weekend. I'm also compiling a list of recently tasted '01 Shiraz and will try to write up a report on those.

I agree most shole-heartedly with these two but I did think the E&C 353 Cabernet better. Can't wait to hear what you think of the Signature 98 as I have been too scared to even attempt one this early. The 1997 was delightful and had all the years on it the label suggested.

With much anticipation,

[Attila]

Very good notes Corcoran,
I've enjoyed reading them. The Mitchelton Print Shiraz is truly fantastic now as you've noted so is the Section 353 Shiraz. I do have many 1998's in my cellar and now, as they are 5 years old, I believe they are entering a phase when many of them provides excellent drinking. Others, such as the Port Phillip Estate Mornington Peninsula Shiraz 1998 that drunk so beautifully 1 year ago, is closing up again but I believe most of the '98's should show well anyway.
Cheers,
Attila

[Aussie Johns]

Thanks for the notes.
I agree that the 98 vintage is a corker, and is better than 96 for shiraz. I prefer the cabs, esp from Coonawarra, from the 96 vintage.
Three great shiraz from that vintage(98), that will be classical in 10 years IMO, are:
Stonewell
Balmoral
Rockford

I agree that the Saltram No 1 is also excellent. Disappointments from 98?? Yes, there are. IMO, the Lloyds reserve, all the Greenock Creek blue ribbons, Draycott shiraz and Run Rig have failed to develop as expected.
I have seen this before with the Lloyds at 5 years of age, so it gets the benefit of the doubt. Not too sure about the others, though.