The Auswine Forum

Has anyone tried this wine? A friend is selling off a few bottles at cost, and I was wondering if it up to the hype. Is it drinking well now, and does it have life left in it?

dawson wrote:Has anyone tried this wine? A friend is selling off a few bottles at cost, and I was wondering if it up to the hype. Is it drinking well now, and does it have life left in it?

Hi Dawson,

I haven't tried the 98 but apparently it is a return to former glory after an unbalanced '97.
Not so sure it is a wine to drink now, maybe in a couple of years. And the value depends on what your friend is calling 'cost price'.

Cheers,

thanks simm. Cost is $55 Can., which is what he paid for it. I can verify this because unlike in Australia, here in Ontario we have a government run monopoly on alcohol, so prices are the same no matter where in the province you purchase an item. So unless he purchased it out of province (which is possible but not probable) that is the price paid. My main concern is that it is overdone, as Parker raved about it, and quite often I find Parkers tastes for bombastic wines are a little assaulting to my palate. However, at that price it's probably worth taking a flyer on.

Purchased several bottles by way of Vintages Catelogue at $50 cdn,

Parker says:

Parker 95 points WA 6/23/01
The wine is stacked and packed in the mouth. Its opaque purple color is accompanied by a sweet smoky, cedary, full bodied charecter revealing notes of cassis licorice and olives. Vo;luptusous and full bodied, with tannen largely concealed in its wealth of glycerin, fruit and concentration, this terrific Cabernet Sauvignon will hit its prime in one to two years and last for 15 years more. Impressive

This is not your typical OTT Parker wine. In fact, it is one of my favourite Aussie cabs due to its balance and fruit purity. (I must point out however, I am primarily a shiraz drinker). It has textbook Coonawarra cab characteristics (Ribena, mint etc), and the 98 reminds me of the 90 on release (the latter being a touch oakier). Having just tried the 90, I can vouch for its quality, complexity and longevity.

I did an informal tasting of some 98 Australian Cabs with some friends about 3 months ago. The wines were:

Murdock
Grant Burge Shadrach
Penley Reserve
E&C Section 353

All wines were purchased in Toronto from Vintages or consignment.

The Penley was the least favourite of the crowd - most found it too tanic and woody. I was the only one who liked it, but I thought that it was several years away from prime drinking.

Perhaps you can buy one bottle, try it and see if you want to purchase more.

Vinojoe

vinojoe wrote:I did an informal tasting of some 98 Australian Cabs with some friends about 3 months ago. The wines were:

Murdock
Grant Burge Shadrach
Penley Reserve
E&C Section 353

All wines were purchased in Toronto from Vintages or consignment.

The Penley was the least favourite of the crowd - most found it too tanic and woody. I was the only one who liked it, but I thought that it was several years away from prime drinking.

Perhaps you can buy one bottle, try it and see if you want to purchase more.

Vinojoe

Hello and Welcome to the forum

How did you and the group take to the Murdock, I think its quite outstanding?

vinojoe wrote:I did an informal tasting of some 98 Australian Cabs with some friends about 3 months ago. The wines were:

Murdock
Grant Burge Shadrach
Penley Reserve
E&C Section 353

All wines were purchased in Toronto from Vintages or consignment.

The Penley was the least favourite of the crowd - most found it too tanic and woody. I was the only one who liked it, but I thought that it was several years away from prime drinking.

Perhaps you can buy one bottle, try it and see if you want to purchase more.

Vinojoe

welcome Vinojoe!!
How was the Section 353? One of my favourites but only managed to buy three bottle of the '98

Thanks to Gavin and Simm for the kind welcome. I've lurked on this forum for a while, somewhat envious of the great wines that never make it up to Toronto. Although in fairness, I think that the LCBO does some of its best work in finding and purchasing Australian wine - more varied selection and much more realistically priced than some other regions - particularly California.

As far as the Murdock, It came out third in the tasting. Unlike the Penley, most people liked it, but just not as much as the other two wines. I think that this result reflected the fact that the Murdock still needs some time. We had a birthday dinner for my wife this past Saturday and served the Murdock with the filet. I thought it was drinking much better than a few months ago - more integrated.

The Section 353 was the crowd favourite in the tasting. I bought six bottles and only have two left. People liked the dark fruit flavours. It will be interesting to see how the remaining bottles age - if I can resist drinking them for a year or two.

Regards,
Vinojoe

The section 353 is the one in the long tall ugly bottle??

I seem to recall there being a lot on the local market last year at good prices....wonder if its still out there.