I inherited several cases from my brother. Pretty pedestrian '04-'06 Cab and Shiraz which I shared with a couple friends. I was not expecting much but they have aged well to my pinot palate. I like them much more than most of the WA reds which cost 4 times the price and are much too jammy in comparison.
Had an Ares Two Hands at the same dinner that we brought the 1987 Chateau Montelena and another club member brought the 1997 Gaja Sperss. The Ares and Gaja were so good I took a picture of them, along with a bottle of 2002 Axios, so I could check them out on WineSearcher.
Is this a style from one of the many “lesser” Pittsburgs scattered throughout the country?
Or a name from the time of Honus Wagner?
I have had about 10 late 90s and early 2000s Aussie Shiraz in the past year or two and I think they are delicious, and none are falling apart, but palates differ. I do not have a lot of notes on them (I served a flight of three late 90s at a Leo’s dinner in 2014 that I thought were wonderful but no notes on them), but here are my notes on Aussie Shiraz at more than 10 years:
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2001 Wendouree Shiraz - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (12/31/2015)
New Years Eve pre-Berns party across the street. This is an outstanding, exceptional wine. I understand this is not imported into the US and private list in Australia. I got it at auction. Just beginning to develop the additional complexity of age. Tart cherry, sweet cherry and raspberry with pepper spice and meatyness. Very smooth without being sweet or jammy. The finish lasts and lasts. Great balance. This is a wine that can be enjoyed by all parts of the wine-lover spectrum. (95 pts.) -
2003 Branson Coach House Shiraz Rare Single Vineyard Coach House Block - Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley (8/18/2015)
WOW! This wine is exceptional. Pop and pour, but decided to decant after being open for about an hour. Followed for two hours. Red fruit, cherry, chocolate, coffee, great mouth feel, fully integrated flavors, tanins evolved, a tiny bit of pepper counterpoint. I bought this at an auction for curiosity because I once had a nice Branson about 7 years ago. I am glad I have one more. I am upset that I do not have a case. This is what a delicious flavorful wine should taste like. In contention for WOTY. (95 pts.) -
2003 Elderton Shiraz - Australia, South Australia, Barossa (9/11/2014)
Popped and poured with a group of wine-interested but not fanatic business colleagues at an after dinner football watching session at a conference. I bought this bottle almost exactly 9 years ago for $28.99 at Zachy’s when the owners or winemakers were there pouring. The label bore the autograph of one of them. I had a 2009 Cote du Rhone, a 2010 Rivers Marie pinot, an 2009 Outpost Zin, a 2012 Moscato and a 2005 Haut Bergey at the conference. First, the impressions of others. When I asked them what to open, I got two “Oh, I don’t like Shiraz.” So, of course, I opened this wine and poured it without explanation for the two people who said they did not like shiraz. “This is great wine. I love it. It’s really smooth with nice fruity flavors and some spice.” When revealed as shiraz, they said it was thew best shiraz they ever had, we then talked about it an they said that their experience with shiraz always involved bitterness, especiallly at the back of the palate. I agree that Aussi Shiraz that is both cheap and young is infested with that characteristic. And if you think it’s bad now, you should have tasted it 30 years ago. Ugh, the cheap crap that was coming from Australia. Well, no more. This is an extremely well made wine that, with a little patience, flowers into an outstanding bottle. I had an aged Elderton Command recently that was superb and this, although not as good, is on the same linear flavor profile. The nose is plum with a floral component. The palate is red fruit with cherry, blueberry and plum. There is some spice but not a lot. Compared t the Outpost Zin, for example, which has a lot of Howell Mountain pepper, this is light on the spice component.
The wine disappeared quickly and, coincidentally, was a great educational opportunity for the uninitiated on the advantages of not buying wine at 6 pm on the way home from work and then drinking it with dinner.
There was sediment in the wine, but even though I had driven 200 miles with the wine bouncing in a styro case in my car, a lot of the sediment was still stuck to the side of the bottle. I recommend a careful decant to avoid the sediment but no waiting time necessary before drinking. (91 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
I’m a big Australia fan compared to my friends. But I’m wrong sonetimes. On and near release I really disliked all the Clarendon Hills 2001s and 2002s except for the great Astralis. I also really disliked 2001 in South Australia in general compared to 2002, too hot.
But one Super Bowl wine this weekend was 2001 Clarendon Hills Moritz “syrah.” Excellent structure, the fruit is a tiny bit too quiet now for the tannin, but all the goop is gone, no excess oak, no heat, none of that bubblegum/cloy. But for the lack of garrigue I would have guessed northern Rhone. Meanwhile 2005 Martinelli Giuseppe and Louisa (sp.?) Zin was as bad as on release, undrinkable, so it wasn’t my palate. Jacquelyn Beckstoffer Tokalon 2009 cab and Barbour 2001 cab both in magnums were excellent after three hours of settling down the oak, but the Clarendon was the classiest, completely defying two of my prejudices. Makes me want to seek out a 2002 Blewitt grenache.
Meanwhile I held a dinner in SF to honor Chris Ringland last year and I brought a 1991 Three Rivers, a 1996 Hoffman SVS, and a 2004 Ringland, and they were all 100 points to me and very different from each other. More interesting to me eg than the 2001 Screaming Eagle I brought (great wine but too young and monolithic right now). However almost every other pre-1995 Shiraz I have had from Winebid has been well OTH. Could be provenance. The 1991 Three Rivers was on the oldest edge of at peak.
Now that we’ve abandoned some of the dogma and opened our minds a bit, I’m guessing that you can find older high-rated Aussie reds at retail and auction for great prices now. Has anyone looked around at that?
Chris, that’s for sure. Cruise around Winebid, and you’ll find all kinds of interesting stuff selling for quite a bit less than original purchase price, in most cases. Just a quick look shows 98 Dead Arm for $40, 98 Greenock Creek Cab for $30, Torbreck wines going for 1/3 of their former high flying prices, etc. A few have held value or more, but it’s rare. For anyone who really likes Australian wines, you can drink pretty darn well at favorable prices.
Here is my list of wines offered on Winebid this week that I would buy for my palate that I consider great values at this week’s price.
(1996 Penfolds 389 is a great value at the price it should be at, which is half this week’s price. Make a mental note to grab it if it pops up at $30).
1998:
Jasper Hill (always perfectly balanced), Tatachilla Foundation (far surpasses the regular),
Warrenmang at $20. Wait for the Hanisch to decrease in price.
2001 Leeuwin chard is a must try if you’ve never had it before.
2002
Killikanoon R,
Massena 11th Hour ( in 2002 one of the world’s greatest wine values),
Oliverhill Jimmy ( the 2000 overachieves incredibly for that year),
Schwarz Nitschke.
2004 De Lisio shiraz.
2005
Tatiarra,
Torbreck experiment Lost Highway (release was 100, great unique wine, Cote Rotie with top shiraz fruit cofermented with roussanne instead of viognier),
the underappreciated and great Ares.
I consider all of the above balanced if you give them at least an hour’s decant. Ignore how they smell and taste the first hour.
I’d consider 05 Massena and 97 Jasper Hill. Heysen I’m not sure how its held up.
I saw no exciting values after 2005.
I’m curious what you’ve and others have tried and, in particular, how old they were. (There are a lot of generalities here so far.)
I posted in August on a 1995 Clarendon Hills - McLaren Vale - Grenache Old Vines ‘Clarendon’ that was really lovely. I don’t have enough experience with Australian wines to know if it was good because it was pre-ooze-monster or if it was an ooze-monster that turned out well. The last Clarendon Hills wine I tried a few years back I found pretty charmless.
John, the wines I had the chance to try were more the “new wave” from late 90s/early 2000s, like different Marquis Philips, other Sparky wines, etc.
I think Sparky and Sarah Marquis’ Grateful Palate wines are risky to age. This week’s Henrys Drive wines to me were way overrated by Parker. Winebid has the 1998 Fox Creek Cab at $35 which would be a perfect barometer for what one thinks about their style with aging. Generally they are the poster children for the kind of wines Australians make for Americans to drink. Carnival of Love. Velvet Glove. Parker loves them.
Or Jay Miller did, anyway. Wasn’t it he who went wild with the Aussie points rather than Parker?
Is this a style from one of the many “lesser” Pittsburgs scattered throughout the country?
Or a name from the time of Honus Wagner?
Ok you motivated me to look it up. The term started in the Pittsburgh steel mills. The workers would make their lunch by throwing a steak on the steel blast furnaces. The temperatures could reach 2000 degrees. The meat would char quick and they could eat a quick lunch.
I am not surprised about the Ares. I have had about a dozen and every one has been amazing! They are high alcohol but you would never know it.
Do you know what year the Ares was? I have had the 2001,2002 and 2003.
Parker started it all for me and many other Americans with his review of the vintage 1996-1998 Grateful Palate portfolio which started me on fifteen years of loving Australian wine, improved greatly by Michael Twelftrees advice. More recently I’m not sure, I stopped reading WA on Australia after the high 2001 scores, except that I see the scores second hand in wine store ads.
Never mind on the 1996 Penfolds 389. Cheapest WS price is only $15 less than Winebid. Not a bargain any more IMO. My guess is, the way Parkers new review of the 2001 Monte Bello has changed the price structure of all older MBs, recent Grange prices have boosted the best of the other older Penfolds wines such as this and 707.
A few weeks ago I had a 2001 Clarendon Hills Syrah and a 2004 Godolphin in a mixed tasting that included a 2004 Ojai Syrah, a 2009 No Girls Grenache, and a 2010 Rasa QED.
The Clarendon Hills Blewitt Springs I would not have picked as an Aussie. The Godolphin was the ripest, smoothest, and roundest wine on the table, but escaped jaminess. The oak was not obtrusive. I’d never buy those wines again, nevertheless, I enjoyed them in the setting.
P Hickner
Benchmark has the 1998 Hobbs Shiraz for $55. That is a great buy. No relation to Paul Hobbs. This is Chris Ringland’s next door neighbor. Tiny vineyard. I have had many bottles of Hobbs. I do not agree at all with which Hobbs or Hobbs Gregor (latter Amarone style) Parker scores highly or not highly. So, the vineyard next to the $600 a bottle Ringland, with Chris consulting. The 1998 Hobbs is getting kind of quiet so it’s a good education in great Australian shiraz just past peak.
Pretty sure it was Parker, before JM’s time.
The one wine that caught my interest was an E&E Black Pepper. That was one of my introductions to Aussie Shiraz in the mid-90s.